3 years and 120 hours later

I FINALLY GOT MY RED Ps =D !!!

Yep, last Thursday, the 21st of July, I finally did my driving test for my red Ps and I passed =D. Besides the couple of mistakes that I made during the test, the fact that it was raining and a school day and I was extremely nervous made me think I would fail the test. I know most of my friends got it on the first go, but some people said that the testers now were more strict on younger drivers and that they usually fail them on their first go. But I was determined to pass the test! I even made small talk with my tester to make it less awkward and to make it seem I'm not that nervous. And guess what? All my hard work paid off =D.

After 3 years and 120 legit driving hours, I'm officially a red P-plater now, no longer an L-plater =D. Look out world, another red P-plater on the loose, so you better get off the road quick! No, I jest. I mean, I can't be that bad if I can do a reverse parking in one go, right? I mean, mum continuously said how lucky I was to get my Ps and to do so well, but I would've need skills as well as luck in order to pass my driving test right? Yeah, I guess I was pretty lucky =) I had a middle-aged man as my tester and fortunately, he didn't see some of my mistakes. You know how I knew? because he didn't write those mistakes down =). Then again... I don't really know how to read my test paper =S all I know was that I scored 95+ lol.            

Also, when I was waiting for my test, I met another girl who was also doing the test the same time I was. Like me, she didn't live that area but just heard that they were easier testers, she's also in 2nd year of uni, she's from university of Sydney and we both have a mutual friend =D. What a small world, aye? Unfortunately, she didn't pass because of one mistake =(. Well, I wish her luck on her next test though =).

Though, even though I did finally get my Ps, my mum's still reluctant on letting me drive. Seriously, what's the point of getting my license if I can't drive myself home, drive my friends home or get to places easier *sigh*. Okay, because I'm under the age of 25 years, it's $1600 insurance if I crash into another car. But seriously! She really needs to have more faith in me. I feel like I just wasted 3 years of my life. Can't believe I can be so happy one day, and so sad the next. I feel like I'm bipolar =.=. 

laser tag x1 ; bowling x2 ; ice-skating x0

So MG invited us to go ice-skating with her on Tuesday, 19th of July, at the Macquarie shopping centre but unfortunately, when we got there, the time slot that we wanted to skate in was used for the high school kids to practice their skating skills, and we weren't bothered enough to wait for two hours before we could get our turn.

Hence, we decided to go to the city, to M9 at Darling Harbor, to play laser tag and bowling. Lucky for us, they were having this special offer for Mondays and Tuesday where you pay $24 and get 3 games of a mixture of laser and/or bowling =). Now that was definitely much cheaper than if we were to pay those games separately lol. 

We played laser tag first and it was the first time for the other girls, except me. Rather than running around a lot, like the last couple of times, I stayed in one place, with my back against the wall most of the time, and laser-tagged people that way instead. I thought I did pretty well =). Paz was such a natural; she's a natural at any sort of games involving some type of sport lol. We were in the  green team and we came second overall. I came fourth in our team, while Paz came 3rd. Alicija, Karen and MG came 5th, 6th and 7th in their respective order (I think? xP). Embarrassingly enough, we lost to 2 younger girls. Oh wells, at least I kicked little boys' asses xD. 

Paz in action xD a natural rookie =D.

We played bowling next and again, Paz was a natural at it. Although it was her first time playing, she came first, even if she was bowling it wrong LOL. We didn't know what our last game would be so we left it to fate... by tossing a coin =). We ended up bowling again. I guess fate really wanted us to bowl because it fell on heads 3 times (which I'm sure you figured that it meant bowling =P). In the second game, Paz decided to try bowling properly, though I must say that her 'normal' bowling wasn't as good as her 'abnormal' bowling lol. Karen was pretty good too, and MG was too... until she decided to become lazy in the second game. I felt sorry for the balls and the floor when she bowled... she practically chucked them onto the floor =S. Speaking of floor, I actually went down to the other end because my ball wouldn't fall down the hole to come back to the beginning, and they weren't kidding when they said that the floor was slippery O_o. Another incident was when I was swinging the ball backwards, it accidentally fell out of my fingers. Luckily, no one got hurt but I shouldn't known not to use that ball lol. We all weren't really playing that well, but I don't think it was completely our fault. I mean, we all had size 9+ balls!!! Everyone else have taken the smaller size =.='.

We planned on going back to Canley Vale to try out that Thai restaurant we saw the other day, but it was too far for MG so we decided to have dinner at the city instead. We had dinner at a Korean restaurant called Kobow. The food was very filling and very tasty =). After dinner, we stayed back at the restaurant just to talk and all =) and there were a couple of funny things that I'd like to mention in this blog post, but I rather keep it confidential ;D. What a day =). There really is no such thing as coincidences. We were meant to not be able to go ice-skating in order for the girls to try out laser tag and bowling for the first time =). 

It All Ends

So last Sunday, on the 17th of July, Thanh and I went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I'll won't spoil it or anything so there's nothing to worry about. I do feel that people should definitely watch because a) it's a good movie, I'd rate it an 8/10 (lots of action =D), and b) if you're born as Gen. Y, like I am, then you practically grew up with Harry Potter! Watching this movie is like taking a trip down memory lane; it's a piece of your childhood that happens to be there for you to view, conveniently at a cinema or in the comfort of your own home, in front of a computer. 

We're not growing any younger, so people should embrace their childhood as much as possible. And by the end of the movie, you can't help but think 'wow, it was just years ago when this movie came out, during my childhood, and now, it's finally over.' Well, that's how I felt. I was also thinking how I'm practically the same age as the characters in the book too! I do admit that the movie felt a bit too packed, as though they were trying to shove as many good scenes as possible into a 3 hour long movie, and there were a couple of scenes where they changed a bit but overall, I think they did a pretty good job in expressing the essence of the magical world of Harry Potter. 

That's how I'm going to end my perception about the movie because I'm not a movie critic and I preferred talking more about the emotional childhood aspect of the movie instead =). if you want to know how the movie was, go buy yourself a movie ticket and watch it yourself!

let's tail an L plater, shall we?

After having my first driving lesson with a driving instructor last Wednesday, mum decided to take me to Ingleburn on Thursday to learn how to get there and understand the geography of the area and the the possible driving routes I may have to take for my driving test. Yes, I'm talking my driving test at Ingleburn. Why so far? That's because all my friends that have been there for their P test all said it was easy to pass. I pray to God that they're right about this >.<. It took us an hour to get to Ingleburn from our place, when it's supposed to only take about 30 - 34 minutes. It also literally took us 1/2 look for the RTA after getting there ... the shopping district there was definitely a maze and the RTA itself was small. It wasn't like the Whetherill Park RTA or the Fairfield RTA. Oh no, it was the size of a small business shop, stuck between a pub and a shop... How were we suppose to find something that small when we were expecting something big like Fairfield's RTA?!

