skipped uni yday, didn't go for a one hour tute. no uni today since lec finished. not going uni tmr, even though i have 2 hours of lec.

wow, i am panicking. already.

it's ridiculous. taking one hour to do one question, when the exam is only 2 hours. or doing a paper in 4 hours instead of two. and then not doing stuff without answers ): nothing is sinking in D= having a dance concert smack bam in the middle of finals doesn't help either. the worst thing is that i'm close to failing my subjects (well i'm not the only one), but the reality of repeating first year is frightening.

even though i'm Christian, it's just sometimes so hard not to be jealous. i guess it's part of human nature. especially with those stuff that "money can't buy". like all those people who can talk over others, or know what to say when put on the spot. and those people who can make an awkward situation not awkward. and those who have a social life yet can still understand everything and not study so much.

or that kid whose 5 who's dad bought him an apartment in the city, or the uni student whose parents bought her a 1+million house. like i will have to make my own, long, arduous way. you can tell quite a few of my parents will buy/have bought their children houses already.

i just have to focus on the bigger picture, and remember all things here are only temporary.

i guess i won the competition for last person left on my table. i left with 4 min to go. there were about 80ish people in the lab, by the time i left, there were less than 10. its one of those tests where you have time, but you still don't know how to do it, and if you try, you're still not sure. always 2/5 options which are close. not sure how accurate my guesses were. i actually didn't bother putting in heaps of effort, and in finals, the babs component in the chem course is MC as well. i can't memorise stuff these days...

i find it funny how prince george had to wear a dress.

there was a fire truck on the street just outside my street today. it was really smoky in the arvo, so they were obvs doing back burning, but its weird how the truck was pretty close to houses...

also, a random dog went into a driveway today. it was a big-ish golden retriever, and it just sat there. never seen that dog before, i know every single dog in my street and the houses around my house. obviously someone left their gate open. and the other day, our neighbours rottweiler went all the way up to our front door. it looked calm, but whenever it's in their backyard barking, it's ferocious. after all, they are the "dangerous dogs". (the neighbours also left their gate open, first time ever that massive mean looking dog crossed the border/fence into out property).

busiest 1pm 1hr break

busiest day by far. 

normally i have a 9-6 day on thursday, but skipped a tute (no one knew it was one/no one went, since there were tute class yday, and people put up the sheets, so i could skip it). this meant i only had 2 breaks between 11-6.

normally in my 1pm break, i only had one thing. all of a sudden this morning, i had 4 things to go to in 1 hour, ie impossible. so couldn't go tbt this week ): and even though Better came, couldn't meet up with her (sorry!). and we had to practice our group presentations as well, since it was on at 2pm, and we did not rehearse it even once. then a friend surprised us after phys with max brenner, so how could i not resist the offer!? haven't had it since their opening. so in my 1 hour, i split it between eating and rehearsing. didn't tell my group since they probs would've killed me if they knew i was eating instead of rehearsing (luckily i didn't have many lines..)

don't know which photos to delete from my phone! btw, the new nokia phone has 41mp. that's crazy! like 6 of my photos almost equals one of theirs. i already have about 1/4 of my phone gone to only photos/videos.

she ordered three choc-banana pizzas, and three strawberry dips. 

i would have like variety, but hey, i'm not paying. had to eat quickly to practice..

the group that won had a really good video with funny sound effects, but the other half of their presentation was normal. last year they had an arvo tea after the presentations, this year the co-ordinator couldn't find a room. bull, they probs just want to save money. and first prize last year was $50 each in cash, this year probs the same, but no runner ups...

ah, stupid 45min exam tomorrow. 3 hours travelling time for a test worth about 5%. then again, every mark counts. i'm literally just passing all my subjects D= (but i'm not the only one...) not good at babs, even through it's mc. pretty sure i bombed out in babs last sem because of mc, had to guess so much =/ 

iPad air and Mavericks

i kind of like the ring to the name-ipad air.

a few weeks ago, i was thinking how ugly the previous ipads looked compared to the ipad mini since the border was quite thick, whilst the mini is quite thin and sleek. well, after today's (yday for US) announcement, the ipad air is so much more thinner and lighter, and the border is thinner as well (: i've thought about getting an ipad, but i haven't come up with many uses for it, so for now, i will save up that $600+. prices of everything have gone up compared to past release prices, usually prices stay the same, and old stuff go cheaper, but not this year.

