I am 17, going on 18...

Sweet sixteen. I don't know why being sixteen is such a big deal. For me, I don't even remember what I did on my own 16th birthday (Hey don't judge me, I have horrible memory). I think being 17 is even more significant. Not only because of SPM, but also because of the period after SPM where you determine what you need to study in college. And I find that very taunting.

But it seems like what I'm going to do next year in college have already been determined by my parents. Well basically, my mother lol. Honestly, I don't mind. She seems to take charge and I allow that to happen because I myself am a very indecisive person and I don't know what's best for me. She knows that I probably want to do something science related, and she respects that, which is great because she isn't forcing me into doing things like Accounting or Law (but she does occasionally brings it up to try to encourage/influence me :P).

My current obvious choice would probably be A-Levels. Now, people often ask me "Why are you going for the January intake?". Allow me to explain. If I go in March, I will have to rush to complete the syllabus/semester. If I go for July, it would be too long a holiday for me and I end later. That's what I hear from my seniors. So, January seems to be my best choice right now. However, I may envy those who have time to enjoy themselves while I will be studying and trying to adapt myself to the new complicated environment of college life.

Why am I intimidated and taunted by college life? Maybe, because my routine will be disrupted. There are some things which I'm glad will change, and some things which I want to stay the same. To be frank, I'm not very good with socializing with people. Going to college means I have to make new friends. New friends who will accompany me on my journey to adulthood. I think at least almost everyone will feel a little nervous about being in an entirely new group of people right? We're not in school anymore. The lecturers will barely care about what mischievous things we're up to. They're only paid to teach, and that's what they will do. Everything is entirely up to us. No one to guide us, no one to bend us to the right path and no one to watch over us. Unless they're really caring lecturers :)

In my own opinion, I am a person who is quite stringent when it comes to rules, compared to the youngsters of the world nowadays. I respect the rules (most of them, not all of them) because they are there to create boundaries for us so that we do not end up in trouble. I'm kinda known as the goody-2-shoes in my circle of friends and prefects. I have also been a prefect for almost 8 years - which is almost half of my life so far - and I am used to following the usual rules without being told to, like being on school on time (well, that's cause I don't really have a choice because my driver picks me up LOL), pinning my hair up when necessary, not bringing any electronic devices to school, not skipping class (unless I am needed for something else) and using only black hairbands to tie my hair. Now, all those rules aren't applicable in college anymore. You can come late for class, not like the lecturer cares (I think). Your hair can be in any colour or style, using whatever hairbands you want to tie down that mess. You can bring phones, laptops or your iPods in the hall. Heck, you can even listen to your iPod while the lecturer's teaching (I think?). The option of skipping class is available, it affects your grades and overall performance yes, but it's up to you whether you want to do it and you won't be officially punished by anyone (except your parents). I don't need to follow those rules anymore. What a significant change for someone who has been following those rules for the so long.

I pray that God will help me be adaptable to this new chapter of life :/

Review: Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another splendid read by Sophia Kinsella from her Shopaholic series. However, there was one thing which ticked me off.

As usual, whenever I read the Shopaholic series, I cannot help but feel angry at Rebecca for her constant lying. Yes, she tells the lies so that she doesn't hurt anyone's feelings, but there's just too many lies and they never stop until finally, the truth comes out or something horrible happens. In almost every page I flip to, she tells a lie. Also, she's always in denial and trying to think of things that she wants to hear herself even when the truth is pretty clear. The Ultimate Nanny, Nanny Sue, the new house, shopping (as always :P) etc. The lies gets me frustrated and annoyed most of the time. But, the lies related to the party and Elinor were certainly understandable. Yet, I still continue to read the book (and the series). This goes to show how good they are. Of course, I mean no offence to others who act the same way.

The positive points of the story made up for it anyways because I still continue to read the book till the end (and the series). Love the witty humour that made me laugh out loud (literally). There were some events which were pretty hilarious too. The ever-so-patient, charming Luke Brandon who understands his wife and loves his family so deeply was a plus. I absolutely adore her friends and family who are always so supportive of her. Also, I love how concerned and caring Rebecca can be.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this and cannot wait for the next installment! :)

View all my reviews

Look who's back

Guess who's back: Three people you've acquainted with if you are a frequent reader of my blog.

First one's black. And white (No, I'm not racist sheesh). He's pretty chubby.

Second one's brown. Has a tail.

Third one is bald.

