rants and raves of a nat

Maybe this is why the insurance giants went under...(ignoring the credit crunch)

2009-11-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Halfway reading a question in the exam ... *hmm hungry lah, I wonder what should I get to eat later? I feel like a burger, but then later I need to go to the bank, so if I walk that way, then maybe I can get sushi instead! Or a juicy lamb kebab from that place opposite the bank. Or, maybe pizza! Yeah, that place has good pizzas too..mmm..* Looks at clock..AAAH! Stop thinking about food lah haiyoh! Go go go, you haven't even started to answer this question yet!!! Die die DIE! Sigh, I am such a food ho.

Entry 85
Continuing from that random ponder, I just googled 'ho' to see if I had spelled it right and cracked myself up with the ton of definitions and ways to used it in a sentence from the Urban Dictionary.

I went to buy travel insurance a couple of days ago. In fact, it's first time buying insurance for myself. I don't really advocate the whole concept of insurance (unless perhaps it's against the dealer in blackjack), but Mother & Co. insisted on me getting it for my trip to Malaysia and Macau/Hong Kong.

Correct. I am finally going back to Malaysia for a holiday after not being back to visit for 3 years. Not one person who knows I am buying travel insurance for Malaysia has failed to not ask me why on earth I am buying insurance to go home? Well, seeing that I have no immediate family there and a propensity to engage in unfortunate events (sometimes a series of), I see Mother's point of view. After all, Malaysia has probably changed over the past 3 years (new buildings and flyovers seem to just pop up overnight there alongside the rapidly increasing crime rate), and though I like to think I am fully homegrown (judging by my truly authentic AhPek slang), my inability to relate to the cool 'as-we-were-in-primary-school' television programs (namely, 'Thundercats', 'Golden Kids', 'Archie', 'HeMan', etc) argues otherwise.

Ms She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was assigned to 'take care' of me. She faces her screen towards me and says, "Okay, Natalie, we'll go through the steps together to fill out your policy alright?". Alright. I thought that was nice of her. Instead, I ended up walking her through the whole process because halfway she got lost in navigating between the webpages. It was apparent she had no idea what she was doing, and most likely never sold insurance in her life before (well, at least not in the 21st century; she told me that it didn't use to be so difficult because last time they just filled it all out on paper). [Who still does things on paper?!] You know someone is computer-inept when they spend many seconds slowly moving the mouse around trying to find where to click to go to the 'next' page while their mouth is simultaneously hanging half open as they peer down at the computer with their spectacles sliding down their nose, and their head is leaning so forward in a turtle-like position to try and see the words on the computer better.

Halfway through, she has to ring the underwriters to ask them something about the premium and in the end, I took over and started talking to the underwriters on her phone. Several times, she had to ask me "Do you know how to go back to the page regarding the so-and-so just now?" Trying to hide my disbelief, I patiently just pointed to her on the screen to click on 'previous'. Sometimes if it was two pages back, she would ask "Oh no, this is not the one?" to which I would have to respond, that's because you have to click 'previous' again. Finally, we're almost towards the end of the painful process, and don't ask me what on earth she clicked, but suddenly the whole form reset so we had to go fill it all out. Again. You'd think that when someone is doing something for the second time, the learning curve is flatter and it takes faster right? Wrong. She started moving her mouse at snail speed again trying to find things. Honestly, at that point, I just wanted to say, grab the mouse from her and do everything myself and save her the hassle.

Finally, the last stage just required us to input a policy number issued by the bank. She didn't know what to do. She looks at me. [Do I look like I work here?! I don't know where you keep your policy numbers!!]. I smile and interpret the instruction for her by telling her exactly what she needed to go and get in order to complete the process and why. She scoots off to get it and returns saying that she feels like an idiot. [Hmm, why am I not surprised?]. She prints out 6 pages and wonders why there are so many pages when the policy is only 3 pages. [Ya allah, BECAUSE IT'S TWO COPIES. ONE FOR YOU AND ONE FOR ME]. She figures this out on her own and covered malu quite well I must say. After paying for it, she said "That's it! All done now! Have a good trip!" and looked puzzled at why I was still staring at her as if I was waiting for something. Yes. My receipt. To prove that I had indeed paid $300 over dollars to cover me for 2 months. "Oh yes, that's right!" she manages to mumble. Frankly, I reckon I should have received commission from IAG for selling insurance to myself.
*Note, you must be wondering "Wah, confirmed this consultant is:
a) Asian [this is the first response ("Asian ah"?) I got when I told a couple of friends my story]
b) A FOB
c) A fresh graduate
d) A blonde
Wrong. It was a slightly above middle-aged Caucasian woman who was on time travel vacation from the Stone Age.

Thus, since the whole process took much longer than I had expected, I rushed to the nearest ATM to withdraw some cash to exchange into HKD so I will be pretty much set for my trip next week. Plus, the rate had gone up from the previous day, and I was most definitely going to take advantage of that. No doubt, it was marginal by just a few decimal points, but if there's something to gain even though it may be as miniscule as an extra dumpling, bowl of soup, or hand of blackjack in HK, it would be too much of a waste to let it go, right? By the time I managed to get to the place with the best rate and enough HKD on hand to sell to me - it sudah tutup. Tulan-ness.

Therefore, perhaps if more training and quality control measures were in place for insurance agents, we wouldn't have seen some of their recent collapses. For all we know, this Ms-She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named could have undercharged everyone the wrong premium and when the time came for the claims to materialise, they couldn't afford it because she had sold cheap insurance to all the high risk people. Okay, that was a bit harsh, but like I said, tulan-ness.

P.S: There's a money changer called "Money Exchange" which is blue and white colour and has lots of branches dotted all over Queen Street. As your friend, I would advise you not to ever change currency there unless you really need to. Their rates would be what I would consider as flat-out daylight robbery.

[Update: K texted me asking me what I was doing and I told her my tulan-ness story. Her response? "HAHAHA, why you always meet all these FOB aunties wan?" Like I said, my expertise lie in a propensity to engage in unfortunate events]

The Time I Went to Watch Football in Public...Alone

2009-11-11T03:16:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Will my professor be merciful in the exam questions tomorrow?

Entry 84
Yes. The title is not a typo. I recently went to watch a football game in public solo.
I first became interested in soccer thanks to the World Cup in 2002. I won't deny I wasn't initially attracted to the sport because of the coincidentally large number of good-looking players. After KongKong explained how it worked to me, I was hooked.

After awhile, the whole World Cup fever died down, and I wasn't a constant follower, nor a huge football fan. But if football was on television, I wouldn't request to change the channel nor find it boring. I could definitely survive watching a 90 minute game with amusement (unless it was some uber cheap team playing). Basically, my male friends would not have to worry about me feeling bored accompanying them to watch. Then, D came along - a hardcore MU fan who is a religious follower. I supported MU before, but not to the extent that I do now, thanks to his overpowering influence.

So, about 2 weeks ago, the time came for the (arguably) 'biggest' match in the league, and I happened to be in Hamilton visiting the folks, which inconveniently had no Sky and the only place that I would be able to catch the match live at 3am was my trusty Uncle's place - Skycity.
I'm used to watching matches alone - but in the vicinity of my own home. So, up I rose at 2am to get dressed and quietly ~~steal~~ get the car from the garage without waking Mother & Co. Earlier I had asked permission to borrow her car to go to which she responded:
Mother: "Haiyoh, so late you want to go out by yourself in this foreign town meh! Auckland never mind, but you're not familiar with the roads here ma!"
N: "Well, do you want to come with me then?"
M: "What for! Not interested in that sport."
N: "Okay, then I'll go myself."
M: "Haiyah! You're a girl lah! Why you must watch football wan?! Last time watch F1, then want to become F1 driver, you're like a tomboy lah!"
N: "Right. Not something that we didn't know before, but anyway, can borrow or not?"
M: "Okay lah, just be careful and don't park in dodgy areas!"
[I just re-read that, and realised how Cina-Ah-Pek that sounded *beams with pride*]

So I finally made it there without getting lost and picked a nice seat, sat down, and waited for the rest of the crowd to come and witness the (arguably) biggest match in the league.
Soon after, a woman and 2 men sat at the table next to me and started talking about how much hair product the players use.
I continued waiting,
waiting,
and waiting.

Omigosh, no one else is coming to spectate the (arguably) biggest match in the league?!
There went my hope of finding random fellow MU fans to cheer with and/or jointly diss Liverpool fans. Worse, during the second half, the fellow spectators beside me left.
How can you LEAVE in the middle of the (arguably) biggest match in the league?!

Anyway, I was left in my little sports corner of the casino scrunched up like a ball on my chair, with half of my face wrapped up in my scarf to try and mask the gasping sounds each time an opposing goal almost succeeded and/or MU almost scored a goal. At that moment, because I was so engrossed in the game, I didn't care what it looked like to other people (comprising mainly of nearby gamblers) - a young Asian female (the only female), wait - make that the only person watching the match alone, sitting in a sarkai-like position, practicing a phenomenon known as 'syok sendiri' while sitting in front of a huge plasma screen television watching football set to Volume 0, at 3am on a Monday morning.
Bluntly put, I was the finest breed of the 'sorhai' specimen there could be.

Even the restaurant manager took pity on me and came over to try and discuss the game with me, to which he epicly failed as he didn't even know who the team was wearing the red coloured shirts. In his defense, he explained that he was a huge rugby fan (like I cared; I could not give two hoots for that directionless game).

Verdict: I left at 5am, braving the cold, and driving back along the deathly quiet roads of Hamilton city feeling disappointed and mad that I could have been sleeping the whole time. Why? Because to my cousin's delight they lost. [2 years ago I was watching this (arguably) biggest match in an Irish pub with him, and to my delight MU won. Subsequently, he proceeded to ignore me all the way home and said "I don't care, family or not, I'm not talking to you now, and you don't come and gloat to me about it ah!"]

And that, is why women should not watch football on television in public areas alone. [It only works for men]. Nonetheless, I can now proudly and truly say I don't watch football for the guys - the good-looking ones just happen to be a bonus resulting from the game.

Before I forget, I will take this opportunity to shout-out to the return and recovery of the (not arguably) Best-Player-In-The-World: Roque Santa Cruz!
One day, my favourite player and team will finally merge, so there will be no more conflicts of interest for me when they play each other. One day.

[Originally written: November 5th 2009]

[Edited: Luckily I didn't attempt to watch the most recent match live, because they lost to some smelly poo 'chau-see']

Random rave 06-11-09

2009-11-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Hmm...Amidst the insane exam stress and studying schedule, I have the strangest sudden urge to perform CPR on the home to my rants and raves.

Entry 83
Wednesday marked the last piano lesson for my student, M. I've taught her for almost 2 years now, and it's been an interesting experience indeed. The only reason I'm giving it up is because I'll be away for the summer and embarking on a new phase in life next year, giving me no time to continue teaching. As a token of the blossomed friendship between her family and I, I was presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers accompanied by a very cute handwritten card, and a bar of pomegranate soap (yes, she remembered I go crazy over anything with pomegranate scent in it). I'm not going to deny that it felt a little awkward carrying the bouquet onto the bus and walking around town. It just would not fit into my handbag.

I discovered I really enjoy teaching piano and perhaps one day, if auditors/accountants suffer redundancy from recessions or what-nots (God forbid), I will head down the alternative route of becoming a full-time piano teacher instead.

Just demonstrating to M for the last time what her favourite song sounded like made me realise how much I miss piano. Since I started University about 4 years ago, I have barely touched a piano as CBD apartments really don't permit space for even a keyboard comfortably. I completed Grade 8 just before I headed into college, so once college came into the picture, I stopped at that - didn't pursue a higher level such as a performance or teacher's diploma. So, perhaps one day; one day after the next phase in life and when I can get my hands on a piano again, I will do just that. One day.

I think the 10-year olds' will be a great inspiration - was gobsmacked when I saw these videos:
Flight of the Bumblebee played by 10-year old boy
Flight of the Bumblebee played by 10-year old girl

Goodbye, Filmmaker

2009-07-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: Such a loss.

Entry 82
This year marked the end of great legacies such as Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and yesterday, Yasmin Ahmad. It was deeply saddening to read about Yasmin Ahmad's early passing. Ever since I watched one of her commercials - my favourite: The famous Tan Hong Ming, I have become a great fan of her work. Even from her blog, one can witness her humility despite her tremendous success. Also, her strong religious faith and OneMalaysia vision is highly respectable.

A quote from her blog, Yasmin: "I am optimistic and sentimental to the point of being annoying, especially to people who think that being cynical and cold is cool. Everyday, I thank Allah for everyday things like the ability to breathe, the ability to love, the ability to laugh, and the ability to eat and drink."

Am in anticipation to watch her two latest films - Muallaf and Talentime, when there is some free time.

Some of my favourites:
How do you spell Dinosaur?
Chinese New Year 2008
Old Folks
CNY 2009
Family
Funeral
May you rest in peace.

Life in Technicolour

2009-07-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: Favourite flashback quote - Rewind to two years ago, dancing in a club next to Opahs. Canto dude: 'Hor yi bei ngo lei geh din wah hou ma?' Reply: 'Ngo mou din wah'. O.o

Entry 81
I knew they were big. I liked their music. I wasn't a die-hard, must-see fan. But I am so glad I went. It was so worth it.

The Coldwave - Chris Martin's genius idea of making everyone do the Mexican wave with cellphones instead. Genius. Witness it make history here.

The last picture shows you just how close they came to us. They left the stage and walked all the way to the back of the audience, very near to where we were sitting and performed on a ledge nearby.

Coldplay were just legen-wait-for-it-dary performers! The music, interaction with the crowd, concert effects made it unbelievably stunning. I'd rank it on par with Westlife as my third favourite concert. Of course, my ranking of JT's concert at number one is undoubtedly biased. As for number two, I was a die-hard Linkin Park fan, and it would be unjustified not to keep them at number two. Hence, you have Coldplay - my third favourite concert.

And now, for Nickelback in November! Which, I foresee myself not attending, sadly. The tickets are a bit too pricey for their standard and my friends who are music snobs think Nickelback is undeserving of their NZD100 and above. In my comfort, the songs that they intend to sing at the November concert are not to my liking. Yay.

Natalie Jean Li Xian Wong, Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting & Commercial Law

2009-07-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: Excuse this slightly (2 months) overdue post. If, of course anyone still reads this. Heh.

Entry 80

~~2. Graduate.~~

So let me rant and rave about how the Associate Dean managed to screw up my 10 seconds of fame as I walked onto the stage to be capped and have my degree conferred upon me by the Chancellor in my ceremony.

I was so afraid she would pronounce my Chinese name wrongly when calling out my name, but kudos to her for getting it right - 'Lee Sien', and not 'Lee Zhian'. But, to my utmost horror, she got my English name wrong. Which one? Natalie or Jean? You would probably think Natalie, since it's the longer name, and Jean is fairly straight forward right? Like, I mean, you wear jeans practically every day, right?

No.

By calling me 'Zhaun' as in Jean Claude Van Damme style, not only did she assume that I was French, but that I was indeed a Male.

If 'Wong' ain't big enough a giveaway to one's approximate ethnicity, I don't know what is. Had she perhaps lifted her head for a second to observe my appearance whilst I was standing at the edge of the stage, she might actually have realised that I was very the cina-looking, a female with long hair, wearing a dress. Thus, even if she thought I was of some strange European descent, that being a female does not warrant the masculine pronunciation of that name.

Anyhow, my capping photo turned out well, courtesy of Ying Swee Ong.
And I present to you the circus: Bree, Tigress-Dugong, Clown and Sotong conquering our first, all the way to our last Accounting paper together.

Big congratulations to all the other graduates! And thank you for all the wishes and to all who came despite their busy schedules. Much much appreciated! :) And of course, D, for being 'caddy' of the day.

