tales of two abroad

0

2008-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

Home.

3

2008-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Two more days in the land down under.

I'm back from Apollo Bay and I think I'm catching a cold. I've been sneezing. And I have a major headache now.

Tomorrow night will be our last night in our humble abode. When I say "humble abode", I really mean it. It's a one room unit, as in the whole thing, is one room.

We never took pictures of the place. Procrastination, my best friend. I'm going to miss this place and how it always smells of whatever we had for dinner.

I'm going to miss my shrine, my lovely book mountain.

I'm going to miss having that picture of Boromir right beside where I put my head when I sleep.

I'm going to miss my cousin.

I'll miss my roomie, I suppose. But I'm gonna see her half the year each year anyway so that's okay.

And then there's that plan we have...

P.S. I just realized how bad my counting is.

5

2008-12-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

I can count the days on one hand.

Addie's back home for what, 2 weeks now? Sam left today and Jean's in Apollo bay. I'm alone. MUAHAHAHAHAHA.

I didn't do very adventurous things though. In fact, I did quite the opposite. I called Jon and begged that he have me over at their place. There I helped Auntie Poh Im decorate scone baskets. After which I helped her make wantons. I now know the secret. :)

She, of course, cooked up a lovely meal. My reward. I'm so easy to buy. Just promise me dinner.

I just realised, the feeling of Christmas and the feeling of home are both very similar. I've been feeling them both, which is a very very potent feeling.

I don't want to die either. Not yet. Maybe when I start becoming a liability to the world. As of now, I feel that I have much to offer. SO HELLO WORLD! Achtung!

6

2008-12-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

If I could die today, I wouldn't want to.

Now, that's change.

7

2008-12-03T00:50:00.000-08:00

It seems I've lost all track of time. Today is Wednesday? I had no idea.

So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. That's ~~six~~ seven days. By next Thursday, Kris and I will be home.

Damn!

8

2008-12-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

I woke up early this morning. By early, I mean about eleven. I changed into my bathers, in case it gets sunny later. And then I vacuumed the floor and took in the laundry.

I had breakfast--egg tart and juice (with whiskey). Then I made cupcakes, all by myself. I used to think that I couldn't follow recipes but I've come to realize that cooking is chemistry in action.

So when I cook I just pretend that I'm in the lab doing an experiment and it all goes well.

Then I had a cup of coffee while watching Ed Wood, which I think is gonna be one of my inspirations. It's not my new Amelie but it's filed under "Things that Keep Me Going", together with things like How I Write:The Secret Lives of Authors and my Jane Austen box set.

"I just want to tell stories. Things that I find interesting" ~Johnny Depp as Edward D. Wood Jr., Ed Wood

Off to read now!! A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

9

2008-12-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

I've been told too often that I live in a fantastical world. Maybe that's why I'm such a skeptic.

"The problem with me is, I guess, the way I express myself, you have to be with me 50 years before you can get a sense of what I'm talking about."
~Al Pacino

10

2008-11-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

Um, Kris, remember the other thing/idea we had? That Sarah is in on. Remember? Yeah, this is me trying to be cryptic. I'm not good at it. Being cryptic, that is. Not when I'm doing it intentionally anyway.

I think we could still keep this blog alive. Until the other idea takes off anyway. And then we lay it to rest by blogging (I still HATE that word) about that OTHER idea. And while this blog is alive, we could keep blogging about how one year abroad has "changed our perspective" and how we've "discovered ourselves".

By that I mean that perspective definitely changes when one is drunk and self-discovery never really ends. Hmm, this post is starting to sound like our other idea. Yup, that's me, trying to be cryptic again.

Anyways, I've discovered one thing this year. I really do not like boys. Glad I finally got that off my chest. Oh, but I like my brothers and Josh and Aaron. There's just a line between "people i consider actual people" and "people".

