Self-reflection of 2012

It's that time of year again when we look back on the events that has happened to us this year. 2012 has been such a huge adventure for me. I learnt so much and experienced so much. 2012 has opened my eyes to endless possibilities and helped me create lasting friendships. Some of my highlights if 2012 are:

Melbourne
It was my first trip EVER! traveling interstate. I missed my initial opportunity back in Feb this year. This was because I was currently in Vietnam for 3 months and didn't check my email regularly. So the night I was flying back from Vietnam and had a stop over at Singapore airport, the CPA Student Ambassadors was leaving for Melbourne. So sad. Nevertheless; I managed to score a free trip to Melbourne in July by winning the Season 1 Naked CEO Ask Alex question. They flew me off to Melb, where I stayed at the Crown Promenade and was able to get mentored by his executive management team and also have a one-on-one with the CEO himself, Alex.

Walking along Southbank

 

My Melbourne trip didn't stop here. I was back in Melbourne again in December having won another CPA Australia competition. This time, I was apart of a editorial meeting for the "Real Business" Magazine. Highlight of this trip was to get 1 personal article published and co-write another article.

View from level 20

The board room

Melbourne 
While I was in Melbourne, I met some of the most inspirational and out-going people there. I formed new friendships and also networking opportunities.

New job
So I been job hunting for a few months now, and been rejected every time. Main reason was my lack of experience. I finally found a new job. Even though it may not be in my field of studies, everyone there is friendly and funny. Also, this is my first paid position! No more working for the family business for free!!!!

Breaking my exam jinx
For about a year and a half now, I've been having this jinx. For every exam I fist sit I would fail the unit. Yes that's right, I would fail the unit. But all that changed in 2012. I managed to pass all my units (even my first exams for both semesters) and also improved my overall weighting score :)

My 21st 
I didn't really expect to have a 21st birthday this year. Most people planned their 21st like 6months in advanced. Yet I, didn't do any of that. So a few weeks closer to my birthday I decided to have a few friends over for dinner to celebrate my 21st. It was a simple dinner, with people who had influenced my life, after all these years.

The Lunar New Year in Vietnam
So I spent about 3 months in Vietnam and managed to stay for the Lunar New Year. This was my 2nd New Years in Vietnam. I really enjoyed every moment of it and of course the lucky red pocket money ;)

I can't wait for what is installed next in 2013. I hope the new year brings me plenty or surprises, joy, laughter and great adventures.

Sizzler's Luncheon

So, I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but its TRUE ... I've even been to Sizzler before *sobs* and Saturday's (25th of June) luncheon was a must go (under 3 good reasons):

1. It was a small high school gathering.
2. I've been living in Perth for more than 20 years now, and I really need to explore more (I'm such an idiot)
3. My primary/ high school friend from Tasmania was visiting :)
   

So, I'm sorry I didn't take any photos this time, but the overall Sizzler's experience was like a 7 out of 10 for me.

The atmosphere of the place felt like a cozy house, like those Italian restaurants, but without the whole flags and whatnot but more of a nice and calming family feeling.

The food service took longer than expected after you have ordered, and the food kinda disappointed me. I ordered the Grilled Basa, which was nice but a bit over grilled to cut through.

The salad bar on the other hand had a variety of mixed salads and dressing to combine. Along with a soup corner and create your own deserts.

Overall, the whole luncheon was a good idea and a great way to catch up with my Tasmania friend (who left Perth a few years ago) and everyone else who attended :).

Hillarys Boat Harbour

SO, after 20 years living in Perth, I've never been to AQWA before until today :)

AQWA stands for 'Aquarium of Western Australia' located in North of Hillarys Boat Harbour.

A break from study and work is what I needed :) and hanging with my primary/ high school friend, Emily, and her boyfriend, Cameron, and their Holland friend, Sander, was fun :)

Below are some photos of AQWA and my day at Hillarys :)

Shipwreck Coast

Stingray Bay

Top of the Coral Reef

The Underwater Gallery

Me and Emily :)

The View outside of AQWA

Coffee Break at San Churro

{Right: Hot and cold chocolate. Left: My Long Macchiato}

Another Congratulations!