My new best friend

2009-03-23T23:46:00.001-07:00

Random ponder: So, maybe G was right when she warnied me that it's quite the challenge to prepare for a 40 minute presentation yourself just two days before.

Entry 79
Since when did "Eh! Free for coffee tomorrow?" become the new "Hey, available to give me free tuition for a few hours, because that's what 'friends' do?"

Would you really define a 'friend' as someone you just happened to meet at a salon while you were waiting to cut your hair? Someone who was a 50+ year old woman who should really know better than a 21 year old. Someone who happened to discover that you were an English-speaking Malaysian postgraduate student in accounting, whom they could befriend so their poor English-speaking niece who I haven't a clue how she got into University, thankfully not mine, (I apologise for my non-biased judgmental-like conclusion that was deduced from first-hand experience in conversation and written communication) could pick off your brains? It wasn't like I didn't warn her there was really nothing much to pick off anyway.

Why do I always get myself into these sticky situations?

Why can't I just to learn to say no, and not feel bad?

Why is it so difficult to reject strangers/acquaintances, yet so easy to reject close ones?

Why is it, that when I truly believed someone was being friendly and I reciprocated, ulterior motives were involved?

No, no, no, no, no.

Talent is in the eye of the beholder

2009-03-04T02:54:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Did you know that an ox is indeed not a fox, but actually a type of cow!?

Entry 78
Thank you YS! You are the darling of darlings! The one who made me laugh the whole day, and the next day, and probably tomorrow as well. If you are my friend, do me a favour and click on the link below.

Single Ladies!

Don't tell me you didn't even crack up a little bit. Don't tell me you don't think that was some talent, and it took some balls to do that. Once again, all credit to YS for finding it. And to think, I used to wonder what you did in your free time.

One down, ninety-nine to go

2009-02-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: I actually bought and ate a salad today. Yeah, I can't believe it myself either. Yes, a salad.

Entry 77
~~101. Convert my Malaysian full licence to a NZ one.~~

It is done.

I took my practical on Wednesday, and the tester believed me. He believed that 4 and a half years of driving in KL traffic was sufficient to pass me the first time. It was a close call though. Of all the potential mistakes, previous Malaysian-converted-NZ drivers had warned me, I made the stupidest one. I forgot to stop at the STOP sign.

I was approaching an intersection, and could see clearly, that there were no cars in sight coming from both sides, so I merely slowed down and turned, but did not come to a complete halt before turning. This was 5 minutes into the test. He asked me to pullover, and turned to look at me sternly.

Driving tester: "Do you know what you just did wrong?"
N: "Er. Yes. I didn't stop at the stop sign just now."
DT: "Correct. Why didn't you stop?"
N: "Uh, I know I should have stopped properly just now, but I guess, I forgot. Because, normally, I don't stop completely if there are no cars, so it slipped my mind this time." (*screams inside my head* Damnit! You idiot! What did you go and say that for?! So honest for what?! Moron!)
DT: "I see. So you realised your mistake, now didn't you?"
N: "Yes, sorry, sorry."
DT: "Alright then. I'll give you another chance. Let this be a warning now, and if it happens again..." *mutual nod, implying I'd fail the next time*
N: "Okay, sure. It won't happen again. Thank you, thank you."

So, the first part of the test went well. So did the second, where he asked me to name the hazards I noticed every now and then. And so did the third, where he just observed general driving skills on the motorway, u-turns, and roundabouts. Then he signed off my temporary licence, and told me it should come in the mail in the next 21 days after the relatively painless process of driving him around for 25 minutes.

It feels good to not freak out every time I see a police car behind, in front, at the side, or anywhere near me now. I must say, it was more tiring than driving long-distance outstation, because I've never checked my speedometer, or turned my head to check for blind spots so frequently before.

Inside the thoughts of a helium junkie

2009-02-26T01:34:00.001-08:00

Random ponder: I wonder where I can purchase a helium tank from, and how much it would cost?

Entry 76
For 2 lantern festivals, I had been eyeing it like a how a little kid eyes candy. The first lantern festival, my 2 best friends pursuaded me not to get it, because it wasn't worth it for that kind of ridiculous price. The second lantern festival, my boyfriend was against it, as he discovered my purpose for it. In the recent lantern festival, it was just calling out to me desperately, and I just had to get it.

The spongebob helium balloon! Actually, i didn't mind which character I got, I just wanted it for the helium. So, after allowing one day for aesthetic purposes, the process began the next day. Since I couldn't find a viable opening to carry out the procedure, I had to find alternatives. So, a straw was inserted it in his foot, where leakage would be minimal, and, well, I had my way with him. To clarify, his insides enabled me to speak like a chipmunk. Two minutes of speaking like a chipmunk cost me $15.

RIP my dear Spongebob, you served your purpose well.

My bottle of valentine

2009-02-25T02:13:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Will I see my opahs this year?

Entry 75
This...

...was my Valentines gift this year. A passionfruit-fragrant bottle, filled with potpourri, 7 poetic messages rolled up, and 30 individually hand-folded stars (with the ahem help of his 'heng-dai') to represent the 30 days he was away, back in Malaysia.

Thank you very much. It was sweet. :)

It's called low balling

2009-02-23T02:11:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: I wish to increase my intake of junk food.

Entry 74
Noooooooooooooooooo!

Not a huge soccer fan, but I do watch when I have the chance, especially if it's a MU game. But, last Sunday morning, MU played against my other favourite team, BR. Fortunately, I am not that huge a fan, so I did not sacrifice my sleep to wake up or stay awake till 6am on a Sunday morning to watch the match. Naturally, that night, I logged in to soccernet, and saw the devastating news (refer to 'Nooooooooo!'). My consolation? They almost tied, (I beg you not to differ on this, ahem P and D), and my favourite player scored the one and only goal for his team. Everybody yay for Santa Cruz now.

Whilst reading the description of the match intensely, and trying to envision it in my head, D (whom is a loyal MU fan), walks past and glances at my screen,
D: "Seeing how your team lost ah? *chuckle* Aiya, expected lah"
N: "It was close okay!!"
D: *snorts*

Mark my words, one day, you'll see BR not in the bottom 3 of the EPL. Hmph.

The parking ticket episode (2)

2009-02-22T02:00:00.001-08:00

Random ponder: Do parking wardens have bonus-scheme plans which acts as some sort of incentive or competition for them? Sheesh. Over-efficiency is not a good thing PWs.

Entry 73
&*%%^#$##@%^!!$^&%&^*(*%^%^$#!!! Remember parking ticket episode (1)? Yeah, well, the whole 'admit-you're-wrong-reverse-psychology' thing does not exactly work on all PWs. Especially when they spend 3 minutes yelling in your face non-stop without giving you a chance to gush out more than a word.

To be honest, I didn't know you couldn't stop on a broken yellow line when someone's in the driver's seat with the engine still running for less than 5 minutes with the hazard lights on.

But I do now, because not only have I been fined a $60 infringement fee (oh ya, heh heh, sorry D), but I have also just passed my driving theory test last Friday! I've been meaning to convert my Malaysian full licence for about 3 years now, but still haven't gotten round to it. I had read a little bit the night before, by flicking through and trying to 'study' it, but it just wouldn't go in, so I left it at that.

But the next day, it was one of the randomest days I ever had. I woke up just before noon, looked out the window and saw it was raining so thought I'd stay in for the day. Then I saw the road code book which had been sitting in the corner of my room for a few months now, and I opened it and started reading all the answers. At around 2pm I finished reading, and thought to myself, 'hmmm, I wonder what it would be like to feel the adrenalin of just randomly taking my test now?' So I rang them up, and they said if I arrived before 3pm, I could take it today. So I rushed there, and they told me, I had to go to another centre if I wanted to take it today.

So I did. I sat down in the cubicle for 10 minutes, then handed in my booklet and was passed! Now, all I have to do is convince my practical driving tester next week that 4 and a half years of driving experience in Malaysia, no, actually Kuala Lumpur in a Volvo 240 is more than enough to pass me on the first time for driving in New Zealand. Hah, we'll see how that goes, for someone who's never believed in turning their head to check for blindspots and thinks that the 3 mirrors in the car are there for a reason - to be fully reliable.

Interesting much

2009-02-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Really, if you come to think about it, it is like finding a needle in a haystack when it comes to finding Mr/Ms Right. Ms Wang Guiying can tell you that for sure.

Entry 72
Aww, so sweet. I sure hope she finds someone. Amazing that she lived til 102 before she broke her leg, and toiled the farms til 74! *salute*

The 107-year-old virgin...

Now, yingzie-poo if you're reading this...
Shaddap! Don't think I don't know what you want to say to me!

Brotherly Love

2009-02-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Why can't karaokes start putting pin yin lyrics for Asian songs?

Entry 71
My little brothers are finally starting to grow up. J is turning 13 next month and entering high school this month. M turns 11 at the end of this year, and is just starting intermediate school.

On my most recent trip to visit my family a few weeks ago for Chinese New Year, this is what $10 bought me...
A very well done manual car wash, inclusive of carpet scrubbing and vacuuming!
Okay, so it's not so bad being the eldest after all, sometimes, because when the little ones start growing up and acquire higher capabilities of performing tasks, you have less work to do, as there's no such thing as 'I donno how to do, I'm too young' anymore.

Appreciation of time

2009-02-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Why do shops close so early in NZ anyway?

Entry 70
Thank God for Waitangi Day! Four day weeks are amazing! Despite my utmost fatigue today - sleeping less than 7 hours (I normally need 10 to function properly), and couping myself up in the office til 6pm, I refused to come home and sleep early.

I was most certainly not going to let my Thursday weeknight go to waste, knowing I'd be having a long weekend!

-Drinks at the nearby bar with fellow interns and colleagues.
-Consumption of a sumptuous Korean dinner containing several rounds of 'soju' and 'yam sengs'.
-Couple rounds of pool.
-Further drinks to catch up with yingzie-poo who just returned from KL with a box of goodies, at the popular, but deathly unpopulated bar.
-A fairly long, not to mention frustrating game of DotA at the neighbourhood friendly cyber cafe.
-A cooling, and refreshing walk home.

You did good, Nat. You made optimal use of the 'day-before-long-weekend-night'.
Except for one tiny thing - you missed out on the 'Hold'em Clinic'.

Qualified BS

2009-02-03T00:26:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: I discovered movies like 'Doubt' are too deep for my miniscule brain to appreciate.

Entry 69
Kids. They make you want to just kill them sometimes. They make you want to kill yourself other times. They want to make you kill them, and then yourself too. But, when they start growing up, and maturing, and appreciate your patience, you forget all that.

This was made by my 11 year old piano student of one year; it was accompanied by a box of chocolates, to celebrate our first year anniversary.

Yes, this was the same little girl that always complained about having to practice so hard, and always argued with me that her note or timing was correct, when in fact it was not. But I noticed recently, she had started becoming more well-behaved, so hopefully she is growing up. It was amusing watching her grow up and improve within the past year.

Also, last night was the first time in my life that someone had entrusted me with the responsibility of looking after their child while they were not around. I do have younger brothers, but come to think of it, I've never 'babysat' them before. There was never a need to. My parents were always around to care for them, if not, my grandparents. So, it was quite an experience for me. My mother always says that I should have been born the youngest, rather than the eldest, since I'm more spoiled than the both of them combined, and really don't have the traits of an 'eldest'.

So, coincidentally on our first year anniversary, I had the opportunity to look after my piano student while her parents went out to see an orchestra perform for the night. I took her out to get takeaways for dinner, and 1) I did not lose her. 2) She was not kidnapped. 3) I did not lock myself out of the car or house while getting dinner. 4) I did not get freaked out by weird noises and have to go running to her bedroom while she slept to make her accompany me. 5) I did not fall asleep on the job. 6) The police, fire brigade, nor ambulance ever had to come.

I'm hopeful to state that I am now a qualified babysitter and demoted klutz.

Unfortunately, getting back late, and dying at work (despite the Red Bulls), was the price to pay.

Headline alert

2009-02-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Were certain people just born to be evil, or was it developed from their upbringing or lifestyle?

Entry 68

As I logged on to read the online newspaper, which I haven't done in a long time, I remembered once again why I stopped reading the newspapers. It's when you find this screaming at you from the headlines: Nia Glassie case.

Honestly, it's unbelievably difficult to comprehend what possibly goes through the mind of the convicted murderers? Excuse my judgmental behaviour, but I truly cannot understand, and really would like to know, one day - why? Why a little innocent child? Why for amusement's sake?

I could handle reading about the recession, the looming financial crisis, and how it's going to get worse, and how many will be/already are unemployed. But taking away the lives of innocent ones for no justifiable reason? In fact, I believe there is no such justifiable reason for committing such acts.

It becomes apparent to me now, why it would never have worked out if I had pursued law; criminal law, to be more precise. I would become too attached to clients, cases, and take everything personally. Thank goodness for accounting; auditing, to be more precise.

Christmas in a nutshell

2009-01-31T04:17:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Why is it so difficult? It's simple and easy.

Entry 67
My little webpage for ranting and raving has been picture-less for awhile now, so the easiest way to update about my short holiday is through pictures.

Last November, I went to the EY Ball with D, and the theme was set back in the Shakespeare time, so it was quite an experience. The tickets were expensive-as, but the food was awesome; I had one of the most delicious steaks I had in my life, while D just had plain, boring, fish. As for the free flowing champagne, and trip to visit Uncle Sky after, it was an awesome night.
Dress, courtesy of J. Chin. Thank you, my dear hot rocks. It received many compliments :)

The following week, I headed down to Hamilton to spend Christmas with my family...
Myself doing what I do best - gawk at food, and wait to eat it..that's Mother attempting to cut the turkey with PorPor and KongKong navigating the best way to cut it.
Apparently, they thought this was the best way...
The coolest KongKong you will ever meet. He knows more about mp3 stuff and headphones than me, because he keeps upgrading himself by getting newer mp3 players. I don't even have one :( Oh and did I mention he listens to Spice Girls, Shakira, and Robbie Williams?
Evidently, it's in the family.
Plucking some strawberries...
Two of the greatest people ever, who brought me up from when I was a baby and lived with me all my life.
Mother took us all horse riding along the country farms, which was absolutely beautiful, minus the light rain and horses stopping every now and then to excrete waste as and when they pleased. We rode up and down hills; it was almost like a scene you would find in Brokeback Mountain.

Hmm, I always wondered what I'd look like with an afro. And yes, of course I made KongKong wear it on his bald head too and entertain us. :)

Welcome 2009!
The evil of all evils; but a relative is a relative huh? May I introduce you to Uncle Sky.
We decided to try and see what the city-scene would be like for the countdown, and it was the most pathetic thing I saw. Yes, I understand the economy is in recession, but I'm sure they could have done better with the fireworks! And, there was NO countdown. The fireworks just came blasting out and people started cheering at 12am. No 10,9,8,7....Pathetic, kan? But, the company was important, and that was good :)

Oh, look who we spent NYE with too! The CEO and CFO of Hold'em Enterprises Ltd, Texas. :)

Mind you, I had more for Christmas than turkey, but I was so hungry I gobbled everything up before I could take pictures. That bird took many hours to roast in the oven. *still thinking about it*

Curiosity

2009-01-30T03:31:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Why is it that God works in mysterious ways sometimes?

Entry 66
I got it. But just not at the time I wanted. It's the God traffic light where He answered my prayer, but changed the lights to orange - telling me that yes, I can have it, but not just yet; for I must wait. Bittersweet, indeed. Happy that I did get it, but disappointed that it was not at the right time.

She told me not to have any worries. Although she couldn't guarantee me, she had no worries at all, and said it was very possible to happen.

I now have one hope, to think about it over the weekend, and talk to the one person who can help me next week.

God, I sure hope whatever You've got planned out for me is better than this, and I'm not losing faith.

The parking ticket episode

2009-01-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: What's the significance of the twelve animals in the Chinese new years?

