Have you ever fallen in love with someone the moment you laid eyes on him? Have you ever wanted someone so bad - you'd cross the river, run over mountains, fly to the moon just to hold onto him? Wear him? Show him off? Wrap him around yourself only to feel his warm, spine-tingly touch slowly rub against your skin....
I present to you my new found love!
...I want this!!!!!
I'd most definately love to make one of these very soon! As soon as I find the recipe and time to make it. I couldn't find the recipe, but I did stumble onto this image and it brought me back so many fond memories. Life was so much more easier with Elmo around.
Hola hola! How're you guys? This entry must be incredibly delayed, but I suppose it's still pretty early in the year to wish you guys a Happy New Year :)
What's been going down? Everything's been going down. Literally. I haven't been able to switch my schooling-mode on eversince our christmas holidays, and that's been causing me to arriive late at school everyday. Every morning's been such a repetition, it's such a sick joke having to run through the front office everytime to sign the late form. Well, I guess it's really up to me to fix my organizational skills up. But school's been really pulling me down and I really don't know why I've been feeling like this. It's really not like me to feel like that, but I think it's fair to say that Chinese New Year is to blame.
This is actually my first time ever to be spending Chinese New Year at home in Brunei. It's something. I've been making um-loads of money, and I'm not bragging, I'm just being honest with you. I've never seen so much ang pao in my life and it probably isn't as much as you' readers have ever had, but if I was to compare it to the amount of ang pao I've ever collected in Malaysia, this is like hitting the gold mines. In Malaysia, I'd collect Ringgit. Ringgit! That's double the currency of Brunei, which means it's half as worthy! So over here, it's just so much more.. how you say.. 'Lau Juak'! I actually have open houses to visit, other than my families. Chinese New Year in Brunei is pretty awesome :) It's legendary.
Yes. But, this festive season can be rather deceitful. What we see as a time to light our fire crackers to 'welcome the new Ox year' in, and to visit friends and relatives at open houses, to share food and drinks and give and recieve red packets - IS ACTUALLY A TIME WHEN WE PUT ON SO MUCH WEIGHT, PROCRASTINATE AND LEAVE WORK ASIDE BECUASE YOU HAVE TO 'VISIT HOUSES', LOSE A LOT OF MONEY FROM GIVING AND GAMBLING, and why do we call it the 'year of the Niu' when an Ox is not a cow :(
It's pretty confusing at the same time, but I love it! I love the atmosphere, I love seeing money, I love the disadvantages of celebrating Chinese New year - that's how much I love it! I realize that I had just contradicted myself very obviously, but what I had written in my last paragraph is so true. I'm telling you that even when it's decietful, people still come to love the outcome of it. People don't seem to care how much weight they put on, as long as they burn it off after (or maybe it's just me), they don't care how much moeny they lose through gambling because it's 'Chinese New Year'. I guess the whole atmosphere and the festivity of the occasion is so overwhelming, people take it as a chance to forget eveyrhting else. I suppose that's the beauty of celebrating in general!
Maybe that's why I've been dreading school and putting work off, because Chinese New Year in Brunei is so Pumpin'! :)
Something for you guys to look at:
Today was pretty depressing. I stayed home all day rotting. I seriously thought that I could stay home all day and bum, but obviously not. I literally had nothing to do at all.
I had football practice this morning but had to come home before football practice ended because my dad had open houses to attend and I"d have no ride after that, which was awesome news because I was not happy at all with the weather. There's hot, then there's extremely scorching heat waves-hot. This morning was beyond that. About an hour into the practice, I started feeling really dizzy, which isn't really cool. I'm guessing the weather will be like that in Phuket too? I'm really hoping it's not, I'd come home like a droned out prune.
I was really happy my mid-term break had started, I was so excited to bum. I watched P.S I love you and 21 in a row this afternoon before lunch, but now I regret it so much because now I'm left with nothing else to watch. Yeah, so I was relaly excited, everything was chill, until I realized that there was nothing that I could do / wanted to do for the rest of the day. So I realized, shit, I want to go out. My dad left tonight to Kuching, my mum had a dinner party to attend, Jib died with raya, Kai had summoned everyone to his place for poker, and I've never felt so lonely before. It's pretty depressing. I fully charged my iPod last night and I left it on the whole day, the battery bar now shows red. That's pretty sad to think it's been switched on the whole day.
On Tuesday, I was pretty shit confident that Wednesday was going to be Raya. I think everyone was. Jib texted me at 7 and told me that they sighted the moon. I was pretty frikin happy, it would've sucked if it wasn't I thought, because I was on my way to Gadong by then. 10 minutes after I had arrived in Gadong, my dad texts me and tells me "he he raya tmro"...