and yay mavericks! and it's free! so glad i didn't update to lion or mountain lion. i was sooo close to paying the $20 to upgrade to mountain lion earlier this year, but then our itunes account has only a few dollars left, and i ceebs to top up, so i just waited for this year's new software update (: haven't updated yet, don't think i will, no time to wait for the few gbs to download and install (not sure how long it'll take/can't waste time playing with the new software). and now if you buy any macs, you get ilife and iwork for free. i had to pay for those (but i got them for a discounted price back then...)

as always, go to the apple website for specs. i would say more about what i think about the new stuff announced, but no time. i am so screwed =/ actually failed a 25% exam... ): i now understand why over 6 people repeated first year...it feels like commerce is an easy degree where "everyone passes and no one fails" but i don't do commerce. how to pass finals?

dad's birthday today, but he went on a business trip. he whatsapped me photos of nice cafe food ):

the other day i finally put earrings in after about 6 months (can't have jewellery for dance comps, and i'm too lazy to continually take them out/put them in), since that night i had a sudden freak out that my holes were closed, and i was partly right. i had to force the earring through the back part, and then there was blood. and my antiseptic stuff expired a while ago. i'm so paranoid with earrings, even though it's been over 6 years now. i never wear cheap earrings to sleep, and i only wear cheap earrings on occasions. most of the time i wear the "safe" ones where they're super hard to put in and take out, the ones which you can showers/go swimming and won't rust etc. never had an infection, but i want to prevent it from happening. anyways, it's still hurting today, and i took the earrings out, and then i think i scraped of this layer, and moreee blood. you see, i'm use to blood from my super long nose bleeds, but blood from places like your ear, yeah i'm paranoid. hope it doesn't get infected.

the english congregation is having a masquerade themed night, but it's during finals. (why is everything masquerade these days?) and the person asked me if i could help out to teach dancing. lool. i only learn, and the dancing i learn is not the party type of partner type.

someone's home made cake. solid effort.

it was really good. it had eddible glitter as well (: inside was a strawberry and vanilla layer. frosting was a bit sweet, but still good (: this guy came up from melbourne where he's studying post-grad med just to celebrate his bday back in syd, and someone made this cake for him, and since he's going back to melb tmr, he decided to bring the cake to church. yay cake (: still have some zumbo cake in the fridge (; ahh, so good.

Birthdays with Zumbo Take 3

right now i am waiting for my cousin in Canada to wake up. they're 15 hours behind us...why can't australia have any decent clothing! so annoyed #firstworldproblems. btw, didn't now this until today, but a&f websites are so exclusive! they want to prevent import from other countries, eg, if you live in canada and they have sales, you must have a canadian credit card, use a canadian address and canadian computer. if they detect that you're from else where, you just get directed to the us site. like, i can't go on the hk site to see their prices. fingers crossed the stuff i want is in stock.

ahh, exam in exactly 3 weeks.

brother's bday today, so i decided to get stuff (just for the record, with my parents money. i never buy presents for my bro, and he never buys stuff for me since we don't have money).

happy mix box actually closed this time.

not as full this time, well we ate a few already, but last time we ate some so that it could fit in the jar, and this time some parts of the jar is empty. oh wells, 636g is pretty good. last time i must've had over 650g.

i made sure that before i went, i washed my hands, since i arranged the lollies when they went in. this time there were no jelly beans (apart form liquorice), last time there were about 10 flavours, and jelly beans are expensive, they're small and you can also fit a lot. also, they didn't have a variety of nuts or raisins w/chocolate. last time they did, but obviously those stuff cost more than normal gummy lollies. this time there was less variety...the guy was there serving me, and i know from experience he was more lenient (one time i didn't even buy $20, and he still have me 2 hole punches). it was a bit over the brim, but i could just close the lid (: when i asked for samples of popcorn, he gave me 4 at once, the woman last time only gave one. i ended up trying about 4 flavours, so that's well over 10 free popcorn (: the cookies and creme and salted caramel is as good as they say (:

used my 2nd group on voucher (: 

the salted caramel almond nuts were the only dark choc options, most of the others were white choc (which is fat), and normal choc. if the discover a white chocolate cocoa bean, then i will look at it differently, but white choc is cheaper than normal choc and filled with heaps more fat/super sweet. the salted caramel here is not too over powering (: i regret buying the moustache lollipop, not because of it's novelty factor wearing out, but because it's made in china. the almonds were made in france, and probably some of the happy mix, but not the lollipop ):

moreeee zumbo!

