I SAY:

What will be, will be?

2012-01-21T00:54:00.002+08:00

Doing things for people, giving someone your best effort and expecting nothing in return can be really hard to do sometimes. Being nice to someone and not being treated nicely back can be difficult to endure. Seeing good things happen for your friends and not for you when you were in the exact situation as they were can be pretty tough and painful. Being there for friends and thinking that they'd do the same for you only to find out that they wouldn't is quite awful too. But I guess it's just part of life, huh? Que sera sera?

2012-01-19T21:25:00.001+08:00

Calling all fashion buffs out there! If you have a passion for all things pretty, all things lovely and all things fashion, head over to Love&Things and shop your heart away! A Malaysian-based online boutique, clothes sold are exclusively hand-picked before being flown in from different parts of the world like UK and Australia. Want to look chic but still be comfortable in your clothes WHILE sticking to the season’s trends? Love&Things is the place to go!

“Love&Things is an online boutique that offers you fashionable choices.
With a simple love for clothes and all things pretty, our clothes are made chic and current fashion that makes you feel like your runway begins the minute you step out of your wardrobe.
Our apparel travel across borders and regions and undergoes much consideration about their validity through these fast changing trends before given a hanger’s space in your wardrobe.
Highly concerned about value for money vs lasting trends, each piece we proudly show off is of good quality and most of all, makes you fall in love with fashion all over again.”

If you like what you see, don’t hesitate to LIKE the Love&Things page on Facebook and share it with your friends =)

But they forgot to say..

2012-01-19T20:19:00.003+08:00

The process of applying to Uni is incredibly painful and stressful. People never tell you that it is. And I think everyone simply assumes that the road to Uni is a breeze. Well kids, I'm here to tell you that it is so not. Unless you're a hundred percent sure about what course you're headed for and where you want to go to, then you're most probably going to face severe headaches and sleep loss which might cause you to have a few blunders here and there (eg. messing up cheques ala yours truly). Anyway, I guess things get better once you seal the big brown envelopes and mail them off to their respective offices. Breathing gets easier from then on. All you have to do then is to wait..to wait for replies, offers, calls, the whole shebang. Simpler, less stressing, more hoping. Here's to all other uni-hopefuls out there who have somehow stumbled across this very stagnant page of words. Good luck and all the best to us!

It's been a long time coming

2011-11-28T14:34:00.009+08:00

Only about a month left till we say goodbye to another amazing year. It's crazy how fast time flies sometimes. Where did 2011 go?!? This year really was amazing...for me, at least. So many things and people to be thankful for. But of course, the year wasn't always a smooth sail. I learned a lot in the span of 11 months. A lot more than I expected I would...God is an awesome teacher, by the way. Just in case people didn't know that. Best lesson I learned this year: faith in God & constant prayer works wonders.

A few highlights of my year thus far...

AUP Gala '11

So much fun when the whole gang is around :)

Filming with awesome people for Andrew's assignment.

Quite an experience, I must say.

Outcome of it all:

Family photoshoot & sister's graduation!

SO good to have the whole family in one place!

Family trip to Hong Kong.

We spent a lot of time looking at the city from high places. Lol.

NEW DOG!!!

Lucky, our German Shepherd =) Now about 7 months old.

Symphony of Hearts II.

Got to meet local stars..sort of. They were cool people. Emcee, William Lee is really funny, btw. He's the one on the far left of the picture.

Got to hang out (kind of) with Juwita Suwito!

And....Gurmit Singh!!!!!!

Totally fangirl-ed while waiting to pick him up at the airport.

Probably the best thing that's happened to me this year...

being a crew member on the Logos Hope!
An experience I am thoroughly thankful to God for and something I will never forget.

Met incredible people who are amazing friends.
I think this deserves a post of it's own. I will blog more about this soon.

Nick's birthday at Straits Quay.

Some of my favourite people in the world =)

Cousin's wedding reception at Lone Pine Hotel.

Love this family shot and I love weddings.

The set up for the wedding was really pretty! (:

And of course, being able to holiday in Italy! This, of course needs a post of its own. I'll get to it soon! Along with my Logos Hope Experience :) It feels good to be back on the blog-scene.

MOVING HOUSE

2011-01-11T22:15:00.004+08:00

Moving blog actually.

I'm moving to Tumblr. Yes, it got the best of me.

And also cause my updates are getting shorter and shorter here in blogger, it's kinda a waste of space in my opinion. And Tumblr has this really nice way of making all posts look so sinfully short, sweet and tempting. Don't know if that made sense but oh well!

Maybe if I intend on long posts, I'll blog here.

I'm not closing down this blog though. It holds far too many memories/pictures (I may or may not have lost already given the number of times my computer crashed)/entries/ramblings and whatnots that I've accumulated over the years.

I've been blogging since November of 2004. I chronicled almost 7 years of my entire teenage life in this blog! Granted, I changed my blog link a couple of times, I was never able to close it down completely. I mean, dude....start blogging when you're 12, then try tearing it all down when you're 19 (okay fine, 18++). If you manage to bring yourself to doing that, I give you a standing ovation for your bravery.

Bittersweet sort-of-kind-of farewell to this blog, huh. Nawh, this blog hasn't seen the last of me. I'm sure I'll be back soon with an abnormally long update about something in the near future.

I love my blog!

Sigh...as for now, find me @ www.mytreasureyourtrash.tumblr.com

It's still under "construction" there but do drop by every now and then for updates or random babbles from yours truly :)

I actually wonder who still reads this blog. It's wilting! :s

Peace out.

Question mark

2011-01-11T17:04:00.001+08:00

Uh...I think I'm lost.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-07T15:53:00.002+08:00

2011

May God bring more blessings to you and your family this year and may it be one filled with happiness, love, sugar, spice and everything nice =)

btw, I am immensely tempted to move to Tumblr but the fear of not updating that account as well has me stuck. Oh well!

2010-12-29T18:00:00.000+08:00

What's a birthday?

7 years

2010-12-24T02:53:00.003+08:00

fireBRANDS Annual Youth Camp 2010 : INFLUENZA

we live. we spread. we reign with Christ.

Humilititis totally owned camp ;)

So, my December's been pretty awesome.

How 'bout yours? :)

Hello from London

2010-12-06T08:06:00.003+08:00

I'm too lazy to blog about my trip. But I am glad to say that I haven't reached a state where I froze in the cold. The weather has actually been pretty good considering the temperatures at which I shivered through last year. I feel so strong and proud. Hahaha. Oh well, I'll be leaving this lovely place soon and I already miss London. Sigh. Although, nothing can really beat the feeling of being back home in Penang. I actually do love Malaysia. Kind of.

Okay, it's pretty late here now and it's 8am Malaysian time. See you all back home soon! :)

You want a taste of freedom?

2010-11-25T00:38:00.002+08:00

Things to do:

pack for UK
do not freeze up in UK
blog from UK
clear my room

Things to do after my trip:

hang out with the Blondes; especially Dharm and Cheryl
hang out with Sharon
properly record songs I've covered with Sharon (I'm hoping studio sessions if I get enough $$$ to pay for the hours)
have fun at Annual Youth Camp (this, is actually a no-brainer)
have a merry Christmas weekend with the Chew clan in Singapore (also a no-brainer)
have an awesome Christmas party with the fireBRANDS
sing with Sharon (and hopefully Joyce as well if i manage to persuade her to do it with us) at the Christmas party
re-dye my hair
have a good birthday *hint hint wink wink* ;D
have fun.