As some of you guys know, from one of my previous blog I've announced that 2 friends of mine (in Perth) are engaged .. and well .. I found out last month that I know 2 more people that are getting married soo ....

The first CONGRATULATIONS is to my cousin, Hong, in Vietnam :). Who I, at first, thought she was joking when she phoned me while I was in Vietnam that she was getting married at the end of this year (2011). So fingers cross that her wedding is at the end of this year (2011) so I can go :)

The next CONGRATULATIONS is to also a friend, but in Vietnam :). Her name is Hoa and I've known her for about 3 years now :). Hopefully, this wedding would turn the bad news at the start of this year into something good :). Because early this year, her twin sister's husband died in a work accident and it wasn't a good way to start a new year [in reference to the lunar new year]. And figures cross her wedding is also at the end of the year (2011). =]

So I wish both Hong and Hoa and wonderful wedding and a new life ... and fingers cross, that by the end of the year, I can attend their wedding :)

Web-cam fun :)

So I'm taking a small break from my assignment and thought of uploading some pictures of me and my 5-year old niece using my web-cam =] I like having my web-cam on my laptop because it allows me to take photos and video too =]. It also allows me to video call to my friends in Vietnam via yahoo messenger =]

Birthday Wishes Thanks :)

So, the day before [Tuesday] was my official 20th Birthday :) I just want to thank all my friends on Facebook for the birthday wishes :):):) Also my cousin in Vietnam for the lovely phone call last night :):):) and also my friend in Vietnam who video called me (via Yahoo Messager) and others who wished me Happy Birthday a few days before hand :):):) The day, to me, was like a normal day ... But it was fun catching up and socialising with my sister at work :) My 2 special ordered Birthday Cake for my early 20th in Vietnam :) [worst part was singly placing each candle one-by-one T_T]

My first Lunar New Year in Vietnam :)

As you maybe aware, I recently came back from holidaying in Vietnam. And the best thing about this trip was that I was FINALLY able to spend my first Lunar New Year in Vietnam which is known as Tết. I learnt that Tết lasts for at least 3 days. However, day 1 is far more important when it comes to traditions.

So heres a quick run down on was the Lunar New Year/Tết was about:

Before the new year, the markets are opened all day 4 days before the Tết. Here, the markets are filled with Kumquat trees and Cherry Blossom Trees, along with fowers and various other items to decorate the house with. The markets are packed throughout the day, however, the prices of various goods increase once Tết is almost coming.

The kumquats that they sell in the markets all day

Some people open their stores until midnight so people could buy more items

1 or 2 before Tết people clean their houses. This symbolises of taking out the old luck and replacing it with the new luck on Tết. Some people even was all their clothes so that the new year would bring them luck.

So, at about midnight there were people lighting up illegal fireworks to welcome the New Year. And it is traditional that, if someone enters someone elses house then they supposed to greet you with a message like "I/we wish you a Happy New Year. May This year bring you a happier and much more joyful year than before ...". This is supposed to mean that because another year has ended, and a new person has come and wished you a happy new year, they are supposed to bring you luck.

Fireworks at midnight to welcome the new year

On the first day of the new year, your supposed to open your doors to invite guests and let them know that you are home and you welcome them. By opening the doors it supposed to mean, you want the luck of the new year to come in and by closing your doors and not letting people it means you don't want any luck.

Red pocket money, also known in Viet lì xì, is given to people to wish them luck. Inside the lì xì is money. People give around 5.000 dong to 500.000 dong which is about 0.25 cents AUD to $25.00 AUD. I was lucky to receive my first lì xì in Vietnam by my 2 Aunties, my older cousin, and a few family friends.

Lì xì in Vietnam with the Vietnamese currency

On the 2nd day of Tết the local Priest held a ceremony at a cementary. This ceremony was about praying for the dead. Hundreds of people came to the cementary to attend this special mass. Before the mass began, they brought flowers to stick near the tomb. Some even quickly cleaned the tombs for the dead.

On the 3rd day, I attended the usual evening mass. This mass was about praying for the working class but also, to bring luck for yourself (if your working as well). It was more like praying for your career. After mass, there was an announcement to invite all university students to gather at the priest's court yard (which was like a 30 second walk away from the church).

