Enlightment is a mixed blessing

I achieved a certain enlightment on Christmas Eve. It felt....wonderful. It felt like breaking through a monotomy of blacks, greys and whites, and having the world spring to colour in dazzling rainbow. It felt like a butterfly bursting out of its cocoon. It felt like being alive, feeling and being living, not buried under the expectations and burdens of life. I felt free. This is what you get from: -releasing your fears (I took the method of speaking it out to the air, whispering it out really helps.) -meditate/deep breathing/giving yourself some time to reflect -getting to sleep on your own bed after being cramped onto a slightly less pleasant bed I am hugely thankful for this truly grand Xmas present. Discovering the purpose of my life. Now that is truly a gift - so I can spend the rest of my time, achieving it. I am finally, after being in the shadows, walking down spiky paths, break free from the jail my heart lies in, and truly begin to appreciate. The world is an overflowing source of abundance. That even though we take much, it still manages to make itself abundant for us. I learn the lesson of being thankful, to give back in return, as a token of appreciation. I learn to forgive, best promptly, to lessen the future damage to YOURSELF. I learn to share. There is so much to do, and so little time. Finally I know what I have to do. It is remarkable feeling - to have clarity to see where you're going instead of walking around looking at the path blindfolded, not knowing what to do next. Sometimes, we need to fall, face adversity, reflect, before we can grow. Realising the lesson behind each event, allows us to take the experience and turn it into our own, perhaps advantageous to preparing for opportunities in the future. How would you like to be remembered? ~an*

Where have all my time gone?

The year certain flew by fast - I'm still stuck in the time frame of me gathering up things to come to Aus, preparing for uni. Then whoosh, one semester done, and another whoosh, the first year of uni is done. It's crazy how fast time flies. Looking back at this year I've done a quite a bit that I'm happy about. Though like any human being I like to pick out my flaws and tear them apart. The ever nagging voice "No, you didn't do this, or that", "you could have done better", "you should have kicked yourself for doing B instead of A", "you should have started this earlier" or "why are you still procrastinating?" and the like. Still I am glad for it. I can shout back. I have accomplished something. I looked at my Goals list at the beginning of the year, to do during this year. Of the 7, I completed 3 of them - not bad considering most Goals/To Do lists stuff don't get done much... Completed: -joined at least one club -meet up with as many high school friends as possible, at least once a year - (I positively can't remember at the moment - I will check back on this...) ------------------------------------ Now, having left my blog into dust, I've decided to comeback to blogspot for posting, so pretty much all of youse can RSS or read off this. MSN space is just a easy album if you got the right software, sooner or later we're all gonna switch to flickr or photobucket etc...(I wonder if "facebook" is the next big thing...) ------------------------------------- Quick recap (hopefully I can remember enough of this!) Of October/November Highlights -Joined uni choir MuscUTS for 2 weeks, then performed twice(singing choral (think church like or classical) SATB/4 part songs - one in a concert - a certain someone getting VERY hyper on spit/speed the CARD game!! :D:D:D -met up with uni friends - chatted over lunch over...heaps of topics....ranging from food, culture, hsc, books, suicide/death (yes...even that...), drinks (especially Gloria Jeans - similar to Pacific coffee in HK....or a popular alternative to Starbucks in Aus) -pondering on the fact that I have a more Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese friends as opposed to HK/China/Caucasian friends....:| -sampling different foods around uni -seeking out the locations of different microwaves to heat up food (there's no food better than homemade food, REALLY!) -bumping into friends and catching up during uni, ESPECIALLY when you least expect it -enjoying the free bbq lunch times ;D -the Chem 2 labs - with quite a bit of chatter during the dreaded waiting times...:P -eating lunch and being in lecture has been found to keep me awake, having ate lunch then being in lecture does NOT (it makes me go to sleep...full stomach...!) -Gloria Jeans buy-one-get-one-free day during lecture time, so we got 4 for half price (essentially) :D:D -Discussion Board (yes our uni has electronic medium bit like a forum, except it is extremely limited in its posting editing features, but nevertheless useful -varying styles of lecturers (often the stereotype does NOT equal reality...) -walking from Broadway to the Rocks - only took an hour (brisk pace). Funny how most people would only take the train/bus, but never walked the whole way. Stopped by the galleries at the Rocks - saw a Aussie landscape photography exhibit and Nelson Mandela drawings exhibit...very vivid landscape capturing, and very interesting comments from Mandela - simple line sketches, and his interpretation of the time he spent in prison. -tests/exams/assignments - stress related to those, but then they evaporate once you finish them, and second when after you get the mark and finalised it. -running for the trains - Having to learn the timing of the pedestrian crossing lights, walking/running time to the gates/ platform etc. I honestly do NOT learn that train timetable off by heart. I bring it with me. It's annoying - you can miss it, and need to wait half an hour...or more if it's delayed. MTR rocks so much more ;) -Listening to the buskers (some are regulars, some come even so often - and they actually need a licence to busk!) Some are pretty good, maybe i'll ask them if i can record them sometime....and post on Youtube? :P i've heard of a harp player, there's a double bass/cello + saxophone duo (when they play, it's like you're in a cafe :D) -getting the free postcards from uni (they are another form of advertising...) -finishing early for labs/pracs/tutorials --------------------------------------------------- Recently saw a new book from Mitch Albom - For One More Day, and read it :D It's a another nice little story, very similar format to "Five people you meet in heaven", but slightly more focused on a lost relationship, especially the parent/child relationship. It goes through with a low point, then flashbacks through that person's life, with intersections of pieces of extra information strategically places to give you an overall sense of perspective. A beautiful written little story on life. Ok that's enough for now. Heading to HK in 7 hrs! :D ~an*

