My Tree of Thoughts and Things

House flies!

2012-02-13T21:47:00.002Z

I'm completely excited and nerve-wrecked for a very different reason. Tomorrow I officially start my research project! My oh my, and it's to do with cDNA and RNAi in Musca domestica. I start by isolating cDNA tomorrow afternoon! My forte is not in molecular biology but I I am really excited. I would be so bummed if my project was to do with ecology (I hate statistics with a passion).

Also, tomorrow I am presenting my poster of the literature review on Golden Rice. Eeeeeeeeek. One of my marker is a very thorough person and the other one is not related to the field and is a soft-spoken man so I think it'll be okay.

But oh my gosh, lack of life starts tomorrow. Sort of. Labs from 9 to 5 literally. =O

2012-02-10T21:52:00.000Z

Chriselle also wore the pretty Givenchy dress that I first spotted on IU (mentioned in previous post)!

2012-02-06T16:44:00.006Z

It's been nagging me for a while and I finally found what dress IU wore at Music Bank when performing the orchestral version of 'You and I'.

It's just sooooo pretty.

Being Bitchy

2012-02-04T11:30:00.001Z

I'm not talking about someone else. I'm talking about me after (some of) you finished reading this post.

First of all, I hate passive aggressive behaviour on the internet. Or more specifically, one of the signs of the passive aggressive behaviour according to Wikipedia:

Ambiguity or speaking cryptically: a means of creating a feeling of insecurity in others or of disguising one's own insecurities

I mean, I understand sometimes some people leave rather cryptic messages on their social networking sites that only a few exclusive friends will understand. Sometimes I leave some vague, depressing tweet which I only want my BFF to know about. But doing it often makes you annoying, not mysterious.

I also understand somehow I might be exhibiting passive aggressive behaviour now for ranting in this post. Hypocrite.

P.S. After proof-reading my post, another thought came to me. Do people leave cryptic posts just so other people will ask them about it? Surely this means they're attention-seekers?

Secondly, spelling mistakes! (This doesn't apply to the incidents of fat fingers and narrow tabs on touch screens). I do the occasional spelling mistake and I'm not saying that everyone should be proficient in a language that's not their mother tongue but when people try to use the 'bigger' words, I wish they refer to the dictionary first.

I also like to use new 'clever' words in my blog posts and tweets that I've picked up from somewhere, but I always try to check the definition and spelling first (and hopefully used them correctly and within context). It's the very extreme spelling mistakes that annoy me more than the wrong grammar and sentence structure.

Okay okay, I get annoyed at grammatical errors too but I've got no say in that because I have been making them more ever since I started to study in the UK. (As an aside, you would think my English gets better rather that deteriorate when I'm surrounded by English-speaking people. Liz jokingly says that actually most of the British can't speak their own language well). I admit that my English is not that much better but people who try to experiment with a 'cooler' style of writing should at least make sure that it doesn't sound....odd?

Someone once told me, if what you're saying/writing sounds bizarre and wrong in English, chances are it IS wrong.

I might retract what I said in the beginning. I'm not so sure that many of you read my blog anyways.

2012-01-23T08:52:00.000Z

I seriously have trouble working without having someone to egg me on.

Spent my 3-day weekend (and the past two years) watching kpop and variety shows T.T

Anyways, randomly, I always find that looking at sexy men is more of a motivation to me to lose weight than pretty girls. Very odd.

Man candies Leeteuk and Choi Siwon.

(Nyehehe, currently my wallpaper on the phone and laptop)

I hope Suju does a Europe tour (specifically UK) before I graduate which is very unlikely since it's the 2012 Olympics in London. I so badly want to see their concert, or any other Hallyu idols for that matter.

Superhooked to WGM again. Kept re-watching episodes of Leeteuk with Kang Sora.

Super sweet together ^^

All the more, I relate to her because she's my height.

Motivation to lose weight?

I need motivation to work more.

Aish~

By the way, this is me blogging on first day of the Lunar New Year.

Slightly homesick (surprisingly, but it'll pass. It always do, because I am strong).

Hence also the random post non-related to new year.

新年快乐，恭喜发财。祝心想事成，身心健康！

The last of 2011 (almost)

2011-12-21T02:20:00.002Z

I've not been inspired/ bothered to blog anymore. With micro-blogging platforms like Twitter and Instagram available, there's no impetus for me to play catch-up and tell the world what I am up to. Nevertheless, I still like to keep this blog alive for the sole purpose that I have a lot of friends connected in my other social networking platforms and sometimes I feel the need for a segregated virtual space for me to rant about things that are upsetting me. Also, it forces me to organise my thoughts and wordings, which is a good thing considering my English has been deteriorating day by day.

In this post, I'll be talking about the highlights of my last Michaelmas term.

Renovations has finally finished over the summer and I came back in autumn to a more polished and more 'city-looking' Market Square. The Marquess (I nicknamed him 'The Horseman') has been returned to us after been taken away for a year because of repair and maintenance, I think.

Hopefully renovations for the Durham Cathedral will be completed before the beginning of summer so I can take it in it's full glory. My last chance.

The River Wear is ever the same.

Bought more boxes and a wicket basket this year. My shelf has more additions to it now. Will do an updated room post at some point (I said that in an older post I recall).

Learned to utilised Instagram this year and so I managed to capture some lovely colours.

