Saturday Night Fever!

 so I was supposed to go with L and J to check out salsa latina, the place that J works at part-time, but L was still really tired from the previous night out, so she didn't go!

J and I were pretty tired too, but J was performing, and I'm always up for dancing haha so we headed out in the end!

 J was the emcee for the night!

 J's performance was of course really awesome, and the salsa teams that performed were not too bad as well, and there were finally some hot girls!!!! haha, n some sexy costumes (: 

i had lots of fun dancing really (:

i can now keep up with the bachata and i learnt merengue on the spot as well. haha i'm still quite lost for salsa, but whatever, just keep moving haha.

Plenty of nice people and i managed to get to dance quite a bit which was really nice (:

they have socials every thurs night so i definitely hope i can get to go again, and this time with L as well, hahah (:

we didn't stay that late cos i have church the next day!

so we headed off for supper which was just a short drive away. lots of the people from the salsa club were there too lols.

yumss!! scrambled eggs with a rosti hashbrown and buttered wholemeal toast :D

and curly fries!!!! 

and spring is here! :D look! this is completely un-photoshopped and the color is so pretty already (: 

hehe and this is the photoshopped flower for extra colour vibrancy hahahah :D

Weekend Adventure Part 1

Thurs: friessss

yep, thurs night is considered weekend for me (:

J kindly brought beer battered fries over for me on his way back from salsa social (: i havent had fries in a longgg time and it was real yummy (: 

 this is meant to say 'sweet as'

but i dont think u can see it clearly. yeaps, it was prettyyy cold and hot fries were really welcome!!!

yummy start to the weekend!


Friday

my dear flatmate, L,  baked Anzac cookies and gave me some!!! she is so awesome haha

so yummyyyy haha soft n sweet (:


and then at night, went out with the usual group of friends, plus J and Z (:

all pretty awesome peoplee! and its just so much more comfortable to hang out with asians (:

i love being asian.

J and Z drove, so we could go out further, plus J is local and Z has been here 3 years, so they know the place much better (: we went to to a city centre japanese restaurant called samurai bowl!

reallly awesome food (: chicken with egg and onion on rice. yumyum!!! i loved it so much, i hope i can somehow go again hahaha

 then we headed over to J's old place before the earthquake! He's got a huge shop and warehouse in there as well, plus a dance studio at the back of the warehouse :0 how lucky is he!

and we chilled there for a while, till it got later, then we decided to go to the uni's club/bar (: its called foundry

Z gave us a treat and bought a round of beer (:

 oooo so many jugs? haha no la, the waiter was playing with us.

it was packeddd and there was a ncie big dancefloor, but the music selection was a bit weird. in the end only C and I danced haha, and ignored the random people who tried to pick us up. but anyway, uni club feels safe la, its walking distance from our house, and we had the guys there to protect us anyway.


(:

yeapss then went over to Z's apartment and we had random games of cards, truth or dare, and chit chat sessions (:

went home about 3am and crashed!

and yeps getting ready to go out tonight as well (;

lovelove! have an awesome weekend as well! <3>

“How can a deer tell when a leaf falls silent in the forest? She hears it breathing differently.”

Daffodils

Once upon a time there was a traveller with a lonely heart. He searched high and low for a heart that was open, for a heart that cared. He travelled through crowded streets of a thousand people, and he travelled through vast distances of solitude in the desert. And yet, he found not one. 

And one day, under a tree which the weary traveller rested, there was a strange noise that woke the traveller. It was a common little golden fox. 

The little fox looked intently at the traveller, and after a while, said, “You are very beautiful indeed”. 

“Am I?” The traveller replied, “no one has told me that in a long long time.” 

And the little fox said, “Perhaps you have not had a friend in a long long time.” 

The traveller said sadly, “Perhaps you are right.”

The little fox said “I do not know you, but if you’d like to come, I’d take you to the dances in the moonlight. If you’d like, I’d show you where the fattest rabbits nest. If you’d like, I’d show you where the daffodils meet the sunlight. If you’d like, I’d try being a friend.” 

Now, the little fox was a common fox, he had a fluffy coat and pointy ears, as do all other little foxes. There was nothing spectacular about him. And yet, his words touched the traveller’s heart like no one had in a long time, and the traveller smiled, for the first time in a long long while. 

The little fox made good his promises, and traveller was enthralled. Everything was new and exotic, and delightful. The traveller felt a new beat pick up in his heart, and he glowed with a new radiance. 

And yet, as the days passed, the little fox became quiet and frequently lost in thought. 

One day, the little fox returned from a day of hunting in the fields, and was greeted by the traveller, whose heart and smile beamed at seeing the little fox. 

