I Flew A Kite

on new year's day :) happy 2012!

一路向北

this photo was taken 2 months ago at murray regions. that was my first road trip and my first time hanging out with the ZH group. since then, i've been meeting them every single weekend. they are such an awesome bunch to hang out with. they made my supposedly stressful last semester the best semester throughout my uni life.

we kayaked along murray river on the first day, it was a very peaceful and relaxing 2 hours, despite the cold freezing waters. thank god i didn't get wet, though one of us fell into the water! thereafter, we went to safeway and big w. bought tons of food and equipments for our barbecue, which only started at 10pm. we stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment which was rather new, clean and cosy. if only we didn't have school on monday, i'm sure an extra day will be well spent on the facilities provided such as the huge ass trampoline, the playground, etc.

had a massive late night drinking session after the barbecue, and yet some were up really early the next morning to prepare breakfast. this group is filled with chefs. we had a spread for both meals, it was enough to keep us full till our chinese dinner at boxhill. visited a few wineries - wine, cheese, nuts and salad dressing tasting, and off we drove back to melbourne!

In Case You Were Wondering...

i'm alive.

can't believe that i have been so busy since i came back to melbourne.

awesome 5 days ski trip up in falls creek, first week of school madness, yummy korean dinner at 7&7, late nights due to korean drama IRIS, regular weekly revision of lectures and tutorials, sunday brunch with the clique, first ever footy match, job/intern applications, etc.

to add to the list, i'm going to Murray Regions tomorrow. oh wait, in 7 hours time! just a night stay, but we'll be kayaking/canoeing, cycling and having a good old aussie BBQ!

Little Too Late

us in gold coast during the september holidays last year. have no clue why did i delay blogging about this trip for almost a year. guess i was too caught up with the little happenings in life. anyways, we visited movie world, dreamworld, wet and wild, and did some city shopping and eating. oh, not forgetting the jet boat ride that we took on our last day in gold coast, which left us with soaking wet hair.

i'm an adrenaline junkie.

and i find it quite sad that hardly any rides we took gave me the adrenaline rush. i think its due to the countless rides i've taken in the 2 disney lands, 1 disney world, and 3 universal studios that i've been to since young. i want to feel that rush again, i love it! guess i'd have to head to bigger theme parks in the states - six flags, etc. or try out sky diving (waiting for that opportunity), or bungee (that, i'm afraid of).

this will probably be my last year in melbourne, ignoring the possibility of me doing honours. during year 1's september break, i went to sydney with rachel and her mum, and last year's september break was spent in gold coast with the girls. i hope the cairns trip we've been talking about will come true this september. the great barrier reef, oh i can't wait!

Back From Bali

Day 1 - at Kuta Beach, right outside Discovery Shopping Mall. we visited so many beaches, and always made it in time for sunset everyday. we went clubbing almost every night, but not late/early enough to witness the sunrise by the beach.
Day 2 - a morning picture outside our pretty villa before we head to Nusa Dua Beach for water sports! we did parasailing, flying fish, jet ski, scuba diving, and banana boat! thank god i didn't get major sunburns. check out our i love bali bags that we bought at a not so cheap price since it was our first bargaining experience there. i like how cixian and i wore similar tanks with no planning at all.
Day 3 - at Dirty Duck Diner for lunch in Ubud, feasting like Kings and Queens. seafood dinner on Jimbaran Beach while watching sunset was awesome as well. we had the best meals that day. food in Bali is not that great and not that cheap, that's a downside i guess.
Day 4 - this jump shot was taken at Canggu Beach, a 5-10 minutes relaxing stroll through the quaint countryside from our villa. we failed to visit Tanah Lot Temple as we, or rather yongbin and i, woke up only at noon and had to leave for the airport at 3pm.

i cannot guarantee if i will blog more about Bali, so here's a really short summary which doesn't do justice to the amount of fun and laughter we had in the short 4 days. i will however do a video and post it up here. photos are all on facebook, restricted to friends of course. alternative way to know more about the trip, view cixian's blog.

i'm already missing the life in Bali. the purely relaxing lifestyle - no stress, no pressure, just nature. not forgetting the fact that i went there with 3 of my closest friends where secrets don't exist, and the boys who constantly kept cixian and i laughing throughout the trip. the funny slangs, the random singing, and inside jokes. ahhh, the life!

The Surprise Party

this was the most successful birthday party i've ever thrown for someone. my brother thought i was going to bring him for fine dine, but it turned out to be a home party with lots of unhealthy fried food, drinks, balloons, people and noise. 180 degrees difference. miss that night!