With Emi

With Charlotte

With Ruth

Attended my final Bailey Ball. I will miss wearing dresses.

With my flatmate Kirsty

Lucky enough to attend my second Lumiere (Light Festival). It only occurs every few years (two, I assume, since the last one was in my first year).

Midget-sized house for small people

Dijah and I too cool for words

Dijah and I finally visited Desiree in St. Andrew's. The university that Prince William attended and the place where Hugh Grant went to for some golf event last time.

Browsing the food stalls in the city

Tinseltown

This is my Fish and I in earmuffs

Went to Leicester where Desiree and I just ate and ate and ate. Attended the BruLeics Fashion Show which was really good considering it was the first.

Birthday Girl with two stalkers hiding behind the Tardis

Attended Liz's Dr. Who + Masquerade themed surprise party.

As surprising as it seems, this is the vegetarian starter. Honeydew, kiwi, water melon and I think there is some apple and mandarin oranges buried at the bottom

Pate

Cranberry sauce

Turkey wrapped in bacon

The vegetarian option--- not sure what's in it

And oh, the scrumptious chocolate cake

My college dad, the sheep

My final Christmas Feast in college followed by pantomime written by our JCR President (and his exec, I think). Yummy food and free wine for only £5 --- of course you have to sign up as soon as the system is open to get places.

Charlotte and I had an amazing lunch at Vennel's to celebrate the long-awaited end of term.

And the following night Amandine made tartiflette at Deylah's place.

Snowy

SVS

Puffin

And me and my FlattiEs did out Secret Santa. (They're called my FlattiEs because they were my flatmates in Flat E; they've moved back into college and I got new flatmates now. I still live in the same house/block, same flat and not surprisingly, same room). Clare is away on her year abroad.

2011-11-25T22:37:00.001Z

After repeated dyeing, this is the end result. I think this is the lightest my hair has been. When indoors, it appears ash brown (which is the colour I want), but sadly, under full sunlight and well-lit places, it is red.

Superdry is no longer just a store. It's the state of my hair T.T

2011-11-15T18:11:00.001Z

I can't recall anymore the times back then when "thirst for knowledge" and "knowledge is power" used to mean more than just fancy phrases to me. In my final year, I realised I have learnt so little, lived so little.

The monotony and futileness. Day by day I walk into a lecture theatre and somehow only walked out that teeny bit wiser. I can't seem to muster the life back into my life.

Taken out of context, "I need inspiration, not just another negotiation" - Way Back Into Love applies well to me right now.

2011-10-28T21:45:00.000+01:00

I was meant to do all the readings during my summer for my literature review and Sweden field course report but obviously did not do any of those. After being given a two-week period by my supervisor to come up with the outline to my lit review after our first meeting of the term, I did scraps of reading here and there and was meant to email it in to him on Monday but only in a burst of alertness and diligence that is sometimes brought about insomnia, I finished off the last of the outline at 02.00 am last night and emailed it to him.

Clearly my supervisor had been waiting since I said I would email it in to him on Tuesday afternoon after postponing it even afterwards, and he replied promptly at 10.00 am:

"This looks absolutely excellent - you have done half the work for your literature review now.

You can now progress to starting writing proper - which should be quite easy.

Well done!"

Excitement quickly gave way to horror. My lit review is well on its way to completion but it's due in February while my Sweden report is due in December and I have been putting it off!

It's only because I hate to even start on figuring on what statistics to apply to my results. Oh statistics, the bane of my life!

And and and, SHINee's performing in London on 3rd Nov but can't make it. Instead was contemplating Britney's Femme Fatale concert in Newscastle on the same day but my ex-idol is not exactly in good shape according to reports.

Hmmmm.

Anyways, Instagram.

2011-10-21T20:27:00.001+01:00

I rarely ever blog now that I'm mostly on Twitter and Instagram. Stalking people through photos mostly =)

Was actually back in Durham with a lot of time to settle in so I had more time to go around the Freshers' Fair as well and spotting some cute stuff.

Elmo was bad all along. Giving out flyers to Studio (club).

Cute Subway sandwich.

Learn First Aid in case you got attacked by zombies.

Got Charlotte the cool "I love Brunei" shirt. It's only cool if you wear it in another country.

Did more Amnesty stuff this year.

Glad to be back where almost all of my nail polishes are!

Bits of the room that are not too messy to show people. The ultimate messiness is the work top.

Went to my first formal of the term --- Harry Potter style as usual.

And ultimately, procrastination. I have not yet read all the articles required and my lit review outline is due this monday!!

2011-10-07T22:17:00.001+01:00

Oh my goodness. First week back and two days' worth of lectures has already killed me. The thing is, I don't even have more than 3 hours' worth of lectures per day now. I only have 3 taught module, 2 'writing' ones and 1 'writing and practical', which meant most of the time I'm meant to be diligent and motivated to work on my own. I need to read those articles soon and start to plan the statistics for my field course project.

I don't think it's Freshers' Flu, but maybe Freshers' Sleepy Bug got me? I've been so tired everyday despite my 8 hours.

Spent ages trying to organise my room. I've sorted out clothes that I will be giving away to charity and and folded the rest. Now to muster up courage to walk into the charity shop; I kept having this thought that they might take a look and my things and sneer at them XD. I have yet to borrow a screwdriver off the on-site manager to set up my shelf that I got from Argos.