how could i resist the new flavours?! apple pie, yogurt and passionfruit, blueberry pancake, pandan sticky rice.

the blueberry pancake was sweeter than i would've liked, but the colour was spot on, like a bluberry (: the pandan sticky rice was so good! pandan could've been a bit stronger, but there was real sticky rice in it, gave it a nice sticky, chewy texture. apparently this macaron takes more effort, since making the rice is annoying (according to my mum). apple pie was niceee, just like an apple pie should be. there was cinnamon/sugar sprinkled on top, but it actually didn't taste too sugary. a stronger apple taste would've been better, but a lot of apple pies these days don't even have enough apples....yogurt and passionfruit was surprisingly good. it tastes like yogurt! kind of like original flavoured froyo, but with a lot more acidity. it was yogurt in macaron form! it wasn't sour though, it was acidic like yogurt should be, and the passionfruit was good as well, in the centre was a passionfruit creamy dollop. this one had the most "crunch".

i didn't bother with the other chocolate flavours. i think i like his new melbourne store, a really spacious patisserie/good display. the only patisserie he has is rozelle or balmain, and from photos, it doesn't look as big.

decorated fondant cake for brother and dad's birthday (:

everything is all online, like la renaissance. i love how i get to choose my family's birthday cakes! the boz was a vibrant yellow. (la renaissance was a vibrant pink). the cake is so good! it is so smooth, and it goes down your throat so nicely (seriously, those dry/bad cakes, you have to chug it down with something). since it's a fondant you expect it to be super sweet, but it was alright. the cake is small in size, but it's quite heavy since it's dense. you get filled up on it with a small-ish slice, about 1.5cm and i personally think that's a decent serve after dinner, with just the right amount of chocolate and sweetness. 

meringues are so good (: decorative chocolate, very pretty. love how they curve randomly. the macarons on the cake i think were pineapple w/ salted butter cream and raspberry w/ salted caramel (not chocolate like the bake at home boxes). the salted caramel was sooo sweet, even for my brother's standards. both the flavours weren't as prominent, maybe because it's been stored in the fridge...

apparently at school, some of his friends baked him a cake, and also banana bread. then at tyf (youth group), the girls in his year bought him a WHOLE WATERMELON CAKE from black star pastry! jelly, and he got a massive slice. my brother said that it  was super nice (and he usually doesn't care about food). when he said he he had a super nice cake at youth group with watermelon, i knew exactly what he meant, and since bitter gave me some earlier this year, i had a pick, and showed him and he confirmed it (: the problem with that cake is that it's hard to take home, and once you do, you have to eat it all at once, or else the water/juices from the watermelon start leaking/soaking through the cake. that's the same with fresh mousse cakes, best to eat it on the day. i've never had someone bake a cake for me the day of my birthday ): maybe sometimes after...but macarons this year were more than enough (:

dad's bday in a few days time, but recently, we combined it with bro's bday, or else we would be continuously eating cake for 2 weeks, and it's really unhealthy and waste of money.

haven't done anything today, spent it buying sweets, taking photos and eating =D going to regret this...

Bushfires in Spring

nothing has been going into my head. yeah, freaking out. i guess what sucks is that i have my first exam during stu-vac. also dance concert during finals=whole saturday gone.

i have no idea how i am going to survive in summer. trying to wear minimal stuff already. and also bushfires =/ already houses lost and it's not even summer yet! yeah, definitely hate summer. summer=nosebleeds, sweat, humidity 50%+, grossness, insects everywhere, crickets/insects chirping at night=sleepness nights, no energy to do anything. the only positive is that when i wake up, it's so hot (if i don't have the air con on) and i am forced to get out of bed.

just some snapshots from my camera. i didn't take many pics on that "dust" day a few years ago, so decided to take more "smoke" phots today. so glad i tied my hair up/didn't wash my hair yday. felt so gross after being at uni the whole day with smoke/dust/dirt and strong winds everywhere.

library level 9

i think i got the redness.

on the bus at about 7. didn't take any purple/pink, or fierce red/blue sunsets w/ smoke, wasn't possible ):

at night, the moon was orange. bad pic since the spot light behind me turned on, so couldn't focus properly (and i really wanted to go inside and shower)

weather app as accurate as ever. the smoke moved in the background!

i probably had more to say, but i forgot. spent well over an hour on a stupid quiz which doesn't count towards anything but it's a hurdle ie compulsory. i hate them. waste of time, but if we don't do them, we fail. 

