Pinky and the new layout

New pink/black layout, in case you haven't noticed.

Been slacking around, done little studying and watched heaps of korean drama series.

It's Independence Day tomorrow! (or rather, Hari Merdeka) I remember my school headmaster asking us to shout "Merdeka!" 3 times during assembly every year comes 31 August. Ah, the sweet memories.

Patriotism- the long forgotten theory (esp amongst Malaysians).

70% NOT Malaysian

In conjunction with the coming National Day this Thursday, I decided to take the "How Malaysian are you?" test. This is how I fared.

Congratulations Jocelyn, you are 70% not Malaysian.

That means you're as Malaysian as...


Guy Sebastian !

How Un-Malaysian Are You?

-________-''' (x 100 times)

Anyway, paintball was a lil bit disappointing, though I did get a lot of sourvenirs from the game: sore muscles and a bruised shoulder. My team led by Canai lost. Gah. A few paintball guns were not working well, so a few of us had to change guns in the middle of the game, including my attacking partner-in-crime. And sad thing was, the owner of Combat Zone Paintball was extremely racist: "If you ASIANS want to play this next time, come earlier... etc". Well, apek, for your info, there will be no more next time.

Congrats to Teresa, Spencer and those involved in the Korean night thingy. I wasn't there to laugh at watch Spencer acting to the song "Lonely" by Akon, too bad eh. Thank goodness there's such a thing as cameras to record the songs and dramas. ;P

Friday nite music practice was, as always, brilliant. Ellise is a truuuuuuly talented pianist. Wish I could play like her. Must practise more during this 1 week holiday!

Til then, enjoy the short holiday season.

YOU feel like home

Feeling something I haven't felt for a long time now.

Content.

It doesn't mean that nothing's worrying me or there's no studies to be revised, but it's a 6th sense feeling that everything is going to turn out just fine well (FINE stands for freaked-out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional ;P).

I got my music dictation and case study results back today. Could have done better in the dictation, wasn't paying attention during the last one.

Case study however, was a miracle. Heh. I went into the Commerce building thinking that I'd be happy with 10% (out of 15%). It was, after all, my very first commerce-ish assignment. Ron and I decided to open the results at the same time , and gosh were those few seconds excruciating. Anyway, won't bore you la. The results were good. =D Even the figures were pretty (88%)! Thanks Lord!

No Biochem and MANV lectures tomorrow. Whee! MANV terms test on Wednesday wasn't that bad, though I got cold feet when I saw the accounting module questions. Ironic thing was, no calculators were allowed. Sheesh.

Which means only 1 lecture tomorrow! This only happens once in a VERY blue moon. Which also means we're going to play paintball tomorrow! Can't wait!

Culture disbelief

Monday morning. 8am. Cold, gusty winds. (Still no snow yet?) Wraps jacket tightly around myself. Forgotten to bring scarf. Nyeh. Reaches my lecture theatre (Quad 2). Goes up stairs. Sees Critic (weekly student magazine) on side table. Glances at it. Cover of Critic shows a huge hand-drawn penis, with "Men's issue" written ON it. Goes "Errr. o-kay." Glances away. (If you really wanna see the front cover, click this. Only if you're above 18!).

Walks into lecture theatre. Sees Ron, sits next to him. He looks even more groggier than I am. Guest lecturer walks in and introduces herself. Scottish accent! Gah, darn annoying. Pays extra attention and scribbles notes furiously while trying to pick up one of the world's hardest to understand accents. 50 mins over. Phew. Walks past table with Critic magazines again. Ron looks at me, I look at him, we laugh, thinking "How much more pathetic can this get?"

I'm quite open-minded. I think. Being here for more than a year now has made me immune to these kind of stuff. Yet, sometimes there are still happenings that made me go "Ew. Gross". Sometimes too much is just too much. For example, when I first arrived at Studholme Hall and came into my room, there was an orientation pack on the bed. Inside was a study calender, student handbook, orientation parties info, lollies, a magazine with condoms drawn on it, and (why am I not surprised) 2 Durex condoms. My flatmates had enough humour to fill the condoms with shampoo and hang them on my doorknob. Of course la I threw them away, but who knows what the cleaner might think when she emptied my rubbish the following day...