Hmmm...

2010-11-21T01:14:00.002+08:00

Because this song is js so beautiful (not because we sang it, but just cause. 'Nuff said.) and I miss singing with this awesome girl :]

Time flies...

2010-11-13T15:04:00.003+08:00

July 2008

November 2010

On a different note, it's starting to look and smell a lot like Christmas! :) I say smell because my living room smells like our Christmas tree now.

Random Babbles

2010-11-08T19:40:00.004+08:00

#1.

Malaysian way: I Tuesday, Thursday no class.

Proper way: I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Isn't this just way cool?? The fact that we can understand that sentence without any trouble? I mean, try saying that overseas or to any non-Malaysian out there. Are they gonna get it on the first try? I.....don't think so.

#2.

Me: *sings to a Malay song while shopping*
Sales Assistant: Wahh, you can sing Malay song ah!

Me: *stop. turn. gives the "whaaat?" look. confused smile*

My Sister: Why not? *laughs*

Yea, seriously. WHY NOT? The dude obviously doesn't get out much. Or he doesn't have many Chinese friends. OR he doesn't have many Chinese friends who can sing/speak Malay. Hmm...oddly heart-warming to know it's cool to know Malay ;) This happened in KL, btw. And this was the song:

#3.

I'm surprised at the number of people who don't know what the word "dibs" means! LOL!
If you're one of those people, click HERE. Educate yourself a lil, will ya? It's a totally cool word that the world should use more often! :D

#4.

It's the last week of my semester before Study Break and then Finals. Time really flies FAST when you're having fun! If I'd stayed on in A-Levels, I'd be finishing up my second semester now and sitting for my AS Exams. But if I'd done that, I wouldn't have met an awesome, annoying yet fun bunch of people in AUP. Ah, every decision has it's rewards. I miss every single one of my friends in A-Levels though. Bittersweet moment here.

#5.

Only 2 weeks till I fly off to UK for holiday! Yay! I really am blessed :) UK twice in a year. This time, with parents! But second sister's left behind :( she's got classes to attend. Sigh. BUT BUT BUT, we'll be having a complete Chew Clan trip to Singapore for Christmas! AWE.SOME.

#6.

Went over to Nicole's place to put together a video for Joyce's birthday last week and well, ta-da! Yeah most of the footage is of Nicole and me, hahahah! We're vain that way. And it's a present from us anyway. We're granted more screen time!

*Like!

2010-11-02T19:07:00.003+08:00

Aren't they just so pretty? :) Favourites!

Sophia Bush

Leighton Meester

Happy Moments

2010-10-31T21:30:00.004+08:00

Don't you just love a good wedding? They're always just so full of love, laughter, family and good food. I love weddings. One of my cousins got married last Saturday and my sisters and I got to be a part of the wedding dinner :) One sister helped with the video montage, another sister was the co-emcee of the night and I serenaded guests with Pachelbel's Canon in D on the violin with my sister as well as the newlyweds walked into the ballroom. LOL okay fine, I don't think the word "serenaded" is what I should be using but I can't think of any other word. It was a last minute thing, they called us just 2 nights before the wedding day so you can only imagine the craziness of it all. The best thing about family weddings is the FAMILY part of it. I love that I've been blessed with a great big family who loves it just as much. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Heheh x)

Surprise! :)

2010-10-26T23:09:00.003+08:00

Something my friends and I did a while back for a friend's birthday.

Hahaha, it was crazy fun!

We made him drive home like that, btw. We took off the sticky-notes on the windows and dumped 'em into his car for him to clear out by himself at home. LOL, yeah we're evil.

One of the craziest shows ever

2010-10-16T04:24:00.001+08:00

It's so totally awesome!

Wishful thinking

2010-10-13T17:29:00.005+08:00

I think it'd be kinda cool to be all princess-y and marry a prince and be totally animal friendly with mice and birds.

I always liked Cinderella. She's my favourite Disney Princess :)

As cliché as the Cinderella story may be, sighhh...I'm a hopeless romantic.

Mae said I look like "a modern-day Cinderella" in this picture. Hah. How cool is that!? ;)

I like how I managed to find a somewhat similar looking pose of the original Cinderella cartoon to match the one in my picture. That's even cooler. Hahah okay, now I'm just getting big headed.

& yay! I think I've reclaimed my blogging-mojo! Three cheers for this modern-day Cinderella, please and thank you.

INTI Prom '10 : Winter Glam

2010-10-12T01:36:00.006+08:00

The only thing winter-y about the night was the coldness of the ballroom. It wasn't as bad and boring as I was told it would be. Apparently last year's prom was less than entertaining and so, perceptions for this year's wasn't high on the scale of 1 to 10. I genuinely did enjoy myself! :)

Thankfully I have awesomely fun and noisy friends who were great company to me at the table. Although not the whole gang was present *coughvikicough*, it was still cool. You know what's even cooler about my friends? The fact that they're just as vain as I am! Hahahah. It makes taking pictures all the more awesome cos everyone just wants to be in the picture all the time. Maybe it was an additional plus since the INTIMA committee who organized prom this time are in the same year as us '92 babies so we're all from the same batch. Good job done by them, really. The whole night ran smoothly with minimal technical errors here and there with the mics but apart from that, it was an event well done and planned.

Ohmygosh, I nearly ended this update without mentioning how awesome the food was. THE FOOD WAS AWESOME! Parkroyal fed us splendidly!

Alright, feast your eyes on pictures! The rest are on Facebook - like you didn't already know that. Lol.

I'm proud to say, Mr INTI is MY friend! :D

God's words of life

2010-10-08T01:40:00.005+08:00

Put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

-Psalm 131:3

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

-Psalm 139:23

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

-2 Corinthians 4:18

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

-1 Peter 2:2-3

Pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

-Proverbs 5:1-2

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given my strength.

-1 Timothy 1:12

Looks like

2010-10-07T00:38:00.002+08:00

...it's time to get seriously serious about getting serious.

Hello, Hello

2010-10-04T23:29:00.002+08:00

Mediocre

of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad;barely adequate.

rather poor or inferior.

Just average. Just alright. Not that bad.
Do you know what it's like to feel that way?

The year so far..

2010-09-28T02:56:00.006+08:00

I figured it's about time there was a relatively proper post in this blog. Instead of filling this would-be post with lots of words, I'll just let pictures do the summarizing for me as usual. Heh. Pictures aren't in any particular order. Just a look into what I've been up to during these few months that I've been absent from this dying blog.

Since I started college, it's been 7 months filled with new friends, new jokes, old friends with old jokes that STILL make me laugh till I cry, lots and lots family togetherness time and a ton of God and I time. Only 3 months left to close up the year...time flies, time flies.

Here's to (hopefully) more updates to come!

xoxo, yan.

Don't kill me for posting another one x)

2010-09-02T18:04:00.000+08:00

HELLO AGAIN!

2010-08-31T16:29:00.001+08:00

Sorry!

2010-08-28T04:44:00.002+08:00

I lied about updating my blog. Hahaha. Apologies =D

ANYWAY, my crazy friends think this isn't any good. But everyone else thinks otherwise.

I thought it was a good job seeing as it was a super spur-of-the-moment recording they decided on after 3 hours of just random jamming.

It really isn't that bad!

I really should stop doing this...

2010-08-10T02:58:00.000+08:00

A proper update will come...I...hope :D

Another one yet again..

