Beauty of it all

I just discovered that Joshua, the "visitor" medical officer from the tv series "V" (which, for me, is the best tv series to come out in a while after Heroes and Glee) is also a singer/songwriter!!! *drool*

Ok, so maybe I have a soft spot for science fiction tv series and guys who can sing/play the piano AND still manage to look cute teeheehee.

Anyway, back to his (real name: Mark Hildreth) songs. He's had 1 album so far: "Complex state of attachment", on sale on iTunes. Not bad at all, I think (trying to be unbiased as possible). Best described as  upbeat/feel good, pop/R&B with a hint of Maroon 5 cross Elton John. Nice piano-playing as well.

Here's the music video for "Siddhartha" (which, according to Wikipedia, is the name of the birth name of the founder of Buddhism??! oh well, he must be a devout Buddhist or something like that meh).

I'm feeling great :D

... because I sat for my restricted driving test this afternoon and PASSED!!! *jumps for joy* Thanks so much to my very patient driving instructor/coach, Agnes :)) Will be getting my new license in a few weeks YAY!

Ooh I'm considering getting a 5.1 surround sound system for my audio pleasure, just need to start doing research on brand and budget. Mmmmmm

Okay back to watching more tv series ;)

of bananas and wedges

Queenstown trip this year was action-filled from beginning to end.

It was a bummer that Becky and Mel was sick throughout the 4 days, but thumbs up to them for still not giving up on learning to ski :)

3rd time to Queenstown (third time's a charm?)- I wanted to accomplish 2 things: first is learn how to ski, and then sky dive. Those two costed a LOT, especially when I decided on impulse to get the dvd/photos/postcards combo pack for skydive (almost as much as the jump itself eeks)

So we left on Thursday morning by bus. Arrived at the Alfresco holiday house at noon-ish, had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, then just walked around town window-shopping and getting ski trip planning sorted. Rented goggles and gloves too, which was surprisingly cheap as opposed to getting brand new ones. Thanks Amy for lending me your glove!

the luxurious Alfresco House- where we stayed

view from the house- facing the Remarkables

mannequins have to stay warm too!

Best friends Becky & Mel with their matching ugg boots :P

Friday- woke up early to catch the 8.30am bus to The Remarkables ski field. It's about 10 minutes' drive from town, then another 30 minutes or so up the mountain.

snow- everywhere!

the chair lifts leading up to the more advanced slopes- which sadly, we didn't manage to go up to as it would be an extra lesson outside the 2-day starter pack we booked

the travellator- aka the "magic carpet" (3 altogether) leading from the entrance to the main building

oh yeah.

Taken just before heading back to town at around 4.30pm. Cute little girl in blue hehe. Btw many kids were skiing too, some taught by intructors, mostly taught by their parents. How cute! and well, they are faster learners than us

the long queue for the bus heading back

2nd day- more photos.

Didn't manage to take photos of us with our ski gear as I didn't want to risk dropping my camera in the snow :P The first day was sooooooo WARM that I was only wearing a singlet with a ski jacket and no scarf. Even my palms were sweating as the gloves were so thick and the sun was glaring. The 2nd day, however, was like a typical snowy day- snow and wind and incredibly freezing temperatures.

Overall, I would say that learning how to ski is like a bacterial growth curve :P The first hours can be frustrating, slow, and painful (falls!); but once you get the hang of it (maintain that "wedge"!!! haha), it's just a matter of practise and listening to advice from ski instructors. Walking with the skis and ski boots on snow is CRAZY I tell you: imagine your feet had suddenly grown 5 times its size, and the only way to walk up a slope is to walk like a crab- horizontally and on an angle that's crisscrossing the slope's angle. Takes a bit of getting used to. The boots were probably the most uncomfortable part of all- it was so tight (don't want it to fall off) my muscles are still a little sore from the tight grip.

P.S. a "wedge" is basically the formation our legs should shape into- sort of like a pizza with the tip having a small gap, and bigger gap towards the back. To stop, widen the wedge and avoid falling/bumping into someone else HAHA

I'm still bummed we didn't get to go up to steeper slopes using the chair lift. That would cost us extra for lessons and lift passes- and we were all tired and it was freezing cold the 2nd day. Next time- steeper slopes here I come!

