What Matters To Me
hello people!
it’s christmas today and hope you guys have a merry one. this christmas is something different, not quite what i expected. so much more was supposed to happen but there has been changes. promises unkept.
furball and i had a lot of fun though.
here’s a preview…
the original babi and the fatass babi.
we were sooo productive. haha.
my utmost apologies for having abandoned this for quite some time. i guess i needed time to sort out other stuff and everytime i wanted to update, something else came up and there it goes again. futile attempt. argh, pisses me to quite a degree as i really wanted to blog about so many things at that time. i wonder if i can still recall what i wanted to blog about. precisely that very moment. it’s not the same, once the moment is gone, the feeling and mood is different and therefore i don’t feel like writing about it already. sigh. such is the life.
but, fret not. i shall think of new fresh topics! hehe. *thinking*
these few weeks, i’ve been relatively occupied with college, events and activities. also my travelling home in between sort of took up some of my time. though it’s not that faraway, travelling is still travelling. can’t do that much to make my time spent in the car productive seeing that my motion sickness thingy is still quite there. stubborn.
my previous trip home, i went to the temple, one which i’ve never visited and took quite a few shots.
the dragons are so colourful and the whole ambience was like…
i like how cute they look.
source of fire for joss sticks.
the way up the temple. real steep!
feli and i. hehe so cute.
mummy and daddy. love you guys.
one of the days when i was back home, mum brought us out for lunch and just to spend some time together since i don’t live with them any longer. i really appreciate them doing things, anything really for me now.
at johnny’s having some thai noodle with feli and mummy* happy*
secret recipe’s chocolate indulgence, yummy but still not quite there somehow.
us at secret recipe. b/w photos are classic!
playing with smile shutter at home while watching feli bounce around with her new exercise ball.
most of the days, i surfed the net for recipes to try out and to my surprise and everyone else’s the dishes all came out brilliant which was why my sis and i decided to host daddy’s 50th birthday party. we volunteered to cook and invited about 18 people to celebrate. mum was almost certain we couldn’t pull it off and was very reluctant about having the gathering but we persuaded her. plus, our relatives were all very excited and anxious to try out my dishes. newly aquired skills, haha.
so, there goes, we planned the menu which we thought would be a change of taste and appetising for all. we included mango sorbet for dessert and also went to secret recipe and purchased chocolate indulgence! feli wanted nothing else except for chocolate and my dad didn’t mind a bit, so there you have it.
the cake looks so pretty here.
family photo. we should have more!
three cup chicken, a dish which originated in taiwan.
my dad’s fav gung po chicken.
thai coconut chicken a.k.a tom kha gai. love the flavour and texture. very aromatic and appetising!
marmite pork! pork, pork, pork! that’s what they literally said, haha.
hakka asam pork. the most attacked dish of the night!
chinese herbal tea eggs that we simmered for like 10 hours.
honey lemon grass chicken. we invented this recipe haha.
steam tofu with ground pork and dried shrimp
refreshing mango sorbet with sweet mango toppings!
daddy and i on the couch. i like this picture, so sweet hehe.
i think for the most part of it, this post is quite done. my memory is kinda failing me and if there’s more, updates are sure to come. stay tuned!
toodles
"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson--
15th of May, 2009
my first and last american prom
theme: dancing in the moonlight
prom was awesome and i really had fun because for once i truly enjoyed myself and was totally comfortable with the whole environment, the dance floor, the people, myself mostly. the DJ kicked ass! he was the bomb haha, absolutely great great music. i danced while the night lasted and when it all came to an end, i smiled for a very long time.
it would have been better if i went with a date or maybe my boyfriend(that is if i had one). but it’s alright. maybe next time with someone else. all i know is my american prom is a night to remember.
so, a few days before prom i rehearsed my makeup and hair which i was quite reluctant to, but given that i wanna save money and not wanna end up looking like a disaster at prom, i had to not be a lazy ass. so, with the help of youtube and the internet, the newbie me tried to put on full coverage makeup. you know the whole package; foundation, eyeshadow, blush, mascara, falsies and gloss. sounds easy but trust me it isn’t. my sis and bestie would know this is completely true. i am not exaggerating.
