Brenda Yap

So yet again it's been a while since I myself have been at my blog. I wonder why I trawl design and fashion blogs every week but somehow keep forgetting about my own.

Anyway. Yes. Twentyone! 090908. I had an awesome birthday. Well, an awesome birthday weekend, in fact! Guess what?


l-r; me, wazir, my aunt from sydney, MUM, and my cousin lynn!

So it was a great surprise. It was sooo great to see mum after more than half a year, and my aunt and cousin being here was a huge surprise too. And Wazir knew about it all along! I'm surprised he managed to keep it from me. My whole weekend was shopping, dining, walking around.. I wish mum could've stayed longer but she had to get back to work.

The facebook messages are rather overwhelming so I hope you all don't hold it against me if I don't reply every single message, but I do appreciate the thought so much. Thanks to all who remembered, I really am touched. No doubt it's getting harder for some of us to keep in touch, being in different countries; it sucks not being able to celebrate with all of you as per usual, but all the same thanks for the text/online messages/cards/phone calls. :)

Anyway mum's gone home now, in fact she had to leave on my birthday; and now it's back to uni and work, for the next 2 months at least.. Then I'm going home! :)


Housemates and neighbours; family.
l-r; fred, wazir, me, lin, loy yang, lynn, ken, and naughtyjack.


my love.

Gosh photos sure are tiny on this new layout eh?

I'm missing home. Now obviously I've been missing home this entire year but somehow it's just been hitting me harder since this semester started.

I'm really finding it hard to motivate myself -- I didn't get into all my first choices for my classes; plus I'm somehow feeling really unsure of myself. Everytime I'm faced with an assignment I feel so blank - I don't know how to tackle/present it. Why la am I so blank.

Have also caught the flu bug that has been going round. Came down with a fever last week, then I got a sorethroat and a cold, started coughing, and today I lost my voice. -.- Wazir's got the fever too.

Oh my god why am I so depressing. -.-

Wazir is back!! (Actually, it's been a week already, haha.)

And class has started (it's been a week too), so it's back to work.. -.- Feeling damn lazy.

It's been a bit of a boring holiday.. My housemates have disappeared one by one. First Fred left for HK, then Wazir for KL, then Lynn for Penang.. And tonight Loy Yang's staying at his aunt's place. So it's just me and Chee Hoe. Luckily LY's coming back tomorrow..

It's a good thing Wazir left his tv and ps2 with me, so I can play Crash Team Racing and the Simpsons. Wtf I'm such a kid. But hey at least I've been staying home, thus preventing myself from spending money. I just paid off my bills and filed my receipts etc, and I discovered that I spent waaaayyy too much in June. Thus, trying out a mini shopping ban. I say mini because I know I won't exactly be very strict on myself, lol. But it's ok. I still have my part time job anyway.

I cut my hair almost 2 weeks ago. I have bangs now.. -.- I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep it long/have side swept bangs/straight bangs so I told her to do whatever she thought was right.. And well..


You can call me Brenda lala..

Hahaha. It was shorter when I first got it cut and I wasn't sure if I liked it but it's grown longer since and I reckon I like it better now.. Although it's a pain in the ass to style since I don't have pin straight hair and when I don't blowdry/straighten them they tend to curl in different directions.. -.- Damn sohai looking.

Wazir is coming back on Friday!!! :D :D :D

This is what happens when I can't sleep.

What do you think?

I can't believe I've only just discovered how simple it can be to use ebay. Which really, is a terrible, terrible thing.

It all began when I saw a pair of shoes that I absolutely loved on Rumi of Fashion Toast's feet -- that blue Nine West pair.. So after scouring countless NW stores in Melbourne, my mum checking out KL, and Wazir's mum checking out Dubai to no avail, I resorted to searching online. And everyone was sold out.. And somehow I found it on ebay.. And that was it.

So a week later, they arrived..

Kanal
They're really pretty, but much the blue is much more glimmery than it looks in the picture.

And I saw these cheap so I couldn't help myself too.. -.-

Tobago

To be honest I haven't been buying as many shoes as I usually do this year.. Before these couple I've only bought 2 these year.. So I was feeling pretty proud of myself but that's pretty much gone out the window now..

New targets ::

Zanja




Newtime

I just can't decide whether I like these better in black or brown. -.- Leaning toward the black though. Unfortch I've been unable to find this pair anyway.. Well not on any website that delivers to Australia, and not even on ebay.

I think I have a wedge/NW problem. Help!

I miss him already.

Emotional fool, that's me.

So the holidays are unofficially here (I say unofficial since I still have my portfolio to hand in next Friday), but somehow I'm not feeling too hyped.