WTF?
Then I get a text from Jib appologizing and telling me that they have sighted the moon. But it was decided that Raya shall be on Thursday instead. which sucked balls man. Words can't explain how disappointed I was, it was beyond disappointment, it was.. it was dis-fucking-pointment. Yah, original, I know.
Soo.. That's my Hari Raya post. Selamat Hari Raya I supposseeeee.
Yoooo. I sorta died out forawhile but yeah I'm back alive. I'm hoping tomorrow's going to be Raayaaa. So HOPEFULLY my mid-term starts tomorrow.
Hola Amigos!
I haven't been able to get my hands around postin a new entry because of school and everything else that's been going on. The good news is though, school hasn't been too much of a drag yet! IB = stlil on pussy level, but the work load has definately increased. And that's probably the hardest part of IB, keeping up with the work.
So the summer holidays ended, which sucks balls. It went by really quick, but I think I spent it pretty well :) The Empire night I was talking about in my previous post went well too! Glad to say that we're having another one tonight hehe.
The only thing that we have been able to look forward to when starting school was the Year12 trip to Temburong. We had no idea what we were up for, but I had an idea that we were going to stay at a proper room accomodated with ceilin fans and bunks with matresses and pillows. That was bad enough. We arrived at OBBD camp, and were instantly introduced to our instructors. The group had been split into three teams. Our instructor was named Haji Roslan. He was pretty awesome, at times. He was also pretty shit at times.
Anyway, I'll get straight to the point, becaused I've told the story so many times before I'm beginning to get so sick of the story, it's starting to sound boring. Basically, We didn't know we had to hike 6 hours into the jungle, set up tents and dig our own shit holes, cook maggie mee under a badly sheltered poncho to get away from the rain, sleep in a tent with 3 other people having to constantly wake up to shift ourselves around to either move away from a puddle of water that's been accumlating the whole night or to get around the tree root that we had been sleeping on. We also had to suffer miserably in our tents because it kept pouring and the only source of communication we had with the other guys were literally shouting over our tents. Or singing. To collect water or to wash ourselves we had to climb down the steepest and most muddiest hill to get to the smallest stream ever. We woke up at 6 (not because we had to but because we wanted to), packed up our things, and ran away from the bee infested camping spot. You had no idea how glad we were when we finally arrived at our originial camp base, the OBBD. I literally teared up.
The trip did teach some valuable lessons, I'm glad to say that I had appreciated everything else after coming home from the trip. Sad to say, I think the appreciation weared off a few days after. I'm such a brat.
So anyway, as some of you might have heard, I had to postpone the Empire outing to Sunday instead. And I dont know how that's going to work, because Sunday's an odd day to have a sleepover. But since I'd still be on holidays, I'm fine with that. For some of the guys who have school on Monday, it'd suck because you guys wont' be able to stay over. But it wasn't like you guys were going to stay over if I had it on today anyway. Hopefully all you guys would still be able to make it, I'd really appreciate it if you guys do.
The reason why I had to postpone it was nothing serious, really. I just didnt' want to go to the Empire scaring people away. Azim and Jasmine were a few of the very unfortunate ones which had to witness my eyes slowly swell with agony (thanks for not laughing. And puking.). I had to walk into school this morning because the results were supposed to be out. It wasn't. I had to walk into the office with a pair of sunglasses which were bearly even tainted, and very much see through. Ask the woman whether I could collect my IGCSE results today. She tells me that they were supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon, but they hadn't. So she tells me to ring her this afternoon to check, but then she also tells me that the office closes in 2 hours. Confused to why I had to ring her, I asked whether I could collect it by tomorrow then? She answers, "No dear, the office will be closed then. It's the weekend. You can collect it on Monday instead."
"Well, Ok dear. Then why the fuck did you ask me to call you again this afternoon in the first place?!?!"
As much as I want to show you my eyes, I can't. It's that bad. You might even get it by looking at them thorugh the net. It doesn't help that you dirty little bastards keep asking me to showcase it on webcam for you. It's not going to happen! Here, let me give you a slight picture of how my eyes look at the moment.
They were far worse yesterday night. I could hardly see. And I thought I couldn't get more asian. It's the most uncomfortable state anyone could ever be in. Here's what happened.
About 5 days ago, I woke up in the morning to signs of allergies. Normal sneezes and the occasional mucus I'd sometimes find dripping down my nostrils. Not so comfortable. I thought it'd get better, like it always did. But it didn't, and I came back from Gadong that night feeling far worse. I had been to the doctor's that very same day, and it seemed like I had gotten down with a normal cold. Nothing big. He gave me some new Herbal medicane which I took, very obediently, but only to find that I was not getting better at all.