But hey, bigger bed and bigger workspace this year. Will show you the room once I put everything to their rightful place.

But hey, thank goodness it's friday!

(Being daft, I have things to do in college in the morning I just remembered)

iPhone Photoboothing with My Girls

2011-09-29T19:28:00.001+01:00

I'm going to miss our constantly random Whatsapp session.

Summer so far...

2011-09-16T18:46:00.000+01:00

2011-09-16T18:32:00.004+01:00

I only found out that there is an R&B version of 'My Boy' by Secret today. <3

Well, R&B beat more like.
It's one of my favourite emo-moment song.

2011-09-14T13:32:00.001+01:00

Why is it whenever people have a professional photoshoot, the girls will deck out the the most horrendous BLUE or PURPLE eyeshadow they have and pile it on? Surely it's not only me who finds this unattractive? Everyone should watch some Michelle Phan.

Why can't people go for a more neutral colour and look less... made up?

Like this...

... but maybe not go the whole way for the fake lashes.

(I feel like this is a very mean post.. but whatever lah)

The Garbs of our Heritage

2011-09-06T09:30:00.001+01:00

I was just sitting in the room watching my sister play CoD while surfing the net when I had this sudden thought of wanting to wear the many different traditional costumes of the world - well, actually, just the handful of traditional costumes. Being one of the people that is obsessed with Hallyu / korean wave, I obviously love the hanbok.

I suppose this is one of the most comfy-looking costume. This would be a good thing to wear especially when going to an all-you-can-eat, eat-all-you-can buffet, no? ^.^

On the other hand, to diet I suppose we should wear kimonos, yes? I'm not very good at descriptions, but you know what I mean when you look at the prints and the richness of the fabric you just go "ooooooh" ?!

To me, one of the lesser known one is the Vietnamese ao dai, which I only know existed because I used to be in sixth form with a Vietnamese friend. I remembered that she told me that the ao dai can only be very flattering if you have a flattering body because it somehow is a one-piece.

And that brings us to the cheongsam, which is supposed to be representative of the Chinese. Just as tight-fitting as the ao dai.

But once upon a time, chinese traditional costumes are more reminiscent to the hanbok and kimono as well in terms of the complexity of donning them and the details as well.

Nationality-wise I am Bruneian, so not surprising to say, I've worn the baju kurung many times but not the cheongsam yet (working my way there, since it would be unkind to other people's eyes for me to wear the cheongsam in this state).

But moving on with the times, we now tailor baju fesyen (fashion) that has more silhouette and shape than the more conservative baju kurung. This is true for all traditional costumes I suppose; we retain some of the essence of the traditional costume and adapt them to be more modern.

Maybe next time, I would do a less Asian-biased post and look at the Western or less-Oriental traditional costumes (which of course requires some prior research).

Random train of thoughts over and out! =)

2011-09-03T17:13:00.001+01:00

I've been re-watching one of my favourite animes.

Samurai X.

I used to have this image of Kenshin and Kaoru (awwwww, so cute together!!)

as my desktop wallpaper back then.

In fact, I used to have a collection of Samurai X character images and wallpapers.

Clearly, animation is still the best fantasy.

Last Goodbye

2011-08-03T16:49:00.000+01:00

Finally watched the last few episodes of Yongseo / Goguma couple.
=(

Till the end they're so cute even when Seohyun is reluctant with banmal and further skinship with Yonghwa.

Second heartbreak for me after watching Adam Couple end. =(

Down Memory Lane

2011-07-30T03:39:00.002+01:00

When you're a parent, you share photos of your kids.

When you're vain, you share photos of yourself.

When you're less good-looking now, you share photos of your past self.

Only now I think I know why I love cutting my own hair. I forgot that when I was younger that I used to take a pair of scissors and cut my fringe, resulting in a wonky, dog-bitten fringe. My mom used to get so exasperated every once in a while when she came back to find that I have decided to be 'creative'. Sometimes, I would cut my fringe so short that there was nothing that hairdressers could do to it. So I'll go around with a badly trimmed fringe for months.

Every girl goes through that princess stage

Remember the days when dresses were the 'in' thing? Instead of those skimpy shorts and tank tops children wear nowadays.

My 6th birthday

More wonky fringe

I think my mother used to have this thing for matching clothes. When the brother came along, he was not spared. Incidentally, the last photo, my mother is actually the person at the back.

Dream High

2011-07-29T09:12:00.001+01:00

Finally watch all 16 episodes of Dream High in one day/ night without sleeping. That is why I refuse to watch Korean dramas when they're newly out because I am a no-fun person, I hate suspense and cliff-hangers.

I love the OSTs as well. The storyline is not too bad, I was expecting a very predictable plot but it's exceeded my expectations a little more than I thought. But obviously I only watched this because of hot guys *cough-Wooyoung-cough*, the dancing and the singing.

I had actually heard IU's Someday before I even watched Dream High but after watching, the song Dream High itself is my second favourite OST among the others. This was the first time that I actually hear Suzy and Eunjung singing solo. (Am I writing a review here?) Since I am already going on and on, might as well mention like oh-em-gee, Taecyeon looks cuter than I remember and Kim Soo Hyun, why have I never heard of him?