This semester has been insane. I've spent sooo much money on my projects -- I've never spent this much in one semester before. But all in all I'm satisfied with the work I've produced, so it should be worth it.

Wazir leaves for Malaysia in two days, and since my presentation ended and preparing for the exhibition, it's been a crazy whirlwind of shopping for things for him to take home, gifts, and packing. Plus, we somehow thought that his flight was a day later than it actually is, thus I lost one day once we figured it out. -.-

Feeling sad that he's leaving, although it's only for 3 weeks -- spending 4 months with nearly every waking moment together has spoiled me. I think the longest time we spent apart was those 3 days when I went camping, lol. Well sad as I am, I guess it should be good to have some time to myself. I have lots of cleaning, filing and organizing to do, which I somehow keep putting off. -.-

My final studio presentation is tomorrow.

Wazir found a white hair on my head a couple of days ago.

Thanks, RMIT.

Mid-semester assessment was last Thursday. I totally fumbled. So many things I should have said that I forgot to say. So much work wasted and unexplained. I really need to brush up my concept. I think that's always the toughest part. I think the best comment I received was that my drawings, boards and model were great, but what good is that if I can't figure out the design concept?

Sigh. Feeling kind of stuck at the moment, don't know how to progress. It's depressing.

"I'm always scared that I'm not going to know what to do; it's a terrifying moment." Frank Gehry, from Sketches of Frank Gehry.

6 weeks til the semester ends; I don't know if I'm estatic or terrified.

I miss home. :(

According to myepisodes.com (which is basically my tv guide, thanks Yen!), I've spent 1 month, 2 weeks, 16 days and 50 minutes watching tv series so far. 0.0

Holy shit.

Anyway.. I have been sooo sooo busy! That's why I've been so shite at maintaining this blog. -.- I've got classes 3 days a week, and I work 2 days a week (well, 1 full day and 1 half day). But yea. And the rest of my time is spent doing my homework.

It's ironic -- now I have money but no time to shop. Previously I had so much time to shop and no money. -.-

You probably won't believe this, but last week I went camping last week, for my studio class. 20 of us went camping in the suburbs. I slept in a tent for 2 nights, peed in a little hut thing and didn't bathe for 2 days. Seriously. Anyway, pictures to follow later cos I'm too lazy to resize my photos at the moment, but I do have proof that I did go camping! :P

edited


Oscar, Lynda, Farah and I; cooking.


Yin, and the same 3 girls. :)


Dinner. Huge crowd.


Everyone by the campfire. It was cold. -.-


Farah's and my camp! We decided to pitch it directly next to 3 boys' tent so we'd feel safe, lol.


And the toilet hut!

Today has been an interesting day. Politicswise, I'm sure as every Malaysian already knows about; and others too. Here's to change. Anyway. Went to Footscray Market with Wazir, Shah and Hieda, and it was a hot, hot day so we ended up going to the beach to have fish and chips. :) Very relaxing indeed.

Finally got around to organizing my photos, so here are some superly backdated pictures from Hong Kong ::


The castle.


Lion King Show! That was pretty awesome, I thought.


Brynna and I near the Tarzan's treehouse thing.


Castle at night. So pretty. There were fireworks too later that night.




Even the train to Disneyland was Disneyland themed -- Mickey windows, Mickey handlebars, and Disney statuettes.


Lan Kwai Fong, New Year's Eve. Massive crowds. Freaky mannequin perched on the decor.


Dolphin show at Ocean Park.


Cable car.

And just a couple more from CNY ::


I miss you so much Brynna!! Really hope you can come visit this year.
Gosh I can't believe my sister has gotten so big already. I was away for a year and next thing I knew she's just a couple of cms shorter than me, and nearly my clothes size, though much fitter than I am. And also an awesome anime artist.


Mummy I miss you too! :( I miss the talks the most. And watching our tv shows together.


And how could I forget Brandon? I was so happy the other night; I phoned home and spoke with dad and ah yi and they passed Brandon the phone and he actually called me 'jie jie' and I thought that was really sweet. I can't wait til I see him next because he'll probably be talking already by then. Ahh I miss my dad and ah yi and everyone..


Brynna, dad, ah yi and Brandon. :)

Anyway. I have been made resident master of the building that I live in, which means that I help out a little bit with events and I help students who lock themselves out. I also might be able to get some hours in to work in the admin office, so I think its a good thing. Part of me wants to actually get a job, but part of me worries that I will not be able to cope with studies as well as working. But I think that I will not know, until I try. :)

Sunday :: Went to Ikea, bought some storage solution stuff. Arranged shoes, accessories, toiletries, handbags in compartments. Organized drawers. Attempted to rearrange furniture but decided I liked it better the way it originally was. Filed bank statements, invoices, receipts. Cleared (very messy) desk.