It's Pandabob, Monkey and Onion Guy!!



The smileys are back! Aren't you happy? Because I am. All text is boring. Pictures and emoticons are the way to go! :)

It's going to be a lot harder to insert the emoticons in my post though. I have to copy and paste the code. So troublesome. Greasemonkey isn't supporting the scripts anymore. Damn you, Greasemonkey.

Rant: Another dog? Really?

Before you start reading my rant, have you noticed any changes to my blog?

If you were observant enough (not like anyone reads my blog, let alone looks around), you would have noticed the tagboard is gone! Yes, it's the spammers' fault. Whether it is a robot or a human, I cannot take their incessant, fake messages on my cbox so I took it away. My gosh, they are annoying. So, if you'd like to leave a message, contact me through FB, Twitter or just leave me a comment.

Also, no more smileys in my posts. Don't you miss the cute pigs and orange fellas who frequently appear in my posts with their cute antics? Well, the new Blogger doesn't support this. Also, the new Greasemonkey doesn't support the script either and the original poster of the smileys isn't active anymore so she can't update the script. That is devastating :(

Okay, back to rant.

I cannot believe my family is taking on another dog. As if one dog isn't giving us enough problems, and as if life isn't causing us enough stress.

And most shockingly, my mum isn't complaining or putting up a fight.

My mum isn't exactly the animal-loving, oh-that-poor-dog kind of woman. At least I don't think she is, and she doesn't show it. I mean, she respects animals, but she doesn't show much affection for them. When we got our first dog, she didn't even approve of her at first! In the end, she approved reluctantly, because of the our endless, annoying begging. I wasn't even in secondary school yet when we got our first dog. I didn't know how much work having a dog would bring. And, we had a maid.

Now? We don't have a maid, and I'm not 11 years old anymore. I kinda know how much heavier the duties of taking care of two dogs will be. Because it's double the trouble, double the poop, double the barking, double the shouting. You do the math.

Well of course, the dogs will probably have nothing to do with my mum and it'll be none of her business because she chooses not to attach herself with the dogs in the beginning. Sigh, I wish I could do so, but I can't help it. The dogs clamber over me, and I can't help but give them a pat on the head or stroke them. If it were my mum, she would be shrieking and demanding my dad bring the dog down. Also, I'm not the one who's out working all day till late at night. She rarely spends time with the dog. Heck, I don't think she spends time with her at all. Unless my dog's fur litters all over the floor, the dog (and my dad) will get a little lecture. So, it's hard to shut off the feelings for me.

I obviously do not approve of having another dog. Not that I hate this poodle (yeah, it's a poodle), but we've got enough on our hands. We just got over the fact that we lost a maid and have to do all the housework ourselves. I can't take on another dog. Do you know how messy our house is? My room is messy, my table is messy (lol, that never changed), the bathroom is dirty, the clothes are waiting for me to put them back in their respective drawers etc.

I hope I don't sound like a drama queen. I'm used to having a maid, and we've been hiring one for as long as I can remember. This sudden, unexpected change hit us pretty hard.

What about my grandparents? Who is the one cleaning up the poop or pee my dog leaves around when my dad's at work? Who is the one feeding the dog? Them. Not my brother, who is begging for a second dog when he can't even handle the first one's needs. All he wants to do is play with the dog. Kids will be kids.

I'm telling you, my brother wants the poodle because it's a novelty. Also, because it's a poodle. Poodles are to dog breeds, as Adidas is to sports brands. And my brother looooves whatever branded sports goods there are out there. Yeah, he's definitely reached puberty (that will be for another post :P).

Okay, the main reason why I don't want another dog is... *drumroll*.... because of the first dog! I can't help but sympathize for the first dog. I don't know about you, but if you got a Nokia phone, and your dad buys you a new iPhone, which one would you love and utilize more? Of course, you'd choose the new iPhone. I won't blame you either because who wouldn't choose the iPhone? Unless you are a 70 year old elderly. And you'd probably chuck away that Nokia phone as if it was stale dinner from a week ago.