It wasn't enough to just get there and find the RTA. No, mum wanted more. She made me wait for an L license kid to take their driving test and then tail them just to see the types of route one would take if they were getting tested there. It was embarrassing. Downright embarrassing. Mortifying, even. But I couldn't say no. As outrageous and ridiculous the plan sounded, she was right. I didn't know the area, so it was only fair that I should drive around to see how I might be tested. It still didn't stop me feeling embarrassed though. Also, there were barely any cars around because it was school holidays, so it was extremely obvious that we were following them >.<. Now that I think about it, I also felt bad for the kid because if I were them, I'd freak out if I knew someone was tailing me during my test. Then again, I guess it wasn't so bad since it should be obvious what I was doing, seeing I'm also an L plater too lol. Though, halfway through the test, I really wanted to stop. Unfortunately, if I did, we wouldn't know how to get back. We didn't know our way around there after all. They actually even drove over to Minto for their test route =S. After around 30 minutes later, we got back to Ingleburn (Thank God!). Mum finally decided to go home.

Unfortunately, mum accidentally pointed to the wrong direction and sent me down to M5 highway instead... The maximum speed was 110km/hr and I was only allowed to drive 80km/hr. Seeing how risky it was, mum told me to stop on the side to let her drive instead. Hence, mum drove all the way home. I was grateful for that because after driving for a couple of hours straight can be quite tiring. It wasn't the driving that made me tired, it was the arguments about the directions with mum that made it tiring, and I was also getting cranky and hot from the temperature inside the car. What a day!

sportmanship becomes non-existent when it comes to playing pool

On Friday 8th, July, after our clinical placements were over we had lunch one last time with our facilitator and our nursing friends, at Lindt Cafe, before Paz and I went to Townhall to rendezvous with my friends. My friends already ate before meeting up with us. 

We went to K1 for karaoke and chose to sing for 2 hours, rather than for 3 hours, because we get complimentary drinks if we did. Oddly enough, they weren't as loud as the last time I went karaoke with them, nor as active. But I finally get to listen to Jenifer's voice =) it really did sound like Taylor Swift, but like a younger version or something hahaha =) she sounded great =D. I was also having fun promoting Paz and her talent in singing but as usual, she was all modest and embarrassed about it lol. 

A group photo with just the girls =).

After karaoke, we just loitered around outside the building before finally deciding to go to Market City as our next destination. We walked through Chinatown to look at the street shops and all, but by the time we reached Market City, half of the group decided to go home =/. After bidding our goodbyes and taking a couple of photos, the rest of us went upstairs to the toilets. We then loitered inside the shopping centre before deciding to go have dinner at Chat Thai. Thanh and Sarah left before they could join us for dinner =/ oh wells, there's always next time =). The food at Chat Thai was delicious and the price wasn't too expensive either =). It was pretty crowded and the interior design was quite stylish too. They even played jazz music in the background hahaha =). Tae joined us for dinner because he just got off work and didn't have dinner yet. He also couldn't go home because he had a night shift later that night at another hospital, so he joined us for the rest of our outing. Before I forget, Yibo was HILARIOUS!!! We were talking about eskimos when Yibo said the funniest thing ever hahaha! I had the urge to text Mx the quote HAHAHA!!!

'Do Eskimos live in eskies?' - Yibo W.

After dinner, we went to Galaxy World at Market City. Paz, Tae and I went to ride the bummer cars =D it's been so long since the last time I played. We then played air hockey. Yibo and I had an intense game and let me tell you, wear gloves and protection when you play with Yibo because there were so many times where he hit the puck off table. There were a couple of times where he accidentally hit my hand with the puck as well lol! But it was a good game, he won with 7 to 6. By then, Stanley, Eric and Vicky had to head home.

We went to this place full of pool tables to play pool but all the tables were taken already. Hence, one of the staff members took us their second store. It was pretty funny because he took us there via a dark, barely lit back alley path way of some sort. We were all laughing at our situation, but I was glad that there were 5 of us and just one of him. We finally made it to the second store =D. We played pool for about an hour, girls verses boys, and for all three rounds, the boys won. Yibo practically killed us all with his skills hahaha. Hence, I guess that's why the girls (including myself) began distracting him in hope that he'd lose his winning streak HAHAHA yes, our sportsmanship became non-existent when us females became desperate to win. Near the end, I guess Tae was in the rush because he finally showed his skills and took out as many pools as Yibo did lol! For me, I thought I played better than I thought I would hahaha =) though, I think I need to hit harder next time lol. Many thanks to Yibo for teaching us the proper way of playing the game hahaha =). 

After the game, which only cost us $16 altogether for an hour (talk about cheap! =D), Tae left for his shift and we all went home. On the train ride back to Parramatta, where Yibo's car was packed, Carmen and I had a lot of fun make up names with people's funny last names after I told her about Minhky's joke about telling Danny to call his future daughter's name Holy because his first name was Cao LOL!!! I think I hit it off quite well with Carmen =) I had a lot of fun talking to her =D. Many thanks to Yibo for driving Carmen, Paz and I home =). It was funny because before he started to drive us home, he realised his GPS was out of batteries and he didn't have his phone, and neither Paz and I knew how to get back to our houses from Parramatta LOL! So using my phone, we called Eric to get Harrison's number in order to borrow his GPS. Then we drove to Harrison's house, got the GPS and THEN we were finally able to get home safely =). Since we were pressed on time, with Yibo's time restriction closing in on us, he told us all to wind back our mobiles and watches so if we really did get busted by the police, we could all say that we didn't know because of the time differences hahaha! Thankfully, we didn't get busted by the police =). It was a fun and long day =).

PS. Thanks Jenifer for the photos =).

friendly dinner @ Mimi's

Thanh decided to cook us dinner on Friday, 1st of July, at Mimi's house. While waiting, we helped plate our the table before we went to play Band Hero. Dinner was served around 7PM instead of 5PM. Thanh did a good job cooking all by himself. It wasn't because we didn't help, but more like he didn't let us help lol. He cooked Mexican chili con carne, Vietnamese rice paper rolls and Italian pasta =). They were all delicious. We took this time to catch up with everyone and to see what people were up to these days. 

After dinner, we continued with Band Hero. Unfortunately, Thanh experienced an allergic reaction; his eyes became swollen and red. We assumed it might have been because he washed the prawns and touched his eyes by accident. Wendy, Kelly, Stanley and I accompanied him to Woolworths but they didn't have any antihistamines, allergy remedies and what not that, well the ones that Thanh wanted anyways. Fortunately, Kelly had some at her house so we drove to her house and she got some for Thanh. Within 5 minutes, his eyes looked much better. 

