Blah, blah, blah.

I can't believe classes are starting soon.

Like in 3 days time.

WARGH.

And Zaty has gone back to Wellington. Went to send her yesterday, and I feel so sad cause I'm not gonna see her for age. =(

I miss Monash, but I don't know la. I want to say I'm gonna miss the summer holiday, but I've not been doing that much over the past month, so I'm not gonna miss it that much.

But I will miss sleeping in, though. Haih.

But then again, I've been helping with the MOlympic games (which is like a day full of games for the freshies and exchange students, sort of like a sports day in school last time la) today, so basically I've already gone to Monash, so it's not like I'm gonna be all like "Awwwwwww, I miss this place" next week. LOL.

Plus, cause I was sort of in charge of the prizes, I managed to get myself sunburnt during the prize-giving ceremony. I am the only one who is capable of being so careless as to get sunburn on a day when the sun was barely shining. Haih.

Oh yeah, and talking about being unlucky, I think I'm the only person that is allergic to the adhesives on plasters bacause when I put on a plaster to help cover my paintball wound, I ended up with a major itch around the area where I put the plaster and I had to eat some medicine for the stupid allergy to the plasters.

I mean, seriously, has anyone ever heard of a person being literally allergic to plasters????

Oh, totally off-topic, the other day my youngest sister said something very interesting.

My 13-year-old sister, Wani, wants to go for the Jason Mraz concert, so while the whole family were sitting down at the dinner table, Wani was asking my dad whether it was possible for her to skip school that day so that she can go watch the concert. My youngest sister, Zara, (who is eight, mind you) was sitting open-mouthed in front of Wani, astounded that her sister is even contemplating skipping school. And here's what she said to Wani, in a sort-of accusing tone:

"But Kak Wani, if you don't go to school, then what marks are you going to get for your exams? Ninety?????"

All around the dinner table, the five elder siblings (and my parents, too) were amused.

Apparently getting ninety in your exams is the worst thing that could happen in my sister's Standard 2 class.

Man, if the worst thing that could happen to me if I don't go for class is getting ninety in an exam, I wouldn't mind skipping classes!

God, I miss being a kid. =(

Oh yeah, a thought crossed my mind when I was watching the Mamma Mia DVD the other day.

Say two people fell madly in love, but something made them seperated. If they meet like 20 years later, is it possible for them to still be in love with each other? Or do they just fall in love with the idea of being in love with the other person?

I mean, you can't expect the person that you know to be the same person you knew 20 years ago right?

It's just a thought, though. LOL. It's quite obvious how bored I am, thinking about stuff like that.

Alritey, I'm going to dive under the covers now. I'm sleepy.

Nitenite!

When we're bored....

I was bored (which seems to be one of the major emotions I'm feeling right now, since I'm just sitting at home like 24/7) so I started reading this month's issue of Reader's Digest. It had this snippet of an article titled The Joy Of Boredom written by a lady called Carolyn Y. Johnson. I read the full article online, and here's some excerpts from the article that I find really interesting:

We are most human when we feel dull. Lolling around in a state of restlessness is one of life's greatest luxuries -- one not available to creatures that spend all their time pursuing mere survival.

To be bored is to stop reacting to the external world, and to explore the internal one. It is in these times of reflection that people often discover something new, whether it is an epiphany about a relationship or a new theory about the way the universe works.

Granted, many people emerge from boredom feeling that they have accomplished nothing. But is accomplishment really the point of life? There is a strong argument that boredom -- so often parodied as a glassy-eyed drooling state of nothingness -- is an essential human emotion that underlies art, literature, philosophy, science, and even love.

If people are slogging away at an activity with little reward, they get annoyed and find themselves feeling bored. If something more engaging comes along, they move on. If nothing does, they may be motivated enough to think of something new themselves. The most creative people are known to have the greatest toleration for long periods of uncertainty and boredom.

The article's quite an interesting read. And it provides for some kind of justification to us perpetually-bored people. Go read it when you're bored. LOL.

Oh, speaking of interesting articles, I find THIS one even more interesting. The boy doesn't look old enough to be a dad. He's 13 for God's sake. Now I know why my dad decided to bring us back to Malaysia instead of growing up in Newcastle.

Oh yeah, I went for a lunch & karaoke session with Nat, Zaty, Yana and Chee on Valentine's! We went to the new Jusco in Setiawangsa/AU2. Chee decided to join us just for lunch cause she said that karaoke-ing wasn't really her thing.

