Shop Talk
My holidays are drawing to a close and it's time for me to get ready to go back to Melbourne for another year of uni. Therefore it's time for me to add up my annual shopping spree purchases.
1. Number of shoes bought: Nine. An interesting thing to note here would be that I intended to buy
none because I felt that I had enough as it is. Apparently not. The picture below shows only 8 pairs as the last pair was bought after the picture was taken.
2. Number of bags: Four. Could have been much more if I had more money. Too bad...
3. Number of tops: 5
4. Number of bottoms: 1
5. Number of cosmetics: An amazing number. Too shy to put up hahahaha...
6. Number of accessories: Frankly, I have absolutely no idea.
7. Amount of money spent: Sometimes it's better not to know. Ignorance is
bliss!
8. Happiness I reap out of these escapades: Priceless.
I would like to thank my parents who thankfully do not believe that one pair of shoes and one bag is enough for a girl in her 20s, also known as
tweens according to J.R.R. Tolkein (yes, sadly.
Twenties). Also to all longsuffering shopping partners who were subjected to visit numerous shoe stores in my search for the perfect footwear for myself.
Next shopping destination: Melbourne.
Two More Days...
In two days' time I will be heading back to Melbourne. This year, I am strangely reluctant to head back compared to my previous years. There are several likely causes which include:
1. It would be the first year I would be celebrating my birthday away from home.
2. I do not have a room all ready and waiting for me when I go back. All I have is a room full of boxes. And more boxes. I have to
unpack *moan*
3. I received my schedule for the year and it looks like I'll be getting up at 7am. Every. Single. Uni. Day.
4. For the first time, I'll be travelling alone back to Melbourne. It's a tad depressing. Also, because I'm going back so early, very few people would be there.
5. I miss everything.
It's all just an emotional turmoil. Not sure what is wrong.
Be Strong
My iTunes playlist is categorized depending on my mood. When I wake up in the morning and go to uni, I tend to play upbeat songs to psych myself up for the day and to keep me awake. When a day at uni is over and I'm exhausted and all I want to do is drag myself home, I listen to other playlist that is meant for keeping my chin up.
This is one of my favourite songs that goes on repeat once in a while when I'm feeling down. I think it's one of the most meaningful songs out there. If you're not familiar with it, I suggest you try listening to it. It's really nice and a good song to help you feel better when you think that life is just awful.
Be Strong - Delta Goodrem
Are you swimming upstream in oceans of blue?
Do you feel like you're sinking?
Are you sick of the rain after all you've been through?
Well I know what you're thinking
When you can't take it
You can make it
Sometime soon I know you'll see
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of gray
Well hang on and be strong
When taking each step one day at a time
You can't loose your spirit
Let live and let live forget and forgive
It's all how you see it
And just remember keep it together
Don't you know you're never alone
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower
Whose colours have turned to shades of gray
Well hang on, and be strong
No you're not defeated
And soon you'll be smiling once again
Then you won't have to feel it
Let it go with the wind
Time passes us by
And know that you're allowed to cry
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of gray
Well hang on and be strong
What Makes You A Good Catch?
I went out recently with one of my old friends who was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't find a girl who would love him for who he was.
Him: Seriously, this is killing me. I've been rejected 3 times. It's because I'm not good looking enough! *hmph*
Me: *nods sympathetically*
Him: I mean, seriously, where are the days where girls would choose ugly guys to be their boyfriend because they make dependable boyfriends/husbands?!
Me: Uh...
Him: I'm serious. If your boyfriend is not good looking, no other girl would want him. He'll be yours.
All. Yours. Why can't girls see that??
Me: Uhh...
Him: Forget it. Do you know any blind girls to recommend to me?
Me: I have a friend who is single...
Him: Is she blind? *hopeful*
Me: No....
Him: Then I'm not interested. I need a blind girl!!!
Throughout the conversation I was trying not to laugh but the truth is, his pain is real. However, I don't think that only guys who are not good looking are the victims in the dating game. After all, if you are a girl and you are not pretty, isn't it the same case? It has been proven that guys place more importance on looks compared to girls. Which means that if my friend was complaining, all homely girls out there must be crying in despair.
I admit that I myself tend to get attracted to good looking guys. Who doesn't? However, I think that it is just a factor that is considered during the initial phase of getting to know each other. Once the friendship deepens, I feel that looks do not play much of a role. True, getting a good looking boyfriend is considered to be an accomplishment by many. In fact, I have friends who blatantly say that if she can't visualize herself walking down a street with him, he's off the list. But what is more important to me is his personality. Even the best looking guy in the world who is cruel, a liar and a cheater would not win any girl over easily.
Last time I checked, my friend was on the verge of finding happiness. I guess some girl finally appreciates him for who he is.
Sprout Spout
One of the common things my mother does to me when I'm just sitting around doing nothing is to tell me to go to the kitchen, open the glass drawer (by that she means the
plastic drawer at the bottom of the fridge that is commonly used to store vegetables) and take out a
gigantic bag of bean sprouts and de-tail them. Also known as yanking off the roots of those beansprouts.
Mung Beansprouts
Sometimes it's vaguely therapeutic to sit at the kitchen table slowly plucking off the roots manually one by one so that the sprouts look nice with no ratty tails trailing when it's added into a dish. After all, you get to see the before and after results. Other times,
I just want to kill the person who came up with the idea of pulling off the roots. They're edible for goodness' sake! I do it sulkily. After all, it's technically not necessary to de-tail beansprouts and I could be doing something better with my time. Like sleeping or bumming around.
