Tulip Festival

I have never appreciated e beautiful sun in KL as much as I did since I was in Melb. And today, was one of the sunny days that u jst hv to drag yr arse out in the sun.

So off we went, took a 1hr plus train to Lilydale. Dammit! It was so far until my flat ass was so soar. Arrived there & wonder aimlessly to look for this cottage for lunch tht Krystal wanted to bring us. In the end, we resorted to this little cafe. (Thanks, cupcake! I know u jst wanted us to try yummy food.. Don't worry lar, we're still friends.. hehee)

I guess today is jst not our day. Suppose to take a shuttle bus, only to realise tht it's an hourly one & we jst missed it. Took the cab. And for the first time, instead of the cab driver bringing us there, we had to look for the place together. How interesting!

Reachd @ the tulip farm and it was all worth it. The tulips are surprisingly huge. My goodness, nothing could describe the beautiful & tranquil scenery of lush blooming & colourful rows of tulips. My ultimate favourite: the pink tulips. Took lotsa crazy pics..!

Slept like a pig in the train back. Felt so refreshing & went for my all-time fav waffle & hot choc @ Max Brenner. Seriously, someone should start franchise Max Brenner to KL.. Oh! Oh! Maybe that person could be me...!!!!!!=-=

*drooling & dreaming at the same time**

My holidays so far..

...........has been a whirlwind.

There's nothing more disheartening than to hold yr closest friend crying in yr arms, knowing there's nothing much u can do to ease her pain other than to be there.

Kicked off Fri, strolling & enjoying my aft @ Melbourne Aquarium. It probably isn't the best place to go. But hey, I've got the best tour guide anyone could ever had. :) :) I'm sure u know who I'm talking abt. hehee.. Learnt heaps of stuff. Did u know that starfish's digestive system is an external one rather than an internal one?

Anw, had Vietnamese for dinner w the gang. And of course, head to South Yarra to watch Jen perform & checked out e new club! What's diff this time is we decided to put on make up... hehee.. girl's stuff. Sort of like a trial for the upcoming Comm Ball. Maybe I'm jst not used to it despite Sze's professionalism. But I thought I look like a confused dracula. ;P

Went home @ 4am & slept like a pig. 4hrs later, dragged myself off the bed & met w Uncle Raffidi (mum's friend) to pass him all my winter clothes. I had my first preview of going back for good as now my cupboard seems empty. ^_^ It's a v strange feeling, I mst say.

Sat aft, we headed off to the Royal Melbourne Showground. I wasn't tht excited until I reachd there. My goodness, tht place is huge man. Massive. The funniest thing is, in my 21yrs of living on this planet, I've never seen chicken on display before. Showground is like a circus thingy - lotsa stupid rides, good food & animal on display.

The highlight was definitely the sweet suprise by beloved Krystal, Richie & Franco. They tricked me saying tht Krystal hurt her leg & asked me to come downstairs @ my apartment's lobby, only to be greeted w 3 yummy Brunetti's sweet treats. awwwwww.. thanks guys, I was really really really touched. We ended up sitting @ the lobby like 4 crazy ppl..

Sun, craved for yum cha so off we went to Shark Fin House for lunch. Bumped around, window shopping in the aft. Went for bro's "future mother-in-law's" place for fish head mee.. Oh, it was so good. Even better was the durian milkshake & Bailey's milkshake tht Audrey made. Love the cosy family feeling...

And love mum's homemade mooncake allllll the way fr KL!! :)

I'm on holidaysssssss!!!!

That's right. It's finally my turn to hv hols. Melbourne Uni has been hving theirs for a week & ours has jst started. But, all is good. Jst finishd my last class for the week, meaning let's party!!!!!!! :) :) hehee..

To mark this significant holiday, we're kicking it off w a simple dinner tonight @ Franco's place then clubbing tmr!! Woohoo~~ checking out this new club called, Soultrain. And Jen's gonna perform there as well - their first paid gig. =-=..Can't wait-=- ;-)

Bunch yday was inspiring. Lisa (one of the girls in bunch) was sharing how "free" & remarkable she now feels after releasing herself fr the bondage of her past. She was saying how everyone has a past, at times a bad one. And it is so important to deal w it fr the ultimate root before we can fully move on.