Sunday morning- I finally ticked off another point on my to-do-before-I-die list and went skydiving. Most people are afraid of the idea of jumping off a plane, let alone from a height of 12000 feet (twice the height of the peak of the Remarkables mountain, I was told) and withstanding temperature as cold as minus 20 degrees celsius.

I'm not afraid of heights- so it wasn't really about conquering my fear. Though I love the marketing concept of "embrace the fear" by the skydive company, Nzone. The highlight bonus was getting strapped to a cute skydive instructor, Ricky :) :) :)

the plane! to fit 10 (1 pilot, 3 instructors, 3 cameramen, 3 crazy people jumping off a plane)

after reaching an altitude of 12,000 feet, we jumped!

Oh, and that's us doing the superman pose :P

P.S. the "banana" formation to adopt during skydive: head and shoulder up, hip backwards, knees bent.

after the initial 2-3 seconds of "landing on the sky", it was followed by ~45 seconds of freefalling, then 3 to 5 minutes of gliding in the sky after the parachute opens.

felt a little dizzy after the spins, but all good!

Now I can proudly say that I have skydived!!! :D

The dvd of my actual jump featured the song "Gone" by Switchfoot, which I find so appropriate. Some may call me impulsive and a big-spender, but hey, every day is another opportunity to reach greater heights (literally, too!). My biceps/triceps hurt from the pressure of my arm being flung upwards, and my bank balance is looking so miserable now, but it was all worth it.

She told him she'd rather fix her makeup
than try and fix what's going on
But the problem keeps on calling
even with the cell phone gone.

She told him that she believes in living
bigger than she's living now
But her world keeps spinning backwards
And upside down.

Don't say so long, and throw your self on.
Don't spend today away, 'cause today will soon be

Gone, like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
Just try and prove me wrong and
pretend like you're immortal.

She said, he said, live like no tomorrow
Everyday we borrow brings us
one step closer to the edge. Infinity.
Where's your treasure, where's your hope
if you get the world and lose your soul?
She pretends like she pretends like she's immortal.

Don't say so long, you're not that far gone.
This could be your big chance to make-up
Today will soon be

Gone, like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
The world keeps spinning on
You're going, going
Gone, like summer break is gone,
Like Saturday is gone
Just try and prove me wrong
You pretend like you're immortal (you're immortal)
You're immortal (you're immortal)

We are not infinite
We are not permanent
Nothing is immediate
We're so confident in our accomplishments.
Look at our decadence.

Gone, like Frank Sinatra, like Elvis and his mom,
Like Al Pacino's cash, nothing lasts in this life.
My High School dreams are gone,
my childhood streets are gone
Life is a day that doesn't last for long.

Life is more than money, time was never runny.
Time was never cash, life is still more than girls.
Life is more than hundred dollar bills and roto-tom fills.
Life is more than fame and rock and roll and thrills,
All the riches of the kings end up in wills
We've got information in the information age
but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?

She said, he said live like no tomorrow
Every moment that we borrow brings us closer
to the God who's not short of cash
Hey Bono, I'm glad you asked.
Life is still worth living, Life is still worth living.
Life is more that you are

Alright, back to the lab running experiments and studying (in a week when semester 2 begins). More photos to be uploaded to facebook soon :)

Snow @ Dunedin, 16/6/09

I'm loving the snow photos on facebook hehe. Rebekah so cute with her little snowmen she built, so lucky she's staying at Pine Hill, hence more snow!!!

Anyway, for those of you who're somewhere in the north island, you missed out on snow big time! I've got to say, today's snow showers beat the one we had in July 2007 when we were still staying at Great King Street.

I woke up at 7am today to beautiful, white snow!

view from my window

bench outside our flat covered with snow

zooming in on the snow flakes :)

Frederick Street. footprints!

look at the skid marks! scary-nya...

Did a little revision, took some photos, then headed off to Smitthel's gym for my exam at 9.30am. I had dreaded having an exam there as it's a freaking gym aka big open space, aka not easy to heat up. We waited outside (in the cold!) until my toes went numb despite wearing boots and thick socks. Apparently some security dude with the key to get into the gym didn't reach until almost 10am (he probably lived up on the hills covered with snow)!!! We whined and waited, and finally began exam at 10.04am.

