The Amateur Writer

My further thoughts on Harry Potter will be in my next post. For this one, I just want to share the plain awesomeness of the upcoming movie.

Celebration of the winter solstice in Dunedin:




Watch the second clip of the festival here:





Here are the pictures I managed to take, but it's so dark so you have to bear with me:











The celebration of the winter solstice goes back to the pagan times, during the Old English where they celebrate the arrival of winter. I guess it's similar to how we have certain tribes that pray for rain; for them they carry big lanterns to signify this.

And that night I found out something very interesting. Did you know that New Zealand is still colonized by the British? They don't have an independence day and they still have a Government General. Instead of celebrating independence, they have an event that is called Waitangi Day which means to celebrate the day they signed the treaty with the brits. Hey, you might already know this but I still find it interesting!

PS: That night, I have never seen so many children in Dunedin!

The couple is really old and yet you can totally feel the love between them. The husband never lets go of his wife's hand and as they walked down the street, the husband lovingly caressed his wife's cheek. Made you believe in love again don't you? :)

The day is finally here when I decided to pay a visit to Anna's place. The whole point of the visit is to watch a Bollywood film together.

Ever since I came here, I watched a LOT of Bollywood films and believe it or not, it is one of the ways I used to overcome homesickness. So far, I've watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham and Kar Ho Naa Ho. Anna never watched an actual classic bollywood film before so I decided to let her watch the all time classic:

We were both all snuggled up on the couch, with blankets, with my laptop on and we sang, cried, laughed,etc while watching the movie. It was great fun really. :)

One of the reasons why we hung out was to introduce our own local food to each other and I made Nasi Pattaya for her and Ben. And I felt really motherly by packing these food into Tupperwares and wrapped it nicely. Sort of.


After cooking and saving the movie onto my laptop, I got ready and tried on my new leopard print scarf I got from Supre. Anna and her bf, Ben were really nice to offer to pick up from my house and brought me over to their place. (Okay, the syntax of that sentence is crazy but I'm tired and I dont care =_=) I was a bit nervous of meeting Ben because I was afraid that he would judge me or something (paranoia, sorry) but Anna revealed that he was a bit nervous to meet me too. But it turned to be awesome so it's all good now. I managed to be my bubbly self so that's a good sign. He was nice enough to leave us girls to watch bollywood while he went out right after dinner to work on his research paper. Besides, I doubt a guy would want to watch a Bollywood film anyway.

One of the reasons why I hit it off with Anna (and Ben too) so well is because we are both culture and language buffs. Like I'm so happy that I get to meet people who are crazy about the worlds' languages just like me. We talked about accents and culture and I learned a few things about NZ English.

I call it cotton candy but people here call it candy floss.

You can really see the difference between my pronunciation with ben's name. For example, I'll say /ben/ while Anna will say /bin/. Or I'll say /pen/ while she'll say /pin/.

You know how we always say, "Hey you've got a quite a flashy car." but to people here, there's no such thing as "flashy" but it's "flash" here. i.e: "You've got quite a flash car." Personally I find it really weird but that's the best bit I guess.

Being linguistics buffs that we are, Anna's been analyzing my English accent and she said I've started to change some of my pronunciations to NZ English now. (THE HORROR! LOL) You guys prolly won't hear me say it if we skype or talk to each other but I guess it comes out if I talk to the locals. For example, the word /here/ and sometimes, I do actually pronounce /pen/ as /pin/. (o_O)

Anyways, back to the main story; after finishing the nasi pattaya, Anna whipped out the pavlova she "made". It is a NZ dessert that is basically made of meringue and whipped cream. And in a traditional NZ manner, they'll put kiwi fruits as the toppings. Basically la right, you're eating frosted sugar. It tasted like sugar. In an addictive kind of way but seriously, it's like eating sugar.

Anna said that pavlovas sometime substitute your average birthday cake in New Zealand. But it's a major pain to make though.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>V PAVLOVA



Enjoying desserts. :)


*Seriously that's all sugar, honey! I needed like two glasses of water to drain out the sweetness in my mouth. So good though.

I was very touched that Anna sent me a message of FB saying that she's been frantically cleaning her flat just because I'm coming over. (Awww!) I do admit, it's clean and I can totally see the reason why she fell in love with it. AMAZING FLAT! I was a bit surprised when she said, feel free to snoop around and open any cupboards. But my Mama told me to always mind my manners so I didn't lah. Anna was having none of it though because she basically dragged me off to tour the whole flat. An awesome flat really.

Next stop, Asian Night with my other favorite couple, Jie Ning and Tim! This time, to cook nasi minyak and watch Sepet. There's a plan in the works where Anna is going to come over to my place pulak and we're going to do a Bollywood Night pt. 2 so we'll see how it goes!

PS: I know what you're thinking.

Reader: Gee Yang, why do you always hang out with couples?

Me: No answer. It's sad, I know. :( And no, I'm not a third wheeler! Dorang ajak I hang out ok!