Here, I was able to meet with other students around the area that goes to uni. As I record, there was about (including me) 5 or 6 students from the same youth/ area as me. The rest where from near by districts. There was about 10 or so of them. Here, we introduced our names (including our saint name), what we were studying and where we are from. It seems like I was the only one that was further away from the parish aka I'm the only student that studies in another country. After the introduction, there was a 30-40 minutes pray.

Tết in Vietnam was interesting to experience if you live in a province. Because Tết in the city is slightly different but there is more entertainment. Overall, I really can't believe that I actually experienced my first Tết in Vietnam because it was something that I looked forward to all year!

All good things must come to an end!

SO I'm finally back from my adventure ^^ I came back on Friday morning at 12:40 am and it was sooo much fun ^^. Sorry if I haven't been blogging alot while I was away. This was because of the following reasons:

1. The weather. It's winter/spring in Vietnam so it ment that it rained alot causing me to stay indoors.
2. The electricity. During the last week or so, there was a week where there was no power during the day.
3. No computer avaliable.

But the best thing was when my parents changed my flight details. They changed it so I could stay an extra 10 days :D which was the best early birthday present. Cause at the time, I thought I was leaving so I threw an early birthday party/ farewell party.

So a very quick summary of my holiday (photos and more info will be blogged later on) :

• I visited the Bai Dinh Temple in Ninh Binh
• Went to 2 end of the year party (Tet Linh). This party is held to thank people who helped the church over the year.
• Experienced my first Lunar New Year and what 3 days of the new Lunar New Year means.
• Visited an old friend at the college that he was studying at.
• Meet some old friends at various functions.
• Hang out with a friend over a cup of coffee at a karaoke/cafe bar at night. (which is a popular thing to do at night)
• Was able to show off my cooking skills :D (and no my food didn't taste bad :P)
• Was able to cook a meal that I've never cooked before but only seen my mum cook.
• ALMOST made a huge scene at a Supermarket. Cause 2 ladies didn't know what lining up at the check out ment.
• Had the courage to introduce myself infront of university students at one of the gatherings that was planned.
• Made a fool of myself when I tried to jump to the ground but ended up falling.
• Making my cousin and aunties and everyone else down the street (about 6 houses down) that I have a loud mouth :P
• Making a friend believe that I was visiting friends and family down South (Nam). Also fooling him that I only just came back from there.

My holiday so far ...

2 weeks after my last exam, I managed to watch alot of asian dramas 6.6 . As you can tell, I have an addiction to asian dramas XD. With me, once I start watching a new asian drama, I have to finish watching it completely before I watch a new drama. Ususally it takes me about 3 days to finish watching a 16 episode drama, but for some it may take at least 1 week.

So the dramas which I managed to watch and finish are:

• Rolling Love, 2008 Taiwanese Drama, starring Jiro Wang, Danson Tang, Genie Zhou and Xiao Xun


• Oh! My Lady, 2010 Korean Drama, starring Yoon Gae Hwa and Choi Si Won


• The Four, 2008 Chinese costume action Drama, starring Raymond Lam, Kenneth Ma, Sammul Chan and Ron Ng


• The Shaolin Warriors, Chinese Drama,


• Hi! My Sweetheart, 2010 Taiwanese Drama, starring Rainie Yang and Show Luo
  

Other than asian dramas, I managed to watch some movies that I didn't have time to watch while I was "studying"

• Salt, 2010, starring: Angelina Jolie


• The Book of Eli, 2010, starring: Denzel Washington


• Valentine's Day,2010, starring: Julia Robertsm Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Patrick Dempsey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, George Lopez, Hector Elizondo, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Carter Jenkins, Bryce Robinson, Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Eric Dane, Queen Latifah, Shirley MacLaine and Topher Grace


• Tekken, 2010, starring: Jon Foo, Ian Anthony Dale and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa


• The Old Dogs, 2009, starring John Travolta and Robin Williams

3 simple words: No More EXAMS! =]

So, today was the last exam for the semester =] I'm soo glad that its FINALLY over!!!. With exams and uni over all there's left is to look forward to the summer break =]