I just think people are horrible, untrustworthy and all tangled up in their own lives, myself (definitely) included. And you know, I want to be proved wrong, I do. But that thought, of being proved wrong, scares me a little because that would mean that I've got no excuse to live in this hole of mine anymore.

Damn! I'm a better psychoanalyst than I thought I was. Things I'm good at: self-psychoanalysis and lying.

11

2008-11-30T03:48:00.000-08:00

Eleven. Sebelas. Sap Yat. Undici.

Mum, Dad, Jean and I went for a stroll in the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was lovely. Took some pics and just chatted as we walked. I am a lover of parks and forests. Always, always up for a walk there unless of course it's with some drunkard whose beard reeks of stale alcohol and cheese. Grossies!

Still listening to 'The heart of life' by John Mayer. Good song that one. I liked 'Free-falling' too until I read the lyrics. Here's a bit of it:

All the vampires walkin through the valley
Move west down ventura boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts

Originally sung by Tom Petty, John Mayer did a cover of it.

What in the world is it supposed to mean?

Hey Jean, I just realised, the countdown to home-home actually means the end of the blog. So sad. We must do something as we lay it to rest, peacefully. How?

12

2008-11-29T00:16:00.000-08:00

And man, Do I have a muscle ache from packing! I'm not some crazy person who packs a few times before going anywhere. Oh wait, I am. I call it "practice packing".

The thing is, I'm leaving for Apollo Bay tomorrow and I'm staying there for a week. And I'll only be back on the 7th of December. And our flight's in the morning on the 11th, which means I have to be ALL PACKED by the 10th.

I know that's three days but oh well, I just don't want to be a nervous wreck during the week I'm gone.

I'm going to take naps on the beach and go body boarding and laze around and read, yup, pretty much live in my bathers.

And sleep...I'm gonna sleep a lot.

13

2008-11-28T05:11:00.000-08:00

And now we're at thirteen.

Yesterday we celebrated Ethan's birthday. Got him a colouring and activity book. I quite miss colouring. And painting. Oh, and join the dots.

Besides that I haven't been doing very much. Jean has started packing and is almost done. I haven't done any packing at all. I should start soon.

I'm still giddy thinking about home-home. Ahhh...

Tralala.

And Jean, I told you, you won't die. Cause I feel like it's not my time yet. And since we're traveling together, we should be fine.

14

2008-11-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

I had a panic attack last night. One of my many many disorders.

I hate hate HATE flying. Sometimes I think about traveling the world and having adventures and then I think about flying and I feel short of breath and my heart starts beating really fast. Sometimes my chest even hurts. And when I am very stressed out, I get stomach cramps.

Then I get out a book from the library on whatever country I feel like visiting. Or I try to learn a language.

In two weeks, I have to get on a plane. I am not looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to going home home. Ah, the things we do for food. I mean...to get home.

15

2008-11-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes dreams are better than real life.

In real life, there's banking and bills to settle. In dreams, you can fly.

I miss Josh today.

16

2008-11-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

Little Jean misses her ole em. Not that me em's old or anything but that's just how I think Alex talks in A Clockwork Orange.

I love that book. I will probably get it when I go home, the green Penguin one which costs RM 8. One of the few things that I really want.

By em, I mean "M" for mom. I don't viddy how all these like kooky ideas get into my gulliver.

Okay, I'm not sure if I'm using it right. I know some words like eggiweg and moloko and platties and vetsch. I think it's more about the feeling of it than knowing how to use the words.

But yeah. I, Jeannette that is, miss my mom.

17

2008-11-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

Read. I'm saving Wide Awake and Love in All the Wrong Places for when I go home.

Watch movies. RM6!!

Bake.

17

2008-11-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

17 days and counting.

I am currently at my bro's house. Been playing with Ethan a great deal. I don't complain. Especially when it's jumping on the trampoline. We just jump and jump. It doesn't hurt that my bro has the Wii here too. It's the only time I get to box a virtual Ethan till he's knocked out on the floor.