Anyways, I like to do some fan-girling now please =)

My favourite pair in the drama: Pil Suk and Jason

Can't believe how evil Eunjung can look as Baek Hee. But what cracks me up the most is how Baek Hee can meticulously put on extensions during her lowest point in depression after being sexually assaulted and tarnishing her fame. LOL. Very pretty nevertheless.

Hye Mi and Bae Hee's plaits make me miss my long hair.

There's only one word to describe Bae Yong Joon in this drama - cool.

What really really cracked me and my sister up was JYP's character. It just totally changes our view of him.

Anyways, I'll go back to listening the Dream High OSTs now. Toodles.

2011-07-26T01:02:00.000+01:00

Sexy charismatic hotties!
Everytime I look at UEE or Kahi I feel that tall girls can look cute too.
Too bad diet plan not working too well.
Been ill a week now so I've not been to exercise.
I feel so unfit.
Boo.

2011-07-15T11:46:00.000+01:00

Today I count one of my blessings and thank our benefactor and benevolent king.

Happy Birthday His Majesty the Sultan.

2011-07-14T17:32:00.000+01:00

Hair went from this...

to this...

and now this.

There could be worse things than having short hair.

I'll blog more soon. =)

2011-07-11T06:21:00.000+01:00

Hyun-sil and I were talking about dogs over msn and she shared this.

Awwwwwww.

2011-07-10T17:00:00.000+01:00

My poor, neglected blog.

Here's a filler photo.

2011-07-08T16:20:00.000+01:00

The bad haircut with the dog-bitten layers.

And extremely short.

I'm going to trim it again.

2011-06-17T12:56:00.000+01:00

That's no internet for about 3 weeks. Not looking forward to the hardwork in Sweden after all the emotional upheaval yesterday. More statistics and Ecology to apply on the fieldcourse. Oh joy.

Shutting down laptop and putting it away until I see it in 16 days' time.

I hope you'll live well without me during this period, beloved lappie.

2011-06-16T13:41:00.000+01:00

I've told myself that no matter what happens, I will never ever tell my parents and burden them with my responsibilities and mishaps.

I cracked. I was alright up till I heard Dad at the other end of the line. Just with his "Hello?" and I started crying uncontrollably. And mom was so sweet with her consoling when she's so preoccupied with everything else.

How selfish am I for worrying my parents.

Heart

2011-06-16T00:34:00.002+01:00

The pass lists for my department will be coming out tomorrow. Often, at times like this I often get the "Who am I? What have I achieved?" moments. Today, surrounded by Johnians at college for John's Day, it finally dawned on me that that's two years of my undergraduate life, just like that, have passed. Clare will be going away to Spain then Italy for her year abroad and I would not be seeing her more or less for the whole year, until Hannah's wedding next summer. Think about it, wedding. Aren't we grown up.

Met up with Ruth and went for a lovely walk as well. She showed me a new walk, where the narrow path is surrounded on both sides by crop fields that almost seem to stretch into the distance. Just right there, it seems like we've been transported out of the Durham Bubble, yet not quite as we can still discern the Cathedral. To make it even more beautiful, a rainbow. It somehow felt like I was just dropped into a a movie scene, one of those where you have a beautiful girl in a white, flowy dress and wind billowing through her hair, walking through the meadow.

I digress, but I will hopefully packed enough to be able to take that walk again tomorrow and take pictures...

Anyways, it was good to catch up to talk about dreams and aspirations. She's pretty much planned out what she wants to be after her degree. And we checked whether there's any romance happening. Relationship is a usual discussion that happens frequently in my flat, with Hannah's mind nuptially occupied, Clare moving on really well and becoming wiser, etc. I've witnessed quite a few break-ups and broken hearts over the past year, watched some pseudo-relationship happening, and it got me thinking.

One friend, apparently is spending a lot of time with this other person, and they clearly quite enjoy spending time together alone. The question now is clearly whether the other person purely enjoys the company in a non-romantic way or does he/she want to take a step further? Possibly the scars left from the previous relationship would render said person from advancing further to prevent disrupting the current 'good vibe'?

When exactly does a person decide when they want to go from friends to more then friends to boyfriends/girlfriends. And when exactly does a person decide to end it, unexpectedly or gradually. How do you tell someone that they are in denial, when the problem with their relationship is very apparent to all the outsiders. How to console someone, when the person who broke their heart has moved on very quickly.

I am not sure what's the point of this post, but for once, I am genuinely showing you "My Tree of Thoughts and Things". It's thought-vomit. Clearly it's not a very coherent train of thoughts. I am just writing everything that I have experiencing lately. The last time I was in a relationship, it was my first relationship and it ended about two years ago. In the face of friends whose hearts were broken or are confused, I have no sagely advices to give, no consolations.

(I promise I'll do a more comprehensible and fun post soon)

2011-06-13T00:19:00.000+01:00

See the annoying black roots?

Just dyed my roots, conditioned my hair and put on loads of hair serum.

My scalp hurts and my head spins.

Allergic reaction to hair dye?

2011-06-11T02:03:00.000+01:00

I'm in shock.

I just ordered a load of stuff from Forever 21.

Paraphrasing Desiree's "I am disappointed. I expected to spend loads of money at Forever 21 (in Dublin)" came to get me.

Breathe.

The most expensive thing in the basket was for my youngest aunt.

A winter coat that's on sale.

S'okay lah.

Had a nice day-out shopping with the flatties at Metrocentre followed by amazing pub supper.

