Mummy

人家说, 做什么也好,

需记得

失败是成功的 mummy!

要吸取经验,

继续加油.



PS: 别气馁.

Sofia's =D

=)

Skies are cleared!

Lost is found! (looks grammatically incorrect)

All thanks to the unknown samaritan who has noticed the fairly unnoticeable black pouch, around 10 pm - 11 pm last night, and handed it over to lost and found!


THANKSSSSSS TO YOU! YOU MADE MY DAY! =D

Relying on my hopeless and choppy flash backs, I came early this morning and searched almost every possible place that I have been to yesterday:

Union House, Babel (Room 217 and Student Centre), Old Arts (Student Centre and Supervisor Building), Public Lecture Theatre (from outside), and Baillieu Library, and would have gone further to Woodland Theatre (Microbiology Building) if I hadn't miracolously found it in the library!


And thanks for JY, PW, CH and MC for searching last night!



And now that I'm all excited, I wouldn't mind sharing an incident that I otherwise would, because I ought to be grieving on the lost key.

*************************************************************************************

And so yesterday, was just another day (before I went mad about the lost key), and I had my QM (stats) tutorial at 4.15 pm. I would always dread it, because others would be home by then.


But,

Andrew, this super mega cute ang moh tutor mate, took a seat beside me. *grins*


Ok la, more like I took the seat beside him. It doesn't matter, because we are all seated in a distorted circle anyway. Well not that I deliberately took the seat beside him, I'm normally seated there, just that he took the seat beside me before me, when he usually doesn't. Because he normally just sits opposite me or next-next-next to me.


ANYWAY, we were early (along with two other tutor mates), and Andrew and this girl were discussing the assignment question, which the girl hasn't completed. So he sort of taught her and I just listened. And then he sort of stopped and all of us were in silence.


And then he turned to me and asked me something that I didn't hear, because his baby blue gorgeous eyes were boring into mine.


He looks just like Josh Groban, with his slightly frizzy hair, just that his was blondish-brown. His eyes were those shocking blue that you can be immersed in for like, forever.


And that was when I realised he was asking me something, for the second time.

Something like "Can I have a look at part 2(a)?"

And I replied, "Yea, sure. Part 2(a)?"


And he went, "No, today."


Puzzled, I repeated, "Today?"

"Yea, today."


At that point, my mind went blank? Apa today? Tutorial hadn't even started, what's to ask about today? Nor was there a question by the name of "today"? Or was there?


I must have looked confused. And he probably thought I couldn't hear him, so he leaned closer and repeated it by its syllables.


"To-day. Can I have a look at it please?"


*what the heck???!!*


"Today????? "

"Yea, today."

"Er, today????"

"Yes, Today."

"You mean, today?!??!"


"Errrr.. yeaa."

"What today?" *with increasingly weird intonation*


And the girl he taught previously was stiffling her laughters.



*yeesh, the least she could do was to translate*



And then, I was suddenly strucked. *light bulb icon flashed*



Then I blushed, then I let out an awkward chuckle, "Oh..sorry.". He grimaced and was just looking plain puzzled. Puzzlingly cute.




Then I hastily shoved my assignment towards him and showed him my answer of...





2(d).





I could feel my cheeks burning of embarrassment.




When will I stop embarrassing myself, on Tuesdays? !I'm such a nut.


ps: Well at least he did sound impressed with my answers with "oohs" and "aahs" and "I see what you're doing here". (though I just found out that they were wrong today =S)

Wonders

Yesterday's meditation was on the last step of the Seven Steps to Silence : Giving unconditionally.

It proved easier to meditate with our eyes open, as Kavindha (meditation guru) requested. Because, wheh you close your eyes, it's a natural signal to your body system to shut down and go to sleep.

Which was what Jian and I almost did when meditating two weeks ago, almost dozing off, as we meditated with our eyes closed, and what's more, with what's looked like a very bloated stomach of yummy lunch.

Yesterday's session felt so in-dept that I have never felt so worn out after, concentrating on the thoughts Kavindha fed us with her soothing, gentle voice.

"Before giving unconditional love to others, you will have to provide yourself with it first."

And so, the session was on focusing on thoughts of unconditional love, eg. given by a mother to her child, a nurse to her patient, a teacher to her student, and for me, what constantly surged through my mind were images of my sister's infectious laughter.

Well, to be frank, I did take more time yesterday to settle those bustling thoughts, what's with your eyes open, you are exposed to more distractions, such as other's growling stomach, fidgeting, movement and even, oh-my-god-jian-did-u-notice, this guy on my left kept producing what sounded like small, instantenous, smell-less farts.