When we got back to Mimi's house, we played a games of Scrambles. We thought Kelly would win because she made a couple of words worth 30 points max, but in the end, Mimi came out as the victor and Kelly actually lost the game LOL! What an expected turn of events. After the game, we all helped clean up and wash the dishes. Eventually, people left. By 11 o'clock, there were only a few of us left. Actually, we only stayed back to watch Mimi's clock strike 11:00 PM and start singing and all hahaha =D. I wouldn't mind having a clock like that! And apparently, it sings a different song every hour too =D !!! Before we all left, we had a discussion on who should finish Thanh's rocky road off and Mimi end up keeping it all for herself lol xD. Many thanks to Kelly for driving me home =). It was a lovely dinner and a nice night to spend time with my friends. Many thanks for Mimi's hospitality and Thanh's cooking as well =).

so begins the clinical placement

On the 27th of June, I started my clinical placement at Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital with Paz, Ali, Rachel, Lauren and Claire, with Julie as our facilitator. Rather than talking about what happened every day, I'll just mention some highlights of my 2 weeks clinical placement.

1. I say, waking up at 5:00 AM everyday was a pain but I eventually got used to it. I didn't have any problems sleeping earlier either since working for 8 hours each day, with 2 20-20 minutes long breaks only, and having to look after all those patients can be quite exhausting. But I don't regret it because it was a rewarding experience =). 
2. The very first patient we talked to was a young NZ man who practically opened his entire emotional, personal and spiritual life to us. I found it quite enlightening and thankful too for this rare opportunity. I never realised how open patients can be towards nurses; really, we are their advocates and I'm quite proud of that =). He said that our encounter was meant to be and I agree - there's no such this as coincidences.
3. One of the elderly patients gave me a nickname; he named me Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 depending how many days it has been since I started my clinical placement. I found it quite endearing and appreciative because he bothered to remember how many days I've been at the hospital already =). 
4. I was following this young registered nurse (RN) one day and she was quite helpful; she gave me advices and criticisms, she really helped me realise all my flaws in my nursing care and technique, and helped me improve on my skills. As thankful and grateful as I was, I also couldn't help but feel incompetent, realising how little I actually knew about nursing care. Even the things that I thought I could do properly was proven to be not enough when providing care to actual patients. I felt disappointed for the rest of the day, but I quickly gained my enthusiasm again =). If I'm down, then it'll be evident in my care, and I don't want to make the patients feel worse than they already are.
5. I didn't actually save a life, but I felt like I help prevent it from becoming worse. Paz and I were taking a patient's vital signs when we noticed how low his blood pressure was. We did it twice to make sure it wasn't a mistake. We also checked his observational charts to see if he usually have low blood pressure. His average systolic was around the 100s, so we realised something was definitely wrong. We were going to ask the RN who was in charge of the patient to check it for us, with a manual blood pressure machine, just in case but before we could ask that RN, another RN also noticed the low blood pressure score that we noted down so she went to take the patient's blood pressure manual instead. Thankfully, it was the machine's fault and it wasn't as dangerously low as we got in the first place. If it was genuinely that low, even with the manual blood pressure machine, then we would've activated PACE (which is like the procedure for an emergency in the hospital). I was happy that we did the right thing and managed to 'potentially save a patient's life' xD.
6. There was an Aboriginal Appreciation Day of some sort at the hospital one day. We (USYD nursing students and facilitators) went to watch the performance, got a free badge and had free sausage sizzle and salad. We also went to a session to listen about the culture and health of Aboriginal people. It was interesting =).
7. We also went to other sessions at the hospital. There was one that taught us how to use the vital signs machine and another taught us about wounds and how to care for it. I learnt quite a lot from those sessions =).
8. Paz and I got to watch a cataract operation and wear scrubs. We thought we wouldn't be able to watch it and it was the last day of us working at the hospital, so we were a bit disappointed however; when we got back from our lunch break, the nurses were all saying how they were looking for us and all because we finally got permission to watch an operation. The last patient went up 20 minutes before we came back and we thought we were too late, so we were disappointed and sad, but a nurse brought us up there just to try and see if we can still make it. Lucky for us, the patient was still waiting in the waiting room =D, so we get to watch it. I wished we brought our phones with us so we could take photos of us in scrubs! Though, we did get to keep our disposable eye protectors =). It was disgusting but fascinating at the same time =D. At times, I just wanted to look over their shoulder to see what was really happening, but we just stuck to watching it on the TV screen instead. The screen was pretty clear (HD quality) but apparently, it was much clearer under the microscope O_O! It was actually a strange scene... It was more casual than I thought it would be, maybe a bit too casual... Like seriously! Soft classical/jazz music playing in the background; the anesthetic doctor was just sitting there, playing his sudoku O_O; sometimes, they would even pause and chat a bit =S. It really wasn't what I was expecting. Though, in such serious a situation with lots of pressure, I guess you really would need a bit of mild entertainment to ease the mind a bit. 
9. The stereotypical separation between nurses and doctors was blown away from my mind. I thought that doctors and nurses will have this definite separation between them due to their jobs, but I was proven wrong when I witness such friendly interactions between the nurses and doctors. The anesthetic doctor was nice and was very willing to answer all our questions and was detailed with his explanations =). Yes, some nurses and doctors do have this tense, inexplicable atmosphere around them sometimes, but most of the time, there was barely any hierarchy between them. Well, maybe Sydney Hospital is just a really friendly place =P. 
10. Julie, our facilitator, was a wonderful woman =). Her enthusiasm really helped encourage me a lot during the clinical placement, and seeing her as a nurse was quite inspirational. I admit, she really does love to talk and sometimes get so lost in the conversation that she forgets about what her nursing duty was, but it's quite endearing when I watch her talk so cheerfully with the patients; it really does bring a smile to my face =). Now that's what I call aesthetic knowing - the art of nursing. I'm very grateful and thankful that Julie was my very first nursing facilitator for my very first clinical placement. She really helped me a lot by giving encouragements and helpful advices. I wish she would go to USYD and teach us nursing. Even though it's over now, I still have her number, so it's okay xD.
11. The very last day of clinical placements was Friday 8th, July. We spent half the day working on our booklets, discussing and talking about nursing related topics (well, most of the topics were related to nursing...) and bidding our farewells to the patients and RNs at the hospital. We gave a card to the RNs, and Ali was considerate enough to buy a card for Julie too. We all wrote in it before giving it to her. We spent our time inside this private room at the library. The room was called History Room (or something along those lines...) and it really did look like an old room, with a mantle, sofas, a wooden table with six chairs and a wall occupied with bookshelves, all of them had books, with no space to spare. After everything was done, we went to Lindt Cafe at the corner of Martin Place, across the Channel 7 building, and had lunch there. It was a bit expensive (especially the desserts), but it was worth it =). After lunch, we took a photo, exchanged emails and bid our farewells. Paz and I joined up with my friends after that, but I'll blog about it on another blog post =).

It was an exhausting 2 weeks of clinical, but I experienced many things that made it all worth while. It was definitely a rewarding experience, and you feel appreciated when the patients are thankful for your care. It's nice to know that I can be able to ease their pain or make them feel better. I regretted nothing, and wouldn't mind doing it again (even if I don't get paid, though it'd be nice if I did =P).

2 times the cake and a broken egg-whisker

26O611 - Linh's 20th Birthday.