Photos soon.

2011-06-10T09:18:00.002+01:00

My favourite quote from Chew Yen when chatting with her the other afternoon:

"my god.. the song u listen.. korean song is so updated. bt chinese so.. xS"

Packing is going over so slowly since I left my Skype and msn on and desperately hope for people to come and talk to me. And oh, watching 2-3 films per day and sleeping ever so late and waking up at 10:00 a.m.

Watched X-Men:First Class with Charlotte and Liz last night at the Gala.

Liz had trouble choosing between the young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr.

For me, definitely James McAvoy ftw!

2011-06-08T19:28:00.001+01:00

Just watched Killers. Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher were so sexy in it.

I mean, look at those...

Brilliant action/rom-com to watch with the girls.

I miss mine.

2011-06-08T13:00:00.000+01:00

Today is Shandy's birthday. Poor thing being upset that none of her laopos had celebrated together with her yet. One more month!

The 'porn' photo that I told Zulle I was uploading to Shandy's page.

Pucca did most of the 'artwork'.

Bought more toiletries. Insect repellent is a must since we're going to be near the swamps in the Swedish mountains doing our field work. Yes, I got the child version. Cheaper definitely, but I think less harsh to skin? And more hair serum to save my damaged, damaged hair. I think I spent too much money on hair products. Maybe it might just be easier to chop it off, provided that short hair actually suit me. It kind of annoyed me that the Elvive bottle is made of glass. Not only it's heavy (not ideal with weight restrictions), I am only slightly paranoid about it breaking in the cargo when I have to check in my baggage.

Also, I got all of these from Superdrugs and I think their card things to collect points is absolutely cute. Will show you the photo of it soon. I am very lazy to transfer photos from my iPhone. I wish there was some app that allows me to use Blogger.

The instant noodles I bought while doing my grocery/toiletry shopping just now. This is bad. I bought a lot of food only yesterday as well. Somebody gag me! Anyways, I've always loved the spicy Kimchi ramen but I think the cold noodles were newly stocked.

And I loved it! The texture of the noodles is so... Q (I think it's an expression that Taiwanese use?) Basically, the noodles were chewy and springy and bouncy. I hope that helps? No wonder it costed £1.39 per packet. The sauce was amazing, mostly sweet, with a hint of spiciness and sourness. Reminds me of the taste of a dish I once had but I can't recollect what it is for the life of me.

2011-06-07T21:48:00.000+01:00

I've gone very musical and classical this week.

Emmy Rossum sings beautifully.
=)

hÉireann

2011-06-05T16:18:00.001+01:00

Oh the lovely Irish accent. We stayed in Dublin for about six days. Loved the Irish breakfast at the Burlington Hotel every morning. For Des and I, we had loads of McD meals while in Italy, and we substituted that with lots of cakes and tea in Ireland.

Gravity Bar on the seventh floor of the Guinness Storehouse. 360 degrees panoramic view of Dublin City. And a free pint obviously.

Desiree and I had McD loads when in Italy and this time we focused that greed to tea and cakes here.

And then we visited the Wicklow National Park.

The Guinness Lake.

Wicklow Gap.... P.S. I Love You =)

One of the stops during the trip. Glendalough, I think?

More exciting stuff on Facebook <3

2011-05-27T04:40:00.000+01:00

04:40 a.m. Must. Finish. Paleoecology. Then look through Animal Physiology for 09:30.

2011-05-24T19:06:00.003+01:00

Nothing much. Looking forward to end of exams on Friday.

And oh yes, Land of the Leprechauns soon with Pucca and Deylah =)

Obviously "saengil chukka" to some very special people:

My two beloved seniors Jeera and Nadi.

Je, Miss Chang's handsome man (Check him out in the photo above xD).

And little 147, Winnie.

I deactivated FB a week ago for a while to revise, so if anytime Punggung decides to suddenly stalk me again, here's my belated shoutout to you.

2011-05-19T17:51:00.001+01:00

Oh my goodness I just had an Tiffany epiphany moment! (excuse my assonance and consonance xD)

I've always wondered how to get SNSD Tiffany's waves in Gee. All the gurus on Youtube I've seen so far have not managed to get it quite right...

Until I found out such a thing exist -

A triple-barrel waver.

WTFishFrogFudge.

I know what I'm saving up to get soon.

I think I should get to revising my CSF. Sleeping for only 2 hours last night and napping for 2 hours just now does not help.

Oh normal life and sleeping habits please come back to me soon. I have more breakouts than I usually do from stress and hormonal imbalance.

*hides blemished visage behind file*

2011-05-19T16:48:00.000+01:00

As much as I wished that time would slow down and that I could rewind the clock so that I could do more revision, I've done my first exam this morning. One down, one tomorrow, two on Saturday and two next Friday.

Oh yeah! I'm rolling now.
I can't wait for exams to finish so I can watch all the videos of this cutie here =]

Just look at Lee Joon's killer smile.
The one that melts all the noonas' hearts.
And for once I am not a noona to an idol.

Hwaiting!

2011-05-18T16:59:00.000+01:00

Oh baby stay with me ~
Oh DNAreplication-transcription-translation-transposon-and-so-on stay with me until the exam tomorrow morning ~

2011-05-16T14:08:00.000+01:00

I want to be the shampoo in your hair...
=)
Never thought a song with this kind of title could make me cry.