I think my mum's life is too happening, I need to start making phone appointment with her every week. She wakes up at blardy 2am in the morn to meet her demands & talkin abt evolving, she now has "Carol Seng's homemade mooncake" stickers. Fulamak~~

Ling, if u're reading this, pls look at the mirror & tell yrself Irene misses you.

And yes, you too porcupine. *hugsssss**

The Unspoken - Part II

Had a long chat w Jeremy last night. Talking about our "future". Oh, what can I say! While we were discussing all these dreamy ideals of "what if...", I can't help but to feel this overwhelming sense of being loved and deeply touched by his sincerity & his effort to make this work, despite all our differences. Oh my God, can't believe I said tht..!! ;P

But, let's face it. A relationship for 3 months? Doesn't seems very promising to me..

So weird huh? Although we live in a so-called globalised world, two poor souls can still be separated by geographical boundaries... (Effect from my Bollywood globalisation essay!)

What more, it is so funny to know that he probably would never guess tht I've been blogging abt him or "us". But, I'm sure it's jst between the few of us, eh?!.. *nudge* *nudge** =-=..

I know the big guy up there brought us together for a reason and I'm interested to find out what it is.

Guess I should jst live and enjoy the moment, huh?

Star Struck

My fav book at the moment!! - Memoirs of Geisha
Originally uploaded by irenengzeann.

Oh!! Oh!! You know how I'm reading this book, Memoirs of Geisha. And, guess what? They're making a movie out of it. And, Zhang Ziyi would be the main actress, acting as Nitta Sayuri.. Check it out~~! A definitely mst watch. Promised Franco to watch it w him during our trip to Hong Kong.. Can't wait!!!

I saw Cameron Diaz today!!! My first Hollywood actress. She was here in Melbourne Central to promote her new film - In her shoes. Oh my gawd, I kid u not, she's so pretty!! Her blonde hair, her height, her charm.. jst everything! Waited for freaking 2hrs & only manage to catch a glimpse of her for 20mins or so. But, I guess once in a while u jst need to do all this silly teenager stuff.

Oops, am I still a teenager?

A Bollywood week

I finally handed in my Bollywood essay!! Phew~~ I had never felt so last minute for an essay before. Basically, the essay was due at 4pm and I’m still writing my conclusion at 3.50pm. Ooooh~~ Sometimes this adrenaline rush really makes me tick. Hv been cracking my brain for the past few days, trying to understand a culture tt I’ve always been so intrigued abt – Indians.

Met up w the ski trip guys for dinner on Fri night. Went to Laksa King - Malaysian food. Haven’t had Malaysian food for ages so u could imagine how I gobbled down my curry laksa n cincau drink. Still mum’s home cook food is e best!.. it was blardy cold tht night, jst e perfect timing for hot choc. So off we went to Fraus café.. this quaint European café tht serves a variety of hot choc. We mst’ve scared the hell out of Joseph & Haw Chuan coz their eyes were bulging n they were shaking their heads in disbelief when we ordered our 3rd drink.. hehee.. they’v got nice thick choc & odd flavours I’ve never tasted before. The meringue & tiramisu hot choc was fabulous but the nougat hot choc tasted like the washing machine detergent, we had a hard time arguing who should finish it.

Headed back to Krystal’s place, challenged our minds w this new board game Hawch bought – Articulate.. Something like Taboo but this one heavily tested us on general knowledge (at least for me & Krystal). Mental note: need to read more books. For supper, I had the worst mooncake of my life – whoever invented vegies in mooncake should be cursed & stoned for degrading the standards of mooncake. Ewwww~~~ what’s next? Chicken-flavoured mooncake?!..

Jeremy dropped by on Sat.. :) :) Hanged around whole aft, watched TV, and.............. *wink** *wink** .. chat lar.. Eh! Eh! ;P At night, I went to Franco’s place & had steamboat. The best thing u can do on a cold night is binging on hot steamboat with the company of friends..! :)

Arggghhhh, guess wht? I lost my fav pair of earrings. The silver hoops tht I always wear.. arghhhhhhh! Can’t belive I lost it.. a gift fr mum & it’s been w me for 5yrs. :( damn!!

