Week One

Diaries, free vouchers and quirky sticker tabs from Bonnie who recently came back from Taiwan

/\/\4 /\/34T $3tuP. Thanks for the screen Hannah!

Awesome foursome's first day of 3rd year. One day we will look at this and thank me for capturing
these memories. 

 

Pandan toast... so delicious.. I can foresee that this will be my study/exam prep fuel 

Ah the joys of waiting for the bus and getting off $3 poorer.. I do not miss those days. 

After a good few months, all has gone back to normal i.e. I've returned to uni! Like always, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm going to miss all those days where I've not had to worry about occupying my time with study and just doing nothing without having a guilty feeling haunting me.. but on the other hand, I'm excited to go back, learn more and be able to take pretty notes and get into the swing of things. I'm also feeling a bit sentimental, I will only have one more year left of full time study, and I know that's something I will definitely miss.

One might ask, "why are you eating so much food?" Well, this time of the semester, I'm pretty free. My placement starts later on and my elective doesn't require me to go to weekly pracs (YAY). Actually I've been pretty on the ball with study this week, which is good. This semester, we are mainly applying the knowledge we have learnt in the past two years and figuring out what to do within a clinical situation. Pretty cool! I've been going through old notes and ordered a few textbooks the other day so I have a richer source of info. I'm surprised I got this far without owning textbooks *you should be impressed*, but I've realised that having some sort of professional library is important, even if it's as little as 2 books. I've compiled a list of textbooks I want to purchase, and it's pretty extensive. But I reckon it could really be useful.. I mean in a couple of years later when I'm in the big bad world I'll have no access to UQ resources i.e. books, free download of articles from prestigious journals, that kinda stuff! I'm just trying to prep myself I guess. And while I'm at it, I'll take this time to talk about some other random things that's been on my mind this week. 

On the days where I don't have to wash my hair, I use a shower cap to keep my hair dry. That requires me to put my hair up. I usually take this opportunity to experiment with hairstyles (when I'm not in a major rush/too tired). This is usually the time when I suddenly become a master stylist and create something aesthetically pleasing with my hair. Yesterday this happened.. I was so proud of myself and even thinking "yeah I can wear this one of these days" - ah that was wishful thinking. I attempted it this morning and it just failed. I don't know why this happened, but I think I've finally figured out that this is due to my hair being more flexible and easy to play around after a day of wearing it in a ponytail. When I do my hair in the morning, it just doesn't want to cooperate. I'm sure all the girls out there can relate. 

This sem, we've been given the opportunity to study an elective. The three are a) ergonomics, b) technology in health, and c) music and health. When I saw the last one, my face lit up and I was auto keen for this one. Music had always been my favourite subject in high school and I really do miss all those lessons, assignments, practice seshs, composing, analysis, aural skill tests, music history lessons and randomly watching musicals in class. I was definitely choosing this one. Besides, I had a glimpse at the ECP of the other electives and the ergonomics one required you to go to heaps of pracs, tutes AND lectures, whereas the technology in health one required class/discussion/participation to get marks (lame).. music on the other hand - two hour lecture each week, no tute, no group assignment, just a written exam and a literature review! Plus it actually interests me.. when I was deciding what to study in uni (back in the day), my recorder teacher recommended me to study music therapy because of my interest in music and health. Anyways, I was pretty excited to see what this course was about, so I rocked up to my 5-7 feeling keen. It did not disappoint! The lecturer is a really cool and funny lady - one of the few lecturers that make me laugh during lectures (that's a rare one!). We went through the history of music and it's association with health/healing over the different epochs (eras) - i.e. ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th century, 21st century (sorry if this isn't in the right order, it's been a while). Lots of it was revision from music in high school combined with a bit of AMEB theory. We listened to Chopin, Bach, Pink Floyd, Ladyhawke and sang the tritone. We actually sung :') one half of the room sung F# and the other side sang C to create the tritone. Then the F# side resolved it and went to G. It was amazing - I felt like I was in music again! Never would I have considered the thought of being able to sing in a lecture! So good. There were lots of people studying this course, from different courses. There were OT, physio, speech, med, psyc, journalism, music students (from the people that called out). Although it was late, I didn't feel tired, and came out really enjoying the two hours of music :)

I was reading Luke the other day when I was doing my bsf homework. Luke 2:48 stood out to me. It says, "When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."This is when the Jesus (in his younger days) stays in Jerusalem to listen to the teachers listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone there was amazed at his understanding and his answers. I use a NIV application bible and occasionally read the commentary when I don't understand a particular verse/just for my own interest. The commentary here was particularly interesting. 

