Someday Soon

Completely and utterly addicted to this song. Along with another one which I shall post about soon. :P
The video's kinda boring I guess, but the song is addictive. And it's got nice lyrics.

Someday soon...I'll be a millionare just like she is and be able to sing about believing in yourself when the world goes through a depression. XD

I can be so cynical.

Mishy <3

Year of the Ox

GONG XI FA CAI!

HONG PAO NA LAI?!
:D

Yup people, Chinese New Year is today, on the 26th of January.

Coincidentally the same day as Australia Day.

We are still more important, judging by the fact that there are at least a billion of us on this earth compared to Australia. :P

This is the Year of the Ox.

The Chinese calendar is based on the moon movements. Bascially, it is VERY accurate, right down to the last minute, so we never really know when CNY [Chinese New Year] is until we either check the calander, or do it the old fashioned way and track the moon ourselves.

The Chinese a long time ago decided to use animals as a way of telling the years apart.

There are twelve animals. Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, in that order.

There's a lot of legends regarding how that order came to be, but all involve a race of some kind. The way they raced and got their places also determines some kind of personality, much like a star sign. You know how we have stuff like Capricorn and Aquarius and Pisces? The Lunar Animals are the Chinese version of it. Of course, the Zodiac signs change every month and ours takes...well...twelve years to come full circle, lol.

Traits of the Ox severe bad luck and extreme gullibleness. The reason for this bad luck, I think, is because during the race of the animals, the Rat cheated by hanging onto the back of the Ox. The Ox was so powerful and big that he was ahead of everyone else, and endured all hardships and obstacles that crossed his path. But just before the Ox reached the finish line, the Rat jumped off his back and won the race. Hence the Ox's bad luck and gullible traits, lol.

So to anyone born in the Year of the Ox - may you hopefully be luckier this year!
To all Chinese around the world:

Mishy <3

Mysteries of the World

Sometimes we notice them, and most times, we don't. But some occurences of the world in which we live are to be highly pondered and investigated.

Such as the shoes store in Malaysia named Nose.
I mean, why name a store that caters for your feet, 'Nose'? I can only imagine the conversation that took place between the managers -

M1: Okay, now we must think of a name so 'kao-tim' that it will BLOW Vincci away!

M2: I have an idea! What about..."FEET"??
M1: No lah, too obvious...Let's go with "NOSE".

And so it was born. Or so I imagine it was.

Perhaps one of the more noticable mysteries of the world would be the speed-metre on the dashboards of our cars.

Most speed limits hover around 100km/h on highways. No faster, no slower. And that's possibly the fastest speed you can travel at, save driving on country roads. But c'mon, who drives a BMW or a Mercedes through endless dirt roads at top speeds?

Yet, why do speed-o-metres usually follow through all the way till 200km/h, and sometimes more? Does anyone ever hit that 200km/h speed limit? What's it there for if no one is ever supposed to legally reach that speed?
The only reason I can imagine the 200km/h speed being used is for drag racing and doing burnouts. So really, if we all want to stop dangerous illegal racing and burnouts, why is the 200km/h speed still there?

One of the greater mysteries of life. Please inform me if you find any other mysteries I have yet to think of, or if you have the answer to any of my questions. :P

Mishy <3

My Current Obssession [I]

Once upon a time there was a little girl [or, millions of little girls] who grew addicted to the actvity and craze that was...fashion! Followed closely by shopping, the craze swept around the world, and whether it was for clothes, shoes, make up, or even furniture, no man could destroy the obsession that forever destroyed the image of an obedient female, as these little girls grew to become vacarious and vicious grown women swamping the malls in search of the perfect item.

Let's be serious, the very image of a swarm of women in malls is enough to be scared.

And my current obssession?

SHOES!

Okay, it's always been shoes, but this time, it's two types of shoes in particular.

One: The Gladiator Sandal. Must have, must have, must have. I tried one on in KL and now I'm going crazy just trying to get one in Perth. Trouble is? Everytime I chase after the shoe I want, my size is always sold out. Way to go, huh? You'd think they'd start stocking up on more six 6s and less size 10s.

Two: The Ipanema Sandal which was popularised by Gisele Bundchen. I'm not a stickler for branded things, but i fell in love with the shoe design the moment I saw it and now I go crazy whenever I see someone else wearing it because I have yet to buy it. This shoe featured here isn't the only style under this Ipanema category, but it's the style and colour I'm going crazy over.

I know, I'm crazy like that.

Thus is my current obssession. Updates on the next obssession soon. :P

Mishy <3

The Grand Decision

Well, the decision has been made, and will be completely and utterly finalised by next week.
I'm currently kicking myself mentally for making this decision...by those words alone those who've followed me on my university agonisings will know where I've chosen to go.

