[Journal ✎] Hello 2015!

Hello 2015!
Anticipating what's ahead this year and welcome it with a :D 

안녕하세요! 일단은, 여러분 새해 북 많이 받으세요 ^-^
(Hello! Firstly, wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed New Year)

There another brand new year with fresh new pages for me to fill up and make the most out of this "rather short" life arrives. Some or most people would make resolutions and stuffs for them to achieve throughout the year; as if to make seen that the year would have been an eventful and fruitful one to which I now agree after passing through 2014. Honestly, I'm not the type of person who have huge huge dreams and they always like plan ahead, structure their future, make sure they don't screw things up and stuff like these. People (like most parents) may say things like "If you don't plan then you'd end up as some useless... bla bla bla~" but the truth is things doesn't always go the way I plan! So then some time ago, I gave up. Whatever nonsense resolution and plans don't work for me because they've never been achieved anyway...

Or maybe its because I've never as tried to make it happen? Then perhaps its the maturity that comes with (*ahem) "aging" without realizing, I start having simple targets from time to time and somehow or rather they accumulate into something awesome you'd never dreamt of achieving. Then I figured that this mind of ours is really amazing. If we set our hearts and minds to make it happen, our actions will somehow mirrors them! So I really encourage to those who stumble across this journal of mine to have dreams, goals, targets, whatever (of course it should be a realistic one lah~ please) and set your mind, work ways to achieve it. You'll be surprise at what you're capable of and feel good about it :)

As for me, 2014 has indeed been a wonderful year and I achieved most of the goals I've made for myself both short term and long term. Hopefully, 2015 to be another awesome year ahead. Great things, a new chapter of life, awesome experiences, crazy events will be waiting for me to unfold. It may be some good and bad but I am going to walk with more boldness and courage to chase after the dream that I want, give it a go at life and have no regrets~

Positive vibes for 2015
(Word cloud credits to www.worditout.com)

Resolution 2015? Oh yes, of course there is: Get another hair dye colour, pick-up another instrument, expecting for unforeseen surprises with blessings, earn more money, go travel somewhere, do what I like, have fun, go live abroad for some time, self-improvement, character refinement, piano, korean, health, spiritual life .... and the list goes on. Yes, its looks like a very vague idea of everything I want to 'coz I'm only listing the gist of the list but I'll share from time to time when I've manage to achieve some it it.

'Till then, cheers to a great year ahead!

(p.s. I intend on recapping my year in a backdated blog entry style because unfortunately for me, I can't seem to get into a rhythm to blog as I go. You might see loads of backdated entry too after that. I'm really hoping I could do better this year tho~)


나요,

[Play-Tag ♟] 20 Facts about me

Tagged by 2 of my good friends (Kityee and Alicia), I've decided to do a blog post instead of spamming my Instagram account with facts about myself.

Here is 20 Facts about me:

Fact #1: I am an independent person and have a certain strong stand of my own life principles (to which I'd make sure I would not cross the border line I set for myself) which indirectly makes me set a high expectation on myself and be hard on myself to achieve that something.

Fact #2: I used to be extremely shy and is a person with almost no words until my Form 1 teacher decides to put me with the noisiest girl in class and we end up being best friends but I was still a little too quiet >.< Being shy, I'm definitely an introvert ~.~ I don't mind doing things alone although I can talk, mix around and possesses good communication skills but will need some me-time after that. Socializing to me is energy draining.

Fact #3: I may not look friendly/warmly enough to approach to the extend I do get peeps telling my I seem cold, serious and fierce. But the truth is I just need some time to open up to people... then you'd see that I'm actually abit funny and not serious at all (unless you cross me lol) plus I think of myself as a good friend who'd stand with you no matter what.