2011-05-16T11:11:00.001+01:00

I just remembered something.

During my outing last Saturday, Liza, her friend Steph, Dijah and I spent most of the afternoon shopping and window shopping.

Clearly I have a thing for big bags and big hats.

Then Steph turned to Dijah and said, "I'm surprised she doesn't like big glasses."

Dijah and I "But oh she does/ I do!"

LOL.

Okay, it doesn't seem as funny as it was that day now.

Something like this seems pretty ^.^

Gaga's way to hip for me. xD

Clearly my head would be too big for this, but she's such a cutie!

2011-05-15T09:12:00.002+01:00

BLAQ Style on replay over and over <3

Duh, how can this song not be good when Rain composed and wrote it.

Belated birthday present from Liza when we girls met up at Darlington yesterday. Photos of it will be up when I can be bothered to transfer them from my phone.

Hope those of you who are revising are faring better than me at the moment.

Hwaiting!

2011-05-13T22:51:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness, I think I love Lee Joon now.
He has the most dazzling smile.

2011-05-13T22:50:00.002+01:00

I'm not sure how I can say this without sounding lecherous. *brows furrowed*

But OH EM GEE, Lee Joon's muscles are so... yummy.

Snap out of it Miss Wong!

__________

Just the other day Deylah was asking me how did I get swept into this craze when I was in UK when the Korean Wave happened.

I seriously can't remember. I guess starting from my first SNSD MV Caesar introduced to me...?

Then I Youtubed and there it starts??

And oh, not to mention "You're Beautiful" that started me off as well?

2011-05-11T13:29:00.003+01:00

I recently just discovered this.

G.NA featuring Doojon and Junhyung from BEAST.

It's been a while since I watched a korean MV that is sexy like this instead of just cute.

2011-05-09T21:46:00.000+01:00

That's it.

I've steeled myself and done it.

2011-05-09T16:47:00.000+01:00

Exactly how I feel. Very slow progress. Still writing up on reptiles.

2011-05-09T11:02:00.000+01:00

I never thought this would happen but I think I am emulating the portrayal of a university undergraduate that I have came to known so well from hearsay and TV when I was younger.

Stocks of crisps, chocolate, coffee and Neurofen; dirty cups and plates on top of printer; files and textbooks decorating any available floor space; bed unmade.

2011-05-08T18:27:00.000+01:00

Was writing up my reptile lectures notes and suddenly remembered how this year I am relatively awake and concentrating in my second year lectures. I guess it comes down with me having more peaceful sleep at earlier hours compared to when I lived in college next to Elephant Girl.

Sometimes I wonder why the lightest people walk like elephants. *stomp stomp stomp*

2011-05-07T09:02:00.000+01:00

Short break from writing up notes.

Des' heels

I've always wanted to wear heels like these, and even more so recently after I've watch Ji Eun's MV for her song 'Going Crazy'. Min Hyo Rin's heels in the MV are hot.

Obviously, heels are not in my best interest, since I have short friends. I will consciously and subconsciously hunch to 'sink down to their level'. xD

2011-05-06T14:59:00.000+01:00

I've got friends who have deactivated Facebook to revise. I am tempted but I am an online social animal. I would feel so cut-off.

Sigh.

Junjung Ziarah

2011-05-03T21:39:00.000+01:00

I told myself that I had loads of work to do so I was really reluctant to attend the Majlis Junjung Ziarah. Then I told myself since I was attending and I will do work when I get back. It's the second day I am back and yet the fear factor from the revision lectures and Sultan's titah did not help.

Anyways, photos. It was lovely to meet all the people to then realise there were loads of other people that I didn't meet because I didn't know they were there.

I miss this sexy senior so much.

Finally we actually met and talked in person =) Yee Shan you look taller than I remembered.

I need to visit this dude. Iedzean is only in South Shields which is 30 minutes away by train. And Kianna look as lovely as ever.

Meeting the boys. Wafi looks the same, Iqbal had neater hair and sporting our favourite Oswestry school tie!

Deylah was a bit paranoid when I was taking this close-up with Des' DSLR.

My junior Khairunisa salam-ing Her Majesty Raja Isteri.

I was kind of regretting now not taking a photo with His Majesty but I just didn't want to hassle him. And I went "Can I please salam you?" LOL.

Senior Kam. She is as cute as ever!

One of my favourite boys. Hafiy.

Bumped into Hafiz. It's been a while since I've seen him in Durham.

Wasn't expecting to meet Kelvin xiao didi in London.

Make-up served me well. My Fish and I.

Sze Nee (far right in front of me), first batch of Bruneian Oswestrian. And Gung ( between/behind Des and Dijah) before she hurriedly left.

OsBru. Sab, me, Des, Lena, Dijah, Nisah, Lyn and Melvin. Evidently all photos incomplete because the event dragged on longer than we had expected so some people were still stuck upstairs while others had to leave hurriedly to catch their respective train/coach.

It's been a while since Peach is with Potato in a photo. Peach (Kimah) and Didin finally managed to take some time off for photos after slaving away for the event for the whole day.

Generation 3 of Oswestry.

Finally Zaw was released from the grips of Table 8 and took this last photo before we ran off to catch the bus.