Sun’s sermon was pretty good. Chris was talking abt dreams & how whn we were young, we are full of dreams but w little resource. Ironically, once we grew up, we are equipped w more resources but w little dreams.. Hmmmm, something to ponder abt! Catch up w Audrey & bro’s friends over Vietnamese lunch. Oh, was Mooncake Festival last Sun. Another reason to party. C’mon! We had Mooncake costume party.. we all dressed up as mooncakes. Ha! Kiddin lar~~

I was Chun Li again & some of them really went all e way. Kudos to the girl who came acting as Shrek’s gf. I tell u, she really look like one & it was soooOOOooo funny. Some came as vampires, nun, Star Wars, pirates, gambler dealer, soldiers, belly dancers - all in all, a funny night. Unlike the mooncake celebrations I’v always had at home – u know, playing w lanterns, candles, stealing my po-po’s food, burning my uncle’s plants.. heheee..

Simple things that make me happy

I've always look forward to Tuesdays since Elina, Devi, Steph, Jun & I started this coffee & fries session every Tues. Somehow, after a whole day of boring lectures & tutorials, it definitely succeeded in de-stressing me. Loved all those chats abt fashion, sex, guys.. u know, girls talk. Simple things tht make me happy. Hmmm~~

I'm hving this craze over the Willy Wonka tune & I jumped & shouted like I always do when Krystal let me hear the Willy Wonka ring tone today. Simple things that make me happy. I tell u, the song is sooooo cute. U know, how there are songs tht make u feel young? Okay, can't believe i said tht. Make me feel damn old now.

Jeremy suprised me with a Wonka chocolate today. How sweet! :) Simple things that make me happy.

Ling called me out of nowhere yday evening. Jst to say hi & told me that she's thinking abt me. Another simple thing that makes me happy. Miss u too dear... Really!

Another simple thing that makes me happy - hv Tim Tam's ice-cream with Jen after a tiring day at uni while she acts like a goldfish.

Happy 20th Birthday....

To my dearest coolest & cutest lil bro on earth.. Happy Birthday, Kenny! Heard fr mama tht u had a full blast celeb yday.. U deserve it! Dunno whether u'll b reading this but I wanna tell the whole wide world tht I'm so proud of u. So proud tht u finally came out fr yr nutshell of smoking, partying, mamaking & an accomplice to pirated VCDs in KL to now, on the route to being a cool pilot. hehee.. ;P Congrats on yr first sem results... damn happy when I heard fr mama.

That's it dude, crack yr brains up to study & party yr arse off in the weekends.. woohooo~~ will be back soon! & yes, I'd wanna be one of the first few girls to seat at e passenger seat beside u. At least the top 3!!! ^_^

Sovereign Hill – the end of my SLP trip leading.

One of my best experiences during my 2yrs of involvement in SLP (Student Leadership Program) would be the opportunity to be a trip leader. It’s even better when I haven’t been to the trip before & tt was the case of yday’s Sovereign Hill day trip. I had always wanted to go Sovereign Hill where the infamous gold mines, revisiting Aus’s historic gold rush era in the 1850s (I think!). Not tht I had a particular interest to know abt gold mines & their existence but it was the whole idea of physically being there to experience it.

Cheeky Richie & Krystal. I pesterd them to go to the trip w me. They signed up for it & pretended nothing happened, until I saw their names at the participants’ list during my briefing. What a sweet surprise! (Thanks cupcake & fatso, it meant a lot to me!! ;D) The journey took us less then 2hrs – scattered showers. Damn! But e min I entered, it was as though I was transported into a diff world. Ladies & men, dressed w the whole 1920s era costume w fluffy Dutch Lady dresses & men w hats all roaming around. They walked in & out those shops, greeted us & chatted w each other, pretending as though the village still exists.

Richie forced us to ride on the horse carriage w him, u know the ones that Cinderella rode on as well. Yeah! Then, we went & played bowling – their style. The bowling balls are rounder & mind you, there weren’t any automatic machines to arrange the tenpins. It was all manual. I stopped after 1 game, realising it was a waste of time coz the bowling balls never roll to the side no matter how slanted it is. It is designed to test yr strength rather than yr precision. They should’ve called it "rolling" instead of "bowling".