This week has been such a good week for me =] Because I finally got my ticket to Vietnam, I finished my exams and uni for another year, I didn't need to get a vacination to travel overseas (because I'm still valid for another year which is excellent cause I SERIOUSLY hate needles) and no one in Vietnam (family and friends) know that I'm coming back; unless they read my blog and understand what I'm writing, well in that case .... SSSSHHH!! don't spoil it for the other people who don't know =P

So my plans for the summer break at the moment are:

• My niece and nephew's birthday
• Relaxation aka. Sleep inns =]
• Catching up with asian dramas on xingkong and my dvds
• Catching up on TV shows
• Catching up with friends (hopefully)
• and finally my holiday in Vietnam =]

What I have planned for my Vietnamese holiday is:

• Visit family in both North and South of Vietnam
• Visit my dear grandmother (dad's side) who I thought was dead thoughout my childhood ... 6.6 ~akward moment~
• Go on a MAJOR shopping spree =]
• Go asian accessory CRAZY?!?
• Spend new years and Chinese new years in Vietnam
• Suprise a few friends
• Perhaps teach english at a local school
• Learn perhaps some vietnamese prays (because I'm catholic and my parents assume that because I'm 19 years old I should be able to know the vietnamese prays which I don't =/ *sobs*)
• Maybe have my 20th birthday in Vietnam and leave with a big BANG! =P

The night that all high school student have been waiting =]

So last Friday (29 of October) was my younger sister's graduation. The ceremony was held at the Octagon Theatre at the University of Western Australia (the school always hold the graduation here). The night began with a solo performance from Francis Plando singing "For Good" from the musical "Wicked" and the music was played by Doug Wilson on piano. Next was a dance performance from the Year 12 specialist dance students to "The weight of knowing" choregraphed by Jacqui Claus. And finally a musical number from the cast of the school production "Annie" singing "Tommorrow". After all these performances was the presentation of subject awards and special awards. During my graduation night, I was lucky to received the Citizenship/School Service Award. However, my sister didn't win any special awards. But the brightside is that she graduated. =]

Catching up with old school friends :)

Ever since graduation, I think other people as well, have found it hard to catch up with old friends. I mean, you get to see a few people like around uni or work but what about you’re other friends that you also know? Whenever I try to organise something or someone else does, the main problem is either work or uni. It's really hard to organise catching up sessions with old school friends’ cause both yours and your friend's personal life clashes together. The results in no catching up! :( But this week I managed to catch up with 2 of my high school buddies for lunch at the Galleria. It was soo nice to finally get to catch up with them after a few months of only the occasional 'hi' on Facebook or on MSN. We had lunch at Aroma Cafe and then after wandered around the shopping centre. It was nice to see what each other were now doing with "life after high school". To me, it seems like we all moved on but out personalities haven't changed since graduation. The day for me was a fun day and a great way to start of the week because it was the first day back after a week off.

Yet another asian crush ... eeekk!

WOW! it seems like I'm on a blogging roll here! 4 blog post in one day! That's a record for me =D . Or maybe I'm just blogging alot cause I know that I won't have time to blog at least every week or so cause uni has just started this week and exams are coming up... eeek! >.<"

Anyways, it seems I'm a sucker for asian actors and singers 6.6 ... Well, I go through like a small crush but then get over them after awhile. And how does my crush starts off??? Well, its usually the asian dramas I watch that I start having a crush on. After my crush, on the actor, is over and I re-watch my drama's again, when I'm bored, my crush happens all over again XD

Well at least I'm not like an over obessed fan =]. I have a family friend who a few years ago was obessed with the Harry Potter movie. She gone to see the movie like at least 10 time and yet she wasn't bored watching the movie over and over again!. Her parents told her to stop wasting her money on watching a movie that she'd had seen 10 times but, when her parents refused to give her money to see the movie again, she even refused to eat anything until she got to see the movie again. CRAZY?!?

So the guy that I currently have a crush on is Wu Chun. This was because I was watching Romantic Princess (a 2007 Taiwanese drama) this week. His one of the members from the Taiwanese band Fahrenheit.



I also have a crush on Wang Zi (Prince). He was a former Taiwanese member of the band Lollipop (Bang Bang Tang).