Note: written last week, but having the absent mind I have, it was sitting under 'drafts'.
Entry 65
So my client this week is located in this annoying place where the nearest car parks are for 120 minutes. Meaning, I have to go and move my car to a different car park every 120 minutes. The parking warden goes around drawing chalk on your tires, and if in 120 minutes he comes back and your car still has chalk, you will experience a phenomenon known as 'verbal profanity diarrhea' as you notice the white piece of paper in the corner of your windscreen. Dumb rule ain't it, but what can I say? It's in New Zealand. And 'yes' offense. Heh.

I've been walking out of the building to shift my car every 2 hours. But this morning, I was almost going beserk because I couldn't balance some numbers so it totally slipped my mind. Forty-five minutes after the expired time, the client comes running into the boardroom with a "Someone's getting a ticket! Someone's getting a ticket!" Not wasting a second, I sprinted out of the building across the road to my car, and sure enough, there was the parking warden halfway punching numbers into his machine to give me my ticket.

So, I began the negotiation process (totally keeping in mind that this was not Malaysia, and pulling out $20 would most likely end me either behind bars or in the high court - which I conveniently live next to btw).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nat: "I'm sorry! I was just gonna move my car!"

Parking warden (with mean-ness oozing out of him and a surly tone): "Just?? Just?! (With abundant scorn in his voice). If you were
'just' gonna move it, you would have done so at least 45 minutes ago!!!!"

N: "I know! I'm sorry! I was stuck in a meeting, and I didn't mean to! We're the auditors for the company across the road, and we're only here for a week. I'm not used to it! I have been moving my car every 2 hours before this! It was just today! I was just doing my job, and it slipped my mind for a second!"

PW: "Well, like you said, I'm just doing my job too. You said you were doing yours, and now I'm doing mine. People ask me this all the time, and what am I supposed to say? It's what I have to do."

N: "I knowwww, but..but..can't you-

PW: "Can't I what? What do you want me to do? Huh?"

N: "Um, let me off just this once?"

PW: "Let you off? Why should I? You tell me."

N: "Um, because...well, I have been following the rules before, but just this once I messed up. (Losing hope...) Okay, well, I understand that you're doing your job too.
Okay, never mind. I get it, just give me the ticket. Oh yeah, so since you give me the ticket, I can just leave it here right? I don't need to still move my car every 2 hours then?"

PW: "No! You still have to move out with the ticket! It's the rules!"

N (Wth?!): "Err, but if you write me the ticket, I've already been punished, why do I still need to move it?!"

PW: "Because. You just have to."

N (defeated): "Oh alright. I'll do that too then."

PW (with a 180 degree turnaround and had nice-ness oozing out of him): "Okay, so, now, I'm just gonna let you off this once, but MAKE sure you move it every 2 hours okay? Just move it to another car park on time and you'll be fine, love. Rules are rules."

N (double wth?! Now he's calling me, love?! When he was so horrid just now?!): "OMG! Okay, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I'll set an alarm to make sure I get out here every 2 hours! I won't be here next week anyway. THANK YOU!"

PW: "Alright then. Make sure you move it on time then. Have a nice day, love."

N: "Yes, I promise you, I will! Thank youuuu. You too!"

PW: "Oh, and don't try to erase the chalk from the tires, because we have other ways of telling if your car has been there for more than 2 hours!"

N: "Err.Right."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I walked back into the building, the Financial Controller, Accounts Receivable lady, IT man, and receptionist had assembled in the room with the huge window facing the car park to watch the 'parking ticket episode' which was just screened live for them. I was greeted with many 'well dones', 'good job', 'how did you manage to talk yourself out of it, because none of us have succeeded before'...

So, maybe the 'reverse psychology' theory does work. Occasionally. Add in the dungu facial expression too.

*Mental note to try that at poker (this weekend? doctor? clinic open this weekend right?)

KK much

2009-01-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Wouldn't it be awesome if someday we could use the 'find' function in our brain? Like the Ctrl+F computer function...

Entry 64
THIS...
Was ONE of the biggest parties I EVER had in my mouth. Period.

I was a little apprehensive at first, because, well, when I opened the box, they looked fairly normal; nothing special, and definitely did not appear is if they were capable of throwing a massive party in my mouth, and also, I don't really have a sweet tooth. But, when I took a bite of the Original Glazed (yes, Original Glazed, people!), oh my goodness gracious, did the 2 dozen Krispy Kremes throw me an unbelievable surprise party.

When I lived in the Asian region, did Malaysia have them? No. Did the next, non-water crossing countries, Singapore or Thailand have them? No. But Indonesia had them. When I lived in the Oceania/Australasia region, did New Zealand have them? No. But Australia had to have them. Both requiring me to fly to get them. On the flip side, that is probably a good thing. Being gluttony's protege, I would need to get a restraining order from Krispy Kreme. Just last week, I scoffed down 4 roti canais for dinner, and was scavenging for supper a few hours later. D was appalled - either at the fact that he had a potentially fatso girlfriend in the making, or that the hole in his wallet was in the process of growing larger.

Anyway, after all that nonsensical rambling, my point is, anytime you ever get a chance, you MUST buy at least a dozen Original Glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Don't bother getting any other flavours, the Original Glazed is the one way ticket to mouth-party-haven. Trust the eating machine on this one. It would be a sin not to get one, if the opportunity ever arose. Thanks again, J, for taking the risk of bringing it into the country from Aussie.

Wong v. Skycity [2009]

2009-01-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Funny how cowboys are called cowboys when they ride horses?

Entry 63
Skycity has exposed me to the true definition of the 'love-hate relationship'. As much as you hate it, you can't help loving it simultaneously. Even when it burns you bad, you never learn your lesson and still go back wanting more. And then you tell yourself, you're not going back for a long time to recuperate from the third degree burns. But then you get an invitation to treat, asking if you're interested, and you just forgot about what you told yourself the night before. Thus, generating an inevitably accepted offer.

Conclustion: I think I have to move out of the city.

T'is the season to be jolly

2008-12-22T00:18:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: When is enough really enough?

Entry 62
Starters: To the fellow brother/sister who decided to remove their shoes during church service last week, please. Please. For the sake of your fellow brethren/sisteren, have mercy on us, and never, ever, do that again. If you feel the utmost need that you absolutely must, I recommend to you a) Socks, b) A website called Wikipedia where you can type in 'how-to-remove-feet-odor', c) Neat Feet Roll On Deodorant.

Oh dear, I am becoming one of those 'work-o-bloggers' where all they blog about is work. The sad thing is, I guess, after awhile, that it is really what your life is mainly about. You spend most of your time working, and there's nothing new in that sense.

Work has just been as monotonous as usual, yet still enjoyable. There was the day when one of the staff at a client got their accountant to pass me his card so I could call him outside of work, and when she discovered my relationship status, decided it was then best to return his card to him with the message. Hopefully the message also included that I would be back again in January to wrap up the final bits of the engagement. Oh, I'm sure it won't be awkward.

Oh, there was also the other day, when a senior decided to prank me by telling me that I could sign off my business e-mails with my company signature by using a ballpoint pen to touch the screen, and that my signature would just appear where I wanted it. Instead of considering that my laptop was a really old Toshiba that takes 5 minutes to start up, I headed toward the direction of becoming the epitome of gullibility or more bluntly, blonde-ness. I took my pen and proceeded to tap the screen with it and started wondering why nothing was happening. Only then, did I realise that my so-called senior had just been watching intently and was laughing til the cows came home. Moo. Ha ha, very farnie. Apparently, his entertainment for the week was at my expense, and it was a 'good way to wrap up a lazy Friday afternoon.' To my further horror, this piece of 'news' began to spread like wildfire, thanks to my so-called boyfriend who mentally high 5-ed the senior.

Oh, and how could I forget the day that I was in the lift alone with a partner. As if I was somewhat starstruck, when he politely asked 'how's it going,' I choked out some mass of sound that sounded like English, yet even I, could not decipher. I'm not normally like that, but when you're caught off-guard, especially after you've just swallowed some mass of food, it happens.

I promise you, there will be nothing more about this thing called 'work' - til next year. Because, I am on official annual leave now! I'll be having a smashing holiday for 3 weeks, just sleeping in, eating, and not feeling exhausted. My plan? Heading down to Hamilton tomorrow to spend Christmas with the family, and eat my guts out at our legendary family Christmas ~~feast~~ dinner tradition which consists of Mother's uber delicious roast turkey, Christmas ham, rosemary potatoes, all sorts of vegetable sides, good wine, and dessert which appears to be chocolate mousse this year. It's been a Wong tradition since as long as I can remember. Only today, after talking to many people about their Christmas plans did I realise that my parents are substantially westernised. I just assumed that every other Asian, especially the ones who were born here celebrated the same way that my family did. But, every family's different.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! God bless! :)

Fatigued out

2008-12-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: What causes bed bugs? Where do they even come from in the first place?

Entry 61
You know, I've been thinking to myself, why allow the list to end at 100? Once I achieve all 100, so what? My goals in life come to an abrupt halt? So, why not, for each one I achieve and cross out, write a new one, hence the renaming of the 100 List to the Life List - the ever growing one. Ta daa.

I've managed to achieve 4, thus the list has grown to 104...
Life List

Meanwhile, I've discovered that too much alcohol in one week really isn't advisable for decent complexion or mental alertness. We had our Christmas party on Wednesday night (yeah, I know right? They open up a bar tab for us, and expect us to drink more when we lose money, and still hold it in the middle of the week, when we still have 2 more weekdays to work through?)

Anyway, we were taken to the racecourse to see some special horse races. They booked a nice room upstairs for just us, with a fantastic view of the racecourse. Might I add that the flowing champagne served abundantly was absolutely bubbly-licious? Anyway, I got to watch a live horse race for the first time, and feel the excitement of cheering crazily for the horses, because I actually put money on them now. Altogether in a span of 3 races, I put a decent amount of money on 15 horses, and I didn't win a single time. How unlucky is that?! Another colleague placed a very small amount of money on a single horse, and hit it twice. Wth-ness right?! But, a good experience definitely. It's starting to sound like EY is encouraging all the vices, from drinking to gambling, to doing both simultaneously. But, hey I'm definitely not complaining, and making the most of what I can out of it. The stoning in the office the next day was worth it *grins*

Too busy to update?

2008-12-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: How do you remove a pen ink stain from your shirt when stain remover doesn't work?

Entry 60
So, I survived my first client last week. Just as I was getting familiarised with the client's systems, etc... I am already on my new client this week. Just in case you are my so-called friend, and still have no idea what I'm doing, I am actually doing my internship in the audit division at Ernst & Young. If you were too lazy to click on the links, basically it's just something to do with accounting lah. It is to be my summer job, which I hope to turn into a career sometime in the near future.

Many people think accounting is boring, and you're just stuck at a desk from 9-5 everyday. Sadly, when I was younger, I was very drawn to this fact, and was looking forward to being glued to the same desk from 9-5 for the rest of my life. However, in audit, I will be glued to a different desk every week, as we are on different client engagements every week. So, last week I was out east, this week up north, next week probably in the city centre. So, no, it is far from boring, I tell you. Ever since I was 16, I knew I wanted to be an accountant. So, I went to college to get a foundation in business. Then, went to university to get a degree in accounting. And now, I can't believe I'm actually doing it. And loving it (at the moment). Who knows, give it awhile, and I might get bored of it. *Prays that's not going to happen anytime soon*

So, living 7 minutes away from the office actually does not really make a difference to me since I am hardly actually in it. I actually end up waking up even earlier now, since I have to travel out to clients' places all the time, and be there by 8.30am. But, it's fun driving to different places, and even fun-ner? A very kind friend, by the name of Mr. Khoo, who owns a nice sporty Mitsubishi FTO has lent me his car to drive out to clients' places for the past 2 weeks. If you know me, you'll know that I have a greater interest in cars than my boyfriend (who for a guy, doesn't really care what kind of car he drives, whereas I do), and driving around in that sporty car has given me great pleasure before and after work. Really inspires me to save up, and get one of my own. Heh. On top of that, we're supplied with our own laptops, cellphones, awesome mileage claims, and a massive stationery pack with everything from a tape dispenser to a 60cm ruler. I have no idea when I'll have the need for a tape dispenser in the course of my job.

Drawbacks? I've been such an old fart. I actually konk off before midnight nowadays. I get so tired from waking up so early, and sitting in front of the computer the whole day, and then getting stuck in mental traffic jams. I actually went to bed at 11.30pm last Friday! And woke up at 9am on a Saturday without alarm. And, I thought I'd never see the day! *Pats self*

Oh my. Current time: 11.26pm. Time to konk off, and rise and shine at 7am tomorrow.

Mini entrance to the working world

2008-11-25T02:06:00.001-08:00

Random ponder: How does one correct bad posture?

Entry 59
I had my first day at work yesterday, and this whole week is training, before they chuck us out into the wild sea of clients like lost lambs. So far, so good, but I'm just adjusting to waking up so early, and having to last so long without a nap. I really shouldn't be complaining. After all, I live less than 10 minutes away from the office. I met some people who travel in an hour just to get to the office. I could never do that. In fact, I could practically just roll down the hill from my place to the office. Wheee.

It's just been two days, and I'm feeling tired already. Maybe I should just use my degree for wallpaper and become a tai-tai. Lol. And it wasn't even real work yet. Just learning where everything is, how to use the company's software, and how to lawn bowl. Yeah, you heard right. More to come on that. And, hey, we get out own laptops and stylish looking mobile phones with free calls from 8-6, which we know I would never even think of abusing. ^^

For now, time to hit the pillow. It's 8.30am in the office again tomorrow. Yawn. And, I'm going to watch Phantom of the Opera tomorrow night! Woo hoo!

I spy an eye sty

2008-11-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Call me outdated, but what the heck is 'imma'?! I'm guessing it means, 'I'm gonna', but I can't make the link. I'm gonna = 'imma'?!? What is with everyone going 'imma' 'imma' 'imma'?! How do you even pronounce it?!

Entry 58
Bacteria has a vendetta against my eyes. Actually, make that against me in general. In high school, every single year without fail, if I didn't turn up to school for a few days, everyone knew Natalie was having her usual round of fever and unpleasant bowel activities. I absolutely hated the fact that Mother had to be so detailed when calling my teachers to tell them why I was absent. A simple 'sick', or 'down with the flu', would have sufficed, rather than, 'high fever, dizziness, and bad diarrhea'. 'Yeah, you know ar, she's been having lots of diarrhea so many times in one day!' Did it not ever occur to her, that diarrhea is really not something to be proud of, and disclosing a fact like that would cut down your suitors to zero? Especially when the teacher announces it to the class, and your crush hears it.
*Mental note, be general in explaining my kids' absent reasons in future.

If it wasn't for free health care in my University, I would be 'Customer of the Year' at the nearby private clinic. Anyhow, once again, after just curing from my conjunctivitis awhile ago, I discovered a sty in my right eyelid yesterday. I knew what medication I needed, as I used to get them a lot in high school, but I had to get a prescription. So, there, I saw the fastest way $16 will ever fly out of my wallet; 3 minutes for the doctor to look at my eye with a light for 5 seconds, and say 'Ahh. Yes, a sty. I could poke it with a needle, or give you ointment'. Obviously, I opted for the ointment. And before the 4th minute could begin, I was sent out the door. Thankfully, I was a member, or else that would have been the fastest $65 to fly out the door.

So, yes. Once again, I am to release the ultimate nerd in me, and walk around in my (quoting Chin, J.) 'Ah ma' glasses for the next week. And for the superstitious' record, no, I did not 'zhong yan dei chung leong', (peep on people bathing).

Happy Birthday D!

2008-11-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Where do smaller people in NZ buy their reasonably priced clothes from?!

Entry 57
I'm serious. Reasonably priced retail stores in Auckland really shouldn't forget about their smaller than size 6 target market. It's frustrating when you see a decent shirt you'd like to buy, but then it doesn't hug your body like it's supposed to. If only they had G2000 here.