My friend just uploaded a bunch of high school pictures from way back when and it brought back a lot of memories for me. Funny how back then, I just CANT wait to be done with school but now, I just wish I can go back and do it all over again! :)

Mind you, this can be quite a revelation about my perangai back in sekolah. Haha, not the very goodie-goodie girl. :D










Oh.Em.Gee!!! So innocent! Man, I wonder what happened coz we looked so...pure! LOL! Otak xde la so pure but my god, look at me! Look at SHIRA! Shaza looked a tad bit younger but she always looks young la.

Adoi, where did my comel-ness go? O_o

So HOT! *melts*



I mean, ignore the girls lah. So semak going all over my T.O.P! :(

See what I did there? That's a phonemic transcription right there! Anyways, I AM DONE WITH EXAMS!!!

FREEEEEEEEEE for the next three weeks. I have everything planned.

a) Netball practices to go.
b) Bollywood Day at Anna's place
c) Asian Night pt 2 at Jie Ning's place
d) Catch up with friends, lunches etc
e) ECLIPSE!! with Jie Ning and her sister
f) Auckland trip!
g) Buy next semester books
h) Watch Vampire Knight
i) Read my Shoujo Beat mags
j) Buy a luggage bag
k) Noraebang with Yejung...?


So many stuff to do, so little daylight time! (>_<)

Oh yeah, my package from Malaysia arrived and I just want to say THANKS MAMA and crew for the birthday card and I love my baju raya! :)

Till then,

TA!

PS: OMG MY BYOOTIFUL SOUTH KOREA! HOW CAN YOU LOSE SO EARLY?! :(

I'm having one of those moments where I just want to drop whatever I'm doing, pack my bags and go somewhere to help people. I've always had this affinity to do this sort of thing and I'm sure most of you don't know this, but one of the reasons why I'm majoring in English is to have the ability to help people. Especially kids in fourth/fifth world countries who have no access to education. According to international organizations, according to my teacher; Gladys, you have to have a qualified certification for an ability like healing or teaching in order to get on board. People always say that it's easy to help but if you don't have the right capabilities, you might just be there but do nothing.

I envy this guy. He moved to Bangladesh and used the money he's been saving for an X-box 360 to help poverty there.

God, we need more young people like this.

Click on the youtube video and check out his other videos!

Working my brain for the upcoming Linguistics exam. One of the many data that I have to translate. Help, major hair loss and white hair sprouting occurring!!!

(>_<)

Most of you might not know this but I have been writing 5 essays everyday for the past week. It gets really tiring and your brain just explodes (and my right-hand too) from writing too much. All of this, just to sit for one measly literature paper. Grrrr!

Anyways, you know I can barely stay in focus for like 10minutes when there's the Internet; I spent like half of my day studying and the other half, on Youtube. And after watching so many random music videos from Kpop to Justin Bieber to Jpop to Lady Gaga (yeah, I listen to a lot of Pop), I was struck with a new idea. In fact, I was inspired by this one particular music video (I won't tell you). It might just be my side project.

The idea:

A girl with normal everyday problems; part-time job, school, family and friends. She always walks by this old building on her way to school and part-time job. Okay, no biggie. But then she started to notice that there's a guy sitting on top of that building, with his legs over the top railings. And he's reading a small black book. The girl looks at the guy, wondering whether he's crazy but whatever la. For the next 3 weeks, the girl always sees the guy at the same spot, unmoving everyday.

One day, the girl experiences the worst day ever. She got fired from her part time job, failed her Maths exam and her parents announced that they are divorcing. She was crying on her way home when she saw the guy jumped. Lithely he landed in front of her and smiled.

"Hello, I believe your name is *insert name here*. With many regrets, I am afraid you have a month to live."

BAM! Ok, will you read this? If I actually make it into a novel, will you read this?

I miss my old man. I have always been a Daddy's girl and will always will be. Even still at 20.

I Lavlav you! *HUGGGGGGS*

On the eve of my newfound old age, I discovered that how hard it was for me to settle down with a book nowadays. I think I've grown out of my Meg Cabots and personally, I THINK I've become a picky reader. Yeah, throw me all of those best sellers; I still think I won't read them. I just need...a good book. It's like marriage. I'm one of those commitment-phobic guys. I need a woman who can tie me down not because she needs to, but because she can.

Okay, I don't really quite get my marriage analogy but all I'm saying; I'm saving myself for the best. And this year, I'm waiting for these two. I think they are the ONEs.


I don't think the first book needs no introduction because I believe ALL of us are waiting for it to come out. It is just plain AWESOME. Nuff said.


**I will be buying this when I'm back in Malaysia. I don't care if I have to rebut it with my siblings. In fact, I expect it to be at home by the time I get back.


Now...John Green. He is cool. John and his brother, Hank are the coolest nerds I've ever seen. Come on, nerdfighters. So cool, ok! In fact, I call myself a nerdfighter. And am proud of it!

*Nerdfighter is a term that is actually Pro-Nerd. Don't get confused now.


Will Grayson, Will Grayson is John Green's latest book and it is actually a collaboration with one of his friends, David. I've seen John's books before in MPH like Looking for Alaska. I've picked it up quite a number of times but it never reached the cashier. Don't ask me why.