Well, it isn't just Taiwanese guys that I have a crush on. I also had a crush on Kim Hyun Joong from Boys Over Flowers (a 2009 Korean Drama) and a member of SS501

Art + Nails = Nail Art

Everyone in my family basically have a special skill and/ or talent. Like my older sister, who has a strength in drawing. My younger sister, was more in the drama/ acting and english based subjects and for my younger brother, his more into maths and numbers rather than english. As for me, I'm better at art as in drawing and creating. But my strength also lies in leadership skills and dealing with business and numbers.

So anyways, because both me and my older sister have a talent for drawing and creating artwork we both can do nail art. Nail art is getting nail polish and creating pictures and designs on each individual nail. Well, it started off with my older sister learning different designs from my brother-in-law's sister (who worked as a nail designer) and after that my older sister did different nail designs on my nails. Which after awhile, I started to copy and eventually I could do the same designs on my nails or someone else. This was because holding the brush involved a strong and steady hand to paint the different designs.

So here are some nail designs




This is the special pen used to do small detailed designs

Some of the nail art pens and polishes/ brushes I have ^^

A picture can tell a thousand words

So it seems that I have a very imaginative imagination. I mean, I can make up any story by just looking at a picture. If not, then a theme or some kind of information just so I can get the ball rolling.

I remember in year 12, we had to sit our mock exams and one of the 3 sections we had was a creative writing. In this section, we were given a choice of an image or a phrase to use in our creative writing. The image was a 2 or 3 children dressed in torn clothing standing in a village street with what looks like military people behind them (it was after the exam when I found out that this image was from the Vietnam War). So in my creative writing, I wrote a 6-8 page short story about this image. My story was about a young girl whose father was fighting for his country and was still living with her mother. It was one day, the siren went off, that her mother quickly took her to the bomb shelter and left her there and telling her that she’ll be back in a sec. However, to the girl’s realisation, her mother was taken away but the military personae. After awhile of raiding the empty houses the military found the girl. However, unaware to her, the military was on the good side (meaning they were taking her to a camp facility where she and the rest of the people who are abandoned could be safe). She tried to run away from them but when she was running she could see that it wasn’t just her that they were taking. There were other kids dressed in ripped clothing, and looked as if they’ve been hiding a lot longer than she had. And then after awhile they finally captured her and took her to this camp facility. After that I can’t remember what happened next because I’ve written this story over 2 years ago.

However, after I written this story and my English teacher marked it, I received a really high mark for it. He also discussed (to nearly everyone in the class) about my story. He also told me that I have a really good imagination and that story seemed actually good to read even more.

So I think when I have time to blog something or I don’t know what to blog about next I’ll upload a photo and give a short overview of what I see in a picture. ^^

Epic moments that everyone has at least (or will) experience

It’s funny really that when you are in the middle of studying you somehow all a sudden feel hungry. The funniest situation is when you’re in the middle of an assessment (aka a test or exam) and all a sudden your stomach rumbles. And the person sitting next to you can hear it. How embarrassing?!? Don’t worry if this happened to you because this happens to nearly everyone. :D

Another epic moment is saying the wrong words at the wrong time or saying it but everyone getting the wrong idea. For me, the most recent and the one that I can remember clearly was when I was at uni. A group of friends and me were discussing what we have broken in our life. And I for some reason zoned out for a minute or so. So when I was zoning out my friends stopped talking about the topic and there was that really awkward silence you tend to get. Anyways, all of sudden I turned back to my friends and said (in kind of a much louder voice) that I’ve broken 3 washing machines in my life. They all gave me a blank face and one of my friends looked at me and burst out laughing. Then I was confused for a second. Then he kind of explained that my ‘answer’ as all a sudden random. So I replied that I thought that ‘we’ were still talking about what we’ve broken. And another friend replied that they stopped talking about a minute ago. So it was really awkward at that point.

Which comes to my next epic moment, the awkward silence. You know when you and friends starts to have a conversation and all a sudden there is that complete drop dead silence. And sometimes you get another person who is still continuing talking and not noticing it and you hear what they are talking about. Oh! Another is when you all a sudden jump into another conversation and you get the wrong idea of what they are talking about. This has happened to me quite recently at my friend’s 19th birthday party.

But moments like this make us who we are. Also it makes our friends or who we are with laugh.

