Graduasi

I graduated last week. It's only been a week but it feels like a whole other century ago, as so much has happened since then. For one thing, I'm writing this back in my bedroom in Bukit Jelutong. I really had no time to blog since I flew to Melbourne last week, so I'll slowly post up updates as time goes by. 

So, gaduation day. I woke up pretty early and ate a breakfast bar, then headed straight for Lynn's house with Fyra. Lynn is something of an amazing person when it comes to making us up, haha. She did our makeup and curled my hair before working on herself. I brought my tuna pasta bake for lunch, and we shared that. Nick dropped by at around 11am, so we hung out until it was time to head back to UniLodge. We hurried out, caught a bus, dropped our stuff off in our apartments then went straight to the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Fyra, Sammie and Sha had some issues with their registration, so Nick, Eric and I went ahead to get our robes and mortarboards. We met Lynn outside, so we got some photos in our bat gowns. That was pretty fun. The whole of the day was just one big photoshoot, and we were the star attractions, haha!

I'm really happy that everyone was dressed so colourfully. We looked gorgeous, haha! I can't stop looking at photos of ourselves at graduation, is that weird? I feel like I find my group of friends very attractive. We deserve our own TV series. The nice sitcom dramas, not the backstabbing emotional ones. These photos were taken before the actual ceremony, and soon parents started to arrive and we were ferried into the hall. 

We all got front row seats; how epic is that! I sat between Eric and another girl I wasn't familiar with, while Syaza and Nick were on her other side. I was a bit surprised by how early we were in the line-up. When they declared the ceremony starting, we were among the first to get up and move backstage, where a few people helped fix our robes and tilt our hats in the right direction. My heart rate was going crazy at this point, I was so nervous. Worrying about getting something wrong, or tripping over my own feet. 

In the end, it went well! My smile is perfectly genuine by the way, I was really excited. But I forgot to turn and smile for the cameras, so oh well. I could hear Mira cheering when my name was called. Speaking of names, the announcer had a really long pause before he said Papa's name, haha. But he got it right in the end. The man awarding the parchment commented on how happy I looked; I was pleased to find out that he said something different to each graduate, and I appreciate that effort. When I got down from the stage, Fyra and Eric were ahead of me, so we all sort of ran into each other, trying to muffle our gleeful squeaking. The rest of the ceremony went by really slowly, and it was honestly kinda boring. 

Once all the formalities were over, we went out to take a million pictures! Here is an obligatory shot of us throwing our mortarboards into the air, haha. We did this a few times, didn't get any fabulous photos, but at least it was something. There were families everywhere, and I was smiling so much that my cheekbones hurt. 

I can't seem to find the photo that Sha helped take of the whole family, so here is one with just me and the kids. :D

We got a bit of a surprise a bit later - Shinta turned up with Artha! Or rather, a cardboard cutout of him. He told Fyra that he would be at our graduation, and we thought he was kidding but he wasn't! He actually made the cardboard cutout of himself just before he left for Jakarta a few weeks back so he could be in our graduation photos. Hilarious guy, I tell you. We had some fun taking pictures with him for a while before the cardboard started to disintegrate. There were ten different cameras snapping at us during this time, which is why none of us are looking at this camera.

Check us out. The entire Adelaide family, sans Nigel and including Sammie's Nick. This was taken by Matt after we returned our robes (we were only allowed to wear it for an hour after the ceremony ended). Most of the families had left by then, so it was just us taking a last bunch of photos before we would part ways. This would be the last time we were all together in one place - even during the dinner the day after, Sammie was absent. 

I'm thankful for this opportunity I had, of graduating in Australia with my nearest and dearest friends and family. It's been an amazing year, and I'm grateful to my parents for giving me the chance to go to Adelaide, and to all my friends there who are seriously the best I can ever ask for. These friends are family to me, and I can only hope that we stay in touch in the years to come. 