Yup, I'm sticking with the University of Western Australia.

So I got the offer, and I'm off to do a double degree at UWA, BArts[Communication Studies]/BCommerce.
I'm still kicking myself, wondering what life I've just missed out on, by deciding to stay with UWA.
It just means I need to earn more money and get myself outta here as soon as I can.

Orientation Week starts on the 16th of February and ends on the 20th of February. University then starts on the 23rd of February. Which I'm not really looking forward to, due to the hour long bus ride that I will eventually have to take.
I really should move closer to university. Eventually.

My fingers are severly crossed for *Monzi to come down soon, cuz I need my African influence back. =) You know I miss all you lovely Saints ladies, but after the drought one of you coming to see me suddenly seems like a flood, if you know what I mean.
I have also unexpectedly found a new recruit to UWA from Malaysia...one whom I believed would end up going to Melbourne, but in an unexpected turn of events decided to stay here.

Nice to see I've got some friends coming along for the game. =) After heading for the pre-enrolment sessions, I was greeted with the sudden realisation that all my Perth friends had ended up in ECU, or were going to take a gap year. There were a few [okay, understatement - a LOT of] Asians at the sessions, but I didn't know or didn't quite mix with any of them. And then I met *Leow at the campus during the BCommerce pre-enrolment session and got the shock of my life. So yes, nice to see that I will have some kind of company at uni.

To anyone starting uni this year, good luck...I have a feeling it's going to be one hell of a ride.
Mishy <3>

* nicknames used to allow for anonimity.

McDonalds - Just a Franchise?

Being a TCK does come with it's perks, no matter how emo I can get about my situation.
One of the never ending perks, are the comparisons between everything and anything.

Take McDonalds. It's virtually impossible to go anywhere without glancing at those huge double yellow arches.

What's on the menu, however, can reveal the very essence of the country that allowed McDonalds to reach its shores.

Anyone with a TV in their house will probably be all too familiar with the programme 'Super Size Me' where a guy had the all fattening diet of McDonalds burgers in Super Size for a month in North America. The rest of the world can only gape in awe at the size of the burgers, and wonder why famine and world hunger is such a huge problem.

In the Philippines, McDonalds is more commonly known as McDo [pronounced Mac-dOH], although Jubilee tends to be more popular than this hugely international franchise. I can barely remember what was served in the Filipino franchise, but I think they had some kind of mango pudding which makes the mouth of every filo water. Or maybe I'm thinking about Jubilee again.

In Malaysia, all burgers have no pork in them, and regularly advertises their Prosperity Burgers every Chinese New Year. The properity of these burgers is, however questionable, and it is suspected that the managers of the Malaysian branch of McDonalds are in fact the ones becoming more prosperous. McDonalds is more popularly known as 'McDs', and widely attracts customers because of their ice-creams, not their burgers. They have also been known to sell 'Bubur Ayam' which is basically chicken congee. They don't taste very nice.

Indonesia presumably has a similar menu to Malaysia, and I can't imagine how different the menu might be. Unless Indonesia decides to take chicken and burgers to new heights to do a rendang sapi burger.

Hong Kong also features Chicken Congee on the menu, although as I have never tried it, I cannot comment on the tastefulness of the dish. News has also reached me, saying that Hong Kong also serves dim sum in their McDonald chains. Instant dim dum? Fast food dim sum? Char siew, siew mai, ha kau, egg tarts...instant style? In Hong Kong? When you could walk across the road and get better stuff, probably for cheaper? This is just really strange...

In Australia, McDonalads in known as 'Mackkers', or something similar to those lines. It features a cafe within its outlets, known as McCafe, allowing consumers to believe that it is in fact a classy restaurant, and not some 'fast food chain'. Burger boxes all insist that the beef used is 'purely Australian beef' and never fail to be proud of that fact. Moo.

South Africa's McDonalds remains on a low key, and only occasionally resurfaces to face up to the likes of Wimpy's, but quickly backs down again after a while. They are able to maintain their success in South Africa purely by the knowledge that if every other McDonalds in the world can survive, then so can they. [Well, I guess South Africans can be partial to a McDs burger sometimes] The smoothies and milkshakes featured on the menu of this quiet franchise however, are to be highly commended. In other words - I can't get enough of their berry shakes!

In Canada, the menu appears to be strikingly similar to North America, and I quote Chris, who recently messaged me with a: 'They have PORK in McDs...and BACON!'. Let it be known that possibly every McDonalds in the world has bacon in their burgers, save Muslim countries such as Malaysia [where Chris and I lived for a while] and so on and so forth.