A Masquerade Ball

I was lucky enough to be invited to my friend’s 21st Birthday this coming Friday, 6th August. Her parents and herself, decided to celebrate her 21st birthday by throwing her a masquerade ball.

Well, a little history about how a masquerade ball started from. The ball was first noted in Italy during the 15th Century. They were public costumed festivals which were held in Venice. Masquerade balls were generally held for members of the upper class society and have been associated with the tradition of the Venetian Carnival. The balls became very common throughout Europe through the 17th and 18th Century.

What makes a masquerade ball so fun and exciting is wearing a mask and trying to identify the person you are dancing with. It is also amazing to see the different types of mask people are wearing. These include the traditional Venetian mask or the half mask or even the phantom of the opera type masks.

However, masks have been used throughout different movies for different proposes other than a for a masquerade ball. One includes wearing a mask to cover up and identity. Like the movie starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray, A Cinderella Story (2004), Sam (portrayed by Hilary Duff) wears a mask to cover up her identity at the school Halloween dance. Austin Ames (portrayed by Chad Michael Murray) however, doesn’t wear a mask, but is suspicious about who is behind the mask as the two characters dance in the court yard. Another situation is the movie the Princess Protection Program (2009) starring Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. In this movie, Carter (portrayed by Selena Gomez) comes up with the idea to make some of the girls that had been bullied in the school to dress up as princesses and to wear masks. This was because the plan was to get General Kane to think that he had entered in a princess masquerade ball. He also assumes that the mask and dress that Carter is wearing is Princess Rosalinda (portrayed by Demi Lovato) and takes her away. So in both movies, A Cinderella Story and The Princess Protection Program, they used masks to hide their identities.

For me, a masquerade ball is one of the most fun, yet exciting and mysterious balls to go to. This is because you do not know who is behind the mask and/ or the person you are dancing with.

Can two people be in love only on paper?

After watching “Full House” a 2004 Korean drama, the drama attempts to answer the question of whether two people can be in love only on paper.

The synopsis of this drama begins with Han Ji-Eun who lives in a house called Full House that was built by her father and she inherited from her late parents. Han Ji-Eun is an aspiring script writer. One day, her two best friends trick her in believing that she had won a free holiday to Shanghai. Han Ji-Eun accepts the free holiday and leaves, while her two friends sell her house due to money reasons and one of her friend is expecting a baby. While Han Ji-Eun is on the plane she meets Lee Young-Jae who is a famous actor. During her vacation, small problems started to immerge. When she returns, she discovered that her house had been sold to Lee Young-Jae.

Both characters do not get along with each other; Han Ji-Eun is a messy character while Lee Young-Jae is a bad tempered and cleanliness person. However, both characters agreed to live with each other. At first Han Ji-Eun agreed to work as Lee Young-Jae’s maid in order to get her house back, but later they get married because Lee Young-Jae wanted to make the love of his life jealous; Kang Hye-Won, a fashion designer that designs most of Lee Young-Jae’s clothes. Lee Young-Jae and Han Ji-Eun set up a contract stating that they will be married for 6 months and after that the house will be given back to Han Ji-Eun. During the 6 months together, the two characters start to develop feelings for one another. However, with Lee Young-Jae’s bad temper, a rift starts to immerge between the two couples with Yoo Min-Hyuk, a director of a large media company. When Kang Hye-Won sees Lee Young-Jae and Han Ji-Eun getting close she starts to feel jealous. Eventually, Lee Young-Jae and Han Ji-Eun get a divorce and he moves away.

After awhile, Lee Young-Jae returns and finds out that Han Ji-Eun hasn’t married yet and he knows that he has fallen for her – and she with him. He tries all he can to get her back. He proposes to her, but this time for the right reasons and finally, they get a second chance at marriage.

So it seems that two people, who lives in to opposite worlds, can fall in love with one another. To me, what makes them fall in love with one another is the fact that the time they spend together and discovering a little more about the other person and adapting to their habits which causes the two to fall in love. If it wasn’t for the first contract that they set up, then the two characters would not fallen in love with one another. Also, it wasn’t for Han Ji-Eun’s two best friends for selling the house and giving her the free vacation then meeting Lee Young-Jae would never happened and Han Ji-Eun would have never had the opportunity to kick-start her written scripts.