Over lunch, we once again started feeling old cause we somehow ended up on the subject of relationships and marriage. Dah la it was like we subconsciously enter those topics. Urgh. I hate being old. I remember back in Form 5, our only worries were getting through SPM with flying colours. Now we have to think about jobs la, finance la, guys la. -_____________-

So anyways, after lunch, Nat, Zaty, yana and I went for karaoke at this place called Song Box in Jusco. The place was okay laa, looked kinda dodgy masa mula-mula sampai. We spent 2 hours there, wailing and screeching our lungs out. We managed to butcher songs from Womanizer to Isabella to Bring Me To Life. LOL.

And since Zaty had her camera with her, we have lots of videos that might not be uploaded because it might give a fright to our friends to listen to us butchering the songs. Although I think we sang Mr. Brightside quite nicely. It all depends on Zaty though, cause the videos are all with her.

Oh, by the way, I am now the Monash University Student Association's (MUSA) Advancement Representative. I've no idea about what I'll be doing, but apparently my first meeting is on Thursday, where hopefully I'll get a better understanding of my job as the MUSA Advancement Rep.



I needed to know where the meeting for Thursday would be held, so I went to the Monash website. It gave me some guilty pleasure to see my name up there in the committee. LOL.

Okiedokes, enough updates.

Toodles, people! =)

My maiden attempt at paintball

I have always wanted to try playing paintball, but I never got around to actually playing it.

So since one of my uncles just loves playing paintball, I decided to go with him, my brother, my other uncle and my 2 cousins. My sister couldn't follow because she had a student council meeting, and my girl cousin had to study for her exams. So basically I was the only girl there. Haih.

My uncle preparing for battle, while the boys look on. LOL.

During the safety briefing, I kinda panicked for a while cause I felt like there were so many things that I had to remember, and I was like, "Shit, I'm gonna forget this. SHIT."

So anyways, we broke into 2 groups of 3, and I ended up with my battle-prepared uncle and my brother. We played four rounds of eliminations, where basically if you get hit by your opponent, you're out of the game. I really felt the adrenaline pumping in my body everytime the marshal saya "Game on!" and it was fun holding a gun and hitting people.

Sad to say, though, my team lost all four rounds. What is really funny is that I will ALWAYS be the last one standing in my team cause my uncle and brother will either finish their bullets or get shot. Or get shot cause they finish their bullets.

It does give me certain satisfaction to be the last one standing, but it was really annoying in the last round cause I was the last one standing against THREE MEN. How unfair. Boo.

Unfortunately for me, I got shot in the weirdest of places. I got shot THREE times in the neck/throat area, one shot on my shoulder and a nasty shot on my wrist. What really annoys me is that I was wearing this protective vest to cover my torso, but all the shots I got were in the unprotected area. Talk about bad luck!

My nasty war injuries:

The bruises on my neck kinda look like mini-hickeys. LOL.

This bruise is nasty. -__-

It's all for fun, though. And I wouldn't mind going again soon! But I got really tired after the game. And I am still tired right now. Shows just how unfit I am! -___________-

My driving rants. Yet again. Hahaha.

I have been driving for almost 3 and a half years now that it has come to a point where I can't be bothered to drive anywhere anymore. But drive I do.

I've not driven like cross-country or anything (I mean, the furthest I've gone was to Port Dickson), but I drive almost everyday in this mad city known as Kuala Lumpur, which I think gives you more experience and moulds you into becoming this cynical, jaded and calculative person. Seriously.

What annoys me is that ever since my sister got her license last October, I've had to put up the dreaded P sticker back onto the car. I've been driving for a year plus without that sticker on my car, and now I understand the gripes of people with P stickers on their cars.

The thing is, because other drivers see the P sticker on the car, they love to take advantage when I'm driving. They like to cut in front of me and expect me to give way JUST BECAUSE I HAVE THE BLOODY P STICKER ON THE STUPID WINDSHIELD.

And it seems like people really like to do this when I'm stuck in a jam. As if it's not irritating enough that I'm stuck in a jam, it really is the last straw when they cut in line just because they think they're superior to me. Sometimes I feel like putting up a sign saying "I am NOT, I repeat NOT, the P Driver. SO DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME."

Yes, I can be very scary sometimes. Funny how I never noticed that people took advantage of me back when I was a P driver. I really think one of these days I might just end up with a serious case of road rage. That would not be a pretty sight.

I miss my Pajero! When I drive the Pajero, less people try to take advantage of me on the road. Why did my dad have to crash the car? =(

I swear, when I buy a car with my own money, I will not buy a puny little car that people will have fun picking on. Maybe I'll buy something like this Perodua Nautica?

Oooohhhhh, I'm definitely going to buy an SUV when I start working later.