Thrice. I'm serious!

So, after pushing those distractions to their bays, I finally rested my eyes on a comfortable spot. Beyond my own belief, the feelings of complacence and sheer joy were what I ever experienced throughout.


It just feels so tranquil to spread love within yourself and towards the end of the session, in Kavindha's words, "..and now to people around you, in this uni, Melbourne, Australia and the world. Let them feel the love you're experiencing..unconditionally..."


=)


Kavindha was right that this step would exhaust us, as Jian claimed I looked dead after, and Jia Yen and Pei Wen thought I just woke up from a sleep, and someone said I looked down!


Just that it wasn't true, far from true. I felt calm within, my pulse slowed down, contented, yet inevitably, hungry! Ahh~~ the wonders of meditation!


(I'm thinking it's because we somehow were using mental energy, you know energy being unperishable and constantly transferred, though it does sound silly, I wonder if it's possible.)

Attempted to meet up with Jun Jie and Chon Jin but failed, nvm, next time then =)

Later that night, my brother told me that he wasn't going home as he had early lectures this morning, and I was comtemplating what was there to cook again, when Chen Hao said I could take his room for the night as he was going for a stayover elsewhere.


After much consideration, I stayed back and it proved worthwhile. The convenience was so exciting and me walking around with CH's keys like a resident at UniLodge was exhilarating! Like someone in disguise.. lol.. And not to forget, the warm hospitality provided by the hosts and hostess in the city, you know who you are!



And yea, now, back to work. Assignments.. =)


Cheers people! Have a great weekend..

Of Aussie Hugs

Scenario 1:


Last Friday, Jian joined us (Jia Yen, Chen Hao, Ming Chin, Pei Wen and I) for dinner at Lygon St. Yeah!! Shortly after, we went to the F1 exhibition held prior to the Grand Pix in Melbourne that weekend.




They were giving out free body butter to girls and we got ourselves each a 250 ml Models Inc. Body Butter! Yeah!!!!!!!


Free good stuff makes me thrilled, anytime, anyday!


Anyway, there were 3 posh Ferraris on majestic display, and some Virtual F1 racing games, for those seeking the ambience of the race.

Naturally, they did not appeal to me very much, apart from acknowledging their luxury. BUT something caught my eyes!!! hahahah the podium which racers stand on when they received their prizes!

I'm not sure if that is the actual one, but intuitively, Pei Wen and I shot each other glances, and jumped onto them! I was slower so I got No.2, and Pei Wen got no. 1! Yeesh! haha Anyway, Ming Chin joined us and we took pictures as winners.

The first one was abit blurred, so we decided to take another one, after all, it was such a honoured and touching moment, to be standing on the exact podium racers stand on!

And so, we started to pose again, with our body butter as our trophies! And we captured the attention of two ang mohs, who decided to be our fans!

Which was quite spontaneous, and we thanked them for being our fans! hahaha.

So they requested that Pei Wen bluetooth the picture to them, which caught us in surprise, 'cause we thought they were just fooling around, but anyway she did. However, while the process was about to end, the guy in white's phone memory was full, so the attempt failed. That didn't deter them, and the guy in green took out his phone instead. So, Pei Wen sent the picture again, and he managed to receive it.




He was so enthusiastic and exclaimed "THANK YOU!!!!" and next.. extended his arms to wrap us both into a sudden, tight hug!

Which was totally uncalled for, and got us startled. hahah, he then "released" us, and told unbelievingly to his friend, "Awww.. how nice!! They gave me a hug!"



=.=




Our die hard fans. LOL







Scenario 2:


Today, after our Business Law lecture, Brooke and I took the tram back to Melbourne Central, the train station.



She was 1 minute away from her train, and so we were both rushing. After validating our tickets, there was this ang moh, clad in a Red Cross association T-shirt, probably conducting some donation or something. He stopped us,




" Hi, I'm from Red Cross, I'm collecting 250 hugs today for..... (blah blah, can't hear as the arriving trains were loud)"




So Brooke gave him a brief hug, and next he turned to me and I hugged him too. He said "Thank you!" and I smiled. Wow, what an easy good deed!




"Wow, Brooke, I never knew you could collect hugs for charity!" I said while we stood on the platform, awaiting the train, impressed.




"Noooooooo, Mei!!! He was just being silly! Can't you tell? HAHAHAH though they are all from Red Cross, so I guess they are good people."