I have a friend who says that de-tailing beansprouts is a way families bonds together. Opening a huge bag of beansprouts and having a whole group of middle age aunties who are sisters or relatives to sit around to get the aforesaid sprouts all nice and clean and worthy of going into the cooking pot was supposed to be the highlight of any family gathering This was the time where sundry gossip would be exchanged and housewifely advice on how to make the best tasting pork spare ribs or where to get the cheapest groceries would be dished out. I agree with my friend. And it's probably a common scene in various households across the world this Chinese New Year season.
Feeling very nostalgic.
Long Sought After Satchel
A few days ago I wrote a post about me suffering from non-buyer's remorse due to not buying what I wanted when it was right there on the shelf. Waiting for
me. I was mourning over a particular bag that was gone the second time I went. Well, all is good again. I finally managed to get something similar to what I wanted.
It's very very unbelievably roomy. In fact, maybe a bit too big for me but in a sense it's good. This means that I get to put in tons of things without having to arrange everything in a precise manner so that everything goes in. I love the color as well - since bright colors seem to be my thing lately. How would I describe this shade of blue? I couldn't come up with the right word for it. However, after trawling the internet for the perfect word to describe the shade, the best I have managed to come up with is to say that this bag is
deep sky blue. Now all I have to do is get other shades of blue such as azure, sea blue, baby blue and midnight blue... basically all other blues...then my blue collection is complete. Yay! One down, many more to go.
Now that I have my satchel bag, I can rest in peace and move on to the next bag. Hmm...Lately my taste has been evolving and now Chanel bags seem to appeal to me in a way it never did before.
Chanel Patent Double Flap Handbag in Red
I think I am in love.
All My Bags Are Not Packed, But I'm Ready To Go
My friend asked me if I ever cry at the airport when I have to go back to Melbourne. I say no. She is surprised. "I thought you were really close to your parents. Don't you feel sad when you have to leave?"
The truth is, I do feel sad. I enjoy my stay back in Malaysia very much whenever I come back but towards the last week of my visit, my parents turn from Mr Jekyll into Mr Hyde overnight. Suddenly everything I do is wrong - why do you go out so much, why are you so messy, you're irresponsible etc etc. I know that it's because deep down, they feel sad because I'm leaving and therefore express it that way. However, it's hard to accept such naggings that you feel has no actual reason.
It's a real pain. Most of the time during the drive to the airport we'll be fighting in the car. Therefore when it's time to say goodbye, it's a short snappy 'Goodbye", a dutiful hug and then I go down the escalator (those who fly from KLIA will know which escalator I'm talking about). I feel bad about it sometimes, parting in anger. However, when I reach Melbourne the anger evaporates and I call them and everything returns to normal.
This year it is no different. Am I a bad person?
21st Century Paperdoll
This post will probably only excite the girls who read this blog. The guys who read this would probably roll their eyes and call this post
boring. Well, I don't care..I'm posting it up anyway. *bleakz*
I was surfing around and stumbled upon this website that lets you make the virtual you with clothes, accessories and shoes. They even let you choose your hairstyle, eyecolor, etc. The special thing about this site which is different from any other dress up site I've played around with is that:
- They let you carry designer it bags. Really!! Look at my burnt orange Hermes Birkin!! *sigh*
- You can wear designer jewelry too! *double sigh*
- After you create the character, you have the option of printing it onto various types of stationary such as invitation cards, gift tags and even t-shirts! *triple sigh* They're quite pricey though. :(
For this character that I created, I chose to carry a Hermes Birkin (since carrying one in real life is almost impossible) and I'm wearing a Tiffany & Co bracelet which is too small to show up. Plus, I am impossibly perfectly skinny to the point that I can wear a skirt like that. *Sigh* Anyway, I confess that I have gone crazy with this. So all you girls out there, give it a go!
Link to the site is available on my link list.
Pacman Mania
I downloaded Pacman into my computer a few days ago as a Widget on my Mac. Due to the fact that I have been rotting away in Malaysia, me and my brother have been challenging each other to see who would win. For those who don't have a clue what Pacman is,
where have you been all these years? here's a screenshot of it. The objective of the game is to munch up all the pills and avoid getting munched by the wiggly creatures who roam the board.
I get excited very easily. Which means that me playing Pacman is often interjected with shrieks of '
Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!' and '
Those idiots cornered me! Not fair!!!!! ' while my brother tells me that I'm just being overly dramatic.
That's probably because my high score is higher than his .
Anyway, I just found out that those silly jellyfish like monsters ( I only found out today that they're supposed to be
ghosts) actually have names. I used to think that they were just called 'the red one, the yellow one, the pink one and the orange one'. Well, apparently not. Here's the lowdown:
- Red: Known as either Shadow or Inkey
- Blue: Apparently it usually tends to head toward the opposite end of whatever tunnel Pacman is going through. Known as Bashful or Blinky.
- Pink: Appropriately named Pinkey.
- Orange: Known as Pokey or Clyde. Supposed to be the dumbest out of the four that terrorize the maze.
I have to confess that I'm not a very proficient player. After a few days of incessant playing the furthest that I have managed to get to is Level 8. Still trying to get to Level 10 but to no avail.
I guess that just means more hours in front of the computer screen.
Pen & Paper
As is becoming evident the more I blog, I go through phases in life where I get obsessed about something and go all the way out for it. One of the longest lasting craze I ever had in my life was writing letters. In a sense, I guess I have never really gotten over writing letters. By
hand.
During my younger years around 11-12 there was a point where I had about 30 penpals and was receiving letters through the mail at the rate of 3-4 a day. I loved it. Getting a handwritten letter all the way from wherever my penpal was from - be it just a neighbouring town or from the other side of the world was something special, almost an event. Think about it - the person had to sit down, take a pen and write about what was going on in their lives...get the stamps and etc and finally post it. And the exact same thing arrives in the mail. Addressed to me. Me me
me...