Fact #4: I'm a superfan of Disney's The Lion King to the extreme that I can recite parts of the animation scenes perfectly and know all the soundtracks by heart. I even named my dog "Kouvo" which is a character from The Lion King 2 because he's black and I couldn't name him Simba =.=

Kouvo, the dog-with-a-fictional-lion-name and he totally adores me hehe

Fact #5: I'm a dog-person. Not only I love dogs but I also practically grew up with dogs: A fierce black dog when I was at toddler stage, dalmatians when I was at kinder to middle-school stage, terriers when I was at high-school stage and finally have my own dog at 16 (where I learn the hard way that taking full responsibility on my pet is really difficult)

Fact #06: I tend to show extreme interest toward Korean Culture and Language as a result of having a close Korean family-friend since young, thus I'm exposed to the Korean language and food like all my life. I pick up Korean language due to this particular reason and not because of the hallyu wave and K-pop~ and yes, I can converse in a little Korean and still learning

Fact #07: I ultimately love Kimchi (to the extend of 김치하고김 있지만 밥을 먹어 됐습니다Although there's only kimchi and seaweed, I could already have a meal) and Korean food is best~~~ I even go the extra mile to learn how to make 김장 (Kimchi Making), 반찬 (Korean side-dishes) and other main dishes.

Fact #08: I was made Head Girl in Form 6 but happen to be an ordinary student who mostly broke rules in high school and thinks prefect are somewhat useless...

A blurry low quality picture but brings lotsa' memories of our school days

Fact #09: I am taken by this boy from the prefectorial board who happen to be my direct 'senior' during probation period and thereafter I became his direct 'senior' in Form 6... do the math, yes I'm in a 언니-동생 relationship (where the guy is younger compared to the girl) Fate is really a weird thing...

Fact #10: I have an unexplained obsession toward planes and wish I was on a pilot career track. I love airports and would go there just to plane watch then wonder and read about the mechanics of planes and hopefully someday I can be financially fit to get a PPL.

Fact #11: I have a rather complex family background. Period

Fact #12: I'm a fresh seafood lover! Especially towards raw salmon, raw squid, raw oysters, raw raw raw... whatever that is classified under the sashimi and seafood category are my FAV! My course-mates have seen this insane part of me because all I really ate was raw food throughout the night >_<

*Drools* just at the sight of it! 

Fact #13: I'm all for extreme sports and whatever that keeps the adrenaline oozing. Its a shame I'm no rich kid or I'll already be on my way for extreme wet-parks or theme-parks, bungee jump, G-force, diving... all other you can name ^-^

Fact #14: I can loop a single track (that is new and caught my attention) for a few days straight or stay plug-in to my mp3 all day long and even to bedtime until I once have a roommate who said this to me, "Someday you might get deaf with all the music directed into your ear all the time". Truth is I'm already a little deaf with all the band practice and besides music helps me concentrate. A lot. Better.

Fact #15: I started-off learning Yamaha's Electone at a decently young age (which is a japanese syllabus for the organ instrument) and only pick-up piano at age 13. Ironically, I'm turn out to be a piano teacher instead although my piano basics are not strong and definitely had better skills with the Electone [Teacher will work 10x harder~] and I still want to learn other instruments can?

Should it be violin or cello? 

Fact #16: I seldom visit the cinema. But when I do its because there's an interesting animation from Dreamworks/Disneys/Pixars (because I love cartoons) otherwise its definitely a top box-office movie!

Fact #17: I have weird sleeping habits. I'm a heavy-sleeper in familiar environments and would press the snooze button so I could get that wee bit more sleep and there is no 'nap' in my dictionary 'coz my naps could go up to 3-4 hours but... becomes a light-sleeper in unfamiliar environments including in transportation T_T

Fact #18: I have broad shoulders and arms (which becomes a difficulty in clothing shopping) thanks to the all the training for swimming and tennis since young but they are the two sports I like best!