On Sunday, 26th of June, it was the day where we were going to celebrate my aunt's and my mum's birthdays that night at dinner. It was also Linh's birthday too. Rather than buying my mum, aunt and Linh something, I decided to make home-made tiramisu cakes, one for Linh and one for my mum and aunt. My mum helped me buy the ingredients and helped me out with making the cakes. Many thanks to her =). Unfortunately, before I could even complete one cake, I broke mum's electrical egg-whisker... I guess I pressed it too hard against the bowl. We ended up chucking out the mixing bowl as well *sigh*. 

I gave Linh her birthday cake before I went out for dinner. At around 7:30PM we went out to Canley Vale for dinner. I can't really say it was particular delicious, but the meal was still pretty nice. After dinner, we went home and ate the cake that I made however; because everyone was already so full, they only had one piece and hence, 3/4 of the cake remained. Since my aunt and uncle doesn't really eat dessert and my cousins live in the city, so they couldn't bring it with them, I end up keeping the rest of the cake myself. Unfortunately, I only managed to eat 1/4 of the cake before it needed to be chucked away because it couldn't last that long =/.  

post-exam celebration

On Wednesday, 22nd of June, after my exams, some friends and I celebrated the end of our exams, all of us were from the nursing campus =). We met at Central station at around 11AM before we headed off to Capitol Square to take sticker photos. Half of the girls didn't even know what they were LOL! As usual, doing poses in a short time frame made us work off a sweat. 

We had lunch at Pepper Lunch and again, majority of the girls never been there before. After lunch, we went to Greenbox to karaoke for 3 hours straight, including free drinks. We had heaps of fun; we were jumping a lot, had quite a few duets, sang altogether for majority of the songs and were given the privilege to hear Paz sing =D. She was excellent, as usual =). After karaoking, we had fun taking photos in the elevator because there was a mirror behind us LOL. I even stopped halfway with my call with Jaki to smile for the camera LOL!

We met up with Jaki and Jennifer at Chinatown but Anna had to leave early =(. We took a couple of photos at Darling Harbour and ate at Pancakes at the Rocks for dessert. After window-shopping for a while, we all went home. It was a fun and tiring day =). I haven't had so much fun for so long hahaha!

PS. Thanks Patty for scanning the capitols and Paulo for the photos =).

local dinner

Birthday shout outs: 26O411 - Lisa L.'s 19th Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA =); 3OO411 - Fianna's 19th; O1O511 - Kit's 19th; O2O511 - Christina L.'s 19th; 11O511 - Kenneth's 19th.

Hanh invited us all to dinner at Cabramatta.The restaurant we were supposed to go to was closed today. Of all days, it closed today *sigh*. So we went to Iron Chef instead. It was an expensive restaurant, but the bill ended up not being so expensive =). I think Derek ended up choosing most of the dishes for us, and anyone who wanted to have desserts paid for themselves. I actually always wanted to eat with everyone like how we did today; we'd sit around a round table and order many dishes and rice, and share the food around. 

I had an enjoyable night, and the food was quite delicious =). I had fun talking to people who I haven't seen in a while too. I also felt like I've gotten a bit closer to people as well =) which I'm quite happy about. We started goofing around a bit more when the fruits and biscuits came; the boys had fun spinning the glass tray thing while we tried to eat the food. Thanh and Minhky also mocked how Vicky and I flirt. Why they think I'd walk back and start drooling, or how they think Vicky tickles her ears (they said play with hair around her ears, but it looked more like playing with her ears instead), I have no idea but it was a hilarious sight to behold LOL!

Group photo.

After dinner, we ended up loitering around. It starting to become a habit of ours LOL. But I didn't mind it at all. Even though the weather was a bit cool, I felt happy, laughing and talking away with the others =). Though, I do hope nobody got sick, or gotten more sick anyways. Many thanks to Mimi's older brother for driving me home =). I have GOT to get my Ps soon =/.

PS. Thanks Hanh for the photos and home-made cupcakes =). The cupcake was delicious =).

Hanh's home-made cupcake =D.

ANZAC Day Movie Marathon

23O411 - Minhky's 19th Birthday.

Happy ANZAC DAY Everyone=).

Let us remember those who have fought bravely in the war; let us respect the soldiers who made use of their courage to help their country; let us think fondly of those who kept the country safe. May they rest in peace.

To celebrate ANZAC Day, Thanh decided to hold a BBQ and movie marathon at his house. Since Mimi offered to drive me there, I was one of the people who arrived later to the house. Not wanting to be useless, I helped out with the preparations of the food. It wasn't much, but I tried. I still don't understand why we needed so many onions for ... I don't think we finished it =.= So much for slaving away at the stove to fry it for like 10 - 15 minutes =.='. Anyways, the food was great: the smash potato salad, with ham and herbs, was delicious, the brownies were yummy and the meat was juicy (even though half the time it was burnt pitch black ...). 

 Washing the dishes was a mess... Well, actually I was the cause of it ^_^'. I wasn't used to the lack of space because my own sink was slightly bigger and I kept forgetting not to plug the drain *sigh*. My apologies to Kelvin, Maxine and Shirley. Shirley ended up cleaning the rest of the dishes while I went to blow dry my jumper and socks. Thanks Thanh, for letting me borrow your hair dryer =). The people who were waiting ended up playing pinball on the computer hahaha.

We ended up watching the movies inside the house, rather than outside against his neighbor's wall, because it got a bit too chilly. It got a bit crowded but it was warm =). We had Mimi's box of Favourites (chocolate variety), popcorn and some brownies. It was a shame that the jelly didn't set fast enough =(. 

The first movie we watched was Gnomeo and Juliet, directed by Kelly Asbury, with James McAvoy as Gnomeo and Emily Blunt as Juliet. The movie was your typical fairytale story; a parody of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Though, even though it's predictable, it still brought a smile upon my face; I'd choose a sappy, happy ending over a dramatic, sad ending any day =). I think I'd rate it a 7 out of 10 =).

The next one was The Notebook, directed by Nick Cassavetes, with Ryan Gosling as Noah and Rachel McAdams as Allie. It's a sweet and romantic movie, but if you add the guys' commentary to the mix, you get innuendos, hilarity and romance scenes becoming a joke. One word: ROFLMAOS !!! For example, during the scene where they taking their clothes off and were about to make love, the guys mentioned how disappointed the girl looked ROFLS! I knew what they were implying but I don't think that was what they were trying to act out. Even so, it was hilarious xD. Maxine, Mimi and I couldn't finish the movie off because of Mimi's brother's time restriction but I've watched the movie before. I remembered it was a sad movie but I didn't remember if I cried or not. Speaking of crying, Stephanie did end up crying a bit awww =). I think I'd rate this movie an 8 out of 10 =). 

