australia

i know i should be doing my work than writing this but i really really want to get this off my chest...i love australia...not the country, not that i have anything against it (more like coz i'm more a nz person than an oz person, u know, the neighbouring rivalry thingie)...i'm talking about the movie australia...the one with nicole kidman and hugh jackman (he is such a hottie, married, old or otherwise)...i'm not really a hugh jackman fan but somehow he pushed my buttons ehem ehem in this movie (and some of his other movies too!hahaha)...anyway, no matter how people say this movie is a flop, i love it...i especially love the fact that hollywood took time to touch on the story of the stolen generation in australia (the first time i heard this story, i cried, ah n no, this movie is not the first party which informed me of the stolen generation)....


enough said, i think i would this would be firmly shelved in my favourite movies of all time (not that i watched a lot of movies and have many favourites, i'm not much of a movie watcher, i'm afraid)...ah to celebrate this fact, i'm listing some of my favourite movies (in no particular order, just what i managed to dug up from the cobweb of my memory):

• australia
• the reader
• the lord of the rings trilogy
• the whale rider (another movie really worth mentioning...it's a beautiful movie about a young girl and her place in this world, yes i teared copiously in this one too)
• sympathy for lady vengeance
• pride and prejudice (not the movie, the bbc drama...okay it's not a movie, so sue me...i love jane austen's work especially pride and prejudice forever so this must goes in this list no matter what...and jennifer ehle is exactly who i pictured as lizzie when i read this book!)
• north and south (again not a movie but a bbc miniseries...i'm a period drama and movies afficiando and this is especially a great adaptation of a great novel by elizabeth gaskell...and richard armitage is so hot, i am literally burned on my seat)
• firelight (a beautiful movie of love and choices people make, whatever justification we put forward)
• an ideal husband
  
• amelie (mentioned in earlier post, i think)
  

i can't think of any others...will add more as i remember...

living like the rich and famous

err not famous exactly, no...i've been eating out a lot these past few days...that means i spend money like water flowing freely in the drain, clean drain...there's no rhyme nor reason for this...i'm pretty sure i had eaten some of my rainy days saving and i'm pretty afraid for that...anyway, i'm living like the rich now...probably will live like the poor soon...huhuhu...

my little piece of heaven...

today, i got into a decorating frenzy (thanks to dora and wee for the shopping trip to bunnings warehouse in mount roskill)...i've been slowly decorating my room with bits and pieces that i have from my eclectic collection of random stuff....some things are given as gifts from various friends, some are leftovers of past years and some things are newly bought...here are the pix of my lovely room (if i do say so myself!):

............okay i'm officially *issed off now (err frustrated...)...my internet is taking its own sweet time to upload my pix!!!!............

this is my room door!it's 1-268, a magic number hahaha....

will add more soon...too tired now...went out for dinner at amin's n iman's...iman made roast chicken n potatoes!!!yummy!!!n we all (iman, amin, denny, shen, shafiq n fazan...oops n i) watched stupid movies (terminator series and coming soon, which i hate!)...k that's all for now...will add more pix tomorrow!

okay now, continuation of yesterday...

this is my wardrobe and laundry basket...my wardrobe is kinda small relative to the amount of clothes n other paraphernalia i have (i collect things and never discard anything!i hate waste!)


this is the view near my window...this is an area i called my treasure area...see that cupboard there?it's where i put all of my heavy tomes (aka books), my printer, my cute little boxes (my electronic stuff and my jewelries), stationary, lab coats and other random stuff...the 2 boxes next to it are my butterfly boxes (they are in maroon and black) which contain my other random stuff....


my ultimate fav!my bed!it's small aye but pretty and enough for me to roll around!this bed is sooo comfy i kinda hate to leave it every morning for class!hahaha...anyway, next to it is my bedside table...the little pink box is from indah...i put all of my perfumes in it ^^


this is my study area side by side with my treasure area!


my study board...got lots of notes and reminders...and i also put up some random stuff like bday card from yaya (from years ago!) and pic of me doing bungee jumping in queenstown ^^


my little snowflakes plant (don't know its name, since it has the look of snowflakes so that's what i call it!)...this plant looks like its covered with white snow!it's a gift from wee ^^


my study area...do u see the glow-in-the-dark snowflakes on the wall next to my study table?it's soooo pretty!another one of my fav!


my fav wall!will put pix around the glow-in-the-dark snow flakes ^^


my pretty 3 coloured flowers...bought them at bunnings warehouse...one is blood red, one is pure white and another is a breed of purple and yellow...the pot is very pretty n it costed more to buy the pot than the flowers all together!hahaha...


