Aphrodite Les Folies 2011

Illusion - one my favourite tracks from the album.


Kylie's 2011 tour has begun! Opening night was in Denmark and since then videos taken by fans hav been appearing on YouTube! Thank god :D

This uploader has one of the best quality videos I've seen of the Les Folies show. The show is amazing with a Grecian theme, obviously in line with the whole Aphrodite - Greek goddess concept. The opening of the show sees Kylie ascending from the "ocean" in front of a giant golden shell. The show features plenty of outfit changes, a flying angel, acrobats spinning around in air, a rotating circular piece on the centre stage, multiple fountains that shoot jets of water high up into the air while being illuminated in an array of coloured lights, leaving fans in the special 'Splash zone' WET!

This production has been reported to be the most expensive concert show ever created.. so savour the greatness of Aphrodite Kylie, a true dignified goddess of pop. :)

Back from the sunshine state of Aus

Greetings! I had an awesome weeek in Brisbane (+ a Gold Coast day trip).

Seen so much, experienced so much, so much to talk about now. Currently in the process of editing pics, which will be uploaded on fb when it's ready! Also I will be posting some journal entries here so stay tuned folks! :)

The weather in Brisbane was HOT, HOT, HOT! Parts of my body are darker now LOL. There's a reason why they call Queensland the Sunshine state ;)
NO sign of the recent flood though, they did a fantastic job cleaning the city!

Ppl there were generally friendly, drivers ALWAYS let pedestrians walk first, the public toilets were much cleaner than the ones here, really LOVED the hypermarkets there becoz of the wide range of products they carry, public transport was expensive, in fact almost everything was expensive! @_@

Overall it was really fun experiencing Australian culture.. I tried to absorb as much as I could like a sponge, while trying to adapt at the same time! The thing I missed most about Malaysia was the food hahaha. More details in posts to come.

Need some rest now! :)

1 down, 1 to go, and then it's G'day mate!

Hahaha the title summarizes what I want to say. Marketing paper today was decent, questions weren't tough, but just too much to write... practically raced against time till the very last minute. Never wrote so fast before. Ugly handwriting. REAL ugly.

Tomorrow's the accounting/finance paper. Kinda read everything twice already... so feeling lazy-ish now. This happens every exam. I get all pumped up for the first paper, then the momentum and intensity just declines. Will force myself to go through some key points and formulas tonite.

After that, I will be heading to Aussie for a week long holiday before the next sem starts!! :D
Excited coz it's been more than 10 years since I been there... in fact it's been a long time since I stepped into a plane. Hope I don't get air sick >.<
Slightly nervous about travelling so far, partly becoz my gastric / acid reflux problems are still troubling me recently, and I haven't had time to really go through my list of things to pack. Would suck if I forget anything important... Having OCD means I like doing things at my own pace, but I guess it's good to step out of your comfort zone sometimes.

By this time tomorrow, I will be at KLIA.. Gosh, that's less than 24 hours peeps! Till my return in mid Feb, take care everyone! OHHhh and Happy Valentines in advance to all u love birds out there, otherwise it's Singles Awareness Day again for us independies! ;)

cheers

Delayed '11 Resolutions

Well at least it's still January, still not too late to set some resolutions for the 11 months ahead...

1. Get healthy
Main goal this year. Will try to overcome the pain & discomfort, hopefully I will be able to seek treatment that helps rid the suffering. I have had enough of it.

2. Enjoy my studies
Will try to make the most of my time remaining at Monash. 3 sems to go. Will try to soak in as much as I can, and not to be stressed at late nights rushing for reports and assignments, which I'm sure will happen >.<

3. Travel more, see more!
Despite the decline in health, will try to get well a.s.a.p.
Have not been out of the country (besides S'pore) since 2005, so I'm lucky to have trips scheduled for Brisbane and Bangkok this year. Hopefully even more destinations to come! I love goin on holiday :)

4. Exercise regularly
Now that my sis has gone overseas to study, I no longer have a 'sports kaki' to play tennis with. But in an effort to maintain what's left of my fitness, I will try to have a workout at least.... erm say once a week? I will try to keep the fading passion for tennis alive. Somehow.