For the rest of the ride home, we some how changed the topic from romance to ghosts. How that happened, I don't really know - oh wait, it was because we passed a 'ghost house' on the way home. Apparently, a truck drove into a house and killed a girl, and she was now haunting the house, but then a new family came in and they were suppressing her because they were people who dealt with voodoos and supernatural related issues. Or so they say anyways. But rather than feeling scared, I felt comfortable and okay with talking about it. We ended up laughing as well =). I think it was Nathan C.'s influence =). He believes in ghosts too but he managed to make me believe that not all ghosts are vengeful ones; they can be just nice, harmless ghosts with regret and that they may be observing people rather than planning to harm them. I'm quite grateful towards Nathan because if it wasn't for him, I'd still believe that all ghosts hold grudges. Watching Ghost Whisperer also helped me with my fear of ghosts =). Anyways, I also mentioned about my incidents when I was home alone; about My Linh's dream and me waking up in my dark house with the radio playing a ghost story. Anyways, many thanks to Andrew for driving me home and I hope they don't have nightmares tonight LOL!

3 things you must remember for ice skating

I went ice skating at Cantebury with some friends today. Though my ice skating skills improved, my tendency to fall never ceased. Also, because I left the house at the hottest time of the day, I completely forgot to wear the proper attire for ice skating. Hence, I wore shorts and ankle socks, and didn't bother to bring a jacket. For the next time, there are 3 things I must remember: 

1. Wear thick socks.
2. Wear pants.
3. Bring a jacket/cardigan/jumper. 

Anyways, I didn't fall as much as Raymond, but I fell harder than he did. If my camera had batteries, I would've taken a photo of it and upload it just to show you how serious it was. I'm pretty sure when I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have bruises all over my legs. There were 2 injuries that were particularly painful. One was from knocking into a kid and falling very closely on my tailbone. Luckily, the kid didn't get hurt and besides, she had a helmet on. Another was when we made a train; Linh was the leader and she was going very fast. Jack, being behind me, was also going very fast. I was having a trouble holding onto Linh so when I fell, everyone else on the train fell. Jack said that he almost cut my fingers off because when I leaned backwards, my fingers were very close to his feet. I'm also thankful because if he didn't lift me onto his lap, I could've gotten a bigger scrape on my thigh. We played tips for a while; I was the only one who wasn't 'it,' which was good because i wouldn't have been able to tip anyone anyways.

At around 4:30PM we left to eat at Canley Heights. When we went to pay for the bill, it was a lot cheaper than we thought; we think it was because they gave us the wrong bill xP. Lucky us, I guess. Though I do feel kind of bad. Raymond had to leave early so we all drove to his house. After Raymond left with his family, for a 50th anniversary celebrate of his grandparents or something, we just stood outside his house to chat. Matt gave Elin, Linh and Kenny a ride on his bike since he's on his full license. Linh then felt like going to the beach, so we did. We made a pit-stop at my house first because I needed to change my clothes and all.

We decided to go to La Perouse Beach since it was the closest. By the time we reached there, it was around 8PM. We pretty much just hanged out, chatted and played in the sand. may I say how disturbing Jack's faces were? They looked oddly realistic at night. Or maybe because of the shadows. Either way, it was disturbing. We didn't really play in the water, but Matt actually dared to go swimming even though he wasn't wearing the proper attire, nor did he have a towel. I wouldn't dare to go swimming in the dark. Though, Kenny did have a torch with him. For once, I could see heaps of starts. It was very beautiful, but oddly enough it was in a line. We think it was because there were houses on either side of the beach. Still, I could stare at them all night if I could =). We left the beach at around 9:30PM. I was sniffling by that time. Many thanks to Kenny for driving me home =).

PS. Kenny's manual driving is getting better, but I still think Linh drives the smoothest, in manual or automatic =).
PSS. Thanks Jack and Linh for the photos =).

BBQ + Hot Pot

On Monday, Linh invited me to a BBQ at Jack's house. Anthony was the one who drove us there. We stopped by Carrington's Westfields first to buy some food for the BBQ. I did most of the cooking >=D HA dare say that I can't cook huh?! Then again... cooking a BBQ isn't that hard >.> Since it was so hot in the morning, Jack actually hosed us while we were cooking =.=. Thankfully, he didn't do it for long, or else the food would've been ruined.

Anyways, I felt sorry for the magpies =/ the boys were having fun chucking the leftover sausages at them. Actually, I feel bad about wasting food too, but I didn't actually have the stomach to eat it all. I was saving up for Korean BBQ later that night. We didn't end up going. Anyways, it got worse actually; first it was chucking them, then it was batting with them with a baseball bat, and then they decided to through empty coke bottles instead. Half the time, they hit Jack instead LOL xP.

We played snooker, and then another game involving snooker. I don't know what's it called but it goes like this; we all pick a number out of a cup, and we just play snooker. If your ball gets out, you were out too. In this game, the difference was that you're allowed to hit any ball, not only just stripped or solid ones; and you're allowed to hit the 8 ball as well, you didn't need to wait until the end to hit it in. Yes, I was hopeless at it. Everyone was better than me. Jack and Michael ended up hitting the balls off the table half the time; Michael was really good at the game O_O.

We did different things after that. Some of us watched movies, like Alvin and the Chipmunks: Squeakquel and Dinner with the Schmucks. The chipmunks movie was okay but the Dinner wit the Schmucks was pretty funny =D. We watched a bit of 172 Hours. I thought it was pretty gruesome and graphic; maybe because it was based on a true story =/. I digressed. The others played snooker again. Linh and Lisa went for a walk a couple of times too. When Elin came over, the boys started making pancakes while the girls watched a movie. 

Around 7PM, My Linh and Allan came to pick Lisa, Linh and I up. By then, it actually started sprinkling =.= stupid weather. Linh wasn't feeling that well. But since we were all hungry, we ended up going to Canley Vale for hot pot at Red Sichuan. Unfortunately, my friends weren't working that day =(. Anyways, the food was pretty nice; the interior was half decorative, half mundane (maybe they didn't want to overdo it with the decorations); and they had very nice/good services =). We ordered a half normal spicy and half chicken soup base; we doubted if the spicy side was really 'normal'. If that was normal, 'hot' would've been extremely chili. I think it was mostly because of the herbs that made it spicy. The herbs kind of irritated our throats as well. To me, the spice was something I could handle, but it did make me cough a couple of times. We didn't order desserts because we were all a bit full. The bill ended up being ~$110. I guess it wasn't as bad as the all-you-can-eat TK Something restaurant next door. 

Linh drove us home instead since My Linh didn't want to drive. It took a while to get home because we had a short conversation while parked in front of Linh's house. I won't expose the content of the conversation, but it was kind of funny =P. Anyways, I'm thankful towards Linh because she always drove me home =P. Toby cried when I got home *sigh* =P.

PS. Jack's computer tower was HUGE O_O!!!

PSS. My Linh is a really funny driver =P. 
PSSS. Welcome home to those who went to Kiama =).

pancakes at 10 PM anyone?

It took us a while to get to Pancakes at the Rocks, in Northmead, because we were waiting for Jack to get his check up at the hospital. Eventually, Elin left, and then Kenny needed to go home early too, so Linh, Anthony and I had to go with him since he was the one who drove us there. 