Lanterns and Lights

The last day of September was the Moon Lantern Festival. I dressed for the occasion, as you can see. :3 

Here in Adelaide, the event was held at Elder Park, which is just a five minute walk away from my apartment. Here's the thing about Elder Park: it's usually a place for cyclists, joggers, families having picnics, seagulls looking for scraps ... y'know, that kind of thing. But the day Nick and I walked down to the park for the event, we were pretty much amazed by the crowd that was there. I have never seen so many people at once in Adelaide before.

The feature above was part of a stall where people were learning how to fold paper lotuses. It looked like fun, but there were so many people. Our plans of having dinner at the park were totally dashed - each food stall had a queue a half hour long. We even saw the ice cream stall that we visited while at Victor Harbor, though the prices were a dollar more expensive that the stuff we ate down south. 

In the end, Nick and I decided to have dinner at Mamak Corner and come back to see the fireworks. We were supposed to meet everyone at the festival, but it was impossible.

When we got back, the Moon Lantern Parade was just ending. Sorry for the terrible picture, my camera isn't that great in the dark. See the little blobs of light surrounding the large lotus in the middle? Those were the paper lanterns on parade. We found a nice high balcony behind the Festival Centre where we could see all the lights and the fireworks.

Nick helped me take a lot of firework photos, and these were the best. I loved the ones that zipped around like small birds after the initial explosion. It's hard to take photos of those though, as you won't make out the motion of the lights. It was a beautiful show.

Polka Dotted Bovine

Thanks to UniLodge's Community Spirit Program, I got to go to the Royal Adelaide Show for free! Of course, I had to pay for membership to begin with earlier this year ... so I guess it's not so much for free, but simply prepaid. Ngyah. Anyway, we went to the show! The atmosphere was fun, Nick and I rode two rides (the Crazy Coaster and the Sky Flyer) while the others rode more. We got separated somewhere through and the phone line was terrible, so I missed out on the other rides. Everything was kind of expensive though. :/

This is the diseased rainbow cow Nick won for me! I think it's adorable in a strange kind of way. I have named it Sugus, because the colours remind me of the taste of Sugus. When Nick won, I had three toys to choose from: a normal coloured cow, a kind of freaky-eyed panda, and Sugus. I took Sugus because he's more colourful than the other boring cow, and the panda was scary looking.

We walked around to see everything, and there were pet shows and stuff. There was also a lot of farm animals! I saw chickens, cows, ducks, piggies and alpacas. The barn area had an option where kids could take photos with the farm animals for a fee. When I was there, two small girls were sitting on the stacks of hay, the older girl cuddling a bunny to her chest while the younger one clutched a chick. The younger girl did not look happy at all - she dropped the chick and started tearing up, so her mother had to go in and give her the bunny that her sister was cuddling instead. So the sister got a duckling, and the photographer tossed random baby animals onto their laps for the picture. It was weird to watch.

Here is one of the dogs we saw at the dog show. It was so big and fluffy oh my goodness. And it was enjoying all the attention! After a while of people patting it and scratching its ears, it rolled onto its side to give us more access. So cute. 

Girls who went together. Sha isn't in the picture unfortunately. Fyra, Nora, Prith, Farah and me! This was taken before we went in. 

Anyways, I had a pretty good time at the show. Wish I could go again, just because it's fun to walk around and look at all the colours and people. It's too expensive though. I already spent so much yesterday, and that's without paying for the entrance fee. Will just have to eat cheaper for the next week or so!

Transitioning Seasons

Spring has arrived and so has the season for festivals and events! The weather changes here are funny; the last day of August was cold and cloudy, while the first day of September saw the sun coming out and shining full blast down on us. So yeah, it was warm. Australian weather, you weird.

The first day of spring, me, Nick, Sha, Fyra and Lynn went to Uni of Adelaide for a Raya Merdeka celebration. We met a bunch of other friends there, and there was free food! It was fun, especially hearing the dedications DJs on the speakers - so very Melayu, and I mean that in the fondest way possible. Everyone was dressed in raya clothes and we listened to raya and merdeka songs. Felt so warm inside (and outside, because winter is gone, heh).