I hope that doesn't happen to my first dog. I can already see the first sightings of jealousy and disapproval from her. We tried to bring the poodle closer to her so she could make friends, but she barked very loudly and scared the poodle. At first, she looked curious and okay with it. Then, she started to snarl and out came the loud aggressive bark. My dog isn't exactly famous for her friendliness or cuteness. Instead, she's known for her aggressiveness and hostility. She barks at any stranger. The postman, people who walk past my house, friends who come over... No doubt she'll bark at them. She is a very good watchdog for us. Pan calls her 'The Crazy Dog'. Once, Pan came over to my house and Miki almost ripped her to pieces. And when the dog goes into 'scary and aggresive' mode, only my dad (and sometimes my grandfather) is brave enough to control him. My brother is a total coward. But, once she gets used to you, she becomes friendly with you. That's what I like about Miki.

She is already deprived of affection from my brother. It's clear my brother loves the poodle more. It's so like him to have that 'out with the old, in with the new' (and not in a good way) attitude. But I told him about it and he seems to be trying his best.

I just read the novel, 'Mini Shopaholic' written by Sophie Kinsella, and this particular part struck me, because it is so similar to this predicament. Something along the lines of...

Brandon: "Having Minnie has been wonderful. But I just don't feel as though I could give the same intensity of feeling to another child. And I couldn't risk that (...)"
Nanny Sue: "They looked at their first beloved child and all they can feel is guilt that there won't be enough love to go round."

It's true. That's sums up how I feel. I know it's going to happen. Christopher will be biased towards the poodle. I don't want Miki to feel left out or anything. Most of all, I don't want them to fight or for Miki to be aggresive towards this poodle.

Can Miki handle another dog friend? Will she like him (it's a male, yes), or will she continue to begrudge the dog? Right now, all I want to do is stay away from the responsibility of taking care of Sonia (or whatever my brother named the new dog). I don't want to be attached to it, in case it is given away to someone. But it seems like the poodle is already attached to my brother. Whenever he leaves the house/room, the poodle starts barking.

But I seem to be losing this argument, because majority wins. My brother and dad want the dog, my mum doesn't mind keeping it. I am the only one against this lol.

Rant over.

A very special someone's wedding...

I've been to my fair share of Chinese weddings, of those I have never even met before, but I have never felt such joy and happiness for the bride and groom as much as I felt for the one I attended today.

Not only has my cousin seen me grow up from since I was a baby, I have seen her grow up too. From a teenager, to a wife. The best thing I love about her is that she is generous because she treats us to meals sometimes. Lol, joking of course :P The real best thing I love about her is that she's a considerate person. She cares for people, and she cares for the feelings of her loved ones. She is beautiful too. Just look at her.

Isn't she? And today, she's tying her life to the one she wishes to spend the rest of her life with. I could not have been more happy for her. I could feel the palpable joy of friends and family around the house as well.

The morning of the wedding was pretty calm, as everyone just sat around chatting, while my cousin had her make up and hair done. My auntie, her mother, showed silent love and endearment. She's not the kind of woman who would boast about her daughter or would cry hysterically. She is quite discreet with her feelings, and seeing her watch my cousin get her make up done and seeing her smile made me feel even more emotional.

My cousin has true good friends. The ones who will help you no matter what, keep your secrets or lend you a shoulder to cry on... I assume. Because by their actions, I can see that they are. They bought a special, expensive cake which my cousin liked all the way from Malacca. Well yeah it's not that far away, but hey, it's the thought and sentiment that counts, right? And my oh my, that was a very delicious cake!

 

As the Scottish and African people have their wacky wedding traditions and rituals, us Asians also have a few tricks up our sleeves. It is a Chinese wedding custom (at least in our country, not sure about other Chinese) for the groom and his troop of brothers (meaning his good friends) to pass through a series of obstacles and tests. And because my cousin's so awesome, she also has awesome friends/cousins who she asked to become her bridesmaids. I see her ji muis preparing for ways to torture the groom and his friends to make sure the groom is worthy enough to claim his bride.

Preparing the stuff for the obstacles

I was one of the first outside, waiting with the ji muis for the men. All her ji muis are so pretty! They're pretty sly too for coming up with the games. I think after this all of us will know not to mess with them and watch our backs.

"Don't show any mercy."

It was a time of anxiousness and anticipation when the heng dais came! I was watching the elevator display slowly rising to the 7th floor, which is where we are. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath. The slow descent of the elevator finally came to a stop, and out came the brothers.

The hing dais backing up their brother.

The brothers had their own chant and you could see how enthusiastic they were to help their friend get his bride. But, their enthusiasm was short-lived. First up, the guys had to wear ridiculous outfits made by the bridesmaids themselves: black and green rubbish bags and panties, which spelled "Nobody but U". Nope, the groom was not left out either.