2010-08-05T11:44:00.002+08:00

Sunday sch songs (:

2010-08-03T23:01:00.001+08:00

It's times like this I miss the most

2010-08-02T17:29:00.001+08:00

Old vid =)

2010-08-02T00:25:00.001+08:00

The Significance of it

2010-07-24T15:43:00.000+08:00

What's up?

2010-07-17T16:22:00.001+08:00

All's well that ends well.

2010-07-17T02:25:00.001+08:00

Everyone..just needs to gulp down a chill pill. Or two.

Confusion

2010-07-12T21:08:00.001+08:00

What do you do when you become unsure about what you thought you were sure about?

VIVA LA ESPANA!

2010-07-12T05:52:00.001+08:00

#1 Casillas

#7 Villa

#9 Torres

less than three Spain.

YOU.

2010-07-11T18:24:00.001+08:00

When will you EVER change?

Are you even CAPABLE of that? Change?

Don't know which side to buy

2010-06-21T02:01:00.000+08:00

What to think now?

2010-06-20T04:43:00.001+08:00

DISCLAIMER: We were trying VERY HARD to fight back lots and lots of laughter at the time this was taken. So, excuse any mistakes. Thank you! :)

A dream.

2010-06-19T05:06:00.003+08:00

Sacrifices made may go unnoticed by human eyes,

but never by His eyes.

Your reward will come, it's just a matter of time & a little bit of patience.

MGS Pride

2010-06-18T00:38:00.000+08:00

First time for everything!

2010-06-17T02:38:00.001+08:00

An ode to all ye FIFA World Cup fans.
Haha, no it's just me being very bored of watching the ESP vs SUI match.

Words by Dharmini & Yan-Y, Music inspired by Justin Bieber.

We've waited so long, since Germany
Whos' gonna win it? Let's wait and see
The time has come, the matches start
Go off to McD just to watch 'em in HD

The match is starting, the whistle blows
Crowd starts cheering, our spirits flow
Say there's another goal the goalie missed
I bet the manager is gonna be real pissed

They got Shakira singing their theme song
I guess they really like that hips don't lie
But now it's time for Africa, So come on
WAKA WAKA EH EH!

I'll never get bored of this

2010-06-16T03:09:00.000+08:00

HOLIDAY MODE : ON

2010-06-14T02:10:00.003+08:00

Pei Wen's 18th birthday yesterday night. It was a pool party, but I only went after church so I was the dry one (:

Bowling outing with Onward people last Wednesday! We are now driven to go bowling more often. LOL.

WOAH!

2010-06-09T02:12:00.006+08:00

I went on an unplanned, unintended hiatus but now I'm back and blogging just so my Nuffnang money will keep pouring in (: Truth is, I have no idea what to blog about these days. College life is fun, yes. But nothing so special that I need to document here.

None of my lecturers randomly fling chairs out of the classroom ala En Kanaan in Form 5 and there aren't anymore inter-class conversations cause well, that's pretty much impossible in INTI. Ah well, my semester break is coming v-e-r-y soon and I can't wait to spend the next 3 weeks with the girlfriends who are coming back from everywhere! Singapore, KL, New Zealand, Australia...pure bliss, I tell you! Imma just leave pictures to summarize what I've been up to lately instead of babbling on.

Pictures are in no particular order, I'm too lazy to organize them.

fireBRANDS' Inter-Cell Cookout @my place.

RUN-NAT 2010.

Working at Tarn Thai @New World Park.

CALUK March's self-declared "White Day".

And once again, our self-declared "Formal Day".

Global Day Of Prayer 2010 @ Dome.

Family dinner with my uncle from Bangkok (:

PFL Division 2 Champions 2010 - fireBRANDS <3

First official meeting for fireBRANDS : Onward.

OOHH, after a L-O-N-G wait, we've finally got our OWN DSLR! YAY! Nikon D90.

Last minute photoshoot with Ju, Andrew and James for Andrew's assignment.

This is what we do after cell group at Mod-Em: spam Jud's laptop wallpaper.

& the Singaporean Chews are in town once again! =)

xoxo,yan.

And so..

2010-04-24T03:28:00.001+08:00

Here's to another fully planned, busy Saturday.....

-end-

You tengok apa?

2010-04-20T18:37:00.001+08:00

I don't think I'm ever gonna get sick of college.

Lots of chocolate for me to eat

2010-04-19T01:40:00.001+08:00

More pictures in good ol' Facebook! :)

Can't get you outta my mind

2010-04-18T02:45:00.002+08:00

Why are Saturdays the most tiring of all days?

He Mele No Lilo

2010-04-17T01:29:00.002+08:00

'COS WE'RE COOL LIKE THAT.

Updates

2010-04-11T17:21:00.002+08:00

This blog is short of it. I've lost my blogging-mojo. There isn't much to update about these days. I could blog about Wave Challenge but that'd just be boring and full of complaints. It isn't the year of the fireBRANDS. Hahah, but we still had fun under the sun (literally speaking).

College is going fine, I'm still enjoying it. The company is great and the music room is up and running, yay.

I wanna go shopping.

Driiiiiveeeee!

LEGAL

2010-04-09T01:31:00.002+08:00

on ze roadssss. :D

The face of a new born driver.

Webcams are the best

2010-04-03T19:43:00.003+08:00

& the PrntScr button is awesome!

I kinda

2010-04-01T22:33:00.002+08:00

I kinda suddenly feel like I never want to leave INTI. lol.

The start of something new

2010-03-29T02:22:00.005+08:00

First week of college was anything but boring. No regrets whatsoever choosing INTI over Disted at the last minute. The workload is still pretty light as of now, but I am anticipating bunches soon. So far, teachers and new/old classmates have been good, thank you God. There's just something about the atmosphere in INTI that Disted lacks but I can't quite put my finger on it. I really thank God that I have people I already know in college with me, cause without them college would be a lonely bore. College wouldn't be as much fun as it has been in my first week if it wasn't for them :)

Apart from the abnormally long breaks I get between classes (which can get pretty boring when I spend them alone, hence the picture above), college has been entertaining.

From all the fuss about getting saman-ed for parking by the road outside to cars getting clamped in the parking lot to double parking to hearing your car number plate get announced through the PA for all of INTI to hear, haha really, I can't even say I'm complaining.

Without all this laughable moments, gosh I don't even know want to begin to imagine what college would be like. I predict a significant loss of weight by the end of the first semester thanks to the five flights of stairs I climb daily and over-priced & not very tasty food served. I can't even complain about this! LOL. And now, on to the second week...

Ladida

2010-03-25T00:59:00.002+08:00

I will update my blog by the end of the week. Currently too drained to think.

What are you doing?

2010-03-19T12:37:00.002+08:00

Do you choose clubbing over going to church?

Do you curse instead of bless?

Do you worship while thinking of what to wear to Gurney the next day or do you worship while thanking Him for what you're wearing at that moment?

Do you walk ahead of the Lord and expect Him to catch up with you or do you walk alongside Him counting your steps together?

Do you thank Him when you feel like it or do you thank Him every morning you awaken and every night before you sleep?

Do you rely on Him when you see a task is too big for just you alone or do you rely on Him all the time even in the smallest of events?

Do you sing praises only when things go right and the way you wanted them to or do you sing praises even when things are bad and don't turn out the way you planned?

Do you admit to believing only around other believers or do you admit to believing to whoever you meet?