Turn-It-In

the dreaded turn it in which baulko was thinking of getting since the year before us had a few people plagiarising.

for those of you who have yet to experience it:
ONLY SUBMIT IT A MAXIMUM OF TWO TIMES.

we could submit ours unlimited number of times, so i submitted around 3 times, each time changing stuff so my similarity percentage would go down. on the 4th time, gg. it goes "pending" and you won't get your report back until around 24 hours later, and we were supposed to print out a copy of our turn-it-in report.

so basically half the year didn't have a copy, and then they ended up saying put a note to say it's still "pending" in the system. i downloaded an old copy and printed that off, since my final submission was still in limbo until this afternoon, well after the due in time...

worst assignment ever. around 50 printed pages. it breaks my heart. for those who don't know me, i almost never print notes, and in my exercise books, i squish. so 50 pages is just way too much for one thing which we will probably never see again.

Oliver Brown

it's so weird when you first meet new people, and they tell you their life story.

spontaneous trip to Oliver Brown today in my own suburb! first time, and went with parents, bro isn't interested in this type of stuff. i said yday that i won't go out to eat, but today i went out to drink...so i'll say here i won't go out to eat or drink from now till end of finals.

iced milk chocolate-$7.50, iced dark mocha-$7.80, dark hot choc-$6

there were around 10 people working there, and it wasn't super busy, but we still had to wait for someone at the counter to come. more than half the people there were just talking/chilling, and you could tell most of them were new. who doesn't greet customers? and the drinks didn't come at the same time. also, the girl held the hot chocolate with 2 hands like how i would hold it-afriad that it will spill.

i had the iced milk choc. didn't come with a scoop of ice cream. it actually wasn't sweet, probs because they added a lot of ice. it was ok. nothing spectacular. the mocha was definitely more on the coffee side, and the dark choc was subtle. it suited my dad since he just wanted some coffee, but i told him when you go to a chocolate cafe, you have to at least order something with chocolate. the dark hot choc was the sweetest by far, we weren't sure if they accidentally gave us milk choc or not. you could taste some dark choc in it, but it was pretty sweet for dark choc.

last eisteddfod of the year today! came 2nd and 3rd. didn't bother waiting for the ribbons. was sooo stuffy in there.

did nothing today ):

Ramen Burger and Shangri-la Hotel Lobby Lounge

going back to Happy Apple's survey, for the best place to drive, i would say the Great Ocean Road. i personally didn't drive on it, but when we road tripped down to melbourne, we also went on it and wow, it's such a scenic drive! soooo beautiful. the seas, the view, the landscape. apart from food, i think  blue scenic ocean views make me happy. the road is actually pretty dangerous, some parts are soooo narrow, and super winded and steep, and from memory, it takes skills to drive on some parts of the road. i remember we were only about a 3 hour drive until we reached south australia. so close yet so far...but if you ever head down to victoria, great ocean road is the best for a scenic drive.

didn't have brekkie, slept in =/ for lunch i had an avocado sandwich and an apple. eating minimal since i know that at night, i would consume a lot of fat and sugar. skipped uni today. no lab today, so skipped 1 hour of phys lec, and 1 hour of problem solving, which i have't been since like week 4. went to night markets again. decided to get something since i already trekked it to the city. so nice meeting up with Bitter and Tracy.

original beef ramen burger-$12.50

nothing is worth it in the noodle markets, and everything is smaller, but i saw quite a lot of people lining up/saw people eating it before, and it's the first ramen burger i've seen, so i had to give it a try. the bottom is pretty black, but i guess they had to make it more black for extra crunch. it's a pretty interesting concept. the sweet chilli was more on the chilli side, but i could handle it. it had like red onion, corn, mayo stuff. not fully filling, but the oil in it fills you up.