The little fox smiled too, but he let out a little sigh at the end of that smile. 

 

Now the traveller was astonished. What could be wrong?

And so he asked the little fox, “dear friend, what troubles you that you sigh?”

The little fox sat down slowly, and tucked his paws under him, and looked up at the traveller. And he said “Ah, talking to you has become a habit aye?” 

The traveller asked, a little hesitantly, “Is that such a bad thing?” 

The little fox was silent for a moment, and he said “A bad habit? Naw, it’s not.”

The traveller pressed further, “Then, dear friend, what bothers you? This is a beautiful place; it’s almost like a fairy tale for me.”

The little fox was so quiet, he was nearly inaudible now, and he said, “Maybe… maybe… that’s what’s sad… It’s a fairy tale, but only you get to take it with you. This is still reality for me when you’re gone, except that you will no longer be here.”

 

And the traveller fell silent.

The little fox continued, “But… it will all be worth it… because of the colour of the daffodils…” 

And they both fell silent, as the sun set, and bathed the daffodils in all of its fleeting brilliance.

finally seen snow

can't believe i forgot to update about this important event.

haha we had all almost gotten over the fact that we prob wouldnt see snow in christchurch already.

then suddenly it was hailing again n it was pretty cool too, but then the hail turned into snow (: and it was pouring snow like rain!! it was pretty amazing! it plunged the temperatures though :/ and we were freezing.

 i didn't go out cos i just bathed and i didn't wanna get wet. i just sat at my window and played with it from inside. hahaha i am on the first floor so i can pick snow up (:


can't believe i only have 5 more weeks in Christchurch ): actually feeling very sad.

i'm almost living in my own little fairytale here, and i don't wanna go home. ):

well, its also good. for the next 5 weeks, i'll just be in my own little world to recharge before i go home to face reality :/

i have some pretty neat weekend plans with friends (: and my weekend starts on friday!

sweet as! :D


*sweet as* is currently my absolute favorite word. it means something like 'cool' in nz slang. haha so if u ask someone how's their day, and they say oh, great, u could say sweet as.

 i literally smile to myself when i hear a kiwi say it in that oh so sexy kiwi accent (;

The smallest of things can mean so much to a heart that's lonely

 back from filming today (:

i must say that filming is even harder than photoshoots ):

but i had great make up and nice hair today! so proud of myself  that it looks pretty natural (:



so tiredddd!!!!!!!

Mid term check

so i've gotten to the mid point of my exchange (:

and i set out to NZ with 3 goals, let's see how i'm doing with them

1. Better dance technique

 i think i have definitely raised the standard of my technique. i learnt so much here and i practice for hours in my room. of course, i could always be better, but yeaps, im happy with the progress (:

especially rumba. cos my flooring is carpet, so i have a hard time doing samba and cha on the carpet without getting carpet burns on my toes. but my rumba technique has been corrected a lot of my lovely teacher (:


2. Better skin and hair 

yepyep (: (: very pleased with the results of glycolic peels. im just now afraid tt singapore peels are expensive ):

the triple combination of cool weather, glycolic peels as well as doxy has really brought everything under control. and im just waiting for scarring to fade.

need to touch up my hair roots though, they're growing out and turning black at the top hahah


3. stone my costume

yeps, all done though now i dont know when i will be using it haha


THEREFORE. i proclaim that my exchange has been a success already (:


top it off with a gorgeous sunset on the way home after zumba class today

and a potato topped minced pie for dinner before church 

i'm really happy these few days (:

im just so grateful to have the change from a heart that's heavy and sad to a heart thats bubbling over with happy thoughts (:

and so grateful and appreciative of companionship, living alone can be brutally lonely. i do everything alone haha

a friend is always welcome (:

UCan dance ball (:

 fun night out!! :D it's 2am, and i just got home n showered (: went to UCan dance ball and i did a really pretty hair up-do. but well wasnt any use later.


 i declined two offers of a ride there, and i decided to be independent and take the BUS. and yea i got lost. hahaha, it was about 8pm and dark already, so i alighted at the wrong place, with the crazy wind blowing as i walked around trying to find the place, yea my hair was wrecked. hahaha

i also had two cars honk at me, whether to say suggestive or vulgar stuff i dunno, cos i couldnt hear, but anyway, just ignore, no need to be agitated at such rude ppl.

reached safely of course (:

 ppl were already dancing, cos i was late. haha anyway, was glad to meet a few ppl there (: had some fun dancing, but yea, still the same that i was lost through most of the street latin dances. haha

 stayed for supper of samosas, cupcakes, and sandwiches (:

a friend and i were eating cupcakes when a cha cha came on, so we did a cupcake chacha!! :D eating cupcakes with one hand and dancing with the other (: was pretty funny haha



 after that, my friend took me out to a light supper!