as you can see i tried brown eyeshadow on one eye and light blue on the other. was trying to decide which would complement my eye colour and dress to make both ‘pop’. and you know i’m very indecisive too especially when it comes to petty things like this.
and then i experimented if it would be cool to enhance my eye makeup with blue eyeshadow on my bottom lid.
i suddenly realized oops my dress is white you smart ass. so i cleverly took my white shirt to ‘fake’ my dress. too troublesome to put it on especially since it’s off white and long, plus it has no zip. nah ah… i’ll save the dress for the day itself.
omg speaking of hair. i tried so many kind of hairstyles. firstly, i curled my thick and long hair which took me about one hour and then i played around with it. put it up, pull it down, sideways this that. and especially since i have a square and big face, i look ridiculous with all my hair up. but if i let it down, my beautiful earring wouldn’t be visible. see? decisions decisions.
it’s a little blur cos i forgot to snap with flash. anyway, i tried having it all down too.
okay this picture is misleading. i’m not actually that fair, it’s the natural lighting cos i’m near the window and my hair is suppose to be black but somehow it doesn’t seem like it here. anyway, i kinda got fed up and just asked my dad’s opinion. he said he liked this one so i ended up with something quite similar.
oh yeah and i also tried on falsies, two different types. took a few tries to successfully put them on cos all this while when i had them on for performances, my sis did them for me. aww. the more i stare, i look like a perverted goldfish who is sadly not gold in this picture.
i know i look stoned haha. so it was friday and i signed myself out cos i’m 18 now so i can do that. most of the girls were dismissed either by themselves or by their parent at 12-ish too. they had appointments for manicure, pedicure, hair and makeup while i rode home with norma. i went to my room and quickly did my toenails and fingernails. waited for them to dry and then started doing my eye makeup as you can see in this picture i’m wearing my pajamas which my sis has too! then i curled my hair and put on my dress followed by my $10 4 inch heels and then continued doing the rest of my hair.
i did my own hair! a lil messy but i like it.
are you proud of me b2? lol
i love my heels!
since i don’t have a date, my host parents bought a corsage for me. how sweet. and this is the clutch i borrowed from my host mum. classic looking black clutch.
took a picture with bill before leaving for norma’s house cos she will be driving me to prom. it was so ‘buggy’ cos it’s spring and all these black flies were buzzing around i didn’t bother to stand straight. i hate flies!!!
on the way to prom. i had no idea how was it going to turn out cos usually in malaysia when we have parties/formal event, we have loads of food, big round tables and performances to watch. when i asked my friends, they all said “well, you just talk, take photos and dance”. and i was like “no food?”
ready, all set for the night.
my mum asked why take pictures under the pine tree? haha, well everyone takes a photo or shall i say photos preferably with greenery in the background. i think it’s cos it makes everyone pop. unless you wear green, but then it’ll complement your dress. and it’s kinda like tradition. to be honest, i don’t really know why.
us girls. five different colours. i was the only white that night. yeah i thought so cos white is usually reserved for weddings. but i like white colour hehe.
with velvet. aww she’s so sweet looking.
brittany laine jones, BLJ! she’s really pretty and has a great fashion sense!
kelsea with her elegant blue dress.
behind the scenes. hahaha this is a must type of picture for outings. for girls at least.
skye hernandez, tanya simpson, alie morrell, norma leiva, brittany leville, fiona gan and kelsea degrandpre.
prom princess in aqua blue. she does look like a princess that day with her mini ball gown!
skye and josh. they are the sweetest couple. and they match so well too. girls pick out their dresses and all the guys do is match their vest to the girl’s dress. aww they’re so cute together.
fritz and his girlfriend danielle who is only a freshman. fritz is from germany and has gotten himself a girlfriend here.
so cutee.
us again.
and then people started flooding the dance floor while i headed for food cos i was extremely hungry!
attempt 1=epic fail
attempt 2=successful
lindsay oosterman! she’s awesome :)
1,2,3 click!
with brittany who’s a junior this year.
kayla and liz together. pink is so cute on her.
chris O.
work it baby!
err not quite sure when this was again but we were warming up sometime in the beginning of the night.