let's do dessert at shangri-la lobby lounge: milk chocolate delice, passionfruit curd, grue cacao crunch, salted caramel, roast hazelnut, honey thyme pear strawberries ‘n’ crème graffiti lollipop and Brown Brothers dessert wine-$20

yum (: not the best dessert i've ever had, but it's decent. so glad i started from left to right. chocolate delice wasn't too sweet, the glass thing had interesting stuff in it (guys, i think the salted caramel was incorporated into the mousse, since that was on top of the hazelnuts...). the mousse in there was pretty sweet....the lollipop was quite cute. mine was missing a piece of white chocolate ): feeling ripped off, nah, it was ok in the end, since the white chocolate was super sweet. pretty interesting strawberries and cream filling with more rice bubble like mini ball inside for texture. couldn't taste any thyme. i think the pear was super subtle. dessert wine is good, nice and sweet and still taste the wine, but not overly sweet like a sugary drink (:

less than a month till exams, and haven't started studying. oh dear. going out to eat way too much. for one of my courses, they have an accumulated mark, and i am close to failing the course, so there is no room for error in the finals. i don't even know if i can get a credit average this sem, and it's only first year D= i've been following/doing stuff, but nothing is sinking in. ok, if i say this here, i will commit to it: i won't go out for anymore food or watch tv shows online. they did their tribute episode of glee today for cory montieth. it was just everyone crying and singing, but i do feel for them. i guess this is a good time to stop and focus on study, since no advancement has made in terms of plot lines, so i won't be side tracked thinking about stupid things whilst i study (:

so the past 2 days i've spent over $50 on food. i keep telling myself i will pay my parents back. i probably won't, but i will definitely shout them something with my own money sometime. i think there's more satisfaction in spending and consuming stuff that you've earned.

Hyde Park Barracks Cafe and Night Noodle Markets

i like buildings with history, and since i've never had eggs benedict before, i decided to go the hyde park today (:

service was so slow. they had quite a long coffee line, even at 9.30ish. pairs of people got there food before me, even though i arrived earlier than them. i guess they would rather one person be annoyed then 2 people.

tissane tea, normally $6.50

i had my mind set on a chai latte (5.50, which was under the tea category), but the person said only normal stuff. so i saw some teas at 6.50, and chose the tissane one. didn't know what it was until i googled it. it's just healthy tea. defs tastes healthy. tea pot is so cute (:

fruit salad with yogurt and manuka honey, normally 9ish.

wish there was more yogurt and honey.

eggs benedict with salmon and avocado! normally 17.50

chose this one over the bacon (16) and vegatarian (15ish), since it's healtheir and more expensive. i would have liked more sauce, but looking at other people's photos, some people's sauce didn't even cover their whole egg even though they probs pair full price. smoked salmon wasn't too smoked, but for once i liked it less smoked, since it balanced the hollandaise sauce. again, first time having cafe/outside hollandaise. i've had other people's home made, not that great, and i remember Masterchef said it was hard to perfect. kinda hard to cut the crust, but it was so crunchy (: bread was a bit too oily for my liking. overall, $20, pretty satisfied.

perfectly poached egg, something i can't do.

the night noodle markets aren't cheap. average around $13 for a cardboard bowl of noodles, and it's not a big portion. i think i would rather trek to the store and get a bigger portion on a plate and pay about the same price. basically i would rather spend 20 on cafe food than 15 for stir fried in a box food. the novelty of the markets imo is that there's so much variety in one location. that only happens overseas, like in hk, food everywhere. in aus, you have to drive to places (unless you live in the city, even then, stuff aren't that close together). the cheapest was thai riffic's pad thai, at $10. i went at 5, and when i left, it still wasn't opened. other stuff like those shangainese buns etc are like 4 for $8, and viet rolls are about 4 for $10, so not cheap. the desserts aren't worth it imo. coconuts are $6. there was this icy drink for $5, and with other sugar syrup/coconut milk etc, but i thought if i got it, i would be even more thirstier. i want to try some stuff, but it's best to go with other people. i don't want the whole thing, but a bit of everything, if that makes sense. there's variety, but at a cost.

i got a free box a prawn crackers from taste of shanghai (been there once, way too oily, but shang stuff is oilier...), and free newspaper from smh. first time holding the "tablet" sized paper. 

feel sorry for the people working there in this heat. i didn't get anything was that it was too hot to eat stir fried stuff. i was still full form the breakfast. the only reason why i like summer is that when it gets hot, i don't eat much. today i had the above, then a mandarin, and water. dinner i had two pieces of meat and just heaps of veggies, and a tiny bit of rice. for summer, i think i can survive on just water, fruit, cold drinks, veggies, ice cream and dessert.

i love instagram. well, it's really good since if you want to know what a dish looks like, it's on there. eg, some desserts for good food month don't have a photo, so just search it up, and someone's been there yday/few days ago so you know what it looks like. photos on urbanspoon are hard to navigate, and for temporary stuff during good food month, ig is the way to go. btw, the quay's degustation for 165 is actually pretty cheap. too bad i can't eat spicy stuff. a day out with gilmore and another guy from Noma, (previous no.1 restaurant in the world) was 595. that's pretty cool, but with that money, that's about 3 degustations of hatted restaurants.