Do you follow His ways everyday of your life or do you follow His ways only during church camps?

Do you only practice your faith in front of other believers or do you practice your faith openly?

Do you believe because your parents believe or do you believe because YOU believe?

"I myself said,
" 'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.'
I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me."
-Jeremiah 3: 19

It's not going to be the same

2010-03-18T02:24:00.004+08:00

Classes will be starting on Monday and while I am quite pumped up and excited to start college life, school just won't be the same without the gang there with me. Life is more interesting with ALL of them around! But I'm not that worried about college being boring. I mean, really, how can it be? I've got a monkey to entertain me and the rest of the college. So as I enjoy my last few days of the longest holiday I've had since 1999 (this makes me sound and feel so old), here's to a whole new ball game just waiting to be played out to the finish! Cheers, babeh, cheers!

Dell rocks!

2010-03-16T02:39:00.001+08:00

because I get to do these while webbing! :D :D :D

It's also double the fun when the other person has a Dell too! Wheeee!

Are you cool like me?

2010-03-14T02:35:00.002+08:00

Cos I'm cool like that! :P

You should watch this

2010-03-11T01:43:00.002+08:00

WHY?
Just cause.

This actually looks interesting..

2010-03-10T03:22:00.005+08:00

Ever heard of 1040? No? Well, neither did I till just a few minutes ago.

1040 is film documentary about Christianity in Asia. If you're wondering what the title refers to, it's pointing towards the degrees of latitude that constitute the “10/40 window” of the Eastern hemisphere. The film's footage was shot in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. Yes, sadly, Malaysia has been left out of Asia once again. Spearheaded by artist and minister Jaeson Ma, the documentary features interviews with some of Asia’s publicly Christian celebs such as Van Ness Wu (Taiwan), Jin tha MC (Hong Kong) and Sean of Jinusean (South Korea). Also included is a segment with MC Hammer (U Can’t Touch This, yo!).

Okay so personally, I've never heard of Jaeson Ma or Jin tha MC but Van Ness Wu was a familiar name. You're excused if you don't know Sean but if you don't know MC Hammer, have you been living under a rock all these years? I highly doubt this'll be shown in Penang let alone in Malaysia so....I'm hoping I'll be able to download it somewhere. It's premiering at the 2010 City of the Angels Film Festival in Hollywood soon. This Friday (March 12) to be exact. To find out more and watch snippets of the interviews, click HERE.

Facepalm!

2010-03-09T14:22:00.004+08:00

I was watching E!'s 2010 Oscars Red Carpet yesterday and I have to say that I love love love these dresses:

Zoe Saldana
There's just something pretty and different about this dress. She worked the colour. You can't see it but her heels were purple too.

Miley Cyrus
Okay so I know there'll be a whole lotta haters hating on this person for reasons I don't even understand but just look at the dress on it's own. It's soooo prettyyyy! I love pale/nude-ish/bluch pastels like this! (: PLUS, I am absolutely loving her chunky diamond bracelet!

Carey Mulligan
It may be a boring black but the embellishments on it make it pretty AND interesting. And I love her heels. :D

Okay so I know I said I'd blog about my CNY but thing is, now I'm too lazy to. HAHA. So, there won't be an update on that unless one fine day, a miracle happens and I decide to upload the pictures.

xoxo,yan.

I'll update soon..

2010-03-02T00:28:00.003+08:00

How was YOUR Chinese New Year?

I'll blog about mine soon (:

Btw, I'll be a legal driver soon! :D :D

Back to the books, finally.

2010-02-26T03:07:00.004+08:00

Now I only hope I made the right choice.
Lord, be with me every step of the way, every page of every day.
Only two weeks left to my 2 and a half months of goyang-kaki-everyday holiday.
The next 11 months...will be a stressful time-crunching whirlwind.

Just as my eldest sister did in one of her latest art pieces, I randomly picked a book in the Bible and turned to chapter 3 verse 15 (I start college on the 15th of March) and this is where I was brought to-
"I will give you leaders who will be faithful to me. They will lead you with knowledge and insight." -Jeremiah 3:15

God's way of saying He will give me lecturers who will pour their knowledge and insight of the subjects onto us?
Maybe. I hope so.
Note to self: I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.

xoxo,yan.

Top 5 in UK, #1

2010-02-25T11:58:00.008+08:00

I think I'm paying far too many visits to my beloved high school. I've been there like, 3 times since the year started? LOL. Starting college in a few weeks, finally. Thankfully, familiar faces will be there to greet me (: Anyhoo...

#1 The Company.

Though I wish my parents could've gone with us, having part of my family there was fun in it's own way. UK wouldn't have been as enjoyable without them. 'Nuff said. Picture-fied post of the people me loves, mmhmm :D

@Edinburgh, before The Nutcracker ballet.

@Liverpool.

@Tower of London, that's the Tower Bridge behind them.

@Aunty Lee Choo & Uncle Kevin's home, after our home-cooked Christmas dinner. Mmm :)

@Tower of London, waiting in line for 30 minutes in the cold to look at the Crown Jewels...for less than 30 minutes.

@A station we got off at for no reason. "Can I have yo' numbahhh?" LOL!

@Hampton Courts Palace. My favourite favourite favourite place in London!

@Hampton Courts Palace garden.

@Verulamium Park

Outside St. Paul's Cathedral.
Tania, I thought of you when I saw this statue! It's John Wesley! LOL! ;D

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and the person that deserves most thanks,
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I saved the best for last
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Shawn Swea :D
Hahahahahaha, sry, i couldn't resist.

I might blog about certain places we went to and fill it with lotsa pretty pictures since I know that's like the only thing most people look at in my blog, but I'm just gonna take a break for a while! Hope you enjoyed the last few posts about UK :]
Pictures taken with my uncle's Nikon D3000, eldest sister's Canon smtg smtg I don't know what model it is and our Canon 200IS.

xoxo,yan.

Top 5 in UK, #2

2010-02-22T20:28:00.005+08:00

Number 2 is here, sooner than I thought it would be. Haha. I surprise myself sometimes. Btw, Tania, we'll both be legal drivers soon ;)

#2 Trains & Underground Tubes

It was our main mode of transport while we were there, apart from the walking and occasional taxi rides we'd take. We'd take the train out of Hatfield to get to central London and from there, we'd take the necessary Tube routes to get where we wanted to. If you're wondering what the Underground Tube is, it's what we'd know as the subway or MRT/LRT equivalent only it's much, much more efficient and...clean. Anyway, the trains and tubes were fun rides.

There were a couple of times where we found ourselves having to run (literally, i'm not exaggerating) to catch the train ride back to Hatfield and well, every time we did, we missed the train by 1 or 2 minutes. Totally potong steam, lol. We run not because it's the last train of the day but because that way if we manage to get on it, we wouldn't need to wait like half an hour for the next one. But it wasn't so bad waiting, there's lots of food shops around the station to keep us company. The last night we were in UK, we reached King's Cross Station after midnight and thankfully, the LAST train of the day had yet to start out. That night was cool cause it was only the 4 of us and probably less than 30 people (not including station staff) waiting at the station's central area. Of all the times I'd been to the station, I'd never seen it so deserted before. 'Twas a cold and quiet night... nyahaha, sorry random nonsense. We encountered funny people on the train; drunk old man who ended up getting scolded by one of the locals (this was INCREDIBLY hillarious!), a middle-aged man who watched us as we ate our McD burgers and chatted with us about pickles and we watched a lady try to weasel her way out of paying a ticket fine. Yeah, trains are fun.

