Oh joy

Sorry guys, blogging regularly hasn't been my priority lately; not even close.

I'm finding it hard to just relax; all my deadlines seem to overlap- it's a cruel semester.

Introduction draft for my dissertation is due to supervisor on Monday (then methods+results) 2 weeks after, presentation coming up on Wednesday, more experiments to run whilst still waiting for materials to arrive from the other hemisphere. Gah I hate waiting and the feeling of not knowing if there's enough time to complete all experimental work before the deadline.

A few of you might know I've started- well, barely anyway- on the job hunt for next year. Priority is still to get a job somewhere in NZ (preferably in Welly YAY) but I'm not putting my hopes too high yet. Lots of emailing and editing of CV/cover letter to do (which I'm not fond of doing at all to be honest). It's the time of the year when students start hunting for the good flats to stay next year as well, and not knowing where I'll be next year makes me nervous :S

Anyway, as requested- here's the blog of the beautiful, super talented Malaysian/Sydney-based photographer I randomly stumbled on.

Introducing Jenny Sun.

It's impossible not to fall in love with her photos. Pure magical. And they just took me to the actual scene of the beautiful buildings, the blissfully married couple holding hands and gazing dreamily into each other's eyes... ok you know what I mean.

Browsed through her photoblog and realised that she's a Christian too! The next thing I know I was sending her a short email on how she had totally made my day just by blogging about her life and photography. I didn't expect a reply, of course, knowing that big-time photographers probably can't be bothered with a non-client's email.

And then a few hours later, I received a reply!

Hi Jocelyn!

Thank you so much for your email! Its so sweeeeeet!

Thank you for making MY day with your kind words :)

Blessings,
Jenny

Totally *smile* factor, ok. HEH.

(proof of how even when your day sucks, making someone else's feel better DOES help improve your own and make yourself feel much more positive)

I take it as a sign to go ahead with my passion for photography :) 5DM2, I'm (still) eyeing you. I know there's a lot of people out there saying how they'd work as XXX for 10 years, then take up photography/journalism (or better yet, photojournalism! :P ) after that, travel the world, go to Africa etc. I say, why not take advantage of your passion while you still have it, nurture it, and practise it? I just don't want to one of those people with the big-as cameras yet have no idea how to use them, but bought it just because I can afford to. That's why I opted with practising with my current powershot first- it's a good training ground! Still is, though the battery/battery charger is going a little cuckoo on me lately. Time to get it checked by the professionals.

So anyway, do click on that link to Jenny Sun's blog (if you haven't done so yet). I guarantee that you'll smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside by just looking at the couple photos :P

I'd love for her to be my wedding photographer someday ;)

my precious peach :)

When life makes you want to say "I have no time" or just simply throw away your books/projects/assignments and book the next plane out of the city, text your girlfriends :) They probably won't throw all their commitments aside to help you with your work, but you'll almost be guaranteed to get a few laughs/encouragements/hugs and along with it serotonin to help make your day/week more bearable.

The last few weeks have been a whole new level for me. Never have I had to juggle with so many tasks and workload- 3 papers may not seem like a whole lot of work, but gosh it does take out so much time and energy from me. Of course, the 2nd semester of honours year (last semester ever of uni! so far, anyway) is as expected, CHALLENGING yet rewarding by the time I receive that piece of certificate in my hands, with a big fat "1st class honours" printed on it.

But no matter how frustrating research can be somedays, I make time to relax. Be it agreeing to go for lunch/coffee session, watch 1 or 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, play the keyboard, etc. Or maybe even just taking photos using my lovely new phone teehee!

Btw, thanks again to Chyi and her friend who bought it from Singapore.

Presenting... Sony Ericsson c901 in precious peach!!! *loves

Oh yes before you ask, I am a huge fan of Sony Ericsson, ever since my first SE back in 2006: k750i. My previous w850i has suffered a traumatic accident, you'd be surprised to know that it is functional now, though the keypads are a little... hard to use haha due to the stickiness of the liquid it fell into. Anyway... some photos of my new phone and the photos taken using the flashy 5.0Mp camera function.