I sat just next to the window, which was quite distracting as it was snowing on and off (quite heavily most of the time) outside hehe oh-so-pretty. Finally, exam finishes at 1.04pm- my tummy was already growling but I headed off straight to the lab to start an experiment. Had lunch at 2.30pm *eeks* then back to the lab at 3.30pm. YES I HAVE NO LIFE. or my life sort of revolves around exam and lab work nowadays.

But thank God for adrenaline :) which helped keep me very awake and full of energy despite being awake & busy since early in the morning without taking proper break excluding a 30-minute lunch.

Good ole Mick finally handed us our cheques for bond repayment! YESH I am $200 richer muahaha. Lovely brown boots from Overland? HMMMMMM. *cough* since the weather is so cold lately and I do get cold toes *cough* Also waiting on IRD tax refunds- expecting at least a few hundred as I'd worked many hours last year- but wouldn't get it till 2 or 3 months later.

Thank God for snow too! Yes I am a fan hehe :) Getting numb toes once or twice a year is worth it. No double digit temperature throughout the rest of the week, as expected. But any more snow, I wonder? Can't wait for the ski trip @ 1st week of July, soon woohoo!

More Dunedin snow photos submitted at NZ herald here.

Celebrating Xander :)

Yesterday was a day worth remembering.

Michelle had her 2nd baby scan and found out that she'll be having a baby boy!!!

-grabbed from Shaza's facebook profile

Baby Alexander ;P No, not Alex aka Canai. We've already started calling him Xander (my nephew's name too!)

Baby Xander was probably feeling shy yesterday as he didn't turn around to face the ultrasound scan thingy. So we couldn't get a good look of his handsome face hehe. But everything else is normal, i.e. measurements of organs looked ok. I never knew the ultrasound technology and all were so high tech! 3D views were even possible when they took pictures from different angles and formed an image.

It was quite funny coz towards the end when Mich asked about finding out the sex of the baby, the lady looked for any "clues" hehe and pointed at a blurry thing on the screen, saying "oh there it is, the baby's penis!" Ah, priceless moment ;)

Again, congrats to you both, Ray and Mich, baby Xander's going to be so loved (he already is hehe). I can't wait for early October to arrive!

***

Had my last group presentation over and done with for this semester earlier on this morning. yay! In a way, I'm glad that our lecturer decided to mix our groups up so we don't just stick to the same groups for all presentations. Getting to know other classmates and reading their interesting comments being scribbled on the journal article is...refreshing. I.e. my groupmate wrote down "leech with a shotgun" on my copy of the article amongst other notes while we were getting ready to present this morning. Oh, if you do any microbiology at all, the leech was referring to CRISPR arrays. haha!

Ok, I really should start revising now. Country road sale coming up hmmmm should I or should I not go?

The Pancakes' graduation

The Pancakes (Alex & Sam) came back to Dunedin for the weekend for their graduation ceremony. They just left hours ago, missing them already!

My 2nd time attending graduation ceremonies at the town hall. Official march from dentistry building to town hall was cancelled due to the awful weather (guess they didn't want the regalia and hood being wet), but I heard that many went ahead anyway

The organist of the ceremony

The Maori orator; funny guy

a reverand being awarded with the honorary degree of doctor of divinity
he even gave a speech at the end- very philosophical

the chancellor giving his speech
a few familiar faces behind him among the staff; some of the lecturers that had taught me throughout the past 3 years

the official photographers (McRobbie's) with the best view, of course

Sam being capped by the chancellor

I noticed that this lady has a pretty purple regalia!
I wonder which uni she had graduated from...

little get-together we had last night
Sam & Lisa, fellow intern pharmacist

Canai & Ray
short lunch at Jitsu

I'm blaming the weather for the lack of photos- didn't even manage to take photos (using my cam) for them in front of the clocktower due to the bad weather. Time was very limited too, barely had time to just sit down and chat. In a way I'm glad that I'll be graduating at the end of the year- exams will be over and it'll be summer (better weather hopefully?) WOW less than half a year to go for my turn to be capped and receive that certificate. SIGH not too far away and I can almost see it- but big hurdles to pass through first.