=_________________________________=







Cheh! So much for collecting hugs for a good cause! *kena conned*

Oh well, no such thing as give-a-hug-donate-blood!

As to why he did it??!!!

ps: Despite Brooke being a local and so she understands better, I somehow felt the hugs are for a good cause, after all, he's from Red Cross. haha

I guess people here are pretty...

hug-able.

Moomba Waterfest

Preparing...

Whhheeeeeee! off they go!

Turning dark..

Ferris wheel, wanted to try this for the first time so badly, but it would hurt my purse.

Where Genting idea came in..

Whoo!!!

Nice view, but with the trees..

Jia Yen and I at our special "tree seat"

Our consolation prizes for not winning the games.. (JY: blue, PW: yellow and me:green)

(Eveything is prettier than what it looked like in the pictures, due to the unskillful photographer, who wasn't too familiar with her bro's camera =( )

(For better, higher quality, more canggih and more human containing pictures, please visit Jia Yen's blog)

It's Moomba again, Melbourne's annual big merry celebration!

Went with Pei Wen, Jia Yen, Nat, Mel, Chen Hao and Ming Chin.

It got us all high, or at least me! Carnival-like, everyone joined in this joyous celebration of this water festival.

Initially, us girls planned to win a few games to get the life-size soft toys : lizards, snakes, teddies, Simpsons, Scooby Doo.. any animal you can name. Though, everything including the games and rides ($8 each) : Ferris wheel, rollar coster, Space shot etc, were pricey. The games, especially needed require Lady Luck to do the magic, I'll say, she ain't with us that night. So after spending $9 on games, in vain to get the gifts, we decided to stroll around instead.

Don't la say we kiam siap, after all if we save up money for only a game ($8), it would earn us a Genting all day theme park's pass! Hahah, indeed, commerce students we all are (expect Pei Wen), it's call trade-off (microeconomics), you get less of a good thing and get more of the other!!! Money money money!

It was breezy, much to our delight, rendering our nightly promenade at the waterfront an unforgettable bliss. The highlight, I would say, is the enchanting 10 minute fireshow, the pinnacle of all. Accompanied by a somewhat gung-ho music theme.

Such a beautiful, rare picture, at that fleet moment, I thought of my family and next my close friends, how perfect it would be, if you all were there to share that sight with me. And soon, it ended, a finale as grand as it started. Everyone applauded.

Hahah, Jia Yen said Moomba both perked me up and drove me emotional. Hahah, it was enjoyable overall, our attempts on games, Pei Wen's undying efforts to be a perfect camwhore, Jia Yen's pro-ness in photography, Nat and Mel's success in getting some smaller soft toys, sitting (and lying down) on the lawns etc.

Inevitably, there were drunkards and drug traffickers, causing police to close the roads, causing a massive jam and the closure of tram services. Which mean the few of us have to walk from Flinders St. back to Swanston, though slightly half way through, our legs gave way, and we hopped on the unaffected but jam-packed trams in that area.

I shall await next year's Moomba, would I see it differently then?

Psychology Research

Yes I know I'm a commerce student, why am I doing a psychology research right?

It's because I'm not conducting the research, I'm being researched.

So it all started when I was in the Redmond Barry building, on an unsuccessful attempt to go in for "Get the most out of lectures" talk as it was overfull. There I was looking at the notice board, and regarded a research conducted buy the psychology department, in need of research participants.

It got me all enthusiastic and I thought, Why not? So Jia Yen and I tore down the contact details and off we went to contact Ms Clare Cameron.

First, we were sent an electronic questionnaire about our personalities, which was Part 1 of the research. Heck I didn't know by "personalities", it actually meant..


Are the sounds you hear in your daydreams really clear and distinct?

Do you at times have an urge to do something harmful or shocking?
Do you often worry about things you should not have done or said?
Are your thoughts sometimes so strong that you can almost hear them?

Can some people make you aware of them just by thinking about you?
Does a passing thought ever seem so real it frightens you?
Do you always practise what you preach?

Are you usually in an average sort of mood, not too high and not too low?
Do you often take on more activities than you have time for?
Would you take drugs which may have strange or dangerous effects?
Do you think you could learn to read other's minds if you wanted to?

When in a crowded room, do you often have difficulty in following a conversation?
No matter how hard you try to concentrate do unrelated thoughts always creep into your mind?
Are you easily hurt when people find fault with you or the work you do?
Do you stop to think things over before doing anything?
Have you ever felt that you have special, almost magical powers? (=.=)


(159 questions in total)
**********************************************************************************

So are they in search of Harry Potter or the Heroes?