the view from my window...my pretty flowers are right at the edge of my window sill...alas, they are having a reconstruction on the next building so that's why there are some scaffoldings as u can see T_T

okay, that's all about my room!i'm loving it right now!^^

home

this song perfectly described my feelings towards my home (well, with exception of Cambridge Way, mine is my beloved family ^^...and that 64 thing, i'm not sure what that is hehehe...):

Josh Verdes - Home

I've done my time in this crazy world
What trails have I left behind?
But no matter what I've done, I know
I can always come home
So take me home
From the beach to the bay
Take me home
To good ol' Cambridge Way
Take me home
Cuz there's nowhere else I'd rather be
Than to come back to the place that made me....me
I'm coming home
And when I see this world
And all it has to offer
I know I'll stand amazed
But no matter what I see
I know there's just no place like home
Bridge:
No matter what road I take
It never feels quite the same
And yet it's all the same
So here I am another night
I can't ignore you, 64 you bring me more than words can say
You bring me home

song and lyrics courtesy of josh verdes...u rock!

little piggies

we have a strange dance, wee and i...wee will mention he cook and eat something to me all the times n wait for my reaction...provided the food has lard, pork or bacon in it...anything pig-related is acceptable...it amuses me that he tries so hard to mention the delishness of pork/bacon...i know he wants to disconcert me since i don't eat piggies...let's face it, apart from religious reason, i don't even eat lamb, venison, animal entrails (that includes kidney, lungs, intestines, fat and anything non-related to the meat itself) and any other animals on earth excepting chicken and beef and seafood...i am, admittedly, a picky eater...even for chicken, i eat only chicken breast or rib (no drumstick, wing or thigh for me please)...i eat the other parts of chicken only when i'm desperate (like i haven't eaten chicken for months, which is very possible since i rarely cook chicken or beef)...


as for eggs, i don't eat the egg yolk...unless the egg is scrambled n fried (really really cooked, no wobbly yolk for me please)...being a picky eater means, i'd rather eat vegetarian dishes than meat...at least i know they don't put weird stuff in my food...sometimes i thought i'm the pickiest eater on earth...but the again, mama is worse...and i've seen others who are way way way worse than me (like strict vegan)...anyway back to wee and his little cooked piggies...he's welcomed to them...well wee, eat as much pork/bacon as u want!u are more than allowed to gobble on them ^^ teasing me will get u nowhere (i know i'm a curious puss, always asking what pork tastes like, thanks for being patient with me ^^)...

baby fish

one thing that struck me funny is how my sisters dubbed things that mama cooked...just now, when i was talking to my sister gegel, she said that there were still lots of 'baby fish' left from lunch (considering how lazy my sisters are, they will wait until kingdom come for food...they'd rather starve than get into the car n find sustenance, or cook, God forbid)...this term came about last year (i think)...mama fried these small fishes (the fish is really small, like really teeny-tiny in proportion, like the size of a third of my palm...the name of the said fish escaped my mind, err, more like i never knew the name of the things i shovel in my troat) and i think at that time she assumed that we (as in her hungry brood, 5 of us) were not fond of fried fish, thus she fried around 10 small fishes (waste not, that's mama's motto...okay, i think it was a bit more, but let's stick to the story shall we?)...


to make this long story short, the number was not enough to sustain mama's ever hungry brood (not that we make an effort to fry more, which is the best possible next move since i was pretty sure there were more in the fridge, if only we move our butts to look)...my sister, gegel said something like 'mama there was not enough fish to go around!if u are planning to cook this 'baby fishes', u must cook more!2 per person is not enough, we're starving!' (or something that went like that)...thus, the name stuck...poor fried fish becomes baby fish...


she was not being rude...that's how my mom interact with my sisters...they have the craziest conversations that i've ever heard...my sisters, jaja n gegel, love to tease mama...mama have the craziest notions on almost everything....like, she said to me once years ago that hotel food is funny, so she'll not eat a lot (she'll rather not eat at all but then again that'll be wasting right?)...considering how much meals we consume at hotels around kl, i'm surprised mama will even try to eat...like during my high school grad ceremony (we had that in istana hotel in kl), she didn't eat much as she said the food is weird (it was chinese food, how weird can that be, u tell me?)...anyway, mama also said something that cooked fish bought from outside unless it's curried fish bought from the mamak restaurants, is smelly, so she will never buy cooked fish from restaurants n hawker stalls, or even a hotel for that matter....wait...unless they are fried...fried fish has no smell...