Had a good laugh about a misunderstanding I had earlier on the week. Alex had asked me to buy a bouquet of roses for Sam, and I just instantly thought of a marriage proposal! Haha. So I even went to the florists telling them I want to order roses meant for it XD Then few nights ago on the phone, when congratulating Alex, he was like, "for what?" I said "for your engagement la, duh what else?!" .... then after a few minutes of clearing up the misunderstanding I realised that the flowers were just for graduation, not because he was going to propose (yet) hahaha! OOOOOPS :P Oh well, not sure why I assumed that in the first place, maybe I just can't wait for more excitement in my life.

Speaking of which, I'm so looking forward to this Thursday: Michelle's going for her scan to find out the gender of baby!!!!! =D I'm rooting for a boy of course, many others as well. But not sure why, something's telling me that it's gonna be a girl :P Ron made a bet with the Yeos and will have to cook for them for a whole week if baby turns out to be a girl hehe. Boy oh boy (pun intended), it's going to be an exciting afternoon no matter what since it'll be the 1st time I'm going to see an actual ultrasound scan ever!

My experiments, as usual, are not working again! Trying to not get frustrated, think positive, and do my best to keep the cells happy gah.

Better weather ahead too according to metservice? Actual sunshine... could this be real? *fingers crossed*

The great getaway- days 2 & 3

I'm surprised my Wellington trip post ended up here. haha!

The bee sting site is less swollen now, but gosh is it itchy! Google tells me it'll stay itchy for about a week. Hmph.

July ski trip to Queenstown- to go or not to go? Yes of course I want to- considering I've been in NZ for 4 years now but have never skied before yeah it's just not normal. Well the first time when I went there as part of a hall trip; and considering we only spent 2 days 1 night there, there was no time to ski. 2nd time I went there with my parents and of course they opted not to ski. And now, final and busiest year of uni, I FEEL that I must go =P Thanks guys for planning, especially renting that awesome house with jacuzzi and all that flashy stuff. So yeap I've decided to go, just need to plan experiments well and probably start with writing up dissertation soon.

Sky-diving, here I come! =P

***

More photos on my Easter trip:

Days 2 and 3: Napier/Hastings

Arrived at Napier, the amazing art deco city, at around 3pm after a long bus ride from Wellington. My 1st impression of Napier/Hastings was of the beautiful public art, beach just a minute away from the Pancakes' flashy apartment, and incredibly sunny/cloudless skies =) And of course, having a reunion with Alex&Sam (after GOSH HOW LONG??? more than 5 months!!!) made me so happy =D

Sigh I'm so jealous of them: working professionals, earning big bucks (even more next year!), staying at such a great place with great views, no need to study and rush for assignments: that's what I call life.

Enough words, enjoy the photos.

gosh so pretty the view from their apartment!
imagine waking up to THAT view every day...

catching up/bonding time :)

May looking at a random korean drama series, while Sam was busy cooking noodles for hungry us

Dinner at Hog's Breath, all paid by Canai the big taukeh ;P

Day 3 @ Hastings: having cold drinks on a hot day

Sileni Estate: doesn't look like a winery at all
Hawkes Bay is internationally well-known for the quality of wine being produced here; there's literally hundreds of wineries here

display area inside

We paid $14.50/person in total for wine tasting (6 types of wine) and a tour around the winery
we also bought a bottle of dessert wine for a little indulgence :P

oops blurry. Not sure why May was covering her nose haha
probably the sour smell of fermenting wine

HUGE tanks used to make wine- one big tank holds 50,000 litres!

then we made our way to Te Mata Peak, a lookout point
The faithful Lancer (to the right)

zooming in on a beautiful estate/house

the brave Michelle, our driver hehe

brought Canai's tripod- very handy

hehe MayMay so cute

blue, blue skies!

the emo pic

I like this one

...and then we saw this -__-

what more can I say? beauty, beauty, and beauty all around us
probably the highlight of the trip for me: heh I'm content just looking over the valleys and mountains, enjoying the light breeze, and spending time with great friends :)

After that day, I was reminded again how blessed/lucky I am to be able to study here; to be able to travel, explore; and most importantly enjoying all those with best friends.