friday nights, saturday nights, sundays

Weekends have lost its appeal to me ever since i got to Auckland. The mere thought of a Friday night now only brings forth images of Dennis's chat window flashing on my task bar for longer hours i.e. till later in the night. It's a big change from the Karen I used to be back at home where I'm almost never at home on Fridays at all...let alone Friday nights. In the first few weeks here i thought that was the saddest thing ever. I had completely severed my socializing side and had chosen to wallow in my self pity and misery in the empty apartment i stay in. An apartment i still refrain from calling "home". But i've come to terms with this solitudinous side of me. I've accepted that being alone in a strange apartment on Friday, Saturday or any night for that matter is not sad or pathetic or a picture of misery. Whether or not that's being positive thinking or living in denial, i'm not sure.

Saturdays I work. Which is going against everything I've ever preached about the working life. I chide my friends who find themselves dragging themselves back to their offices, all zombified, on Saturdays. But work is different for me. I like work. to the extend that working on a staurday may very well be the highlight of my week. omg...i just realised how sad that sounds. bah. i don't care. work rules. =)

And Sundays, well, on some of them I work. Full shift. 8 am to 4 pm all by myself. Now before you think that i'm a goner, hold your horses because THIS...this i do not like. Working on a Sunday. by myself no less. It sucks. Big time. And because it starts at 8 am. and because the next day's Monday. *shudders* But on days that I do not work, Sundays give me a chance to go around the place. I usually grab my bike and start cycling around on Sundays.

But not today though. Today i'm on a mission. To finish my Psych Lab report. Can't seem to start on it though. Also because today I woke up at 11.30 am. For the first time since i came here. I slept at 6 plus last night. Talking to my favourite boy. Ah...can't wait till I have the luxury of doing that every damn night...

***

Anyway, on a higher, brighter note, (no i'm not sad and all la. I'm actually feeling very at peace with myself don't worry) I went out last night! Yup...to Abby's 21st Birthday Bash. And i'm so glad I did (because i almost didn't want to). Because I met so many people and now the chances of me meeting a familiar face in Uni has probably quadrupled. And the thought of that puts a smile on my face. Abby had it pretty grand. She had a hall booked with a piano, a stage, projector and screen and the works. Her mum did a lot of cooking, her friends helped out with deco and her boyfriend Alex did pretty much all of the organizing. Such a sweet guy. He and his friends did a video for her even...and sang (or pretended to) a song to Abby. It was hilarious and really sweet. I would've melted on the spot if i were her. And her friend sang her a song with another friend playing the piano.

Well i could see a lot of people loved Abby very very much. Everyone put in so much effort for her and she seemed pretty happy. Oh the theme was The Classics and everyone really brought their game last night. I had no intentions to buy a new dress so I picked out the most decent attire I could ensemble and the first response I got was "Hey, so ure bringing the beach theme huh?" Right. owell...i liked how i look. *pouts*

But enough with words. Here are some photos.
Yang Diraikan...walking through fashionably late, pulling of an Audrey Hepburn
Sitting up on stage while we gave her speeches...
The group i was with for the party games. Let me see if i can remember all their names. Boon, Jun Bin, Fiona, Jie Huei, Adrian..=)
Birthday Girl, Birthday cake, Birthday boyfriend?
Christine Ho and MattMan of the hour...Alex, the partyplanner/entertainer/musician/cakebearer/birthdayboyfriend
And the little miss herself =)

Happy 21st Birthday Abby!
xoxo

Biodex

...is a machine that does pretty cool stuffs. It measures your specific strength and power at specific joints in your body, at specific angles, with specific resistance applied, at a specific speed. its just this awesome machine which controls everything and all u have to do is either pull or push really really hard.
anyway, here's the machine. you've got to strap yourself up to it really tight. and then you set your maximum extension and maximum flexion of your knee. and then you set the speed at which you should move based on the force of resistance applied. but enough with this gibberish. just know that there is this really cool machine which does some really cool stuff and i got to sit on it! =)

random blabber aside...i did generally quite alright in all my midterms with Medsci being that rotten apple. I got pretty high marks for my Sportsci subjects. Feeling pretty happy about things right now actually.