But I must admit that that three year old has beaten me once in boxing.

I made up a song for him while jumping... It's more like a jingle.
It goes:

Jump, jump, jump like a kangaroo,
I should jump and so should you,
Call grandpa (my dad) to join us too,
To jump, jump, jump like a kangaroo.

Choo choo choo like a choo choo train,
The day is sunny and it won't rain, (I had to think fast and it was all I could come up with),
We're not as fast as an aeroplane,
But we'll choo choo choo like a choo choo train.

He even knows the tune now.

Jean is as usual, sleeping at home and Addie will be going back in 5 days!

So, any suggestions for the hols? Anything interesting going on for Christmas back home home?

Countdown: 18 days

2008-11-23T01:39:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading A Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. I plan to finish it tonight if my eyelids can stay up. I woke up at half past ten today, the first time I have been up before 12 since my exams ended.

I went out for more than two hours--the first time in about four days. I went to Borders and browsed. I'm trying to see what the latest authors are doing these days. I think I am going to look into the marketing of books.

Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia which was just published this year is fabulous. I wish I had read that kind of book when I was a child. That's another added to an already very long list.

And Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is out!!! I am going to buy it as soon as I get home; the adult's edition because the cover is creepier.

I've been eye-ing The Game by Diana Wynne Jones for more than a year now. And when I get back will look for it at the library--the only decent library that I have been to at home.

Things to do:
~ Collect more notes
~ Write children's story
~ Find an illustrator (or horror of all horrors, take art classes so I can do it myself.)

Countdown: 19 days

2008-11-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

Damnit! I seriously cannot wait to be home. It has been freaking cold the last two days. Welcome, to SPRING in Melbourne. It's almost summer! Is it too much to ask for like a temperature of at least 15 Celsius? It was 9 last night. NINE DEGREES!

I miss the food. There's Chinese food here. But seriously, Chinese food is not Malaysian food. I miss sitting at the yucky hawker stalls, where food fumes fill the air and eating a plate of Char Kuey Teow that costs only 3 ringgits and 50 sen.

Maybe my longing for clarity has got something to with me missing home.

On the other hand, I'm really going to miss the library at uni. When I say "the library", there's only one I'm talking about. Let's call it the arts library. The fourth floor is my hangout spot.

Okay, back to reading now. Too many books that I want to read before I go home.

Looking forward.

2008-11-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

I like having things to look forward to. They help me go on. They give me hope. They make me want to live, to get through today when it's one of those days that seeps the life out of you.

So many things to look forward to when I get back. I can hardly wait! Yay Yay Yay Yay Yay. I get to see friends that understand what I say without me having to repeat myself in some foreign accent.

I get to drive like the crazy driver I am.

I get to eat REAL food and not worry about getting chubbs.

I get to celebrate Christmas and New Year and Chinese New Year with the people closest to my heart. Ahhhh.... I REALLY can't wait.

The feeling is just too great.

I want to have sleepovers, and mamak, and aimless drives and mangolo, and walks through the pasar malams, and taboo showdown, and karaoke, bake sessions, and my bed, my room, my blanket and just that HOME-HOME feeling.

I'm about to burst just thinking about it. :)

Sweet home sweet!

Three Things

2008-11-10T15:44:00.000-08:00

(1) I can't believe in everything. Believing in everything is like believing in nothing. So I've decided to make stands on things that there are no "right" answers to. As for the questions with objective answers--objective meaning "existing independent of thought as part of reality"--I've decided to have my own opinions until "damning evidence" emerges. Opinions are changeable.

(2) I care deeply about things. Hearing stories of female circumcision and extreme poverty makes me angry. Not being able to figure out something irritates me. Not being able to do something constructive about all of the things I feel strongly about irritates me. Not knowing what to do irritates me.

(3) I have been dreaming about theology and molecular biology every night since Sunday night.