John said the book is about two guys with different personalities who happen to have the same name. And their paths crossed at a porn shop (this is what he said but I think he's joking) and from there, a series of events occur and something like they plan a high school musical ke apa. I don't really get it. BUT, what reeled me in is the opening paragraph of the book:

When I was little, my dad used to tell me, "Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." This seemed like a reasonably astute observation to me when I was eight, but it turns out to be incorrect on a few levels. To begin with, you cannot possibly pick your friends, or else I never would have ended up with Tiny Cooper.


I'll be looking for this book in New Zealand because I just get a feeling they won't be selling this in Malaysia. Unless my fellow readers out there happen to locate this book; please give me a heads up. :)

Based on an unreliable source, somebody said that John and Hank Green are the first people who started vlogging on Youtube. You can check out their account here.


Till then, Ciao!

3 days till my first exam!

I was all snuggled up with my blankets and comforter, ready for bed when my two flatmates, Malsha and Yejung came to my room to surprise me. They sang "Happy Birthday" and I blew out the candles. Then we moved the celebration to the living room so we can make as much noise as we want. Then we just catch up with each other until 2AM.






Winter arrived about a week ago and it has been sunny all along. That is until I woke up on my birthday to find out that it was pouring like mad. And you can just tell it was freaking cold outside with all the mist that came up. By the way, did I mention that my birthday is the same as the Queen's? And in NZ, it's a public holiday. I already made plans with a good friend of mine, Anna who wanted to take me out to town on my birthday. Seeing the weather was so bad, I was close to cancel when she texted me she was already in front of Korea House. We promised to meet up there and eat brunch (I've been craving their spicy tofu jelly) there. I was happy that we didn't have to cancel but boy, I put on my puffy red coat and braved the rain. And I regretted for not wearing gloves.

I saw Anna waiting in front of Korea House with a glum look on her face and she told me that KOREA HOUSE IS CLOSED! DAMNETH YOU PUBLIC HOLIDAY!! So at the end we had Japanese instead at Maki Mono. Anna bought me brunch as a birthday present and in a typical Yang Safia manner, I chatted non-stop lah through brunch.

Next, we went shopping. Ahh, shopping. My favourite sport. Anna wanted to teach me the art of Op-shopping (second hand shops, ridiculous prices!) around Dunedin only again to be disappointed because Op-shops are closed due to the holiday. DAMNETH! So at the end, we went to Meridian Mall and shopped lah. Hehe, I'm very satisfied. Turns out Anna is a great bargain-hunting shopper.

Like she found a cute top at Cotton On for $10! And it's so purrty! (>_<)

La-di-da, it's almost 1pm so we rushed to Hoyts (macam TGV la) to catch the 1pm show. When we actually got there, I sort of changed my mind la and said, "Hey, do you want to catch Prince of Persia instead?" coz I felt bad by forcing her to watch a chick flick. I think I've tortured the gfs back home enough with my chick flicks so might as well start now. To stop forcing ppl from watching it, I mean. Besides, I think blowing RM31.25 for Letters to Juliet is not worth it. So the our show starts at 3.20pm and we had about 2 hours to kill.

And it was still raining like mad outside. She suggested we grab a coffee and talk some more. Went out and braved the crazy Dunedin weather and looked for a cafe. There's one next to Hoyts but I've been there once with Yejung and Malsha and it's expensive la. And it was all posh and stuff. So we walked some more around Octagon until Anna found this small scottish cafe bar and omg, when I opened the door; the heat just embraced me like a soft warm blanket. Arghh...sedap.

Anna went up to the cashier and we found they have a bargain, Coffee+Muffin for $5. Very nice. Ordered our coffee and went to a small corner and chatted.








Watched the movie and I have to say...Jake Gyllenhall is sexy. LOL. Anyways, I said goodbye to Anna and rushed back home. Got home and found this:


Around 7pm, Tim and Jie Ning dropped by to make truffles for me as a birthday gift. So nice la of them since all of us are super stressed about the finals.










I was taping the whole process but I got a bored so I started to camwhore. Only a bit.





During this whole truffle-making thing ni, Sim my RA dropped by to give my a gift packet of DODOL for my birthday. HAHA! She also brought a birthday card and a chocolate bar from the Toroa Office. So sweet la of them. *teary*

I was actually afraid of having to celebrate my birthday alone like some poor loser but it turned out to be an awesome birthday! HERE'S TO ME FOR TURNING 20!! YEAH!!

Mama texted me just now and said she picked up my driver's license ordy. It's going to expire when I turn 25.

...


I think she's shocked that I'll be 25 in just 5 years time. OMONA!!! >_<

*sighs* I guess this will be my last time blogging as a 19-year old. I feel sad, in fact the past week I've been in quite a dump. At first I was all, turning 20 is not a big deal; chill la. Only a number what...but after seeing my friends turning twenty and most of them are like 20-somethings lagi, made me nervous. All my life, I've always said that I'm going to make my twenties rock. It'll be the best 10 years of my life. It's the time when you're an adult and yet, considered youth.