Anyway, my room is so plentiful of clean carpet now, I just feel like rolling all over it. I finally tidied up my room, and vacuumed it, and it looks so magnificent that every time I slide open my door to walk in, I take a few seconds to glance at it. I haven't seen my room with so much visible, uncovered with books, rubbish, etc.. carpet for a long, long time.

It has been merdeka for me for about a week now, and I'm loving it! Sleeping in, having nothing to rush to or important things to think about is truly bliss.

Meanwhile, Mahpek hit the big 24 a couple of days ago, and my initial idea of a surprise party was an epic fail. Thus, we celebrated with his close friends, at where else, but a typical mahpek-ness Chinese Restaurant.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FATTY COW, FULL OF MAHPEKNESS!
*He's actually not fat. I just try to make him feel fat, since he loves to eat so much. Mean much? He does that to me all the time, so I'm just in auto-defence mode.

On his actual birthday, I snuck into his tiny little studio apartment, and tried my very best to decorate what tiny space there was in his living hole, with balloons and streamers.
At least this surprise was an epic success, and he got so excited he tried jumping up and down to bob the balloons with his head.
The new business wear model; the vest was his birthday present.

And then, I took him to eat a stonegrill meal, where they just slab your meat onto a really hot stone plate, and you cook it in front of you to your liking.
Being the gentleman that he can be sometimes, he went and paid for our dinner after. -__-" Kind of defeated the whole purpose of me buying him his birthday dinner, but I managed to bicker my way through in allowing me to actually buy it.

The grand finale of the night...
I finally lost my casino poker virginity! Haha, gotcha! *Don't worry GRC peeps, the pledges we made are still kept strongly :)

We went to go visit Uncle Sky, and spent a good 2 hours with him, at the $60/$100 poker tables. It was my first time playing outside, with real sharks. Emphasis on real sharks. I assure you, I was the youngest at the table, and the only female around, minus the dealers. Mahpek was playing at a different table, and the experience was totally exhilarating! I can't wait to go back again!

Each time I was in a hand, my heart almost exploded inside my chest because I was too kan cheong. I was so afraid they could actually see my chest vibrating from the impact of my ridiculously fast heartbeats. The uncles and real ah peks, whom I might add are all regulars there, stare right into your eyes to analyse you. My sweet escape? Pull off a typical 'dungu ah wong' grin, and that will throw them off. Trust me :D I am very keen to go visit Uncle Sky again, probably after I start work in 2 weeks!

My present and celebration was miniscule compared to all the things you got and planned for my birthday, but hope you enjoyed my humble efforts :) Hmm, maybe it was even pushing the definition of 'humble' hehe. Nevertheless, Happy Birthday again :)

Freedom

2008-11-07T04:41:00.001-08:00

Random ponder: What's the margin like, for buffet restaurant owners?

Entry 56
I am done! A few weeks of slogging has gone by, in my four-walled room confinement, and I am finally set free. But, I am so so extremely exhausted. I finished yesterday morning, and slept at night for 11 hours. I woke up, ate lunch, then straight away went back to sleep for a couple more hours. And, then, less than 12 hours later I'm feeling sleepy all over again. Total slob-ness. Must be all the brain juices those nasty exams squeezed out of my puny brain.

Dinner didn't help either. As you scroll below, you will see I have managed to cross some things off my mini post-exam list already! I had dinner at this restaurant with non-stop, free-flowing meats. It's like a meat buffet. I ate myself silly, and felt even more tired after that. And Mahpek kept laughing at me and calling me Fatgirl (yeah, that's my affectionate new nickname; sweet right) seeing me so dopey-eyed after dinner, and then admitting that I was thinking about what to eat for supper later :(

Anyway, I discovered that I have some friends who are so very free, that in the midst of their exams, they are still able to find their friends' weirdest pictures and think of creative ways to superimpose them using Photoshop. I present to you, the work of a Mr L, who resides in Melbourne...

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Why, I'm so privileged to have been recruited into the new Pirates of the Caribbean cast. Now, I can add one more thing onto my CV. Thanks Mr L.

*Yawn*

Good night.

Victory for The BFG

2008-11-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

Random ponder: Why can't professors be a bit kinder an provide us with the damn formulas?!

Entry 55
And the cuddly teddy bear/BFG wins! Yipeedoo!

My fellow hardcore supporter, Swan texted me while I was halfway reading the good news, expressing her joy over the much expected victory.

Why, you may wonder am I so 'into' the elections, when I am not even an American citizen, nor do I live there? I don't know. It's just so much more intriguing and worth following than Malaysian or NZ politics.

Oh, and I finish my exams tomorrow! Someone say Yipeedooo!

Planning ahead is justified

2008-10-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

Random: Valuations are not very fun.

Entry 54
I'm not obsessed with ruling my life by self-made lists. Really. But it really is a good way to get your life into order, and reduce the element of procrastination. I've been meaning to do so many things, but I always just say, "Ahh, after exams, I'll go do it lah".

So, I, Natalie Jean Li Xian Wong, hereby will set out to do these things after next Thursday, November 6th when I complete my last paper. OMG, I so cannot wait. This cramming for 3 papers in 4 days is driving me a little cuckoo.

- ~~Catch up with my girl friends.~~
- ~~Start retraining on DotA; 2 new versions have come out since I stopped training.~~ [After church]
- Buy a belt for my working pants, so they won't conveniently slide off on my first day of work.
- Make a trip to Te Awamutu to visit my family.
- Cross off at least one thing from my100 List.
- Buy a foundation, very importantly, with at least SPF 15.
- Buy a pair of black, pointed heels for work since Mother kidnapped mine to Te Awamutu last weekend.
- Get a few more work shirts, so I won't be wearing the same combo of 5 colours rotated differently week after week.
- Finish watching at least one HK drama series.
- Help Mahpek get his car cambelt checked.
-~~Tidy up my room so you can see a decent amount of carpet.~~ [Woohoo!]
- ~~Watch a movie.~~ [Max Payne]
- Cook a meal for Mahpek. [Fish paste tofu noodle soup]
- Buy a bikini, and perhaps pull off #7.
- ~~Finish watching Gossip Girl.~~ [Until the latest episode - 8]
- Get a huge tub of sunblock.
- Play a mahjong marathon.
- ~~Call my best friend in Canada to catch up.~~ [Talked crap for 3.5 hours]
- ~~Visit Uncle Sky and spend some quality Blackjack or Poker time with him.~~ [Broke my Casino Poker virginity last night]
- Change my body clock, so I will get used to waking up at 7am everyday.
- ~~Try a new restaurant.~~ [Wildfire. Okay, I ate there before, but tonight was my first time at the Takapuna branch, so technically it's a 'new' restaurant for me]
- Trim/cut my hair.
- Decide on what I'm going to do next year. Work, study, bum?

They're all going to be crossed out. Mark my words. Okay, so maybe there'll be some excusable exceptions. Heh.

Break Time

2008-10-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: I don't get why Snow Patrol has two songs that are called 'Open Your Eyes' and 'Shut Your Eyes'.

Entry 53
I have one more week till my finals of the finals. One week. I blog a lot more when I'm facing exams, because the laptop is just on all the time for me to refer to notes and solutions. Yes, I'm stingy and don't feel that the 10 cents per page printing fee at Uni is well justified, so I just refer to solutions and extra notes from my laptop while studying.

The good thing about my upcoming exams is that for the first time in 3 years do I finish my exams so early. I finish on the 6th (haha). But then, they're all crammed up together, so I had to start studying before the study break even started. Faeces.

Anyway, my ratio of study:entertainment has been something along finish-one-chapter:watch-one-episode-of-Gossip Girl . Bad. I think I spend more time 'rewarding' myself for studying than actually studying. Faeces.

It's a long weekend here, and an ~~old friend~~ new rival from Wellington came back up to Auckland for a holiday and ~~attempted to steal~~ stole my boyfriend. I couldn't compete; it was a losing battle for me, for the competition was much prettier and kissable than I :(

See what I mean? Losing battle :(

Good news, I just finished one chapter. So that means...
You know you love me...
Xoxo...
*chuckle*

Sleepless in Auckland

2008-10-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: Can people in heaven hear us?

Entry 52
I was rummaging for a book in my box stored under my bed. That was when I found the DVD my cousin sent to me a few months ago. It was a recording of half of my daddy's funeral last year. When I received it, I just chucked it into a box, because I've formed an automatic filter in my head that blocks out anything to do with that.

Unfortunately, as I have kind of reverted to my old sleeping habits, and I could not possibly fit anymore foreign currency translation rules into my head, I decided to watch it for the first time. Bad idea. That was when I realised that the last time I celebrated my daddy's birthday with him was just a few weeks before I left for NZ to start at University 3 years ago. He was turning 44. I never in my life thought that would be the last time I'd sing 'Happy Birthday' to him, and cut cake with him.

So, am I able to cross off Number 79 on my 100 List? Frankly, no. Not just yet. Many times, thoughts just uncontrollably seep into my head, but my 'firewall' does a pretty good in keeping them at bay. But there are, inevitably, the days where my 'firewall' does have its malfunctions.

And that's when it allows the entry of things like the times when he'd call me in the afternoon after I finished college to ask me if I wanted to go yam char with him in the Taman Tun mamak. Or when he'd wait till 10pm for me to finish work and take me out to eat my favourite supper and listen to me bitch about all the crappy customers I had to serve during the day. Or how he'd patiently wait outside sometimes for an hour for me to finish my piano class. Or listen to him tell my mother that the amount of kilometres he'd driven me to my piano classes and back could have reached halfway around the world already. Or receive a text from him telling me all the bad Zouk stories he'd heard and to be careful on my way out to Zouk. Or have him pat me on the head when I'd done well in my exams. Or coming up with new nicknames for all the crazy drivers in KL. Or see him a little annoyed because he'd lose sleep when my friends came over at midnights to play mahjong till mornings, but still put up with it.

Basically, I guess what I'm trying to get at is, I miss my daddy. It's been one and half years, but it still feels fresh. I wish I had another chance to have just spent one more day with him and told him all the things I wanted to, and should have.

I miss you, Daddy. Life has been tough without you. I realise now, that the many times you were so strict with me when I was younger was for my own good, and I have come to appreciate that now. I wish you could see it. I'm sorry for complaining so much about how you were so strict and unreasonable last time. But, looking back, I'm glad you did the things you had to.

Where art thou?

2008-10-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: Twice?! You gotta be kidding me. Twice in the same day it happened? And you were just ignored and forgotten about thereafter? Wow, seems like a new level has been reached.

Entry 51
I recently saw a really good advertisement on Swan’s blog about the upcoming elections.
I left a comment, stating that JT should have been one of the celebrities in the advertisement, because that would be (in my opinion) extremely effective on getting the message across.

While stressing out on trying to remember how to translate financial statements into different currencies, I got a text from Swan:

"Hey juz being random. Really random. Dunno if u read the comment i replied on my blog yet, but besides watching the ad 24/7 if JT was in it, i think u'll go as far as applying to become an american citizen jus so dat u can vote whoever JT is voting. Hehehe.. Ok hope it releases some stress. Hahaha.. Ignore me. Lol.."

*cue lightbulb above head*

Wouldn't it be so cool if he became a politican, senator, and then...*wait for it*... President of the United States?! Not impossible, look at what became of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he became all old and saggy.

The little joys you get when a friend thinks of you.

And the most 'mou liu'/far-fetched things you can waste your time thinking of when you are still supposed to be trying to translate financial statements into different currencies, using not one, but two methods! Really, why can't they just have one method only? Why torture people to learn and remember two methods?

Excuse the ramblings, looks like consecutive finals-in-two-weeks pressure is really getting to me this time huh. Mental blocks are such a pain. I admit, I can be rather unlikable during nerding period. Nonetheless, I'm sure there are still people out there who like me during this period. Heh.

What's worse? Not getting the motivation or inspiration you need and hoped you would get. Maybe you just can't get it if you're looking for it in the wrong place.

Hmm, did I ever mention that two words I really despise are 'shut up'. Not only do I think they are highly impertinent, but also a very potential catalyst for resentment.

This is bad. Reverting back to late, sleepless nights, and not having energy to do anything in the day. Wasting time doing useless, unproductive things when time is so precious, and getting agitated at myself for having no perseverance.

PIM, oh PIM [Perseverance Inspiration Motivation] where art thou?

The Island

2008-10-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: I think textbooks should be subsidised more and course books be included as part of our tuition fees.

Entry 50
The following weekend after my birthday celebration, the Mahpek whisked us away on a ferry after work on Friday evening, to Waiheke Island . He didn't bring his car on the ferry, because it would be cheaper to rent a car on the Island itself. Upon arrival, we caught a cab to our accommodation - Palm Beach Luxury Bungalows. Okay, so this is not the best picture because it was around dusk in mid-winter when we arrived, but that's a bit of the exterior look of the resort. It consists of about 5-6 bungalows only, ranging from the Luxury Bungalows - the most expensive one, to the Palm Cottages - the cheaper ones. There's all sorts of packages you can take - you can have a 'Tuscany Night' where an Italian chef comes to your bungalow and cooks an authentic few course Italian meal in front of you, or you can opt for your own BBQ, where the meats are provided and you can cook it yourself on the BBQ. You can also order breakfast to be delivered to you, while you sit in your private spa, or you could just cook yourself in your unit.

First things first, we went to the Waiheke Resort next door to have our dinner. Dinner consisted of a nice huge lamb shank, and a prawn seafood dish, which the waiter got mixed up as usual. Every time we go out to eat at a Western restaurant, the waiter more often than not, delivers the red meat to Mahpek, and the seafood/chicken dish to me. Then we switch after the waiter turns his back, because you see, my dear Mahpek is not a red-meat eater (unlike most normal guys), whereas I am a huge red-meat fan (unlike most normal girls), and think it's ridiculous to go out to a fancy place and order...chicken.

After dinner, I got to cross off another thing on my list; Mahpek ordered a professional masseuse to come over and give me a professional massage :) I've always wanted to try one, because I totally love massages. Unfortunately, while being so caught up in my excitement, I forgot that you actually have to um, remove garments, in order for them to massage you.

I could have been the ultimate jakun that I am and said, "Excuse me, but, do you think you could just do your stuff over my clothes? You can put oils, or whatever it is you use, on the exposed parts like my arms? Heh?" But, as I am trying to adopt a non-jakun life, I decided to muster up some braveness, and just do it.

Thank goodness it was a woman okay. For those of you who are close to me, you'll know I have slight 'touch issues'. So I felt highly uncomfortable, and I think I was so tensed up that it didn't turn out to be as relaxing as it was meant to be. There were several things going through my head constantly, like what if she accidentally exposes the towel covering me? (even though it was a double layered towel), or what if she's lesbian? Or what if she's laughing at my muscle-less body? Anyway, all in all, it was a good experience, and really appreciate the effort taken to arrange it. Would I do it again? Yes, definitely, when I find a fully-clothed-type massage :)

The next day, we rented a car and drove around a lot of the Island, and since Waiheke is famous for its many vineyards, we decided to go wine tasting, and camwhoring. One of the many vineyards on the Island. The view just outside one of the vineyards. These 4 glasses of wine cost $12 only! Pretty good huh? This was one of the cheaper wine tasting places.The one we went to before this one cost $12 for just one glass. So the pricing of wine tasting varies on the Island. It was off to the beach at sunset after that... Attempting an 'emo' shot.

On our last day on the Island, Mahpek booked us in for fishing, since he knew I really wanted to go try out, and missed out the chance in Queenstown. It was SO fun! I can't wait to go back and do it again. I guess we were lucky too, because the spot our fishing guide took us to had heaps of 'fish action' going on, and we never had to wait longer than a few minutes for a tug on our rods. We were taken to the part of the sea that was on the outskirts of the Island, where mainly snapper resided.