Another incident that made me wonder what the heck are the Kiwis thinking is the mayhem at Castle Street on Saturday night. What happened was around 400 drunk and extremely drunk students threw beer bottles and set couches on fire on the street, and the police had to arrest 30 students for their quote: "disorderly behaviour". Normally you would only see these kind of so called riots happening in the middle east, but believe it or not, this is a common sighting in Dunedin. (More info?)

Further examples protraying the seemingly weird lifestyle of NZ uni students:

• Few weeks ago, when the world cup was still on: A drunk guy in our hall peed in the dining room. Eww, right?
• Boobs on Bikes parade in Auckland. Read?
• Stealing supermarket trollies is regarded as a heroic act.
• Drunk? Let's steal those road/street signs! Even better, bring them home and hang it somewhere in your room.
• Running for Health Science rep next year? Get a Baywatch video with Hasselholf in it, then using your incredible graphic skills, put yourself in the movie itself. Remember not to have any tan at all. Brilliant!
• Running for women's rep? Not to worry. Stick posters saying "Do you pee sitting down? I do too! We have so much in common, that's why you should vote for me!" and "Do you do stuff? Me too! Vote for XXX!" in the women's toilets. Simple as pie.

And a whole lot more unmentionable examples.

Of course, there are many relatively NORMAL students in Otago too. So what are you waiting for? Come study in the University of Otago, when normal isn't normal at all.

Looking out for spring

Choir practice is getting *ahem* interesting. Liz (our music conductor) couldn't turn up for practice today, so Johny took charge. We continued polishing up the incredibly boring song Ave verum Corpus by Mozart. Alto isn't that hard to sing actually, but a Kiwi girl kept singing the soprano part instead. Bleh. Thank goodness the other song we're doing is much more interesting- "Don't worry, be happy" by Bob Marley. Just listening to the song makes me wanna jump out of my seat and dance, so I hope the judge would like it. =) Competition between Stud and St Mags/Selwyn hall is just 5 weeks away. Yikes.

Scarfie had an exhibition at the musuem showing the student life in Otago uni dating to a century back, so we decided to go visit.

A controversial student newsletter during the 80's. (Look closely)

Selwyn hall's guys during their annual "ballerina dance". Hiak hiaks.

Need I say more?

Actual mummies!

Clear blue skies.

Are those cherry blossoms?

Spring in 10 days (hopefully)!!!

Too blessed to feel stressed!

I feel so blessed! Teehee.

I wanted to get good speakers for my laptop as the sounds are seriously horrible, terrible and vegetable. Few weeks ago, I had my eye on a $200 Creative i-trigue 3400 speaker system, thinking that it was good quality stuff, and intended on buying them from Noel Leemings soon. But funny enough, things happened and keep preventing me from buying them.

Anyway, yesterday a friend from my church, Raymond, came to my flat and I told him that I wanted to get speakers. Lo and behold, he knew ALL about speakers! haha, not everything, but much more than my friends and I to advice me on the type and brand of speakers to get. Apparently, those Creative ones are crappy not up to the standard of speakers I'm after. So happy! =) I'm considering Altec Lansing ones btw, and he's kind enough to review some of them for me. Uber kindness.

This might not seem like something BIG, but to me, it is a real blessing. It means that I didn't have to spend over 500 ringgit on speakers which sound system is just a wee bit better than my current laptop ones, and end up complaining about poor sound effects next year. Which is why this is great news to me. *smiles*

It seems that recently I keep meeting people that had helped me in one way or another, no matter how small it is. I'm not addicted to Korean dramas, but after watching Full House, I needed more! So it seemed like a weird coincidence when I got to know a friend from my MANV 101 lectures who was INTO Korean dramas and offered to download those dramas that I requested as he has broadband connection.