Fact #19: I drive a manual car up and am a lady drive with some awesome-pawsome driving skills (angkat bakul sendiri) I even sometimes internally curse other drivers + lady drivers as if I'm not one *whoops* --- until I did my internship last year and got stuck in traffic for some 2.5 hours daily I guess its time to get an Auto car with all this KL madness~~

Fact #20: I'm a proud banana thanks to my English-ed family background and only speak hokkien to the elder gen. I speak almost no chinese until I was selected for National Service and couldn't make any 'C' friends because of this fact. Thankfully, I meet some good friends who is willing to accept my banana-ness and teach me some along the way. There after, most of my chinese speaking skill I have today is from the humble teaching of friends and chinese dramas. Lots and lots of dramas.


Among the listed facts, how much have you already known?

나요,

[Roadtrip ☁] Melacca: A' Famosa Water World (part1)

What's a roadtrip without sunglasses kan? ^^

About a week ago, we've both decided to give A' Famosa a go since because I happen to stumble upon some Groupon offer, we both need a short getaway and we thought we've never been to a A' Famosa before anyway so why not (truth is I realise later on that I actually been there once when I was much younger and I totally forgot!) =_=" I choose the package which includes Water World and Old West. Anyway, we picked weekdays and hit the road :)

Hullo A' Famosa~ Water World first! 

All changed with endless slabs of sunblock and we're ready to conquer everything! 

Not too sure if the place is considered big but compared to 'The Lost World of Tambun' quite an amount of walking and climbing is needed. As for the rides, I'd say you can sort of finish trying out everything in like about an hour? But of course we went for as many times as our legs would carry us because its a weekday and there's practically no need to wait in line.

Big Ice-Cream

The Big Ice-Cream is like one of the newest attraction with a craze of adrenaline rush. It's a four-person ride and would make a great ride for friends and families who come as a group. You're suppose to carry your own tube all the way up and mind you, that tube is really heavy! The adrenaline rush kicks in as you sit on the tube and hopefully you're not the one with your back facing the slice because there'll be a sudden drop into that huge cone and you'll start screaming all the way oscillating back and forth until the tube loses momentum then... end of ride, thank you. Please carry the tube and climb 5-stories for another round of screams thrill.

As for both of us, we had to aim for another willing couple and ride. Although it's always a different couple, one thing was all the same. Panting for breath while climbing up and before you'd manage to catch your breath, you're already screaming all the way down. Goodness~

High-Speed Slide: Would you have give it a go?

Now this is liken to the height of flying fox except you're headed for a 45 degrees straight down. I didn't think it was scary until I saw the real thing. We really had to muster-up lots and lots of bravery to ride this thing and only the wavy one was operating. I almost wanted to give up but it'd be a waste to not challenge myself and so I did. The adrenaline rush is 5x of the Big Ice-Cream (probably because there's no tube and its a solo ride)

The rest of water theme park rides are nothing to boast about. There's a mixture of rides which some requires tube rental which we skipped because its rather pointless to rent a tube with just two of us.

Lazy River for leisure and relaxation

Source of the tidal in the Lazy River

Although without a tube, we've decided to wade the Lazy River anyway and discovered that the lifeguard who guards this station is rather humorous though. He encourages everyone that is within his range of sight to come close to that giant mouth to experience sorta a mini 'tsunami' at regular intervals and many of them keep coming back even after they're being wash away including us

Family Raft Slide

Its another group ride but thankfully they take in any number up to four. Its like bumper car tube version on water. I guess its probably cause we're only two and not heavy enough, the bumps at each cornering takes a scary swing and kept bouncing on our bottoms.

Body Slide which requires no tube

This is the slide which we rode the most until the lifeguard got fed-up and decides to have lunch rather than watching us lol.

Kid Adventure Pool

Surely all toddlers and kids would enjoy this. We only came here mostly to rest our hearts from all the exhilaration and to take a dump from that gigantic water bucket! More than the fun it seems to portray, getting water dumps' abit painful lah~

A must-have in every water theme park: Wave Pool 

Since the sun is blazing and we're like at least ten tones darker, its time to chill under the shaded wave pool, listen to extremely overly-played music (I think it only has like 3 songs in a CD, meh!) and enjoy some waves before calling it a day.