Knowingly, participants in Part 1 whom the researchers are interested in would be called for a tw0-and-a-half hour face-to-face Part 2 session.

I related the questionnaire to my brother and he reckoned if I was selected for Part 2, he's living with a queer being.

And ya. He is.

The next morning, Clare called me, and apparently, "your data was highlighted and it would be great if you could spare us some time".

DANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't fly, why me?

So anyway, on that day itself, feeling all paranoid and resentful of myself, I dragged myself to the ninth floor of the old and dim-light Psychology building and waited outside the Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Room 934.

So, it was true, I was an experiment?

Creepy thoughts attacked me and convinced that I'm another being, and thinking that she would ask me to read minds, I began to listen to my heart. And the sudden sounds coming from the lift made me jumped out my skin.

Oh no, so it was true I can hear things?

Well, clearly, as usual, I was thinking way too much.

The session turned out to be fairly neutral. Just that throughout, whatever I said was recorded. First, I was given some weird, unknown words to pronounce, or maybe because I suck at vocab. Then, I was given 6 reasoning tasks, in which I was told to "feel" and predict the outcome.

Next were some word associations and detection of false words. Soon after, it was putting 30 envelopes of pictures in orders I felt was logical. And lastly, it was 3 questionnaires and tests on my thoughts, feelings, emotions and my control over them. And of course one question was..

Do you feel that you may know telepathy?


*********************************************************************************

Clare was generally friendly and helpful towards my questions : why was I selected? Apparently,
in her words in the consent form she've given me,


"You are invited to participate in Part 2 of this research project because your responses given in Part 1 of this study indicate that you have a particular personality style characterised by thoughts and experiences which are not encountered by the majority of people. It is this personality style that we are interested in studying...."


"The fact that you have indicated such thoughts and experiences is no cause for alarm or concern. Please be assured that this does not mean that you have or will develop a mental or psychotic disorder..."



SO, I was measured particularly high in this continuum and a personality trait called "schizotypy" which has subtypes "cognitive disorganisation" (bro: no wonder ur so blurr la, this explains it), and Clare's thesis was to find out if this would be "delusion proneness".


(I hope not)


She reassured me a gazillionth times that "this trait is owned by everybody, not just you, just that some people measured higher and some lower in this continuum, and it's perfectly normal", of course la, I'm quite sure I'm healthy, physically and mentally! Right?



So don't desert me ok?


Anyway, I made friends with Clare and we ended up chatting about our courses, and I told her about my previous qualms on whether to choose medical or commerce, and she related that her boyfriend, a surgeon, leads a really busy life, let alone the lengthy course.


And she told me how she has already completed her Bach in Commerce, worked, didn't like it and decided to now, work towards being a clinical psychologist, trained to handle mentally unhealthy patients.


As a result of this session, I was reimbursed $25! And the second session would be a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan in the Royal Melbourne Hospital, taking down "a series of pictures or recordings taken of your head", using "radio waves and a large magnet to acquire the datas" in which I would be reimbursed another $25.


But since it's optional as Im "free to withdraw your consent at any stage during the scanning", I guess I shall just leave that out.


I wouldn't want to be convinced that..















I'm psychotic.

8th

Nah. It's not much better but, not as bad.

No shrieks, thank god.

Just the usual chiding and sarcasm.



But. I smiled through it.







'Cause that was my 8th and FINAL lesson!!!!!!!















That's if I don't fail Monday's test.

T.T

Yesterday's happiness was pretty short-lived.

I'm back to a complete failure.

He doesn't have any idea










just how his forceful voice scares the sh*t outta me.

Hmmm..

Things are definitely getting better.

Especially driving. Considering
" 你 真 的 很 失 败“ and
" 你 的 错 误 没 得 救” and
" 你 的 自 己 的 脚 也 不 会 控 制“ and
" 按 clutch 你 也 不 懂 嘛！”

which I get, sandwiched in between scoldings and lectures for the first three lessons, I guess I can say I improved.

Yes, a far cry. Despite constant reassurance from friends that it's common to make mistakes, he never fails to make me feel like a total disgrace of the human race, incapable of parking in the second lesson, or differenciating the brake from the clutch, or when I was accelerating when taking a corner or attempting to crash into an Estima (Darn that neighbour). All he has to do is squint, shakes his head profusely and heaves his never ending sighs, and I would squirm my way home. And land myself in a deep depression.

Well now. that doesn't mean I have ceased being treated as a failure. Just much lesser.