How we became friends was quite a story. I noticed that there was an Asian guy in my MANV tutorial, and coincidentally we were in the same group during discussion time. Then, I discovered we were actually in the same Biochem lab, same table nonetheless, and sitting opposite each other! wakaka. Next week after tutorials, we decided to formally introduce ourselves after a series of weird coincidences. So that's how I got to know my super friendly Mandarin and Hokkien speaking Filipino friend, Ron. It feels great to finally meet someone who's doing the same degree as you are (not many people doing Biotech in Otago, I suppose).

Missed "Battle of the Bands". =( Instead, had music practice and after that, went for a tour at Raymond's flat at Arana Hall. It's 20 dollars cheaper per week, queen size bed (single at Studholme!), bigger heater (oil column!), bigger room etc. haihz. Jealousnya. His room has the best view I reckon, with one of those windows for star-gazing and to look at the whole of Dunedin. Beauuutiful.

Lotsa movies and Korean drama series to watch, too little time to watch them all! Gah. Must study for MANV test this coming Wed. All the best to all Health Science students sitting for Heal test tomorrow.

Anyway, being surrounded by people who make you feel blessed make you realise how much blessed we actually are. And though I complain about the cold weather and lousy angmoh food sometimes, nothing can compare with the blessings that came with the package when I even thought about studying in this beautiful country. =)

Not asking why

Mid August marks the start of more assignments and tests. MANV test next wednesday, music dictation every 2 weeks, and BIOC test just 3 weeks away. I barely have enough alone time to just let loose and do the things I love doing. Hmph.

I had to admit, the Elim church production "what's the point 2006" on Saturday night was beyond what I had expected. The band was great (congrats, Ariel!), really convincing testimonials to back up the skits and musicals, lucky draws did put smiles on faces of those who were lucky enough to get them (Ipod shuffle!). I also got to know a great song entitled "Why" by Nichole Nordeman. When the pianist was serenading the song and playing so effortlessly on the keyboards, I was speechless.

We rode into town the other day
Just me and my Daddy
He said I'd finally reached that age
And I could ride next to him on a horse
That of course was not quite as wide

We heard a crowd of people shouting
And so we stopped to find out why
And there was that man
That my dad said he loved
But today there was fear in his eyes

So I said "Daddy, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why is He dressed in that bright purple robe?
I'll bet that crown hurts Him more than He shows
Daddy, please can't you do something?
He looks as though He's gonna cry
you said he was stronger than all of those guys
Daddy, please tell me why
Why does everyone want him to die?"

Later that day the sky grew cloudy
And Daddy said I should go inside
Somehow he knew things would get stormy
Boy was he right
But I could not keep from wondering
If there was something he had to hide

So after he left I had to find out
I was not afraid of getting lost
So I followed the crowds
To a hill where I knew men had been killed
And I heard a voice come from the cross

And it said, "Father, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why are they casting their lots for My robe?
This crown of thorns hurts Me more than it shows
Father, please can't You do something?
I know that You must hear My cry
I thought I could handle the cross of this size
Father, remind Me why
Why does everyone want Me to die?
When will I understand why?"

"My precious Son, I hear them screaming
I'm watching the face of the enemy beaming
But soon I will clothe You in robes of My own
Jesus, this hurts Me much more than You know
But this dark hour I must do nothing
Though I've heard Your unbearable cry
The power in Your blood destroys all of the lies
Soon You'll see past their unmerciful eyes
Look there below, see the child
Trembling by her father's side
Now I can tell You why
She is why You must die"

Why by Nichole Nordeman.

Every time I listen to this song, it reminds that whatever hardships we might be encountering, they don't even compare to what He went through. And no matter how lost we might feel at times, He knows and cares. ALWAYS. That's how I find comfort and peace through it all. =)

Dunedin International Film Festival

It's been a long week.

Passed up a MANV assignment which I had to shrink from 2500 words to the limit of 1500 words. Had a bowling nite out with the Nations worship team last night, watched a great film "The Road to Guantanamo" at the Dunedin International Film Festival the afternoon before, then had a round of shopping. Bought another pair of sunnies! =P Jamming session lasted for a few hours just now, felt really energised after that since I haven't been practising any keys for a whole week. Eeeks.

