An amazing escape to Oxford

Well, I've finally had the motivation to blog. I've been having an amazing time in a summer programme and it was worth missing 2 weeks of boring Malaysian class.

Spent 14 days at St. Catherine's College in Oxford learning English Literature and Experimental Psychology and also did an afternoon workshop every other day walking around Oxford and admiring it's art and architecture. I must say, I've become a semi-expert on Classical, Gothic and Renaissance art in Europe.

Met so many people from all around the world in the ORA course and everyone's been really friendly and I don't feel like the awkward turtle. The Junior Deans and counselors have been just the most amazing people making us feel comfortable in a very unfamiliar environment.

I'll let the photos (and the mini captions) do the talking.

 A really cool London2012 ad :) 

 The Sun was out, for a while :) 

 MMMM LAVENDER <3

 Graffiti on Cornmarket Street, cool beans.

 Just a glimpse of the campus I spent 2 weeks staying at. 

 The prison-turned-hotel near St. George's Tower. 

 Radcliffe Camera. by Gibbs, built mid 18th Century 

(yes, my art&architecture knowledge flowing through)

 Looks familiar, but where? (Hint: First Year, The Sorting Hat)

 The Great Hall, without the magic ceiling. 

The Sheldonian Theatre, with a split pediment. 

 A day out in London! 

(L-R: Abbey (USA), Sophia (CHINA), Sonja [son-ia] (GERMANY) and me)

 The REAL FOOD MARKET at Convent Market yumyumyum!

 They were filming! Doesn't she look like Kate Middleton? *gasp*

 At the Disco Party! 

L-R: Sophia, Sonja, me, Tessa (DEN), Abbey & Roxy (CHI)

Front: the amazing Charlotte (DEN)

 English Literature Class Photo :) 

 Experimental Psychology Class Photo :) 

 Gothic stained glass in the Keble College Chapel.

 Our regular lunch stop. 

You'll never get sick of sandwiches. 

(Recommend: Caesar Wrap, the Salmon Bagel, any Panini and FLAPJACKS *drools*)

 Grad Night dinner! 

That's Izzy in the middle from the States 

We have graduated :) 

 So, I saw Tom Daley :) He was posing at Boswells. 

and yeah, I had to take a photo!

 Holywell Road. Lost my lipgloss and most of my weight here. 

 I really had an amazing time here. I guess I did the right thing, or at least, did the unexpected thing coming here. Would love to re-live it the same way! No regrets. 

Life should be full of unexpected things right? I just wanted to do something entirely different from the usual way of life, don't get me wrong, my usual life is interesting but getting to explore and see the world has definitely opened my eyes about the possibilities in life :) 

This was written in my cert :) Everyone got a different one and I know this is perfect for me. 

I shall do my best to live with it. :)

Wedding of the year

Uncle Paul and Aunty Beth finally had their wedding! It lasted over a week with the Church ceremony and the Bride's reception at KDCA at the same weekend and the kampung style reception on the next weekend. It was fun as well as tiring. Cleaning up grandma's house for the kampung reception was the tiring part. Who knew there were so many things to clean?? In the end, everything was cleaned and they fired up the karaoke machine. My dad pulled off a few songs and I guess I was too tired to be embarrassed.

So anyways, bad singing aside, the whole wedding event was incredible. It was great seeing both sides of the family having fun and I really enjoyed it! Got to wear really nice dresses and pretty earrings which was really therapeutic, in a way.

One thing I enjoyed very much was watching people getting drunk, especially uncles and observe what people do when they get drunk. They get really funny and start to do weird dances and say weird things and I actually find it amusing. To imagine what would their reaction be when they wake up to the hangover just makes my imagination go wild. It's weird I know but family weddings are family weddings. 

Took some photos with my phone. Camera360 did an awesome job and I am forever grateful. :)

CHURCH CEREMONY 16.06.12

 

Mum and I made this cake the (mid)night before. Proud of the outcome though :)

My view of the whole wedding :) 

  

That moment ;)

 "Bridesmade"/Flower girl/2nd Reader 

 The Bride is so beautiful :) 

 Me and my lovely cousin, Cyla (She actually took the better looking photos)

Azie, Me, Aunty Beth and Gail :)

BRIDE'S RECEPTION (KDCA) 17.06.12

 We were actually in a big circle surrounding the couple. Like my earrings?? :P

 THERE WAS A FOUNTAIN UNDER THE CAKE. 

