I forgot to say when I preordered the book from Borders, I received a complimentary Beanie Baby that was supposed to be Hedwig.
I finally finished the last book of the Harry Potter series. Took me 6 hours (yeayea I'm a slow reader but there are 600 pages ok!!) but I finished it.
Don't worry, I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet because I know how it feels.
But I do have to say that it was excellent. It was similar to the 6th book but with much more excitement and sadness (because so many innocent lives were lost - and people I liked so much too!!) and joy. I found myself prone to outbursts of swearing and laughing whilst reading it (lucky I didn't read it in the presence of others or else they'd have thought I'd gone loopy).
So as the journey draws to a close, bye Harry, I'll miss you and the rest!!! . . . . . Amongst other things, a bit of interesting news for the Singaporeans:
Just came back from watching Cashback with the girls. It's not a very well known film, because there was not much publication of it but it actually is 2 short films combined together and directed by Sean Ellis. Anyways, I only watched it because my darling Oliver Wood is the lead actor. Yesh, Oliver Wood, the guy whom we all have grown to love in the Harry Potter films, captain of the Griffindor Quidditch team. Ok his name in Harry Potter is Oliver Wood but his REAL NAME is Sean Biggerstaff. He's Scottish and is the only person I've ever thought was hot in the whole Harry Potter series. I had a major crush on him after the 1st movie.
Anyways I thought the film was very romantic (sad to say some people couldn't appreciate it). And it was very artsy-fartsy and all that and slightly slow-moving but I guess the film was meant to be thought-provoking (about love and beauty and art and perfection). It left me with an indescribable feeling about it. Till now I can't say anything about it except that I quite enjoyed it. It was funny in some parts and I wished that the character that Sean played was a bit more happy - he was too solemn for most of the movie and it's so wasted cuz he's got such a gorgeous smile that lights up his whole face and makes his eyes sparkle.
Anyways, I recommend it to anyone who's romantic but not to anyone who's impatient.
Speaking of Harry Potter, I just got meself a copy of the last book but it's now sitting on the table and staring at me. I contemplated for a second not reading it...because if I did then the journey would finally come to an end. A journey that lasted for what...? 8 years or so? It's been so long eh. I think at the end of the book I will be very sad...but I guess I'd better read it before someone spoils it for me. *sigh* Why do all good things have to come to an end?
I thought that the latest Harry Potter movie was crummy though. It has received pretty conflicting reviews (some say it's very good, some say it's crummy) and I would have to say that this one is the worst movie so far out of the 5. Anyways out of the 6 books I've read so far, the 5th book was the one I liked the least so I guess I couldn't expect much from the movie. Just that, when I think back to the first 2 movies, I still feel so sad that the movies seem to be deteriorating. I hope the 6th one (released Nov 2008) will be much better because I quite enjoyed the 6th book.
Ok. I think I should lock myself up and have no contact with the world now and read the book. Ciao!!
He was so amazed by it that he had to snap a shot of it on his phone cam.
How cool is that sia!? I would love to ride on that bus lah!! I've wanted one of those chairs for myself since forever but they cost like $200!! But they are freaking comfy. SBS rocks man!!!
I just HAD to put up this pic of Torres. He's so gorgeous (but the message sounds dirty *lol*).
Okies I finally got the pictures from Sydney. I shall just blog briefly about the trip.
We were pretty lucky because we heard that just before we arrived in Sydney it was flooding for that whole week, and throughout the duration we were there, it suddenly became sunny and didn't rain at all...then after we left it suddenly plunged back into coldness...which is super strange, it's as if we brought the sun to Sydney. I say we were very blessed.
Our first stop was QVB (I think it stands for Queen Victoria Building - correct me if I'm wrong). Anyways we had high tea there (Amy insisted) and it was uber fancy and looked like this:
I look like I'm habouring ill designs on Syl here, I have no idea why!!!
The trains in Sydney are super cool man. I tell you, they have double decker trains ok. And not only that. The seats can be pushed so that they can be changed to face the direction you want it to face. How cool is that lah!! How come they don't have that in Melbourne!! LoUsy!!
Ahhhhh the Sydney Opera House. How gorgeous is thee.