Then on the second day of spring, we went to the beach! It was the least I've worn out in a very long time. Also the first time wearing three-quarter trousers out since the cold set in.

Went to Glenelg and found a huge crowd along Jetty Road. The beach itself wasn't very crowded, so that was nice. The water was freezing, the sand was cold. Nick and I got ice-cream from Copenhagen, and it was yummy!

Here I am playing with the bubbles that Bahiah bought from Reject Shop. The natural wind speed made it fun without even trying. :) Here's to many more fun stuff with the rest of September!

Good Days

From now on, I'm not going to make excuses for myself when I don't update for a very long time! Heh. Let's just always assume that I am busy/lazy and had no motivation to write a blog update. But let's have a quick recap of my life during the past few months.

During the time since February 2012, I've grown up quite a bit, mentally and spiritually. Not physically, although I'd like to think that I've lost some weight, ahem (There's a lot of walking to be done in Adelaide). I've also managed to make a little cosy home for myself here, nestled in this small South Australian town. I won't go into all the details, because there are way too many things I've done this year. It's been amazing, and I'm blessed to be able to experience all of this, Alhamdulillah. I'll just be talking about recent events here.

August was a busy busy month, what with the family visiting and it being the end of Ramadhan. Prayed outdoors for the very first time in my life, and it was beautiful. A week after the first day of raya, there was the Eid Festival at Bonython Park. We went there thinking it would be small ... boy were we wrong!

It was lots of fun. We went on this one ride, some flying carpet thing. They segregated the lines so that men and women had to ride separately, which was something new for me. Heard some of the girls in line complaining that it wasn't the case last year. I understand why they did it though - everyone was pushing into each other. We ended up waiting for about a half hour.

Worth the wait though. It was a super awesome day. I remember waking up that morning feeling pretty good about it. We all had lunch together at Coffee Club at David Jones. Man was the food expensive, but my eggs benedict with smoked salmon was nice. Then coming to this event, it just made things feel really good. Ah, the surprisingly joyous days are the best ones.

A final shout-out of love to my Adelaide family:

You guys are the best. 

Cats and Reunions

Hello bloggerverse! I don't even know if anybody still reads this page. Ah well. I think I mentioned before that I had a lot to blog about, but I don't know if I'll ever get to posting about everything that happened this January. Far too many things. I've been out every single day of this month, it's been crazy. And now I only have a week left before I fly for Adelaide.

Yesterday, I went to Yen's CNY open house. It's become an annual thing since we finished NS. This is the one time we get to meet up as a group to catch up and stuff. I haven't seen any of these people for months! So it was great to see them again. I had a great time dominating the food table with Hamizah and Marc while Yen was playing hostess to an army of people, haha! 

After that, Hamizah and I got to hang out for a while before I sent her back to her place. It's nice that even after the both of us have moved house, we're pretty much still very near to each other in terms of distance. Then I got to meet her kittens, oh my gooood. So cuuuute. Look at them! I haven't had the chance to play with kittens this small since we first got Spyro. 

Speaking of Spyro, here's the little fatty now. He pretty much lives in my bedroom nowadays, and we share the bed together at night. When he needs to leave the room, he sniffs around my face and nudges my arm till I wake up. See this picture? I whipped out the camera and he started posing for me! Silly cat. I'll miss him very much when I leave next week. :( He's my baby.

After dropping off Hamizah, the family and I went to Uptown to have dinner. My last time there. Ordered my fish and chips, as usual. We've been going to the same place since I was seven years old, and I have been ordering the same thing since then. It changes occasionally, but I always go back to the fish and chips. So I dah puas makan last night, haha! I overate actually. Phew. Once I'm in Adelaide I will have to start up an exercise regime. 