Mary had to let go of her child and let him become a man, God's Son, the Messiah. Fearful that she hadn't been careful enough with this God-given child, she searched frantically for him. But she was looking for a boy, not the young man who was in the temple astounding the religious leaders with his questions. Letting go of people or projects we have nurtured can be very difficult. It is both sweet and painful to see our children as adults, our students as teachers, our subordinates as managers, our inspirations as institutions. But when the time comes to step back and let go, we must do so in spite of the hurt. Then our protégés can exercise their wings, take flight, and soar to the heights God intended for them. 

Strong. I often think my parents are being too sheltering, protective and clinging too tight to my brother and I. It's hard on us and quite frankly it restricts us from maturing, experiencing life and learning to take care of ourselves. It is hard to deal with, not only for me, but for Jeff as well. I've talked to my mum about this issue in the past, and I know her and my dad are putting in effort to improve. I just thought this application articulated my thoughts so well. It's so important to give someone space to grow and learn, no matter how much you love them. Just thoughts. 

Last week of holidays in photos

Dad comes back from Canada, mum cooks him a feast! We love crab!

Pec flys - did three of them and the next day my
pecs were hurting :(

Jeff does not look happy, but on the inside he is radiating because
he's so happy he gets to spend time with me

Auntie Alice's birthday dinner. Bumped into Huldah and her friends
there. Lots of yummy Japanese food.

The best place to get three colour drink! So
refreshing in this hot weather!

We were craving pho.

Hotpot buffet. So good, but so much food.

pandan//chocolate//coconut//green tea crepes. which one should
we make? We ended up going pandan. 

Ikea to get decorations for the party. Purchased
mandatory hotdogs on the way out :)

The best laksa for only $9.50. I am definitely coming back for more!

Last Saturday night of holidays spent with two awesome people.
Mandatory selfie. I had fun guys, I had fun.

Mum's Birthday | Valentines

There's always something special about having your birthday on a widely celebrated date. Whether it's the hype of celebrating two events, or the moment of realisation when people make the connection after you tell them when your bday is. Judging by the title of this post, you probably know already that my mum is born on Valentines day a good half a decade ago. Due to that, J and I had a bit of trouble trying to juggle between mum's bday + vday. It worked out well in the end, and we had a great day.

In the morning, I made my mum a surprise breakfast of pancakes and tea. She was out when I woke up, so by the time she came back they were cold :( But she was very thankful and happy about that.

Wahoooo!!! This is the first valentines day J and I celebrated together. We were unofficially dating last year, so we decided not to do anything exclusive. Instead, we had yumcha with a bunch of friends from church instead! This was worth the wait :D Throughout this year, our commitment to each other has grown as our relationship has deepened = vday more meaningful to celebrate! J isn't a very secretive guy, he won't lie to conceal facts for the sake of making things a surprise. I like that. I guessed straight away what he would get me and where he got them. I even got an approximate price. The only thing I didn't know was how many roses there were. At least that was a surprise! The roses were BEAUTIFUL - dark red and luscious. They were arranged simply, but that created a very sophisticated and classy look - nothing too over the top (I've seen people put fake diamonds in their roses...). He also wrote me a lovely card :) 

J has a soft spot for anything 8 bit, cartoonish or iconic. I tried to incorporate that into my gifts (as you can tell by the photo). The cup is of a little Jeffy talking on the phone. The phone cord loops to form a big Jeffy and continues around the cup. I have a matching one (that I haven't made yet). 

We decided to have lunch in the southside - we are chill people. For some reason, the topic of hotpot came up and we were like "let's just eat hotpot!" And so we did. We went to this new place called Top Hotpot for a $20 lunch buffet/all you can eat! It's like yumcha - they give you a piece of paper with all the foods listed, to which the fattie proceeds to tick the items of their choice. Everything was quite delicious, although the cleanliness of the place wasn't top notch. 

After lunch we went to ikea to find a cheap vase to put the roses in. I quite like this one. It's tall, sleek and transparent :D Throughout the day, we (namely I) went a bit polaroid happy.

We had a lovely dinner (curry, fish, deep fried pork chop, asian veges, rice) and present-opening time after that. There's no candle because my mum bought the cake to be a valentines day present for my brother and I. My mum was so happy to receive a cake stand from me (I know she's been wanting one for a long time now) and a phone case from my brother (my dad got her a new phone). All in all, a good day. 