Fast-forward to the present: I currently only have one penpal that I remain in contact with and she happens to be in Melbourne. Somehow, the non-stop writing between me and my other pen pals dwindled away... probably due to growing up and getting increasingly busy. I don't know. My correspondence with my friends back home are all through email or MSN due to the convenience and speed of it. However, I confess - I still prefer the old fashioned snail mail way. True - it is much slower and definitely very inconvenient. In other words, you have to go the extra mile. However, it is something much more meaningful and personal and I treasure it.
Just received a snailmail letter from my friend today from the USA. I am charmed once again.
Wafer Roses
When I was really young (by really young I mean kindergarten young), whenever I went to a local restaurant to have a meal out due to whatever special occasion it was, there was only one thing I truly cared about when it came to the dishes that were served - the garnishing. Specifically, the wafer rose that came with it. I didn't care much for the food itself. Nobody would if they don't eat seafood and they were going to eat a typical chinese banquet.
I used to practically fight with my cousins over the wafer rose that came with it. Now that I look back, I don't even know why that was the case. The wafer usually isn't even crispy anymore so it doesn't even taste great anyway. Plus, it's artificially colored. So why should some soggy piece of wafer make me go all excited anyway??
I think it's probably the novelty of it more than anything else - the fact that it wasn't something that was available everyday. Which makes me realise that when I was young, it took so little to satisfy me - even a wafer rose was enough to make me a happy girl for the day. The older I get, the more I want out of life. However, I think not all is lost. Recently I was shopping and saw a keychain which housed a real life small cactus in it. It gave me almost as much pleasure as buying 3 pairs of shoes.
Maybe I should collect wafer roses again.
When You Wish Upon A Starfish...
It was my birthday last Sunday according the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Usually my parents would celebrate my official birthday on the day itself but this year, it is not possible. This is because I'll be going back to Melbourne in early February as opposed to late February in the previous years. For the first time, I'll be celebrating my birthday away from home. *sniffles*
As a token present, my parents gave me my first 21st birthday present. Technically speaking I've already gotten my presents but this was one my parents kept for this occassion.
Besides, I've unwrapped all the other presents from them so this is the only one which is more of a mystery .
Tiffany & Co paperbag - every girl's dream. Alright, not
every girl but definitely mine.
Famous trademark box with ribbon - two things to note. Firstly, the ribbon is red as opposed to the classic white ribbon that comes with every Tiffany & Co purchase. This is because my parents bought it for me in December where they giftwrap everything with a red ribbon for the Christmas season. This is the first time I've gotten a red ribbon instead of the traditional white. Something different for a change I guess. White still looks the best though. Second thing to note is that the ribbon looks a bit ... pathetic. That's because I'd already opened it before I took the photo. It was a perfectly made ribbon before I ripped it apart.
Elsa Peretti Starfish Necklace - the one piece of jewelry I wanted ever since I knew of the existence of Tiffany & Co. For those who are lost as to why I am obsessed with
this piece and only
this piece, it is because I am obsessed about most things connected to stars. However, it somehow managed to elude me even with my seemingly invincible 'If I want it, I will get it' attitude. Until now. This is because the first one I got was a gift from someone and the second because I wanted a bracelet instead of having two necklaces. I love my parents!! This necklace has two tags near the clasp as opposed to just one in my previous pieces - one for Tiffany & Co and one for Elsa Peretti. Something I just discovered...um...
now.
I used to think that having two tags certified a particular piece of Tiffany & Co jewelry as an imitation. Oops... .
Anyway, my friend asked me if starfishes were actually fishes or something else. After some browsing in the wonderful world wide web I have managed to rake up these facts:
- Starfishes are in the phylum Echinodermata. This is the phylum where all spiny-skinned tide pool creatures are lumped in.
- Starfishes are in the class of Asteroidea which literally means..well... starfish.
- Starfishes have no front or back and are able to move in any direction without turning themselves. This is due to their complex hydraulic system which helps them move and cling onto rocks. No, I am not going to explain how a complex hydraulic system works. It's complex!
That's because I don't know what it means either .
- Starfishes are not always symmetrical. They are capable of rearranging themselves into any shape they want to squish in between rock crevices and such other deformities in the rocks.
- The texture of starfishes are supposed to be sluggish, although when picked up, they tend to stiffen.
Pink Star
Pisaster Brevenspinus
Bat Star
Patiria Miniata
Leather Seastar
Dermasterias Imbricata 
Horned Seastar
Protoreaster nodosus All things starry capture my heart.
Note: This should really have been two posts. But they were related so I decided to stick them together. Hope it didn't get too lengthy or boring.
Wild Goose Chase
It all started off wrong this morning when I got to the tennis court to play and the door to the court was locked. The security guard was nowhere in sight - leaving us to stand there and wait for him to come to open the door. This locking of the tennis court thing at my country club is starting to really annoy me. I don't understand the need for it. Apparently it's to ensure that everybody registers before they play a game instead of just going into the court.
Anyway, after the game my dad wanted to get some fish for his water lilly pond. When we got there, my dad searched for the wallet that contained our membership cards and some cash for small things like this.
It wasn't there. This set of a chain reaction which often happens when something like this happens in my family. The first thing my dad did was to blame me. After all, I was the only available victim at hand. 'Why didn't you check to make sure that we took everything before leaving the club?! You're always doing things like this!' By
always he was referring to the time where I accidentally left my membership card on the bench and stalked off after the game.