Lunch included. Its not much but good enough.

Enough of the water and feeling all tired and hungry now, we got changed and redeem our lunch boxes. Yes, this deal has lunch included and though choices are not plenty its good enough. We sat by the man-made sand beach and slowly munch our late lunch.

What about the deal?
I'm not too sure if the deal is a steal but here's the catch; we had choices of choosing 2-3 parks to enjoy except we had to do all places on the same day which at first I thought like why not? Seems okay to me and I wanted to almost sign-up for 3 parks all in one day! But he said better not be too ambitious. It turns out he was down right. After all that thrill and excitement, we're both feeling jelly-ish with sores all over and sleep was all you can think of.  But we still had Old West to visit at night >_<

But if you've not experienced or been to A' Famosa before, I think the deal's worth the price as its only half of what I paid at normal rate for two attractions. Its your pick :)

나요,

A' Famosa Water World: ✔Checked

[Events ✿] Korean Traditional Dance Performance: A Thousand Year Inheritance

A Thousand Year Inheritance Leaflet

About a month ago, I accidentally stumble upon the Korean Embassy Webpage and discovered that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are hosting a Korean Folk Dance Performance: A Thousand Year Inheritance. The event is bound to take place in 3 days at the time of my discovery! But being unsure of what to expect at the performance or whether its worth catching it or not, I did a little further research about the performance before deciding to spend my weekend immersed in a little Korean culture.

I found out that this performance is organized by a well-known dance company in Korea and whats more is that the dance team is professionally trained and even conducts performances aboard! 와...대박! [Whao... Awesome!] Its really is a good catch and FREE! too although the event is by Invite-Only. Below are a some of the history of the Gyeonggi Provincial Dance Company~

Korean Folk Dance Performance organized by Gyeonggi Provincial Dance Company 

Introduction to Gyeonggi Provincial Dance Company

Performance History in Korea

Performance History Aboard

Being quite a Korean-fan person,  once a lifetime chances like this is definitely not to be missed. Its a great opportunity to see and experience the folk dance of the Korean culture. Now the main concern is getting the invite letter. The event is only 3 days away and I was afraid that invites would be closed by then as I'm guessing many would be interested since it doesn't cost a single penny. Nonetheless, I sent an email to request for the invitation letter for 4 people (without thinking who would go with me or how many would be interested enough to tag along since not all appreciate such events)... and guess what?! I found this in my Inbox the following day heh~

Received Invite-Only letter and who shall be my Associates eh?

Now the problem is who will my 3 'Associates' on that day >_< With little notice time, it didn't cross my mind to ask any of my friends who might be interested in such events but I did manage to coerce get 3 'Associates' with me ^-^

We arrived a little early on Saturday since seating should be on first-come-first-serve basis and also to get a quick bite before the performance begin. Arriving early, I was rather fascinated with the landscape of the Sentul Park which is where KLPAC is located. Although its my second time here, the last round when I came here was for a friend's performance and I only arrived after the skies grew dark. We did a little walking after securing really good seats.

With a scenic view, its suitable for family activities to evening recreation sports and there's loads of fishes + turtles to be feed

Lakeside Thai Cuisine located at the end of the part. Apparently, this place is recommended for its delicious Thai food over great ambiance but with a price

Must have narcissism and selfie shot

Always my partner in crime and one of my 'associates'

The other 2 associates which happen to be 내 고모 하고 엄마 [my aunt and mom] don't quite fancy being photographed. One was persuaded to come along while the shows a little interest toward cultural performances. 

Pentas 1 of KLPAC with colourful seats as a show of no discrimination in arts with the motto 'Arts for All'

The seating colors really made a difference as the whole stage atmosphere looks bright and cheerful. While my guests and I got front seats almost near the stage. There's also this brochure to do some light reading regarding the highlights of the performances.

