After all that ranting... something a little less depressing and annoying =)

10 little known things about me

♥ I love most things banana-flavoured
Chocolate banana cake, Chocolate banana Pocky, banana cake (hehe, Boon Aik still remembers this XD ), etc all make me very happy XD

♥ My great-grandmother was a Singaporean Nyonya
Actually, just found out about this recently from mum. We were commenting on how Ken has 'exotic' slightly brown-gold coloured hair and she said "you're actually more exotic than him since your great-grandmother was..."

No wonder my grandfather looked a bit not Chinese in his official portrait.

♥ My first so called 'secret admirer' was in kindergarten
There was this boy who liked to hug me and plant kisses on my cheek =P

♥ I'm super neat when it comes to unwrapping gifts
Usually, wrapping paper survives mostly intact under me when it comes to the unwrapping process. Can't say the same when I'm the one handling the wrapping though ;)

♥ I can't remember the last time I cut my fingernails
Uh-huh... because I haven't cut them in years. Ashamed to admit this, but there's something about the solid, shiny metal of the nail-clipper that freaks me out when it comes to fingernails. So that's where my nail-biting habit comes handy. Lol.

♥ I ADORE thick black soya sauce
Hehe... it's the Hokkien genes inherited from my two Amoy/Xiamen origin grandfathers. Amoy in Southern China's famous for its soya sauce. Hence, a lot of Hokkien cuisine incorporates caramelised dark soya sauce in the recipe. Eg: Hokkien Mee, Bak Kut Teh, Loh Ahk (braised duck) and my all time fav - my grandmother's black sauce prawns... yum! =9

♥ I've burned myself on a spotlight
There's a light and gradually fading scar not far from my right elbow that I got when I unwittingly laid my hand on the spotlights illuminating a menu at a Chinese restaurant in Subang Parade. Was around 6 or 7 then and yet to dicover how hot a spotlight can be XD

♥ The government schools I've been to serve better food than the private institutions I attend/attended
Canteen food at primary school was lovely (and cheap!), esp the noodles, hence why I balloned up around the ages of 8-12.

My secondary school was also known for great canteen food while I was studying there. I'll always look forward to lunch after prefectorial duties + in early form 5 got to hang out with Mr Yip Jun Ho while partaking in the spread. Hehe ^^

Meanwhile, Taylor's started off having a cafeteria that did not sell any food. Then, there was food but of the packaged, meant to last a few days convenience store type. Monash, on the other hand, has a cafeteria with quite a lot of variety........ except that more than 50% is spicy in some way, or too salty >.<

♥ I watched Euro 08 finals with Auli and Gary
Hehe, this one was really last minute =P The Samad gang met up for an outing on the day of the Euro finals, and Auli proposed that we watch it together. In the end, Gary and I agreed and we stayed up from 11 pm to 5.30 am at Auli's house =) Germany v Spain. I'm the neutral one whilst Auli and Gary are long-time Spain (Iker XD ) supporters.

♥ I cried the first time I did abseiling
Erm... SMK SAS prefectorial board of 05/06 would know about this, since it happened during prefects camp at Fraser's Hill. I didn't have trouble roping down. It was the letting go at the upper ledge of the wall that caused problems.

Was really scary since I have a phobia of free falling backwards. In the end, it took quite a bit of coaxing to get me to let go. Turned out that the rope was very secure and abseiling down the practice wall was really easy + fun ;)

I really should be in bed.

Grr. I hate how I become insomniac-ish when under stress, no matter how sleepy and tired I am. It's just... I keep dwelling on worst-case scenarios until I scare myself into a frenzy and toss and turn in bed.

@#% exams start on the 23rd. 11 days away. The only studying I've done is for COM1020, and my 'achievement' is not enough to even attempt one of the basic 100-word-essay questions in the paper. Starting to get really sick of 1020 and all those 'wth! this makes no sense' uber over-structured and complicated sentences in the journals (which when compiled is our textbook, thus 100% examinable).

I seriously don't know how I'm going to break down, comprehend and store enough info to write four 100 word essays and two 600 word essays in 2 freaking hours. That's a total of 160 lines! Thank Zeus the exam only carries a 30% weightage.

Still... if I didn't do well in assignment 2 (worth 40%), and even if I did alright, I'll need all the marks I can scrape together to achieve at least a Distinction.

Dreading exam season with all my heart. I still remember all the tears, anxiety and anguish that accompanied studying for exams in June... because I prepared right at the last minute, in between papers, for all 4 subjects.

It's going to be even worse this sem. Only 4 days separate Macroecons from Marketing, and only a miserable 1 day between Marketing and Business Law (open-book, so it needs the most note-taking preparation. Not enough of that, and guaranteed an instant fail or barely passed grade >.< )

Suddenly all the light-heartedness and optimism I've been feeling lately is fast draining away, and I'm becoming grouchy and high-strung again. *sad*

Adele has been feeling very happy and lucky lately. Thank YOU! ^^

So hyper until can't sleep

Hehe. Went anime shopping with the male in my life and he picked up Kanokon for himself, partly because of my recommendation. What girlfriend introduces an ecchi series to her bf? *shakes head* =P

... And what girl watches a male ecchi series?! Hmm.... XD

Well, Kanokon is rather quite a bit of fun to squint at and enjoy in front of a laptop screen =)



Here's a take on why Kanokon is an underrated gem ;)




On another note, my much awaited half-German cousins arrived in M'sia today! 8 years since my aunt's family migrated to Germany and all I can say is... GOSH... why do the males in the family get all the good genes? =P

My grew-up-in-Australia cousin looks like a buff male model whilst his elder brother has the good-looking preppy Harvard style, and this German cousin - I swear - looks like he just walked out of an alt-band/Hollywood photo shoot. And he has the cutest accented English. And he's just only 15! Not fair! XD

And... and... and... they're all gentlemanly, romantic sweethearts girls swoon over. The preppy one's even married already.

My other German cousin, 4 year old sister to the aforementioned rocker lookalike, also has typical Pan Asian look with gorgeous features. This one's so adorable that she's going to break more than a few hearts in the future ;)




Going out with dad later today. Hopefully we'll be able to try Ramen Taiko.

Itching to try the food there since Katsumata-sensei (another ramen lover!) recommended the place, and dad got me the menu to skim through. They have authentic Shouyu Ramen, my fav~! ^^

But it'll be funny if we do go there, since the restaurant is just opposite his condo in Mont Kiara... but he has to come and pick me up all the way in DJ and then make our way (almost) back to his place XD





Speaking of Katsumata-sensei.... *sniff* I miss a lot of these guys and gals.

Especially the ones that I met back in Beginner 1, like Ou Yang-san, Natalie-san and Candy-san. And also those that joined us later like Karen-san.

That's Katsumata-sensei in the first row to the left, with the checkered skirt. She's gone back to Japan now. One of the best and most lively teachers we've had =)

Almost 3 weeks now since I've deferred my I2 class to end of the year. On the bright side, at least I might get to see Natalie-san and Lina-san at the next I2 intake.

Undecided yet though if I want to commence Nihon-go classes for twice a week during the hols. Getting a little hard to manage hw and revision for the Intermediate levels.

Might also want to take up latin dance or start learning to salsa again during the weekends.