No major dramas in this trip besides the bad weather. What a great way to conclude my SLP trip leading experience! Anw, after visiting a couple of those houses for display, we headed back to Melbourne.

Made a card cum storyboard w Krystal for a friend in need of emotional support. I was v impressed of it, to be honest.. like its originality. Most of all, it is the process of making the card tht makes it so memorable & funny as well.

Oh oh, who had watched Charlie & the Chocolate Factory???!.. Went & watch it at Nova cinemas w Krystal yday. Damn nice. Speaking fr a person who hates cartoons & unrealistic movies, it mst hv been pretty good. A work by Roald Dahl. I find the storyline v original & amazing how Uncle Dahl can think of something so imaginative & fantasy. Definitely a must-see for chocolate freaks like me!!! ~~Willy Wonka!~~ =- ~~Willy Wonka! ~~ =-=…. ^_^

The coward side of me

In my first attempt to combat procrastination after 15 years of studying, I went to study at the State Lib yday. Oh, I tell u.. e environment, e other studious species, e books... e silence, jst everything contributed to Krystal's & my motivation to study. Well, at least the first half until we met Joseph for lunch. As usual, it was our "duty" to cheer his week up... away fr his monotonous auditor colleagues. Met up w Jen & Jun at night.. went for staff-price Nando's dinner (reminds me of Sam! ;P) & thought we'd some charity by supporting a Taiwanese student film production - The College. Blardy hell. Not only did they made us wait for freaking 45mins, but the so-called production was so bad, even the behind-the-scenes were much more entertaining. Can't believe they even dare to charge me $10. Come to think of it, I can even watch Hollywood movies at $6 on Tuesdays.

Spent my whole day at a PR seminar today. The first few speakers was interesting but towards the end, I wanted to strangle myself. It was worthwhile though - gave me a deeper understanding on the PR industry. Hmmm... time to think abt my career huh?!.. Oopsie, shouldn't I already hv? We decided to cheer up our Sat night out so Franco, Val, Krystal, Jun & I decided to go to Carnegie to this Korean restaurant, "highly-recommended by Franco". It turned out to be Kimchi Grandma, the same one in the city & jst in case u were wondering, of course we screw him up n down. After a few teasings & punchings, we were still there enjoying our seafood hotpot, beef, calamari & of course, the side dishes. Yum Yum~~

Oh oh, the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week event last Tues was so cool. With models strutting their tiny package while Richie & Franco were feasting their eyes .. hehee.. so cool huh?!.. I reckon exposing ourselves to events like these once-in-a-while is great as it gives us an idea on how events should look like. But, too much of these is bad.. the longer I was there, the more I felt tht I was sucked in to this so-called elegant society where who u are is dictated by a Balenciaga bag, a stereotyped perfect body & flawless looks. Still, I'd prefer the porridge we had at Supper Inn. Something tht I really wanted to eat for a longgg time since Ling told me bout it..

The other day, Jen called me a coward. She called me a coward for not exploring my career opportunities in Melbourne first. She called me a coward for not taking that bold step with Jeremy. She called me a coward for I wasn't brave enough to take the road less taken - for rejecting options before even exploring it. Am I? I used to pledge tht I'm not gonna be one of those ppl who's afraid to take e road less taken, who's afraid of changes & instead, gives a try to everything tht comes my way, jst in case it doesn't comes by again. Fr tt conversation of ours, I can't help to think.. am I trying to camouflage my fears by being seemingly determined?

Enough said

For some reason, I feel enthusiastic today....... until I saw the Katrina tragedy on the headlines again.

I used to think racial discrimination is something that plays in your mind & it wouldn't exist if you don't entertain those thoughts. But, my perspective on it changed when I experienced it myself during my employment in RMIT Union and now - the Katrina tragedy.

I cannot believe in a country as huge and as powerful as America, there is still such thing as discrimination. It is appalling to know that although we live in a so-called civilised 21st century, there is still this clear distinction between black and white. Is it possible for me to continue to live in my ideal classless world and blame everything on media sensationalism? Or is it time for me to smack myself hard enough to see the real world?

Can I still choose to believe tht Mr. War President efficiently helped the tsunami victims purely out of compassion & not for political reasons? And tt he delayed assistance for the poor & marginalised people of New Orleans because he was not prepared & not because they can't contribute to the oh-so-powerful America?