Once. Not
always. I got it back anyway after a couple of days.
The next step was obviously to rush back to the club....all the while prophesying that the wallet would be gone in a doomsday voice. ' It's not going to be there. It's been proven that if you leave something at the club, it's going to be gone.
Gone.'
He then proceeded to rattle on about what was in the wallet, how much trouble it was going to be to replace all the membership cards that were inside and all the while insinuating that I was to blame for this whole scenario. If that wasn't enough, he then started complaining about all the time we were wasting, petrol we were using and the loss of opportunity to get his fishes that day.
Anyway, we got there and the security guard handed us the wallet before I even said what I was there for. I thanked him profusely and felt a twinge of guilt for being annoyed at him for being a bit slow to open the court for us this morning. My faith in humankind restored once again, I got into the car and spent the journey home speculating with my dad how we managed to accidentally leave it behind. My dad had the last word in the argument of course - 'You better not do such a thing again! Irresponsible...'
One thing I've learnt - borrowing trouble is just a complete waste of time. My dad's non-stop 'what if' and pessimistic outlook was way too depressing and unnecessary, although he was probably just preparing for the worst. After all, we got it back. All that worrying for nothing. However, I shall try to be more 'responsible' in the future, since that's what I'm supposed to be when one is approaching the green old age of 21.
Going to destress.
Possible New Found Talent
All my life when Chinese New Year draws near my mom would buy all the ingredients needed for baking new year cookies and drag me to my grandmother's house to bake with my aunts. However, during the past year my grandfather passed away - therefore new year celebrations are now to be held just with my immediate family. Which is why yesterday my mom baked cookies not in my grandma's house as usual, but my own.
That was when I was seized with the desire to bake a cake. And proceeded to do so. This was the first time I actually made a cake from scratch without any help from anybody...previously my mom would be breathing down my neck or I'd choose to be lazy and just buy a pre-mixed pack. I made an orange butter cake... which turned out better than I expected. True, I grated off a piece of my skin while grating the orange zest, but what's the matter? Therefore I'm getting more ambitious and am intending to bake more cakes soon.
Hm...Evelyn the Baker. That sounds so wrong.
Before it got stuck into the oven
After: Don't tell me it looks ugly! It tastes delicious....even if I do say so myself.
Ferris Wheel in BatTown
I just got back from a town in Johore which translates directly as bat. Yeah, the animal. In plain Malay language it's Keluang...although I understand they have simplified it to just Kluang. It was just a spur of the moment trip me and my friend decided to take because it was raining in Batu Pahat and there was nothing else to do. Plus, I haven't been there for a long time so perhaps my friend wanted to humour me.
The ride there takes just less than an hour from Batu Pahat and is basically a modified trunk road with lots of little towns along the way. I think I almost drove my friend crazy whenever we went past the towns. Conversation went something like this:
Me: Look, they sell mobile phones here!
Friend: This town isn't that sad you know...
Me: There's a bank too!!! *excited*
Friend: Uh huh...
Me: There's even a jewellers!!!!! *triple excited*
Friend: ....
Anyway, we finally arrived in Kluang and imagine my surprise when I saw that a funfair was in town. I was particularly interested in the Ferris wheel. In my humble opinion, one of the most effective ways to create a romantic atmosphere with someone is to go on a Ferris wheel together. At night. There's only one word to describe it - enchanting. Something about being above the grounds of a funfair with the lights and the motion of the wheel as it rotates.
No, I didn't go on it. It was too late and seducing my friend wasn't on my to-do list.
Volksprater Funfair Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria
Non-Buyer's Remorse
Non-Buyer's Remorse - the sense of remorse due to not buying something that was there when the opportunity was present.
I went shopping a few days ago and spotted a satchel bag in one of the boutiques that I was browsing through. I tried it on, concluded that blue wasn't an 'in' color anymore and decided against buying it. Then I dismissed it from my mind and didn't think about it after that.
Then just yesterday, I was browsing through the Neiman Marcus website looking at the latest Spring/Summer collections and saw tons and tons of satchel bags. Which suddenly triggered this huge desire to get the aforesaid bag that I had cast to the side in my mind. I instantly messaged my shopping partner who was with me that day:
Me: Remember the bag I was trying on that day?????
Friend: Yeah, the one that was gone the second time we visited yea?
Me:...It's GONE?!
Friend: Ya, I mentioned it, remember?
Me:............*sob*
Therefore to comfort myself, I shall look at photos of bags that 'could have been'. Note that they are all satchels - due to my current craze.
Coach Large Satchel with Biscotti Suede and Metallic Gold Leather Trim - I love the name and love the color! Biscotti suede...biscuits...*yumz* I particularly like the fact that there's a lot of pockets - good for compartmentalizing all the small stuff that I carry around. Most designer bags only come with one small pocket inside the bag, which can be quite annoying when you have a lot of small things to deal with.
Celine Boogie Bag in Cinnamon - I love this bag. The size is a little bit odd though - not too big not too small. Particularly like this color because it's bright and I'm very into orange right now. Perhaps a bit too loud? Hmm... well, it would definitely make a statement.
Chloe Kerala Leather Satchel - I like this bag because of the horshoe and horse charms attached to it. Black is a little bit too boring for my liking - perhaps some other color like lemon yellow or red would have been more appealing to me. The buckle that keeps the bag shut attracts me too.
So many bags...so little funds.
The Donut Me
| You Are a Boston Creme Donut |
You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you.
But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft.
You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily.
You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out. |
Friendly Lizard
A couple of days ago I wrote a post about me being stuck in the bathroom with a lizard. Guess what? The exact same scenario happened again last night. Except this time, instead of taking 20 minutes to open the door, I did it in less than 5. I'm so proud of myself.