I want that for my birthday.... can?

Their first dance :) yes, with little children throwing petals onto them. 

PREPARATION FOR THE HUGE DAY 22.06.12

 This barely covers a quarter of the whole set up. 

My family loves to keep traditions, and this is one of them. Under it would be the cake.

 DAPOD (my kampung) RECEPTION 23.06.12

 Me and the couple :)

 The animal theme was chicken. 

(My uncle's hobby is sabung ayam, which basically means fighting cockerel)

 Emerging from the car.

 The Tea Ceremony

Yeah, that's all I have with me. :) 

Family weddings are always fun to be at. If you happen to have one coming, don't hesitate to go. It might be chaotic but it will be worth it!

Photo credit:

Cyla and S.Malen Photography

Check out the Engagement last year!

Things I never said...

It happened to me a couple of times when I never seized the opportunity to say something that might mean a lot to that person. It ended up bugging me for a long time. It still is.

I hated myself for not speaking up. I know I should've said something. I should've done something. It could've change the future, or what is has become, the present. That was a lot of modal verbs.

Quoting Carrie Underwood, "all the bridges burnt and there are lessons learned." I've learned to not let other people's opinion effect mine. People always have something mean or critical to say. Everyone is a critic. But then, the toughest critic is still yourself. If I myself like it, why should I be bothered about other people's view?

I knew I should've at least apologise for being such a ridiculous person. I was so young (I still am by the way) and very immature. Honestly, I was scared of getting hurt. I've seen it happen in front of me and I think I can feel just how devastated I would feel if it were me.

Then, I lose the opportunity to say something. The shadow of "Why didn't I..." follow me around everyday to haunt me. I've prayed and wished hard that I might get that redo chance but it never came. Talk about YOLO. *sarcastic laugh*

So yeah, to anyone reading this, seize the moment. If your heart tells you something, don't hesitate.
But don't try to hurt somebody. Choose your words wisely people.

We all have feelings, but how often do we show it?

This Is Football

I made a terrible mistake. I let my emotions ruin my aim. I should've listen to what everyone else was telling me. I should've listen to the optimist inside of me.

So yeah. I think I played terrible for the match against KYFF (Kick You Far Far). Mainly because I injured my friend in the shins, with the football boots I was wearing. Cyrus and Jay kept telling me "This is football." I know for a fact that injuries and football are always in a sentence together.
I had no idea what came upon me. Probably because it was my first time injuring someone and it just overwhelmed me that I was capable of doing that. It didn't feel good.

In the end, I stopped in the first few minutes of the second half.

It wasn't a good day for me. I guess the team was a little out of form too. BUT it wasn't our day. Not today but another day was what Nadrah and Kat said. I agreed.

Next match, we're looking forward to it.

ME GUSTA USH!!

The Art Of Rebellion

Well, finally some time to release my thoughts. Been really busy for the past weeks, with inter-class football and Uncle Paul's wedding during the weekend, hadn't had the time really to sit down and blog... until now.

Every teenager has the urge to rebel against the "norms" that society and our parents set. We tend to do things that might annoy and enrage anyone. Truth is, all we want is to be heard, right?
We want to let the world know what we really think. We just need them to listen.

I'm just tired of nodding and reluctantly agreeing to their statements and having to abide to whatever they say without having the chance to express what I really feel. They say we lack experience, that we should respect the elders and listen to them. Isn't respect and listening a two-way thing?

 I have no idea where I'm going with this post. I just thought of the phrase "The Art Of Rebellion", but I couldn't find the right points to elaborate. I'll try to work it out. Maybe.  Inspired mainly by the movie I just finished watching, "Radio Rebel". It was a really nice movie. Always have been a fan of Debby Ryan ever since The Suite Life and the guy in the movie, Gavin, is really good-looking.

