the two-questions quiz

the Romantic Test finished!

you chose BY - your Enneagram type is FOUR. "I am unique" Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive. How to Get Along with Me Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me. Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself. Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision. Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little. Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting! What I Like About Being a Four my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level my ability to establish warm connections with people admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor being unique and being seen as unique by others having aesthetic sensibilities being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me What's Hard About Being a Four experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved feeling guilty when I disappoint people feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me expecting too much from myself and life fearing being abandoned obsessing over resentments longing for what I don't have Fours as Children Often have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original game s are very sensitive feel that they don't fit in believe they are missing something that other people have attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc. become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce) Fours as Parents help their children become who they really are support their children's creativity and originality are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings are sometimes overly critical or overly protective are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele The Enneagram Made Easy Discover the 9 Types of People HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages Link: The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by felk on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

escape 2/11-2/16

i should update about my trip to thailand otherwise i'll def. forget all about it...

one of the most memorable trips ever! i really got to relax and enjoyed having nothing to do! everything turned out so much better than i'd expected (except the turbulence we experienced on the plane...i almost threw up!). the weather was sticky hot...i loved it! i stayed at this club/resort right next to kata beach and it offered everything from archery, snorkelling, scuba diving, circus, golf, squash, spa .. yadida..
this trip also brought back some fond memories of childhood, because 15 years ago i stayed at the same resort with family and cousins!!












food glorious food.
every pound of fat gained there was worth it :p everyday, everyone in the village eat at the "dining halls". there are 3 indoor dining (with a/c) and one outdoor and all of them have the view of kata beach. ohh la la...how i miss the food! because all the visitors are from different parts of the world (mostly french) so the buffet area is divided into a diff sections, a corner each for french, japanese, korean, chinese, american, and thai cuisine! the food was scrumlicious!!..i thought it would be all gringo (like imitations of foreign food)..but they hired chefs from around the world.



the big blue
ive always had this fear of swimming in the ocean...but this time, i discovered the fun of swimming out in the open sea and getting choked on really salty water! i spent most days on the beach. the view varies at diff times of the day. in the mornings, when i go for walks, i'd see local ppl starting up their stalls selling over-priced coconuts and other drinks to foreigners. at around noon, people start to crowd the beach...girls slapping on sunscreen to prepare for their tanning sessions while the guys go about doing water sports or play beach volley. late arvo, that 's my fav. time to be at the beach. u get to see the sunset and boats returning to shore.. and stare at where the sky meets the ocean...soo pretty!!
i did not have enough time to go scuba diving this time, but managed to go snorkelling. it was just like it on tv and in the magazines....swimming with the fish...i saw dory and her friends. and my fav. star fish!

love is in the air
so my trip coincided with st. valentines day! there were lots of newly weds, couples celebrating anniversary etc at the village where i was staying! throughout the day at the beach, this valentine bunny went around kissing everyone and leaving red 'muahh' marks on their cheeks! that night for dinner, they decorated the tables with roses and candles, right next to the beach.. everyone who entered the hall was given one red rose and a box of heart shaped chocolate. the food?! king crab legs with loads of other fine cuisines!!!
afterwards, they set up this area around the pool and the ambiance was amazing...i felt like i was watching some kinda romantic movie. there was this middle age spanish guy with such sexy voice singing sappy love songs and there were tables around the pool full of unlimited cocktails (cosmo, pina colada etc etc)..some 'romantique' french couples requested *their* songs and began to dance around the band and the pool...





















elephant safari
rode on this elephant at this place called 'elephant safari'..their motto is 'we save elephants' yet when i was on it, this thai dude who was actually 'driving' the elephant, kept poking it with this sharp stick...soo nasty!!


in the first pic, the elephant was 'stomping' on my butt...
its called "elephant massage".








geckos, ants, grasshoppers..everywhere
at night, all these crawlies would come out and scare people. esp the geckos..they'd clung onto the ceiling so every night when i return to my room, i'd get so freaked out that these geckos may decide to fall on my head.