Maybe it wants to be friends.
Evelyn the Dentist?
Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing to choose dentistry as my future career choice. True, everybody tells me that it is a very good profession (Office hours! Very convenient profession for a lady) and that it is lucrative (This better be true for what I'm going through now). However, when I'm stuck slaving in the pre-clinical labs trying to drill a cavity the right way and to fill it so that it looks like the original tooth again, I have second thoughts. Do I REALLY want to do this for the rest of my life? Sitting in front of patients everyday saying the words that dentists use the most often - open, wider, sit up, rinse, open? Staring into oral cavities the whole day? It doesn't help that statistics show that dentists have the highest suicide rate compared to other professions.
When I was young the idea of me becoming a dentist never once crossed my mind. My father was a doctor and my mom was a teacher. Being who they were, naturally they encouraged me to take up medicine. However, when the time came to fill in the application forms, I decided that I didn't want to become a doctor and study for the next one and a half decades before I became a fully qualified specialist. Therefore I chose the lesser (at least, so I thought) of two evils and decided on dentistry instead. I have no regrets on this matter. Doing medicine would probably have made me depressed. The thing is, perhaps I should have done something else that wasn't health science related - like commerce or something.
At the end of the second year of my course, we were given a questionaire to fill up with various very well phrased questions, such as 'Do you SERIOUSLY regret doing dentistry?' and 'Are you having any MAJOR problems with the workload?'. True, half the time during the course I was just trying not to go crazy when I couldn't do what I intended to do. Which is the ridiculous part of it all. You can visualize exactly what you're supposed to do, but when it comes to actually doing it, everything flops. Then all you can do is curse and buy another 4 dollar plastic tooth and start all over again. However, to say that I seriously regretted taking dentistry and was having major problems was a bit too dramatic. Therefore, almost everybody answered negative to those questions.
Now that the third year of my course is starting in about 2-3 weeks time, I guess I have to say that I am reasonably happy with the choice I made. I have made friends with my classmates, many of which are amazingly smart and nice people who are exceedingly friendly. Sometimes the pre-clinical labs can even be fun, especially when you finally accomplish what you had been slaving for ages over. There is no point in looking back, thinking about the what-ifs when what is right here and now is what matters the most. I can frankly say that I am not miserable in this course. Of course, there are times where I wish I just quit studying after high school but those are just temporary lapses. Therefore, I guess I did make the right choice. I realise that not many people have the privelege to do this and therefore I should make the most of it.
As long as I survive the coming labs - I will be just fine.
More Than Just Peeved
After a sleepless night due to disturbances in the night in two forms, it's hard for me to be in a good mood. The first disturbance came around 2am when my brother came home slightly drunk and proceeded to throw everything that was in his pockets at me. Let me tell you although a phone is small, it is still a hard object and can still cause considerable pain. After that, he chose fall into bed - literally. Except he chose to do it on MY bed when I was still on it.
I got so annoyed I decided to just go downstairs to sleep instead of fighting with someone who was obviously not going to listen. After about 5 minutes, my brother called me and told me that I could have my own bed back. So far, so good. However, by then it was already around 3am and I was already too annoyed to fall asleep.
After I finally managed to drift off, I was then annoyed by mosquitoes the rest of the night (a whole 2 hours, since I had to get up at 6.30am to play tennis with my Dad).
Fast forward to lunch time. My parents wanted to eat nasi lemak and requested that I go with my brother to get it. Since I wanted to go out with my friends, I said that I'll get it instead. I went there and had to wait for half an hour to get 10 measly packets of it. That's not what pissed me off. What annoyed me was the fact that a person who came after me got her order first because she ordered 3 packets, as opposed to my comparatively large order of 10. What's the logic in that?! Hmph!!! Plus, my friends had to wait for me -so I was feeling bad at the same time for making them wait.
Obviously am not in an amicable frame of mind. I'm going shopping.
Latest Obsession
It struck me last night that I really want to get a collection of phone charms. Not really for my phone but also for my thumb drive. Intending to feed this frenzy as soon as possible so that it dies down as soon as it starts, therefore curbing it before it becomes a full blown craze.
Besides that, I've been looking for nice key rings to attach to my bags. I think my bags now are currently too... off the shelf and need some personalisation to look more 'me'. Must pursue. Particularly for black bags.
This should keep me occupied for a few days.
The Perfect Pair Of Jeans
Due to the fact that my previous pair of jeans decided to go into early retirement, I spent my afternoon shopping for the perfect pair of jeans. It's proved harder than I had anticipated. However, instead of coming home with just one pair of jeans, I managed to bring home along with it two tops, a thumb drive, a pendant I could not resist, a hairdryer extension that's supposed to help me when it comes to blowdrying my curls, photos and ShoEs.
Looking for the perfect pair of jeans is almost as hard as finding Mr Right. First you have to decide what cut you want - Bootleg? Straight? Flare? Skinny leg? Then the next question is the rise - the grandmother kind that goes up to the waist? Low rise? Super low rise? Super super low rise? What sort of fly do you want? Zip or button? What sort of wash are you after? A light wash, dark wash, streaked, double dyed etc. The possibilities are endless.
I avoid skinny leg jeans like one avoids plague. After much indecision on what wash I wanted, I finally chose a very dark blue - a new shade in my collection of jeans. Then there's the dilemma of what size is the best.