Brieg introduction of the cast and company

History behind each folk dance that is to be performed tonight

Almost before the show begins *excited*

My thoughts:
Without any expectation toward what was coming, I really enjoyed myself throughout the show because it was something I have never seen before. What really amazes me is how each dance is related to a tradition of an event in the past or a celebration of harvest and how each dancer have so many different dance choreograph to remember and play and to dance whilst banging away the drums! The girl dancers all had pretty faces and hands so delicate I have nothing to say to myself. Mom told me it was a steal because cultural shows like this in Korea are rather pricey and for the same performances! The only thing I regret is that I didn't request for more people to bring. We should have invited our other family members too.

Its a shame no pictures were allowed throughout the performances and I could only retain as much memories my brain capacity would allow.The most enjoyable part is when they did the grand finale of the performance where we start seeing the whole cast gather to perform together with the main cast showing off his talent in cultural dance. Main cast is the one with the flowers~

The only shot I got for the night during the flower giving ceremony and the audiences gave these dancers a standing ovation

It was a great show and a YES for another Korean Cultural show!
p.s. I personally think this guy looks a wee bit like Micky Yoochun?

** Credits to Korean Embassy in Malaysia for snippets of A Thousand Year Inheritance Event and Thank you for the Invitation ☺

나요,

[Music ♫] ABRSM Exam but I'm No Pianist

*Blows dusts away*

오랜만이야~  

Its been some time since I've care to sit and update my blog since I got really busy with my final year project and then the upcoming piano examination which are probably just excuses I'm giving myself *whoops* Plus, I've just realize I have loads of backdated post to complete if I'm gonna intend to keep this blog as my personal timeline journal as well as to share my experiences. Need to learn how to keep a good time management to be efficient all the time already!

Hopefully I'd be able to find more time for blogging ^^

____________________________________________________________________________

Exam pieces by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM)

The least ordinary event in my usually lazy Saturday is the Piano ABRSM Examination. To say that I'm not nervous or feeling sick from the inside is downright a lie. As time draws nearer the effect got so bad to the extend I'm having body aches due to all the stress from practicing day and night plus a little insomniac. It didn't get any better with the fact that I'm not getting much lessons from my music teacher due to our schedule clash and each day pass by with me practicing blindly + I really HATE scales really REALLY! These things that made my life miserable...!

Bits from Sonata in B by Soler

Bits from Minuet and Trio by Weber

Bits from Intermezzo in E flat by Brahms

Anyhow, these above are bits of the pieces I choose to play and they are my favorite parts too. In the ABRSM Examination, its been divided into sections namely Exam pieces, Scales, Sight-Reading and Aural. Early preparation is allowed for the pieces and scales while the other two sections are of spontaneous basis. The syllabus of the examination pieces will usually last for a term of 2 years divided into 3 sections and you'd have to pick a piece from each section since they represent different period of music. Scales on the other hand is usually compulsory for all sections. Sight-reading will usually test on your ability to prepare (in a scary 30seconds) and play a short piece of music that should include tempo, dynamics and song character. Finally, aural will usually test on singing, listening, tempo and music understanding. Sounds pretty tough right?

Its definitely a YES for me because I'm no music genius nor am I majoring in piano. Learning Yamaha Electone since young makes piano a challenge for me since the piano keys are harder and there's so much more to just note reading. You have to learn how to control your dynamics by hand, playing up to 5 notes at one time with one hand and gawd that hard piano keys, speed and ornamentation is a total huge obstacle for me and what more with pieces of different period: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century to cover. For me who started out late, there isn't much time to be exposed to all these music genres yet alone to master in a few. Yet, its ironic to those who knows me as a Piano Teacher >_< 

Nerve-wreaking smile before the exams: Teacher gets nervous too~ 

My thoughts: 

The last round I took ABRSM Examinations is like what, 8 years ago?! But since I got it started, I shouldn't give up halfway and do decide to finish well. I took me almost a year plus to get prepared which is a long-term effort (with lotsa breaks in between as I'm always too busy with university or being lazy) but the examination only lasts for 30 minutes max! Moreover, its like a one-shot thing. No space for regret or turning back time. If a mistake is made you've kind of ruins your chances to get good grades which applies to me very much regretfully. Unlike in written examinations where you can crack your head and think before answering, its a No-No for practical exams. So instead of feeling like a whole load of burden is being shed off after what seem like the longest yet shortest 25 minutes of my life, the load multiplied incredibly. Sigh~ I guess I could only hope for the best. What's done is done... reality is such cruel that you can't turn back time.