Bondi beach was gorgeous as well. The water was a clear, delicious shade of crystal blue and the sand was soft and white. Awesome. There were hot surfers and hot swim guards there too.
We had our first ever fried Mars Bar there. It's actually a Mars Bar coated in batter and deep fried, then sprinkled with icing sugar. I kept hearing people say it's like how shiok, but to me it was just so-so lah. Because it was fried, the chocolate melted which made it very nice but I think it was quite sweet man. I dun usually like Mars cuz the caramel burns my teeth off with its sweetness.
Ahhh Hard Rock Cafe Sydney. What a pleasant experience.
Excellent food, excellent service, excellent atmosphere, hot waiters and bartenders.
The longest day we had was the day we went for the Blue Mountains climb. It was fun but super tiring man. We had a super farnie tour guide with a super farnie tour group. We met all sorts there. French, Japanese, German, English, New Zelanders etc.
Saw some kangaroos on the way!!
All tiredness was forgotten and the climb worth it because the scenery from the top was breathtaking.
This is the train we sat to go up to the souvenier shop - it's the steepest ride ever!! Like 90* man...felt like we were gonna fall anytime!!
The 3 sisters in the background...
Ahhhh the food in Sydney is another thing to blog about.
This was our breakfast from Pancake on the Rocks. Yummy.
This was our breakfast from De La France. Super yummy.
This is Syl and I at the Sydney Fish Market pigging out on Fish and Chips and calamari. The food we had was not very nice and was super duper oily - we didn't really have much choice since everywhere was so crowded. Apparently there were better places to go but they were more pricey.
See the super cute Max Brenner Chocolate Shop?! We paused there for drinks whilst shopping on the last day.
Korean restaurants were everywhere in Sydney city man. This is Korean curry chicken. It was quite nice. Somewhat similar to our curry chicken back home.
And yes, that's about all the pics I can show you guys. The rest were either too blurry or one of us looked too retarded in them to show *lol*.
All in all, it was a great and fun experience :) But in the end, Melbourne is still my favourite place in Australia. And I'm not being biased.
Please pray for my aunt. She's my 2nd mom. She's only 55 and she has late-stage cancer but they can't trace the source of it. Please pray for her. Thanks.
5 years ago I was exactly like her. Young and scared in a foreign country with my mom trying to find out where to go and what to do. Papers were shoved in my face and moving to start afresh - it all seemed like too much to bear at the time. But I made it. We all did.
Today I sat at the orientation desk and had the privilege of meeting her and her parents from Malaysia. They too were as worried as my mom for me at that time. Where is she going to stay, what is she going to eat, how is she going to survive the cold winter, what they needed to do - visa, bank, medi-care, internet, public transport card, mobile sim card, enrolment, timetable, textbooks etc. A whole load of crap that needed to be done. A whole lot of things that had to be learnt.
In one afternoon I attempted to impart as much knowledge as I could to her and her parents. Then took them to places in uni that she had to know. Poor girl. What I had taken 4 years to learn here was suddenly shoved in her face in one day. It's a bit intimidating.
The whole purpose in signing up for graduation was so that I could give to someone something that I wish someone else had given me when I was first here. I wish I had started volunteering a long time ago. The experience is so rewarding. . . . . . I look forward to a new semester but dreading it also because it's my last (oOh I think I just heard my heart break). I've been so incredibly blessed to have God as well as my family's support, and blessed to be able to have this opportunity. Coming to Aus has been an awesome journey & I've had the most wonderful time of my life & made so many wonderful friends that I will treasure for ever and ever.
I was watching The Oprah Show today and it was about teenagers in a typical American highschool. They got different students to sit in this room and confess their hardships and problems in a circle to each other and had a huge therapy session. It was very highly emotional and a huge eye-opener. I mean, you know that even cool and rich people have problems but you don't know the extent of it until you really hear it from they themselves.
Watching a huge jock who's cool and popular breaking down and crying because he is also struggling with issues like his dad leaving his mom when he was young is a very powerful thing. Or watching an African-American boy break down because he was teased, spat on and laughed at because of his race is really sad. Once the barriers (discriminators like race, religion, looks, wealth etc.) came down, everybody was equal. We're all just human beings.