Yes, I am officially hooked onto Youtube...especially those timeless songs

No, I am not a full fledged fan of any singer/band, but I love classic /timeless songs because they have a tendency to be easy on the ear and something enjoyable is recognised by majority of people who have heard it, standing the test of time etc One such song is 劉德華-中國人. Not only is it full of the anciently chinese music feel, in mandarin/putonghua, the lyrics are well written to convey emotions that embody some key concepts in the chinese culture. This song is almost overplayed when they have any events celebrating key holidays of the chinese culture, but hey, it's one of those songs that don't go out of fashion easily.

All the happenings...is too intense to bear....

Well it has been quite a while since I've updated. There has been complaints that MSN/ live doesn't work well, so I'm sometimes jumping onto the blogspot here for alternatives. Yes, unfortunately you have to check between 2 blogs back and forth to get much... (I may consider locking this like the xanga and msn...so watch out!) To bring you up to speed with my doings and day-to-day tidbits: -September 24-26: Down to Nowra to visit Mykla, Min came for just the weekend, I went for Friday as well. Omg Belle is HUGE (almost like DD!!), and still very hyperactive, as they are @ 2 yrs old. Being with DD helps me cope with Belle tho - a good thing. I came in on Fri evening, so we had late dinner with Mykla- A rich beef sauce with peas and pasta/rice? YUMMM! :D lolz Then we had passionfruit - freshly grown in their garden :D It's the first time I've tasted fresh passionfruit - it does look a lil weird, but it's a tangy mix of sourness and sweetness (unfortunately I took a less ripe one so it was more sourness than sweetness). Night TV "Midsummer murders on ABC" it's alright...I guess it's easy to be confused in the plot...I've realised my forte is not detective stories. Sat morning (yes you heard right - morning) After some self made pancakes (I made huge ones that filled up the pan, Mykla made several smaller ones...:P) We hit town and walked round a block or two - we swung by Dymocks (It's "Dye-mocks", not "Di-mocks"!) :P and I finally got "The Devil wears Prada" book :D:D:D The city Dye-mocks didn't have it (obviously sold out coz of the movie promotions....-_-" We got stuck into finding Wally in the Where's Wally book (yes we are big kids at heart :D), dropped by the digital camera place, pet shop then finally to the mall. Met up with Min @ the train station, then home for lunch ( a simple hamburger bun with chicken-ham, tomato, lettuce...self made...:D).

It's really close to the bush and the wildlife park - koalas, kangaroos, emus, peacocks, pony, wallabies, sheep, + a cave short bush walk/climb - there was a really dark cave where we got ourselves into - and it felt like natural aircon - it WAS kinda hot that day...;)