@King's Cross Station.

If you're a fan of the Harry Potter series, Platform 9 and 3/4 would be no stranger to you.
It's the platform that was made specially for the franchise while they shot scenes here.
This was while we waited for our train back to Hatfield.

And the trolley you see me holding on to there? It's stuck to the wall. Yeah I'm guessing it's to add the effect of the Weaselys walking into the wall with their trolley full of luggage.
Oh, the handle was broken already. It was like that BEFORE we went there, we didn't do it!

The tubes were a different experience but still fun in it's own way. I had the most fun with the tubes the day my sister and I ventured out to London without our usual tour-guides with us because they were both unwell. Here's a fun-fact about my trip: all 5 of us (me, my two sisters, Shawn and Don) each fell sick one after another. Shawn was the last to catch the bug but I had the bug the longest. It was so bad, I could hardly talk. But it was enlightening to know that if I were to ever stay in London, I won't get lost that easily. We managed to get on the right trains and tube routes without any trouble. Thank God! (:

In the tube, as you can see.

If you click on this picture and look at the little blue sign in the middle, it'll say "Stand on the right". Right lane's for those in no rush and left lane's for those who are. And unlike us Malaysians who'd probably laugh at the sign and ignore it if it were here, the people there obey this simple sentence which makes everyone's life that much easier.

On the way to Manchester. Waiting for the tube to arrive in the early, early, early morning.

My "I'm so sleepy, it's 6 in the morning" face.

Numero Uno coming soon. Will not keep you waiting long!

Top 5 in UK, #3

2010-02-19T20:01:00.004+08:00

I told you number 3 would be up soon! I bet y'all didn't think it'd be up till next month! Right, Tania? Right? :D Nyeheheh. I thought it'd be better if i put up my number 3 now before I forget what it is. And captions are now BELOW the pictures, ~~happy now, Tania? Lol.~~

#3 Shopping.

I arrived in London just after their annual Boxing Day sales but thankfully, everything just gets discounted even more as the new year swings in. You can imagine my excitement looking into an FCUK or ALDO store to see discounts up to 50%. Some stores have them up to 70% and that's just freakin' WOOHOO for me! I mean, I heard that Boxing Day shopping was supposed to be crazy awesome but I never expected to be able to find a shirt for £1 and winter boots for only £10. (Btw, yes, I bought them both. Haha.) Of course I didn't find such a deal in shops like Topshop or MNG but still. You could never tell the difference. Such a steal, really!

Harrods...needs a post of it's own.

Somewhere in Liverpool town center.

Trafford Centre in Manchester!

We went to a few malls and walked down lots of shopping-filled streets but none could compare to the awesomely big, awesomely exciting, awesomely fun..............ASDA. It's the Tesco/Giant/Cold Storage of London or rather just Hatfield. Haha. I know you're thinking what it is I find so awesome about the place after all, it IS just a huge grocery store. I don't really know why either, it just is! Maybe staying in a small town like Hatfield or the fact that it's walking distance from where we made camp is what makes it so....alluring. LOL! My sister and I loved it. We were so disappointed when 2 nights in a row, we wanted to go, but it was CLOSED. Oh, it's a 24-hour business! But it closed early for New Year. Mmm, I miss ASDA.

They sell ready-made-to-eat cakes in BOXES! BOXES.

Have you seen anything like a pretty-cake-in-a-box in Giant!?

So pretty and bold the colours are! (: (:

The bread there are packed horizontally and not vertically like ours here. So cute.

Oh, and...ASDA has friendly staff who like to take pictures.

Check back for the top 2! :D
I might even put up posts on my favourite places in UK! hehehe.

Top 5 in UK, #4

2010-02-19T14:32:00.006+08:00

So I figured I might as well update my blog before more people start pestering me about updating, coughtaniaeulenecough. I've been super lazy to update mostly because well, I'm lazy and I can't decide on my number 4. There's just so much to love about the UK. 17 days there just isn't enough.

#4 Architecture/Scenery.

There really isn't much to say about this is there? I mean, it pretty much speaks for itself. Setting foot on UK grounds, one just cannot expect any less than breathtaking when it comes to the sights and the architecture of buildings new and or old. Sure, some will be shabby but then they counter-attack you with a building (mostly cathedrals really) more pretty than you could imagine. I'm really not doing any justice to the place. You've really got to see it for yourself, you'll catch your breath..again and again and again.

Tower Bridge.

St. Paul's Cathedral

View from the very top of St Paul's Cathedral

Somewhere in St. Albans

St. Albans' Cathedral.
The whole structure of the cathedral when viewed from the top, is in the shape of a cross.
I'm not kidding. Somewhere in Edinburgh.Streets of Edinburgh.

In Liverpool.

View outside Hampton Courts Palace.

So pretty isn't it? It was sooooo hard to pick out these pictures. There's so many pretty things to see there! Gah. Anyway, number 3 is coming soon, I promise (:

Top 5 in UK, #5

2010-02-02T23:45:00.005+08:00

I figured I never really shared much about my UK trip and since I'm bored, what other better time is there? :) I'm gonna list out my Top 5 favourite things about my stay there, one a day. Now I may not blog every single day so just bear with me. Fyi, pictures are clickable.

#5 The Weather.

@Manchester

@Some station in Edinburgh

@Briars Wood <3
That's Shawn and Don. Shawn was throwing snowballs at Don.

Briars Wood at night.
One of the nights before we were about to leave, when we were more used to the cold, my sister and Shawn fulfilled her wish to build a snowman. Cupcakes for eyes, btw.

Okay, okay. I know I complained about the snow and the weather a whole lot but the truth is once you get used to the abnormally cold winds there, everything just gets that much more tolerable. Sadly for me, I only warmed up to the place just as I was about to leave. For a start, it was an incredibly pleasant change compared to the weather back here. I miss the cold winds now. When I first landed, there wasn't any snow just leftover ice on the sidewalks. It wasn't so bad that time even the times where the wind was blowing. But when the snow came and you add the cold winds AND you add all the walking we did, now THAT was horrible. A new experience and one that definitely won't be forgotten in the years to come. I'm glad I'm able to say that I have walked on snow and in snow. We were snowed on (not heavily, thankfully) a couple of times while we were there, mostly or I think only while we were in Edinburgh, Scotland. The fact that we visited the UK just as the Worst Winter of the Century began, made our trip there all the more memorable...and white.

Keep checking back for #4! (:

omgimsobored

2010-02-02T22:19:00.004+08:00

Can you believe it's already the second month in to 2010? Time really does fly. Not only does it fly by in an instant when you're having fun, it flies by when you're bored too. No, really. Trust me on this one. Time flies when you're bored out of your mind. I know you'd think that being on a 3 month plus break/holiday/call it whatever you want should be fun and easy-going but truthfully, the whole thing only sounds more fun than it really is. It's been all the more boring for me since I feel as if I have no girl friends left. Bleh. Either they're a) in college, b) in australia, c) in singapore, or d) have not gotten their driver's license yet. As for me, I do not apply to all of the above if you didn't already know that. So, to all of you who are still in High School, don't and I repeat, DON'T take your days in school for granted. You're gonna miss even the crappiest days in school once you're done with SPM. Sure, the first few weeks of the alleged "shake legs" period is fun and relaxing. But when everyone else gets moving while you're not, mmm..not so much fun anymore.