Here's the thing - jeans' sizes are very deceptive - at least to me. You could try on a 26 inch pair and think it's fine and then 2 weeks later that it's too loose because it stretched. Therefore you curse yourself for spending so much for something that doesn't fit 'exactly right'. However, if you stuff yourself into a 25 there's this possibility that it would NOT stretch - therefore leaving you to suffocate and die for the two or so years that you would be wearing it. The rise of the jeans further contributes to the confusion. However, after much grief, (on my part and especially on the salesgirls' part) I've finally managed to get the perfect pair.
Just looked at all the jeans that I have. I'm a happy girl :D
Tennis
Everytime I come back to Malaysia, I try to play tennis with my dad on most mornings. When I was fanatical about it, it used to be every single day except Sunday. There was even an occasion where I played tennis in the morning with my dad and proceeded to play again in the evening with my friends.
The hardest thing about playing tennis is waking up. Lately my biological clock has somehow set itself in such a way that I only fall asleep at 3am. When I go to play tennis, I have to wake up at 6.30am to get to the court by 7 so that I can play a good hour before my dad has to come back to get ready for work.
The truth is, it's exhausting. Every time I come back from tennis I'll slump in the kitchen, eating like no tomorrow because I am so tired and hungry. Then I go get a shower and promptly fall asleep - only to wake up during lunch time to eat again. I'm actually wondering if playing tennis is helping me lose or gain weight...
1. Lying in Bed - Sleep until lunch time and still not feel hungry because I did nothing to get hungry. Therefore I eat very little.I then do something during the afternoon, eat dinner and go upstairs where I MSN or watch TV. Then I sleep. Again.
2. Playing tennis - I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and even supper - and complain of hunger after that. On top of that, I would be exhausted for the rest of the day.
Of course, the latter is better in terms of health. But in terms of weight loss - I don't know. I have an ongoing bet with my friend to see who loses more weight before the end of this month. Can't afford to screw up now.
However, I always thought losing weight was the easy part. Keeping it down is the nightmare.
Pink Streak
I once let my friends do a personality test about me - basically to gauge how well they knew me. Well, most of my girl friends averaged around 50 whereas my guy friends got about 30 out of 100. There were outstanding cases where my friends got 90 as well - for that I am amazed at how well they truly know me. Although some of them MUST have been lucky guesses.
Anyway, one of the questions I came up with was 'What is my favourite color?' Many of my friends assumed that it was blue. My friend that I knew from kindergarten was so determined that it was blue that she came up with what was practically an essay on why my favourite color is blue, not white, which was the correct answer.
Exerpt of the essay: "What color is your room? BLUE. What color is your bedsheets? BLUE. What color do you wear the most? BLUE. What color is your bedroom furniture? BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Therefore, your favourite color is blue I don't care!'
Actually, it is true that my favourite color when I was younger was most decidedly blue. But somewhere around 17 my taste changed and I decided that white was nicer...cleaner and sleeker. However, lately my taste has changed. I'm now starting to like pink a lot.
I don't know why. Perhaps it is a passing phase. But for now, everything I want seems to be pointing in the pink direction.
Yet Another Post
A couple of days ago I went out with my friend for lunch and came back with yet another pair of shoes. This marks the beginning of yet another series of shopping sprees after my month-long break. Yup, the last time I shopped it was exactly one month ago where I shopped so much I actually got sick, literally. Haven't blogged about that experience yet because I want to post up pictures of it, but haven't gotten round to doing it. I am finally back on the scene again and I'm loving every minute of it, even though I'm technically supposed to be bankrupt now. But as I told my friend - if you want something that much, you will find the means to get it even if you have to...oh, I don't know...starve for a week.
I used to shop because I was depressed and I had a lot on my mind. During those times, I would listlessly wander around in the shops looking for things I liked. Then I would buy them and come back feeling slightly better... but without even bothering to unpack the stuff I bought when I got home because frankly - I didn't really care much for it. As a result, my room would be lined up with paperbags from various boutiques - fresh and unopened for weeks...until it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I want to actually use what I bought.
However, today was different. I went shopping when I was in a good mood and I have to say that shopping when one is happy is much better than when one is sad. I can only equate it to eating a slice of chocolate mud cake on a cold day in winter.
This stint may have been triggered off by the fact that I recently lost weight. When I lose weight, suddenly all the clothes I see are appealing, because naturally when I ressembled a pregnant sea cow, I looked bad in everything. But when I'm thinner - suddenly everything looks great! When things look great... the natural progression of things is to get them! Yay!
Besides that, my favourite pair of jeans has finally decided to give way due to 2-3 years of very rough use. At first, I mourned over the loss - after all, it was my favourite pair of jeans. I connected with it! However, on second thoughts, this means I can get a new pair. What? Did somebody say I have a whole cupboardful of other jeans - meaning I don't need a new pair? I. Don't. Care.
The perfect excuse to go shopping at this point in time is that Chinese New Year is coming up. Which means I need new clothes and new shoes. And new hair and new accessories. I am really looking forward to going for an all day shopping spree soon before I head back to Melbourne where I shall...er... continue shopping.
It also helps that my credit card is working again. I love love triple quadruple love my parents.
Note: This post sounds like I'm high on sugar or something. I'm not. Also, this is probably the first time I'm blogging about shopping as openly as this. This is probably due to the fact that I do not care how people judge me when it comes to my shopping habits anymore - as I previously did. If I want it, I will get it. So there!
10 Things I Hate About You
One of my favourite movies of all time when I was young was "10 Things I Hate About You". I loved it so much I've probably watched it at least 30-40 times. My favourite part is when the Patrick surprises Katrina with a song in their school stadium and she forgives him for all his mistakes he had done. After a few minutes of happiness, the heartbreak comes...
"I hate the way you talk to me
And the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car.