Prawn Mee and Apple Lemon to comfort myself after my exams

Food is best when one is feeling down or needs motivation right? Had this in a nearby cafe in the Cosway building. Big thank you to those who cheered me on, my uncle for driving me and my aunt for the lunch treat.

나요,

[Journal ✎] 2014 Resolution?

Yeah, I know its like mid-March and I'm still here talking about the resolutions I listed for myself this 2014 >.< But its better than living without a target to life right? For me, life comes is many stages and each of these stages have trials and challenges that seem to have been especially designed for us. Thus, with each hurdle passed taught me more on life, give me more strength and courage to walk deeper waters and challenge myself further and make me a better person. So then each new year is not like beginning life on a whole new piece of blank book or a point to start over life because we really can't! But rather the beginning of how we desire make improvements to ourselves may it be physically, spiritually, emotionally or mentally.

So what have I achieved thus far? 

1. Learn to keep these tradition and culture alive :)

Learning how to make 'Nin gou', a Chinese Traditional Delicacy also known as the CNY Rice Cake.

'Nin gao' is a type of sticky sweet savory snack made with the simplest ingredients of Glutinous rice flour and Sugar was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen Gods with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake so he is unable to badmouth about the human family in front of the Jade Emperor. These are all very traditional Chinese beliefs but as believers of Christ, these tales become invalid. But Gods aside, as a Chinese we should always know our roots and try to preserve our Chinese culture and tradition. This was the primary reason why I'm trying my best to learn whatever I can from my know-it-all Granny and the fact that she agrees to let me participate and teach me this year (The usual practice is that I get kicked-out of the kitchen before I can utter a word)

The amount of ingredient needed might fool you to thinking its the easiest thing to cook ever! Unfortunately for me, no chance. The preparation is crazily tedious from the mixing of the batter to the container preparation and the cooking method. This is my first time taking part in the whole process and I'm already like... and I really don't know how my superwoman granny manages this every year! According to her, its easy to just dump the whole lot of batter into those cake container layered with banana leaf and steam but then we won't be able to give out to friends and relatives due to presentation reasons. This is why she usually make the extra effort to prepare those individual cans but to layer those banana leaves and ensure they can contain the batter without leakage is too tough. I only manage to help with a few cans whilst Granny is already done the rest! I guess these skills comes with time and practice which is why I told myself I need to do this with her every year thereafter. Speaking of which, I'm even having a hard time recalling the whole procedure now...!

2. Adiós to black~

¡Hola, Apricot Brown!

First hair-dye attempt in the end of January 2014 since I left high school and the after effect? I totally love brown hair and instantly thought why did I not do this earlier?! But now the one concern is that if I'm gonna keep my brown hair then I guess my hair will be chemical soakin' from now and onward...

3. Picking up Photography

Up-close shots with Samsung GX10 on nature's beauty

Photography is one of the most interesting stuff to play with. The limitations of picture memory in our brains makes camera the greatest invention ever because of its ability to steal time, turn-back time or freeze time. They capture the most poignant feelings of life and the most captivating beauty of nature helping us to reminisce and appreciate the past. 

Being all new to this, I still have much to learn and discover. But most importantly now is that I will need to scout for my own brand of professional camera which I can carry around with me at all times. For now, I'll just live with what I have which is the Samsung GX10 I loaned from Mom. 

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A quarter of the year is almost over and I'm hoping to be able to achieve more in life :)

나요,