coloring our lives with all the different colors, interesting isn't it?

*** *** ***

day 1 of the second part of the semester starts today.

seriously, it doesn't feel like a break at all for the past week, ignoring the fact that the first part of the break was rather fun-filled. first ah dak's birthday, then good friday and easter weekend. phew, then assignment started and lasted all the way into the week. huat beng came over for dinner on friday, then tienlui came to sleepover for the weekend concluding the break.

didn't really do much of the tutorial work, considering I was heavily buried under that 3000 words that were to be completed during the break. and I am suppose to do it right now, because three and a half hour later I am going to attend a tutorial class. oh my tian... why is school life so busy?!! rarrr...

*** *** ***

explored around a little at DFO and smith street over the weekend. went to queen victoria market on sunday morning, to do some market-ing for the week as well as for the always-tasting-so-good spanish donuts (omg, I'm lovin it!!!). being quite an auntie here in melbourne because every week I'll have to go market-ing. its definately not so easy to be living out here alone.

headed to smith street to check that place out. heard that there are a lot of factory outlets there which are quite cheap. however by the time we made our way there, after the market-ing and packing things into the fridge, almost eighty per cent of the shops there are CLOSING for the day. yeah, so yet another time we are missing out on the shopping hours just because the shops close early. =(

proceeded to crown as the finale part of easter break. food ain't that cheap inside anyway, but I think its still quite worth it. coin machines in there are really popular and addictive. haha, tried our luck a little... didn't win nor lose anything big la, just a dollar. and we were being so kiddo to sit at the machine just to wait for the beverage to come. haha, had a free coke for the day! or rather at the cost of a buck.

k la, should proceed on with my tutorial preparation and read up for my presentation discussion tml. jiayou for the coming semester! 2 done, 4 more wordy ones and 1 presentation to go!

work hard! play hard! =)

I'm pretty blur now. just started typing into the document for my second assignment that is suppose to finish by this break. a long night to go, since I plan to sleep in and play tml. *phew* procrastinated a little at the beginning of break, that's why I guess now I am sacrificing my sleep to finish up work that are scheduled to be completed by now. beauty sleep, I desperately need that.

this break is so cheater bug :(

I don't feel as if I have had a break, despite I am suppose to recharge myself up for the rest of the semester starting next monday. all the syllabus of each unit are so ahead of me that I don't think I can catch up with it in the near future. in addition to the already-very-miserable life, I have 7 assignments in this semester, of which 2 are due right after the break. not forgetting those weekly tutorial works and the presentation that I am suppose to do in week 6. oh my tian~

so long it seems, yet so short it is.
and we never hold it tight enough in our hands.
when letting go, it hurts but the hand still loosens.
wound to scar, the issue with whether it stays permanently is no longer in doubt.
for, it has already taken place.
no matter what, it is not easily forgotten.

ok, I am taxed out. back to work! *retreats*

this is like so crazy, I am browsing through my former secondary school's website. -_-"

ok, I am just sot sot after completing IB assignment. but its quite meaningful to read the definitions of every word in that school motto lor...

勤 慎 端 朴...

I didn't know the details of all these when I was in school, despite being a Peer Support Leader myself. usually its like this, you won't treasure it when you are living it, you'll only try to hold it in your hands when it is already gone. haha, we human, so funny...

***

Diligence embodies a range of virtues the school holds dear, emphasizing the value of hard work in attaining excellence in all our pursuits. For students, it involves pursuing excellence in academic, co-curricular and other pursuits. For staff, it embodies giving off their best in delivering the best possible educational experiences for the students to fulfill the vision and mission of the school. Diligence also embodies responsibility to both self and others in our effort to apply ourselves wholeheartedly in the different activities and experiences of the school. Resilience is another important aspect of diligence as we strive to be unrelenting in our pursuit of excellence in the face of possible challenges. The development of physical and mental strength to meet these challenges is an important aspect of diligence.

Prudence is a principle which drives both individuals as well as groups in the school. This involves learning good stewardship of the advantages and resources individuals and the school as a whole hold. It involves an attitude of showing due care, concern and far sightedness in anticipation of the challenges of the future. This is the driving force behind the school’s focus on environmental awareness to cultivate in all staff and students a keen awareness of our responsibility to our surroundings. It also drives our global emphasis as the need to prepare our students to meet the challenges of a globalised world becomes imperative. The need for the school to benchmark itself against global standards is also vital if the school is to meet its long term goal of being a world class educational institution.