Anyhoo, I got hold of Nicholas Sparks' latest book, The Last Song and finished it in one day :D Goodness gracious me, the book is SO GOOD. Really, it is. If you haven't noticed how much I've been quoting the story in this blog then you don't really read what I say, do you? Lol. Nicholas Sparks usually writes love stories and while this is the same, it's not like his other books like A Bend in the Road, Message in a Bottle (which I absolutely love), The Notebook or the classic A Walk to Remember (okay so it's not a classic but you get what I mean). It's so good, I've read it twice over. Young love, a mending family relationship, life...really, it wasn't what I was expecting at all. What was even more unexpected was me crying while reading it. And this is big because I NEVER cry when I read books. Not even when it's really heart-wrenchingly touching. It was the first time I've ever cried while reading a book. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of tears I'll shed when the film adaptation is released. Can't wait!

xoxo,yan.

FYI

2010-01-27T18:15:00.003+08:00

;Our favourite way of transportation there. By the Underground Tube/Subway.

Most of the pictures of my trip to UK are up in Facebook already so if you've been waiting on those pictures to appear in my blog, please proceed to FB. My sister loaded a quarter of them there so just be patient and wait for the rest to be added anytime soon I'm guessing. I hope to blog more about my trip as soon as I get out of my lazy phase :D Until then, just have a look at the pictures.

Hello, sunshine!

2010-01-26T00:39:00.005+08:00

Because I am incredibly bored, I shall blog about my room!

Guess what? I cleared it! Finally. Since SPM ended, I only managed to clear some of my books and that was only cause I wanted to pass them to Sharon. So anywayyyyy, while it may not be extremely clean, it's still cleaner and more spacious than it was before. The whole process only took 2 hours surprisingly. I was even able to squeeze in a self-proclaimed lunch break :D
Behold, the before and the after -insert majestic music here-.

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Tell me it's clean! :D :D
xoxo,yan.

Something's kinda funny

2010-01-23T22:09:00.002+08:00

It feels weird to walk in to Popular and not have to go to the Reference Books section anymore. Now, all I can do in Popular is to look at stationary, magazines and story books. There's nothing bad about that of course, it's just...different.

Joyful and triumphant

2010-01-21T14:43:00.002+08:00

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

-Galatians 5:22

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

-Galatians 5:25-26

"I have faith that God will show you the answer. But you have to understand that sometimes it takes a while to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That's how it often is. God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell."

-The Last Song; Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song

2010-01-21T02:08:00.005+08:00

EXPECTATIONS.

What happens when you don't live up to the ones set before you?

What do you do?

What happens when you crumble just before you cross the finishing line?

What do you do?

What happens when you don't surpass even those of your own?

What do you do?

Simple..isn't it?

2010-01-20T00:46:00.004+08:00

Kawan-kawan baik

2010-01-18T03:59:00.000+08:00

WORK ETHIC: FAIL.

2010-01-18T00:59:00.003+08:00

Janice Zelynn a.k.a. J'ZELYNN,
YOU SUCK.
I should sue you. No, WE should sue you. Gini & I should sue you.
Best Digital Award?? Best.joke.of.the.year! And the year just started. HAHA.
I wonder what your fans (17 friends on your MySpace page is really quite amazing. That's 17 more than what I expected!) would say if they knew what you did..or rather, what you didn't do.
Btw, even my neighbour's maid sings better than you.
I'd say I'm sorry but that'd just be a lie.
Oh. And thanks for not paying me! MMHMMM, yeah I said it. I didn't wanna lie and live the rest of my life in denial about it :D
"This song which features children choir as part of it...", I DO hope you remembered to give them their wages.
Two teenagers weren't enough for you so you went in for the kill on a WHOLE children's choir, huh? You really are something, aren't you? Haha.
Happy bloodyfreaking New Year to you!

xoxo,yan.

Are YOU going?

2010-01-15T01:52:00.002+08:00

Farewell, UK!

2010-01-12T20:51:00.002+08:00

I'll be leaving Hatfield in just a few hours and I have to say that I'm going to miss this place & London a whole lot. Though the cold was unbearable at first, I've gotten used to it. Yes, a little too late to finally warm up to the cold winter but at least I can say that I was able to survive the coldest winter of the century. Hah. I know for a fact that I will definitely miss this cold wind and air and pretty scenary once I'm back in Penang. Oh well, all's well that ends well. It was fun while it lasted. I'll blog about the rest of my trip once I'm back and settled home! I'm just hoping now that the plane will be just as empty as the A380 when we came and the movies they show on flight are gonna be nice.
I'm coming homeeee! :D

Crap, I'm starting to miss this place already.
xoxo, yan.

Christmas at the Chews'

2010-01-10T08:31:00.012+08:00

Christmas Tree 2009 (:

My fellow December-baby cousin! :D
Young ones with Ah YehOlder ones with Ah YehAh Ngen! :D
This picture,and this one,and this one too,
was taken by this little girl. (Which kinda explains why the picture angles were kinda...different. But promising talent, no? Handling a Nikon D3000 at 4 years old. She loves being behind the camera more than being in front of it.)It doesn't matter if it's a camera-phone either. If it has a camera, she'll want to hold it.
I love this part of the night. Everyone's happy expressions and the jokes my family always makes are priceless Kodak or in this case, Nikon moments!
Penang, Singapore & KL.Stefan!
OHANA <3
This shot would've been even better than it is if everyone were in town but they were definitely in our hearts :)
Yes, I know this has been a London-less update. Those updates will come soon with just as many pictures! Keep checking back.
We come home in less than 4 days! HOKKIEN MEE, I'm coming soon!

xoxo,yan.

Brrr, it's cold in here.

2010-01-09T08:14:00.006+08:00

It feels funny to not be in school with everyone else. I was surprised to find out that so many of us had already started college. Pei Wen, Soph, Yee Ming, Von, Sze Lin, Katherine, Shu-Lynn, Laura, Ming Yen, Garren, Elisha..and soon Cheryl and Dharm will be added to the list. And to think, just a few months back we were in the midst of our what-are-you-gonna-do-after-SPM discussions. Time really does fly fast when you're having fun. I don't know when my own name will be added to that growing list but hopefully it'll be soon. Probably around the same time Ivy, Gary and Gerald's names are added ;D Right now, I'm still holiday-ing in winter wonderland, braving the coldest winter of the century. With temperatures dropping to -11...I really can't wait to go home! We arrived here just as the snow had melted so I'd thought that me seeing snow and experiencing it for the first time would have to wait for another time. But now, snow is all we see. Hopefully the weather will calm down so that we can continue our shopping before we leave, IF we can leave that is. If this snowstorm continues as it is, I may not be able to go home as scheduled :( Please pray!
Hoping to be able to catch a musical while we're still here; either Wicked! or Legally Blonde. I know you may be thinking we're crazy to want to watch Legally Blonde but apparently the dude from Blue, Duncan James is in it and so my sister wants to watch it. Then again, we have to see if tickets are still available. Going into Central London again tomorrow morning and I absolutely hope that it won't snow on us. Motor Museum, Harrods and Oxford Street, please don't let me down!

When we got here, this was all green.

Do you see how THICK that layer of ice is? And that's just on a car..

xoxo,yan.

iHome

2010-01-08T06:53:00.002+08:00

I MISS PENANG & EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITH IT.