hair braids - unfulfilled dreams of childhood
once upon a time at the same resort in phuket, my sister and i looked at my cousin's beautifully-braided hair with envy. she had gotten it done at the beach and had hot pink beads at the end of each braid. we begged our mum for the same, but were denied of that simple pleasure because she told us of the nits that were infested in the braider's hands. now 15 years later, the "child within" still secretly envies the kids with their colourfully beaded hair. a small pilot light is still burning somewhere inside. i stole a look at the french kid with turquoise beads to match her baby bikini (sooo cute), and wonder what i would've been like if i had gotten them as a kid too. i pucked up the courage and walked to the area behind the beach where this old thai lady was massaging the feet of this big bellied caucasian, and beside her was the wooden sign that says
massage 300 B
foot massage 300 B
hair make
make up
'you want massage?' she asked. 'hmmm, no. hair braids..uhh' i replied.
at that point, it occurred to me that people around were starting to stare and i had the impression that they were all probably secretly mocking me, thinking how funny that someone my age would want her hair like that. i also started thinking, maybe my mum was right, it wasn't the most hygienic place..i was pretty sure the lady wasn't gonna wash her hands after massaging that guy's feet. so i started to turn around to head back to the beach, and quickly mumbled to her that i forgot to bring the money.
so thats the end of my sad story. :p pretty lame!

snow white to pocahontas
most people there have really really dark skin from being outdoor almost 24/7!
my back got pretty burnt that i couldn't lie on my back at night. now its peeling ><

places i will visit in thailand next time
1. phi phi island (didnt have time to go this time...supposed to be really good..where 'the beach' with leonardo dicaprio was filmed)
2. floating market (u know those vege/fruit vendors selling their goods on boats)

O-Week

this week is orientations week, where all the diff. societies set up their stalls and try to persuade people to join their club! in the past years at unsw, i have joined many, including salsa, hip hop (what was i thinking?), red cross, UN, aisec...and so on, but was never really active in any of them. today, i decided to shop for my new 'club' and also i wanted to see what my uni looks like now after a year! it was like a 20 mins walk (weird because on google earth it looked miles away!)...loads of ppl filled the campus and there were soo many activities going on...i kinda felt like an exchange student all over again...hehe well pretty obvious here...who else carries their camera with them all the time?


i saw my high school friends behind the 'Greens' stall! such a nice surprise since they don't even go to my college! haven't seen liz for like what? 4 years?! since the last day of high school actually! she still has the cutest half irish accent! :) but at first, i wasn't sure if it was her or her twin sis!






saw chris too, another exchange student who went to U of I, and we both reminisced about the good ole exchange days.. although i think he might be suffering from post exchange syndromes (hardly moving on at all). anyways, he thinks our exchange office here really sucks and so we are going to set up this weekly social event, similar to what was offered for basically anyone involved with the exchange office in UIUC, to promote sociable activities between locals and exchange students. seriously, i think ppl from our uni are not *that* friendly...ppl i met from the US are much more willing to help out helpless/lost exchangers.

overally, its been so great catching up with the 'blokes and sheilas' since ive been back..:)
yesterday, i had a curry night with rory, and we ended up watching desperate housewives, courting alex and australia's biggest losers....good food, good company, good times! although i *really* hope i won't get back to my tv addiction days...

tonight, me and angela visited chong's new house in maroubra! looks like i missed out on a lot of stuff while being abroad!
1) someone from our class is married!!
2) someone is getting married at the end of the year :p
3) some break-ups and hook-ups
there are only ~15 ppl in our class, so you can imagine the excitement/shock...


in the last pic, chong was setting up 'Lost' on her mac, angela was playing with shiro (the male canine), and i snapped the photo! :) again, good times with the girls!

btw trip to thailand was so relaxing! will talk about it in my next post...im soo zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..gnite!

fear of flying

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......im home in sydney FINALLY!
not much reverse cultural shock here...everything is exactly the same as i left it (except my room which was turned into a junk/storage room)
im just glad i wont be flying in a lonng while...