It's sort of natural today to stereotype people into categories like "the rich kid", "the jock", "the geeks" etc. It's almost become a way of life. You can even stereotype people by just looking at their appearance. I'm both a perpetrator and a victim myself when it comes to judging people. But no one has the right to do that. It's just not right.
They played John Mayer's "Waiting on the world to change" during the show and I think the lyrics are cool but I believe instead of waiting for change we all can contribute to it in our own way daily. After all, it's the small things that count, isn't it? Waiting on the world to change (John Mayer)
Me and all my friends we're all misunderstood They say we stand for nothing and there's no way we ever could Now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it We just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it So we keep waiting Waiting on the world to change We keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system when we're standing at a distance So we keep waiting Waiting on the world to change
Now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war They would have never missed a Christmas no more ribbons on their door And when you trust your television what you get is what you got Cause when they own the information, oh they can bend it all they want
That's why we're waiting Waiting on the world to change We keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change
It's not that we don't care, we just know that the fight ain't fair So we keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change And we're still waiting Waiting on the world to change We keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change One day our generation is gonna rule the population So we keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change We keep on waiting Waiting on the world to change
~This post was inspired by Oprah & the Josh Groban Foundation
I've always known that my brother is funny & also very lame (I'm a huge fan of his blog - http://thehigherreaches.blogspot.com), but when you put those 2 characteristics together, you kindda get a hilarious situation sometimes. This is what happened:
I was chatting to him on msn, and I brought up the topic of my sister getting a gift from her juniors as a farewell (it's her last year in secondary school this year) present. She got a stool. You know the kind you can sit on?? This is how the conversation went:
Me: Hey I heard Yi (my sis - actually we call her something else but it's secret *lol*) got a stool from her juniors
Bro: Yah she did
Me: Cool man. Is it one of those cute ones from Ikea? I also want.
Explanation: Stool also = shit - Rectum = where shit comes from...gedditttttt??
HOW LAME ASS IS THAT. EVEN MY MOM THOUGHT IT WAS HILARIOUS. She couldn't stop laughing over the phone when she heard it from me & we had to end the call as a result because she couldn't speak, she was just laughing. Suddenly everything I said after that joke was funny. Yeesh. My family tree has lots of nuts. GEDDIT?!?
It's not a film I would usually watch cuz yes, I hate all the gore and fighting and killing and just noisy things in general. Moreover, I never liked it as a kid. I do remember their cheesy theme song though. However, I heard many good reviews from people so I decided to check it out myself.
Surprisingly it was not bad. It is SUCH a boy's movie though. What other movie combines hot chicks with fast cars & robots & fighting & the army & technology & fighter crafts & not much of a story plot & a gundu looking main character?
Upside: The visual effects were pretty awesome & very detailed/intricate. Even the sound effects were pretty awesome. This movie kept me at the edge of my seat & interested for most of the duration.
Downside & SPOILER: At 2.5 hours, this movie is a tad tOo draggy. Fighting, fighting and more fighting & less human interaction. Would be better if the story plot was better developed. In the end after 2.5 hours of battling, they realised that all they had to do to kill the damn robot was to push the stupid cube into its chest. ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!
At least they spared a thought for the ladies:
Josh Duhamel is hawthawthawt!! I noticed him back when he was acting in Las Vegas. He's quite a good actor. I tell you, guys named Joshua are hawt *grinz*. . . . . . Orientation was slow today but I did get to meet heaps of people. The staff @ Monash are sOo super friendly.
Borrowed 4 movies & 5 Shakespearean plays. That should keep me busy till end of hols. Ta for now!!~
And Christopher Gorham, who plays Henry Grubstick a.k.a Betty's accountant love interest
Both gorgeous men in their 30s (and both married with kids bOooooOo).
I have a soft spot for Christopher because he reminds me of Josh *lol*. He's very very cute.Even as a geek on Ugly Betty he is cute.You just wanna tear his specs off & violate him *lol*.
Oh yea I think Betty's brother (the gay boy) is damn hilarious too.