When we stepped onto the boat, our fishing guru, Mark, took one look at us, and said, "You two have never been fishing before have you?" He was judging by the way we were dressed up for fishing. So, he made our life really easy. Our hands never got dirty or wet; he cut up all the bait for us, and all we had to do was lift up our rods and say we needed more bait, and he'd hook it on for us. Each time we caught a fish, we'd call for him, and he'd come, lift up the fish for us, unhook it, kill it, and fillet it for us.
Some argue, that's not called fishing anymore, that's just holding the rod. I beg to differ. It really is tiring, reeling in a fish. Our good bait, which made the snapper go crazy. Step One in catching a fish that will feed 5 families: Jerk the rod hard when you feel the slightest tug. Step Two: When you know fish is hooked, call for Mark. Step Three: Now call for Mahpek to snap a picture while Mark holds fish for you, so you still don't have to actually touch it. Step Four: Get Mark to fillet fish, so you can distribute to the 5 families.Finally! Mahpek manages to catch his first fish, so he can shut Mark and I up for teasing him about his fishless-ness. All in all, we went home with one huge snapper (which was worth about $60 on the market), and four medium sized snappers. We gave the silver Kahawai fish to Mark, because he helped us catch two of the snappers. We caught much more than that, but had to throw them back into the sea because they were too little. Mahpek, being a mahpek, suggested to sell the big fish and keep the money, but it ended up... ...on the table as steamed fish dinner! As you can probably imagine, dinner the next few days was snapper curry, pan-fried snapper, grilled snapper, and tumerick-curry snapper.

Oh, and how could I not take a real picture with my 4kg snapper as evidence? That, wasn't such a good idea. Turns out this 4kg bugger gave me my conjunctivitis the next day. Probably didn't wash my hands properly, and it got into my eyes. Next morning, I woke up with gunk oozing out of my blood-shot eyes. Die also can still revenge. Sigh.

Last but not least, I shall take this opportunity to thank Mahpek for all the effort put into creating one of the most unforgettable birthday presents I've received. A celebration spread over two weekends comprising of a piece of jewelry, several yummy dinners, a movie, and an all expense paid holiday to a nearby island. Good times, good times. Thank you many times. I know you don't even spend that much money on yourself, so I really appreciate your generosity :) Hope the hole in your wallet is patching up well. Hehe. T.h.a.n.k.y.o.u. <3>

Just Follow What?

2008-10-17T08:47:00.001-07:00

Random ponder: I mean, seriously, wouldn't any reasonable person think deferred tax is completely unnecessary and should just be scrapped?

Entry 49
Oh man, I have discovered something that can potentially beat a Stephen Chow movie for me.
'Just Follow Law' is the BOMB! It's a Singaporean show, which very cleverly and hilariously illustrates the reality of 'office politics', ranging from security guard matters all the way to CEO matters, and the reality of how 'efficient' governmental departments are.

It also manages to incorporate the diversity of the multiple cultures, races, and languages, which makes Singapore and Malaysia so unique and lovable (minus government politics in relation to the latter). The show contains Bahasa Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien, Sing-lish, Cantonese, and even Tamil, with well-translated English subtitles.

If you're up for some laughs, I'd definitely recommend you on watching this. I was laughing hard out almost every scene, and it wasn't just LOL laughs, but laugh-til-I-curl-up laughs. I'm still up at 5am, in front of my laptop, blogging about this fantastic movie, because I just opened it on my laptop again, and forwarded to the funny scenes and kept pausing, rewinding, pausing, rewinding and still managed to crack up hard out all over again! I am aware some of you may not trust my movie taste, since I claimed the 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan' was a good watch, but it wouldn't hurt to trust me on this one.

Somebody's getting political

2008-10-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: If you've changed your incoming message tone on your phone to something like 'Option 4' to continue an inside joke, don't forget to change it back when you're in the dead-silent info commons at uni. You'll get some weird-as looks while your face is burning, trying to conceal that it was indeed your phone that just made the most retarded message tone. *Grr Prev!!

Entry 48
Grumpy old man vs. smart,calm,damn good speaker. I must say, E! has sparked my interest in the recent ongoing presidential debates. How could E! have possibly achieved this? By including a clip of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel *ugh* giving a short performance and speech on their political views, on the 'E! Daily Top 10'.

After being inspired by JT's speech, I flicked to a channel I think I've never really flicked to since I moved in - The BBC channel, where there were replays of the most recent presidential debate. I was blown away. The way they debated, and hit out at each other was in such a refined and diplomatic manner, that it almost seemed like a compliment to be criticised or personally attacked.

One of the first political debates I ever witnessed was the ones in the Malaysian Parliament, and my my, such a vast difference. It was more like a free-for-all, no-order-whatsoever, pasar malam in Parliament, with politicans calling each other monyet, bodoh , and shouting at each other to duduk, not forgetting the countless pointing of fingers each time one wanted to accuse another. The overseer of the so-called debates was just perched there for ornamental purposes. After experiencing Obama vs. McCain, I was exposed to what a real debate was like, since I was so turned off from knowing anything more about politics after watching the monyet scene.

Somehow Obama reminds me of a big, kind, cuddly teddy bear. Maybe it's because of his ears. Alternatively, I could picture him as the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), straight out from the Roald Dahl book. Would I favour him? Definitely. Does it have anything to do with Mr Timberlake? Let's just say celebrity endorsement is pretty effective, and can go a long way. Minus Ms. Biel, of course.

Inception of Adulthood

2008-10-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: What else would people like Britney Spears want to achieve in life, after experiencing great success at such a young age.

Entry 47
Upon receiving my 'key of freedom', I began to reflect, and also project. Note, the key on the right is a beautifully handmade card, made by my ever-so-artistic-and-creative yingzie-poo.

I wondered what I'd do in life, and whether I was just floating around aimlessly. Thus, I have come up with a list of 100 things, (open to subsequent additions) that I wish to achieve on earth during the course of my life.

It took a while coming up with them, but it should do for now. I think it'll be fun crossing them off one by one, and make me appreciate the greater things that I've experienced in life, instead of just taking them for granted.

I present to you...

The 100 List

Schindler's List sounds so cool, original, and indicative of something of great importance, whereas Wong's List just sounds plain boring, and like a not-to-be-taken-seriously thing. So, I'll stick with The List.

Turning Twenty-One

2008-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: After living in my new place for more than half a year now, you'd think I would have mastered the art of showering properly in my shower box. How I manage to bang my elbow against the walls, without fail everyday, beats me.

Entry 46:
How did it feel reaching the 'grown up' stage? Extremely grand, considering all the special treatment I got. I just wish to slow down in the ageing process now that I've reached the 'beginning of adulthood' stage.

Very belated post, I know. But I'm slowly catching up, and bridging the 'missing gap'. I had an awesome time on my 21st, and thank you to all who sent wishes and came :) It made a great difference, and made me feel special (in a good way). Because I've had lots of 'other' types of comments about being special in another way, which isn't usually so good.

Dinner on my birthday eve was at none other than The Observatory at the top of the Skytower. It's a buffet (yipeedoo!) restaurant, with lots to eat. I can't tell you how much I love buffets. The thought of just eating as much as you want and paying a flat price for it is like paradise. I ate so much one time at Shangri-La Hotel back in KL, that I actually got sick - a major indigestion followed by a fever, and er, significant bowel movements. The mahpek took me, of course, and surprisingly we both managed to resist the magnet pulling us towards the casino.

Mahpek then handed me my gift in the car; it was a paper bag with a small little Body Shop set inside, with a lip balm, 2 shower gels, and a shower scrub. He apologised for not having the time to get me a better gift because he was busy with work, and spent a lot on dinner, to which I totally understand. So, that was that.

The next day, we went to go see The Dark Knight in the afternoon, and I didn't really enjoy it too much. Honestly, I found it a little boring. I was so hyped up to see it, because everyone said it was a must-watch, but, I came out not really satisfied, and am definitely not planning to watch it again. A bit too dark, for my liking.

And, then...I went over to hang out at Mahpek's place for awhile, and he asked me to help him get something for him from the cupboard. I open it, and see another paper big where I find this inside:
A 10carat white gold, heart-shaped diamond necklace! Featured on the proud, new owner. Mahpek chose it all by himself, with only the help of the sales assistant. Not bad, not bad, exactly what I love :) I love it okay? And, inside the birthday card, I found 2 pieces of A4 paper. What did it say?

That, I was going on an all expense paid vacation in Waiheke Island and staying in the Luxury Bungalow at the Palm Beach Bungalows resort the following weekend! I was ecstatic!

Not forgetting what came in the mail a couple of days later...
My other, other-half couriered a heart-shaped, Swarovski crystal necklace - complete with certificate, all the way from Edmonton, Canada! Do I love this girl or what?! And, she bought one for herself too, so we'd have the same necklace! And yes, ST, for the 100th time, I really LOVE it! And YOU! Thank you! <3 And a very special thank you to Aunty SY for her extremely generous, and useful gift. It has helped me tremendously, and don't worry, I've used it wisely :) Appreciate it so so so much!
Like I said before - the sweetest lady, and coolest mum (of course, not forgetting my mum too), with a very liberal mentality, which makes communication relaxed and easy. Lots of love <3 style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lAPTD05rX0o/SPHv8EM1IpI/AAAAAAAAAoo/sG0-3_6BpyM/s320/P1010885b.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256246055316824722" border="0">Followed by a cake with candles, that had flames that refused to die, no matter how much I blew on them. I apologise for spraying the surface of the cake with saliva. Lol.
Followed by none other than hitting the bar for a few good ol'fashioned 21st birthday drinks. And where else, but Sixth Sense.
Notice how I always have a glass of ice water handy, to wash down the foul taste, and hold down anything that wants to regurgitate itself back up. Unfortunately, it didn't work when an undisclosed party tricked me into downing a shot of Midori, when it was actually Absinthe.

They were both green in colour, so I believed this undisclosed party. In case you haven't realised, Absinthe is almost double the potency of Midori, and when I downed it happily thinking it was sweet Midori, I got the most unpleasant surprise. Once it finished its course down my throat, I knew that feeling and that time. Time to go visit the toilet bowl. The bitterness somehow just triggers the involuntary regurgitation muscle. Read as: I am not a good drinker. After I had rid myself of the toxin, I felt so good, and everything went back to normal...the party went on. Meet the guy with the funkiest dressing sense - his new cowboy shirt, and dancer girlfriend. Meet the guy on the left who's favourite hobby next to DotA is camwhoring. All in all, I had a fantastic night, and to everyone's disappointment (except Mahpek and Mother), I chose not to attempt 21 shots, and made sure I stayed mentally clear the whole time. Folks, I am growing up to be a mature, responsible, boring fart adult now. Ha ha ha. No really, when I was relating the story back to Mother, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear or not, but I made her listen anyway, and she was extremely pleased that I did not attempt the whole 21 shots and just escaped with a short visit to Mr Toilet Bowl, though she was highly grossed out at hearing of the details. Nonetheless, she was glad that no havoc was caused. Thank you everyone again, I purely enjoyed myself, and felt very loved :D

Queenstown, Day 3

2008-10-02T02:58:00.001-07:00

Random ponder: Is the secret ingredient to make perfumes longer lasting really the backside of a skunk?

Entry 44:
Cring! The alarm goes off at 7am, and we rush off to try and catch the tour bus to Milford Sound again, hoping the weather would have cleared up by today. Though I was a little skeptical because the night before it was snowing very lightly in the heart of Queenstown city itself (normally it just snows up on higher area, near the mountains). I dress myself with 5 layers - 2 singlets, a thermal, a sweatshirt, and a thick-ass pink windbreaker. The sky is still dark, the sun hasn't risen. I open the door, and wham...I see the whole place WHITE. When i say the whole place, I mean everything is WHITE. I can't even see the colour of the roads, the trees, the steps. Everything was just covered in snow, except the lake. I stepped onto it, and it was fresh, soft snow like the ice you get in ais kacang. My heart sank; we most likely had no chance of getting to see Milford Sound. Once again, reiterating the fact that my main objective of flying down to Queenstown was to see this magnificent place. Few seconds later, Mahpek (yes, a fascinating new word I learned recently, describing a Malaysian Ah Pek) meets me outside, and mumbles a few mahpek expletives.

Still walking to the bus stop with hopes, true enough, the trip is cancelled. On the other hand, it's the first time it's snowed in the Queenstown city itself in a long time, so we decided to play with the snow, which was literally everywhere. But not before Mahpek gets his daily fix of food...
With the flash on, to capture a glimpse of the snowflakes on camera.
Rather disheartened that this was the last full day of our trip, and we didn't know when we'd return again (because it's not a cheap holiday and if I saved up again, I'd probably want to go somewhere else right?), we decided to make the most of what was left, and go skiing since we had the whole day left. They say some of the best ski slopes are around Queenstown.

So we rent all our gear and pay for our day pass, and wait for the ski shuttle to pick us up. The bus stops around the corner, and Mahpek & I, lugging all our heavy ski gear go running after it, and...Guess what? ALL the ski mountains closed 5 minutes ago, and would be closed for the rest of the day! I was so emo by now, I tell you. So off we went, lugging all our ski gear back to the shop to return it and get a refund.

There really wasn't much left to do in Queenstown with the weather deciding to be all cranky when we were there. We couldn't go fishing - too cold and dangerous. If we fell in the water, it'd be 2 minutes before we'd get hypothermia. Couldn't go up the gondola (cable car) - too dangerous. Couldn't go to the luge - too dangerous. Couldn't go skydiving - too dangerous. Couldn't go bungee (well you could, but I was most certainly not going to do that). So, the next best traditional thing to do?
SNOWBALL FIGHT!!! Boy, was it fun. We ran around the whole city, making snowballs out of everywhere - from the ground, from the trees, from people's cars, and reenacting a Bollywood scene by running around parked cars and trees in circles, popping our heads out every now and then to take an aim at each other. Expectedly, there were many fake truces.
Look! A poo-poo head!
Okay. I couldn't resist. You see a pile of fresh, untouched snow on someone's lawn. You just have to do it right? Snow angel - Patrick (from Spongebob) style.
...... Some sort of unearthly snow morphling....
Say hello to Froly. FYI, it's not easy to build one; it actually took quite long.
Now say hello to Froly Singh.

And then, the mini bungee trampoline thing caught my eye.
Now, if you know Mahpek, you'll be aware that he's afraid of heights. But, Chris Martin lookalike (picture above) and I managed to convince him. CM lookalike kept questioning his masculinity - "Mate, she's gonna remember this one for a long time; the day where you were too chicken to jump on a trampoline, and she's doing it". After some persuasion, and feeling that his masculinity was in jeopardy...
The weather cleared up, and we were allowed up onto the gondola, to the top of some mountain.
View from the gondola.
Having lunch at the restaurant at the top of the mountain.
The view of where we were eating from the outside.
While waiting for the luge to open, we were genuine camwhores at the lookout point. The views from there of the mountains and glaciers are breathtaking...
After being outside camwhoring for about 10 minutes, the cold really gets to you, and it feels like the smile on your face was botox-ed there, hence our half-smile-half-constipated looks.

Finally, the weather cleared up, and the luge was opened!
Catching the chairlift to the top to sit on the luge.
Somebody was so kiasu, he just wouldn't accept that I kept winning our little 'luge race', and wanted to prove to me he could overtake me. See lah, what happened. He didn't brake towards the end, when there was a blatant sign saying SLOW DOWN, TRACK ENDING, and I hear this crashing sound, and turn behind to see him overturned in his little luge cart, sprawled on the track. My initial reaction was to burst out laughing, because, I mean, who falls out of a luge?!?! Furthermore, there are cameras towards the end to take your 'finishing shot', so he was just worried about whether it was taken or not, because after that it gets screened up on this TV for everyone to see so they can select their photos! Oh yeah, he wasn't hurt :p

It was still early, so we decided to find something else to do...Rent a two seater bicycle and ride through the Queenstown gardens!
*gasp* Faceless Void?
You know, I'm just curious on who would be enticed to purchase and consume chocolates that resemble Kiwi Poo? They had all kinds of 'poo' too - Cow Poo, Sheep Poo, Rabbit Poo. Clueless.
This place here became our second home during the whole trip. *Meant to be read in (Malaysian English) - Everyday, morning one visit. Night one visit. Sometimes, afternoon also got visit. I became acquainted with the blackjack dealers' names, and what shifts they worked. Whereas, ManglishMahpek was very acquainted with the roulette dealers' and what shifts they worked.