melisa steadman who always waves at me in school haha.
then they played slow songs and you see people leaving the dance floor and i was one of them. and few people sitting at the tables pathetically and i was one of them. it was kinda sad for a moment you know not having a date/boyfriend and all and the song didn’t help at all. then greg came up to me and asked me for a dance.
here, he was showing me how to slow dance and it was kinda difficult as he was way taller but we were just getting started. and then later on after i got comfortable, it was great. the whole time i stepped on top of his shoes. so basically, who’s dancing? lol…my mummy used to do that to me too awww
oops my bad.
what in the world? haha
alie aka rolie polie olie!
with nicole. blue was a pretty popular colour.
and of course we went to he bathroom more than once.
i don’t feel short when i’m with alie hahahaha. she’s tiny!
kayla olivia ray! i’m gonna miss you too.
i like the effect of glowing lights and couples dancing.
prom prince, prom princess, prom king and prom queen.
what do you think of my dress?
ladies, let’s dance.
hisham is going home this sunday!
greg lives on the moon haha, just a joke. but he never fails to laugh for like every single day. ‘living the moment’ like what we learned in english ‘carpe diem’ haha.
we were having so much fun. normz looked so pretty that night!
skye and alie are sisters! this picture is cute too!
lol, some awkward dance moves.
the three musketeers? the three blind mice?
i think this was taken during one of the slow dances. poor normz was so sad looking i was worried she’s gonna tear up. but it’s okay, she has a bf now. woahh haha.
laurianne labelle, she has the most beautiful name ever. i can’t remember the rest. she told us once during psychology class when we were discussing about dreams.
everyone agreed prom this year was a blast much better than last year. i am glad!
girls staring at the dance floor.
greg changed the mode on the camera so it turned out like this. but the night ended with a slow number and it was sweet. some of the songs they played throughout the night which i could still recall are don’t stop believing, everytime we touch, you and me, pokerface, right round and etc. and then we were suppose to go to denny’s for after prom party but normz went with her friend to party and somehow she drove to the wrong place so her friend ended up bringing me home since it’s too late to get to denny’s and i didn’t feel like joining them for their party. it was almost 1 am when i got home. freakin exhausted but still managed to camwhore a whole lot. i was so proud of myself for successfully doing my makeup nicely and everything else! hahaha *pats self*
just a small town girl…
it goes on and on and on and on…
i love my bracelet!
girls will be girls.
photoshopped. i look fat but i like the colours!
black and white is such a classic.
okay, you must be getting bored by now so a big smile for you!
photoshopped the contrast and colour balance.
i know by now you must be thinking i’m vain. yes, i can be sometimes especially when i am all dressed up.
told you my face is super big. haha.
clean cut look?
solarized side view.
like the cloud, you drift me away.
edited with extreme contrast and curves.
when i see you i run out of words to say…someday
okay i know i camwhored like there’s no tomorrow but this is my first and last!
can you see the happiness through my eyes?
chickenpox scar! *frowns*
-last picture of the night, that’s it!-
-spring 2009-
here in america i experienced my very first american easter! in fact it’s my very first easter cos i haven’t celebrated it since i am not christian by religion. anyways, it was awesome and i really enjoyed the whole hoo-haa about easter. honestly, i didn’t know much about easter and decided to google it. all i knew was it was related to christianity and colorful eggs. haha, how ignorant…i know, i know. *shifty eyes*
then i found out that easter is actually the day that jesus is ressurected from the dead. and i wondered about the eggs. what does colorful eggs and jesus have in common? seriously, i have never really known why before this. now, i know! eggs, according to a few sources are a symbol of rebirth, growth and some associate it with magical powers. well, i suppose it is quite universal to say that eggs are a symbolic of rebirths because my mum makes red eggs for me whenever it’s my birthday! so, yeah not a whole lot of intellectual stuff but it was absolutely enjoyable. *grins*
1. host mum made spritz cookies! wonderful colorful cookies!!! whoopeedeedoo!!!
2. don’t put all your eggs in a basket.
3. spring is here! but birdies not out yet cos it’s still cold as in freezing temp.