Greetings from Scotland

2010-01-06T05:50:00.003+08:00

It's snowing again. Bleh. Just a short update to tell everyone back home in Penang that I miss all of you..and food. While I know I'm going to be missing the cold UK weather once I'm back, I could really use some warm Malaysian sunshine here. Just a week more till it's home sweet home! I.can't.wait.

Will be watching The Nutcracker ballet tomorrow! YAY! More castles and palaces (and shopping) to visit in the days to come so I will try my very best to update with pictures though I'll probably only be able to have pictures once I get back to Hatfield. Oh, and I think I prefer Liverpool to Manchester :D

Signing out from the land where time passes slower than ever.

xoxo,yan.

Moving On

2010-01-05T16:20:00.003+08:00

From Liverpool to Edinburgh, Scotland. It's a four-hour train ride. See you all real soon! I miss Penang and everything that comes with it!

Bounce

2010-01-04T18:47:00.004+08:00

Blogging from Liverpool now! From Manchester to Liverpool, hah. Only one thing comes to mind at the sound of these two places isn't it? Football/Soccer. It's too bad I'm not a fan of the sport or I'd be jumping up and down at being here. Staying at Lord Nelson Hotel where Paris Hilton once stayed at. LOL, we didn't know this until we got inside the hotel and saw the framed newspaper cut-outs of the reports. Cool. Haha.

It's still bloody cold here but it isn't snowing like it was in Manchester so that's good. Snow IS pretty to look at but not in any way nice to be IN. I'm actually sad that I'm not in school with everyone else but well, my time will come soon. INTI AUP, don't let me down. That's one option for now..well, actually my only option up till this point. I'll look up more twinning courses when I get back to the island. Will update more as soon as I can. As for now, I'm heading out to see the rest of Liverpool.

xoxo,yan.

Moving around

2010-01-02T12:36:00.001+08:00

It's 4.37 am here. We're getting ready to catch our train out to Manchester then to Edinburgh and probably Newcastle for the next six days! Will update as much as I can, if I can. Keep checking back. Have fun in school, all :D

I'm 18. Hahah.

2010-01-02T03:53:00.003+08:00

2010,
please don't let me down!
Blessed New Year, all :)

Rain, rain go away!

2009-12-31T06:50:00.009+08:00

London has rained on our parade, literally. It's been raining for two whole days now and it makes the weather even colder than it already is. Thank God for taxis and the Underground Tube! Taking the tube has been a fun experience really. I've never taken a ride on our local LRTs so I have no idea what it's like. I've never even rode on a Rapid Penang bus. Hahahah, shut up. I don't want any comments on that. The rain in London has made us stay indoors all the time except for the times we have to walk to different sites or to the Tube. I am now extremely thankful that Malaysia has only one season: SUMMER. The weather here has made me realize that I am in no way a winter person. Okay, so maybe it takes some getting used to but so far...me no likey. Maybe after 2 weeks (I am hoping I take less than that), I'll be used to the cold but there's little hope about that happening. My body's clock is still running on Malaysian time which means I wake up at 4am London-time, equivalent to Malaysia's 1pm. I do fall back to sleep but only to wake up again at 6-7am. Not only is the weather in London simply ticking me off right now, the people here are too. I'm sorry and do not mean to offend anyone here but seriously, all the English actors we know of...they must be really good at what they do. I'd say 85% of people here are rude, inconsiderate and look down on Asians. I lost count at how many people have given us the oh-you're-just-another-asian-dumbo-who-doesn't-know-how-to-speak-english look here. Like, HELLO? Just because you're English it doesn't mean you're the only bloody people who know how to speak English on this planet. If Italians speak Italian, and Englishmen speak English, then what do Americans speak? American? If anyone ever asks me where I'm from and I say Malaysia and they go "Oh, so you speak Malay?", I'm gonna say "No. I speak Malaysian." I mean really, the people here can just make fun of you and laugh at you right in your face. Dude, how rude is THAT? People here really aren't as cookie-cutter pretty as seen on tv. Sorry girls, but I'm not approving any one of them for you no matter how much you like their accent (Dharm, this means you)! I suddenly feel as though we Malaysians have more manners than these sort of people do. The other 15% of people here are nice and friendly and are made up of mainly people working at stores whose job is to smile at customers and be helpful so I actually don't know if they really count and lastly, old grandpa-looking men.

So I know I just complained a whole paragraph of how exciting London and it's not like there's nothing good about Londong, I just thought that you should know what London's really like under all the icing. London has nice scenary and nice places to visit and nice shopping! Food's pretty good too but I don't think there's anything anywhere in the world that could beat a bowl of Penang's Hokkien Mee or supper at the nearest Mamak. Hahah.

Anyway, we headed out to London city yesterday via Tube. It was cool, it was my first time! :D First up, we visited Kensington Palace. And we went on a tour. An audio-tour. So high-tec here. We were given each a sort of telephone thingy and certain things that were on display had specific numbers to them. So all we had to do was dial some numbers, press play and listen to the audio work it's historical magic. I know Shawn enjoyed that very much. Lol. I'm not going to elaborate on the palace so if you want to know more about what's inside, just google it.

We got off at a stop only to realize after getting off that we didn't need to. So we were stuck for 15 minutes.

"Not Hollywood, it's HADLEY WOOD!" says Ming-Y.

The front of Kensington Palace from the inside.

Listening to the Audio Guide.

Elizabethan-time clothes. Notice the large lower-half of the dress? Apparently the richer you were, the bigger it would be.

We found a game to play with before we left. This area was meant for kids. But who cares.

We finished it! :D

Then we went to the British Museum but we weren't there long. Everything here closes by 5 or 5.30pm at the latest. Some places like shops close at 8pm but very little. There aren't many pictures of the British Museum cause it was jam-packed with people making it hard to take pictures and because we were to lazy and tired to. Hah.

Today, I woke up and my voice was completely gone. But I'm still coughing. Sucks. Paracetemol helps a little though. Anyway, more prepared to face the rain, we all wore sneakers today. After how soaked and cold my feet got while wearing my £10 boots yesterday, I had very happy feet on today's trip. So today, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. It had it's own crypt which was kinda creepy in a way, being around dead bodies (that were already buried okay). We then decided to be very adventurous and climbed about 500+ steps up to the top of the cathedral. The first 152 steps brought us to a level named Whispering Walls or smtg like that where you can whisper into any point of the wall and a person at another point of the wall could here your whisper loud and clear. It was so cool. We then climbed up I think another 152 steps to reach the OUTSIDE of the cathedral's roof where we could see all of London city. Then we climbed up another scarier flight of stairs to again, the outside of the rooftop. I didn't look down, fyi. I have a fear of heights. Ironic, I know.

View from the rooftop of the cathedral.

Steps of the Cathedral's entrance.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Bankside was next. I really enjoyed this place! We wathed an Elizabethan-times dressing demonstration which was rather interesting and a...very choreographed sword-fighting demonstration before browsing the exhibition. Then we joined the Globe Theatre Tour where we were taken to the Globe theatre where our guide explained it all to us. That Globe theatre is the third one to be built and they still run plays throughout certain seasons in the year. I'm sure you'll be able to look up the theatre online to learn more! It's interesting!

Part of the sword-fighting demo.

Globe theatre's stage.

We then visited Chinatown which was full of restaurants and Asians. There was a restaurant called Rasa Sayang; Malaysian and Singaporean Cuisine. LOL. Covent Garden was next. Shoppingggg! But we only managed to shop in FCUK while waiting to meet up with Sue Lynn & Alvin. Dinner was at Belgo. Nice food :D I am now tired and shall end here. Will update more. Keep checking back!