They need to bring Grey's Anatomy back quick. I don't think I can survive too long without it.
One of my favourite family sitcoms of all time is "Boy meets world". I bet most of you haven't heard of it because it's so damn old. It ran from 1993 to 2000. I started watching it a long time ago in Singapore and recently caught up with it again. I love it. It revolves around family and friends and it depicts the struggles of children to teenagers from family to love interests to drinking to school. My favourite season has got to be the first one though. Cuz that's when they were kids and everything was so innocent and there were no problems.
This song ("Remember when it rained" by Josh Groban) is so appropriate now because it's raining outside and I'm sitting here at the window on my beanbag with my laptop and a cup of coffee in my hands just watching the rain and listening to this song. It's heaven on earth I tell you.
I just watched the 2 episodes of Ally McBeal (which Syl passed to me - thanks!) which Josh guest starred in. That was like 6, 7 years ago man. He's so cuteee!! :o) He can act too, as a shy, quiet, worried-looking teenager *lol*. My husband is soOoosooOOooo talented :D
I wish I had a chance to see him perform in the Sydney Opera House. That would really be a dream come true. The Sydney Opera House is such a worldly icon and is significant to Josh himself so the 4 concerts he holds there in October will be huge. All I want to hear is his song "L'ultima Notte" performed there. It's such an amazing Italian song and I can just imagine how wonderful it would sound in the Opera House. Unfortunately the timing wasn't right. :(
WOOOOHOOOO!!! I've just received news that Fernando Torres has signed a 6 year deal for Liverpool!!! WHOOOPWHOOOPWHOOOP!!! Damn happy, damn happy!! He should have left Athletico Madrid a LONGGGGG time ago. Now I get to see him more often cuz it's harder to get to watch the Spanish La Liga on free to air tv than to watch the EPL. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! But then, Liverpool let Garcia off to Athletico Madrid. BOOOOOO....I like Garcia. How come my favourite Spaniards can't all be in one team. BOOOOOOOoooooo...
Scooped a boliao online quiz from my brother for the fun of it. Since I don't have exams anymore, I can do ANYTHING I WANT!!! HAHAHAHHAHA!!!!
1. The phone rings. Who do you want it to be? Josh Groban
2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your trolley? Of course, that's my $1 you're talking about
3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed, would you? Darn. I can't remember who I last kissed
4. Do you play Sudoku? No, it messes with my brain too much
5. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? No way jose - I'm a spoilt brat
6. Do you like tongue rings? Nope, they creep me out
7. Could you ever date someone with different religious beliefs? Only Protestants & free-thinkers please
8. Do you like to pursue or be pursued? Depends on who the person is
9. Use three words to describe yourself at the moment. Tired, annoyed & free
10. Do any songs make you cry? Yes of course, I cry at anything
11. Are you continuing your education? I would study all my life if I could
12. Do you know how to shoot a gun? Only water guns
13. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you'd save? Ask me again after my house has been on fire *touch wood*
14. Who were the last 3 people you shared a bed with? Honestly I can't remember
15. What colour are your eyes? Brown I think
16. How tall are you? 158 cm
17. What colour is your hair? Black-brown
18. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you? I wish for that to happen everyday
19. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yep
20. When was the last time you were at the mall ? Like today *lol*
21. Favourite ex? Can't compare
22. Do you like mustard? Yes
23. Do you prefer to sleep or eat? Sleep!!
24. Do you look like your mum or dad? Mom
25. How long does it take you to shower? 10 mins on average
26. Can you do the splits? Yes but not 90*
27. What movie do you want to see right now? Harry Potty!!
28. Do you own a camera phone? Yes, nowadays who doesn't?
29. Was your mum a cheerleader? No, I can't imagine - she can ride a motocycle though!!
30. How many hours of sleep do you get a night? Depends on the time of the year - during exams I usually get like 2 hours but during hols I get like 12!! HAHAHAHA!!!
31. What do you buy at the Movies? er...depends on my mood - usually ice cream
32. Do you wear your seatbelt? Course I do. I'm a law abiding citizen. Besides, I dun wanna get thrown out the window/get fined by the police.