4. living room. see how neat and tidy it is! we swept and mopped and wiped and vacuumed the whole area! haha just kidding. we did clean it though the night before and dusted everything. still did that the next morning before people start arriving in the noon.
5. i cleaned this! look how squeaky clean *proud*. btw, this is the hallway, well kinda.
6. happy easter everyone!
7. bunnies everywhere, even on the dining table!
8. easter napkins!
9. this is actually in the family room which is like a living room except that we hang out more often here and it has a tv and a computer and a treadmill and a fireplace and that’s all i wanna say. haha.
10. dare you say this is not pretty?
11. host dad was checking the temperature of the ham butts and shanks and glazing them every 30 minutes with maple sugar. omg. *salivating* yeah, so i took a photo. i was walking around the house to get a shot of every possible easter decos. what?! for remembrance okay.
12. this is actually a plate.
13. more close up shot of cookies. they are actually for christmas. but it’s okay. haha.
14. okay cookies all set. what’s next?
15. oh then i went and took a super duper quick and short but clean shower. and dressed. see how my earring matches my dress and bangles? *smiles* oh and btw, that earring is from mexico. my gift from host mum when they went to me-hi-coh.
16. okay, you can ignore this.
17. after that i went downstairs and helped to make the fruit kebabs. pretty delicious!
18. more bunnies in the way.
19. went to the basement to check out stuff and found sarah and david together. haha so cuteee.
20. saw lindt chocolate, so snap.
21. hmm, almost everyone is here. good.
22. went up to see if food is done.
23. almost done but not quite yet.
24. went up to fix my hair which was still wet at that time.
25. okay hair up or down?
26. hmm thinking.
27. okay whatever, up better so my earrings are visible. time to reapply lipgloss.
28. how adorable!
29. i swear this is absolutely amazinggggg. tender and rich.
30. alrightey all set.
31. we hang angpau they hang bunnies!
32. egg napkin!
33. hehe time for dessert. that’s why.
34. that’s aunt mary lou’s hand. she loved the table runner very much! it matches the whole color scheme for the dinig room. as if i’ve seen the place and decided to buy one that matches. this is called ‘genius at work’. haha.
35. jello for dessert.
36. brownies too.
37. bunny cupcakes. yippee.
38. pretty in pastel.
39. beautiful flower which name i can’t recall.
40. after everyone left we painted easter eggs at night.
41. yellow egg belongs to host dad haha.
42. time to dye my eggie. i don’t know why i have a tendency to add ‘ie’ leading up to words like froggie, birdie, fishie, bunnie, opie. whoops!
43. alright. first egg done. attempt no. 2, dual colored egg.
44. scrutinizing the writing on the egg.
45. nice shot by bill. drying up the dye.
46. ahhh flash so bright.
47. hmm this could use a little touch up.
48. almost dry now.
49. then i asked him to pose with his egg. everyone else was already watching tv in the family room.
50. omg what is wrong with my finger?!
51. homemade eggs for easter yo. check it out dawg.
52. was about 9pm , so we cleaned up and had to go to bed cos we were going to intel the next morning (sunday) to have lunch with host dad on the actual day of easter. ohh my bad, i forgot this. we had easter family gathering one day before the actual easter cos saturday is more convenient for people.
53. gift #1
54. gift #2
55. gift #3
56. gift #4
57. tired face going to bed soon.
58. goodnight evereebuhdee!
59. morning, dressed for the cold outside.
60. checked out my easter basket! the easter bunny arrived and blessed us with easter gifts! hurrah.
61. overwhelmed. driving to hudson, massachusetts cos intel is there.
62. grass turned so green in such a short time.
63. like how the road curves. nice photo eh?
64. huge open space. how typical.
65. intel where my host dad works in mass.
66. it was windy and cold. so windy i tell you =O
67. the best everrrr. carrots with milk, ham with maple, sweet corns, steamed green beans, rice and traditional french potato dish with cheese. yum yum!
68. after lunch we walked around a bit and had to leave cos he had a meeting to attend.
69. take one.
70. take two.
and that was how i spent my first easter. simple yet memorable. as always. toodles :)
life is sometimes bittersweet.
but you can choose to taste the sweet instead of the bitter.
the choice is yours.
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