Unfortunately, Uncle Wharf, and Uncle Skycity (the other casino in Queenstown) were not very generous with me, and instead took many contributions from me. On the other hand, my Mahpek found great favour in both the Uncles, and was given generous rewards. When I say generous, oh, I mean generous. *grin*

We didn't get to go to Milford Sound.
We didn't get to go skiing.
But, we got to have a decent shower.
We got to bump into 10 other Malaysians holidaying at the same time with us, in the same town.
We got to be high-rollers for a night in Wharf Casino (Okay, not me, but high-roller's girlfriend).
We got to make snowmen and have snowball fights.
We got to see breathtaking scenery that will be etched into my memory forever.
We got to discover we're not bad travel partners.
We got to freeze our asses off.
And, we got to have a superb holiday (minus an initial trivial misunderstanding).

GAAP

2008-09-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: I wonder if fish feel pain when they get hooked and thrown back into the sea.

Entry 44:
GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The standard guidelines and conventions that guide financial accounting practices.

How about God Always Answers Prayers?
I've been having problems with my eyes ever since I contracted conjunctivitis almost 2 months ago. I couldn't wear my contacts for a long time, and when it finally cleared up and I started wearing them again, it just wasn't comfortable anymore, and my eyes became irritable.

So, I went to find an optometrist that could check my lens. Apparently my type of lens is not common in NZ, and there's only 2 places in Auckland that may have the expertise to help me. I waited two weeks just to get an appointment, and was told to be prepared to fork out $120 just for consultation! That sounded completely absurd to me, as back home, consultation and services are always free; you just pay for the products. And it's not like optometrists back home don't make a lot of money. Anyhow, it was necessary, and I couldn't delay the checkup til I went back to KL.

I went today, squeezed into a tight little parking and put $2 in for an hour, thinking it wouldn't be that long. I came out 2 hours later, and was praying that I wouldn't get a ticket, and I didn't! But, the important thing is, I've been praying lately that God would provide for my eyes, because $120 is just too expensive just to check your eyes - and you'd still need to pay hundreds more for the actual lens itself.

I know God always answers prayers, just not in the form that we want it all the time, but He does. While I was hoping for an obvious answer such as finding $120 under the 'Money In' column in my bank account deposited by some mysterious someone, or that I'd find an anonymous envelope for that amount, the blessing came in another form.

As I was paying at the counter today, I was only charged $44! Almost 3 times less than normal. That just saved me a lot of money, because I know elsewhere I wouldn't be able to get a consultation that cheap in NZ, and personally, I don't think it's worth it to pay that much to them. If optometrists in Msia can provide the same standard of service, if not, even higher for free, why can't they here? Furthermore, they don't even have the technology to make my type of lens here, so it's plain ridiculous *angst cue*. Moving on, I would like to thank God, and I while I'm not as acquainted as I should be with the first meaning of GAAP in relation to accounting, I'm pretty sure about the second one.

Queenstown, Day 2

2008-09-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: If one suffers from repeated coincidental knocks to the head, what could potential long term effects be?

Entry 43:
Cum Friday morning, and we had to rise at 7am to catch the 8am bus to Milford Sound! They have things like a 'mirror lake', where the lake is so clear and facing a snow-capped mountain, so the reflection is amazing. My main objective of the whole trip to Queenstown, was to just travel to this place! It's a 5 hour drive there, and then we were supposed to go on a day cruise with a buffet at our destination. *Note, the words were supposed to.

Two and a half hours down the journey, we stopped for a toilet break at a place called Te Anau. We were given 15 minutes to have a coffee. As we are boarding the bus, in assumption of continuing out journey, the driver says we cannot proceed because the weather conditions further down the journey are too bad, and we wouldn't be able to go through this narrow tunnel to get there. So, we have to turn around, and travel another two and a half hours back to Queenstown. Our consolation? We get to watch the DVD Team America on the bus television. I pity the awkwardness felt by parents who had their young offspring on the bus with them watching this show. David was angst, of course, because he tried going to Milford Sound twice in a row on his trip to Queenstown two years ago, and it failed because of weather conditions, and it failed again this time. So, he still hasn't gotten to see this magical place, and has come up with a theory that Milford Sound doesn't even exist.

Upon reaching back Queenstown again, half the day was gone, so it was too late to go up to the ski field to go skiing (my second objective of going to Queenstown). It was raining, so the luge, and gondola was closed too. When it rains in Queenstown, there's pretty much nothing to do, since it's an outdoor activity attraction, so we had to find things to do indoors, that you couldn't do in Auckland to make out trip worthwhile. So...

Yes, we thought role-playing Blades of Glory was the next best thing to do in Queesntown. Simultaneously, I discovered that my boyfriend quite bluntly put, sucks at ice-skating. I'm not quite sure if it's the fats or apek-ness :p But, no really, his balance isn't too good, so I was quite the tongkat half the time.
After flipping through some brochures in attempts to find fascinating indoor activities, the Onsen Hot Pools caught my eye. You get to book your own room with a private spa pool and shower in it, for one hour. Due to certain accommodation arrangements *cough* backpackers shared bathroom *cough*, I decided it would be worthwhile to pay $70 for an hour of fresh, clean, hot water to bathe in. My my, I strongly recommend anyone who goes to Queenstown to go this marvelous place. The decor is cozy, service is top notch, and something unique about it, is that when you're relaxing in the onsen (Japanese style hot pool), you can press the button that will retract the roof, so you're in the pool - out in the open. And it gets better, the pool is facing the mountains, and it was snowing that time! It's a strange feeling - light snowflakes falling onto you while you're submerged in a tank of 40 degrees temperature water, and looking up at the stars. A slight mistake was that I booked the pools for 6pm, and in mid-winter, by this time it's pitch black; so I was more of looking at the silhouette of the mountains.

I didn't bother taking pictures since once I was in, I did not want to get out. So this is the waiting area, where you wait while they prepare you're pools for you - shower complete with shampoo, conditioner, body gel, and the changing rooms were absolutely delightful. So worth my money just to take a nice, peaceful shower, and get changed in a dimly lit, fragrant, CLEAN-feeling area, without having to worry that should you drop a piece of clothing on the floor while changing in somewhere like, oh, I don't know, half-star backpackers bathroom, that that piece of clothing will need to be discarded. Apologies for the over-exaggeration of dissing. I think I just got a really bad backpackers for a first time experience, I've heard there are a lot better ones out there.
We then proceed to dinner, and since we had a nice Italian dinner the night before, Ahpek gets to decide tonight, and surprise surprise - Lakeside Chinese Restaurant. Of all places, we bump into 2 fellow Auckland-ers who are holidaying in Queenstown too. After dinner, while crossing the road, we bump into a car-ful of Malaysians who are up in Auckland with us too, and hoorah, mini-reunion.
Day Two's night concludes with our MMR - Mini Malaysian Reunion at a Queenstown bar and we are left with the hope of getting to journey to Milford Sound in Day 3, since it was canceled in Day Two.

Queestown, Day 1

2008-09-25T03:12:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: What's the rationale behind making future accountants in NZ study for 4 years, even though they've graduated in 3?

Entry 42:

After spending two days in Christchurch, we flew to our next destination - Queenstown. I fell in love with this place, it's so gorgeous, and most certainly the most 'happening' town in NZ! In winter (when it gets dark at like 5pm there), clothing shops, outdoor food stalls, cinemas are still open til at least 9pm! Amazing (in NZ standards). There was this outdoor mamak place selling burgers, and the poor guy was wearing woolen gloves to cook the burgers and serve people because it was so cold. Everyone seems to be so friendly down there, and mostly everyone is a tourist, so you'll keep bumping into familar faces over the span of your trip.

So we arrive on a Thurdsay morning, and the town is surrounded by water, with nearby mountains. So beautiful! When we first arrived, the mountains looked like this:
A nice brownish hill dusted with snow, like icing sugar on a cake.
The trusty airplane that got us there. Even the airport is so pretty!

Half the day was gone from trivial matters such as checking in, and finding a place to eat, and by the time we had settled down, the sky was dark already. So, we ended up taking a walk (and mind you, it was even colder than Christchurch now), and going for a game of indoor mini golf! It was awesome! The course was so creatively designed, and pretty challenging.Notice the golf hole at the top left, circled in blue.
After spending about an hour in Caddyshack Land, we went for dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant, where it was so alive in there. So many tourists, friendly service, and most importantly, good food!After a sumptuous meal, we decided to retire to our repsective accommodation - Lakeside....wait for it, wait for it....BACKPACKERS! Yes, we decided to try out backpackers, to save on accommodation, since we weren't planning on being in the rooms much! It was a first for me, and...let's just say, if I can afford it in future, I will not opt for it! Thank goodness it was not the type where you had to share with random strangers, but it had a very old, shabby feeling, and the bathroom was shared. Yikes. The room itself was bearable, and had a decent heater, which I think was on 24-4 (for the amount of days we were there), so that was alright. I mean, to be fair to Lakeside Backpackers, it wasn't dirty or anything, but it just felt...unpleasant. I couldn't bring myself to using the toilet, but when you gotta go, you gotta go, right? I did, however, withhold from showering there. Okay, so I skipped a couple of showers over the 4 day trip, but in my defence, it was 0 degrees, and sometimes -4 degrees, so there really isn't going to be any persperation coming out from anywhere! When I did get round to showering, I paid $35 dollars for it! More on that in Day 2 :)

Chronicles of the Missing Gap: Part III, Subpart I

2008-09-23T09:18:00.001-07:00

Random ponder: Why is it called daylight saving?

Entry 41:

Okay, so thinking that you are so-the-know-it-all, and decide to start cramming for a test 2 days before, is so-the-big-mistake. Yet, here I am, about to blog about the beginning of my South Island trip in retrospect.

So, I hopped on a plane on the evening of my last paper last semester, and flew down to Christchurch. The trip was supposed to be an early birthday present from Mother. When I say it will be a 'picture-ful' few, yes few, upcoming posts on South Island, I kid you not. South Island is so extremely beautiful, how can one resist from taking thousands of pictures of it?

Touch down in Christchurch around 10pm. 9 missed calls from Kimberley (i.e, my personal shopper who scouts for nice clothes in my size in KL and brings them back to Auckland), who seemed to be having trouble finding a shirt I wanted. Boy, was she tulan. Exit airport to meet my uncle who we're staying with. Oh my gosh is it frigid.

Next day, we wake up around noon (I know, so much for waking up early to sightsee in winter), and head for Akaroa - the first French settlement, which might I add, has a population of only 550 people.

The drive was about 2 hours, and halfway, we stop at a cafe on top of the hill, brilliantly called Hilltop Cafe, and see this...
...my cousin talking to an Akaroan lamb. "Yo. How's it going? Sorry man, but I'm gonna eat you one day. You're cute, but probably tasty. Eh, wonder what you taste like *munch munch munch*"
Plus this amazing view of one of the Akaroa lakes, but it was too cold for comfort to sit outside and soak in the view.
And then, we came across this...

...the most ulu cyber cafe. Guess who turns to me and says, "Eh look! Eh, wonder if fast enough to go on Battlenet!!" [to play DotA] Sometimes, I wonder if that's all he ever thinks about.

Anyway, we go to the must-go-to in the city - Christchurch Cathedral...
And then, we head off to the *gasp* casino to try some luck...
Where boy gets lucky in roulette, and girl gets trashed in blackjack. You notice how you'll never see a clock inside the casino building? We didn't even notice the time passing, and before you know it, it's way past dinner time. We spent a few good hours in this evil place.

Okay, back to stressing over bad time management.

A Skip Ahead from the Missing Gap

2008-09-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Random ponder: What will be the future of Malaysia?

Entry 40
I earned revenue tonight. For being part of a company's awards night's 'theme'. The dinner was held in Langham Hotel, and their theme was 'Oriental Ninja'. Hence, cue my job. No, not as the Ninja. But, as the Oriental, dressed in a black cheong sam 'floating around' being a part of the theme's backdrop of lanterns, chinese fans, paper screen doors, and the sound of a traditional Chinese insrument playing in the background. Though they did hire real Ninjas too, who gave a spectacular performance.

Further into the night, 3 other Orientals and myself became live statues on stage, by being the MC's 'props', and we just stood there while he was carrying out his introductory speech. He cracked quite a few good ones, and I was trying to control myself from going into silent-laughter-with-body-spasms-and-cringing-with-constipated-like-face-because-of-the-bright-lights-shining-into-my-eyes. Solution: Think of something gross, like eels eating a whale's carcass at the bottom of the sea (yes, I saw it on Animal Planet last weekend, and images are still fresh), and then paste on a big smile, like you're happy to see the eels =)
*Oh, and if you were at the recent UMSA Ball, and saw a headless chicken running around at the beginning of the ending dance, you've correctly deduced that bright lights make me a little...wonky. Oh gosh, I'm never performing a dance in the front row ever again.

Anyway, basically we were paid to paint our nails red, put on evening makeup, do our hair up in a bun with chopsticks, stand by the stage to congratulate winners and pass them their awards and walk around in heels and cheong sams. Good old fun :D

I'm thinking I should stop teaching piano now?

Chronicles of the Missing Gap: Part III

2008-08-28T19:35:00.001-07:00

Entry 39:
So I was moaning incessantly about my exams a couple of months ago. Anyhow, the semester went by really quick for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the papers I took (for once).

I'm so glad I changed my major from Finance to Commercial Law. I don't know what I was thinking, even trying to attempt Finance, when my maths is like, dot dot dot,we shall not go there. I mean, thinking that my Calculus lecturer was talking about the Keanu Reeves movie The Matrix for at least 2 weeks, when he was actually referring to the mathematic matrix, has got to be a pretty blatant 'you-cannot-do-calculus-nor-trigonometry-nor-anything-math-related'. Ever. The nutty professor, used to stay up and do all the math assignments for me, and then write a step-by-step manual teaching me how to do it myself.

So, thank you nutty professor for noticing at a very early stage that my maths is like, dot dot dot, and for demanding that I should not do it.

Anyhow, while I was praying ever so earnestly for my exams, I promised God that no matter how I fared, I would still give glory to Him, though of course I hoped I would do well also lah. So, I tried studying as well as I could, and left the rest to God.

*Comlaw 320 - Intellectual Property: A
*Accounting 312 - Auditing: A-
*Comlaw 305 - Securities Markets Investment Law: B

Okay, so it's not gobsmacking like the nutty professor boyfriend's results last year, but hey, nutty professors' girlfriends are supposed to be sotong anyway, right. Haha. But, I'm pleased, and have so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for being blessed with such good friends and classmates like Jo Tan, txt-buddy/fellow comlaw-lover, whom without her, half my notes for 305 (which was at an unearthly 8am) would be blank!

So, I want to say thank you God for being so good to me! He has blessed me greatly in so many ways, by bringing me through the tough times, and surrounding me with so many wonderful people. All praise and glory goes to Him :)

'Do your best and God will do the rest.'

Chronicles of the Missing Gap: Part II

2008-08-20T06:14:00.001-07:00

Entry 38:
*NOTE: This is a very overdue post. My apologies to the birthday girl.
So, approaching Part II, my yingzie-poo which is code for 'fly', hit the big 20! (About, 2 months ago now, my bad). But she chose to disappoint me, by not breaking her casino virginity, even though she had her lovely dinner at the restaurant below Skycity. The birthday girl shouted us a lovely Spanish dinner at Bellota. Our dinner consisted of only 2 mains, and the rest was practically every single tapas off the menu! This was great for me, but a little problem for my cina-pek boyfriend, whom I had to explain several times what tapas were, how to eat them, and yes, that was all we were getting for dinner! NO rice with it!