It was dinner @ home, but somehow I feel like it was like being in a restaurant, we even got wine for dinner, and really nice sauce (...kinda like gravy ?) for lamb (yum!) and califlower with cheese (I can see *someone* drooling!). Lighting the candles on the table, placemat...dim lights...Yum Yum :D We also had dessert - passionfruit with vanilla icecream (how classic is that..?) That night we went to pool and bowling - they had really cool UV light I think? That if you wear white - it GLOWS - that's so cool! (I think it's also got to do with what kind of material/density, coz I saw some white that didn't glow. Pool - I got the highest score, but soo sad in bowling (I probably used up all my energy in pool...but Min got 150 for bowling - WOW.....) The next day we went for the local movies "John Tucker must die" (It's not my first choice, but after all it's a girls' day(s) out, so might as well have a chick flick for it...It's alright - reminds me of Mean Girls (note to self - read that Queen bees and wannabes book for the inspiration for Mean Girls movie...). It was kinda funny how we got drinks and popcorn in nearby supermarkets, then got it into the movies, apparantely the wind was so strong it started to send those shopping trolleys darting around the carpark, nearly crashing the cars (Mykla's mum had to restrain a few of those...:P). After that it was lunch @ home, a bit more relaxing chat, staring at Wincy catch a fly episode, packing some hamburger bun and homemade cookies from Mykla, then it was off to the train home. I think we'll all want to come back (we'll think of more to do). the train Min n I pretty much chatted the whole way home - that was pretty cool - maybe I should've gone on the way with her so we'd both b less bored...:P SHOUTOUT: Mykla: Thank you soooo much for having us - I'm so glad we got to visit around where you are and everything! The cookies are really nice (try selling them! Perhaps you'll outsell "Cookie Man" XD. Thanks for showing us around town and thinking of things for us to do :D:D Min: I'm so glad you came along and experience the "country" with us :D I haven't seen you for such a long while it's good to catch up :D -------------------------------------------- Brats! I'm nearly outta time for my lunch break @ uni - I'll do a quick jot of other posts coming up.... -18 Sept - Joined UTS choir - "MuscUTS" - got about 5 weeks to learn their classical type choral music for their concert! -26 Sept - Centennial park cycling - Jess + her friend + lunch -1 Oct - labour day = boring day (study for mid sem on the next day - a/c = panick!) -13 Oct - (n yes it was a friday) - Early afternoon - going to the city to work on assignment with group members - having lunch @ Market City food court - got watermelon juice :D:D HK style teriyaki chicken :D:D. Good progress on work - 2 questions (emails) left! Me on excel, Ace on rants or the writing up :P Sandy and Cecilia almost all finished - so good :D Later that night - interesting discussion and interpreting sin/temptation - very interesting - also ended up in a smaller corner where our group was sandwiched by two loud groups (noise-makers). Good to have channels to express our thoughts... -14 Oct - morning - cactus and succulent plant show - the so called very hot day - (What? You call this hot? Just open the window and wind gushes in - you call that wind hot? nah...) -16 Oct - Assignment due - in uni early in attempt to finish it - 12pm - finally finish the excel bit o.O (fault is mainly mine here...) help with type up. Printing/binding rush - slot assignment in box @ 2.06pm (hopefully the tutor's coming a lil later to collect it...:S) Other rants: - I've used up too much data transfer on the shared broadband @ home - it's half a month and I've upped it to 8 sth GB when the limit is 10GB. Yes I'm officially addicted to YouTube, along with the ANTM, TGYH, Lost, Supernatural, Jamie's Kitchen Australia and whatever else strucks my fancy on the web. So cut back on data transfer plan: ANTM, TGYH, Jamie's Kitchen Australia - all record on TV for personal viewing, the rest will have to wait til at least next month. Unless I go to internet cafes of coz :P Yes I'm still a TV addict...unfortunately, along with procrastinating. I've spend nearly an hour typing up this blog. You better leave something in the comments or chatterbox...or else...!!! ~an*

No mam, I'm just surfing on YouTube

One of the most sort out questions of the world: Who am I? ----------------------------------------------------- Our society turns a blind eye to the showing underpants on show, public display of kissing etc, but does NOT allow hugs between strangers? What is wrong with a hug? I think I need this for the days we're down. *Hugs* ----------------------------------------------------- Mentos and diet coke finale This is soooo kewl what mentos and diet coke can do lolzz --------------------------------------------------- Anyone feel like dancing? Enjoy~! ~an*

Food Guide for Syd & places around the world: Grab Your Fork

Grab Your Fork seems to be a very comprehensive guide for good restaurants around the city etc. Looks good :D I *heart* QUALITY FOOD :D I stumped upon this through mooncake searching for the upcoming mooncake festival - usually in HK they have a BIG thing about it - it's almost like x'mas, but instead of presents, they have all sorts of packages of mooncakes available 2 - 3 months ahead - that's how serious the sales are - it's crazy. Except the post here is almost one year old - I found the post for last year's mid autumn festival...-_-" Looks like it's a hunt around Chinatown for the mooncakes and the paper lantern. *Goes off in the hunt for "essentials" of Mid Autumn Festival in the Northern Hemisphere (It's Mid Spring Festival for the downunder...)* Requlish your childhood innocence *Laugh like there's no other laugh, dance like no one's watching and sing like there's no other performance*