movie

I just watched this at Chadstone Hoyts today and although I originally tune out when watching asian movies (or not watch them at all even when they're free to access), I actually found this one quite interesting.

It is in both Cantonese and Mandarin with Chinese and proper English subtitles, making it easier for an ABC like me to understand the storyline.

The story of the movie is based on the Revolution of China and how people sacrificed themselves to protect the millions of people in the country. It is a true story, and partially fictional with some action packed kung fu and comedy scenes. I must admit, I got emotional and shed a few tears close to the end because it was so touching and sad. Otherwise, overall, I reckon it has a good storyline because it keeps you engaged as to what will happen each day leading up to the arrival of some special dude who seems to hold the knowledge to saving China.

I'd give it 8/10.

...I cringed everytime someone got stabbed violently, especially for the tall giant guy who was surrounded by knife wielding freaks and endured endless stabbings. Poor guy.

last before departure

First of all, exams are over!!! (since last week for me) ...and I still have another semester left until I graduate... noooo~

The good thing is, I'm off to Vietnam in a few days!

22 Nov 09 -- 13th Dec 09 (back in Melb on the 14th)

We might also be checking out other surrounding countries too, perhaps HK or Taiwan? No idea what will happen but it'll be exciting! The plan is to hang out with family there, visit mum/dad's hometown (not sure who) and check out the beach hehe. Other than that, the usual shopping experience and cheap food :D

Also, planned (and confirmed) for after graduating uni is a trip to LONDON!! I was able to grab cheap return airfares with Emirates just last week. I can't waittt! The plan is to also visit other European cities, perhaps Paris, Amsterdam... actually, I'd love to go check out Venice in Italy because of those gondolas! Hmm, where else...?

June 29th 2010 -- July 22nd 2010

Bye Bye! (:

such a long day

Friday 30th Oct -

Work went from 11.30am - 3.30pm

Shopped for an hour around the shopping centre before heading home

Got ready to go to Caulfield uni library to study with friends

Sat outside in the cool breeze on the lawn chatting with friend

On the way to buy snacks, an old man who looked like he was asking for help approached my friend and I. He first asked whether we were internationals in which we replied no, then kept speaking to us in a robotic-like rhythm about how he had bought a new house in Malvern and that he needed 'company' (aka go for coffee, 'hang out'). Obviously, you can imagine where this leads to... requiring phone numbers. He attempted to do just that, but fail, we're not that stupid to give them out to an old man. Still trying to convince us to keep him company (him doing all the speaking in a creepy way), we decided to just make a run for it. Not literally because we didn't want to come off as mean but in a sense as to lie and be in a mad rush in order to continue with what we were meant to be doing, and that was to buy our lovely snacks. In doing that, I pulled my friend with me and walked away.

What made us even more freaked out was that he touched my friend's shoulder (which we think caused a rash) and was holding a bunch of loose notes with numbers on them. The thought of him being successful in grabbing (real or fake) numbers is just ...I don't want to know anymooooore!!

So after this first encounter with an old man who really needed help in which we definitely could not help with, we finally got our chocolates and my vitamin water (with which I nearly forgot to pay for... woops) Once walking back to the library, we were high on alert and rushed back to the library.

Studying for my first exam that starts next week went from about 6.30pm to 11.30pm, with breaks here and there of course. After coming out of the library, the weather... was intense. It was pouring non-stop with lightning flashing everywhere... like the sky was switching its lights on and off to annoy us.

Luckily, one of my friends parked just metres away so I was able to hitch a ride in it back to my car. It took several attempts to actually run to the car because the rain wouldn't even stop! Even when I did get into my car, driving home was insane! Mass puddles everywhere along Princes Hwy, along with continuous lighting and to make it worse, loud thunder and non-stop pouring rain. *sigh*

Back home when I thought I would be getting a good night's sleep, my dog suddenly rushes to greet me but in a way where he wanted to be protected from the sky. In approaching the house door, he queues up first and uses all his energy to successfully enter. By this time, he's all soaking wet and so because I rather not him get sick, I decided to really dry him off in the bathroom. Despite the mess, he was normal again but was still suffering from the after-shock... poor thing.

It was already way past midnight now. I should've already been asleep an hour ago but I guess not since I'm sitting here recalling what my day had been like... long, creepy and exhausting. My dog is still next to me, resting in his own indoor bed and slowly drifting to sleep without the sounds of rain or thunder to make him feel more afraid than before. He's so cute...I think I can see him twitching in his sleep, awwww. At least he's chilled now... hopefully my foreign music isn't of nuisance to him.

Was meant to have a full day at work tomorrow to replace someone but thank goodness I don't anymore... nor did I want to work in another department of the store because I don't have the capacity to learn something new as my brain is already occupied with exam studying. It would've been good to learn new skills though. I guess there's always time in the future to achieve this if given another opportunity.

So tired now! Been in the library for 2 days straight and it still feels like I haven't learnt anything, even though I've gone through most of my notes and the textbook. Gotta keep at it, because after all this, I'm off to Vietnam and other places, perhaps Taiwan/HK for a 3 week holiday, woohoo :]

PS. My dog is sleeping so soundly, it'll be mean if I took him outside now. :(

beginner snaps

One day after visiting Camberwell market, my cousin and I decided to randomly visit St. Kilda. I wished I'd brought a camera along but at least with my phone, I was able to take some pics!