look!!! the ordering system is so cuteee :D u can press for service!

chicken soup

 some bubble tea

yeapyeaps ((: nothing like dancing n meeting new ppl to cheer myself up (:


I DESERVE TO BE HAPPY.

omgosh, this is so apt for myself -.-

lols

 oooo! what a lovely surprise! (: the hall office gave every house a bag of goodies! and it's not cheapo goodies! it's good stuff (: nuts, maggi mee, cadbury choc, liquorice sweets, popcorn, chips, coke etc everything that students love to eat (: so nice of themmm :D



also cooked myself a simple meal tonight, after eating left over pizza for breakfast n lunch, i felt a bit sick from the oil and grease.

mm yums, 3 main food groups distinctly represented. hahaha :D and i have 2 cups of green tea a day (: one when i wake up, one after dinner (:

simple comfort food (: one of the joys of living alone is that i plan my own meals (:

no one will force me to eat when i dont wanna eat, and i can eat anytime and whatever i please (:

such a slow paced life has made me both less and more patient.


i am less patient when it comes to waiting for things i am expecting. like my emails, i prob check my email like 100 times a day im not exaggerating.

cos im so free i can check every few mins.

but im much more patient with boring random things. like my flatmates often cook rice n dont wash the pot, but i wont really get angry, at most irritated, but i will slowly take my time to scrub the pot and scratch off all the bits of rice. no rush anyway, and it can be quite entertaining even lol.

urgh. when waiting for important emails, i hope groupon knows that every time i see 1 new mail, my heart rises to my chest and then unknots in disappointment when i see a new deal.

lols.

not that its their fault hahaha

 such a yummy day. i had pizza today (: pizza hut in NZ is just so so so good! and it's 5 dollars for a large pizza of 8 slices!!!


i ate 3 on the way walking back, cos it's the bestttt when its piping hot and crunchy with melty cheese.

still have half of it left in the fridge for tmr, or maybe supper later :p


and had the NZ famous L&P drink. haha i have been rather good, havent drank soft drinks since i have gotten here, but since this is a NZ thing, must try la (:

its really good actually, but a bit sweet haha

anyway, i had to change my cup cos i did something stupid with the last one.


my hair vitamins were frozen here, and i needed to use some, so i decided to be smart and put them in boiling water.

i dropped them in and they melted. the plastic completely melted and started seeping out into the water and the cup. omgoshhhh

haha

so yea, i decided the cup wasnt safe to use anymore. ):

HAIL

 omgosh so exciting! was eating my dinner after self prac, when i started to hear crazy loud sounds. thought it was like cranes or some construction.

then looked out and saw some ice falling from the sky. i thought it was crazy ppl from upstairs throwing things down!!!

then there was louddddd thunder and lightning, and SO MUCH ICE fell out of the sky!!!!

gosh so exciting! so many ppl came out of the house to watch

the whole street filled with the ice balls


after it stopped we went outside to take pics!

look! they're so cute!!!  but all the same, glad i was home! my friend got hit by one, she said quite painful. solid ice eh.

school started this week, have a presentation later on ):

not very stressful, but well still hope it goes well. haha

aching from private lesson yest, wanted to drop the frequency of classes to once a fortnight, but after every lesson, i feel like i learnt so much that i can never bring myself to cancel or reduce classes. after all, only about 7 weeks left to go, means only 7 classes max.

learnt so much from my short time dancing here. i love love love the teacher. she's an amazing dancer, yet she doesnt treat me like some squelch. she really teaches me. and her technique is so clear i actually understand it. (:

indiv lessons also mean she thoroughly analyses every foot placement and hip action and corrects all my individual styling and my many bad habits (:

so grateful to her. i developed much better awareness of my legs and body and i must say my technique looks better now.

she works me very hard during lessons, its so good to ache after that (:

of course the most important thing is still that i practice what ive learnt


yesterday she taught me three variations of the cha cha frontcheck-ronde-timestep variation. and she made me do it over n over n over until she was happy with the footwork and hips. (:

even though the steps are the same, the timing is different for each variation, and she wanted to make sure i know how to bring out different timing and different emphasis on each styling. (:

so glad she's not one of those teachers who would just teach one, rather, she wants me to know all that i can (:


and of course, every lesson, we spend some time doing the very very basics, either cha locks/rumba walks/ samba crusado walks/ jive chasse step


always feel like a baby learning to walk. but its very good for me. learning to keep my thighs closed and release the hip at the right timing and working the ankles (:


ok such a technical dance post. (: prob understandable to me only haha (:

<3 br="br">

Lessons learnt in shooting pictures : long post

 shall also start on my post about this photoshoot that i've just done. pictures all on fb, so i shall elab on the experience instead (:

i had a lot of fun, and it was really a good experience for me (: so much better than the last shoot i did.

for background info, my last shoot was 3 years ago, and so disastrous that i never wanted to shoot again. it wasnt the photographer's fault, i was horrendously unprepared (will elaborate about that later)

but this shoot went better than i expected.

was supposed to be a portrait shoot only, but i asked for full length, for my gown's sake, so he took me to a beautiful estuary to shoot.

i was too short for him to shoot the skyline, so he made me climb up a rock and perch there.

this section of the shoot was physically demanding. it was cold, under 10 degrees and of course very strong sea breeze. with my 'wings' open, it was like a parachute even, and i fell off once.

i like this monkey shot of me :D

 and this is probably my favorite shot of the day. the color of the clouds are real

we were very lucky to catch a perfect sunset. (:  the sky is so magnificent

he was also very professional. after we shot the full length gown pictures, whilst waiting for the sun to set, he made me put on my coat and sit with the heater on. so that i will not get goose bumps which will show up on the photo. hahahah ok la, for my welfare too. i hope. haha

 i was literally shaking with cold after 10 minutes of being blasted by wind. my skin started flaking immediately as well. i was trembling, and he was telling me to hang in there, and keep smiling, keep lifting, keep arching. i wanted to drop off the rock n die. haha at one point my knees were shaking and i was wobbling on the rock, trying to maintain my balance whilst being blown by the wind.

but he kept telling me, "u look like a butterfly! it will be worth it! hang in there!" hahaha as though im doing some extreme sports. lol and all i was doing was standing around pretending to look pretty. 


i told him afterwards tt i had newfound respect for professional models. haha not easy at all.


but even though this first part was more physically challenging, the second one was tough on me too.

portrait and close up shots usually turn out quite bad and i know it too. hahah

n he was pretty unsatisfied with my smiling and posing, hahah, but then he said since i have beautiful hair n shoulder bone structure, we should focus on the hair.

i was happy to oblige, cos my jaw was stiff from fake smiling also.

n he said i had beautiful hair! I was thus willing to flip my hair for him about 100 plus times i think.

im secretly very pleased with the color of my hair now, especially since its self dyed, not professionally done

up and down, then left and right. haha, controlling facial expressions was tough while flipping hair too. but easier than smiling.

grumpy already, refusing to smile hahaha

oops bad flip

yay! finally! 

he would literally just say '1, 2, 3, go' on repeat mode, so i would just continuously flip until he told me to break.

i was so dizzy after that.

but yeaps, good experience, better pictures than the first shoot and i am actually happy to have these pictures as a memory (:




Why i shot these pictures? 

- inspired by this article 'I want to have a beauty queen moment',

What I long for is a moment where at that point in time I look the very best that I can.

She said most people have it on their wedding day, but im more selfish. i want pictures that i dont have to share with another person. hahahaha. :D

article link: 

http://www.more.com/wanted-beauty-queen-moment


yepyeps, i guess im very vain, but its something to look back on when age has robbed my youth and my figure is no longer graceful.

as i said, i have seen too many old dancers who are a shadow of what they used to be. so i just want to capture this fleeting youth before its gone. and it will be gone one day..

extremely tired!

so much for complaining that last week i was so free i was bored to tears. this week is busy, and next week is busier!! but that's good!

 anyway today was the NZ dancesport championships

it was advertised that Kristina Moshenskaya was gonna be in competition and i really love her, so i went to get tickets for it.


slept at 2am, but set my alarm at 6am, so that i could reach at 8.30am.

turns out i was the 2 person to reach. LOL. even the competitors still streaming in. gosh. i was so earlyyyyy haha, earlier than i would be for my own competition. haha


anyway it turned out that Kristina Moshenskaya didnt come ))))): i was really disappointed. but well since i already was there, just enjoy the competition and there were a lot of other good dancers too anyway.

look my ticket! :D 

 beautiful hall with beautiful backdrop for the dancers

people warming up!