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots
And the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick
It even makes me rhyme.
I hate the way you're always right.
I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh
Even worse when you make me cry.
I hate it that you're not around
And the fact that you didn't call.
But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you
Not even close, not even a little bit, not any at all."
It's not that she hated him. It's because she cared for him. That's why everything he did hurt her so much that she rather convert her hurt into supposed hate. I guess the feeling is more...anger. She was angry because of the fact that she could let herself care for someone who in the end broke her heart. Angry because she let herself trust him. Angry that she fell in love.
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." ~M. Kathleen Casey
My Dream Guy
Those close to me would know that I always wanted to date a guy named Jared. Why? I don't know... it's just a name that I have always liked. Not a very common name, my fantasy has not manage to become reality. Until today, that is.
He is almost everything I want in a guy. He's cute, has good teeth and even shares the same interests as me (He loves Katamari and plays Kingdom Hearts too!!) On top of that, he's helpful - he was willing to help me get out of Atlantica and kill Ursula the Sea Witch before my spirit broke. Isn't he great? A rescuer. *Sighs dreamily* Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I even met his family. They're all very nice people!
There's only one glitch in this perfect scenario. He's 11.
The Happy Ending
All my life I chose to watch movies that have happy endings. Why would somebody want to watch a movie that had a sad ending? It's depressing...what more, it's not ideal. The best thing to happen is for the lead male and lead female to end up happily ever after. Then I can sleep in peace.
However, lately I've been thinking a bit differently. Perhaps now i am more... realistic? Down to earth? Movies that end with happy endings usually end when the leads get together. However, that is no ending - it is a beginning. The movie doesn't show what happens afterwards. Do they stay that happy? Do they truly end up happily ever after and grow old together?
My favourite genre of movies is romantic comedies. My heart melts when the lead male character pulls some amazing stunt to make the lead female fall in love with him. And when the end comes where they finally get together after all sorts of stumbling blocks, I am happy - relieved, almost.
Then the credits roll and I am back to reality.
It is not that I have no faith that such things happen. They do happen. Meeting people in the lift, having a good looking stranger come up to you for directions or receiving help when all hope is lost are encounters that can happen, have happened to me. However, more likely than not they just remain what they are - chance encounters.
I guess I am just growing up.
In Moments Like This...
All I did was intend to take a 3 minute shower before bedtime.
I got out about 25 minutes later, my nerves shot. I hate lizards. Underline, italic, bold, highlight that statement.
What happened was I got into the shower without noticing anything out of ordinary. Then halfway through I saw a lizard on the outer surface of the glass. I started panicking but concluded that as long as it stays where I could see it, I should be able to open the door and escape before it even comes close to me.
Wrong.
That stupid lizard decided to move. To the Hinge. Of. The. Door.
So I couldn't open the door. I couldn't bear to crush it to death, but at the same time, opening the door slowly would give it an opportunity to move, jump onto me, snap off it's tail... the possibilities were endless. I just couldn't do it.
So I did the only thing a girl could do in such a situation.
I grabbed my towel and asked my brother to come and open the freaking damn door and let me out.
He refused!!!! *sniffles* He said there was no lizard and that I was hallucinating (it's at the hinge, how was he supposed to see it, idiot!) So there I was, having a psychological battle. Conversation with myself went something like this:
Just. O. Pen. The. Damn. Door. And. Get. Out. It's. Just. A. Lizard. Big. Deal.
Except I couldn't.
In the end after 20 minutes I finally did it. And screamed at my brother for not helping me out of that. Maybe he thought that he was doing me a favour by letting me deal with it by myself, but the psychological torture I had to go through was too much. I am still scared of lizards. It has not changed a thing. All he had to do was to open the door.
I am tired of having to deal with everything myself.
The Full Moon Is In Sight
Lately I have been feeling very emotional. Everything has been intense. I could be happy in a moment but the next moment be moody, even depressed. My friend told me that the reason behind my emotional rollercoaster is the full moon. Apparently when the full moon is out, the balance of energy of the world is mixed up, causing an imbalance.
I didn't even know that the full moon was out.
I Will Not Repeat My Mistakes Again
It seems that nowadays it's hard to be taken seriously anymore.
I went out with my mom to do some New Year shopping and was waiting for my mother in the car while she went to get some groceries. After a while, the owner of the car that was parked in front of us came to get out of the parking lot. With her mother, kids...whatever. She reversed. And bumped into my car.
I got out of the car, wondering if the damage was serious - expecting the driver to get out of the car too, because she obviously knew what she had done. She didn't. Instead, she continued to maneuver her car to get out of the lot. While I stood there, her mother - I presume (it was a fat old auntie with no sense of decency, same as her daughter!) turned. And waved to me. Then they sped off.
&*(#@(^&^$#*(**&#@#)!*@
In times like this, I get angry. At myself. For letting people assume that I am somebody insignificant, somebody that can just be treated like a doormat. And even though my mom came back and said that there was no damage done to my car, that is not the point. I feel as if I was just this insignificant fly on the wall that could just be flicked away. No big deal - this girl isn't going to do anything. She's too dumb for that.
Just thinking of it sets me off into a rage. Memories of past experiences where I was treated with less respect than I expected came surging... the time when someone tried to snatch my handbag. The many times that I got ditched by my friends after they got significant others. The time my counsellor teacher told me that I would never be able to survive living overseas alone because I was just another precious pup. And many others which are too painful to even type.
So now, I am making a promise to myself. The next time I get less than what I deserve, I will not take it lying down ever again. I will fight for what I want. I am worth more than that - no matter what I look like. I am no worthless bimbo with no brains, even if some people may beg to differ.