Back to the film I mentioned about. I went to the Regent Theatre not expecting much. But the moment Sarah and I sat down at the extremely red plushy seats and stared at the red, blue, and green lightings illuminating the theatre, it felt like a totally different world.

The film is based on a true story depicting British citizens who were wrongly accused as al-Qaeda members and kept in the Guantanamo prison for 2 and a half years, tortured and forced to admit doing something they did not commit. As they were Muslims, they immediately became the "suspects" of Osama's followers, and it was such an eye-opener to see the story from another perspective. I saw how the US army used deceit, threats, and violence in treating the Guantanamo prisoners, and I'm sure everyone who watched the movie had somehow grown a dislike or at least a different view to the US army in the middle east. Of course, not all of them are dishonest and inhumane, but it's just sad to know that this situation is still happening in Afghanistan, where innocent citizens are accused of being linked to the terrorists.

No wonder I wasn't surprised when we were asked to sign a petition of some sort to the US government to pay more attention to the Guantanamo prisoners just outside the theatre.

The irony was, since that movie, I came in contact with HEAPS of Americans. Gah. Right afer the movie during shopping, the only 2 shop assistants at a local departmental store that spoke to us were Americans. Then at the Link (central library), we saw a booth promoting a summer job in USA. Just today, we had a new Biochem lecturer who had an American accent but (fortunately) turned out to be a Canadian. Well, you get what I mean. It's just plain creepy.

Anyway, for those who want to know more about the movie, here's the link to the synopsis.

Time has told me

Fate.

It's what that makes us reach where we are now. It's what that makes us meet the people we know now; what makes us not know the people we'll never meet. It's what that made me write this post, and what that made sure you're reading this.

It may be overrated at times, but let's face it, life is all based on fate. A simple comcept with a deep meaning. We can't control it, and for some reasons, it makes life a whole lot more interesting knowing that fate can always lead us to new and unexpecting situations or new people.

The Lake House was a movie I saw earlier on, and the plot revolves around the fact that fate has happened to cross between 2 individuals at totally different "times". It's not as confusing as the movie reviews say it is, and it's a definite recommend from me. Keanu Reeves did a great job, though there wasn't much chemistry noticed with Sandra Bullock's character. Nevertheless, the movie will make you leave the theatere asking tons of questions, and thinking a lot about that four letter word. On top of that, the soundtrack is just awesome. =)

Time has told me
You're a rare rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind.

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
Someday our ocean
Will find its shore.

So I'll leave the ways that are making me be
What I really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making me love
What I really don't want to love.

Time has told me
You came with the dawn
A soul with no footprint
A rose with no thorn.

Your tears they tell me
There's really no way
Of ending your troubles
With things you can say.

And time will tell you
To stay by my side
To keep on trying
'til there's no more to hide.

So leave the ways that are making you be
What you really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making you love
What you really don't want to love.

Time has told me
You're a rare rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind.

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
For some day our ocean
Will find its shore.

Nick Drake- Time has told me.

Hold on to every moment, you'll never know when something good might just slip away from your fingers.

So, flatting it is

I signed the lease for Flat 6, 777 "The Lofts" yesterday. 4 more months living in Studholme Hall, then off to the flatting world. Must make the most of the last few months! =)

Sarah, Rebec, May and I went for a short walk up a nearby hill/cemetary site. The view wasn't bad at all, even though part of it had gravestones and tombstones all over. For some odd reason, the graves here aren't scary at all as opposed to those found in Malaysia, it was actually a really nice garden-like cemetary that people go there quite often for a leisure walk or jogs.

View from the top.

Dissected a knee joint of a deer during biology lab today. Surprisingly, it wasn't gross at all, and my lab partner and I had fun poking and cutting around the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Teehee.

Lazy to blog syndrome back again. Meh.

Choc mousie from Louise!

Randomness: The deepest scars are those we cannot see.