And just for the record - YES burgers do taste better when there's bacon in them. :P

I love doing little comparisons like these, especially when McDonalds is the giant of all fast food chains. I mean, there's not much comparison to be done with KFC [Malaysia may indeed be the only one crazy enough to do KFC hainanese chicken rice]. The 'Burger King' corporation might have quite a few differences, but what with all the different names in each country, it'd be difficult to talk about. Just a tad too many differences.

But if anyone has any interesting stories about their encounters with the many different McDonald restaurants all over the world...gimme a shout. I'd love to hear about your experiences. =)

Mishy <3

Barack Obama's Inauguration

Okay. So I missed it.

I am annoyed with myself, without a doubt.

But with good reason- I had to go to work at 8.30am [which I'd almost forgotten when I woke up], which meant that staying up from 1am to 5am would have killed me today. Not to mention, I have a Pre-enrolment session to head to at UWA, which basically means that any repeats the new channels may be showing today are more or less wasted on me.

Because I can't watch history in the making!!!

Yeah, alright, kill me now. I can't believe I missed a live piece of history in the making because of my erratic sleep schedules. Stupid timezones. I live in a bad place to watch any kind of history in the making.

I should've totally taken the day off on Wednesday so that I could stay up all morning to watch Barack Obama's Inauguration.

I'm listening to Obama's speech now as I type, and I'm amazed and the amount of work, time and effort put into his speech. Inspiring hope, initiating coordination and engineering the success of the world. He stands as a representative of what could happen, and hopefully, what will happen.

Another topic I'm amazed about is the hoo-haa about Michelle's Obama's dress. I have no idea why the fuss is all up there, but hey, I guess we as females can't get rid of our human weaknesses sometimes. My opinion: Michelle Obama did dress very nicely for that night, although I wouldn't hail her as the First Lady of Fashion. Our tastes are different, but then again, what works for her may not appeal to me.

Still, I'm going to sit back and savour an amazing triumph of humanity and for the world.

Mishy <3

University Offers

THEY CAME!!!

Well, Perth came first, on the 16th of January. They appeared on the internet on the 15th, but since my internet took a week long hiatus, I wasn't able to blog about it. In any case, I did get lazy, and decided that I'd blog about all my offers after I'd received them all. My Melbourne offers did eventually turn up on the 20th of January, although I have yet to receive instructions on how to accept the offer.

From Perth, I got my first preference which was a double degree, Bachelor of Arts[Communication Studies]/Bachelor of Commerce in the University of Western Australia.

From Melbourne, I got my second preference which was a Bachelor of Arts degree in the University of Melbourne.

So I'm happy with the offers. To be honest, I wasn't sure I could make the Bachelor of Communications cut-off for University of Melbourne, so I'm really pleased about making the cut-off for the Arts degree.

As to which I will end up accepting...my decision will be known by the 22nd of January. A good, well informed decision...and hopefully I will have made no mistakes regarding this. This is such an important decision, and one that could ultimately decide my future for the next 10 years or so.

It's weird how I keep going on and on about Melbourne. But ultimately, I still don't know what to do, or where I should go. Perth is just as good too. Or, well, so we are led to believe anyway.

I think in the end, it comes down to where I want to live. The international, party scene of Melbourne? Or the quieter, more studious side of Perth?

Gosh, somehow this seems so obvious, but it isn't really.

I just hope I don't mess it up.

Mishy <3

Turning 18

The Big ONE - EIGHT

Parties! Drinking! Gambling! Driving! The works!
The grand poo-bah of birthdays.

It's not all as grand as it's made out to be.

On the 16th of January...

I went to work.

Yup, I went to work in the morning. Unbelievable as it may seem, but that's what I did. One girl turned 18 a week before me, and she took a whole week off, along with a trip to Melbourne sponsered by her parents.

I didn't get amazing and grand presents. [I'm wondering whether my parents have secretly joined a Jehovah's Witness group] I did get some nice stuff from my aunt though. And a great many thanks to the people to sent me birthday wishes, either via Facebook, or via sms. =)
My work friends were great though, they got me pressies. :P I have cool colleagues.

But you know what...I think I'll just hang around for my 21st birthday before I throw the grand celebration.

After all, what can possibly be done at the age of 18? I could drink. If I'd started getting my Ls earlier, I would've been able to drive.
But I don't have my keys out into the world yet. No place to call my own. No car. Not even my licence.

Okay, so the licence bit is kind of my fault. But still.

And if anyone wants to buy me a car, it'd be greatly appreciated. :P

I'm in no rush to grow up...even though I probably should be.