NOT the official theme, not pretty nonetheless right?

the "c" in c901 stands for cybershot BTW
The keypad is a joy to use. Love the silver deco lining

sliding the cover at the back to reveal the camera lens
with xenon flash MMMM (instead of the usual led flash)
xenon flash is far more powerful. with autofocus function, great macro shots (example below), smile shutter function, etc the whole shebang that comes with new cameraphone models

camera function in action.
5Mp resolution is waaaaaay too much for just general usage (same resolution if I were to use my Canon camera!), so I usually just use 3Mp- it is good enough. Transferring photos is easy too! using bluetooth function to transfer to my laptop takes only a few seconds

just the right size: from the left my ipod nano, SE c901, SE w850i
oooh and I've bought a cute phone pouch from Etsy :)

Some random photos taken using c901...

mocha @ Eureka

Photos below taken on the Take 2 (reorientation) when there was a carnival-themed event happening around uni

swing-around thingy which looked so unsafe haha!
outside the Richardson building. if one of those harnesses would to come loose, people would swing right into the Richardson building :P

another unstable-looking structure: the ferris wheel
the queue was sooooooo long. well, all the rides were free though

busker/singer with an european accent
*cough* becky swooning over his lyrics *cough* HAHA!

the bouncy castle

Yay I can finally go to the farmers market tomorrow morning! Been so busy the last few Saturdays (group meetings, experiments blabla) that I actually missed going to the market and enjoy my lamb kebabs/dumplings/fresh soy milk/french crepe HEHEHE. At night, I have a date with 2 sexy ladies at the International Cultural Nite :P then hopefully make it to the "Heart of Worship" event at Union Hall next Wednesday. Saying 'hopefully' as starting this semester, I have back-to-back presentations on every Wednesday and Thursday; meaning 1 class presentation every single week :( The actual presentation doesn't scare me anymore, but it's the amount of research and actual preparation of each presentation and the group meetings which tire me out.

Have a good weekend ahead, wherever you may be :) Big apologies to those I haven't been keeping in touch with, as much as I had wanted to. You'll be happy to know that you're always on my mind (gosh sounds like that cheesy love song), next to my bacteria :P hehehe

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 :)

New & old

So you might have heard by now that my phone is dead. Brain dead.

The whole story (if you're interested) is this: The light in the living room kept flickering on and off, so I decided to just turn it off. But having dinner in the dark is a no-no, hence my brilliant idea of using the light function on my phone to provide some light when I have my dinner, while balancing my phone on top of a cup filled with So Good chocolate soy milk.

Yeah brilliant, I know. It was a looooong day; news of MJ's death has taken a toll on the results of my experiments (not that I'm a fan), I'm still getting nowhere near results fit enough for write-up, and well just frustration, all in all. Oh, and I was hungry, hadn't eaten since morning, and didn't think of going into my room to have dinner. So "plop" it went into the cup, I had particularly slow reflex reaction in getting it out, taking out the battery and SIM card, then dried it with my hairdryer, turned it on (GAH I SHOULDN'T HAVE- now I know) to see if it's still working, and then it just went dead- been like that since.

I called mum the other day to tell her about it (she sounded worried haha probably thought I had swine flu or something), and she laughed. -__- To make this even, mum's last phone died in the washing machine. She pointed out quite obviously to me that my 1st phone drowned in the toilet bowl, and now it had drowned in my chocolate soy milk. But yay for the go-ahead to buy a new phone. And thanks so much to a friend I had just met 2 hours before she had offered to lend me her extra phone YAY! Though I'm such a Sony Ericsson loyal customer for so many years now I find it torturous using a Nokia (PDA somemore, no keypad!)

The worst thing about this little accident is that I had lost all my phone contacts. Stupid me, I had forgotten to save all my contacts from phone memory into SIM card :(

So please do bear with me if I ask who you are when I reply your text. I don't have amnesia, at least not yet.

So I've been doing research on what phone to replace my loyal and lovable SE w850i. The new HTC models are beautiful and all, but probably too big for my liking. As for iPhone, stop convincing me to get already! The only thing I like about it are the awesome games. Then again, an ipod Touch would do the job better. And the Nokia E series does look like a good investment, but SE has me by my heart ;)

So after countless messenger conversations, browsing through forums, checking out prices, and erm oogling at SE Satio (Idou) (not yet released), I've decided on Sony Ericsson c901.