moving on, gegel told me that mama is taking an off day today...that means no cooking (she does this now and then, understandable since she must need respite from feeding her pirahnas)...so, my sisters rather go hungry than find food...i asked gegel to ask her elder sister, jaja to cook something...she went like this 'are u crazy?asking the second mama (that's jaja...lately she has the tendency to turn into mama, like her fondness of lecturing on and on) to cook is akin to asking for an early death' (quoting word by word here, kid me not)...i understood...jaja is really scary sometimes...she is the unofficial eldest sister (me, i'm a ornament in the family, to be displayed by useless in function)...


the funny thing is, if i'm at home, i turn into a slouch potato like them...we are entirely different creatures at home, my sisters and i...i'm sure by now baba has resignedly concluded that he will never has a chance to taste his daughters cooking (he has 4 growned up daughters, for goodness sake...he is asking God, is that request too much???and mama has valiantly accepted her role as an official family cook forever)...what can i say?i'd rather eat mama's cooking than mine...mama is such a lovely cook compared to me and i'm not strong enough to face criticisms (my dad, i'm almost sure, will always find my cooking lacking relative to mama's)...now, it's time to eat all the baby fishes that mama cooked...

it comes to this

it's a wonder to me how i can survive 10 degrees celsius in a layer of clothing...inadequate as it is, i was frozen to my toes due to the rain and dropping temperature 2 nights ago...nonetheless, i survived...i sometimes wonder of my own sanity...i was so in a rush, did i ever think of wearing extra layer since i know my classes would ended up late (and mind u, 30 mins walking at night from grafton to my place is no joke, plus the incessant rain!)...


alas, i'm still healthy...today i took precaution n wore an extra layer under my skirt...it turned out that today was hot (at least hotter than the day before)...i sweated profusely like a gutted pig...anyway, i'm bored and that's why i ended up writing about rubbish...don't mind me...i'm a loony bored gal in need of serious electric shock to be brought back to reality of life...

salmon

after 10 odd years of hating salmon (salmon taste reminds me of smoke and all the blergh things on this earth), it's a major surprise to me to find that salmon doesn't taste all that weird...k tun invited me to dinner a week ago and she cooked salmon in soy sauce...it was so yummy i gobbled up 2 pieces of salmon and 2 plates of rice...her salmon was tender, juicy and well cooked...i love it...now i am in my 'salmon hunting' mode as i'd really really want to buy a piece of salmon steak...i'm thinking of making salmon in soy sauce or salmon in 'masak lemak cili api' (the latter is my ultimate favourite~!)...salmon, salmon, salmon, salmon (chanting in head)...

then and now

it never fail to surprise me (or to be more truthful, excite me) that asian dramas have taken a new bolder turn these days...there is always at least one kissing scene in a korean romantic drama...it's expected and ratings will be assuredly high with an expectation of a kiss...it's mostly not lusty (the korean standard has yet to reach the sexuality of western drama/movie yet, i'm glad to note), more like sweet and full with uncertainty and cuteness...15 years ago, i'd be rightly titillated and very excited...now, i see a kissing scene as a testament of a romance between the main characters...very strange, that...it seems with age, comes maturing mindset (or is it repeated exposure causes acceptance?)...


anyway, another point to ponder is that 'taboo' issues, such as adultery and homosexuality have become more and more expressed in the entertainment industry...a lot of korean movies (dramas have yet to become that daring, as most of the viewers are of different age range, i presumed) these days reflect on these...i watch movies such as april snow, lovers and the frozen flower addressing issues of infidelity and gay relationship...very weird issues those days (when i was young and naive)...i used to giggle when i hear these words - lover, cheat, gay - and so on as i haven't had the real grasp of the nature of these words....


to be truthful, times are changing...not that i'm more accepting, it's more like, i'm more understanding...i have quite a strong religious belief regarding these, but the movies are educating and entertaining nonetheless...asian dramas or no, i'm hoping that a malay movie or drama will never ever ape the western styles...i guess originality is very important and i have fond memories of some of the sappy malay movies and dramas i used to watch those days (i sounded like i'm 50 already!)...not that i'm watching malay movies and dramas these days (they are crap, i'm being honest)...let's keep them nice, simple and crappy shall we?i'm being nostalgic here ^^

you made my day, cutie-pie

moving on, i saw a cute guy yesterday...it happened after a dinner with kak tun at the chicken rice food court near westfield (eating out day 5)...i sent kak tun to the bus stop and the guy was behind her in line...he's cute in a feminine way (quoting kak tun)...kak tun said, he smiled a lot and was very social...the downside is, he's kinda short for a caucasion (this is not meant to be a racist comment!just a general observation!)...


anyway, i thought about incidental meetings that kak tun was telling me about earlier...as usual (i'm sooo predictable that i feel like my face has writings on it!), i was talking about how hard it is to find a bf (not that i'm trying), and kak tun replied with:

'every couple has a unique way of meeting each other, be it meeting in the plane, at a cafe or at a bus stop while waiting for the bus (okay this part is dedicated for cute-guy, that's the name i dubbed him)....u just have to try and actively participate in male society (emphasizing on that male part as i'm well known to hang-out with girls...all the time!am i turning into a lesbo!)'