33. What do you wear to sleep? Cute PJs
34. Anything big ever happen in your town? Erm...If you're talking about Melbourne, JOSH GROBAN IS COMING!!! What...I think that's HUGE *lol*
35. Do You like your hair straight or curly? Actually I like mine wavy thanks - it takes cool people to pull off curly hair (this is to you Peg)
36. Is your lip pierced? No way jose...*ouch*
37. Do you like funny or serious people better? Definitely funny people - I love people who make me laugh esp. guys who are humourous without even trying like JOSH
38. Do you like the rain? I do when I'm indoors but I don't when I'm out
39. Ocean or pool? Ocean...it's the work of God
40. What's your favourite drink? Anything sweet - ice lemon tea I guessbut I also like all kinds of juice, ribena, coke, pocari sweat, Gatorade strawberry (which is yellow in colour strangely), cold milo from the milo van only
41. Do you need a bf/gf to be happy? Whoa, if so then it means I've not been happy for most of my life!!! I actually only need God, my family and friends and JOSHie pie, then I'm happy
42. Do you like PINK? Not really to both the singer & the colour
He's Josh Groban's good friend, so if I listen to Josh I have to listen to Michael right? Anyways, I used to think his songs were boring until I heard his song "Home". The lyrics are awesome and everytime I listen to it, I miss home! So when he came to Australia to promote his new album, "Call me Irresponsible", I just had to listen to it. So far, his best song is still his first single, "Everything". It's slightly poppish and VERY catchy - you can't help feeling happy when you hear it - I love the lyrics too - it just tells of how much someone means to someone.
I also love his remakes like "Me and Mrs. Jones" - I haven't heard the original (only remakes) but this remake is excellent - Michael has a knack of singing so smoothly that this song suits him - it's a naughty song about an affair - I like it because it's forbidden love so it's exciting *lol* "Always on my mind" is a slow yet beautiful song. "L.O.V.E" is a song I've listened to since I was a kid - I prefer the original version because Michael's is too jazzy for me - but still not bad. I also prefer the original version of "Wonderful tonight", but Michael sings in French in this one!! At least I THINK it sounds like French.
The album's title track, "Call me Irresponsible" is his typical song - jazzy - very good for chilling out to.
"Lost" is a very heartfelt song - your typical slow song.
"Coming home baby" is a song with Boyz II Men - it infuses Soul with Blues = VERY funky, very interesting.
On the whole, 7/10 for this album - I admire the way Michael seems to sing effortlessly and yet his voice is so unique and amazing to listen to.
I'm also listening to...
Lucia Micarelli, who is Josh Groban's violinist on tour at the moment. He produced her first album, "Music from a farther room". It is excellent. I'm not a huge fan of classical music but I will listen to violins (my favourite instrument besides drums) - especially her violin because she puts so much emotion into her music - she's very young and talented (with mixed Italian-Korean heritage).
Other songs I'm listening to:
1. "Cover on my heart" by Guy Sebastian - 3rd single from his album, "Closer to the Sun"
2. "20 Good Reasons" by Thirsty Merc (didn't even know they were Aussie) - 1st single off their latest album, "Slideshows"
3. Fergie's album - "The Dutchess"
When I was in Sydney, I watched "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" with the girls although we hadn't seen the first Fantastic Four movie yet. It was enjoyable yet I felt that it was slightly too try hard in the humour section. It was also too short so the plot of the story wasn't developed properly. I would give it a 6/10 but only because Chris Evans, The Human Torch aka Johnny Storm WAS SO DAMN FRICKING HOT!!! Seriously, he's like the hottest guy I've EVER seen in my whole 22 years of life. Damn. How can such a hot guy exist, seriously. He is seriously too cuteeee for words to describe. His eyes are SUPER dreamy!!!
I'm going to recover from the Sydney trip - have a WHOLE load of laundry to do and some unpacking but I'm too tired and lazy to do it now *lol*.
One last thing - I'm not a fan of Aussie Rules aka Australian footy aka Australian version of rugby - however, I stumbled across Justin Chambers (only 20 years old) from the Brisbane Lions and he is HOT so now I'm going to start watching him *lol*. I sound so hum sup nowadays like Amy (hurhurhur).