THEN SUDDENLY!!!

i spotted this extremely good dancer with a very familiar routine! i looked closer, and i realised that it was Anna Matus!

i watch their videos so often i alrd kinda rmb what their routines look like lol.

oh gosh i was so excited i was like hyperventilating a bit.

hands too shaky to take a good pic, but there she is :D in black hahah

her hips are amazing. therefore my trip there was more than justified (: although i still dont like her dancing style best, but she's still a great athlete.

happy for the rest of the day (:

and watching the competition, and esp watching the old people compete, made me determined that no matter what. as long as i can still move, i will keep training and dancing.

if i wanna sit around and mope about lack of a future in dance, plenty of time for me to do that when im old and unable to move anyway.


edit: just crashed, knocked out for 1 hour. feeling better now.



forgot to say that another highlight was looking at the judges!! they're all professional looking and black in their suits etc. but when a catchy tunes comes on, they're all unaimously bobbing up and down or twitching. so cute (:

not everything can be fixed

there is hope for my iphone! the screen has finally come on, and im charging it now. crossing all my toes, fingers etc and hope that it will work after being charged.

EDIT: IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY! THANK GOD!!!



anyway, missed my korean flashmob dance prac today cos i had no alarm clock. anyway i learnt the major chorus of the routine by myself through the video already. and im not sure if i can even commit to the flashmob pracs, cos i already committed myself to dancing for the sancon fashion show in september (:

pretty excited about it. it's a techno, geek inspired fashion show, so we're dancing military futuristic hiphop!!! first prac is next week (: the song is pretty cool too!

and im just glad to finally be in some kind of organised dancing. my greatest regret about canterbury uni is that the level of dancing here is so low that there is not a single performing team of dance of ANY SORT. i knew that there was no latin, but i assumed that everywhere in the world, there would be some kind of fusion/contemporary dance team cos that's so common. i thought la.

 all social and recreational. ): i think the culture here is alot about acceptance, and thus, ppl don't push for excellence cos it would seem very elitist perhaps, or not inclusive of the wider community. thus, even the good dancers here are still doing socials.



anyway, my phone works and thats fantastic news already (:

YAYYYYYY :D :D :D aiyo see how happy my iphone can make me

sigh tragedy indeed.

went to geog dept today to submit my essay

left a bottle half uncapped

longchamp is kinda waterproof, which is good for rainy days, but REALLY BAD today. cos this means that it acted like a pail, collecting water to drown my iphone in.


so yeaps my iphone is sitting in a box of white rice. hopefully it will dry out and work :/


wanted to take a pic of it but i realised my phone is my camera

my phone is also my clock, my alarm in the morning, my entertainment when im bored, my music to practise dance, my gps when im lost

sob sob. this is a great injustice ):

 the singaporeans finally came back from their road trip! so dinner out with them! super super awesome nasi goreng. dunno what it tastes like, but there's an awesome chilli paste in it that made it super good!
awesome night out with them as always (:


the past week ive been cooking chinese food! haha

 soya sauce chicken and pak choy :D finally some comfort food

 stole this pic of me off my friend's blog! cooking! haha

dumpling udon noodles with pak choy! :D so yummy

because love is always the losing hand.

 today i went for my teeth whitening treatment! on the way, i passed by this really nice orchard, got so tempted by the cheap veges that i bought a cucumber hahaha.

anyway, the treatment was mildy uncomfortable. they just put this mouth brace in, and apply a gel to your teeth and shine the laser light to your teeth for 40 minutes.


but i had an extremely sore neck and body in general from yesterday (will post about that when pictures come out), and so the holding the position for 40 mins was quite torturous.

 otherwise it's actually okay, the laser stings quite a bit, but its bearable. and teeth are really whiter after the session! of course not gleaming white, but generally brighter and definitely noticeably whiter.although i doubt other people will notice, cos no one really cares unless you teeth are exceptionally bright or exceptionally yellow. but still (:

was starving after the session, so Deadhead down to the mall to get lunch at 4.30 pm. lol.

 japanese vegetable tempura rice, ok la, it was fake japanese food. lol the tempura is made up of capsicums, spring onions mixed together i think. hahah, but still was relatively tasty, and i liked the mayo sauce (:

 I HAVE BEEN EATING BROWNIES AND ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST :D


perks of living alone. lol. no one can tell you what or what not to do.

haha look at this awesome thing! i had it two days in a row for breakfast :D

just cos i feel like it. hahaha

im totally on holiday mood, wake up to eat brownies and then play computer games, and take naps, cook and do whatever i like.

no needa stress about work cos im already done with assignments (:

nz slow paced lifestyle can be pretty sweet.
 

even have time to play with my make up (: hahah

tomorrow's an exciting day for me! will update about it in about... a week or so (; 

kisses from Christchurch! xoxo

'Why do beautiful songs make you sad?'

 'Because they aren't true.' 

'Never?'

 'Nothing is beautiful and true.


― Jonathan Safran Foer