Jack assumed it was a spider bite since there were 2 small bite holes in his forearm, but I guess it was either not that poisonous, or it was just a garden insect, because it's been 3 days before he decided to go have it checked up. It was pretty much red and swollen, I guess it's either due to the inflammation of the leukocytes or the poison was finally taking affect on his body. 

Kenny drove us back to Linh's house, and Linh drove us back out to the Westmead hospital that Jack was at. He's been waiting for ~3 hours and it still wasn't his turn yet. Hungry, we all decided to leave and have some dinner at the Pancakes at the Rocks. Linh was so nice to treat me a meal; she said that it was because I just came back from Malaysia =D. I was starving all day, so I was really glad when the food finally came. Strangely enough, even though I was really hungry, I got pretty full from the meal. Usually, I could eat some more food, but today was enough for me. I had the urge to take away the food as lunch the next day but they didn't have that kind of service *sigh*. Many thanks to Linh for the food and for driving me home anyways =). To be honest, I think Linh is one of the smoothest drivers out of all the friends' cars I've sat in. I also think Kenny needs more practice with his manual driving =P. Damn. I still have a lot more things to unpack =(.

Diary Entry #16: Finally home (14O211)

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday Thanh =) . 

It was also Valentines Day. I thought to myself, "great, I'll be home; single, family-less, a garage full of termites and hungry." I guess it wasn't that bad. Again, I had some assistance to help me through the check-out and all. It took longer than I thought because the other people that were with me were having a bit of trouble finding their luggage. Though, it was okay. We get to go into the express lines and all =). When I got out, I met up with Mun uncle and aunt. Mum have asked them to pick me up from the airport. They were her table-tennis and tafe buddies =). Thankfully, the parking fees weren't that expensive, though I did feel bad for making them wait for me for so long. It took a while to find the car because they seemed to have forgotten where they parked it. On the way home, they offered to take me out to lunch, but I was too exhausted and I wasn't feeling too hungry. 

When I got home, Toby was really happy to see me =D. He was so happy and scared that he cried every time I moved away from him, forcing me to let him be close to me. Every time I let go of him, he would cry and try to jump onto me again. Even if I did let him sit on my lap, he still continued to cry. I guess he felt extremely lonely without mum and I there. Uncle looked after him for us, but his presence was brief every day. I felt really bad for leaving him home alone. It went on for  ~30 minutes before he finally settled down. Uncle came over to check up on me and all. I'm really grateful that he had looked after Toby, looked after our mails and looked after our house well. I felt bad when I realized I didn't really buy him a souvenir =/. Hence, I decided to give him one of my fridge magnets =). At least it's something, right?

For the rest of the day, and night, I slept, read and went on the computer. I felt too tired and too lazy to make instant noodles and hence, I starved that night =/. But I'm glad to be home again =). 

On a side note, I'm very grateful and thankful for my relatives hospitality in Malaysia. They looked after me and took care of every thing for me; they even paid for most of my stuff over there. They made me feel right at home, even though it's been years since I last saw them; they made me feel comfortable =). I can't wait to go back there again. I love them =).

Love,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #15: Farewell family, farewell Malaysia

Dear Diary,

That morning, the whole family, except cousin Mun Loong (he was working), went to Levain again for breakfast. And again, I ordered more bread than I could handle. I didn't even finish the bread from last time. I wonder if it's overdue now =/. We went shopping after breakfast. The main purpose was to buy my Super Junior merchandises MWUAHAHA >=D The shop that we went to was more expensive than the ones we usually went to, but they had majority of their CDs/DVDs and had other Super Junior merchandises as well. I went crazy. I wish I bought the whole shop ^_^ but I didn't have enough money. I was crazy enough to buy a t-shirt with their faces on it =P. I planned on going to sleep with it >=D. My relatives laughed at me because I was squealing so much ^_^". I really wish I could stay until March because Super Junior was having a concert in the middle of March in Malaysia T_T. I spent over ~ RM $300, which was ~ AU $100 ... I must've been out of my mind. Well, at least it's only $100, if it was in Australia, I would've been only able to buy 1 or 2 CD/DVD for $100 =P. I don't regret it. 

We went home and I officially finished packing up. I spent rest of the afternoon on the computer, watching things and all. Everyone else was sleeping, watching television or relaxing. 

At around 5PM, we left to aunt's brother's place of Zhi Lun's 7th birthday party. We brought my luggage as well since we were going straight to the airport afterward. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to forget my camera charger, so my uncle drove back home to get it for me. I felt bad and thankful toward my uncle; bad because I made him go back, and thankful because he did.

Other cousins of Zhi Lun were already there. They were all my second cousins since they were my cousins' cousins. It was a party for close friends and family only. The food was pretty nice, buffet-styled. Auntie, my aunt's brother's wife, was into Korean shows =D YAY she was also into 2PM for their muscular physique. Strange to know a middle-aged married woman into the Korean Wave hahaha. But I'm happy to know I'm not alone. On television, there was this Korean show that was kind of emotional; it was able these workers from 3rd world countries who went to Korea to work and have been away from their family for years. The producer of the shower actually went to each of their families and made a video for them. One of them actually even get to see his family again. Maybe the sense of longing, sadness, yearning and unity got to me because I ended up shedding a few tears. Many things went through my head at the time and I couldn't help but feel upset for a while. But because it was my last day there, and I was at a birthday party, I tried to get over it, and I did =). I hand fun playing with my cousins and second cousins. I don't think Zhi Lun liked my present as much as the plane. It was a stationary set, and he was a little boy... of course I'd like the plane as well. But hopefully, he'll use the set once he starts school. We took a couple of family photos before finally leaving at around 8PM. Strange how when I arrived to Malaysia it rained, and now that I was leaving, it also rained. Though, this time the rain was a bit heavier; there was even thunder and lightning.

To kill time, I was singing throughout half the trip to the airport =P. My cousins sometimes joined in. We also played around a bit too, like tickling each other and all. Somehow, I feel like it's their way of reassuring me; like some kind of affectionate display that meant 'I had fun with you around;''I'll miss you' and 'take care'. Before we made it to the airport, cousin San San called cousin Mun Loong for me so that i could bid him farewell since he couldn't see me off.

When we got to the airport, we checked in. Luckily, they allowed me to check in 2 bags instead of one, even though it was just over 20 KGs (I wasn't suppose to have more than 20KGs checked in). And again, my cousin asked if I could have some assistance to help me throughout the process. How embarrassing T_T. But I'm grateful too =). 

We went to a near by cafe to rest a bit. We were also waiting for cousin Mun Hong and his girlfriend. I felt grateful but sorry at the same time; grateful because they could make it to see me off, but sorry because I'm sure I interfered with their plans for that day =(. I apologize. The girlfriend was nice enough to buy me a toy before I left. It was some kind of M&Ms chocolate machine where I put chocolate inside and press some stuff for chocolate to come out. Unfortunately, the chocolate wasn't already in it, but I'm still thankful =D. We took a couple of family photos before we said our goodbyes. I gave them all a hug and said goodbye, but stupidly, I forgot to thank them for every thing. Not that I wasn't thankful, but it just slipped out of my mind. The assistance lady was waiting and all, and things felt like a rush. That was my only regret =(. Though I did message my cousin later to tell everyone 'thank you' on my stead =) hopefully she did.

