.lesson re-learned

the little dutch lady.

my friends and I organized a little day trip to Silvan for the annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival last weekend. it was a good trip – good weather, good food, good everything.

there were so many kids around and every single one of them were having a great time, laughing and running around. one of us said, "this is such a happy place!" – and it really felt like one.

before leaving the farm, we spotted a group of people taking photos of this cute little girl in Dutch traditional costume. her grandma and mom (?) were around and they were so nice about us taking photos of her!

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well, this photo reminded me of the fact of how little kids are easily satisfied with simple requests, such as a couple of helium-filled balloons.. as humans, the older we get, the more greedy we get, and hence, the more we demand.. and take what we already have for granted.

this little girl have, and always will remind me to appreciate what I already have...

and perhaps we adults should learn from the young ones sometime, just like how they are learning from us as they grow. :)

what are your thoughts?

.updates

tulip fest 2010.

dear flickr-ians, as well as friends who have been catching up on my photostreams,

once again, i'm so sorry for the lack of updates. i don't think i can make any promises as to catching up on everyone's photostreams and stuff anymore, so i'm just gonna say that i'll do my best to update/catch up whenever i can.

my life have changed a lot in the span of 7 months.. really.. sometimes i feel that i've gotten 5 years older in the last few months.. and i'm not saying that it's a bad thing – in fact, i think all these ups and downs that i've gone through have made me a little more sensible than before.

well, shit happens whenever you least expect it to, but i guess it happens for a reason.. everything takes place because of something, right?

anyways, i think i'll leave it here.. i have to get some errands done today. oh and here's another piece of good news – i've got heaps of photos to upload onto Flickr..including the ones taken at the Shanghai Expo in July. i try to get them up asap.. meanwhile... umm.. enjoy your weekend!

.know your neighbour ep. 1

OMG.. I can't believe I'm in the middle of finishing up my 3rd semester of graduate school! Part of me is like, "yay, I'm more than half way done!" and the other part of me is not actually looking forward to graduating... :\ I don't know if I'm ready to face the real world yet..

Oops, I guess I have digressed a little.. Alright, back to the topic!

We are making a viral video for our studio assignment this semester and so my friends and I decided to make three webisodes based on the theme "Know Your Neighbour". Okay, and I'm gonna need some favor from you guys – could you leave some sort of feedback to this video? As in, what do you think happened there? Feedback is very, very important at this stage and I would really appreciate it if you could either comment here in the blog or on youtube, whichever is easier for you. Please please please please please!!

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.fact of the day

I have the tendency to go on a photo walk by myself when I'm upset over stuff.. And so yea, I was pretty depressed and stressed out for the past couple of days. Instead of staying home that night to work on my essay, which is due Monday, I decided that I wanna go somewhere..alone.

Eureka Skydeck 88 is my favorite place to reflect.. Guess what? I spent 5 hours on the observatory the last time when I was sad.

I decided to buy an annual pass anyway, since the price is reasonable and it's always good to know that there is a favorite spot I can go to whenever I like.

So there.. This is one of my favorite photos from last night's Skydeck session. :)

.one of my ambitions?

5D2 in film studio.

Third semester of postgraduate has not given me an answer as to what my ultimate dream job is.

But I know I'm definitely going to stay in the design field for the rest of my life.

Design –> Multimedia Design –> _____???_____

I still don't know what I'd like to sign up for when I leave Monash University into the real world.. It's quite a scary thought really.. I would like to be able to start building up my career within one to two months after graduation..if possible.

So there was this period of time where I wanted to be a film director. It doesn't have to be as big as one of those Hollywood films – I'll be happy as long as I can direct a film, even if it's a series of short films.

And then there is also photography. As far as my skill is concerned, I'm only confident with landscape photography.. And through my own observations, professional event and wedding photographers are the ones who earn pretty easily, as long as they have enough contacts..

I don't want to be an event/wedding photographer.. So it's out of the question.

Motion graphic artist. How about that?

I'm still not quite up to scratch with softwares like AfterEffects and Flash, and will probably need at least two to three more years to master 'em. Not enough time.

Illustrator? Graphic Designer?