Besides...hopefully by the time I hit 21, everyone will have saved more money and will have no excuse to not getg me bigger, better and grander presents. :P

The 18th year is celebrated by all and many, far and wide. In the Philippines, the 18th birthday is a huge thing to celebrate, possibly due to all the American influence. It's strange, because I never really knew where I would end up celebrating my 18th birthday. And now I've ended up here. In a place where I watch paint dry for fun. In a place where I know I'll never settle.
Ridiculous isn't it. The supposedly best birthday of my life, and this is where I am.

Still, it then makes more sense to wait till my 21st so I can go somewhere else before I hit 21 and celebrate it in the place of my choice.

I finally found someone who shares the same birthdate with me- Joe Kor, my cousin-in-law. Happy birthday. =)

Mishy <3

Growing Up

Unfortunately, I no longer have a host of teachers, the admin staff plus the school headmaster/mistress to force me to do what is necessary.

Which, okay, kind of sucks.

I mean, no one should HAVE to tell me to get my drivers licence. Most kids are running amok trying to get it as early as they can.
I on the other hand, seem to be a tad too lazy to just get on with it. And I'm going to turn 18 in a week, the age when I SHOULD be driving myself around already...
But never mind, I'll get there.

Eventually.

Then there's work. I really am not the kind of person who will be happy standing at the counter the whole day. As a responsible adult, I should be busy serving customers and looking like a happy individual, and honing my skills in the office politics and gossip department.

Who'm I kidding?? I can't stand there and serve 200 people a day...it's simply not the most invigorating thing to be doing. And trying to make myself look interesting to my colleagues is pretty much almost a wate of my time. Especially since I doubt I'll stay all that long.
Okay, so I know I should be patient, sitting back and just...waiting for my life to be-
Ohmigosh, what crap am I SPOUTING? I can't believe I'm even thinking this to myself. I should be out there...either telling people what to do or to be told what to do.
I think I prefer the former. Grrr, grow up, grow up, grow up

-gin, seeing as uni is but a month away!

That's the other bit. Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne.
But mum wants Perth. Well not wants. Prefers. And I want Melbourne. Which is so much better mind you. That arts course is to die for.
Or, in my case, move for.

Who's the one going to university anyway, don't I get to choose, regardless???

Okay, yeah, so I've got to grow up. Out with the old, and on with the new. I'm almost 18 for crying out loud!

Crap, I don't even drink. How in the world am I supposed to socialise with a new generation of slobbering idiots who can't string two words together without mentioning 'crunk' or 'drunk' in one of them. Although some are nice. The intelligent ones are my friends. =)

...New experiences, new places to go...

What'm I talking about, I've already been to more places than a centenerian has in their entire life...

I should be excited about 2009. I AM excited about 2009.

I just wish I could cope with it much better.

Mishy <3

"Celebrate Good Times...C'mon!"

I love the months from December to February.

It's always jam packed, full of activity, and usually the time when I get most of my presents. :P

So, December- Christmas! Need I say more?

Then in January, there's New Years [which is always good since it's a holiday]. Then there's also my birthday!

Finally, there's Chinese New Year, which falls from between january to February, but take fifteen days to celebrate and always ends sometime in February.

This makes the months from December to February one long, extended happy celebration for me and the rest of my family.

Hooray!

Kinda sad though, to think that this multi-celebration is coming to an end in another month or so. =(

Mishy <3

New Year's Resolutions - 2oo9

I don't usually do this. In fact, I sometimes forget it's new years. I live for the fireworks, and to me that's all that matters during this time.
So you can imagine why people are calling me weird when I don't want to attend some New Year's Eve Party and do a countdown. Bo-ring. I like looking at fireworks, they're enough for me.

But back to the actual point: New Year's Reslutions!

In 2oo9, I will...

1. Go to the university of my choice. [Melbourne, Melbourne, MELBOURNE!]

2. Take up dancing [preferably latin]

3. Join choir again.

4. Put in a HUGE effort to keep in touch with people. [which I always do, but no time like the present to put in more?]

5. Get my Ls, learn to drive and get my P1s and hopefully P2s by the end of the year.

6. Buy a car. A nice car. One that hopefully needs no work done to it.

7. Finally learn a new language and learn it well. [unlike my failed attempts at malay and mandarin]

8. Save up for a new phone and camera.

9. Save up for a trip overseas. [Japan? :P]

10. Stop spending so much. [kinda kills all the other spending resolutions don't it?]

11. Learn to cook more than my usual fare.

Some of the unusual New Year greetings I came across over the years deserve to be shared.

Wishing everyone a South African New Year:
May good luck stalk you and hapiness attack you wherever you go.

May your miseries be hijacked and worries be pickpocketed. Eish!

Another cute one I came across was-

My wish for you in 2oo9:
May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

May all worries by drown in the pool of laugher and joy!

Happy New Year everyone, and may it bring peace and happiness...however it comes to you!

Mishy <3