Also my resolutions are subject to change, becoz ppl change! Also if I come out with new goals in the near future, I can add them in! :)

Won't be blogging as much this year, so here's to a great Chinese New Year guys!! The year of the rabbit has caused those furry little creatures to feature in ads everywhere! I particularly like the bright coloured hyper looking rabbits from Carrefour! :)

till my next post,
cheers.

Declining Health

The title says it all. Something is wrong with me, but I'm not sure what's the root of it.
The problems seem to be stomach/digestive system related, but it's been so many years and I still don't know if these problems are an effect of an underlying problem or if it is the source of it....

I have had to deal with health issues for as long as I can remember. But lately it seems to be getting worse. Last year I thought it was bad enough with all the bloating, but now in 2011 I think my stomach is killing me, little by little.

I have had trouble just sitting in class due to nausea. It doesn't happen all the time, and when it comes, it comes without warning. I used to have better prediction of it, but nowadays it seems like the sick feeling comes more frequently beyond my control. And then there's the hyper-acidity, where my stomach is constantly releasing acid at all the wrong times.... so when you don't find food quickly, the prolong effect is again... nausea and just an uneasiness that prevents me from living a normal life.

What scares me the most is that my weight has dropped a little again... a downward trend for the past few years... as if I weren't thin enough. It's becoz I can't eat much. I feel sick if I don't eat, but I also feel sick after I eat. So what am I supposed to do? In general I feel weaker you know, like these days I tend to get motion sickness so I worry whenever we go for long distance traveling. I never had this problem before. Last year, I just felt tired all the time, the dark eye circles on my face says it all.... no matter how much I sleep I will still feel drained.

I don't know what to do anymore, aside from praying. I have seen doctors, specialists, and even Chinese medicine practitioners. Nothing seems to offer a solution. No one really knows what's my problem.

I seriously hope I make it through 2011.

it's 2011

Holy cow the last week of 2010 flew by just like that. And my blog header is sooo 2010, I need to change it haha!

Christmas wasn't really celebrated, and the annual gift exchange was postponed to last night, on New Year's Day instead. The year before I welcomed 2010 with pbsm friends on a beach in P.D., this year I welcomed 2011 with the same ppl but at my home instead! Glad I managed to get them excited about 'Cluedo', which was what we were busy doing when the clock struck twelve. I wonder where or what we will be doing on 31-12-2011? ;)

Oh I forgot to mention that we also went to Broga hill on new year's eve. Pics in fb. Woke up super early at 3.15am, which explains why I was exhausted by the time 2011 came. Spent most of yesterday charging my batteries, am good to go now :)
Unfortunately assignments and a presentation are scheduled in January, and the exam happens to be during CNY. Ridiculous right!

I'm looking at my 2010 resolutions, you can see them here. Interesting becoz I wasn't able to fulfill most of them. Health seemed to decline, my weight decreased a little instead of going up >.<. The first quarter of 2010 I was able to steer away from tennis, but now I'm actually quite enjoying it. I think I'm playing the best I have ever played.. period. It happened becoz I put less pressure on myself. So I don't see a need to stop now.
I didn't do anything creative LOL, my Yhart project came to a halt, I would say it's history now. At least I did kind of fulfill item 5 and 6 hahaha.

Resolutions don't really get achieved, but I will still make a 2011 list for tradition sake. Also it's nice to have some goals, or at least a direction to look at. Will start thinking about it now. :)
Ohhh last but not least, have an awesome 2011 everyone! Hope whatever dreams you have come true this year ;)

Summer Bummer

Well actually it ain't a bummer, saying it just coz it rhymes! :P
OK maybe I'm a lil jealous that some of you are on holiday while I'm stuck with classes.

Summer school has been going on for a while. So far still alrite, and I appreciate how peaceful the campus is now. Minimal ppl, plenty of carpark, the computer labs are like for private use, not another soul in sight! Yes I enjoy solitude haha.

Till now my brain can still handle the accounting and marketing concepts. I prefer accounting class, 60 peeps only, whereas marketing is about 160. Interesting becoz class consists of students from various schools, esp marketing where we have science, engineering, arts, computer science and of course business students. I think the diverse backgrounds would come useful in discussions and assignments. It's all about having an open mind.