Again, I was sitting next to the aisle. This time, I was sitting next to a family with a young boy. He was cute =). Anyways, throughout the whole trip, I didn't sleep at all. I was too busy reading 'Angel' that I completely forgot. When I was just about to have a quick nap, someone opened their windows up and it was daylight. Seriously, I was 'WTHing' because I seriously didn't expect time to fly that quickly. For ~8 hours, I spent it reading a book, and i didn't even get to half way either. Not only was I lost in time, but I was an extremely slow reader too. I knew i was slow, but I didn't know I was THAT slow >.>. To be honest, the food wasn't as great as the first trip I made, to Malaysia, so end up not eating much. I honestly tried, but I really couldn't. I also felt a bit dizzy as well, unlike the first trip. I guess I was still feeling a bit sick. 

Fowati Koten,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #14: Initiate the 'Pack Up' plan

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday to Rebecca C. =).

For brunch, since aunt didn't make any food for us, cousin San San took me outside to eat. The food was nice; I especially liked the strawberry-banana shake. I prefer to just eat banana by itself, but the drink was actually really delicious =D. I didn't think I would ever like something with blended banana in it, but now I do =D. Even cousin San San thought it was good because she ordered it to take away for cousin Mun Fei. She ordered other things too because aunt and cousin Mun Fei didn't have anything to eat and they weren't bothered to go out to eat with us. 

For half of the afternoon, we spent it on packing my things up. Cousin San San suggest that I rolled up my clothes to make more room. She was right; there was more room =D. For the other half of the afternoon, we went out to do a bit of shopping.Auntie and cousin San San was at the hair dressers while cousin Mun Fei took me to a book store. I was deciding whether I should by a beginner Chinese book to teach myself some Chinese, but I ended up choosing 2 novels instead; 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate and 'Angel' by L.A. Weatherly. Cousin Mun Fei bought me the books. I wasn't being serious, but he bought them anyways =D I'm very grateful =D I haven't bought books in ages. I bought a stationary set for Zhi Lun because tomorrow was his 7th birthday party. Cousin Mun Fei and San San combined to buy him a small electrical toy plane instead. 

Later at night, we invited cousin Mun Hong and 3rd auntie to eat dinner with us. We went to the same restaurant where we had crabs. That night, I was the one who treated everyone =). It was my way of thanking them for looking after me and all =). It was also the first time I've treated people to dinner =). I hope they enjoyed it =). We took a couple of family photos before we left. After all, it was my last night being there =(. 

After dinner, uncle drove cousin Mun Hong, to the cinemas, and 3rd aunt home. Cousin Mun Loong went home. Cousin Mun Fei, San San, aunt and I went to eat desserts. Cousin Mun Fei was having fun playing with my camera =P. He was interested in photography himself and was saving up for a DSLR =). I need to save up for one myself =P. 

When we got home, my aunt and uncle suggested that we light up the lanterns. There were 3 lanterns' I got one all to myself =). After writing all our messages down, we lit it up. I hope they'll fly really high =). I also hope all our wishes would come true. My first ever wish lantern. I don't know when the next time I'll be able to do that again. Again, I've accomplished another activity that would've been illegal in Australia =P. Technically, it was still illegal in Malaysia, but as long as we didn't light it up near the airport, it was fine xD. 

Later that night, I had a long and half serious, half not conversation with cousin Mun Hong =). I never realised how fun talking to cousins on the fun was =P. Then again, maybe because they're closer to my age than the cousins in Australia. Speaking of cousins, cousin Mun Loong gave me RM $100 to spend on my Super Junior things AHAHAHA =D !!! HOW NICE OF HIM xD !!! Yes, I did intend to spend the rest of my money on Super Junior merchandise >=D. After all, the ones in Australia are expensive =/. That was also why the bill for the dinner that night wasn't as expensive as I thought =P. I told my relatives to go easy on me hahaha. They did, an I'm very grateful =). Of course, I didn't purposely tell them to go cheap on me just so that I can buy my Super Junior merchandise; I said that I would use the left over money (if I did have any left) to buy them. I really didn't mind if it was expensive, just not TOO expensive lol =). Another day gone.

Oriti,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #13: I ATE SMELLY TOFU >=D !!!

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday to Raymond T. =).

I had brunch with 2nd uncle, 2nd aunt and 3rd aunt before visiting Grandma for the last time. We spent some time there talking with Grandma, Gu Ma and Gu Jeong (my father's eldest sister and her husband). My 4th uncle and aunt were working and cousin Yong Xian went back to boarding school. And again, Grandma and Gu Ma gave me more money (RM $3OO) hahaha! How lucky of me =D. 

Later that night, uncle, aunt and cousin Mun Fei took me out for dinner. Cousin San San and Mun Loong were working that day, so they couldn't join us. We went to a Nyonya-styled restaurant, which is a combination of Malaysian and Chinese cuisine (it's also what they called females that were Chinese-Malays; males were known as baba). The restaurant was located at The Curve a shopping district where there were streets of restaurants; I guess the place was mostly designated for restaurants. There were vegetables called lady-fingers and smelly beans. The lady-fingers tasted and looked kind of like normal beans and in my opinion, the smelly beans weren't that smelly either =/. Either way, the meal was quite delicious =D. They displayed various ancient artifacts like pages of this ancient Chinese book. I don't really know how to explain it, it was kind of like a book of wisdom or something ... =S I took photos of it anyways; my aunt told me to show it to my mum so that she could read it.

After dinner, we went to a night market. Not everyone was open; I guess it's because they were still celebrating the CNY or we just came a bit too earlier. Our purpose there was to find lanterns and smelly tofu. We found the lanterns, but we couldn't find the smelly tofu. Uncle bought me sunny-side up quail eggs instead. Apparently, eating one quail egg is like eating 2 chicken eggs. That's how high of cholesterol they are... That night I had about 3 or 4; cousin San San ate the rest for me. Just when we were about to leave, cousin Mun Fei found the smelly tofu store due to it's foul smell. Indeed, it stunk. The smell was similar to sewage smell. Cousin Mun Hong once told me that they actually fry it with sewage water or something. Aunt said that it wasn't true. To be honest, it wasn't that different to normal fried tofu; the smell was also not as bad once you've tasted it. I think what made it different than normal fried tofu was the sauce - sweet and spicy sauce. Oh, they also added some kind of cabbage salad with it as well. Either way, I was happy that I tried it, but I don't think I'll be trying it again any time soon. Cousin Mun Fei helped me finish the rest off. When we got back, I tried to annoy cousin San San with my breathe, but she wasn't afraid ... Oh wells =P. 