Respectability is closely linked to the vision of the school. To develop students to be respected members of society involves the cultivation of moral and social values including citizenship, caring for others and moral courage. The school aims to develop students who are not only accomplished in their academic and co-curricular pursuits, but also to be individuals of sound moral fibre, good citizens of the country, individuals who are acutely conscious of the need to actively care for others around them as well as the wider community and individuals who are prepared to take a stand for their beliefs based on sound moral values.

Simplicity, extols the virtue of being sincere, open and direct. In the face of a world that is ever changing in terms of practices and values, simplicity embodies a disposition that sees these timeless values as anchors to keep the school and its members steady and firm in this sea of ever changing currents. This is also embodied in the school uniform which reflects the value placed on simplicity. Integrity is also an important part of simplicity which values openness in all the dealings of the school and its members.

***

how long has it been since I last read the school's mission:

Every Nanyang girl, a respected member of the society.

So long since I graduated, but these words are still sound so familiar.

allow me, to escape to my world of fantasy once again.

some people just couldn't live out of their comfort zone.
the place, the people and the feeling.
it matters, doesn't it?

quite used to not staying at home nowadays,
I do believe that I am one that can live out of my comfort zone.
yet there's this sense of belonging deep down in the heart,
no matter where I am, there's only one place to be called 'home'.

missing home already? I don't think so.
the feeling of away from home is succumbed by the attractions outside.
just so many things out in the big big world that I ought to be enjoying and exposed to right now.

yet I am stranded in my room, in front of the digital display,
typing and typing...

I do believe that I am under tremendous amount of stress now. several files are being opened on the task bar, but none of them seem to be able to catch my attention. as a result, I run away from all those and ended up here, in my own world where I feel comfortable. down here I have created a land of fantasy for myself, its a beautiful fantasy where I think only me live in this world. being a dreamy girl, I couldn't help it but to feel that I am currently in my own beautifully created fairy tale.

yet fairy tales don't exist in reality. these two are just contradictions. reality is reality. reality is the cold hard fact that we must endure with challenges in our lives and overcome it. if not, we will just run away from it, start to waste our lives and in the end look back and regret. we label those people as cowards. that's unfair. how can we actually label people without even knowing the reason why they are running away? so much that we know, yet its so cruel reality is. we'll never try to understand, what we do is just follow that few 'leaders' and start labeling everybody.

I am trying hard not to become a coward. trying hard to conquer my fears and control the stress level. so hard it seems, I feel that I am using up all the energy within me. yet I am here, disintegrated, but not having any form of work done. is it that I am not able to succumb pressure? nobody gets to answer that question, not even me.

till the moment I complete what I am suppose to complete, blogging shall be my only form of escapism...

three hundred and thirty ninth post. whoa~

***

'Unwanted fragments from a comical century'

a meaningful statement I would say. thoughts start to run through my mind... what was the writer thinking, feeling and experiencing when she scribbled down this statement? perhaps it was because of herself which makes her feel dejected from the society. or maybe it was because of family problems, relationship problems or some kind of other problems. to be 'unwanted', are there really nothing in her life that she treasures? I wonder...

hundreds and thousands of thoughts may be running wild in her mind as she forms this statement. it must have really been a desperate movement to jot it down. if she regains total consciousness, I bet she will think through the statement again. every person that will come across this statement, what will they think? well, they might just forget about it and regard it as one form of vandalism. some other weird people like me will go on thinking about it. who knows, perhaps she was just under pressure or being taken over by pills...

how does the world look like in your eyes? is it beautiful or yet to be perfect? I myself for one believe that my world is nice-looking now but it can be better still. I won't think that I am an unwanted fragment, because I think that will bring down my confidence level and seriously make me feel bad. I guess different people have different mindset. the simplest action can bring about totally different meaning. it just depends on how you look at things.

and I hope all of you that are reading this blog are seeing things in the beautiful way just like me.