But wait... there's more! I organised a birthday party for my mum. We set it for the day after vday because we figured her friends would want to be with their hubbies on the day. There was no theme to the party, but since my mum likes pink, there were pink invitations, pink decorations and a pink cake. The ladies had hk style bbq in our backyard and from what I heard from inside (loud laughing/giggling), I think it's safe to say they had a great time. My mum was so excited and happy, which is what I aimed to achieve :) Here are some snaps: 

 

I made a pink ombre cake for mum. Jeff was a great assistant - he smoothed out the cake when I couldn't do it :) We make a good team.

Decorations and presents - our mad setup

 

The cake didn't turn out the way I had planned, but nothing major went wrong and people liked it, so eh :) Everybody was so tired by the end of the day, but well worth it. I had so much fun planning and enjoying the party.

Frozen in the Australian Heat

A while ago I told myself that movies were a waste of my money, and that renting from civic video was a much better option - namely because of the price difference. I had always come out of movies thinking to myself, "that was not worth $13" or "I wish I had just had the patience to wait for it to come out on dvd so I could've just rented it instead". There came a point where I could not take this horrible feeling of regret any longer. I was not going to watch another movie in the cinemas. Little did I know, that Frozen would be an exception to this. 

Let me explain myself. When I first heard of Frozen, next to nobody had. I watched the trailer on YouTube, it looked alright - wasn't that keen. Just another movie that tries to copy Tangled. After its release when more and more people started watching it, I heard pretty good things about it. People posted the songs on their Facebook, and YouTubers started doing covers of the songs - not bad. A few people asked if I would watch it with them, but I told them I wouldn't (due to my informal oath). I was determined to persist with this one. Under no circumstances, for no movie would I pay a bucketload of money to watch. Until Borthi asked me to... I kind of said yes because (let me explain, I'm innocent here!!!!) this would be my last opportunity to see her before she leaves to Townsville. She really wanted to watch it, and I guess I did too. So, I gave in and crumbled. Right at the last minute. :( We managed to get $5.50 tickets, which is pretty good (inclusive of free parking). 

Here we are, sitting in anticipation.

**** SPOILER ALERT****

Some memorable scenes of the movie!

Yes - I cried. The plot was okay, but I loved the music. That's as much reviewing I'll do. We did quite a bit of walking to the CBD and back, but we took a polaroid on the way. I'll miss this girl :)

At small group that night, we played three rounds of MAFIA! I was policeman in the first two rounds and mafia in the last round. It was so fun! First time, mafia won (I think) because no-one suspected Charlene as mafia because she was so quiet and innocent! I did my best and killed off Kwany the mafia before I died. Second round, similar jist. People were getting the hang of the game, so at the end it was left to a few of us still standing. I suspected Wells to be the last mafia, but I wasn't sure whether to listen to him or to Charles. I was the police, so in my sleep I checked if it was Wells. It was. We voted him out/I killed him (can't remember). WOOOOO!!! 

Last round was the most fun! Alex, Charles and I were mafia this round. I tried my best to remain my vocal self and placed my civilian façade on as best as possible. I acted clueless as to who the mafia were, verbally ruling out possibilities and voicing out my speculations. Charles and I had no idea Alex was mafia because at the beginning Kwany was waving his arms around so we thought it was him. We actively and unintentionally voted him out to be killed. This turned out to work in our favour. People didn't suspect us because we didn't hesitate to vote Alex out. No-one had any major accusations against Charles and I during the whole game. I guess we acted well. Everybody believed me when I said I was innocent because I said the same thing in the previous games and I ended up to be the police. I guess consistency works. Charles did a great job at communication. We were sitting directly across from each other, which made things easier I suppose. He would use the dolphin soft toy to point to people and do particular actions unique to different members of the group. In a previous game, I had suspected Melody of being the mafia because she was stroking her hair as if nervous. In this game, Charles stroked his hair so as to indicate for me to choose her to kill. He also pretended to read a book (I don't know how nobody saw that). I didn't get that one at the start, but I figured it was Kwany, since he's a teacher. Anyways, job well done. I can't believe we won. Ace of hearts and Ace of clubs man. gg

I was going to bring a mango turd tart with toasted coconut crust to small group, but turned out it needed to be refrigerated overnight. Oh well. Here is the completed version.