It was a bit steep on the price side, but the food was great! They had unusual, exquisite tapas, which were delicious. Every single dish that came in, I would hear a faint whisper in my ear, 'What's that ar?', 'Eh, how to eat wan?', 'It's a goat cheese ball?! Can eat goat cheese or not wan??'

So, thank you Ms. Looi-who-was-denied-boarding-the-plane-back-to-NZ-because-she
-forgot-to-renew-her-visa!
You are my most entertaining friend, and pretty much never fails to crack me up! Or splash out at least one insult each time we meet. Or greet me with some nickname profanity. And have at least one vulgarity in each sentence. Tsk tsk.

Not to mention the most emo too!

She's the Karaoke Queen - you'll get cramps from laughing. Especially when she does her impression of 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance. You see wild head-banging, and a guitarist on her knees, and on the sofa. Classy.

.............

You are one of my longest friends, and you know I treasure our friendship :) You had my back lots of times too, and thank you for that. We've known each other 8 years now? Gosh, we've been through so much! You have taught me so many things in life; things that I do not need to have knowledge about just yet, but thank you in advance :) Heh.

May I now introduce to you one of the most scandalous girls *chuckle* who was the culprit in introducing me to the world of 'partying'. She was the first person to ever bring me into a nightclub in KL, when I was only 17? I still remember it was Nouvo! Haha. I was so noob and fascinated, and this girl was out on the dance floor like a pro, and she's younger than me! I remember Kim and another friend dragging me to the dance floor and forcing me to dance, and I had no clue how to. I was just standing there mortified, feet rooted to the ground, and once they both let go of my arms for a second, I scooted off like my feet were on fire. Next thing I know, I'm sitting outside with a bush and fountain as my company, trying to enjoy the experience, and I get visually 'abused', by having to witness things that 17-year-olds should never have to witness in real life *shudders* It took me so long to cast them out of my head Kim!! Grr...

Couple of years down the road, I started enjoying this fascinating nightlife in KL. Next thing you know, when her parents started to dislike it, 'Clubbing = Nat's house'. Either her parents were ignorant, or couldn't make the connection. They probably thought that every time she was staying at 'Nat's House', we were 'bonding' or playing 'masak-masak'. Lol. She even chose to stay at 'Nat's House' one weekend instead of flying to Paris with her Pilot Dad. My parents just could not believe it. Nat's House vs. Paris. Nat's House vs. Paris. Nat's House vs. Paris?! Hmmmm.... So don't say I never had your back poo!

Yes, those were the good old days, when we were so bored with our lives, we spent so much time in dark buildings playing loud music, which can be as easily achieved in our own apartments now. 2006? Haha! Check out the Stoner

The Ji Muis back in GRC
And you visiting me in Auckland 2 years ago!

Now, you're here studying to be a non-dodgy chiropractor! :D

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (belated now) and here are some memories from 2 months ago at your birthday bash!

Future Kimberley Kim? Lol.

Tell your man to behave!

Great to have you in Auckland too babe! Makes it a less boring, and less mind-killing place! We shall have reunion with the lim-pehs end of next year! Promise! Love you heaps! Xoxoxo.
-Manzie poo- Code for 'mosquito'. Beats me how we got the names. High school. Sigh.

Chronicles of the Missing Gap: Part I

2008-08-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Entry 37:
As time lapses, I think the easiest way to fill in the gaps is storybook style. I cannot even remember what I've been up to for the past month? Pictures have stepped in to help me.

I finished my exams more than a month ago, and it feels like I'm gearing up for it all over again! Stuck with assignments, tests, and what-nots. I just keep telling myself, remember this is your last semester for your degree, it will be the last time you have to do this, that, etc. Does it help? No.

Oh, before I forget, almost about 2 months ago now, we said goodbye to 2 friends. Sadly, they decided to go to the UK to find work.

Goodbye, David & Gjin!

Hope to see you guys again sometime, maybe minus alcohol, and minus rough Cantonese drinking games :p I will miss my fellow friend in summer on the beaches - the Ms. Baywatch!

Hmm, I found some other amusing pictures from that night too, and they involved pretty much the same people...

I leave you with the two Davids.

MIA

2008-07-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ponder: Should we really observe old sayings such as 'once bitten, twice shy'? Or, perhaps, thrice shy?

Entry 36:

Update 1: I have finally been liberated from exams! About a week ago.

Update 2: After my liberation, I hopped on a plane that same night to the South Island, and just returned to Auckland yesterday.

Update 3: I am still missing the oh-so-beautiful-and-pleasant Queenstown, and dreading having to wake up early just to teach for an hour tomorrow morning.

Update 4: Though I had something to be happy about today, I am so unexpectedly not.

Update 5: I am going to update, soon!

Gearing up for exams?

2008-06-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ponder: How do you cut your finger on a mouse pad, until blood comes out?! I is living proof.

Entry 35:
One week prior to my first paper, what am I doing? Eating salmon, bananas, and gingko to boost my brain up with brainpower?

Hmm, more like reducing brain capacity.

Cocktails. Cigars. Liquor. Gambling. The direct path to success!

Anyhow, I figured, it was a week before my first paper, and if brain cells regen the way life does when you're standing next to The Fountain, then all I needed to do was find my Fountain! Right?!

By the way, it's extremely frustrating that I haven't even had my first paper yet, when practically everyone is almost done, or done already!

So, off I went to a Mafia party, (which was conveniently named Cocktails, Cigars & Liquor) where the dangers of being shot by a gun with an orange sticker, meant you really had to down a shot of poison. Why, you may ask would I be at such premises? To celebrate the birth of The-Very-Smiley-Godfather who hit the Big 3-0! Happy Belated to Bronson! Actually, he looked more like Indi to me in his outfit.

Birthday Man - Far left. Blind Mafia - Far Right

It was a fun night out at Indi and his Beauty Queen's lovely new house. They even had a personal bartender, who kept the drinks coming all night long. Free-flowing alcohol is never a good thing.

Scrummy-licious food all prepared by the Beauty Queen

The place was filled with bad-boy-wannabes in their suits, with the lovely ladies in their elegant cocktail dresses; with the background music of 2 mahjong tables, and poker.

Pretty ladies in gorgeous dresses. The lady behind all this - in the orange dress.
Ken's a natural
If you look closely, you can see a ghost-head floating behind!
Shauny never fails to amuse me.
The after-effect of us victims who were 'shot', with tequila. *yuck*

19. 21. 24. The eldest is the shortest? Heh heh.
I like this photo of the 'Kian-Nette'

FYI, there appears to have been a photo epidemic lately, and evidence of this recent photo frenzy will be presented in future posts, shortly. YipeeDoo?

Oh, and I have come to conclude, that the bottle of Vodka is definitely not The Fountain.

Here, I leave you with the famous Giant-Shortie portrait:

Product of Unproductivity

2008-06-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

Ponder: Why does the University even allow 8am classes, when hardly anyone ever makes it?

Entry 34:
Today symbolised what one would define as 'unproductive'. Sigh. I tried studying at home today, to save me a short walk in the cold to the library. But, the gloomy sky distracted me. So did the enticingly, warm, blanket, stretched out on the bed that seemed to beckon me towards it. Not good news, when you're trying to catch up on at least half the semester's worth of stuff you've missed, because of inconsiderate lecturers deciding to teach at 8am. Thus, I have concluded that it is a necessity that I get myself to the library, and glue my buttocks to the seat.

Lately, it seems like blogging is one of the main things I look forward to at the end of each long day. So ironic, as I used to be such an anti-bloggist. What's worse? Irregardless of my urge to blog, I have nothing blog-worthy to write!

Hmmm...How about, I watched 21 yesterday? Awesome show! I'd highly recommend it to gamblers :) In the car, I excitedly said to Dav, "I want to learn how to card count!!" He just looks back at me with an unimpressed "Cheesin! You think so easy, meh? Movie, only lah" remark. *Note: Strong cina accent, due to ah pek-ness. Just you wait, I'm in the progress of card-counting research, and we'll see who has to swallow that 'movie only lah' remark!

On a lighter note...

2008-06-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ponder: Why do drug traffickers get dealt with death penalty, but not murderers and rapists?

Entry 33:
Alright! Enough of this! Off you go Procrastination, I bid you farewell, and hope not to see you anytime soon. Meanwhile, I wish to welcome Academic Hibernation, where I will be living in my little cave of books as the study hermit.

Yeah, right.

Anyway, on the way to Academic Hibernation from Procrastination, I made a little detour to Mega P-night! It consisted of Previn's Party at Polliwood (okay, it's actually called Bolliwood), in Ponsonby, followed by Pool and, of course, Poker! Not to mention, he was my Pool Partner for the night! Who did an amazing 'Stephen Chow-like' fluke winning shot!
A bunch of P-ians gathered together in memory of Mr. P's birth, x years ago.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PREVIN!!

Kena marah kah, kawan? Hehe.

I cleverly fixed my camera the day before, and then forgot to bring it -__-". So, I don't have anymore pictures...except for...

Seems like Prev is pretty fond of your smile Darren? Something to do with your nickname perhaps? *chuckle*

And, of course, a nice one with the Birthday ~~Boy~~ Lelaki Muda

It was definitely a Prev-tastic time! Thanks for the invite, and hope you enjoyed yourself! Take care of that lovely Missus of yours! :)

Undercover Emo on Patrol #1

2008-06-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Ponder: Why did God allow sadness and create tears?

Entry 32:
I stopped reading the newspapers a long time ago. I just ended up crying after reading it everyday, because it was heartbreaking to hear how people in the world could commit such heinous crimes, or how devastated people were after a natural disaster. So, I'm pretty much left lurking in the dark on current affairs. Call it ignorant, self-denial, or just plain naiveness to think that we're living in utopia.

But after thinking about the sadness that overcomes those victims, or families of victims, the sadness that plagues me just because people shout and say hurtful things to me, just seems so trivial in comparison. The fact that my tears fall on deaf ears doesn't seem to matter anymore. The promise, that someone made to you a long time ago to not make you cry anymore, just seems so insignificant, that you forgot it even existed, because it's constantly broken.

If only, there was no such thing as sadness and tears, then the world would be a much happier place. Perhaps God is crying every time it rains?

Narcissism Visits a Nat

2008-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ponder: How does one cure 10-hour-sleep-syndrome?

Entry 31:

I have accepted the fact that I possess the inability to be photogenic. Send me to a professional photoshoot, and I'll still end up ruining the pictures somehow. Anyway, I tried to give it a go last year, when the University sent out e-mails to Commerce students requiring some to appear in 2008's prospectus. I decided to casually drop by, fill in some forms, and have some test shots/portraits taken (okay, it was a little embarrassing). Lucky I had a friend to accompany me hehe.

Few days later, I receive a call to bring some clothes along to the photo venue the following week.

Post one year, I'm walking past the Business Student Centre, and I see this blown-up poster on a stand that's taller than me, and after a few seconds only do I realize - haha! that's half my face! *cringes*
You see, I am not going to stand in front of the poster and take a picture of it like some sarkai, so I just stole this smaller version from the prospectus.
The drawing above indicates that we are now approaching the high zone of narcissism. So beware...
Open this book:
And you'll find this somewhere inside:

Spot the Asian lol

Open this book:
And you'll find this:

Once again, spot the Asian

Seems like the University likes half my face better :(

But, you know what I think was lacking?? If I had found this website --> The Dresshop I think the University would have appreciated my whole face much better! *Go on, click on the link!!

Alas! If only, I had discovered The Great Divide, Chambre di Bijoux, and Seasons earlier! Perhaps, I would have appeared more photogenic. Check out the handmade jewelry!

With such delicately elegant designs, how can it not beautify anyone? Addicted to them already? Remember, click on TheDresshop and explore away! *Note - very reasonable pricing!

Additionally, TheDresshop has just launched a new line of products, so not only can you buy clothes online, but accessories such as earrings, bracelets, handmade tops, and head wear too!
FYI, I was not paid to do this. I merely enjoyed these creations so much, that I felt I should share with everyone :)

Feeling the necessity to blog

2008-06-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Occasional ponder: Sometimes you wonder if you're doing the right thing. Should you get out of it now while you still can, or continue to hope that you've made the right decision?

Entry 30:

I finally saw Indi in action last week, and I think the storyline is frankly quite ridiculous. The action is the only thing you'd watch it for. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, because I was not anticipating its arrival anyway. Anyhow, it still possesses some entertainment value, and worth a watch! I'm just waiting to go watch 21, and one movie I really am anticipating is SATC! Right, girls? :)

Really, I should begin studying, but for some reason, it has always been difficult for me to start studying until the semester ends, and the study break commences. I guess I don't feel the pressure of running out of time yet. This is bad. But, at least my exams only begin on the 23rd, and end on the 30th (the last day). Furthermore, not an uncommon predicament for me, I face 2 papers on the last day of exams. Sigh. But I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed this semester; it has gone by so so fast, it's unbelievable. It's a good start to a new year, as I hated last year so much, I just want to forget about it. And, I am so glad that I changed my major from Finance to Commercial Law - it's so much more doable! It actually makes sense. If anyone is unsure of what elective or major to take in the degree, or graduate diploma, I would strongly recommend Commercial Law.

For my kind brothers and sisters out there who would love to pray for my exams *ahem*, and also curious to know what I'm studying, here are my dates:

June 23rd: Comlaw 320: Intellectual Property
June 30th: Acctg 312: Auditing, and Comlaw 305: Securities and Investments Law

I wish all the best to everyone who's facing finals this month! You can do it! God bless you, and will remember you in my prayers :) Study hard!

Care for some Stress Relief?

2008-05-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Daily-cum-Once-in-a-blue-moon-ponder (courtesy of Est): With the current world crises, is the end drawing near?

Entry 29:
As the first semester draws to an end, and the monstrous finals are coming up just around the corner, what have I been up to?

a) Preparing a study plan for myself?
b) Visiting lecturers to discuss additional problems that I've worked on?
c) Or better still, actually started studying?
d) Gone into a Stephen Chow frenzy?
e) _________________ symbolizes spaced out

I can imagine it is becoming rather annoying to have to keep clicking on links I'm putting on my blog, but only if it's worthy of such attention, will I post it up. And this, my dear friends, will definitely make your day.

The Stephen Chow Experience!

Call me The Overkiller, but this has become a daily ritual for me - to watch this clip at least twice a day since I stumbled upon it. If you're a Stephen Chow fan out there, you'll so love it! If not, and don't fancy Canto humour, then you may, just, start looking at me in a different light. Lol. Watch it!! This is a must-share! :D

On a less lame note, our group overall, did well for our presentations, and we received full marks for our audit presentation today! Yipeedoo! Thank you God :)

WoW

2008-05-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Entry 28:

For those of us who wish to keep up with our Bible readings, yet feel so tired, lazy, or whatever excuse we may have; fear not - for we have something in store for us! Something amazing is being planned and carried out, to reach out to as many people as possible, and I think it's truly remarkable! Check this out guys:

[Okay, I realized I can't upload any videos from Youtube because I haven't saved them, and due to my computer illiteracy, I don't know how to save them.]

So, instead, please click on this link:

THE COMPLETE BIBLE EXPERIENCE!

I know it's a bit troublesome having to click on this link and wait for the video to load, but do watch it! Nothing to lose! I assure you, it'll blow your mind away! In case this still does not interest you enough to go and watch it - Hint: they're making an audio version of the Bible, and lots of famous celebrities are involved too! Hit that link with your mouse now!

The virtue of patience

2008-05-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Entry 27:
I will not lose my temper.
I will not lose my temper.
I will not lose my temper.
(Multiply by 500).