my face probably has gone rounder but my weight remains at 53-54 kg. I'm happy i guess. Though I am so shopping for new pants when i get home...

home. that's only 70 days away and it feels so near. i really can't wait to go home. there's just so much i want to show off - my newly acquired cooking skills, my recently cultivated habit of waking up no later than 9 am, my new lean toned figure *yeah baby* and just the new me, in general. coz i think i've changed in some ways...

better start keeping your days and nights free for me people! 70 days to go...=)

i woke up to rain. and that made me frown. back at home the weather never bothered me much. sure id throw a gah here and there if it rained at night when i want to go mamak, or if it rained during the evening when i wanted to run. but that aside, it never really had an impact on me. here, the weather sets my mood...and the tone of the rest of my day too apparently.

i woke up feeling a little sad. feeling a little disappointed in myself for failing MedSci. feeling a little less than confident.
but it all went away after the rain left and the sun came up, thank God. and my day became much better. i even walked with rhythm in my feet to the Meadowbank school for work. Its a pretty long walk but i enjoyed it. Meadowbank is a lovely little residential area with lovely gardens and houses. Pretty flowers and trees are everywhere.

Once again I am taken aback by the beauty of Auckland.

apricot and toasted muesli

i just got home from work. i'm sitting down once again in an empty apartment, staring at the skies outside, with the blinds completely drawn open. the grey clouds are here, but the sky is still blue. sun is still up, though it's on its way down. houses with red zinc roof tops line the mountainside. swirly smoke coming from chimneys. the view...is gorgeous. Auckland is gorgeous.

and i'm sitting here, with a bowl of apricot and toasted muesli in non-dairy soymilk (enjoy the goodness of milk without lactose!). I'm chewing hard on the muesli, my brain registering the fact that it is delicious, but somehow not registering the fact that I am hungry. I am. Or was, when I left work. Where has my apetite gone? i feel...confused.

i just got out of a quiet day at work, with very few members in the gym and completely zero clients for personal training. it was dull, but i had a nice conversation with Merin. I like Merin. She's really nice. And I like Cara and Kate and Sarah. I like all of them that i work with at the gym. In fact I truly love my job at the gym. It's fun, it's laid back, it pays, and it has me looking forward to it. That's gotta count for something. And when I'm at work, i am...contented. As if that's all I ever want to do for the rest of my life here in this country.

I have just gotten my Medsci 142 midterm results and i...did not pass. No, I did not do so-so, or alright, or okay. I failed. And that just ruined my every nerve that were sending out happy positive impulses. And I know it isn't over. I know there is only one way about this, and that is to pull up my socks, lift that chin up and start doing some serious studying for the finals. But my heart is heavy. Everything was going so well. Now i'm back at square one. Did I make the right choice by fighting for this? Am I doing this for me or for everyone else? What exactly am I doing here? Do I even want to know what Medsci 205 in year 2 is like? I feel...questioned. By me. With one cocked eyebrow, a tapping feet and drumming fingers on the table.

I know I can make things right. I have not given up faith, merely hope...for now. I look forward to passing my exam but I dread the daunting clawing back up i'd have to do. I can't wait to go home but i dread saying goodbye again. I want so much to learn but i dread being tested on it. I feel like I already know what tomorrow will bring and I want it yet I'm afraid of it at the same time. I feel a little...cautious. Walking on tippy toes when I really should be taking long big strides.

And just like that, I see the bottom of my bowl. How is it that I munched and chewed through that obscene amount I poured for myself without being hungry? I just kept munching and chewing. =)

So yes. Keep munching and chewing Karen. Soon you'll see the bottom of the bowl =)

quacktology

there were 2 ducks in my uni today. ignore the sunshine interruption in the picture. don't know where they came from. and for some reason, this fact amused me to no end. i mean, i've seen ducks in UWA in perth. But that's coz they have a pond for them. There isn't any pond in Tamaki. and i dont think they're anybody's pets. they're wild ducks who decided to waddle into uni one day...in search for knowledge perhaps? for a better future?

haha...really the littlest things amuse me sometimes.

Horton heard whaaat?

a who?