Lately
Lately I've been thinking about all sorts of trivial things to keep myself occupied. Perhaps that is why I am getting pimples and ulcers - they're all sprouting due to self-inflicted stress. However, I have been getting some positive results.
For one, I
finally got a fringe. My poor friends who had to listen to me complaining are probably relieved.
Secondly, I still want to get the perfect eyebrows. Has not happened yet.
Thirdly, I want to change my wardrobe. This is probably because I just discovered that I am close to my ideal weight. Yippeee!!! Incidentally, I firmly believe that the reason why I gain weight in Melbourne is because
1. I eat too much chocolate. Lying in bed eating 100g of chocolate a day can't be good, even if you skip dinner.
2. The serving portions are too big. Somehow I end up eating more there. Here it's just random picking around at food.
3. It's cold. When I'm cold, I eat more. It's simple.
Fourthly, I should
really learn to be neat. Even in my current bedroom with tons of space, I am having trouble. Can't imagine what's going to happen when I go back to Melbourne. I don't know what to do with my shoes and bags. And decorative items!!! WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY DECORATIVE ITEMS?? Should throw them all away.
All this self induced stress is making me want an ice cream.
Stressing Out
I think I have too many things and I should stop getting more things when my life is already as complicated as it is now. Having multiple things that differ just slightly from each other doesn't really make much sense.
Going to go on a minimizing mission.
Going Nuts
For the past few days that I have cut down on my internet time, I've been challenged by various events.
1. My brother chose to switch off the modem. When you do that in my house, connecting back to the internet can take days - in my case, it took me 18 hours of near hysterics before it got back online.
2. My parents, specifically my mother has chosen to go into full on nag mode. When I say nag, I mean serious don't-even-stop-to-breathe nagging. Why am I doing nothing, why do I wake up so late, why this why that....ARGH!!!!!!!!!
3. My dogs who are usually pretty good and quiet has chosen to start barking/whining early in the morning.
4. My nicely recorded chinese drama was erased because
my dad taped something over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. It's been raining constantly - meaning I can't play tennis.
Had to get that out of my system. I confess - I want to go back to Melbourne.
Lately
Lately I've been pretty lazy in general. My current routine is to get up close to 12, start cooking lunch and then laze around trying to figure out what to do with my afternoon. At night, laze around and try to figure out what to do too. Then I go to bed. Repeat.
Also, I have come to the realisation that I am very very dependent on the internet. There was a point in time when I was online more than 12 hours a day. Because of that, I'm trying to cut down now...with a reasonable amount of success. However, that's because I have chosen something else to be obsessed about.
PS2.
My Worldly Possessions
Lately I decided to clean up my room on a whim. Alright I'm lying - I decided to clean up because
1. My mom was nagging me.
2. According to Feng Shui it's good to have a neat room and to remove all old and negative stuff
3. I was bored.
4. I wanted to have a look at what I had.
Anyway, I started opening up drawers and cupboards that I haven't touched in ages and these were the things I found:
1. Jigsaw Puzzle Boxes. When I was young there was a point in time where I made a jigsaw puzzle every two months or so. No, I am not joking. And I'm not talking about 24 piece jigsaw puzzles either. Most of them are standard 1000 piece ones with a rare exception of a couple of 500 or 2000 piece ones. They're now all hanging in my bedroom. I made so many that I eventually ran out of place to hang them and my mom told me that enough was enough. :(
2. Books. Lots of books. One of my favourite authors when I was young used to be L.M. Montgomery. For those who are wondering who she is, she was the author of 'Anne of Green Gables'. And if you don't know what that book is, you should read it! I liked her books so much that I purchased almost all of her books, about 30 in total. I still have not managed to find 2-3 more. But I will, eventually. Other books include teenage romance paperbacks, various classics and tons of Enid Blyton books. I miss the days where I used to come back from school, peel two oranges and lie in bed reading.
3. Stationery. Specifically letterpads. I used to buy tons of them when I was writing letters to penpals when I was younger. Out of the many that I had (at one point I was receiving 3-4 letters a day), only two remain at this point. Still, it used to be fun. I love the feeling of receiving a letter, especially hand-written ones.
4. DVDs and CDs. Stacks of them. Wonder why I bothered. I bought a DVD recently and it's still sitting in my room somewhere collecting dust. I guess I'm just not that into it anymore.
5. Candles. From my aromatherapy phase in life. Enough said.
6. Thread. In a few hundred colours. Purchased for my cross stitch projects that I used to make when I was younger, less blind and more patient. I still do it sometimes though.
7. Rubber stamps. I used to collect these and randomly stamp everything in sight. I'm amazed my mom didn't kill me.
8. Stickers and stamps. Also from my collecting days.
9. Snowglobes, Hourglasses and other Collectibles. Every time I got to a new city, I had to get something or other from there as a souvenir. No wait, make that every new STORE I went to that sold this sort of thing.
10. Bookmarks. Lots of them. From my bookmark phase.
Conclusion: I love collecting things and my parents are strangely indulgent.
Thought of the Day
I received several New Year greetings from a few of my friends that had pretty standard phrases.
Hope you have a blessed New Year.
May all you wish come true in the coming year.
May happiness and peace be with you.
My favourite was one that was sent to me by a friend from Melbourne. Somehow it struck me as extremely comforting and meaningful when I read it. I think it was quoted in an episode in Desperate Housewives before, but somehow it didn't strike me as such a great thing at that time.
The Best Is Yet To Come.
Isn't it great to think that way? That even if you are in a very bad situation right now, it doesn't matter because if you can live through it now, there is something better in store for you. I believe in that.