Talking about jams, I suddenly thought about our public transportation, which is so inefficient that it is really annoying. It was so good in Australia cause the public transportation is like so much better than ours. So I came up with a theory about why our public transportation is the way it is.

(Fine, it's not my theory, but I've never heard of anyone talking about it anyways. Hehe. And I had nothing better to do while I was stuck in the jam. Coming up with ideas is much better than cursing, no? ;) ) So my theory goes something like this:

The public has an opinion that the public transportation is inefficient --> hence, they buy their own transporation (motorbikes, cars, vans, etc) --> road becomes more congested --> public transportation becomes more inefficient

See? it's a vicious cycle of life. The problem is, the public would not suddenly change their opinions about public transportation unless the government makes the first move. So, let's assume that the government actually decides to add more buses and trains on the road, theoretically the situation would now be:

More public transportation on the road (increase frequency ) --> more people will use the public transportation --> less congestion on the road --> public transportation will be even more efficient cause there won't be so much jams, and they have more buses/trains

Like I said, it's just a theory. Might not work in real life. Plus, ths is like a simplified version of how it'll work anyways. But then again, with the global credit crunch....hmmmm.

Oh, while we were on the subject of cars, a friend of mine asked me yesterday, "Can you still drive a manual car?" and I was like, "No, I can't". And it makes me so sad to know that if I were given a manual car, I would not be able to drive it. LOL. So, I want to refresh my memory and try to re-learn how to drive a manual car. Plus, I think some guys look really good when they drive manual cars. Maybe I should find a boyfriend who drives a manual car. Hahahahahaha.

Alrighty then, enough ranting. I've gotta go out and face the traffic. Wait, I don't have the car today, so I don't have to drive! Awesome! =D

It just crossed my mind...

I was going through some old songs that I have, and I stumbled onto this song that I absolutely love. and it makes me sad to listen to it. It's called Stand Up As People by Lee Ryan (former member of Blue). This song is so relevant to the situation in our world now that it really touched a nerve. Take a listen to it.



Lee Ryan - Stand Up As People

All I hear is voices in the crowd,
They only whisper though they frown
People saying oh its such a shame
Still they only look to pass the blame

If we can find a way to work things out
The only way to start is to start now

Welcome to a better place, better place

When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people
When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people

Children always learn by what they see
So we gotta practice what we preach
Don't you know that's the game of life
That we abuse when we choose to fight

If we can find a way to work things out
The only way to start is to start now

When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people
When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people

I pray before I sleep at night (I pray, I pray)
And I wait to find a clear blue sky

When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people
When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people

When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people
When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people

When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people
When are we gonna stand up as people
Realize that as people we're all equal
We don't want no world war sequel
For the love of god think of the people

It's a nice song, but it's making me feel depressed now. Haih.

Sydney! =)

WARNING: Photo-filled post! Like seriously. There are more than 50 pictures. And it's a super-long post! So sorry! -_-

I'm sorry I've not blogged, but my lappie decided to mengada with me in Australia, so even when I uploaded pictures on Facebook, I had to use Ine's laptop. Went to the HP centre and found out that the motherboard rosak. -_- And after that was sorted out, suddenly the Streamyx went bonkers. And I got a small case of writer's block/laziness going on.

Anyways, my trip to Sydney was awesome!!!!!!!! =D

It was hot there, (like some days it was even 35 degrees!), but sometimes it can drop to like 20 degrees too. And it is soooo different from Malaysia. It was fun cause I've never been out of the country alone. The fact is, I've NEVER BEEN ANYWHERE ALONE. Huh. Talk about not being independent. Blargh.

So anyways, my flights are both direct flights and what was really cool about the flights was that the flight to and from Sydney were both not full (I think the flight back was only like 50% occupied?), so basically we could choose where we wanted to sit and I ended up having one row of seats to myself both times! Mwahahahahahaha. More comfortable than being stuck with other people, but still not very comfortable for sleeping in. I still had the armrest poking into my back. Bloody annoying. -___-

In Sydney i went to to all the places that you're supposed to go when you're there. The first time Ine took me around Sydney city, we went to see the Opera House and the Botanic Garden. Loved it! =)

Waiting for the bus! =)

One of the really nice buildings there. I want buildings like this in KL, too!

At the Botanic Garden.

The Opera House. =)

I think this is the Rocks. Not sure. LOL.