Happy Apple's Survey (No. 2)

just for the record, even though i did go out everyday except for one day in the break, i wasn't partying all the time. i don't think i even met up with people. well i did go uni 2/3 times, and this week i have 3 days of uni! (well skipping two hours on fri...) but it makes up for it....just so much other stuff in the break. oh, and also, i hate group work.

the only surveys i do are ones written by bloggers i know.

1) What is a first world problem that would bother you very much? 

i think i have a lot. well, if i was to pick one for today, it would be that tripview didn't tell me that m2 services between 10-3pm only started from clarence st, town hall. so i walked allll the way from one side of central, then to railway square to find that the guy said you either wait half an hour or go to town hall, then i was thinking of catching the free shuttle bus, but i didn't recall seeing any since they cancelled some services for the parade, so then i bumped into some friends, and then i walked to town hall. i hate being so limited without a mymulti. ended up not catching the m2 buses, but my normal bus, since they added additional services today.

I

2) Predict a song that, in ten years, will remind you of 2013.

 i listen to radio songs, which is not often since i hardly drive these days cause of uni. yeah, idk. btw, can't wait for glee this week. it's the ep where they dedicate it to cory/finn. going to be so sad, but the songs are going to be dnm.

3) Favourite mode of procrastination?

going on my phone

4) Name something that piles up for you.

things to do list, places to go eat list (does this count?).

5) Upload or link a picture that makes you happy.

foood. sorry, ceebs, just scroll down for photos of macarons and cake etc.

6)   Do you use bookmarks (as in physical bookmarks)?

for my own books-yes. use all my nice ones (: for library books, if they're old i'll dog ear them/use an old bookmark. for newer library books, i still use old bookmarks.

7)  How are you feeling about approaching the second decade of your life?

old. but i still look like i'm 15, so idk, mixed feelings.

8) If you could be born as a different nationality, which would you choose?

probs white/european. or a halfie (because halfies are so pretty! have you ever met an ugly halfie? well i haven't). my uncle's friend's daughter, who i've met, and i've probably said this before is half french half indian, but lives in shanghai and can speak other languages not of her nationality. something like that.

9) Slightly dry rice or slightly soggier rice?

probs soggier.

10) Avocado. Describe your associations with this word.

yummmmm. good in any sandwich.  

11)  If you could change one thing about the Year 12 formal, what would you change?

the weather. couldn't take a proper photo of the limo and full length shots since it was all raining and gross ): i love taking photos of these stuff.

12)  Describe your favourite place to drive.

don't have one. i like driving on motorways/highways though. going at such a fast speed =D and it's easy, not steering required (:

13) Name a store that you used to love visiting when you were younger.

Build-a-bear. always visited it, but never got one, and never got invited to a party. i think i'm like the only one whose never had a build-a-bear. ):

14)  What is the nicest thing your dad has done for you?

so many things. actually everything. all my money comes from him. like you can't survive without money to buy the simple things in life. and he works hard as well.

15) Name something that you should be good at by now but are not yet.

passing interviews. no jks.

16) Do you need a haircut?

not yet. dance concert coming up=need long hair to not having bits and pieces coming out. you know, i've had my hair layered ever since yr 3, but i think i'm at the stage where straight-ish cut is just fine. i read somewhere that for a girl/ particularly woman, when something big comes/occasions up in their life, they change their haircuts. so true. well not for me, but i see it in my friends.

17) Name something you have an acquired taste for.

probs coffee. now i don't hate it, but i don't want to love it. since if i did love it, i would crave it/can't focus on getting work done, and also, it would cost another my multi ticket each week. and apparently if you drink too much coffee, you're more prone to getting arthritis/not good for you.

18) Besides the obvious, where is a sensitive place you do not like to be touched?.

when people "zap" you waist. it doesn't tickle for me, it hurts.

19) What is the best hug you have been given this year? 

#foreveralone

20) When you go to a cafe, what do you order?

chai latte (i hate it when people think chai is coffee, IT'S NOT!), mocha or cap. 