..all i can say is, lucky lucky kak tun!she has all the luck with cute guys!i'm too shy when it comes to guys...ah it's worth mentioning that my brain always go haywire when it comes to guys...not that i can't think straight when i talk to them, it's just that i can suddenly turn all stupid (bimbette-like such as 'oh yeah?wow?is that so?...even though i know about the things these guys said by DNA) and my voice turn all cute and higher pitched (remember all those korean girls squealing 'oooppaaaaa!!!'...yup i'm pretty close to that)...not that a lot of people notice...it's embarrasing nonetheless!what's up with girls turning all girly-cutie-here-i'm-so-can't-pick-up-the-fork-on-my-own-without-u in front of guys?...it's so mysterious!

blame it on the rain

it's raining ceaselessly these days...there are only 3 best-described types of weather here in auckland right now....and they are:

• trickle
• reasonably rainy
• deluge

you'd be surprised that the sun can sometimes peak and say hello, say, for 30 minutes in a day...so to commemorate this rainy pre-winter season, i'd like to blame all of my faults on the rain...yes, the fact that i can't sleep at night is due to the rain...the fact that i can't bear to part from my nice soft pillows and bed in the morning is the rain's fault....the fact that i'm too lazy to go to class is because of the rain...the fact that i'm wearing my scraps of nightwears even though the average temperature of auckland is around 10 degrees celcius is the rain's fault...the fact that i'm to lazy to do anything including basic human necessities such as showering (yucks i'm turning into a disgusting piece of filth), cooking (spending excessive amount of dollars on food when i have lots of ingredients for cooking) and hmmm toilet visit (NOT!just joking!)?


anyway, i have to grit my teeth and prevent my feet to move towards the highly desirable areas of shopping (nothing to do with rain...well, the weather can kind of prevent me from shopping but really?nothing can stop a girl from her shopping!)...that is beside the point...right now, rain is a very sensational topic with all of my friends...my last conversation with fazan went like this:

harley: do u notice that lately it rains a lot?
fazan: yeah!i hate the rain!
harley: i really don't want to go to school coz of that!i get all wet!
fazan: omg!i have to force myself!not that i don't have a choice in that matter!
harley: the rain falls every second!
fazan: yeah!i even decided not to go to foodtown on my way back from the hospital!
harley: i kinda really want to skip all of my classes and stay i bed!i want to die (okay, if u are awake and sane, this 'dying' part is just to shock u awake from ur la-la-land...pay attention!this is a very vital issue)


do u notice a pattern here?yes, a lot of exlamation marks (not that we use that a lot but u get the tone) and in reality we can go on and on with this issue...by the way, that's not the exact replica of the conversation...u get the point!i'm pretty sure if my mind cease to function in any near future social gathering, i'll bring up this topic of rain coz from one word (that is 'rain'), it can turn viral and takes over the whole conversation!now that's what i call street smart...

adventurous

talking and listening are my favourite activities...if u ask me to dinner, i'd say say just for the sake of having company to talk to...anyway, this reminded me of my yesterday's dinner date with kak tun...she is a very nice and crazy funny lady and she is also one of the most interesting person that i know...she has so many anecdotes that are very entertaining and she is also very wise...anyway, some of the things she commented about kept playing in my head...


on of them is she looked and me and declared that i am 'adventurous' in regards to my clothing...i mean, if u know me well, u know that i wear anything from outragous colours combination to stark coloured shoes and bags...i'm one hell of a colourful girl...yesterday, i thought (pardon me for thinking this is normal, my normal sense is skewed) i dressed normally in cream coloured sleeveless top with small ruffles across the chest and plain black jeans...the problem was, i also wore a light yellow long-sleeved undershirt, a moss green head scarve, a pair of yellow covered shoes and yes, to top it off is a light pink bag...she claimed that's 'adventurous'...well, err, i didn't even noticed that i was being uhmm too colourful...i know that the most combination of colours allowed to be worn (for the sake of preserving the eyes of the observers around, mind u) are 3...but i broke the unspoken rule all the time, it's kind of unproductive to suddenly change my ways...i like being called 'adventurous' (eventhough she may have been trying to be pc, but what the heck, i still love it!)...harley, the adventurous lady~that's me!