The strangest thing happened when I was at the Opera House. Ine and I were sitting down, waiting for the sunset, when suddenly Ine looked behind me and she kinda grinned. A split second later, this guy tapped me on my shoulders, put his arm around me, and said, "Smile for the camera!" I was so shocked cause I didn't see the guy since he came from behind me. Obviously I didn't smile. And after he took the picture, the dude went off and said, "Hey, you didn't smile!" I was just sitting there thinking, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?????" while Ine just sat in front of me and laughed her butt off. Apparently the locals do that a lot, going up to strangers and taking their pictures. Funny people.

And no surprise, I did loads of shopping there for my family, until I got excess baggage on the flight back!!!! -__-'

During one of my many shopping excursions. Note the number of bags that I have.

With my two lovely hostesses, Ine and Farizah! =)

During our many days going into the city, we went to places like the beach, which surprisingly did not have as many hot guys as I would like (I sound like a hormonal teenager, don't I? LOL). Wait, actually, when we were on our way to the beach, they were a few guys that were hot in the bus that we were in, but Ine and I were so disappointed to find out that they're gay. Boo. We also went up the Sydney Tower, and went around to the Wildlife Park. =)

The view of Sydney from the Sydney tower! =)

Bondi Beach! Looks beautiful, doesn't it?

Wildlife Park! =)

We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the Sydney Olympic Park to watch the Malaysian junior hockey team play against Australia in the Youth Olympics cause it just so happened that the team was staying where we were staying. They needed people to cheer them on, and it was a free ride for us & we've never been there, so it was basically like a win-win situation la! LOL.

Pre-match. OH, the Aussie players were HOT!!!! Young, but hottttttt!

The senior team was also there to cheer on the juniors. Some of them were hot, too. Hehehehehe.

The supporters-cum-freeloaders. Hahahaha.

I don't like my face in this particular picture, but there is something in this picture that I do like. I'm not telling what that is, though. Hehehe.

One of my favourite places that we went to was the Chinese Garden cause we got to try on the traditional Chinese costumes. And the place is pretty, too! =)

The pre-costume pictures. My mum called me a bumblebee in this black-and-pink top. -_-

These are the pictures of me & Ine in full costumes. She's the Empress, but I'm the Emperor's favourite concubine. LOL.

Attempting to look mobster-ish. Emphasise on the "attempt". -_-

The headdress is actually quite heavy. We didn't feel it much when we were wearing it, but when the uncle took the thing off, we were like, "Whoa, my head feels so much lighter!"

We also went outside of Sydney to the Blue Mountains, (where the view was breathtaking!) and to the Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Blue Mountains:

While waiting for the bus to Blue Mountains

Scenes from a small, quaint town called Leura up in Blue Mountains

And the Blue Mountains =)

Featherdale Park:

Another strange thing happened when we were going around Sydney city for the last time. We've decided to walk along the Harbour Bridge and go to the aquarium after the walk cause we already have tickets for the aquarium. So what happened was, after we've walked along the bridge, we ended up at this place called the Nurses Walk, while we were on our way to the aquarium. We were busy acting like tourists, looking around and taking pictures when suddenly this guy asked us whether we wanted to have a free makeover caused he was training one of his workers. So since Ine was like all excited and stuff, we decided to go for it.

We went into this guy's shop, and Ine had her face done first. While she had her face done, I looked around the place and got the shock of my life cause the whole place was full of NUDE PICTURES. Plus, it didn't help that the name of the place is SEDUCTIVE ART GALLERY. -_- I started fidgeting and I was having all these paranoia thoughts like "what would happen if this dude suddenly ask us to pose nude?" and the fact that the makeover was free kinda heigtened my suspicions about the place.

But in the end, I've got to admit that I was just being paranoid cause nothing bad happened. LOL. So Ine and I, in full make-up, still went to the aquarium. LOL. I felt like a China doll in the aquarium because of my made-up face and hair. But it was all for fun. I mean, when else can I go into an aquarium looking like I'm ready to go for a photoshoot. Hahaha. Plus, the guy that offered to do our makeovers thought we were backpackers, which is just awesome! =D

Walking along the Harbour Bridge

Me in front of the gallery where we will eventually get our makeovers.


Nurses' Walk =)




During makeover and post-makeover






The aquarium =)

And these are the pictures of when we were lepaking at the Darling Harbour, where we finished off our last day going around the city =)

So, that basically wraps up my Sydney post. If anyone were to ask me whether I'd like to go there again, I would say "yes" in a heartbeat. And right now, I'm kinda sad that I'll never be able to experience life as a student in a country other than my own. But oh well, at least I was able to experience travelling alone, without my family. LOL.

Do I envy my friends who are overseas? There's no denying it. But they also envy me for being near my family. Plus, I think my dad kinda felt guilty that I wasn't able to study in Australia, thus the Aussie trip. LOL. I guess there is a silver lining to everything. =)