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CNY Makan in Dublin yet in Malaysia?

2012-01-23T22:28:00.000Z

Nyonya Restaurant

situated on Dame Street in Dublin is like walking into a little Malaysia.

With the national flags hanging from the ceiling, Chinese lanterns, with the very much loved menu with authentic Malaysian food of all sorts.

Ikan Bakar (Grilled fish)

coated with an extremely spicy sauce that would make your stomach turn.

Best part was eating it to the full..and we weren't even finished with it yet.

(Munches head off with a loud crunch...not kidding. crunchy fish heads are yummy)

Beef Hor Fun

Stir-fried flat noodles (kuay teow) with beef bean sprouts andonions

Stir-fried noodles with beef in black bean sauce

Pai Tee - vegetables with pork stuffed into a crunchy shell with chilli sauce

Taofu goreng - fried tofu with chilli sauce

3 layer Malaysian Tea - coconut palm sugar (bottom) milk (middle) tea (top)

Then we got pleasantly surprised by the lion that entered the restaurant followed by the cymbals and gongs behind him, never thought I'd actually be in one of the restaurants the lion dances were going to.

Perfect timing!

In conclusion,

TRIP UP TO DUBLIN FOR CNY WAS AWESOME

The food

The atmosphere

The noise

Wishing there was more angpao, but I shall be content with one (thanks mum)

Thank you Uncle Mike for the trip up! :)

now i better go study for my test tomorrow and get ready for the public speaking competition which is ALSO tomorrow. GASP.

Chinese New Year in Dublin

2012-01-23T00:51:00.000Z

Wearing a cheongsam (which belongs to mumsie) I went up to Dublin along with mumsie and Uncle Mike to welcome in the Chinese New Year. I normally who would get motion sickness realised I lost my medicine and resorted to forced-sleeping throughout the entire trip. only to discover it was sandwiched inside my notebook upon reaching Dublin

We stopped by a chipper for dinner and had freshly deep fried cod along with fat cut chips with tartar sauce and a slight squeeze of lemony goodness. To make it less sinful I decided to peel the batter off and eat the cod on the inside haha!

We headed to Castlebar and after many attempts to enter the Main Square which was congested with people, we finally managed to squeeze through the gates (after being allowed to pass through of course) The entire place was converted into a little Chinese street.

There were tons of Chinese children, both from Chinese families and Irish families that adopted a Chinese child. It was so adorable to see some of them fully clothed in the traditional Chinese costume.

FOOD was definitely heavenly, tasted soooo authentic. there was even CHANG! and super awesome dim sum along with juicy hot dumplings with oozing sauce from within! mhmmm...

Was so delish I felt like buying everything on display (probably did :D)

As it was the year of the dragon, there were dragon dances as well as lion dances.

Weirdly and oddly it almost brought tears to my eyes.

Reminded me so much of what I was so used to annually

Was pretty fun being able to go up to Dublin for Chinese New Year. It gave the whole feel as if it really was

for a day. Thank you so much to Uncle Mike and mumsie for making this trip possible :)

GONG XI FA CAI
GONG HEI FATT CHOY
XIN NIAN KUAI LE
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR :)

Being the background of an MV

2012-01-18T20:13:00.001Z

On my birthday, at the party with the people in Shannon, my awesome talented friends

did a

cover of The Script : The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Instrumental and Lead vocals : Trent Maglaque

Backing Female vocal : Kesiah Maglaque
First Rapper : Godknows Jonas
2nd Rapper : Guide Wayahtech

Background humans : all those that came to my birthday ahaha! :)

It was really fun being the random person swiping with the iPad and all that :)

Splashed with Colours

2012-01-15T18:53:00.000Z

The first week back at school's always slightly hectic.

The first few days (practically the entire week) I woke up each day wondering why my alarm was making such a fuss, hit snooze several times...till my brain slightly warmed up to realise I had school in about..15 minutes?

Adjusting to the usual swing of things was always 'pleasant'. The homework, the studying, the jotting down of test dates in my journal 'the joys!' and the revising of my public speaking speech which will be NEXT Tuesday. That's nice to know. Right after the first day of Chinese New Year too.

angpao would certainly cheer my day up (moneymoneymoney!)