They don't look too bad for 3.2mp quality images...


Also, here's a pic of what I saw early morning at Caulfield before work at my uni awhile ago. I like the contrast of colours and the hierarchy effect.

...I want a pro DSLR. ;(

time to chill

After 10 weeks of non-stop uni, there is finally a week break! Although it's good to take time off (despite it being so close to the end of semester), there's hardly much that can be done because it's so short! Oh well, I'll just treat it as time to catch up on myself such as going to the gym and spending time at home. Speaking of home, I was bothered to actually bake some things.

1) Chocolate chip cookies (from Aunty Kath's pre-made cookie dough)
2) Apple and Raisin Cupcakes


They're not too sweet, but they're pretty fattening (with 150g of melted butter used).

I got the recipe from the following cupcake recipe book I recently purchased online:

There are so many awesome cupcake recipes in here... I might consider make a few types when actual holidays come. Will have to upgrade on the decorating bit... :)

Thoughts

Week 7 of uni already and it feels like I haven't learnt much. Mid semester break is literally at the END of the semester... (after week 10)... why?!!&*!^*&

Although I'm only doing 3 units now, the workload is the same as doing 4. It's all because of planning, like omg, tute work takes more than an hour to do and it's worth 1%... and the quality of answers has to be good... FOR JUST 1%. That's why I keep delaying my tasks for the marketing plan back because of this obstacle... arrrgh. I have the tendency to do my work well so that's why I'm killing myself over getting those tiny marks. And also with branding, the amount of academic journal articles to read every week is another pain...

So much responsibility here at home too... lots of things I need to do for myself but can't... there are things the dog needs taking care of as well yet I haven't found the time to do them...lots of things to be done for the household... bills, visas, taxi-ing, cleaning, food prep., essentially what a servant's duties are :(

Was hoping to bake some things as well but even buying the ingredients takes time... have to locate green tea powder first. I recently bought a cheap piping bag set with some nozzles so that would be interesting for decorating cupcakes. Need to use up the kilo of strawberries from Costco as well - ah, that place is so cool... weird for me to say this but I got myself membership, woohoo. Cheap to buy many thing in large quantities... anyone like a tub of vegemite? :P

Recently been going to the gym with my girlies as well, 2-3 hours at least where we do a bunch of random workouts, and also lazing in the sauna for close to half an hour... intense sweating is so much fun. I now realise that I eat more than used to ... ah, food is love :) The negative side effects however are aching muscles and joints because of forgetting to stretch again after doing weight training... :( feeling that now actually. But at least it's a sign of ...progress? XD

Not many hours at work these weeks, could be a good thing because I can work on what I just wrote about... but hoping for more when free time becomes available. :)

Tired, stressed, hungry, sleepy, blinded by laptop glare, energy drained... and hungry. The feelings of now and until I actually fall asleep.

Went to one of my close high school friend's birthday all day yesterday, which was fun! She's a Taekwondo addict now so whoever messes with me, you mess with her first ^^' Haha... memories of her taekwondo-ing the piniata... hardcore (although it took a few tries and eventually when the thing broke, lollies hailed down on us... really, that's what happened, because the rain followed right after.) The cake was massive, and so good... so was the fruit jelly made by her uni friend...such a good cook I swear.

I don't know what else I can write about that's bothering me in my mind at the moment... maybe next time. Procrastination ends here.

Existence.

I totally forgot about this, or have I? No, really... I just can't keep up with it anymore!

Maybe because I can't be bothered typing boring stuff about what's going on in my life for the virtual world to read...

Maybe because I'm just still not used to it yet...

Maybe because if I blog about a brand they'd stalk my blog... it's something I learnt from 'Electronic Marketing'

Whatever it is (obviously the top factor being laziness OR being overwhelmingly busy...), I'll try to overcome it and write about my trip to Sydney, my months left at uni or just random shizz. Should be interesting, or maybe not. I'M TIRED.

(why is it that I usually type blog posts at midnight...)

latest purchases.

I've been on a shopping spree after the massive spend on my new laptop, which I should say that I'm loving! Although a free backpack came with the purchase, it's too big for my liking since it's actually for a 17'' laptop rather than a 15.6''. After much browsing around online and at the shops, I finally bought this that I've been eyeing for quite a while.

Lacoste Messenger Bag - "Prince of Wales Plaid" $249 @ Myer

Expensive, but I like the durability and also the looks of it. There's a compartment for a laptop too. Oh, I also bought a beanie from General Pants for $25. So prettyyyy....(no picture).

I went to Moorabbin DFO today and got myself a bag from Kate Hill ($60), was $80. No picture since I can't find one online and am too lazy to click a photo of it. Also got two Puma sneakers, in total, $72 (FOR BOTH)!!! The Puma outlet store is having a 40% storewide sale so you can tell why it was even cheaper than what it originally was for.

Puma 'The Key' - Black (was $90, got for $54)

Puma 'First Round' - Pink/Black (was $30, got for $18!)


I'm a sucker for sales, especially now since it's the end of the financial year and tax returns are soon to be due. Also because of a 'bonus' I surprisingly got as well... hehehe.