My mind can't stop thinking about my Trigo Functions homework and my piano exam this week. I should really do something about it, but the sloth in me just wants to take her time with life.

Sometimes, the sloth in us is right. Slow down and take a deep breath.

Have a wonderful week ahead guys. Enjoy Euro and try not to bet too much. :)

Viva La Espana!

Sorry that I was falling in love with you..

*Note: this is my opinion and my point of view on things. I never meant to insult anybody or any sides, but if I did so, please bear in mind that it is purely unintentional and I am sorry. I'm just expressing myself.* and on with the long post! 

What a way to end the holidays. It really was a bittersweet moment for me. Sweet because I got to see Anthony Neely LIVE and shook his hand (hajdhafhjdalfeufhjak!), bitter because well, it's a reminder that school's starting tomorrow, and an OMG moment.. my exam papers! *death music rolls in* 

Well, the Anthony Concert was only awesome at the end. The front part was really irrelevant and unnecessary in my opinion. There was a speech, cutting of the ribbons, hitting of the gong. It was practically an opening ceremony sort of thing. There are only OPENING ACTS for concerts and a 7 minute speech is not considered as one. For a moment there, I was starting to feel ripped off. The crowd started going "倪安东！倪安东！” because nobody there wanted to watch a guy in batik singing a song from the Dinosaur Age. 

Finally! The opening act started and there were 2 singers. Each of them sang 4 songs each and a duet. I preferred the second singer, who was a lady. She was okay. The winning point was when she sang "Jambalaya", it was just a really upbeat song, or as Anthony put it, "好 funk!" 

The whole event started at 7:30pm but we only got to see Anthony at around 9:30pm. Well, isn't that splendid? *note sarcasm* But anyways, when he stepped out, the crowd went wild! I bet the YBs were all surprised and shocked, but hey, when you have a very good looking super star in a hall full of fans, you should come prepared.

 Our glowsticks :) 

FINALLY, the music played and he opened his blessed vocal chords. Time just flew from then on. Waving our glow sticks and screaming and singing along to his songs. He sang 5 songs in total, wished he would sing more but I ain't complaining! It was really magical. 

Behold, the best photos I can take of Anthony. It was better than the Pixie Lott one I can tell you. 

Thankfully, there was an album signing for his second album "Wake Up". I was really surprised and happy that he shook hands with everybody who went up for the album signing. He was an absolute charming man. When it was our turn, Fish went up first (she nearly forgot to shake his hand, I have a feeling she was a tad bit star struck), then it was Heidi, I thought she was going to say something like, "You are amazing, I love you" but she just stood there, shaking hands and stared at Anthony! I was a bit puzzled but found out later that they were sharing a moment. *oooOOooooOo* 

Then it was my turn, before that, Heidi and I were telling each other that it was like meeting One Direction and Tom Daley, our hearts were pounding and when I placed my album in front of him, I mentally took photos of everything I saw, his ring tattoo on his left ring finger, his real ring on the middle one, how his hand felt when I shook it, his reaction when I told him that he was amazing and that mega-watt smile. It was like a dream that you wished it was a recurring one. 

After that, all three of us went to the bottom of the stage and stood there staring at him until he finished with the signing. When he left, we tried to find him backstage but boy, was he quick. He was out of sight in less than 5 minutes. I had a feeling we missed him in one of the cars that passed us, but that was probably just my mind playing games with me . 

 His album, doesn't he look hot?

In the end, I'm sure all 3 of us were delighted to see Anthony Neely. I guess Heidi's starting her post concert depression now and I think I'm getting a bit of that. Then again, how can I not get a little depressed when school is tomorrow?! *bawling* Mum won't let me skip school. :( 

Nevermind, she's just being an awesome mum. Love you Mumsy!

So yeah, it's getting late now, but I really want to see Tom Daley finish his British Champs and watch the Spain vs Italy match tonight! WHY THE TIMEZONES?? 

Oh very well then. VIVA LA ESPANA!

And pray that I won't flunk my finals. :/

Had so much fun with them :) <3