Post no. 61

2008-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have one paper to go and it's on Tuesday. Sociology 102. Think Marx, Durkheim, Weber. I can't wait to be done with it. I really enjoy the content of this subject though. I just wish there was someone more knowledgeable that I could discuss it with. I need a mentor.

But really this subject makes me feel. I think there were a few times in the lectures, it's like I'm so absorbed I forget I'm in a lecture and that there are people sitting next to me. And there were times where I felt so much I just wanted to tell the world things. I have to consciously swallow the vommit of thoughts I'm about to offer the stranger two seats away. It's similar to Jean's 'hug-the-world' feeling. It's like,...you know how it is when you have found something and you just need to tell someone? That feeling.

I like looking and society and social relationships. And eventhough I'm still struggling with trying to sound coherent and comprehensive, I will get there. It's all those years of scientific conditioning. The arts are a new platform to learn. Oh develop already(!), I scold my right brain.

That aside. I'm doing well. Counting down the days to actual summer (it's an uncre* 13 degrees and it;s summer here), non-packeted bak kut teh, and mamak at 3 in the morning. "Boss, milo ais kau kau kau!"

*uncre [ung-ker]- A stress word. To signify intensity. Term coined by Kris and Jean.

A Paper and A Pen and Me

2008-10-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

Could it really just about those things? A piece of paper, a pen and of course, me? Because the truth is, I'm at a block.

It's not about inspiration because I still write when I have no inspiration. I squeeze something out of myself, out of life, to write about.

It's not about satisfaction. I'm never ever fully satisfied with anything that I have written. I am less satisfied with every re-reading.

It's not ideas. I have a mass of ideas constantly floating about in my head. Some formed, some half-formed, some almost formed. They're all just waiting to be put into words.

Right now, I wish I could write something. Anything. Even if I hate it. Even if I use every stupid simile/metaphor/phrase/whatever that I've ever read and hated.

But still, the blank screen of my word processor stares back at me. The cursor is blinking, blinking.

Perhaps the block is made up of all the thoughts of electrochemical analysis, mass spectrometry, vibrational spectroscopy, reciprocal regulation, coupling/uncoupling (which by the way, has nothing to do with sex) and worries about molecular biology wedged at the back.

Honestly, I think it's because I haven't written any of my writings on paper for a month, probably more. It's always the infernal typing and the pixels of my laptop.

I spend too much time browsing the internet looking for more digital instruments for me to write with, write on, read with. And I forgot that most of my writing is done in lecture halls, where I don't have anything except a pen and paper.

In the midst of all my nonsense drawings, doodles and illustrations, sometimes an idea becomes a word. And then more words. And I find that a plot emerges. I miss that.

Robin: So get off the computer, you idiot!!

Me: Okay, okay. I'm going.

Write on

2008-10-27T01:42:00.001-07:00

Dear all,

This is to inform you that Ms Kristy Tan has resumed her writing post at her older blog. It seems the blogging world has something to offer the author, and the author would like to think so does she.

Please boost her confidence (trust me she needs it, she writes better when confident) by stopping by every once in a while to check it out. If you don't get to read through all of what she writes (even she finds it hard getting through some of her own stuff) fake compliments from a genuine heart are welcomed.

To do so, click here.

Thank you.

P.S. Okay, this is me speaking. The 'real' me. So yeah, I'm trying out something new. Do check it out and yeah, let me know what you think...on the other blog. :)

Books I studied this semester:

2008-10-24T04:23:00.000-07:00

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I've ranted on and on about Boromir for quite some time now. And about Tolkien in general since the beginning of the semester. So I won't say any more.

2. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Again, this is an author I've ranted about for years. I think it was because I saw his name on the unit guide that I took this subject. Like The Lord of the Rings, I re-read this book for this subject and loved it even more than the first time I read it.

3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It's really weird. I read this book for fun in the first semester of uni this year and absolutely loved it. It's a world that's completely logical but in the words of Terry Pratchett, "logical about the wrong things". It's a book about books. It's crazy. It's a detective/police story, with time travel and genetic engineering with politics slipped in along the way. Oh, and romance too. It's insane. The Eyre Affair is one part of a larger series. The Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde is really awesome as well.

4. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This book really confused me. I thought it was a TRUE, historical story, until I heard the lecture. But while I was reading it, I kept thinking, "This can't be a true story." What sort of historian would write history that included a villain constantly shouting "INCONCEIVABLE!" The movie was funny but the book had me rolling on the floor and laughing out loud.

5. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. The week that we did this book, I learnt that there is no one child. Children are really just like adults. They have their own reading preferences and if left on their own to read whatever they like, will read whatever they like, whether it was written "for them" or not. This book is the first part of a trilogy.

6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Oddly, I didn't like it as much as the first few times that I read it. I don't like Dahl's portrayal of the "bad" children. Plus the constant repetition of the words "FABULOUS", "MAGNIFICENT", "AMAZING" and "WONDERFUL" doesn't seem to have much of an effect on me anymore. The only thing I still like about it is the idea of a candy/chocolate utopia.

We also studied a short story--Trollbridge by Terry Pratchett (I can't seem to find it on Amazon) and a poem--The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll.

So to sum up what I learnt this semester:
1. Fantasy can't really be defined. I still don't really know what it is. It's quite subjective.
2. There's probably more but I'm a slow processor. But there are new ideas sparking. I can feel it.

Jokes that skip generations...

2008-10-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Some people still use jokes that have skipped, one two or more generations. These are the jokes that have lost their funnies about them. Some I have heard quite recently include:

1. What do you call a hairy prune?.... A Prunette! (I made this one up so it's quite this generation don't you think? Auntie Melon found it funny. Fine maybe it skipped one generation. )

2. Where got? God in heaven lorr. (Two generations skipped)

3.You have a tummy ache? Just take out the EGG. (5 generations skipped)

4. What do you want to eat? Anything. Sorry I don't think they sell 'anything' here. ( Never attained joke status)

Anyway, I'm going to end now. And as I do, let me revert back to my tween-styled writing since we're doing all this reminiscing.

Alriteys, thatz it from mua today. *giggle* Have a rockin week ahead. Don't 4get to SmiL3! Best fwens 4 evaaaaaa!
*twinlin little star

CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE.

I'm so happy those times have passed. Ahhhhhhh.....

I think it's time for another parody.

2008-10-07T22:23:00.001-07:00

So...hawt pictures huh.

I've got one of a scantily-clad female. This one was taken on the beach at Apollo Bay.

P.S. That blue thing in the background? It's the sea. Well, not all of it. Part of it is the sky.

tales of two abroad

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Countdown: 18 days

Countdown: 19 days

Looking forward.

Three Things

Post no. 61

A Paper and A Pen and Me

Write on

Books I studied this semester:

Jokes that skip generations...

I think it's time for another parody.

Apollo bay 3

Carrie the Cow

Here, your update...

Wish we were there!!

It's week 8

What I'd Want to Do with Him:

Something to blog about

So yup...

It caught me

Yeah, okay so...

It has been

I'm Awake Now

Box Hill Hospital

Sem 2

Should all aquaintance, be...

Pride and Prejudice

Mamma Mia

Fresh

Updates

The Holidays

Too Bizarre!

Of hermit crabs as pets.

Zebra Spots?!?!

By this time next week

Be A Lifesaver

30th post

Decisions

Always Winter

My Sedatives

Feeling alive.

How the use of a spoon led to a flow of chocolate

The post about homes.

Now, my turn.

The post about boys.

Last Week's Activities

I'm picking it up...

Tim the Hot Air Blower

Lately

Reminders

Invaluable

You know what?

Uni

Thursdays,

Live in your trackies.

This is really late.

I'm glad I'm here...

Recently

Just some weird random thing

Tuna fried rice.

Pictures...as promised

The fourth day of uni.

Rituals and so on...

Layers