Because guessed what pearls of advice I'd received today!

" 就 是 这 样 的 嘛！“
“ 轻 松 是 成 功 的 一 半！”
“ 学 东 西 要 快 一 点！” (which I take as constructive )

Haha. Puzzling enough, some incomprehensible emotions surged through me whilst the lecture went on as usual. He definitely resembles someone close..... my grandma!

Well, just the male version.


Ever naggy, impatient and loud, these elderlies (he's in his late fifties) can make my life miserable at times but somehow this kindles a snug, secure feeling. It's like he ticks me off alot, (by far the most besides my parents), mostly in a chided tone, but it feels like he's doing it for my own good. It's like .. he cares.


Especially when he says, " 作 么 你 傻 傻 的 ” It's feels so much like my grandma was beside me. And when he asked me, how I viewed my progress for today, I answered, smiling meekly, " 应 该 是 ok la".

And to my surprise, he chuckled and said, “ 做 人 要 有 信 心！”. Which warmed my heart. And was totally my grandma's reply whenever I say "Ah ma, I feel bad of myself. Papa says I'm fat".

Oh, just when he dropped me off, my grandma was standing outside of my house, and I was thinking,

"Oh my. Enough for today."


I wouldn't relate this particular thought to my family though, in fear of engendering a wistful atmosphere.








'Cause, at that fleet moment, I can't help but asking myself.







"Is this how it feels to have a grandpa?"




(Sara, please quit rolling on the floor laughing. I know, I know what I just said about him yesterday, Things just change, k?)

Friends

Posted to Norway for an exchange programme for almost a month, Chen Hao was finally back home. Kai Jin, Jian, Juls, Jo, CH and I met up in Sunway Pyramid to catch up with each other. Sharing with us his appealing experiences in Norway, like how the few of them skinny dipped the icy cold water at -10 Celcius, their fame as foreign adventurous travellers, one ponders on how small and short-sighted we stand in our own country, leaving the explorable outside world undiscovered.

Simple confabulations with friends on daily matters (driving) and experiences are sufficient to lighten up your day. Despite being aware that we weren't in decent contact for only countable weeks, our gathering was compatible to a reunion of long lost friends. This cozy feeling lingers and conjures into glows of gratitude acknowledging such caring friends.

The day went pretty well until it was time for me to leave. Not intending to trouble CH like always, I decided to brave myself to take the Rapid KL back to Kelana LRT Station. Yes, if you have known me well, my close to zilch street-smartness succumbs me more willingly to accidents, scams or even attacks!

*shrugs*

And so, was I standing beside the pedestrian bridge opposite the mall, behaving like paranoid most of the time. Clutching to my handbag and handphone, I stole glances at my surroundings every other minute. Frustrated by the side of a busy road, Rapid KL T623 had no trace of passing by. However, considering the inefficiency of the system, I thought patience would do me good. After half an hour, I approached two Malays to ensure that I was on the right track. The first one was positive that 623 doesn't come by Sunway Pyramid and the second one shaked her head profusely in disbelief, "Takda la.. Memang takda.."

Tears started to swell in my eyes and I was panicking within. I quickly dialled Kai Jin's number, and fortunately, CH ,Jian and him were still there and he asked me to cross over quickly to the location where we previously parted. Being a ding dong bell, I misinterpreted his directions and went the opposite direction instead. Alas! I was drifting all alone along the streets, unfamiliar to my surroundings. To make things worse, the poor reception resulted in failed attempts to call and numerous miss-calls. I turned in immediately when an entrance emerged out of the confusion,
and was about to make enquiries when my phone rang.

"Where are you?!!"

And that was when I realised I was at the other end.

After more walk-skip-running, waves of relief washed over me at sight of Kai Jin. He gave me his signature roll-the-eyes, muttering "I knew you would go the wrong way" under his breath. I apologised and pleaded him to not relate the foolish incident to CH and Jian, who were at the hotel waiting. He chuckled.

And, he spilled the beans with a smirk.


All I knew was that I was flushed and embarrassed by my carelessness. An unaccountable anger and guilt mounted in me, and I couldn't find words to express myself.


"Nothing wan laaaaaaa. Just remember to be more careful in Melbourne k?" Jian put a hand around me.

I apologised, having delayed their journey home.

"Nevermind laaaaa. We are friends mar." She laughed it off.

As cliche as it sounds, it certainly warmed my heart. I somehow felt that the other two understood too.

I'm thankful.








Punishment: Two nasty blisters on my foot!! Ouch!