I don't know what to say here :)

So here goes ze updates with mi favorito cancion- Someone Like You, playing in the background :)

For the past weeks since the break started, I've been committed in this so called jogging stint that I deemed to have shaped myself. With the Standard Chartered Run coming up haha, I'm pretty excited since it's my first 10km run, just realized my last one was in 2005; 7km SJ Run which I finished 68th. I've always wanted to challenge myself in 10km but ya know, the excuses parents give when they're too over protective over their kids. The what-if's tend to bombard us when it comes to involving our safety etc.

Since it's the sem break, you might have already assumed that I'd taken my end of semester examinations and the results were released not too long ago. I was QUITE satisfied with the results, of course. I expected worse but yeah, it turned out better than I expected, much I would say. Btw, I have low expectations :P. But the thing is, is it just ME or does it apply to almost everyone? When you receive something better than what you've expected, it kinda leads you to unnecessary thoughts that revolves around comparing what you've got with that of others, thus craving for more! That's something that I want to get rid off. No matter what, I thank God for what I'm blessed with.

Besides exams in escuela, I'd Spanish exams, too. Well, so many had asked why Spanish??!! INTEREST, that's all. I've been to the States and I love how the language involves passion in communication; there's just this good aura that I could feel in people who speak Spanish; if that makes sense. Anyway, I passed the first level and hopefully I would be able to continue to at least the intermediate level.

Enough of espanol (es-pa-nyol), now birthdays! First, it was Sze's and Jez's, then Elaine's, followed by mine. June baby, yeah! For their birthdays, I'd taken initiatives to surprise them but according to them, my surprises weren't surprises, hence, declared me as a failure in surprises. For mine, I'd told them not to surprise me, you know, surprising others makes you a more experienced one that you become constantly aware of surprises when your birthday is around the corner. So, they'd brought me to Kissaten in Jaya One. I've been there once with kor and the food is pretty good. When I was asked on what to eat for dinner that day, I'd actually mentioned Kissaten so Jez (without the others) brought me there and how amazing to see them already there! Amazing telepathy between Sze (who suggested Kissaten) and me! I wondered what'd happened if I'd choose another restaurant. The tradition has always been this. We celebrate birthdays for each other, that's what good friends do for each other. I'm blessed to have them in my life :).

I guess I'd better sign off now. Hope this minor cold of mine does not affect my SC run on Sunday. Semester 2 is starting in about 2 days so it's again time to get back on track; hopefully this is a better sem for a better GPA. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger, playing now.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
 "Lo que no mata te hace más fuerte"  #justcurioustoknowsoigoogledit

Chow.

Where have I been?

So....haven't been posting since CNY. Imma start from A-Levels results. I was contented with my results, not the best, but within my expectation, so no regrets or disappointment! And then, a week later, I found myself enrolled in the psychology program in IMU. You know, parents' pressure and all to start my degree quick so I don't laze around at home. Time passed by so fast that now, I find myself juggling between assignments and preparation for exam which is in almost a month time. Oh, and I have got the HKU offer which I did not accept or reject. Well, I did not reply to their offer because the deadline to reply was so soon that I didn't have time to contemplate. HKU didn't give me a scholarship so I had to decline it anyways. Parents' regulation; no scholarship, no studying abroad. So I am going to try my hands on several scholarships (for the UK offers) while doing my first semester in IMU. Local or overseas, I don't care, as long as it is a scholarship and I can reduce my parents' burden. As for life in IMU, meeting new friends was part of stepping into uni but having lecturers who are just awesome is just what I need in uni. Probably because it's psychology, its lecturers are more of the friendly and approachable type. Of course, there are some lecturers who do not belong to this league. Haha. Oh, and my batch consists of only 16 students. Pathetic or what? I kinda enjoy the small group because I could get closer to everyone; like a family. Being a batch rep wasn't easy. It's not all about responsibility but it's also about being assertive in certain matters. I guess I just have to learn from the experience and improve from there. That's all for now, it'll probably take ages before I sign in again. But bear with me!