I'm so getting one in peach. =P
First it was silver, then black, last was white, and now..... PEACH!!! (hoping that they do have stock in that colour)

Thanks to an awesome friend AHEM Chyi, her friend coming over from S'pore will help me scope the prices and buy & bring it to NZ in 2 weeks' time. YAY! Price is reasonable, plus it has a 5Mp camera with Xenon flash (which is a plus), compared to c905 and c903 (both sliders) which I was considering getting too. But if only Satio is out now... it has a 12Mp camera function *drools*

So yeap- hope that this is the right decision. I even seriously contemplated settling for c702 as it is waterproof =P So no more potential accidents. But nah, the better camera function in c901 has won me over.

Besides doing *cough* researching, I've been hibernating at home except for the 15 minutes I'd been out today to VideoEzy renting Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy =D Who would have thought I'd spend the past 9 hours watching McDreamy et al on dvd? You must be so proud of me, Sam. hehe. Shall I rent season 2 tomorrow? Should I should I? (that's 27 episodes in season 2 btw eeeeks)

Felt a little nostalgic again just now flipping through old photos and showing Sharon the funny videos taken while in Studholme, and then I saw this:


HEHEHE. We all have grown, haven't we?
Canai, you were THIN and almost aneroxic gosh. May: long hair weeeeeeee. I had curly/long hair too. And Yung Yung's engaged now. Chyi you actually had flat hair. WOW. Btw if you can't remember, this was taken at Clubs and Socs during the OMSA food fair in 2006 ;)

On a side note, ski trip etc arrangements and bookings have been made! *high 5 Becky* We're leaving at 7.15am on Thursday morning to the land of snow, Queenstown =D coming back on Sunday evening. 1st time attempting to ski, hoping that I'd get a cute ski instructor HEHEHE and possibly do sky diving if I do have the guts to still go for it.

oh yes I complain, too

I DEMAND MY HOLIDAY!!!

Ok I'm quite annoyed that though exam is over, I still don't get a proper holiday. Not 'flying off to somewhere' kind of holiday, just the 'yay I'm free to do whatever I want for the next 2 weeks till semester 2 starts' kind.

Exam ends tomorrow for everyone. I miss that feeling- sending mass texts to everyone on my contact list announcing my freedom, or just going to random lunches/window shopping trips. This year, I can't even leave the lab without thinking that if I come back to the lab too late, I'd miss the timing entirely and screw up an experiment. I feel bad saying "I'll see how it goes" when people invite me for lunch. So I'd rather not have lunch than risk having to repeat an experiment just because the bugs decide to grow faster and though I did plan everything perfectly, sometimes it's just one of those days.

Sleeping in till 9am is a luxury for me. Got up at 9, went to the lab at 10, stayed there till almost 5pm. Ran experiments whole day (does 10 minute incubations count as resting?), skipped lunch, nonstop pippeting (probably over 500 times today?) until my fingers hurt, ran 2 separate 24-hour assays, and on top of that having a headache reading and researching so much for the writeup. Come back home at 5pm, cook dinner, rest a little, do more research.

However, the worst thing is having construction workers drilling just 2 metres away from you outside the window. The noise is HORRIBLE and irritating beyond description. It's worse than some noisy neighbours getting drunk and playing nonstop dance music, because well at least it's music. There's nothing anyone in the lab could do- the construction has to go on in order to get completed. Too bad my lab is on the 8th floor and scaffolding works are already almost finished on other floors. A PhD student in my lab got a set of heavy duty headphones from the store, another girl had earplugs on, the others (including me) just turned up our mp3 players REALLY loud. If they're still on it tomorrow, I'm so going to get the proper headphones, even if I do look silly. But priority is still to NOT get a constant migrane or suffer from long term brain damage due to constant, irritating noise pollution. Even my supervisor came out from his room yelling about wanting to throw something at the workers. I understand that they are doing their job, but HEY pleaaaaase find a way to do that without disrupting OUR work too!

So that explains why my head's still feeling like it's going to explode.

I'm going crazy. If I don't do some retail therapy tomorrow. Fingers crossed I'll be able to leave the bugs to grow happily for a few hours while I regain my sanity.

:( I'm tired of being a student already. So does it sound crazy to you that I'm actually going to apply for Masters/PhD scholarships?