Next, one of the ji muis were holding a covered platter. Hmmm, what was under that cover we wondered? One of the hing dais jokingly said if it was shit, he wasn't eating it. Well, he totally jinxed it because guess what was under the cover:

"Okay I'm saying this first - I'm not eating that if it's shit."

Oh, shit.

"What the crap is this?!"

Yup, it was POO. Edible unreal poo, of course.
They had to eat a mix of chocolate and wasabi from a baby's diaper. A BABY'S DIAPER. It did look like poo though. I saw them preparing it at 9.30am XD

Then, they were forced to eat fruits (blindfolded!) from their partner's face.

However, that was only just the beginning. The next game required 4 of the hing dais to do push ups where they pass ping pong balls to the person next to them, only with their mouths. AND the ping pong balls are covered with whipped cream. Sounds like an easy feat? Well, you're wrong. It was gross.

"Push ups? I can do that with one hand."

Eewww. You could see dripping saliva and sweat mixed together on the floor with patches of whipped cream. Yes, I just involuntarily shuddered at the thought. It's not easy to get to the bride huh

After that, one of the brothers had to eat a banana, which was in between the groom's legs O_O

Boner?

Now, I have never seen that before. Clearly this group of ladies are very modern and unafraid/oblivious of the future lectures that will be brought upon them by the older generation. And I saw two small kids excluding my 12 year old brother who was also in the audience, watching the man gobble and gorge a banana from in between the groom's legs. Early sex education for the kids? :P

Then they had to drink some green concoction the girls whipped up. The brothers were very reluctant to drink the green thing because it smelled so darn bad! But they did it anyways, because otherwise the groom wouldn't get to claim his bride! I think there were a few other games I missed like them eating cherry tomatoes filled with wasabi. I went in my cousin's room to show her the pictures of her future husband and his brothers suffering the wrath of the sisters. She looked at the pictures with a smirk on her face. But I went out in time to see another sexually implied activity, where the brothers had to tie a string with a banana tied to the end of the string to their hips, and another brother had to eat the banana. Really, these girls like bananas and are pretty horny lol.

The brothers had to do other stuff like sing a random song (they chose to sing Negaraku LOL) and the groom had to read something pasted on the door and kiss the poster to express his love for her or something like that. The last game, was that the groom had to choose a number from a list of handphone numbers to call, and the bride will answer the phone of the right number. After calling several numbers, alas, he called the right number, and was granted permission to enter the bedroom.

She was sitting at the foot of the bed, with the white veil covering her face, waiting for her Prince Charming. They exchanged rings, and sealed their love with a kiss. Or two (for the cameras :P). It was funny and a little awkward because there were children behind them while they were kissing and that made us all grin.

Then we moved on to the tea ceremony and photo taking session. It was indeed a memorable and jubilant moment all in all for everyone.

Wedding dinner went swell too. My uncle and cousins from Ipoh joined us for the dinner this time.

Ah Mei jie jie asked me to perform on the wedding dinner night a few months back but I declined because hey, I have SPM and I'm not good enough to be performing live in front of everyone on such an auspicious and grand occasion. But the people who performed that night were very very good, so it's a good thing she didn't make me perform, phew!

Pretty ji muis!

Two gorgeous mother-in-laws

Cheeky Christopher

Ahhh cute baby who's dressed up like Snow White!

I love me some roasted pig.

They had those grand entrances where the bride and groom entered the room with melodious song. They sang, "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You".

Oh, and her dress is stunning. Sooo beautiful.

Ah Yong gorgor (or at least that's what I call him), is genuinely a really nice guy.

I remember accompanying my cousin and Ah Yong gorgor to Genting because AY would have to attend some event and me and my cousin would walk around. She spotted a keychain that she liked, but for some reason I forgot why she didn't get it. Well, he secretly got it for her and gave it to her at the end of the trip. I don't know how he managed to do that, but from then on I knew how much they loved each other :) How sweet is that? He's good-hearted, humble, respectful to elders and considerate like my cousin as far as I know him. He doesn't look too bad either ;) He's lucky to have my cousin as his wife and vice versa. Where can you find guys like these nowadays, right? Seeing the people I know being so happy and in love with their significant others fill me with emotion.

My cousin is married! She's a wife! How odd is that LOL.

Well, all in all, I'm truly happy for the both of them :)

I pray that God bless and guide them through this journey of marriage. <3