Past the finishing line

Firstly, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha to everyone. :)

Secondly, I FINISHED NANOWRIMO.
Brought the laptop to Gombak where I spent four hours in front if it typing. Finished a little before midnight then went to sleep for Raya the next morning, that is today.

I feel like I can breathe again. Haha.
Now time to hit the pile of writing assignments!

Like glasses to Superman

Happy Halloween!
Since I'm not going to any kind of party or whatever, I've just marked the ... event by:
1) Watching Jennifer's Body
2) Collecting random pictures from costume shops.

With number 1, I'll just say that I had low low LOW expectations. Bad reviews on IMDB and all. But I found the movie pretty entertaining. Not as scary as I had hoped though, quite disappointed about that. It was better than I expected, overall. And if you're going just for Megan Fox well, you'll have what you paid for.

With number 2 ... well ...

Well Jov isn't technically in a costume, but ah well. :p

Also, how a single accessory can work so many ways:

A stylishly evil hat!

Disguise for a bespectacled vampire bat!

And a roadside musician's hat!

I had fun anyway. Haha.

Triceratopsy rainbows

First things first, sorry for lack of updates.
My blogging mojo fizzled out after Raya. Busybusybusy.

So.

Had the annual open house this year and had this crazy idea of inviting EVERYBODY.
Usually I only ever invite the Fresbians over, which is like 5. Haha.
So yea it was crazy hectic running around the place.

The first two people to arriiiive. Sofia and Aidil.
We actually sang the school song together. Crazy stuff, haha. Sofia recorded it but she hasn't uploaded it yet. *nudgenudge*

More school people! Yay!
Hamizah, Laksh, Shinna and me.
I didn't get a pic with Hannah though. Dang. :(

The girls. Lovelovelove.

The dudes.
Mystery of strange weight on my head during the shoot revealed. :|

Everyone. :)

College people came too but pics are all with the photogs. Have no idea when the pics will pop up but when they do, I'm editing this post!
Everyone came up to my room and Carmen made Joe harass Peach the Biting Fish. Nobody noticed the sign I stuck on the tank reading: "WARNING: Biting Fish Approach With Caution." But then I did write it pretty small. Haha.
Ah well.

Yeah I'll admit I didn't take pictures.
So yes I am stealing from random people's cameras.
Thanks to Hamizah for the photos and Sammie for taking our group shots!

Bekas wira dan wirawati.
*is shot*
Nigel, Hamizah, Yen, me, Marc and Tem Mee.
Hmm just realised that all the different companies are represented here.
Hahaha. Not everybody could make it, but this was the best reunion we've had since that first one five days after camp ended. The biggest one anyway. Back when the boys were bald and everyone had a tan.

We watched some YouTube vids on the lappy because I was transferring some NS pics from Yenny's thumbdrive. Single Ladies featuring Justin Timberlake, parkour in The Office, Superman in college and some Japanese laughing show. Hilarious stuff.

Tem Mee went back at this point so she missed out on the jump shots and stupid poses. :(

Failed jump shot. Marc is headless. xD

I want to laugh every time I see this pic.
Every time.

Nigel tried to make friends with Pebbles but she just rolled over and started licking her butt.
...
She has lovely manners.
Nigel: You have nice fur kitty, can I shave it off?
Pebbles: *struts away*

Yen and Marc went back first. :( Here he is with his rempit steering wheel. LOL.
He gave away some mouse keychain that looks like an elephant that was hanging in his car. That was random.

Somebody trying to date all my cats right here. xD
On the way back to the house and we bumped into Molly. She only liked us girls but went to Nigel in the end. So we left them alone.
Molly always was a player-cat though. Should see the boy-cats trailing after her all the time.

This is the EVERYBODY IS AWESOME pic.
Sammie started it, I just helped spread the wildfire.

I blame sugar rush from all the cupcakes.

Anyway, I had an awesome time. Thanks a million and one to everyone who came and I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves.

Full-view if you're feeling lifeless (but AWESOME).

Ps.
EVERYBODY IS AWESOME