*credits to my 2nd sis for the pic above

The main event this month is NOT Christmas, but my big sis' wedding! Last Sunday was the PJ dinner and it was crazy (in a good way)! A massive gathering of relatives, most of which I didn't know how to address but looked familiar. Best part was how we all dressed up for the occasion. I must say we looked pretty darn good! Pictures still processing. My sisters, the groom and I also performed a song on stage! I quite enjoyed the adrenaline rush.

Round 1 was a success, now next Monday will be the "chut moon" ceremony and then the Ipoh dinner. It's like a month long celebration haha. Everyone is busy but particularly excited because all of this is a first for us.

As I said Christmas seems downplayed this year. The entire family won't be around for Christmas dinner and gift exchange like previous years, a tradition that I cherish. So it's true when they say the only constant in life is change. But I will find ways to have a happy Christmas :)

Unfortunately irregular eating times lately has brought Mr.Gastric back, possibly to spend Christmas with me :( My stomach is still hurting now as I type this @_@ My stomach woes never seem to end. I miss the days where I could eat freely without fear of the consequences. But I'm aware of those who suffer far worse conditions and illnesses to deal with, so I'm thankful for all the other health problems that I don't have!

All about positive thinking rite! Stay jolly peeps, and in case I don't blog again soon, here's to a very Merry Christmas to friends, family and all readers of my lil blog :)

cheers!

Yippee

Results (exam) were out today! Once again I wouldn't have known the exact time of release had it not been for Facebook. Sometimes I wonder how they find out... do they refresh the web page every other minute just to see if it's out? I wouldn't. Too stressful.

Well results are better than my expectations, probably because I lowered them after last semester's decline in overall grade. If you don't expect, then you won't be disappointed rite! I'm psyching myself here. But really I'm super happy, definitely the best I have achieved in quite a while! Now that the bar is set high, I know I'm going to be disappointed next year because I doubt I can score any better than this. I know my limits :/

How you spend the study period before and between papers is crucial. I mean this applies to last minute study goers like me :P If you have been studying consistently all year long (who does that?) then screw you, go ahead and bask in glory now you freak!

For this sem, I made a study timetable just like the previous sem and stuck to it faithfully. I honestly don't know how I managed to stay disciplined and abide by the schedule, but I'm so thankful I did. The thing about studying last minute is that FEAR of failing/screwing things up becomes a motivation. It's the ultimate driving force. Do or die kind of scenario. If you don't sense the fear, it means you don't care about it enough. I get the same nerves whenever I play a tennis match. There's just too much to lose, and a hell lot worth fighting for! :)

As I have mentioned, group study was never my thing. I always study alone, it's tradition haha! I gotta admit those 3 weeks before the first paper was quite lonely. Too quiet at times. Everyday I would just sit in my room and stare at the notes. When you're alone, the mind starts playing tricks. I always wonder how the others are doing, what's their progress and all. Sometimes it's just too stressful to hear about how much they have done revising (PEER PRESSURE!) so I normally don't ask! I work alone and focus on my own progress. I comfort myself by thinking repeatedly that as long as I follow my schedule, it will be fine. Typical OCD behaviour. Kind of hermit like, but it gets the job done.

I know I'm saying all these things now that you probably don't care for, but it's just kind of emotional. Getting the results today, it's rewarding to know that the sacrifices I made this sem have paid off. So many times I have been frustrated and felt so agitated at all things Monash. I remember the insecurities I felt dealing with the possibility of doing badly. But at the end of the day, I know I gotta have faith in myself, because every obstacle that has come my way in the past, I have dealt with it and moved on even though at times there wasn't a clean victory.

No one is gonna look after you better than yourself. Always believe in your abilities and mental strength because it only gets stronger and stronger each time you succeed in overcoming a challenge. Gosh I know this all sounds stupid and it seems like I'm giving an inspirational speech to children, but I really mean it when I say you gotta believe in yourself.

Truly self belief is the most powerful force in life. Cheers yall :)