***
random statement that I found written on one of the public toilet's door in flinders. haha, how miraculously that statement has sparked off some rants by me... either that or... I am just crappy =)

*retreats to assignment*

4 weeks into the new semester and we're having semester break. oh great~ it just reminds me that I have 2 assignment due right after the break. what more, I am suppose to be ENJOYING in the midst of assignment-ing. oh wonderful~

officially semester break follows the good friday public holiday. but we started getting HIGH on thursday evening (wait, we started holiday-ing ever since we came to australia lo...) it was vuidak's 20th birthday, so we celebrated a little with him coming over to our place.




friday was yet just another day. basically nothing much is open on this day, so we slept in a little and only prepared scrumptious dinner. it was a wonderful night as we had syinnee and yuping over for dinner. so we made pasta, some bread roll and salad. sort of a pot luck la, just that the food was wayyy to much so we had no choice but resorted to the number game in the end.




saturday was quite 'peaceful' as we didn't go to anywhere shiok. supposed to start assignment writing but I guess I used most time to research on the topics instead. still not considered a totally wasted day la, at least I did some work. dinner was chicken rice prepared by dajie. it was niceee... =)

sunday was a happening day. went to box hill only to realise that it was closed. like basically everything else was closed on this day because its easter sunday. yup yup, then went down to city to hiao~ only to realise again that everything is closed. =( well, at the very least deborah k wasn't closed, so grabbed some clothings from there *phew*

as mentioned before, it was a happening day. for the second time in my life, I went clubbing. it was some easter celebration stuff held over at CQ bar, which literally is the acronym for citiclub on queen street. heh, the heels were giving me aches and pains again but I think as a typical female, I am more than willing to ache than to look ugly. came home early in the morning via the first train from flinders. well, since its a sunday there was no night rider service and we didn't want to burn that hole in our wallets, so we 'waited' for the train in crown casino. walk walk walk from queen street to crown, wearing a skirt that barely covers anything below my knees. oh my tian, I start to admire my strength and my will!

pictures pictures pictures!





kk, so that will be an update on what's going on in my life.
last and most importantly, there's just this major component in my life which I don't seem to be able to drag my attention away from --- ASSIGNMENT!!! ok, I promise to devote more time and effort in completing all of it before I go and play. jiayou! =)

happy holidays folks!

19th birthday is significant because its the last teen year and I ought to do something remarkable to commemorate this important year of my life. hmm... what's that something leh?

***
despite the fact that I attended class from 6-9pm, 17th of march 2008 ended with this real great surprise that was meant specially for me. thanks to dajie, yujie, da da dajie, xuezhang, er laopo and air-con. *muacks*

well, essentially the surprise really made me very gan donggg... because they gave me this BIG box of stuff... many stationaries in blue shades and most IMPORTANTLY --- a handmade scrapbook containing photos and wishes from 16 good friends that I have met in this 2 monash years (1 year la, considering that its the start of year 2 now...).

yup yup, among the 16, 5 of them who wrote in that book are actually in malaysia --- david, zixiang, jason, yauchuan and jimmy kor kor truly gan donggg because they actually took the efforts of sending pictures and wishes over to dajie... major credits will have to be dedicated to dajie as she stayed up quite late to complete the compilations of all the photos and words. *applause* *hugs* *muacks*

hmm... what should I say?!?!?! tears flowed down almost immediately when I opened the wrappings of the scrapbook. memories, as usual, touched deep down my heart. looking at the pictures were so heart-warming. days and days, months and months, years and years in the future... so much time that we've spent together and we'll be looking forward to more great joy and adventures. thank you everybody that made my day, not just 17032008 but every day in my life.

1 year older le... will be more matured and more obedient de~
whee~~~

minutes ago, my birthday just passed.

essentially this post is crediting to all those who made my day yesterday.
thank you for your present, wishes, SMSs, phone calls... ... ...

Family:
1. mummy
2. kor kor
3. grandma
4. aunt kuin
5. wy yeen

Friends (Singapore):
1. yanting
2. kylie
3. zhuojing
4. sharon
5. yingxu
6. ivy
7. yingxu
8. eevien

Friends (JB, Malaysia):
1. huiyee
2. ruijing
3. kwee
4. vernyie

Friends (KL, Malaysia):
1. zi xiang
2. david
3. jason
4. yau chuan
5. jimmy

Friends (melbourne, Australia):
1. su chin
2. ai yeen
3. tien lui
4. sui phing
5. sing ping
6. wee lian
7. poh kim
8. hun seang
9. huat beng
10. nicholas
11. vui dak
12. hooiwen
13. yuping
14. syin nee
15. edwin
16. amanda
... ... ...

remind me if I have forgotten any of you. I apologize for having short term memory. all in all, thank you for your wishes and thank you for everything. thank you for letting me live a day in lots of joy and laughters.