Legal Freedom

my dear xiaohan turned 21 on christmas eve, but she had her birthday celebration at copthorne king hotel on the 18th instead. i had lots of fun at her party, nice meeting up with the whole big swiss gang after not seeing them for almost a year. in less than 2 years, there will be more 21st birthday parties coming up. :)

xiaohan had a christmas party theme, hence all the different head gears. thank god for daiso, nice and cheap. we had normal party food and drinks, and were all so full in an hour.

photos and more photos! basically snapped through the night with so many cameras being around us. that alone, occupied so much of our time in the room. the group picture of us on the bed gives me a very gossip girl feel, i like that. haha!

we never fail to gamble during big gatherings. this time we also played drinking games like 007 and 7-up. thank god i'm not too bad at them, i really dislike drinking. haha! finished one bottle of martel real quick. junyang was totally gone before we left to club. love the above picture of us, we all look so happy!

we had a great view from the balcony plus sinting's camera takes so pretty pictures, hence the numerous shots.

everyone left the hotel at different timings to different places, while warren, junyang, cixian, jieying, evonne, and i were the last to leave and we went to zouk. sadly, it was way too packed that we had to head over to rebel to club, leaving junyang there with his friends.

first time at rebel and i really enjoyed myself that night. it would have been better if i was in flats instead of heels, and would have probably stayed longer at the club. music was really good especially towards the end of the night. :) warren had a really busy night since he had to look out for us 4 girls. however, the shepherd got bored in the last hour and went to hunt for preys. leaving his sheep to fend for themselves against those hungry wolves out there.

Carousels

school holidays have finally come to an end. :( starting from tomorrow i'll start studying again for another 7 weeks and i'll soon be enjoying myself in singapore/japan. this spring break has been the best, i enjoyed myself so much! in this short two weeks, i did a whole lot of activities from looking at big fat smelly cows to having VIP treatment at crown casino. i couldn't ask for anything better. feeling so fortunate and re-charged for the remaining weeks.

merrie's mum stayed at my place for a week, and she just left this afternoon. last monday, merrie, kimseng, rachel and i brought her to royal melbourne show. it's our first time going for this event, and we had lots of fun. wasn't really interested to go for it, as i always had the impression that it's something like moomba festival in march, just that you have to pay entry fee.
passed by degraves and had an impromptu breakfast at little cupcakes. kimseng and merrie's mum love them. yeah, definitely the best cupcakes in the world.

the first thing we saw at royal melbourne show was the cows. never in my life i've ever seen so many cows at one go. and mind you, there are HUGE. i was the only one in that huge hall that kept pinching my nose cause they stink. really wonder how the others could just walk past the cows as if they were breathing fresh air.

went to visit the beautiful horses too. yay, one of my favourite animal. :) look what they did to the horse's mane, its so pretty. best thing is, the smell was hundred times better than the cows. by the way, there was a cow and horse beauty peagent competition going on too.

there were so many game stalls, and the soft toys there were way better than moomba's. kimmy helped me played a game and won a winnie the pooh soft toy for 20 bucks.

dutch pancakes are never a miss at carnivals and fun fairs. why don't they have them in singapore? oh wait, are there even carnivals in singapore? they should sell them at pasar malams.

big, fat, juicy and sweet strawberries dripped with melted milk chocolate. sigh, why am i always having desserts for lunch?

look at all these fudges, they look so pretty! bet there's tons and tons of sugar in it.

damn, i want a birthday cake like that for my 20th. there was a art and craft exhibition hall, and we saw these pretty cakes on display. the bakers are so amazing, everything's handmade and edible.

there were so many rides too, thrilling and fun ones. wanted to sit some of them but they all had really long queues and each ticket was like 10 bucks. i had enough of rides, especially just flying back from gold coast.

but we couldn't leave without sitting one. kimseng, rachel and i had so much fun on that ride, it wasn't scary at all and it was SUPER LONG. the three of us just sat in one car, and it goes around in circles while moving up and down slopes at a really really fast speed. it was the most tiring ride ever. hands and backs were aching after, and my tummy was so painful due to laughter during the ride.

i have no idea why rachel and i had the guts to go for the haunted house walk. the last time i went for one was in universal studios california when i was 13. my family went into it thinking that it was some 4-D simulation ride. it was so scary, and i hardly saw anything inside.

apparently this haunted house was featured on the australian news. kimseng has always been to such houses and he admits that this is the most scary one. i was hugging and pulling him, and rachel was doing the exact thing to me. the three of us walked in a row, and kimseng was our eyes guiding the way since we girls had our eyes closed and heads down. kimmy left us a few times cause apparently, freddy krueger was chasing us!! real people do chase and haunt you with hammers and saws. really scary, but it was a really funny experience.

one main distinction from moomba are the show bags. they have a really huge variety, from cadbury milk chocolate to FHM show bags. of course, you have to pay for them, but the stuff inside them are really quite good. ah seng went around looking for gossip girl show bags since they were out of stock at most booths, and managed to get one just before leaving. how ironic, gossip girl and manchester united.

around 5, rachel and i went over to crown while the rest headed home. i joined her cell group for a laser quest game and it was really fun. we had little lamb's steamboat buffet for dinner, and we ordered so MUCH food. they can really eat man!

my back was aching so badly from the ride that i had to get a massage from rachel before bedtime. it was a very fun yet exhausting day. i shall not complain, cause that beats studying anytime. :)