But I want to do something that's related to what I've studied in my postgraduate course..you know.. Like something multimedia.

And I certainly don't want to end up in a job that's unrelated.

Oh wait, there is also the whole it's-hard-to-get-a-full-time-job-if-you-are-not-a-resident-in-this-country..

Sigh.

What now what now what now????????

Some of you probably are wanting to tell me to just finish my degree first before worrying.. But for me, I think it's best if I start on some thing as soon as I'm done.

I should start writing up a CV as soon as I finish the semester, and see if close friends/family can get me a few contacts so I could do a bit of casual freelance over the 3.5 months break.

Hmmmmm... And time to think about a domain name for my official site!

.the concept of queuing up

Expo 2010 Shanghai China: Queuing to enter the Switzerland Pavilion.

I hate crowds. And Expo 2010 was extremely crowded, considering that it's summer break, kids are on holidays, and adults are wanting to experience the pavilions at the Expo 2010.

Summer break + Hot Weather + Obnoxious little brats = Horrible Combination!!!

I decided I'd be able to get through the Expo without too much trouble.. But nooooooooo...

Okay, first, when I got back, the very, very first question I got from people around me was, "How was the expo!?!?"

My answer?

"................. *shakes head* It was HOT, HUMID, PEOPLE WERE PUSHING and THEY KEPT WANTING TO STICK TO YOU!!!"

IT WAS A HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE! My family and I actually spent 1.5 hour queuing up to get inside the Switzerland Pavilion... I felt kinda bad for making them go through this with me, considering that I was the only one who wanted to see the pavilion badly.. But I'm glad they kind of enjoyed the chair lift in the pavilion. :)

Chair lift ride in the Switzerland Pavilion.

In that 1.5 hour, I was pushed by two annoying Chinese brats who are probably spoiled by their parents due to the fact that they are the only children (and sons) in their families. One of them annoyed the hell out of my mom until my mom lightly threatened him, which scared him. Great job, mom!

The second incident was probably much more interesting than the first one. A fat Chinese lady decided she would cut my queue, which probably isn't the best idea because I decided to kick her heels (continuously) on purpose. My dad was behind me and I'm sure he would stand by me no matter what. So that fat lady turned back, glared at me and eventually got reprimanded by my dad (loudly). Haha!

Fat Chinese lady was such a coward that she didn't dare look at my dad. *shakes head*

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So back to the subject. Just what is it that makes queuing so hard for majority of the people in that country????? I really don't understand. Why push when none of us are moving forward in the queue!?!?

I swear, my impression of majority of the people in that country is...more than bad.

Perhaps this is why I get pretty offended when people assume I'm from China, purely based on my skin color.

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But hey, not all of them are like that.. I've got quite a few awesome and fun-loving Chinese friends and I think a couple of them read this blog on a regular basis. : 3 So you guys know I'm only talking bad about THOSE people (you know what I mean. Hehe.)

Still, I'd say, go take a look at the Expo before it ends in late-October! If you do want to check out the pavilions, it's best to do so in the evening when there is little or no queue, and not forgetting that it wouldn't be as humid.

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Check out my Flickr set for all the Expo 2010 photos I have taken. I'll try to get everything up as soon as I can!!!

.love delivered via a pizza

SF ordered pizza!

A couple of nights ago, I got a little lazy from cooking and decided to have two slices of bread.

Of course, it wasn't enough for me but I really didn't want to do anything that night.

So SF wasn't impressed with the fact that I'd only had 2 nutella toasts... And decided to order pizza for me!!!

OMG!!!

I was so shocked - I really didn't believe it and asked him multiple times whether the pizza was on its way. "Of course!" He said.

45 minutes later, the pizza delivery guy rang the bell and dropped off the pizza, and an additional side dish.

Wow. At that point, I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world, in one of the best long distance relationship that ever existed.

No, wait, I still feel that I'm the luckiest girl! If only I could teleport myself back just to give SF a hug..

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I gotta start planning my next few trips back, so I could spend more time with him.. The next trip back should be 5 months later...

Let's hope that we'll only have to bear with this whole LDR thing for just a couple of years, and stay together for good after.

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