NO SUGAR. you're supposed to enjoy the natural spices/good quality coffee beans (if you go to places with good stuff). sugar just makes it sweet, like why not drink a juice or a soft drink. same with wine, if you don't like the taste, just go for coke.

fail rates

gg. mid sem averages: visn-57% (range 21-91), optics ~50%.

i felt bad after both exams, more in optics, and i guess i wasn't the only one. they were going over some feedback, and for this question, only 5/150 got it right. same with these other question with hidden tricks, but apparently if we "read carefully" then we wouldn't skip them, but there's no time to even read the question properly! chem was 60ish, but that came out a few weeks ago. no mid sem for phys, which is a good and bad thing i guess.

so scared. fail rates are so damn high. there's at least 6 people repeating first year. then in 2nd and 3rd year, ~60$ of the year takes a supplementary exam, and then about 20-30% fail/drop off each year. so by the time you get to 4th year, there's less or about 50% of your original cohort left. and with out year, since it started off super big compared to other years, they are sure damn keen to cut off numbers. why do they even accept so many people in the first place?

believe me, i do try. i actually do study.

i hope i survive. but as i said, if i fail a course, i will join everything at uni.

jks. i'm so annoyed/pissed at this one thing "money can't buy". you know for every interview: volunteering, med, scholarships, phone etcetc, i haven't passed a single one. i can write well and know what they want for me to get to the interview stage, but then i can't talk well under pressure. so, joining heaps of volunteering things/extra curricular at uni is actually quite hard, so many freakin interviews.

on a lighter note, SMH good food month! and night noodle markets start tomorrow. couldn't go last year cause of HSC. then all the top hatted and normal restaurants have "specials" just for this month. i found what Ophelia had on Saturday, the 2nd guest eats free. sooooo many choices. i probs won't go to the higher end lunches, since i would rather pay more and have a four course than only one course of fish w/ wine, even though it's discounted. ie, one dish at aria for lunch is 46, but their lunch offer is 38. then again, if i find a restaurant i like and they have food which is super appealing, i might go...skipping a lecture on fri, but probs end up going to the city for foood. pretty sure high tea is the same price, and dinner is still expensive, but the chefs try to do something different, like Peter Guilmore is making spicy stuff. breakfast, and brunch and desserts look so goooooood! which ones to go to?

drifting...

today was the only day this whole break that i haven't stepped outside the house. i was planning for a whole week of staying at home, well that went well...so busy. haven't caught up on much stuff, well i have, just haven't studied anything/nothing sinking in.

i feel like i'm drifting. like i always find things out second hand. Also being invited to stuff. i know some things are trivial,  and some things I probs couldn't have gone anyways, but still...yeah, it's kind of =/ it's the thought that counts. so then i pretend i don't know since they wouldn't know if i knew. ok, i would say more, but it'd probs be too deep for blogging purposes...

then like church...people moving to different services, some people possibly moving churches because of work/relationships, etc...people who i grew up with...like my leaders have all either gone to missionary work overseas/moved overseas/married and moved churches. oh also, i would have love to gone to gilgandra mission trip this long weekend, but then i had a dance eisteddfod yday morning, and then stuff also came up on sat, so even if i didn't pull out a few months ago, i would've had to. there were quite a few meetings this year, at around lunchtime on sunday, and service for me starts at 5pm, so it was an awkward time. next year i'll go again.

what is this, the additional buses in the arvo don't come tmr, but on wed...? and lecturers put up notes today, i was hoping to read them in adv...

i feel sick from eating and not moving all day. there goes my "clean eating". i really want a juicer, well we have a blender, but apparently the heat the blades emit (even though it's a tiny bit) kills the enzymes of the fruits and veggies.

hmmmm....

Fleet Review 2013

so busy this mid sem break, but i decided to go out to see the international fleet review with mum. such a nice day today, didn't put on any sunscreen, so i endured to day wearing a cardigan. the fleet review has been in the news for a while, and they were saying how it's the biggest event in sydney since the olympics, which makes sense since nothing internationally big happens in sydney, and when other ships sail down under, well it's big.

took more pics on my camera, but these are from my phone.

walking towards mrs macquarie chair. 

warships are coming!

there weren't that many at that time period, well about 15ish. i wanted to see the 21 gun salute, but that was across at Bradley's head. saw some aviator show, but that was also more based in bradleys head. it was still cool though. there were quite a few helicopters, with banners/flags, and it was really nice when it passed the sun, since their flags gave you a 2 seconds of shade. where the sun was, there were no clouds. some people fully camped there, ie picnic mats/camping chairs etc, i guess to see the plane show. those news reporters with 4 inch heels walking on very sloping grass/rocks-respect.