2011-04-28T17:07:00.000+01:00

Oh my gosh I am so hyped about Prince William and Kate's royal wedding tomorrow. Was planning to read news on the BBC and inevitably digressed to reading about wedding dresses, British monarchy and whatnots for one whole hour.

2011-04-28T15:03:00.000+01:00

Dilemma.

Santorini...

or Acropolis?

I want both.

2011-04-24T20:48:00.003+01:00

Recently Winnie shared a photo of her idealised body and I want to share mine, I guess. (By the way, she's doing great in her dieting regime. Wish I had the same will power)

I love this shot of Brown Eyed Girls for the GET USED jeans campaign. Look at those abs and those legs <3 I think my college sister Charlotte asked me once why would I put this as my wallpaper. She said it's depressing. x)

And most of you know that I am an ardent fan of...

ADAM COUPLE.

Even since then, I began to have a thing for high-top trainers, bright hoodies and green colour.

My hair is not that light obviously. Was trying to take photos in the train discreetly. Incidentally, I was wearing the Adam Couple fanclub hoodie. It has ears =))))

I became dependent on eyeliner.

And went through a phase of buying loads of pretty hairbands that I don't really wear.

Truly, only Ga-in can inspire me to fall in love with such things.

Remember last time I said I bought a pair of Nike orange high-top trainers?

Well, I gave them to my sister.

While passing time at Stazione Termini in Rome before taking the shuttle to the Fiumicino Airport last time, Des and I wandered into Foot Locker aimlessly. And we both came out with the same pair of high-top Converse. We fell in love with them! I have yet to wear them. (And oh, obviously 'We Fell In Love' by Jo Kwon and Ga in is one of my favourite songs)

Maybe Des and I will make an appearance in them sometime soon and take a photo?

Waiting for the right clothes to match with I guess. Hoodie in summer is very unlikely so hopefully my May allowance will allow me to buy some pretty t-shirts to go with them.

Towards the end of the post I realised that I got sidetracked from talking about hot bods to Ga in. LOL.

And oh, was supposed to finished my practical write-up today. Clearly not happening.

2011-04-22T23:31:00.001+01:00

I finally ate the Thornton's chocolate I got on my early birthday party.

Hannah's plant finally bloomed. I Facebook-messaged my flatiEs and everyone was excited. It felt like our child has grown up. x)

Excited about my Rimmel blush. Such a shame that the pretty crown pattern faded after a few uses.

Welcome back Deylah.

We were VERY hungry.

Remember this?

Was re-watching The Proposal, and the scene where she was using the dial-up internet cracked me up. I almost forgot about that.

I love this film.

Procrastination post again... =(

2011-04-16T12:24:00.000+01:00

Loved the 2 nights 3 days I spent with my Fish and Didin. Although the travelling around within such a short period of time has taken its toll in the form of colds, headaches and more pimples. Sabby joined on my last day there, coming back from Spain.

I put Fish's GHD to full use while I was there. Now I wanted one for my own since my Philips straightener is not adequate for curling my straight hair. I am loving how Asian I look in this photo. x) Tiny eyes! -.-

Junior teaching the senior on how maximise Twitter's potential on the phone.

Siam Corner. Leicester certainly has cheap and yummy food everywhere. Longer visit next year!

Muffin Break.

As Didin says" Oh nom nom nom!"

Fish and her B1.

Partial OsBru reunion.

I cut this boy's hair so he looks like Bieber.

No double chins?

Costa for carrot cake and cappucino after sending Didin off and passing time before my train. Sabby's iPhone made me prettier in this photo =)

Parla Inglese?

2011-04-09T21:35:00.001+01:00

Recently Shenna and Desiree visited Italia for holiday. From our first meal till the last, we have still no idea when and how we are supposed to enjoy our bread basket.

We joined a tour for the second day in Rome. Visited the Vatican - Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, Castel Sant'Angelo - basically the most of the sights that Shenna really wanted to go after watching Angels and Demons.

Michaelangelo's work is everywhere.

Desiree fell in love with the Swiss Guards after seeing the cute-looking one on her right. Our tour guide said one of the rumoured criterion to become a Swiss Guard was to be "aesthetically pleasing". Trained in mortal combat and the ability to speak five different languages certainly impressed me already.

Third day was spent at Fontana de Trevi, the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. At this point Shenna and Des were really tired from all the walking from the previous day.

Fourth day was just us lazing around taking the 20€ hop-on/hop-off tour bus. Des wanted to see more of the Swiss Guards so we visited St. Peter's again.

Took an extremely early train to Pisa the next day. Spent ages looking for our hostel. The Torre pendente di Pisa was a bit of a disappointment since it was not as tall as we thought it would be. We had tai-chi poses going on everywhere.

Another early train the next day to Milan. Lack of water and brilliant sun made Shenna fever-ish so this point onwards she had been popping drugs... ahem, neurofen and paracetamol. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II was smaller than what we thought as well. We observed people spinning on their heel in this dent in the floor, some culture thing?

The Duomo was a very last minute thing since after strolling the streets near the Piazza we went back to our hostel which is 10 minutes away by metro. Shenna and Des napped because of exhaustion and headache. Woke up later in the evening, headed back to the Piazza and spent 8€ for 15 minutes to see the roof and the spires since it was near closing time.

Venice was our next destination. Spent an interesting birthday I had to say. Gondola ride was lovely, but the part where we got lost in the evening in the labyrinth of Venice in a freak thunderstorm was not funny. To make matter worse, I left my umbrella so we shared Des' tiny one.