I will be the saddest girl on earth if one day the govt decides to pass censorship laws in the Internet.

Nothing beats a good conversation - I was on the phone w mama for 2hrs & spoke to Jeremy for another 2hrs last night.. :) :)

Something made me look forward to Tues, which is pretty rare - but I think is because I'm going to a Melbourne Spring Fashion Week event tonight. Woohoo~~

I chat my weekend away.

Stayed over at Krystal’s & Val’s place on Thurs night! Jst loveee slumber parties once in a while. As much as I know sometimes I can be the worst slumber party partners because of my poor resistance to sleep once it hits midnight.. Krystal & I still manage to chat a bit.. talking abt curry fish balls & how we should be contented to what we have..!! ;P Hey, at least I still remember.. vaguely!

Had lunch w Joseph & Krystal.. Lazed around at the State Lib’s lawn, entertained by a silly street comedian & coincidentally live orchestra, playing Lion King’s music.. Oh the weather was jst so good, so summery. It was officially spring as of Thurs!! :) :) Replaced my winter jacket w my spring ones..

Then at night, met up w the girls to discuss.. Oh! Oh! .. Ehem! *drum rolls** I jst would like to announce tht I am now the proud recipient to fly to Fiji for a 6days 5nights trip w Jen, Jun & Val.. lalalalala.. Oh, I so can’t wait to laze arnd at the beach – my first hols w the girls!!!!! Woohoo~~~ *jumping up & down** Then, had dinner at this cosy but pricey Thai restaurant. Tht night, we were debating abt discrimination. I so agree tt everyone in this world has more or less some discrimination whether knowingly or unknowingly. But, I was shocked when Jen said: “I think I am disadvantaged to have an Asian face.” Really???

Sat, Haw Chuan, a friend I met fr ski trip.. tagged me for bfast. So, off we went for a “bfast cruise” at Vic Market, again encouraging myself tht someday if I can’t make it in the PR industry, at least I can still work as a tour guide. At night, met up w Krystal, Franco & Richie – went for Japanese food. Sat down thre for almost 3hrs talking abt r/ships, insensitive guys & hypersensitive girls. And our target for e night was no other than - Mr. Richie. He never fails to make me laugh.. :D went for a drink at this place where they hv swings as their seats. So cooool huh?!

Usual church on Sun, tried to do some work in the aft but ended up eating for an hr & napping for 2hrs. So sweet of aunt May, she invited me to her place for dinner. Nv been to her place before so msged Jeremy to cancel our night out & off I went. Cosy hse, nice ppl & good food.. I sat thr, chit chatting w aunt May, uncle Herman & her nieces & nephews.. talking abt e Katrina tragedy, travelling, work, cars.. I guess its no harm to go outside yr comfort zone once in a while!!

I hate Mondayssss….. arghhhhh! & I’m suffering from severe weekend blues.

The contradictions of life

Can u imagine? It's already Week 8 of uni. Essays & presentations almost every week.. phew! As usual, Thurs is here... it means, party!!!! :) Well, not really. Jst had BBQ at Concept Blue.. we bought sooo much food. Yum~~ Yum~~ It's really quite nice a feeling to hang out w friends, bingeing on food, talking crap while eyeing on those hot bods swimming.. hehee..!

Saw Twin's entry today. Her father's pics makes my heart wrenched. I can really feel her pain.. to see someone that u love dearly in such a condition really hurts. Even worse, I felt tht sense of "miserable-ness" in me. So hard to describe. But, it's tht sorta feeling when u really wanna be physically there for someone but u can't. *biggggggg hug to you, Sam*** ^_^

Had an argument w mama few days ago.. 2nd time since I came here! I guess she realised tht my outlook in life has slowly changed - that my priorities & ethics are no longer the same w the person 2yrs ago before I step foot in Melbourne. That my aspirations no longer correlate with hers. Oh well, she's still dear to my heart & will always be. *comfort huggg to mama** :)

Oh oh, I jst cut my hair today~~ shorter fringe, more side layers & a slight trim at the back. Although I'm not used to it yet, but really, the satisfaction of change is awesome (Quote: Sophia, 2005)..

Uploaded some new pics.. hehee.. *blush**