Cousin San San was actually taking me out to a club that night. Hence, I made sure to brush my teeth before I left. I didn't want her friends to feel disgusted with me. It was a private family party that her rich friend's parents organized. To be honest, it wasn't that interesting. There were a combination of old and young people, so I guess the meaning of 'fun' varied a bit. I had half a bottle of beer, and that's about it. Beer wasn't really my thing. To reduce the chances of being pulled over, I was ordered to sit in one of the guy's car instead. Apparently, having a girl and a guy, in a car, on a club night, was less obvious for the police to think we drunk. Oh, speaking of clubbing, girls actually had a night where everything they drank was on the house, at a club. It's a Thursday night. How lucky is that? Anyways, I digress. The guy and my cousin actually raced each other to the house... I was quite surprise; he went up to ~ 140KM =S He was a smooth driver, so i wasn't that scared. But seeing my cousin race off like that was unexpected. She told me that she didn't speed that often. Apparently, Jason, who was sitting in her car, told her to not let the guy who I was with beat them. Jason was another friend of my cousin. In the end, they won. We were stuck between cars, that's why we couldn't speed much. But when there was space, the guy was very good an maneuvering, very smooth O_O. They were right; if you drive in Malaysia long enough, when you go back to your own country, you would be a pro. 

We went back to the rich guy's friend to hang out instead. One of the friends was so drunk that... actually, I'm not going to say. It wasn't a pretty sight. He ended up sleeping outside. Alone. On the floor. We played a game of cards called 'King.' It was kind of a game of dare and cards mixed together. There would be the King card, and then 1 to any amount of number, depending on how many people playing, minus one because the 'King' would also be included. Then we would all pick a card; the person with the 'King' card would make up a dare and then call out 2 numbers so that they would be the ones doing the dare. The night turned out pretty interesting ... I won't say what the dares were; the dares were more wild and daring than what I usually played. Then again, that's because the people I play wasn't that openly perverted and wild >.> ... I felt sorry for David because for the majority of games, he was always one of the victims. It was so freakishly consistent that he almost wanted to just volunteer himself for every dare. We all couldn't help but laugh =P. Also, it was the first time I saw my cousin so... daring. I knew she's outgoing and open but i didn't know she could be this... wild xP.  

Again, we left home at around ~4:30AM. Unfortunately, on the way back, uncle called cousin San San to ask where she was. We got busted. Cousin San San was right, uncle really does wake up really early. Luckily, we weren't scold or anything. Uncle did lecture us for a minute or two, but that was it. Also, I wasn't drunk at all =). I only had half a bottle of beer after all =P. Another day over.

 

Aju,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #12: Hokkien praying

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday to Mark =). 

In the morning, cousin San San, aunt and I went to a fancy looking restaurant called the Levain. Although it looked quite fancy, the price wasn't. Except for the bakery and desserts. I wish I didn't pick out so much bread because I didn't get to finish it all. I just picked them out to take photos of it =P. And again, the parking was ridiculous; they even parked right in front of the entrance of the restaurant ... 

After breakfast, we went to pick up my glasses, and then had another trip to the shops. I bought more Super Junior CDs/DVDs =D YAY!!! This time, it was the 4th album and the 2nd concert video. After cousin San San picked up what she needed to pick up, we headed home.

Later that night, cousin San San and I joined her friends for a CNY dinner. What can I say about them... They were loud. Somehow, half of them acted like they were still in high school or something =P. They seem very nice though. We had 7 dishes all together. I didn't take any photos because I was feeling self-conscious ... So I just took a photo of the restaurant title instead =P.

After dinner, we went back to pick up aunt because we were going to watch a Hokkien style of praying for CNY that night. We arrived at a house who belonged to my aunt's ex restaurant partner. That night, it seemed more eventful and exciting than it was on the first night of CNY. There were fireworks, fire crackers and lanterns everywhere I turned; I had a time watching them all =P. There was even a guy extreme enough to climb up a roof to film it all xD. It was all very exciting =D. Uncle actually went overseas, the night before, for one day, for work so he joined us later that night. Since uncle was there, he took aunt home while cousin San San and I went back to join her friends at her rich friend's house. He actually dyed his white poodle (Timmy, although it's actually a female) with spots of brown and pink hahaha xD. I don't know what to say about it ... she looked ... peculiar? But adorable all the same =D.

That night, things got... interesting. I experienced I never experienced before; I saw things I never intend to see; I did things that I've never done before. I'm pretty sure that that night was the most drunk I've ever been. My eyesight wasn't blurred; I could still read fingers; I wasn't even talking that loudly either. But I actually vomited >.> . Twice, in fact. I think it was the beer; due to the gas, beer can be quite filling. ALSO, I didn't have a hangover the next day. Thank God. That just proved that I wasn't drunk off my head. So my face was really red, and I was feeling dizzy. But that was it, nothing else. Well, that's my opinion anyways. Maybe other people would think I was drunk because I vomited, but in my opinion, you're not completely drunk unless your eyesight's blurred, you vomited AND you have a hangover in the morning. We came home at ~4:30 AM that night. Luckily, everyone was still asleep. Another day gone.

Annyong-hi kyeshipshio,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #11: Sunway Lagoon lost some of its awesomeness

Dear Diary,

Cousin San San, Mun Hong and I went to Sunway Lagoon. They didn't have tickets for just individual theme parks, it was either 3 or all theme parks (5). We bought the 3 theme parks ticket; I shouted my cousins because I felt bad for them having to shout me all the time. We headed to the water theme park. To be honest, it wasn't as fun as when I was younger. Maybe because I was younger back then. I would've went to the other rides, but my two cousins weren't as daring as I was. To be honest, I wasn't that daring either, but I have a sense of accomplishment if I did something I was afraid of. Self-satisfaction? Happiness of being able to achieve something? Being able to overcome something that I was afraid of? Being proud of myself for once? Whatever it is, I feel that if I let those fears get to me, I wouldn't be able to experience many things, and then I would regret it. I prefer to live my life with the least amount of regrets as possible =). 

 Curry chips that's only in Malaysia.

 Water theme park side of the amusement park.

 Picture of the entire amusement park =).

Permission to enter.

Do you see the golden koi fish?! How awesome is that?! =D 
 
A golden koi =D !!! 

After a couple of hours, we got changed and went to see the animals. There were a couple of animals that I haven't seen at our Australian zoo; I guess they were native animals or so. We couldn't stay long because the place was closing and we were meeting up with cousin Pui Yi and her friends afterward. 

We went to Klang to see some kind of light exhibition at a temple. The light exhibition happened every year as a celebration of CNY. The lights were all nicely displayed. I had fun taking photos =). I also did a bit of praying as well. After an hour of sight-seeing, we left to eat. We could've stayed longer but they were closing. I wish we went there earlier, but we were waiting for cousin Pui Yi to finish with work and all. Oh wells, there's always next time =). Cousin Mun Hong followed cousin Pui Yi home instead because he had work the next day =(. I wish we could've hanged out a couple more days. Another day gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Night time snacks we had before we hit the road.

Tschau,

FiONA =).

PS. Thanks cousin Mun Hong and Pui Yi for the photos =).