In fact, for the next two days, I couldn't believe the amount of mucus my nose was producing. It seemed almost impossible. Then I started to feel aches around my face, particularly on my temples and below my eyes, near the cheek areas. I thought I had a tooth ache. I started to feel very flushed around my face too, at one point my face swelled up. I thought it was the dodgy herbal medicane I've been consuming, and that I was probably allergic to it. I went to the doctors the next day, and he told me that I had a sinus infection. Ok. That explained the pain.
He gives me Anti biotics and painkillers to take. And tells me to put vicks in hot water and inhale the steam, it'd clear my nose. So I did. Together with the painkillers and the Antibiotics. An hour later, I thought I was feeling pretty refreshed! I felt no pain around my face, I wasn't blowing so much. It was a miracle! Little did I know, that just about another hour after that, I'd felt bumps building up underneath my eyes. It only took about 15 minutes for it to cover my whole eye. It was not funny.
I went to the doctors for the third time this morning, only to find that the particular painkiller he had given me has actually been known for giving people allergies. Wait. So... The doctor never warned me about it before subscribing me the pills. What-the-fuck? Anwyay, that was an assholic move.
Let me try to put you in my shoes. Try to give you a clear view of things through my eyes.
This is what you see.
This is what I see. 
By the way, if you're wondering wehther my eyes were the only reason why I wanted to postpone the Empire outing. It isn't.Ann Lau The sinus infection hasn't completely cleared yet and it's still in a healing process, I need lots of sleep to get my mind off the pain on my forehead. It feels like it's about to explode. The doctor was giving me a brief explanation on where the cause of the pain is from, but I wasn't really listening because I was feleing incredibly uncomfortable at that time, and i had hoped that my mom would've done the listening for me instead. He was saying something about the thing which connects the things at my temples to the things at my cheek areas are very narrow, so these things can easily clog up, causing pressure against my temples. Some how the things underneath my eyes are affected too, which causes that tooth ache sensation I've been feeling ofr the last couple of days. Something like that.
I say... Shame on you if you had missed the opening ceremony to the grand 08.08.08 Olympics!
The Olympics was off for a great start yesterday night! It was very exciting to see all the lights and colours, it had a good feel. It was very refreshing to see eveyrone so enthusiastic about it, especially the chinese who seemed very proud to be hosting it. The opening to the olympics was incredibly breathtaking, for the first 15 minutes. Then I got strangely bored, which is unusual for anyone, but if it helps I was still very amused!
I had just seen the first half to the Brazil vs. New Zealand football match. (Brazil's leading by 2 points). It's like the World Cup all over again! Who knew watching the Olympic events could be so fun.. I had no idea I'd be intrigued by watching a bunch of men cycling on TV. Exciting though!
I did hear that Brunei never got the chance to participate in the Olympics, shame for Maria! Sad the government hadn't been able to enter the form on time. Would've been so great to see Maria on TV! I was secretly excited.
I woke up this morning feeling a little tickle up my nose, thinking it'd go away, I took a quick shower only to find that I'd come out feeling far worse. I found myself sitting in my living room couch all day flipping through Olympic channels with a box of tissue on my lap, which soon ran out. I feel terrible! I ate all the oranges we had, but I think I've got a bit of a sore throat now.
+ Have you seen The Dark Knight yet?!?!!
I [heart] not waking up to the sound of my alarm nagging me to wake up at 5 in the morning.
I [heart] not having to worry about finishing off my courseworks or preparing for my exams.
I [heart] finally being able to do things that I've put off over the last couple of months.
I [heart] the holidays.
It is absolutely the best feeling anyone could ever encounter. It's like being pushed off a cliff and realizing that God had gifted you with wings which suddenly sprout out from your sides and help carry you up, and you're flying in the sky pass clouds and planes beside the sinking sun with a flock of birds. It feels free!
I recently came back from a short holiday to Penang. Me and my family mostly stayed at home to hide away from the bustling streets. It was just as traumatizing having to drive down to my Grandfather's home and being caught up in heavy traffic and having to dodge cars which don't drive in neither lanes, but right down the middle. It's hard to overtake cars like that, but we've learnt long before, when being in any place but Brunei, we have the power and every right to actually Honk. Who knew we'd pound our heavy fists of fury onto the middle of our stirring wheels one day? These things actually have a use.
During world war II, the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. And so they did by covering it with a camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air. It's really awesome stuff.
Before:
After:
