And then we have 1 year.

I have been back to Malaysia for more than 2 years now. But officially, my company Kia Kaha Fitness was registered on this day, 5th of September, 1 year ago. =)

Confused rant few days ago aside, I actually am feeling pretty blessed. To have been given this opportunity to blossom as an Entrepreneur. To learn the tricks of the trade, stand on my own two feet, make my own decisions and call my own shots. To meet the many wonderful people that have made me feel so happy to be Karen Siah, Personal trainer and Fitness Instructor, as well as those who showed me the ways to better myself in every way.

I have endless gratitude to my parents and brothers, for without them many of my endeavours would have stopped short. I thank them for every single time they have egged me on. To my boyfriend and all my friends who have put up with my first few training sessions (while having a lack of experience), for those who signed up with me and went through my arduous sessions, I truly appreciate your support =) ALso thanks a million for the recommendations that you have sent my way. I hope to repay you with coffee, pints of Guiness or dinner as often as possible =)

1 year is a milestone, but most definitely nothing to shout about. The journey is just starting and I intend to make it a long and joy-filled one, with many a food for the soul and many a time for laughter :)

2012

It's the 3rd of January, 2013 and like always, I do a recap of the year. That's my tradition. I stopped making resolutions when I realised I never keep resolutions. I do better when I just resolve to progress as an individual and do new things. There, done. :)

Anyway, 2012 was my first year as a fully independent working adult. Of course, when I say "fully" I meant still-living-with-parents-and-occasionally-using-their-credit-cards "fully". heh. Ok, ok, Chandler Bing jokes aside, 2012 was a transitional year. Here's how it looked like.

I carried on being Teacher Karen at a new school. The kids loved me (I think) and I felt what it truly was like to be exhausted from work.
I gained a few more clients, different ones, with different personalities and everything. Always interesting.
I got certified to train pregnant and post partum women. (Go me!)
I started leading my own platoon at Rebel Bootcamp.
I took the whole year off from full marathons and did mostly 10s and 21s.
I kissed someone who makes me very happy and hey, last I checked, he's still with me. :)
I finally found someone who's right by me through all my races ♥
I went on BFM radio 3 times, to talk about different things. I realised I like radio, might be something I'd consider doing in the future.
I finally watched Wicked the musical in Singapore!
I started re-watching old episodes of Friends.
I got a new bike from my brother! And I train more now.
I did another Powerman.
I went to Kuala Terengganu to visit the boyfriend's parents for the first time.
I went to Phuket and Krabi, which was amazing till I got food poisoning on the 2nd last day.
I fell deeply in love =)

Not that big a year, but significant nonetheless. I have bigger plans this year with all the bells and whistles and everything! Watch me defy gravity.

For a sneak peak at what I did in 2011, click on the year.

Life and death.

I attended a funeral service yesterday for a good friend of mine who had just lost his father. I was slightly hesitant at first because the last time I attended a funeral service, I got really affected emotionally and I ended up not being able to sleep the entire night, with shivers of fear going down my spine. Whoa, right? I know.

Anyway, last night I went with some friends and while listening to the eulogies given by this man's family and friends, it occurred to me how little I know about my friend. I couldn't help but feel ashamed, for we've known each other for over 6 years and I couldn't even tell how many siblings he had, and whether he was the eldest, the middle or the youngest in the family. And while the pastor was talking about Death being a destination, and how you should live life well so that when you pass on, your life can be celebrated, I couldn't help but think to myself if I am doing what I can to live my life well. I don't even have a hectic schedule, nor any status or celebrity, yet I couldn't even name the number of siblings my friend had. Who am I?

I think it's so easy to get caught up in the race of life, even for someone like me who is not climbing the corporate ladder. It's just human nature, or should I say Asian nature, to chase wealth and success and keep up with the Joneses. So often I feel the pressure to buy a new car, just because my friend did, or buy a house, just because this person did...I keep thinking "we're the same age! And she's not even living at home any more!" and stuff like that. But there's so much more to life, as clichéd as it may sound. There really is. I don't even know why I have like a gazillion friends, yet I find myself not making any plans on a Friday night. I'd much rather curl up in my bed watching old episodes of Friends. Why? I use to crave social meet ups and hangout spots. But I feel like I am no more interested. And I don't know why.

Hmm...maybe I am rambling a little off topic here. But I think initiative is key. I do not take the initiative to keep in touch with my friends, to visit my relatives, to spend time with people I love and care about. And I'm only friggin' 26 with a lame entry level salary! I'm not even anyone rich and famous!

So coming back home last night, I thought to myself, that I need to take more initiative. I need to step out more, do more, care more. I need to live well and make my time on Earth matter.

happy times!

What is this, I shouldn't have let that piece of bad news stay on top of my blog for so long! Because although I was gutted, I was actually pretty numb about it a day after. =)

I've had SUCH a busy week! Well, I've had such a busy month. period. It's already the month of May! Time's speeding! I'm in my 9th week of uni, just a little over 3 weeks to go before the end of the semester.

Over the weekend I held a little party at my flat just to celebrate my birthday. I know it's not the actual day yet, but oh well, I figured it's also kinda like a pre farewell party...actually, it was just a reason to hold a party. just because. haha...=) You know how much I love having people over. And the turn out was great! I had roughly 20 guests. It was a tea time party, so I only prepared snacks and finger foods, Stan helped make some club sandwiches, Elise made me a ham and mushroom quiche, Laura made a fruit salad, and Erin and Lily both baked me my birthday cake! It was nice to see all of my favourite people in Auckland together in one room. I always do this, chuck all my different clicks of friends into one room and just hope they get along. It usually works, though I don't know if that's strange to do or not. hehe..

Wye Yin, or Coreen as she is known here, still think it's kinda cool how we come to meet again in New Zealand after all these years.

Erin and Elise! Two of my favourite Es. =)

Stan, the Man. ;)

So yes, finally I'm having a ball in Auckland, just when I'm about to leave. The irony! Life gets you in the silliest situations doesn't it? Oh, did I mention I'm also sick as hell with the cold, cough, fever, headache and all that jazz just 2 days before my actual 25th birthday? My flatmates told me it's bad luck to celebrate your birthday before the actual day, I think this is karma knocking on my door already. But then again, I'm gonna will myself to health with my super awesome immune system! I'll be in the pink of health come this Wednesday, you'll see! ;)

It's so easy to forget I'm a student

I have been having a lot of fun these days in Auckland. I really let myself go out and hang loose these days, which is both thrilling and worrying.

I swear it is so easy to forget I am a student. I have been doing like 40 hour weeks at uni, and that is excluding the reports, assignments, readings, and exams I have to do outside of class times. Plus I still work. Plus I have a much more interesting social life this year. So once again I am gonna say, I really do not have enough hours in a day!

But since I am already procrastinating as I am typing this right now, let me just recount my weekend.

I worked on Saturday, like I do every Saturday. I took a spin class with one of my own compilations. Erin and Elise tried it out for 20 minutes, then they had to go, but they said they liked it! I have regular participants in my spin classes now, which is extremely motivating. I feel sooooo good being at the front of the studio, looking at my members busting their butts off. :D

At night I decided to join my flatmates for a night out in town! I don't usually do this. And you all know about me and night time joints in town. We don't go very well. But I've been a lot more open to a lot more things since I've been back here, adopting the whole this-is-my-last-few-months-in-new-zealand spirit. (once again, I don't know whether that's a good thing or not). So I drove the girls out to O'Hagans, an Irish pub on the Viaduct. And you know what I completely enjoyed myself. I think live classic rock + no smoke + older age group (late 20s, early 30s) + awesome beer makes going out uber fun. Malaysia should definitely start banning smoking in bars.We went into 2 Irish pubs last night, and I met some pretty interesting people. I met a gorgeous Argentinian man, who spoke very enchanting Spanish. haha...and I met a nice Kiwi bloke who gave me a bouquet of plastic roses. And I met a funny Irish man who became kinda creepy when he came to close to me. But yeah, I danced very freely, in my jeans and jersey, and flat shoes. I sang along to all the songs because I knew every word of it, and I danced! =) Really, Malaysia should also start having more live music bars. With no smoke. And good beer.

When we wanted to go back to the car, one of my friends somehow chatted up one of these Night Riders (they cycle a rickshaw to bring u to your car/apartment in the city) and got him to take us all to my car. That crazy bunny (He had bunny ears) didn't want to bring us all the way to my car, but stopped us midway. I made him get off the bike, where I took over and rode all of us a block down to my car. HAHA, that was my moment of the night, I reckon. Then I drove my 2 very drunk flatmates home at close to 2 am. It was hilarious! I think watching drunk people are quite funny. =)I woke up at 7 am this morning, feeling buzzed and ready to go. So I ran down to Waiatarua Reserve and ran illegally in the 1st Run Auckland race. I did a pretty good time too! I think from now on I will have beer the night before any race. Preferably Belgian/Irish beer. =)

And I had brunch with some friends after the run. Which was really good too.

So yes, life has been pretty blissful. Save the fact that I now have to take on 2 lab reports and review some Math lectures. *boo*

Owell. 8 more weeks of class. 2 more weeks of exams. Yes, I can!

The not so secret welcome back party

My friends here threw me a secret welcome back party. It was very sweet of them, but they had to tell me about it earlier on to make sure I went. haha...but still, it was a sweet gesture, and I am quite surprised at how many people showed up!

It definitely made my day..=)



We had Vietnamese food, went bowling, then had bubble tea. I think that's pretty awesome considering how rarely Aucklanders hop from one place to another (that isn't a bar) in a single night. So, granted I was quite happy last night. =)

There is a Jazz & Blues Festival tonight down the road, but it's $20 to go in. I'm torn between going because it's my last semester here and not going coz it's $20! To go or not to go??

Back in Auckland

It's ridonkulous how fast time flies. It really feels like just a couple of days ago I was counting down the days till I finished my finals last year. An entire summer has passed by now, and I'm back in NZ again.

My summer holidays weren't exactly epic. If I were to be blatantly direct, I'd say it was the loneliest summer I've had in the past few years. But there were good times. I have amazing friends, I really do. And I truly appreciated being around family this time. It really helped things heal a lot faster.

So now here I sit, in the last place I will be living in here in Auckland. I have one last semester ahead of me, which begins this coming Monday. I have 16 weeks to study 5 subjects and be examined on them. And then I will throw my hands up in the air, and rejoice for surviving everything I have been through to tag this degree to my name. =)

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right? =)

Melbourne

So Melbourne, we meet again.

Melbourne Central clock tower

This is my 4th time in Melbourne and my 3rd time staying with Kenneth. He's been an excellent host.

My flight here was long, bumpy and sickening, literally. I was a messy tired heap of migraines and stomach aches when I got off the flight. And the drama started from the moment I stepped into LCCT in KL, with my electronic visa being rejected because I had a new passport, and my luggage being overweight, and my laptop battery failing on me, and WiFi KLIA that didn't allow me to log into the Australian Immigration website. Geezzz...All of which has never happened to me before in my years of flying to and fro...not even the overweight baggage.

But I met many kind souls to help me get through it all, starting with Julie's mum and colleague, which helped me get a visa for free through the phone, followed by Michael, a Scottish traveller who helped me check in 1 backpack (Very interesting dude, who stayed with the Penan for a month and travelled around Malaysia for about 3 months or something), and finally Denning, an Iban/Fuchow Chinese from Kuching who played the ukulele and taught me both how to play the ukulele and speak Iban in our 8-turned-9 hour flight to Melbourne.

Denning and his ukulele

View of the full moon from my seat.

Anyhow, Melbourne has been enjoyable. The weather is a little erratic though. It's 15 degrees today, and I've not a single jacket in my bags. Coz they're all packed away in Auckland.

Potato twisty things from China Town

Aunty Bee Imm and my cousin Kimberly

I have been meeting up with several friends, and meeting up with more today and tomorrow. I even met up with my aunty and my cousin over here. Guess it was a pretty good idea to come for a few days longer. =) Makes my journey back to Auckland slightly more pleasant...hehe...

Melbourne and her arts. :)

I'm very tempted to shop in Melbourne. There are sales EVERYWHERE! But not only do I not have the moolah, I also do not have luggage space. heh.

I am missing my family and friends at home heaps. I've had some pretty heartfelt moments with every one of them this time around, so that makes leaving them very difficult. But I guess the bright side is there are only about 5 months to go before I see them all again. =)

Busy body.

I've been going out a LOT lately. It's all because I'm flying off soon, and suddenly there is all these "one more time before you fly off" dinners and lunches and teas (because I ran out of dinner and lunch slots) to carry out with friends. Different groups of friends.

It's all very flattering, and extremely enjoyable having so many plans, and sharing so many great moments with all my friends. But the downside of it is the big hole in my pocket, the hectic schedule, leaving me very little time with my family, the tiredness, the lack of sleep, the aching back and aching foot (yes just one), the influx of food consumption, and the inability to save money!

I'm feeling worn out every night, and I fall asleep almost the instant my head hits the pillow. And the next thing I know my alarm rings at 4.45 am and it's time to go to work again. That's it. No dreams. I just sleep like a log.

I'm feeling happy though. That's what holidays are for. =)

Flash Mob!

I've watched a million Flash Mob videos from all over the world, and I kept thinking, Malaysia will never be able to pull something like that off. Then Singapore did one. And apparently KL did one too!

When Shu Fei told me about it in December I was pretty excited! I was more than ecstatic to help her out, and she thought I was doing her a grand favour! I had so much fun I miss the stress and hours of practise! I ♥ performances!

Anyway, Mr Tan, friend of mine, helped record this video, so enjoy! =)

Laugh.

I had a pretty good day today.

Went for karaoke with Julie, Weng and Pei Jien and it was epic. It was the most fun I've had in a while. =)

Then I went for lamb burger with Jon, Gene and Seu Foong and it was good fun too. Laughed loads. =) Doesn't matter that this was the 3rd burger I've had this week.

Laugh. Today I laughed. Whole heartedly. :)

BFF

Here's wishing Julie Kuan a Happy 24th Birthday!

You've always been one of the constants in my life, someone I could count on to always be there for me through thick and thin. You've always been supportive and understanding, and you give me free stuff! :)
"May we be best friends till we're old grannies!", you once wrote me in a note.
I'm betting on "yes, we will be". ;)
Have a great time today, don't hold back, aye?

xx
ren

good company

I hate being alone. So when it is the last day of the first half of the semester, after I am done with mid terms, and before I begin my 2 week term break, the last thing I wanted to do was to go back to an empty house and sit in front of my pc refraining from using too much bandwidth.

So i got some people to come over! I used Merdeka Day as an excuse, but really I just wanted to have more people around me. And it was really successful!

I think I had about 13 people altogether. It was pretty good! I cooked up some stuff, and we played charades, and some of the guests brought really delicious stuff, like Abby's bubur chacha and Wye Yin's roast stuffed chicken.

This is just some of those who came.
Some of the things i managed to cook up. Frying pappadums are awesome!
Playing with Zhi's multishot function. 8 frames i think.

Photos are compliments of Zhi. The company was really good. I don't know why I was too lazy to get my own camera to snap more photos. But owell...=)

However, when the party's over, and everyone leaves, there's always this sinking feeling in my heart. Sigh. 14 more weeks before mum, dad and keith comes over...=)

dear you

Hey you.

It's stupid how life screws us over sometimes, ya? I mean, why does the most amazing things happen to the shittiest of people and the shittiest of things happen to the most amazing people? I honestly question karma.

So, I know we haven't been in touch in the past year or two. But I hope you know that you've always been someone very dear to me. I remember how we met. I remember meeting your friend, C first, through Accounts tuition. And he told me he had this friend who rock climbed, and that we should all go rock climbing together someday. And by "this friend who rock climbed" he actually meant D. And I remember being really excited to meet this guy.

But the person who caught my eye wasn't D. Wasn't C. It was you. Because you were sweet and nice. And i think it's not a secret anymore that I had the hugest crush on you back then. haha...I still can't believe your entire family knew. Including Gene's family. I think I actually avoided going to her house for a while, out of sheer embarrassment. But yeah, you were always very graceful about it. I remember how i wanted to hang out with you so much, but for some reason a lot of your friends couldn't make it that day, and so it was just my friends and i, but you were willing to go anyway. Though I didn't want to put you through such an awkward situation, so I called the outing off. But yea, appreciated it. You're really nice. =) And I remember gathering the courage to confess my highschool teenage crush to you, through sms no less, and you replied, in 4 smses, how you valued our friendship and that you wanted to be just friends. Which was a rejection, but you were graceful about it. Tactful. I kept those smses for a long time. Till that handphone died i think. But yeah.

We went on with our lives. And I must say it's a shame we drifted apart. I remember bumping into you in Melbourne in 2005. Just out of the blue. We had dinner with Gene and your friend and hung out for a while.

After that was just a blur. We didnt really keep in contact. And so I think the last time I saw you was probably...I don't know. I possibly saw you around in Subang or KL in the past few years, but to be honest I can't remember.

Anyway, Ron, just a letter to say you were someone special. You leave footprints in many people's lives, and most definitely in mine. Your family, your friends, your girlfriend, they all suffer a tragic loss. My deepest condolences to all of them. And to you, old friend, rest in peace. You will definitely be missed.

In Melbourne, 2005.
Clockwise from the top left: Ron, Gene, Eric, me

Truly,
me.

Hunua

Wow, what a weekend. I just had a pretty busy 3 days, and it felt quite good. They weren't great plans. But they were plans. And I like being this busy with social obligations. Makes me feel a little more me.

On Friday night I attended a friend's birthday party downtown. I was debating it in my head, wondering if I should go, because I didn't really know many people who were going. But then I figured it would be more fun than to stay home and write my report (which I really should've done a bit more) so I chucked on my ruby red boots and drove to town. It turned out quite nice, met a guy who seriously is Weng's doppelganger. And got many compliments on the red boots. =)Weng's doppelganger in black. Doesn't look much like him here, but i swear he TALKS, ACTS, WALKS like Weng.sorry i just had to put this picture up, because I never knew my biceps could look that good to be honest. haha...it's a farce though, I can't even do 15 push ups. oh and the birthday girl is Mok, in the middle. =)

Saturday I had the usual work from 8-4 in Sylvia Park. At night, thanks to dear Ben, Hani and I went to watch Avenue Q! In case you didn't know, Trekkie Monster was the one who popularised the The Internet is for Porn video. Anyway the musical was hilarious. I laughed for 2 hours. I kid you not. It's a little crass, and not really my sort of humour, but maybe it's the puppets, and the dance moves, just got me tearing with laughter! If it made ME laugh I dare say it'll knock your socks off! Go watch it if u have the chance!
This morning, I went for a trail run with Ruth in The Hunua Ranges, about 50km from Auckland CBD. It was the first race of the Xterra trail run series. I signed up for the 22.1 km super long category, thinking it would be a nice long distance in the name of marathon training. heh. Though the distance is half of that of a full marathon, the time I took was almost the same! It was possibly the toughest trail run i've ever done in terms of energy requirement. Here's the profile.I saw this before the race, and kinda had it in my mind the uphill climb began only towards the end of the race, so i didn't expect to go uphill till probably 15km into the race. But no...it started waaaay earlier and I think I completely exhausted whatever glycogen I had in me. My legs felt wobbly, with every step i took running downhill, I swear I was going to fall. But I didn't. Well, i fell twice. But that was because the route was really muddy. But yea I was so tired my vision became blurry. And running downhill is quite technical this time around. I'd say it was close to Malaysian jungle status. =) The view, as expected, was breathtaking. I have to say I thoroughly enjoy trail running in Auckland because it really renders me speechless whenever I reach the top. I wish I could carry my camera with me. When I finished, 3.5 hours later, i was in quite a bit of pain. Really felt as if I had just run a marathon. Possibly even more. I went on to take my shoes off, and noticed red stains on my socks. My heel was bleeding. My shoe had blood stains too. I don't think I have ever chaffed till I bled. I didn't even feel it! I feel quite proud though. I feel really hardcore. haha...=) And I lost 2 more toenails.

Now I'm extremely knackered. My legs are so sore. I have no appetite too. I'm THAT worn. But ah...it's been a great weekend...if I had it my way, I'd have a weekend like this EVERY weekend. =)

24

Updated: Picture below. My Hyacinths now. only 4 days after. =)

I'm 24.

For some reason I don't like the sound of that age. It's a strange number. It's not quite 25, and too far away from 21. 23 was a nicer age to be at.

Anyway, birthday celebrations this year in Aucks was a lot more joyous compared to last year. I definitely had quite a bit of fun this time. I celebrated it 2 times, once on Saturday with the Malaysians and Subangites, and once more on my actual birthday with the mat sallehs. My best non-Malaysian friends here in Auckland. =)

I received quite a few presents as well, money from Mom and Dad and yehyeh came a few days before my birthday, allowing me to do a bit of birthday splurging, a beauty pack from Navin, to fulfill my becoming more womanly, a pedicure set from Abby, same inspiration, a gorgeous aqua single stone necklace from Michael Hill from Wye Yin, which I absolutely love, and this Hyacinth plant from Mod and Flo. I guess I really am about to morph into a lady this year. =) Oh and the Aunty i'm staying with gave me an angpow too!

I feel loved, by the people over here. And they really spoil me sometimes. So much so that I feel a tad guilty, that even with all the love they shower onto me, a small part of me still yearns to have my family and friends from Subang around. Birthdays always matter in my home, and my family make an effort to always make birthdays special. I miss that. And my besties back at home! I miss them so much. And I want to spend my birthday with D. I've spent only one birthday with him since we got together. I guess before we met, I've always ogled at the idea of spending your birthday with your boyfriend. So it's quite a bummer that I'd have to celebrate 3 birthdays without him. 2 down, 1 more next year. =(

Anyway, I've got 6 weeks to home! The anticipation is killing me. I really need to get my head into my exams and everything, but really, I think my body knows it's coming soon because of late, I've been craving the randomest Malaysian foods like mee hoon kueh, char kuey tiaw and satay. =)

The earth turns, the sun burns, but I die, without you

I went to watch Rent yesterday. Live in The Civic. It was AWESOME. I've watched the movie production, the Broadway cast on video, and now live on stage. I'm not tired of it yet.

In fact I find that every time I watch it, and every time I listen to their songs on loop, I understand it more and more.

Definitely my favourite musical of the century. =)

Sometimes, I'd like to think, if my days on earth were numbered, what would I do? What would I do, first?

I guess I'd give and receive as much love as I possibly can, from family and friends.

Go on a holiday with my family. Stay in a jungle chalet, go jungle trekking, caving. Have a huge seafood dinner. Play badminton.

Have a night out with my friends. Drink to my heart's content. Get completely wasted, talk heart to heart. Sleep over, eat, indulge.

And snuggle up with you. Watch movies. Go camping. Sit by the fire, stare at the moon and stars. And just tell you how much I love you.

um...yeah. =)

One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill is crazy. I just watched the latest episode of the latest season.

With just one episode it managed to open up my floodgates, making me miss my dad and mom, making me miss my brothers, making me miss D, making me miss my friends staying close by, and making me miss my grandmothers.

I think I cried just as badly as I cried for My Sister's Keeper. And I cried because I really really want to be at home to hug all of the above but I can't. Not right now.

I was talking to D last night and I think I poured pretty much all of my emotion out onto him. haha, I hope I didn't scare him away just yet. Babe, =). I'm just at a point where I don't think couples should be apart. Couples should be together. It just gets a bit too hard sometimes.

Why do we do this? Why do we embark on adventures by ourselves, sometimes, when it is double the fun to embark on it together?

Well, I'm just glad I'm halfway through mine. And I'm counting down to June now. I'm going home for winter break. One lonely winter is more than enough. I don't need to experience another one again.

summer 09/10

Now that it's less painful to reflect, let's have a look at what I did this summer.

Family and Friends

I started off by catching everyone by surprise because I appeared a whole week before I was supposed to! Jayson and Grace came to pick me up from the airport, whisked me away to Murni's for my first Malaysian meal, and then I came home and surprised my family! Daddy was hilarious, because he was walking out when I arrived home and he somehow didn't recognize me at first (it was dark) and thought I was my cousin when i went "BOO!". And then when I got closer, he realised it was me and went, "Eh, what are you doing here?". Haha...it was great to be back. =)

The next few days I went about surprising some more people like Ju and Lyn and Rosie. Poor Shiau Sang had to be my cameo in surprising Lyn, and even though she hasn't seen Lyn in ages as well, I kinda stole her thunder because Lyn cried when she saw me! Priceless. =)
Meeting up with the high school gang was real nice as well. On many occasions I hung out with Ven Nee or Julie, mano o mano, so we could have deep, intriguing conversations about boys. haha...Off and on those oversea-ers came back and we had small reunions here and there. Always nice to attend those. Although I think I didn't make it to some of them, and I regret I didn't. 3 months is so not enough I tell you.

The Metro peeps, I managed to meet a couple of times too. Stevo being the one I saw most often. Because he's cool and agrees to go for anything. Joey, Yan Yee and Nick I managed to catch once or twice. Shakti too! Some I failed to meet, like Kailash and Shah. But you know, there's always next summer. =)But this time I made it a point to eat more dinners at home. And it was nice. Mummy's cooking is definitely a healer of the homesick soul. I dare say that I miss her cooking so much when I am here, I tend to go crazy with junk food to stave the craving. heh. 9 months till i have it again. I know they probably feel I didn't spend much time at home. I guess I always should've done better at that, but it's hard to say no to dates with the boy though. =)

Cambodia
I went to Cambodia with my family in December. It was really nice. I wish my big brother came along, it's been quite a while since we went for a holiday as a family, not counting the recent CNY. I guess that'll have to wait till I'm done with this degree. But Siam Reap was good. Very cultural. Lovely scenery.
Runs
Then I ran the Singapore Marathon blindfolded. That was quite an experience. I think I enjoy running a bit more with the gift of sight. I'm a little more grateful, you could say.

Running the NB 30 k was when all the oily street food and alcohol binging started to show. Haha...and where the hills of KL humbled this Auckland trained runner. heh.

The Putrajaya Night marathon was really something. Quite an interesting race. The best part was seeing D at the finishing line waiting for me. Oh and winning a grand. =)

Adventure
I was supposed to go on a mountain expedition. But seeing as how that failed, I went on 2 waterfall trips instead. Ijan, my friendly waterfall guide slash OB friend, brought us to Lepoh Falls and then to Jerangkang Falls. I loved them! Waterfalls are awesome!Skytrex with a bunch of Ds friends and Ju and her cousins was the bomb! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Chinese New Year
CNY fell on Valentine's Day this year. So i think the festivities all over the place was a little diluted because of the double event. I went back to Raub with the family as usual, big brother was back too! It was really nice having him around, because if not I'll be the eldest grandchild there, and Keith was the only one I talked to the most. Having my kor around meant one more person to talk to.
D time
Where do I start? I spent the most of my summer with D. And I can only wish we had MORE time together.

We went on a Christmas trip to Penang/Ipoh/Teluk Intan with Calvin and Carmen. I stuffed myself crazy with really really good food. I had a really good time with them. I have to say it was one of the best trips I've had. I think Calvin and Carmen are like our permanent double dates. haha...

D planned a really great Valentine's for me on the Friday before I flew off. It included hiking, and wake boarding and of course, more eating. I think the boy really did it this time. He really stole my heart and had me wondering how on earth did I get him.Being with D this time around made all the difference. I was never big on physical contact and PDA, but this time around, I held his hand or waist or shoulder every time we went out and I didn't want to let go. We probably might have kissed in a few public areas too, something I so, wouldn't do. We went through a lot, and each time we made up, I cling on to him a little tighter. It was really hard to leave him. I made a promise that I'll try my best to sail through this year without missing him painfully. I don't know how well I'll be able to do that, but i will try.And those are just some snapshots of this Summer. What wasn't captured was the joy and sheer happiness I felt the entire 3 months. It sucks that I can only have that again after 9 months. But there are only 3 semesters left in this degree. And when I'm done with it, I will be going home to Malaysia. For good this time.

Auckland 2010

So after 3 blissful months at home, I am finally back in Auckland. And to be honest, I don't really know how to feel happy or excited or thrilled in anyway right now. I know it's because I just got here, and it has only been less that 72 hours since i bade my boyfriend goodbye for 9 months, so i'm feeling extremely emotional, and homesick, but really, there must be the slightest hint of excitement in me to be getting back to my course, or to be independent again, or to be able to have mussels and belgian beer again.

But all I can think of is how I won't be able to have Ramly burger at midnight anymore, or drive to Mutiara Damansara for lamb burger anytime, or arrive home and Mom would've had dinner ready on the table, or call up Julie on a weekend and crash her place, or have her crash mine, or call friends from everywhere, really, to meet at mamak lorong anytime. Or how i won't be able to call D up and see if he's keen for lunch. Or go on spontaneous trips with D to Klang or Bangsar for more food. Or go walking around with D.

I was walking up on Swainston Road just now, by myself after looking at a potential flat. It was about 9 pm. And the streets were deserted. It wasn't that it was scary or anything, considering I've been mugged on that road before. But I wasn't scared this time. I was just so full of hatred for this place. I hate Auckland. I hate the fact that I have no where to go to, and nothing to do on a night like this because everything is closed. I hate the irony that right here, where the weather is so awesome, and there's no curfew and all the freedom in the world, I couldn't have D here.

I feel like I've been locked up in a department store, and I can have anything I want for free, but I can never leave the store.

So, right now, I'm still struggling to keep my chin up. I am feeling so miserable this time around, it's not funny. I'll get better. I know I will. It's just this time around it's a whole lot harder than last time. And I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the novelty of studying abroad has worn off, and i've had enough of being by myself, and really because I just want to be home, where I don't have to pack lunch for work, or think twice when I want to eat out, or worry about internet quota.

And with that, I leave u with hopefully the first and the last whiny, emo post I'm gonna put up about Auckland for this year.

Oh I hope it'll be sunny tomorrow.