Waking up to CNY excitement was never this good. In addition to the holiday mood, CNY celebration would be perfect this year.It's invigorating to know that the whole family is getting geared up for CNY. What a blessing that this year has gone as far as one month, and I've deliberately prepared to welcome the new year. A batchmate of mine had recently posted on FB, stating that 23rd Jan would be a codominant date. How original that is! Indeed, what she'd stated holds an enormous amount of truth. 23rd Jan is also results day for A Levels students. Gah, the thought of it scares me but it's time for us to find out if our efforts paid off. No matter what, I thank god for giving me the courage and determination to pull through a course which I'd thought I couldn't survive in, almost dropping out of it.

Meanwhile, have a great CNY celebration to all peeps out there and stay safe!

2012

It's a brand new year again! Yes, again! Can you imagine that time passed by just so quickly that I barely have time to reflect on what I've done in 2011? 2011, wasn't really a year worthy to reminisce, considering the fact that we had two major exams to sit for. But at least, it's all over. Nevermind the exams and stress, just make sure we enjoy as much as we work. That's kinda my new year's resolution! 2012 will be a better year.As everyone's excited for the new year, many could also be wondering if the "2012 myth" or whatever people perceive it as is real. I never really cared, though it's fun to share the eagerness. Oh, why would we be eager to find out if it's really not erroneous that our lives are coming to a full stop? Nevermind the stress :)

So, the first week of January was pretty exciting as I picked up a long lost hobby; baking. Baking has always been my interest since the stay in the US. I have baked oatmeal cookies, three layers brownies, scones etc all of which I have been guided by my host dad, who's a good cook. I started off by trying my hands on banana muffins. They turned out ok. The colour and texture were to my expectation. But the taste wasn't very convincing to me as I've added a lil bit more of vanilla extract.The next time I baked, the end products which were raisin scones turned out rather desirable. The colour was a lil pale although I wished to see the nice golden brown. Taste wise was quite good. I liked it myself. Everyone enjoyed the scones. As for baked honey chicken, not too favorable as the flavors didn't combine that well.
Tomorrow, I am baking Spritz cookies, also known as butter cookies.

Enough of bakes. Now, HKU interview. Ahhh, this is one of the best, yet intimidating interview I have been to. To be honest, I wasn't at all confident about this one and it was a group interview. You know the enormous pressure when you witness a battle of wits, and you're supposed to be the one participating as well. My batch was a mediocre one, with one or two who were very promising. I think I belonged in the mediocre class. Anyway, our interviewers were a professor from Faculty of Law and another Chinese lady, probably the admission tutor. Funny as it might sound, we did not have an intro segment which really surprised me. All we did was to offer firm hand shakes before and after interview. They did not even introduce themselves. But I later found out that the professor's name is Michael Wilkinson. His name really does his justice. He was a very pleasant looking man, regularly cracking jokes to induce laughter in the interview room. We all had to engage in a discussion on what is causing destruction to the world. I wasn't the first to speak. The girl beside me kickstarted the discussion by pointing out inequality. Then, bla bla bla, it went on till morality came in. I hopped in to point out about greed. There were actually many issues I was able to relate to this. But I only managed to highlight global warming. I know, very cliched. But guess what, I was like the second last to speak and that was also after prof asked me to speak. The girl on my right was the last. We were both so quiet at the beginning. I thought we were shaken by the wits of the rest. For a moment during the discussion, my mind ALMOST wandered somewhere else as there were some points which I don't really understand. Thank god! When it was my turn, I gave a speech of decent length on what I wanted to say. The minute I ended my speech, prof intefered "You were so quiet just now and now you gave a brilliant speech" All I could afford was a grin and some chuckles. I don't know if this means good or bad but at least I caught the interviewer's attention. Oh and did I not mention that the chances of getting into HKU are really low that I think only 1/10 of international applicants would get the offer. Prof reminded us on that. Nevermind the stress again. Then, we had to voice out our conclusions which I literally crapped because out of no where, panic got the better of me. Shucks. It took about 30 minutes before we were dismissed. Prof shook our hands and when it came to my turn, he told me "You're a funny person. You wouldn't speak until I told you to. But when you speak, you make very much sense" Again, the usual me with the chuckles. I replied "I think that's my nature." A boy in the group interupted by saying "Maybe she's shy". Yeah, maybe. Anyhow, there's always one thing about interviews that scares me despite the fact that I've been to quite a number of interviews in the past. The one thing is always speaking up in a group discussion, that's why I never enjoyed group discussion. But this time, I sailed through it quite smoothly and I've won some valuable experience from it.