Normally, I am a patient person. But when it comes to 10year olds thinking that they know everything, and actually scold you for telling them that they're playing a wrong note, or counting a beat wrongly, it takes the patience of a saint not to lose it.

Weekly, I have to waste time explaining to my student that she is indeed playing a wrong note. Yet, she still defiantly tells me that I'm wrong, and she is playing the right note. Even though lessons are one hour a week only; it's mentally tiring, trying to teach someone who can be rather obstinate, more often than not. I enjoy teaching piano, but it gets discouraging at times like these. Thankfully, her dad (who I might add, is a very nice man), was observing yesterday, and when he was paying me, told me that I have the patience of saint. Yippeedoo! Thus, I will not lose my temper (x500).

I need more students. Anyone in need of a piano teacher? One who will teach you whatever you want to learn? And may I add, has very reasonable rates too :) Leave me a message he he :D
Afraid that you're too old to start learning? Nonsense! It's never too late to learn something. Haha.

Distraction calls again

2008-05-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

Entry 26:

Was just in the middle of editing, more like desperately trying to chop words off my auditing assignment to fit within the word limit...and felt a little distracted, as usual. My attention span is that of a 3 year old. Anyhow...I started browsing through some old pictures, and look what I found!
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Haha, a former 'Heavenly 4 Kings' of Hong Kong. I sifted it from my pictures that I took when we went for karaoke sometime last year. Can't remember who was singing an Aaron Kwok song, but yes, this is what he has turned into, post-Heavenly King era. Why, Aaron, why?

Okay, now, back to editing!

It's all about Words

2008-05-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

Entry 25:

After a physically draining and emotionally challenging week, I got just the uplift I needed yesterday evening. I felt a bit down, unhappy, and unsatisfied during my week. As I pondered more upon my negative thoughts, the more dejected I became. Thankfully, I heard some wise and encouraging words at church yesterday, and the timing could not be better :)

Just to share a bit, the tongue is a very powerful 'weapon' indeed. It's true. Small in size, seemingly insignificant, but inevitably true. Things that we say to people, or things that are said to us can have lasting effects. Sometimes, we say many things to others out of anger or spite, which we do not mean, but we do not realize the impact that those words can have on another person. Though forgiven and presumably forgotten, those cutting words can always come back to haunt us later on, causing us to develop unpopular character traits. On the other hand, words of kindness and appreciation can go a long way. They boost your spirits, encourage and inspire you, and can motivate you to do great things.

Sure, we all have parts about ourselves and characters that we don't like, but inherently possess. Yet, there is still hope. Change can happen. All you have to do is pray, be patient, and go through the process of changing yourself. It is not impossible. I know, personally, there have been words spoken into my life that have had lasting effects on me, even though they were not 'meant' by other people. You try to forget them, but sadly, without you realizing, they creep into your life, and I know that as a result, they have slowly caused me to develop unlikeable characteristics. Change is difficult, no doubt. But with God's help, and you trying on your own, it is possible.

At no better time could these words of wisdom and encouragement speak to me. Most of us think more negatively than positively, and that is something I know I need to change. Just think about it; be careful on what you say to people. Being quick to think, and slow to speak brings you a long way :D

P.S: I forgot to mention in my 8 Wonders of Randomness that I am indeed an Undercover Emo :)

I have converted...

2008-05-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Entry 24:

The influence was too great.
The power was too amazing.
The increasing pressures were too much for me to handle.
Thus, I have succumbed to it.

Dear Friends,
I am now a WESTLIFE-ian, and I believe I have converted to Westlife-ism. Nonetheless, I remain strong in my faith in God; I'm just a Christian Westlife fan :)

In my defense, (as many of you will probably be groaning now, and thinking this is all Dav's fault), I actually did used to be a huge fan of Westlife when they first came out, and I was 12. I proudly owned one of their CDs (original, mind you) and was dying to go to the Sunway Lagoon amphitheatre to see them perform, but I was too young back then. That phase died out when Linkin Park entered the scene. So, my passion for Westlife was never really revived until that fateful day of May 10th, 2008.

In Dav's defense, I was not dragged to the concert. I actually did not mind, and wanted to go; I did not get to see them about 7 years ago anyway, and my ticket was free, so why not?

You know you're a Westlife-ian when you get that back-tingling sensation when the four of them, all looking very handsome and dashing jump out onto stage belting out a catchy classic tune, that whether you like it or not, actually know and can just automatically sing along to. In fact, you don't even judge them for looking a little, tiny bit gay in their first outfit.

All clad in long, black leather jumpsuits-cum-trench coats with sunglasses

Then, you realize that even without doing any preparation before the concert, you can easily name all four of them (at least their first names, and some of their surnames), and identify each one with no doubts from far.

For all the Shane Filan lovers out there...you know he's the ideal man, ladies :)

Furthermore, you can't help squealing when you see them in their famous 'typical' attire - very stylish vest-suits, and holding an umbrella doing a classy 60's-like dance, while performing an absolutely breathtaking harmonization, a capella of 'Uptown Girl'. Afterwards, they sang the song I had ultimately been waiting for...'Mandy'.

Blardi good I tell you!

And then...they needed to disappear backstage to change into their next outfit. Throughout their outfit changes during the whole concert, they never kept the audience waiting for more than 4 minutes or one song. They'd keep the band out there playing to entertain the crowd, so we wouldn't get bored. Guess what the band started playing when they disappeared? 'Naughty Girl' by Beyonce! Then...*drum roll* the four lads popped out in hip-hoppish attire, when the introduction of 'SEXY BACK' by Justin Timberlake started, and they sang the first verse of it!!

By this time, I had already converted. I was just in self-denial.

When it came to the part where they were supposed to sing "...take me to the chorus..." (of Sexy Back), they changed it to "...take me to the Jackson..." and proceeded with a Michael Jackson song - 'Billy Jean'. Creative anot, I ask you!? They consequently sang another popular non-Westlife song, but I'm unsure of the title; nevertheless, it was GOOD.

Hip-hop attire meant pajamas-looking pants to them

They then stole the fans' hearts away by having an acoustic section, where they all sat down with a few guitarists and sang classic favourites like 'If I Let You Go', 'Queen of My Heart', etc... Strangely enough, I just found my lips opening uncontrollably to sing along.

Kian was on the guitars too, and all the ladies went beserk.

Another symptom of falling into the vicious trap of becoming a Westlife-ian is when a crazy fan gets spotted in the crowd and is brought up on the stage, and then gets to talk to and hug all the members, and you're feeling a pang of emotional envy.
This lucky woman here got spotted in one of the front rows of the crowd, as a loyal fan who was in their Wellington concert as well. Apparently, Ms crazy-cum-deluded fan had Westlife sign their names on her arms at their Welly concert, and like that wasn't enough, she went and got them tattooed onto her arms so their signatures would be there forever. That's a picture of her showing off her tattooed arms. She's so loyal, she's actually from the UK, and followed them to their concert here. OKlah, she deserves it lah...talk about taking the definition of loyal or fan too far. Crikey.

By now, you're probably around the 95% danger zone of conversion when you can't stop yourself from screaming "encore! encore! encore! Westlife! Westlife! Wooooooo! encore! encore! encore!" And just about can't hold in your anticipation for them to return for their encore. Well, you can't blame me, when they come out 'looking like that'...

First encore song - "When You're Looking Like That"
Followed by, "You Raised Me Up" - just moves you to touching tears

By the time they had finished their goodbye speeches and went off stage, I actually felt this emotion within me; I believe it was sadness. That, was when I knew I had discovered and reignited the spark within me.

The spark for Westlife.

Before the concert started, Dav and I were having an argument on whether there were more people at Westlife or Justin Timberlake. Of course, I stood by JT, but now looking back...This was the arena that was actually full. Sad to say, fuller than it was for JT :( There were still small empty gaps at JT. Even sadder to say, I knew ALL of the songs Westlife sang that night, whether I chose to or not. I couldn't say the same for when I was at Justin. I think I actually kind of enjoyed Westlife a teeny bit more than JT. I'm ashamed.

Oh well, at least if I become totally obsessed with them (touch wood), Dav can't be jealous! He knows he's a Westlife-ian too!

Tickets were $125 each, and we sat on the top left hand corner of the arena and had a pretty good view.

*Note: That, (pauses for emphasis), my dear readers, was SaiMeng. 'Sai' = West. 'Meng' = Life. Boy, am I one heck of a translator or what?! Lol

Birthdays & Graduation

2008-05-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

Entry 23:

Over a week ago, my lovely Mother Crop turned 46! I made a trip down to visit her (special thanks to Swan for making that happen) and the rest of my family. I was unable to spend her birthday with her last year, and was very happy I could this year. Dav's entourage, consisting of his Mum and her family decided to come along too, to meet my family. Heh. Anyway, a deliciously home-cooked meal was prepared for our Family1 and Family2 lunch, and after Family1 left, Family2 went out for dinner for Mother's birthday. A diner/roast hut was the fanciest place we could find in little Te Awamutu, and she wouldn't let me buy dinner -_-" Mothers will always be mothers.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST MOTHER CROP!

Alike?

I'm about to talk about my lovely mother in the second person, as she does not read my blog, and actually, I don't think I'm quite comfortable with the fact that she would be reading this. Touch issues. Anyhow...

Very proud of her for being so strong for all of us. She's coping really well, taking care of my grandparents and brothers, and still being a great friend to me. After 10 years out of the workforce, she's adapting quickly to working part-time, and now, she's in Waikato Institute! No, not teaching, but being a full-time student. She's taking a one-semester course in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). So, after she graduates in July, she'll have a qualification in teaching English to foreign students anywhere in the world. It's weird, how she calls Dav and I up asking us to proof-read her assignments, and teach her how to reference her work. She has more assignments than me to do! But she's enjoying it a lot, and made some friends there, and I'm glad she's happy :) She's a great and cool mama which I'm very blessed to have! :D

On the trip, I also discovered my youngest brother got a cockatiel bird too, named Zach.

Sadly, Cody (the white cockatiel) passed away a few days after we left. He fell ill one night, and his feathers puffed up, then the next morning he fell off his perch and died. My brother was pretty upset.

Maybe this had something to do with it? Lol

Meanwhile, Dav bonded with his brother... And so did I :)

CONGRATULATIONS DAVID FOR GRADUATING AS THE TOP STUDENT, WITH FIRST CLASS HONOURS FOR HIS BACHELOR OF COMMERCE! :)

I am very very very proud of you, and extremely happy for you best friend! I'm really glad your family could make it this time, and it was a fantastic time! Sorry could not make it for your ceremony :( I've seen how hard you worked last year - juggling between 2 jobs, doing endless readings and preparations for your Honours, and also having to find time to care for me. You truly deserve it, and did a great job! Receiving a personal letter from the lecturers telling you that you are the top student in the whole Accounting Honours programme in University is a wonderful blessing, and congratulations again! (Though I am not very surprised; considering your brain works like a CPU). You have used your knowledge wisely to help people as much as you can, and also motivated me to study harder. Thank you :)

Warning: You are about to enter a rather picture-ful area. If you do not wish to proceed, end reading here :)

Wannabe graduate *ponders to self..soon my friend..soon*

The real thing
You better hope none of your managers are reading this *chuckle*
Did you know that you're actually not allowed to do that in the ceremony hall? Apparently it's dangerous, as the sharp corners of the hat can kill/seriously injure other graduates. So, future grads out there, may your little childhood dreams of being able to do that someday be dashed now.

A true gentleman, Uncle Liu
Saving Adrian's Privates?

I had to post this up. The dude lined up and waited to take picture with him! :D
Look up the word adorable, and you'll see this picture there :)

Just too cute
Somehow his face seems like he's either:
a) Tulan
b) -__-"
The sweetest lady, Aunty SY =)
Datalie? Navid? HAHAHA

To all the other graduates out there who graduated in the autumn graduation, big congratulations! :)
And to beloved Mother and best friend, love you both! <3>

The 8 Wonders of Randomness

2008-05-11T04:25:00.000-07:00

Entry 22:

Oh my. It appears I have been tagged? Yes, I have been tagged by the ~~alcoholic~~ famous Ms. Jo C to divulge 8 random facts about myself. As you all know, I am very the sporting, so here goes. Let's see how random this gets. Oh, and I'm waiting for the pictures from SaiMeng, so I can write about it.

One. When I get nervous, or excited thinking about something nerve-racking, especially in the presence of others, my armpits feel like there are needles poking them and start to itch.

Two. I am really attracted to raw red meat, like a nice, juicy, raw beef sirloin sitting on the shelf of Foodtown. I get hungry just looking at it, and think it looks so much nicer that way than when it's cooked, and I can often picture myself eating it like that, which is why I'm usually gawking at that section for quite some time when I'm doing my groceries.

Three. I use on average 3/4 to 1 toilet roll a day. That's why I think it's a bad idea to share toilet paper Huiling.

Four. Back in KL, I used to brush my teeth at least 5-6 times a day. Before I went out, I'd brush. When I came home, I'd brush. After a meal, I'd brush. So I used toothpaste up pretty fast too.

Five. Everyone used to call me Moonface when I was a toddler because my head ~~was~~ still is, too big for my body, and my face was round, chubby, and yellow like a moon.

Six. The things I wanted to be when I grew up ranged from Private Detective, Lawyer, Funeral Director, F1 racer, Psychologist, Mechanic, Haircutter, to Firewoman. Basically, Hong Kong TVB Series had a great influence on my ambitions; after watching one about firemen, I'd want to be a firefighter, so on and so forth. Now, I'd like to be a DotA gold medalist. If only. Maybe in about half a century, when everyone's playing Virtual Reality DotA by then.

Seven. When I see flashing lights, like the ones you see on smoke detectors, I count the number of seconds it takes to flash again. On average, your smoke detector will flash red every 6 seconds :D

Eight. If I find a particular scene from a movie funny, I'll pause and rewind, pause and rewind, and watch it over and over again til I absolutely killjoy it. It usually takes about 10-15 times in a row of watching it for the laughter to die down.

So, I think I am supposed to tag people now? I'm not quite sure how many, but I'd really like to see random stuff about people. heh. So will you do it for me? Opah? PaoPao? Swanny? Ah Mayne? Wanna give it a go? :)
*Opah - If you did not know at least 7 out of the 8 facts above, I'm disowning you.

It's time for 'SaiMeng'!

2008-05-10T00:19:00.000-07:00

Entry 21:

My Canto spasm just kicked in, and I'm going to watch 'SaiMeng' in about half an hour.

Gives you some time to figure out who 'SaiMeng' is before my next entry.

Ga yau! :)

p.s: Dav, it is NOT your brother.

Opah-Hood

2008-05-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

Entry 20:

Opah-hood. It's a wonderful thing, that not many people will experience in their life. It's the knowledge that you have someone there by your side, no matter how far away they are from you physically. They'll always have your back irregardless of what you've done. They'll never judge you for your wrongdoings. They'll help you see the bigger picture, by making you see other viewpoints, and tell you that you're wrong for your own good, but they'll still support you and be on your side. You know you would do the same for them too. It's a special, undying (hopefully) bond.

Even if you try to bluff them and hide your true emotions, they can sense the real situation, your real emotions, even from thousands of miles away. When they answer that phone, and just hear you say 'hello' they know something is not quite right, no matter how you try to conceal it. They just get you. They know you better than you know yourself. They understand how your mind works. They explain things to you, and tell you what to do to make things right. Such bonds of friendship come and go as we grow up, but it is rare to find one that truly lasts you, remains strong, and never changes, even with distance.

Such blessings are priceless, and I am ever so blessed to have an opah-hood the past 9 years and still counting. Canada just had to take it away from me physically :(
Thanks opah, you were a fantastic help like always, and it really is such a waste if you don't go into psychology :p
Really appreciate you, your counselling sessions, your friendship, and you sacrificing precious sleep for me :)
I'll be your number one patient :)
I miss you so :(