different side of sydney (:

the front side of sydney! unlike north syd where i usually go for nye "front on view", but you look at the harbour bridge from the back, so if they have words/pictures it's backwards. never been to mrs macquaries chair though, but it's got such a nice view! so much blue-ish water. also saw a dog on a speed boat with a couple-rich.

royal botanical garderns are also so pretty! i've only been to part of it if i ever had a piano exam in the city. actually went through it today, such nice green grass/garden features/newly fixed park benches.

for those who don't have snap chat.

walked by government house.

i found a castle!

why does the sky looks so blue on computer..? it's actually pretty big and quite a surprising find if you're just casually walking by. first time walking here (: if i ever have time, i would actually like to stroll through this part of the city. adventuring doesn't have to include food, it could just be 

had lunch at Sukjai Thai using groupon vouchers (Tracy, i ended up using my parent's credit card to buy the voucher). pretty funky interior design. also the guy who was serving us, i'm pretty sure he's gay or bi. he was wearing short shorts, and fully stlye his hair, i think he wore contacts, and also had quite a lot of make-up for a guy. well, i guess it's normal in thailand, since there's this really famous show in thailand of guys dressing as girls (and they're actually really pretty as a girl, like 5 inch heels, dresses etc). 

pad thai w/chicken, pad see ew w/beef, thai milk tea, lemon ice tea.

the usual. $6 each. it's normally 13.90 a plate, but they had a lunch special of 7.90 (no drinks), so technically we didn't save much. also, it was smaller than normal, cimpared to full priced customers. however, the people next to us who also had the vouchers had a bigger portion. they were bigger/taller woman, but still....in terms of flavour, this was nice, not too heavily seasoned or oily. the pad see ew rice noodles were really soft. however, the meats of both dishes were quite bland, so you had to eat it with the noodle which has sauce. i guess it's good in a way, don't want things too salty. these two plates of thai dishes are the hottest so far (in terms of temp). service was really good. sat down and they immediately poured you water, and kept helping you pour water when they walked pass (even though we are totally capable of pouring water in a glass by ourselves). they kindly explained how their deal worked (:

mother's crepes: black sesame and tiramisu w/ blueberry sauce, and pink grapefruit soda.

wow, how things have changed. they had two batches of group on vouchers, but the second batch had more limited stuff. and we used this voucher under the second batch of vouchers. there wasn't any green tea this time, but luckily we had it last time. there was nice plastic at the bottom to prevent dripping, also the sodas were heaps smaller. this time it was 300ml each. how do i know? well we knew we wouldn't finish the drinks since we had drinks before, so we brought a bottle w/ measurements and poured the drinks into it (: i was super full after the crepes though. it's weird, when i'm eating i don't think i'm full, but after, i feel as if i can skip dinner.

walked to darling harbour. tall ships, wall ships, ships, ships, ships. sooo many people, and it's only a friday. most people were elderly people w/ grand kids. can't imagine how busy it would be during the long weekend.

the bridge opened! didn't see any boats go past, but i guess they did it because it's fleet review and they can open it for show (:

i would have liked to go on a warship for $3, but tickets already sold out online through ticketek, only the tall ships for $20 haven't been sold out yet. ended up walking past the Australian Maritime Museum. usually they have a gate so you can't go further in, but they opened it this time, and they built extra/temporary flooring (?) wooden planks. you could tell since the wood looked quite brand new, and it's extended beyond the normal wharf.

ended up walking to Pyrmont. the star was just across the road, so Zumbo time! there were heaps of stalls/chairs set up in the grassy area for tmr.

Caramel au Beurre Sale, Salted Butter Caramel on Toast, passionfruit, cherry and coconut, Pecan Danish, lychee and coconut.

the colours match!

yu nuts zu millefeuille
chestnut creme legere, chestnut & lime biscuit, yuzu creme, almond chestnut crunch & caramelised puff pastry

ceebs explaining how each flavour was. maybe later. i've tried every flavour except pineapple and the special ones he sometimes makes on weekends. this time i didn't use my money, so mum chose the chesnut cake, apparently chestnuts are expensive? it was so good, but i think i prefer the other one.

they have 2 more buses between 2.10 and 3.10. now i don't have a massive gap coming home if i end at 2! got through the day and managed to get home by 4 (: productive day out! time to go catch up on so much work which i haven't touched this week. been so busy.