Disney rocks.

This, is a Gay bar. For real.

Chinatown

Covent Garden

xoxo,yan.

Coughing in the cold

2009-12-29T06:00:00.007+08:00

Day 3 of my very cold holiday is coming to an end and I am falling sick. Bleh. Started off with a sore throat on the plane here and now it's turned into coughing. This really sucks. I wear 3 layers of clothing everyday so you can imagine how cold it is. Anyway, day 1 was spent indoors at Shawn's place watching Planet 51 (till I went to bed) and eating a giant pizza of 12 slices. Literally, the slices were as big as my hand.

Changi International Airport, Terminal 3 Gate B7 :)

Day 2, we walked out to the town centre for breakfast and did a little shopping. Everything, everywhere here is on SALE. Isn't it just a lovely four-letter word? ;D Then we went into ASDA (which is the same as our Cold Storage or Giant, only bigger). Oh btw, the Skittles here are BIG. I couldn't resist but to buy one giant packet. Hehehe. We walked over to The Galleria shopping mall after that. It's small compared to our Queens and Gurney but it was big enough to have an indoor ice-skating rink! Still, their rink is smaller than the one we used to have in BJComplex. Had a late lunch at Nando's (it's so different the way it's operated here!), caught Sherlock Holmes in ODEON Cinema (which I slept through 95% of the movie) and had a tasty pasta dinner at Frankie & Benny's. Yes, we did lots of walking in the cold, cold, cold weather.

Breakfast at Appleby's

Somewhere in the town centre. The salmon here, one big piece of it, costs less than £2!! Meaning it costs less than RM12 and that is wayyy cheap for a slice that juicy.

Today was spent with my aunt and uncle and my eldest sister. We were taken to St. Albans (in a car, this time) where we walked through Verulamium park, fed some ducks, geese and swans and visited St. Alban's Cathedral (that, if seen from aerial view, is built in the shape of a cross! Genius.), then we walked around town for a bit. We were then taken for a small tour around Hemel Hempstead's town area by Uncle Kevin. After stopping by Tesco EXPRESS, we headed back to my uncle and aunt's very cozy place where we watched Miss Congeniality and had a lovely Christmas dinner together before coming back home. Ah, satisfaction. The pictures from today are in another camera so I won't be posting those up yet. The pictures taken are actually scattered between two cameras so i'll js post the pictures from the camera that's with me for now :) More to come soon as we head in London tomorrow! We're actually off-London, you see. Keep checking back!
I miss everyone back home :(

xoxo,yan.

We have touchdown

2009-12-27T05:07:00.002+08:00

FREEZZZZZINGGG COLD.
It is now just past 9pm here while all of you back home are fast asleep all snug and warm at 5am. I think I'm having writer's block now or maybe it's just my brain reaching it's freezing point. Will update more when I'm more toasty warm.

Greetings

2009-12-26T12:25:00.002+08:00

@Changi International Airport now waiting for our flight out to London. Will update with pictures to keep your eyes entertained as soon as I can. Off to board the plane now, but keep checking back for more updates on my trip to see Big Ben (that's the big clock tower monument in London, fyi)! My time is almost up on the computer here at the gate anyway. Hah. SIA Airbus 380 Upper Deck, here I come! (;

xoxo,yan.

London bells are calling

2009-12-26T01:46:00.005+08:00

MAYBE I'll blog from London. I'm gonna miss so many things back home, the fireBRANDS blog better be updated!! You hear me, Tania/Eulene?
I'll have my phone with me, so feel free to drop me updates through the phone, yes? :D

To the new batch of fifth formers starting school in less than two weeks coughSharonMeganTaniacough, since I won't be back in time to say this; ENJOY your last first day of school! New adventure for you, Seniors! Have a blast cos it's time you ruled the school (;

I hope everyone had a Blessed Christmas and here's to the new year ahead! Just a week left of 09! Have fun, buddies! :)

UPSIZE.

2009-12-19T16:19:00.005+08:00

CAVERS

fireBRANDS leveled up.

Potato Soup

2009-12-14T03:40:00.003+08:00

For Joel Teh and Megan Cheah

YOU MEANIES.

I can drag them around!

2009-12-13T03:38:00.001+08:00

THIS IS SO COOL! :D

Never been bigger

2009-12-12T12:09:00.002+08:00

DISAPPOINTMENT
dis⋅ap⋅point⋅ment [dis-uh-point-muhnt]
–noun
1. the act or fact of disappointing.
2. the state or feeling of being disappointed.
3. a person or thing that disappoints.

at it's peak.

Coming to an end

2009-12-10T14:12:00.002+08:00

Went back to school today to return all our textbooks and after waiting nearly an hour for the teacher assigned to us to realize that she was assigned to us, we found out that there was another teacher waiting for us in our classroom. While I waited for Yee Ming to settle her books, I took a good last look around the room and realized I'd really be missing that place a whole lot. Taking it all in, I was hit by a wave of reminiscence of the past year and all the fun I've had in that very room including all the naps I took in my seat. Hah. There's a lot of things I'm gonna miss about being in Secondary School...so, so many things. Schooling-wise, this year was probably one of the best years I've had.

-This year, well not only this year but I'd say in the past 2 years, new bonds of friendships was made and while I'd never in my wildest dreams think it'd happen, I'm glad it did. I'm a happy girl with lotsa happy friends :D I love my friends new and old along with all the nonsensical, crazy things they say and do.
-Though I wasn't much of a cheerleader this year, I'm so glad I can actually say that I was a cheerleader in High School. Though our cheerleading may differ very much from the stereotypical perky, popular, snob cheerleaders we see on tv, heck we've had our own share of politics, drama and injuries. But I wouldn't trade all that for ANYTHING.
-The times where a bunch of us would sit around class and waste time doing silly things and which would always somehow end up with us talking Who's Most Likely To and Do You Remember In Primary School - those times are some of the best most entertaining times together. Though of course we always feel super old by the time we finish talking about what we did when we were 7.
-Teachers. Who can and could forget them ever?
-Teachers' Day, Teens' Day, Co-Curriculum Day, Sports Day, RE Week, Learning Festival 1 & 2, Class parties, Retirements..The special things MGSians do during these days are what makes school so fun for us, really.
-RECESS. Canteen. Mak cik! Telur hancur seringgit, hokkien mee, ubi seringgit, nasi tiga, tom yam mee, ribena, cinnamon bun, laici. Who DOESN'T love canteen food? ;)
-Tuitions! Uncle Peter Tan's BM tuition was and still is the BEST tuition I've been to. Hands down, the best. He's the one who made me actually like BM. I'm going to miss the nonsense we talked and laughed about in tuition over the years.

The list goes on. But there's one thing I'm not going to miss about school. Homework. Not like we had a whole lot to do everyday but the amount was enough to drive us wild sometimes. Oh, and the never-ending folios. The folios I loved to decorate nicely just so I'd get a good grade on it. I don't like folios, I just like the part where we get to decorate them.
And the thing is that now that we're done with school and SPM and studying, I don't know what to do. Literally. Suddenly it's as if I have nothing to do anymore. Which, for the most part is true but when we were supposed to study, we didn't and we rushed around as if we'd a lot of things to do. Now, we WANT to study and to be busy again. We're such workaholics as much as we say we're procrastinators :P

xoxo,yan.