Dear Australia :

ANZAC DAY - LEST WE FORGET AND FOREVER COMMEMORATE THOSE WHO DIED AT WAR FOR AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Death, Dying and Bereavement

Just last week, 21st of April, during HSBH1006 (Foundations of Health Science) we were given a lecture on death, dying and bereavement for 2 hours long.

I've decided to bring this up because lately, I have been hearing a couple of unfortunate incidents where my friends experience sorrow and grief when their family members or friends had, or still are, experience a health-related issue. In regards to their health, it would be wise to leave it to the professionals or specialists in that field. Rather, I would like to talk about the patient, and their family and friends, when they've realised that they're going to die. We have learnt about the 5 stages of dying, suggested by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1960s), and they were: 

1. Denial;
2. Anger;
3. Bargaining;
4. Depression; and finally
5. Acceptance

Although there were problems about this theory, it became the foundation and encouragement for present, and future, health researchers to continue dwelling into the process of dying, along with the process of grieving. Many theories about grieving all suggested that people eventually move on from the past however, recent studies suggested the opposite. Silverman and Klass (1996) came up with the 'Continuing Bonds' thesis where the survivors experienced a continuous bond with the dead. It's suggested that grieving occurred because it's based on a framework of interdependence where people intimately involved their lives with others and when those people become deceased, it might lead to a loss in one's self. Marwit and Klass (1994-5) suggested a notion of inner representations as a part of the 'normal' grieving process; in a sense it allowed people to continue to interact with the dead:

"while the intensity of the relationship with the deceased may diminish with time, the relationship does not disappear. We are not talking about living in the past, but rather recognizing how bonds formed in the past can inform our present and our future." - Silverman & Klass 1996:17.

The Continuing bonds thesis suggested that:

• People should not be encouraged to seek 'closure,'
• Bereavement is an on-going process of negotiation and meaning-making,
• The significance of loss and place of the dead in the lives of survivors will be continually negotiated as feelings lessen or intensify.

I can't say I complete understand the grief that people experience when a loved one is deceased, though I have experienced something similar; my first dog, Twister, died from a hit and run. This is one of the reasons why I chose to work in the health science field; I would like to increase my knowledge in health-related issues and hopefully, be able to help those who are suffering; leading them to a better life that they deserve. 

mask or no mask, we know you got SMASHED minhky :D

23O41O - Minhky's and Cindy H.'s 18th BIrthday.

24O41O - David Chen's 19th Birthday. Happy Birthday David =).
26O41O - Lisa L.'s 18th BIrthday.

I'd tell you what happened at Minhky's masquerade party, but I was only there for half of it. That was because I still had uni during the party *sigh* how sad =(. According to other people, before I came, there was a BBQ, games like past the parcel and chucking flour at each other, Singstar, chit chats, and photos. 

Vicky, the BIGGEST idiot of all, chucked flour RIGHT in my eyes when I just entered the drive way and knowing me, I wasn't intelligent enough to close my eyes when she chucked it at me. I didn't expect it and she thought i was 'taller' , meaning she didn't expect to chuck it at my eyes either; she thought she chucked it at my chest *sigh*. No Vicky, even in heels, I'm STILL short =.=. 

Vicky chucked flour at Fiona's eyes and ran away.

Fiona dropped her bag and started screaming.

Fiona: AH! VICKY! MY CONTACTS! AH! I CAN'T SEE! AH!!!

Everyone ran toward Fiona, checking if she was alright. Shirley and Brandon cleaned her eyes while everyone else dusted the flour off of her. Cindy tried to make her cry to help wash the flour out of her eyes, but it was a futile attempt.

Fiona: Oh my God Vicky! I can't believe you! Ah! I can't open my eyes!

Vicky: Sorry!

Yeah, that continued on for a couple of minutes before I could finally see again. *smacks VIcky on the head* That sure was a great start to the party for me *roll eyes.* Ah, I forgive her anyways since she's done a lot for me =P Vicky, you better not do this again =.= my eyes won't be able to handle it a second time. Anyways, thanks those who helped me out, and yes that includes you too Vicky LOL =).

When it was night fall, everyone and everything went a bit ... chaotic. Thanh succeed in getting Minhky drunk; Danny continued drinking even though he was coughing half the time; there wasn't any sparklers but there were burning utensils; Minhky's speech of 'how I met _____' was touching; Derek's style of knock and run was hilarious: he knocked and stood there until they opened the door, and then slowly walked away; the 'IT'S OVER 9000' mudcake was delicious and the meaningful gifts were fun to open.

Now that was just the beginning. It got much worse at night. MUCH worse. When Danny and Anna came over, things just got more exciting. Thanh, Eric, Wendy and Nigel went to buy more alcohol, but with about 15 people in his house, it was obviously not enough. Ironically enough, Minhky's mother allowed us to drink the wine and campaign bottles she'd been saving up in her kitchen. Now watching Minhky get smashed, and then looked after by his mother was epic =D. I would never dare to get drunk in front of my mum =P. So with the new supply of alcohol, we played 'I Never.' I won't say what was said, because things were getting a bit personal by the end of the night, but Thanh, Minhky and Lily definitely got wasted by the end of it =D. Minhky should thank Eric for filming it all for him hahaha. Anyways, I honestly think I wasn't drunk. I was tipsy, but not drunk. I think a person drunk would be someone who can't walk in a straight, can't remember what happened the night before and/or was vomiting a lot. I experienced none of those, well.. maybe I was a bit wobbly when walking in a straight line, but I definitely remembered what happened the night before and I definitely didn't vomit either. So there!

I must say, with funny drunk people at the party, things became more intimate, louder, nosier, crazier and funnier HAHAHA =). I hope you had a SMASHING TIME Minhky =D! HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY !!! We should do this again another time =). Here are the photos from Danny and David's FB:

IT'S OVER 9OOO!!!

 Minhky's first glass of wine.

 Minhky's mother's bottles of wine...

 Us drinking it all away =D.

 Minhky's drunk face!

 A disappointed Rosalyn on the phone >.<.

 Danny and Anna's birthday cake present to Minhky.

 Yes, I made the mask myself.

PS. Thanks again to Danny, David and Julie for the photos =). Danny, your photos were great =D and good for you to upload all 200+ photos!.

PSS. Thanks Vicky's Dad for driving me home again =).

sniff me, i dare you

17O41O - San San 姐姐's 22nd Birthday.

No, I'm joking. I don't want to be strip naked and felt all over just to justify myself that I have no drugs on me, what so ever. Strange how it was only males who were sniffed out by the police dog. For once, I'd like it if it was a female who gets singled out. You know what's also strange? The attractiveness bias.Today, I experienced, first hand, how policemen bias people due to their physical characteristics. They were more likely to target people that were less attractive people. It was stereotypically dark-skinned, bearded males who were clothed in dark clothes. No wonder social psychologists hate humans, ie. Lisa Zadro (my social psychologist lecturer).

For the second time, in a row, I volunteered for the Bring It On Festival, which was held at the Fairfield Showgrounds. However, unlike last year, it was more spacious, less crowded and less entertaining unfortunately. There really isn't much to mention about besides the usual freebies, the rendezvous with old friends and the dog sniffing. The t-shirt colour was the same as last years, the sausage sizzle for the free BBQ voucher was not filling and they didn't provide bottles of water this year =/ I think it was mostly because of bad organizing skills. OH! I did manage to make something for Minhky's up coming birthday =). I hope he'll like it because it's all hand-made =).

 

Me, Mark and Livia.

Livia, Wendy and I.

 Shirley and I got our faces painted =).

Gah! This week's going to be one hell of a busy one: Human Biology exam, Foundations of Health group meeting, PhotoSoc executive meeting, PhotoSoc photoshoot, masquerade birthday party. I hope I'll be able to cope this week =/. 

PS. Adrian a really good job in looking after the volunteers =) thanks! 
PSS. Thanks Livia andMark for the photos.

pyromania much?

 13O41O - Eric J.T's 18th & Jason Le's 18th Birthdays.

You guys are arsonists in the making. - Linda.

I wouldn't say that we're arsonists in the making, but I do believe that we're becoming more and more like pyromaniacs xD !!!

Last Friday, Eric, Jenii, Hanh and I went to the Maritime Museum, seeing that they've never been there before. I didn't mind going there again because the place was for free AND it was educational; the others were enlightened by the origins of the various mythical creatures =).

After bidding farewell to Jenii and Hanh, Eric and I went to Strathfield to meet up with the others for his birthday dinner =). The restaurant we went to was called DooRi's, and it was a Korean restaurant. It's strange how often I go to a Korean restaurant for dinner ... Anyways, we had BBQ YAY =D I was extra cautious as to how I was eating because I didn't want to end up vomiting again >.> Hence I alternated between meat, rice and salad =D It was a good thing that they provided us an unlimited supply of salad =D! Oh, and it was also a good thing that Vicky was cooking for us, most of the time, or else our BBQ stove would've looked like the boys' one: pitch black. Overall, food was GOOD =D.

Our next destination was the park at Chesterhill, and although the park was quite large and spacey, walking in wet grass wasn't my ideal type of journey. The boots did nothing. NOTHING I tell ya! It was a shame that we couldn't see the stars because we were too preoccupied with lighting up the sparkler bombs and by the time that we remembered, the sky became too cloudy from the smoke =(. Ah, there's always next time =). The sparkler bombs were SO worth the running, the suspense and the wet feet =D. Eric and Thanh made 2 sparkler bombs each, but only 3 out of 4 worked; Thanh #2 didn't happen =/ (yes, he named his sparkler bombs). Other things that made it funny were: 1. Shirley's cautiousness; 2. Derek's passion-fruit cheesecake; 3. Minhky's engaging and explicit explanations on sexual intercourse; and 4. Wendy and her interest in guns ;D AHAHAHA!!!

 Funnily enough, the photos without Kenny looked much better .. LOL!

We made a pit stop at Hanh's house, to bid farewell and all, seeing that she was leaving the next day =(. It won't be after a couple of months before she comes and visits us again. We'll miss her >.

For the first time, after getting her red Ps, Kelly drove her family and I to Jason's place, where his 18th birthday party was held, on Saturday. Good job Kelly, I survived =D. It was good to catch up with George and Adam again, and there was plenty of food as well =D. I ate more salad than meat ONLY because the salad was really delicious =D. I know it was a mushroom salad, but I wish they didn't bombarded the salad with so much mushroom ... ngeh, food's food =D. Mushroom's good for you anyways, so no biggie. 

Kelly and I still had adrenaline pumping through our blood from the previous night because we decided to end Jason's birthday party with a blast ;D. Emma, Kelly's cousin, drove Kelly and I to Stockland to buy gaffa tape and sparklers in preparation for our first sparkler bomb. Next time, I'm going to think twice before entering Emma's car ... she bloody zig-zagged the car when I was picking up the sparklers in the back seat! My right side ached because I squashed her 2 cocoa cola cans during the swerve =.='. 

So what happened? After having the cakes (one was jelly and the other was mango), we organized ourselves into 5 cars and drove ourselves to the closest park. I was kind of doubtful, seeing that Kelly and I haven't done it before nor done any pre-tests for it, but I guess watching Eric prepared them, after all those times, have paid off =). It succeed. IT SUCCEED >=D !!! We accomplished our goal; we ended Jason's party with a blast =D YAY!!! I hope you liked your gift Jason, because we sure did =D.

Around 7:30PM, Emma drove Kelly, Tracey and I back home. Thank you Emma for giving me a lift home =). I now know why Kelly's so funny and awesome: it's genetics =). It was nice meeting Kelly and Jason's family. If you're wondering, yes they're cousins =).

Now yesterday, I went to visit UNSW students =). I met up with Vicky, waited for Eric, and then spent time with them at their tree spot =). Shirley wasn't there because she jigged *sigh* though she did call Eric, so I get to talk to her on the phone instead =). While Eric was at his tutorial, I was crashing Vicky's and Michael's Arts lecture ... *shoots myself* You'd think I've learnt my lesson after crashing Wendy's Philosophy lecture *sigh*. Fortunately, 30 minutes into the lecture, Eric called to go eat =D YES! 

I met up with him and was introduced to Sarah and Nathan =). Although I heard a lot about them, it was nice to actually get to know them personally =). So we headed off to Pancakes on the Rocks, and because it was Eric's birthday, we went to the one at Circular Quay because that was what he wanted *sigh*. We met up with Michael and Vicky later, at Noritas, but Michael couldn't stay long. The rest of us stayed and played a round of Pictionary. Eric and I lost >.> The punishment was a hit on the head, with the plastic hammer, from each person of the opposite team. Eric received harder blows because it was his birthday =D HAHAHA!

I was too tired to talk much, but I do home Eric had a good time =). I know it wasn't much, but I hope he liked my present. It was all I could do >.<. Anyways, I would like to thank him, for shouting me food, and Vicky, for driving me home =). Yeah, you don't have to tell me, I feel like a burden to them at times >.

PS. Thanks Kelly for the photos and videos (1 &2) =).

PSS. I am now officially one of the junior executives for the PHOTOSOC at uni =D YAY!!! The other person is Cindy Chong =D. Nice to meet your acquaintances everyone, and I hope I'll be able to contribute to the society! If you need help, want to bring up something or if I've done something wrong, please tell me =D I'll do my best to help! I feel more important xD!!!

When We Say (Juicebox)

When We Say (Juicebox) by AJ Rafael 

(Myspace, Youtube, Blogspot)

 

Something bout the way
Something bout the way you look
In my eyes
You make everything so damn easy
So easy that I don't got to worry bout a thing

And baby when we touch
All I can see is the image of us
Sitting by the ocean
Just before the dusk
Sipping on a juice box and
Sand between our toes

This is the part when we say were in love
And the part where we have our first kiss
But this ain't a movie
I know you can't come with me
You got your life
He better be treating you right

Just tell me you don't love me
Tell me you don't feel the same way that I do
Tell me I don't make you smile
Like I do when you walk in the room
You're so hard to let go

This is the part when we say were in love
And the part where we say it's forever
But this ain't a fantasy
I know you can't come with me
You got your life
He better be treating you right

This hurts so much to know that you're
With someone else when you should be with me
It's just hard to accept that I can't be around
He better be treating you good
I'm no Einstein but I know a sign
When I see one
And I know you love me too
I know you love me too

This is the part when we say were in love
And the part where we have our first kiss
But this ain't a movie
I know you can't come with me
You got your life
He better be treating you right
So good
You got your life
He better be treating you right 

Wongfu Productions and AJ Rafael combined to make this music video.
 

A/N: This is one of my favourite covers of this song by Christal and Dean.

chocolate overdose

31O31O - Annie P.’s 19th birthday; William T.’s 18th birthday
O2O31O - Jeffrey’s 18th birthday

SORRY FOR THE LACK OF BLOG POSTS PEOPLE!!! I know I've been a lazy bum and haven't been blogging much but honestly, nothing much have happened. 

Since it was Easter, Kenny decided to hold an Easter party at his house =D YAY! Finally something, NOT relating to uni, have occurred. As usual, Vicky and I were late - fashionably late, mind you ;D. Vicky actually bothered to curl her hair that day, and I attempted to be an Easter puppy. Why an Easter puppy? It's because I didn't have a pair of bunny ears, but I did have a pair of dog ears instead =). By the way, I would like to thank David Lai for driving us to Kenny's house. 

It was good to see everyone again, and it was especially pleasant to see Hanh again =D YAY! She came back to Sydney for the Easter break, but she'd be leaving a week later =(. 

So what happened? There was mahjong, chocolate, music, chocolate, exploring, chocolate, eating proper food, chocolate, more mahjong, playing Taboo, talking and have I mentioned chocolate? Yep, that was pretty much it really =). I would like to thank Stephanie and Tina, for cooking pasta for us, and Yvonne, for bringing her home-made cheesecake over. The food was delicious =D. 

Before leaving, we thanked Kenny and his parents, for their hospitality, and bid farewell to our friends. After thanking Shaun for driving us safely to the station, Vicky, Shirley and I caught the train home and went out separate ways =). I would like to thank Vicky's parents for driving me home =). Ah, it was nice to be driven home =D, though I should really get my Ps soon >.<.

On another note, it was nice catching up with Zak again =). It's almost been a year since I last saw him, and it seemed like he's been having a pretty busy life ;D. We had lunch at Rise Cafe, which was quite good though I wished there wasn't any smokers around >.>. Then we walked around, and talked, before we coincidentally met up with Wendy H. and her boyfriend =]. We caught up with them for almost an hour or two before we went our separate ways. I must say, the conversation was quite... enlightening =). So that was my afternoon folks =).

Oh, I almost forgot, besides lunch, two other things happened today: 1. I DROVE ANOTHER 2 HOURS TODAY =D YAY!!! and 2. when Eric and I went for a walk, we saw a kitty =3. We played with it a bit before heading off but unfortunately, it started following us ... I blame Eric for stopping and calling it over to us >.>. Hence, our adventure to find a home for the kitty began. We went to Mimi's house for a pit-stop; it was nice of her to provide us a spare t-shirt and some milk for the kitty. Thank you Mimi =). Unfortunately, she has a husky so she couldn't keep the kitty. She didn't like cats anyways =/. Our next destination was Vicky, but Vicky was actually at the Easter Show, so she was another dead end. Our next potential owner was Linh, but she wasn't at home, so she couldn't keep the kitty but luckily enough, she knew someone who could =D. After searching for almost an hour, we finally found a home for the kitty =D YAY!!! It's odd how something can make you so happy one minute, but bring you down in the next. I hope the kitty found a good home. I've started missing it alread >.

PS. I would like to thank my cousins for the chocolate eggs =).

 PSS. I went to Funky's grand opening at Sanctuary Hotel and made new friends =). I would like to thank Kimlee and Marika for the photos =).

Kimlee and I

 Marika, Claire and I.

 Marika, me and Kat.

 Marika and I =).