Monday :: Discovered that I got into all my first choices -- for my studio, and my two electives. Pleasantly surprised; hopefully I've made the right choices. Organised stationery. Refilled pens and pencils. Took blades and rulers out of storage boxes for first time since the last semester. Got out new sketchbook. Set alarm for 8.30am.

So. Class starts tomorrow. I'm nervous, but oh well. Bring it on. Wish me luck!

Been back in Melbourne for two weeks now, but haha, it took me that long to update. It's really been busy, since we had to look for a place for Wazir, and he had orientation, etc.. Well he's started class last week and since then it's been a lot of lazing around for me. :) But no more now. :(

Missing home and family very much. :'( 3 months of indulgence was too long.

Leaving is hard. Just finished packing my 20kg bag -- taking all my clothes off their hangers and folding/rolling them up made me sad. Going to dad's for the last time. Saying goodbye to stepmom, brother, and house.. Ugh I'm such a sap. Going to miss Brynna and my mum so much too.

Slightly over one more day in KL. Got my teeth checked already, and my hair cut. A little annoyed at the moment cos I wanted to eat nasi lemak before I leave but I have a sore throat. :(

Finally did something about my weight gain over the weekend -- went swimming on Saturday and to the gym on Sunday. Going to the gym makes me feel like a fool cos I have to take direction from my 13 year old sister who's been gymming for the past year. -.-

It's kind of funny that I've been spending so little time online in Malaysia, except to download my tv shows, and do some random surfing/bloghopping. I spend nearly all of my time in Melbourne online; but I guess that's because when I'm there I have nothing else to do when I'm not doing coursework.

Time to sleep! I have a busy day ahead..

One week to go. Next week at this time I will be in Melbourne.

Gong Xi Fa Cai all!

It's been a boring, internetless week as my laptop is currently being held hostage at the service center til it gets its LCD screen changed. My warranty ends mid this year so I decided to take it for servicing and fix all the little things -- minor or major. So for now I have to make do with my sister's desktop; which is incidently great for watching videos on, with its 24" screen. Damn.

Had a pretty good week -- managed to finally meet up with Mae and Wern for dinner which was awesome.. It's been ages since we've had time to sit down and chat like the old times, gossip, reminisce and just talk, lol. Plus I got a surprise phone call from none other than Yew Sun and Yen in Manchester which was great. :) Aww I miss you guys so much.

Just a week til Chinese New Year, and two weeks til Valentine's, which is the day I leave for Melbourne. Feeling a little sad about leaving, but you know, it gets better; this being my third time leaving home.

And... I have news. Good news. Great news, actually!

This time, I won't be going to Melbourne alone... Wazir is coming with me!!! So it's definitely going to be a more fun and interesting year. I'm totally psyched. :) It's only been confirmed a week or so ago, so yea, it's going to be great. :)

On a sidenote, this is a bit belated, but anyhow, RIP Heath Ledger, and also to Nian Ning & the other lives lost in the bus crash. I didn't know her, but I was greatly saddened reading all the articles; so if you do too, go to http://buscrashnomore.blogspot.com/ and sign the petition.

I've been lazy again. I got back from HK on like, the 2nd of Jan; but haven't gotten around to updating, lol. Anyway, Happy New Year all!! :)

Hong Kong was good, apart from the busy streets and well, tbh people can be pretty rude there. -.- But the shopping was good. I've always wanted to go to H&M and as I expected, I totally loved it!! Lol. Disneyland was great too. Obvs, it's much smaller than others, but still.. Disneylands are always magical -- makes me feel like a little kid again. :) Ocean Park was a bit meh, but I guess we picked a wrong time to go; during the year end holidays and all. It was so packed. Will edit later with photos. :)

So.. Looking back and reflecting upon 2007..

It was definitely a trying year for me; but I am pretty proud of myself, because it was a year where I learned a lot.

1. My grades are much better now than they ever were in Cenfad, and I'm focusing a lot more on my studies.
2. I've learned to live more independently; clean up after myself, pay my own bills, cook and shop for my own groceries, etc.
3. Wazir and I survived a year of LDR, and we're still going on as strong as ever.
4. I have great housemates and I've made some good friends in Melbourne.

Some basic resolutions for 2008:

1. No more snacking after 10pm 10.30pm 11pm.
2. Save more money.
3. Clean up room and toss stuff I don't need so it will be easier for mum to move my stuff when she moves house when I'm not around later in the year. (I've actually started on this.. Cleared out my wardrobe and gave my sister a lot of my clothes and donated quite an amount too.)
4. Actually get around to learning StudioMax. I've always wanted to be better at 3D rendering.
5. Lose the kgs I've gained on my holiday. -.- Damn the good food.

There must be more, but these are just at the top of my head.