career test

my sis and i recently took this career test (Professional DynaMetric Programs) that my dad's college friend sent me. she is the vp and director at johnson&johnson here in taipei, and she told me that she can pretty much guarantee that it would be 95%+ accurate. i snorted a "whatever" in my head...BUT..i just received the 10-page comprehensive report from her, and boy...was it accurate! my dad's friend also commented that she thinks my sis is stressed out and a lil bit lost as to what she wants to do...exactly what my sis has been talking to me about these days!(quarter life crisis). anyways, really hope that it'll help with my uni/career decisions now that i've been given some more advices...but yea more importantly, need to learn to trust God in this process of finding out what he has prepared for me.

whoa..wrote so much already..this was supposed to be short coz i have an early flight tmr.. off to thailand...woohoo!! but one thing i'll miss is my internet...no comp for a week...how am i gonna survive? tell me how!!...haha yeah right :)
right now, the taipei 101 building is lighted with this pink heart...looks almost like the empire state building in 'sleepless in seattle'..happy valentines!
gotta go pack now...ohhhh will update about my weird experience today when i go back to syd.

ciao, im off to get me some tan.

destination: land of smiles

[HEART] liberated
[EYES] 1 Peter 4:7-9
[EARS] jaci velasquez
[HEAD] "to save-save is always better than to spend-spend"
[HANDS] stirring Jarrah's Brazilian coffee

It's offical now, I am going to Phuket Island (Thailand) this coming weekend! Can't wait...then I'm FINALLY heading back to Sydney straight after.

I saw this special deal online (5 nights for the price of 4) and thought it would be a nice break before school starts on the 27th. :) The sun, the sandy beaches, scuba diving and sailing..oh la laaa...When I was getting the ticket from my travel agent today, he told me he just got back from Phuket as well. He was sooo tanned!! As dark as an Asian can get...haha now mum's worried, she doesn't like it when I get really dark...she thinks I look Moari.

So the trip to Japan didn't really work out for some reasons, but I don't mind coz it's wayy cold there in Japan. The other alternative I was considering was Cherating beach in Malaysia, but it's more expensive plus the flight is 8 hours looong! Only thing I'm a bit worried about is the safety in Phuket. Some of the beaches there were affected by the tsunami...but yea, should be okay by now.

Just did 15 mins of online crash course in Thai and now I'm capable of introducing myself.
Sa wat dee ka, pom chue viv (as I say this I should 'wai' - where the hands are brought together in front of the chin).
Lovely.
Also read this from travel brochure:
"Thailand is often called the "land of smiles", and rightly so because you will see more smiling people here than anywhere else in the world."
Sounds like one happy country :D

quarter-life crisis?

blah! I feel like blah...

everythings just blah...

blah - (blä) Informal
n.
1. Worthless nonsense; drivel.
2. blahs A general feeling of discomfort, dissatisfaction, or depression: “Monday morning Oscar woke up with the blahs” (New Yorker).

Today is just one of these days where I am back to square #1. While figuring out some eeky uni course/degree stuff, I was led back to *the* question: What do I really want to do? I don't even think Po Bronson's best-selling book"What should I do with my life" is gonna prove to be useful. Uncertainty...brrrr...

un·cer·tain - (n-sûrtn)
adj.
1. Not known or established; questionable: domestic changes of great if uncertain consequences.
2. Not determined; undecided: uncertain plans.
3. Not having sure knowledge: an uncertain recollection of the sequence of events.

Everytime when I thought I've finally figured it all out and made the final decision, something would pop up in the middle of the road, obstructing my way!
Gotta stay positive (one of my resolutions this year). Maybe these obstructions are good signs reminding me to slow down and try another route?!

Hehe, this i like.

ser·en·dip·i·ty - (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why is it so expensive to fly from Australia?

Sydney -> Paris --- from AUD$1500
Sydney -> Christchurch --- from AUD$395
Sydney -> Vancouver --- from AUD$2000+

I'm already thinking about July/August break...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob: Well, what are *you* waiting for?
Little Boy on Tricycle: I don't know. Something amazing, I guess.
Bob: Me too, kid.
-from The Incredibles.

These days animations amuse me. I've watched Robots finally, but i'll just say that Bob Parr aka Mr. Incredibles beats Copperbottom any day! Also bought Toy Story DVD! Woohoo!

Enough of blogging...:)
Out & Over!

ps. Welcome February, Goodbye January...I've had fun.