truly gan donggg...
xie xie ni men!
=)

whee~~~
it'll be my 19th birthday in less than an hour's time!

celebrated a little today, since there's LESSON tml evening. yup yup, moreover its a sunday today and there's something called a sunday saver which we can travel on public transport at a cheap rate. haha, most importantly it'll be my birthday tml and I just feel like celebrating it every day in this week!!! =)

went to camberwell in the morning. it was a MASS event, visit the flea morning market and then lunch at sofia's pizza house. well, went there last week in conjunction with singping's (aka. da dajie) birthday. so we were fully aware of the HUMUNGOUS food portion they serve and decided to just have something light instead. there was this suppose-to-be-very-nice donut in camberwell market, so had that prior arriving at sofia's. the donut was basically HOT and coated with cinnamon sugar. there are two types (heh, tried both!), hot jam and hot cinnamon. it was good since the jam was strawberry and the hot cinnamon was HOT (erm, the following photo shows a bitten donut. it was so nice that I ate it before realising that I ought to take a picture of it, hee...) heh, thanks to the publicity officer for recommending it!



yup yup, after that was sofia's. MASS belanja-ed us ceasar salad, garlic bread as well as black forest cake. *applause* heh, that literally saved our pockets quite a lot and filled our stomach almost to the brim lor... (considering I had TWO donuts before that...) only ordered a fried calamari (ONLY??!!!) to be shared among the four girls so that was quite thrifty. the servings still shocked us in this second visit, so it was a bit 'full' when we were looking at the waiters serving the food. but it was a nice event overall and we did get to know more people this time round. =)




ok, zhong dian~ ~ ~ *drum rolls*
after the MASS event the 7 of us (me, suchin, aiyeen, suiphing, weelian, pohkim, hunseang) hopped onto the train and headed to melbourne central. shopped around at one of the surf shops in the mall and then oakley store. survey-ed around for the price of oakley shades. oh my tian~ they are EXPENSIVE!!! well, then dajie and da da dajie walked and walked.

to my astonishment, they led me to max brenner's. the even more shocking thing is that tienlui and vuidak was sitting right there awaiting for my arrival!!! oh my tian~ at that point of time I was so gan dong-ed that I practically wanted to hug and kiss them la!!! (ok, I didn't literally HUG and KISS them though...) then I realised that they've been pre-arranged to wait there. haha, and they even bought hot chocolate and strawberry dips for me. *muacks*



so finally I had my first hug mug hot chocolate in melbourne, thanks to all these good friends of mine. the strawberry dips was excellent too! it was totally chocolate-y indulging for me, despite the hot weather today (37 degrees)... well, hugging that mug and enjoying the strawberries was so chocolate-y that my heart melted. all in all, thank you for this pleasant surprise which really melted my heart. =) *muacks muacks*



nicholas, huat beng and singping (aka. da dajie) came shortly after I finished all the 'presents'. I do appreciate their tremendous efforts of travelling into the city under the hot HOT sun. went to the state library to hiao for a while, and then we headed to crown casino~



relax... I did not make any INVESTMENT there...

so on the last day of being 18 years old, I went into the casino. *claps* heh, letting the bouncers check my identification was so cool since now I can OFFICIALLY enter the casino (well, its 21 years age limit to get into the Malaysian casino...) played on the jackpot machine and apparently lost everything... $1 was used up in order to kill my curiosity. heh, the sensation of just pressing on the buttons and looking at how the screen display changed~

oh yar, for no reason we were being introduced to the crown card or something like that. heard that we can earn some free credits in that card and our expenditure in the casino itself will earn us points where it can be used for snack and meals exchanges within the casino. its some sort of genting world card thingy la... just that it was for free... so just apply lo~ hee...

***
the night walk along the riverside was great. seeing so many stars over my head was relaxing. the thought that I will be 19 years old in several hours' time was simply thrilling, since I will be embarking on a different page in my life. first time taking the train from southern cross station... it was a nicely built station which I presume should be some sort like KL Sentral because I took a quick glance at the board realising that there are trains arriving from sydney there. heh heh...

well, let's just count down another 15 minutes and I will be 19!
note: 3 hours and 15 minutes more for those of you all in Malaysia and Singapore.

thanks once again for all those pleasant surprises.
and thanks in advance to those that will be wishing me later~

*hugggs* *muacksss* =)

it was indeed a special day for her.
all the best in everything she does!
Happy birthday da dajie!!! =)