St. Mark's Basilica was spoilt by the scaffolding from the renovation/restoration work and no photos allowed in the Doge's Palace.

2011-03-28T01:31:00.000+01:00

London later to see my girls!!

And oh my goodness, Italiaaaaaaaa =))
Buon giorno!

2011-03-27T16:46:00.000+01:00

Subunits of bacterial DNA polymerase III. As Dr. Watson says, "You'll all be scholars by the end of this!"

2011-03-26T22:05:00.001Z

I found this photo Steph uploaded on Facebook. I was vacuuming the hair off Sorcha's shirt after cutting her hair a few weeks ago.

And recently I trimmed a few more inches off my hair. I have been trying to grow my hair and so I used to get very upset and feel really 'sayang' when I am forced to trim my hair because of split ends.

I am so addicted to my shearers and scissors that it's becoming a habit now.

The Pre-birthday Things

2011-03-20T15:30:00.000Z

Take-away for the birthday. I still want more pizzas and fried chicken. Kebab from London next week possibly?

The battle of the Sarahs.

Presents from the FlatiEs. I now own three cats to get me started on my spinster life. xD

The Radiance that I asked for from the girls arrived yesterday morning ^.^

Also I am loving the bag-organizer (photo not shown)

2011-03-19T19:20:00.000Z

Just watched Shakespeare in Love.

I remembered watching this once, many many years ago on HBO when I was child, neither appreciating who Shakespeare was and nor understanding Elizabethan English.

This time, I cried.

2011-03-17T21:29:00.000Z

I lied about the blue highlights obviously. But I DID dye my hair to a lighter shade of brown.

I've already Tweeted and Facebooked this, but I just wanted to share the view.

I quite missed the walk by the river when walking to and back from the Science Site.

I don't take this path anymore because I don't live in college this year.

And if I didn't decide to walk back by the river after handing in my assignment today, I wouldn't have found that Prebends Bridge was under 'assault'. Oh, how horrid the sight!

A little ray of hope...

Spent the afternoon at Deylah's afterwards when she rang me as I was walking along the riverside.

Perhaps tomorrow would be a nice enough day to allow me to resume my walk?

P.S. Feeling dizzy from the two glasses of wine I consumed during our tutor-tutee meal just now. Only 2 out of the 12 could make it in the end. I enjoyed my pizza and calamari at Bella Italia ^.^

2011-03-14T12:12:00.002Z

How do you like my new blue highlights?

2011-03-06T21:16:00.000Z

Eventually, didn't get much done over the weekend. Notes not done for Tuesday exam.

I seem to always get headaches when I have important stuff coming up. Not sure whether it is psychological or not. Having one now, hence the post.

Anyways, spent some quality time (procrastinating) with Deylah this afternoon.

She made me yummy food. Mee kari udang <3 Properly spicy.

My Muji pens that died when the ink level is not even half way yet.

Toadstools cupcakes Hannah made for her Brownies. Cute cute!

Back to cramming...?

2011-03-04T15:57:00.000Z

Just as I was typing up one of my Plant Phys notes out of the many many that I am required to have learned by Monday (test is on Tuesday), I suddenly recalled today's Animal Phys lecture about cognition and learning.

Cramming things last minute only stay in our short term memory and to store what we learnt in the long term memory, it requires structural changes in the CNS and synthesis of new proteins, which can only be achieved rehearsal and repetition. Reminds me of those dreaded hours I spent trying to learn the same thing for my A Level Psychology and still do badly in the exam.

Oh well, fellow Johnians would have awarded me a Geek Card at this point.

Many people have been showing concern regarding my "feeling suicidal" Facebook status a week or two ago. Phone's working now so that is one stressful issue gone 'poof!', so informed people not to worry with my "happy bunny" status.

2011-03-02T21:01:00.000Z

An email was sent round to Johnians today for the Room Ballot for next year. I am 21 out of 74, which is quite good actually. But I am still hoping the guy advertising the room in Whinney Hill replies to me soon (It's been a month). Not keen on living in college.

Please please let some miracle happen.

My iPhone has hope of being saved so fingers crossed for the next few days.

I am not supposed to be blogging since I have assignment due tomorrow, another one on Monday and the dreaded Plant Physiology test on Tuesday.

And haven't finalised travelling plans yet!

And oh, more to worry about --> Sweden field course.

In the meantime, I will try to keep smiling like this cutie here.

2011-02-24T22:40:00.001Z

I am having a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad week. The cumulative "soi-ness" finally hit me today.

Will not talk about it here.

Instead, happy nails =) Webcam doesn't do them justice.

Most things can be solved, and I will solve them tomorrow.

I love Pucca. She listens to me well. =)

And oh yes, Kim Joo Won and Gil Ra Im still keep me happy.

2011-02-20T11:44:00.001Z

Yes, I am still... ^^

Anyways, I have to say, I 'went out' last night.

I was Ruth's birthday meal at Bella Italia followed by cocktails at Fabio's.

Then went to Cellar Door to listen to acoustic (?) folk (?) music (not sure what genre... they were singing with guitars) till late 1:00 a.m. The only photo I have was this marking as the entrance 'ticket'.

A stroll by the beach after walking around the aquarium and pretending to identify the fishes last Wednesday.