Saturday was an absolute heaven-on-earth day though. It was the day of slack. The day of doing absolutely nothing. The day where slugging around like a sloth while shoving all kinds of junkalicious food down my throat was allowed. The day every couch potato loves. Especially when they're doing it with a loved one :)

LIVING OVERSEAS : Keeping an eye on domestic violence

2012-01-15T18:21:00.000Z

THE word foróige is unknown to many as it is of Irish origin. It comes from forbairt na hóige which means development of youth.
The Youth Citizenship Awards recognise ‘Ireland‘s Top Teens‘ for their accomplishments in their communities.
The youth club in my town of Killaloe was among the top 10 finalists in Ireland!

My friend Orla Watson asked me if I would support the Foróige youth club in Killaloe in its bid to win the awards.
I agreed immediately as I had a week of school holidays ahead. Why not make my week of freedom fruitful?
Of course, the best part is a trip to Dublin.

On the day of the trip, I stood in front of a white door and gave a tentative knock. It was the entrance to the Killaloe Community Resource Centre, where the youth group usually congregated.
As the knock remained unanswered, I pushed it to discover that it was unlocked. A familiar face appeared and I went upstairs to paint banners. We wanted to be the best supporters with big beautiful banners. We crafted works of art with paintbrushes, marker pens and glitter.

The bus arrived in the lashing rain and, after lugging all our posters onto it, our adventure began! After the sing-a-longs, jokes, junk food and bedlam, we reached our destination, The Helix, in Dublin.
The hall was as packed as a can of sardines! The other nine groups of finalists were present together with their busloads of supporters. As we entered the auditorium, streaming rays of light beamed around the room as youngsters bobbed multicoloured signs up and down.

My group in particular drew a lot of attention with our screams, cheers, waving of hands and even mini Mexican waves.
It was an exciting event; even the national television crew was there!

Each team was represented by a spokesperson. A video on its community work, including an interview clip of a person who supported its work, was screened.
Watson was Killaloe youth group‘s representative. Our team, named NRG (which sounds like “energy“), had mounted an art exhibition to voice its concern about domestic violence.
The members made five doors with a postbox hole in each. When someone looks through the hole, he would see a family scene.

Only one scene had elements of domestic violence, depicting the fact that in every five families, there is one where domestic violence is present.
The postbox idea also attempted to highlight that domestic violence is still a private matter and the outsider can only get glimpses of it.
Another team created an exclusive card which entitled holders to special discounts in local stores, which helped businesses.

A group from Galway raised € 25,000 (RM100,000) to fly to Zambia to help children there.
The event made me realise that everyone, regardless of age, can make a difference. The message is if we believe that we can enact change, then we can.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart.

2000th POST! The Big 1.8. - Part 3 - Shannoners

2012-01-08T19:04:00.003Z

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!

This is the 2000th post I'm posting on this blog!

IT'S EVEN CRAZIER THAT THIS HAPPENS TO FALL ON MY BIRTHDAY POST

Since 2007 and now it's 2012 it took me that long to reach my 2000th post.

I feel proud.

Astonished even.

SO anyway, I shall dedicate this post to every single person who somehow in someway, wished me for my birthday.

A big thank you to each and everyone of you that wished me via Facebook, Twitter, Text message, Whatsapp, calls or personally. I intended to list down each name one by one, but then after I saw the ginormous amount of messages on Facebook my plan seemed too much a hassle.

Especially thank you to the only two people who called me.
Jonathan Lim and Jonathan Ho
(How funny that both of you have the same first name)

On my ACTUAL birthday (6th of January) , Uncle Mike dropped me off at Athiei's place in Annacotty. Both of us were like zombies thanks to the lack of sleep (It was 9 in the morning..that's early during holidays!)

We decided to cook together so we headed to Mace to stock up on some ingredients.

So we cooked Korean Bibimbap. Which has rice, vegetables, Bulgogi beef strips, fried egg and a teaspoon of spicy fermented pepper paste (Gochujang). It was definitely something new to Ath :D Hahaha

The things I make him experience :)

Ended our meal with some brownies from the Wooden Spoon that were leftover from my previous party while watching Ratatouille!

Godknows came over to pick us up as we headed towards Tesco to complete the grocery shopping for the party. The typical party foods - loads of yummy junk food, burger patties, soft drinks, y'know the usual.

Thank you Ath and G for paying for everything.

You guys made me go all melty like cheese on the inside.

The party was entirely planned by both Ath and G, giving me the freedom to thoroughly enjoy the entire party without any worries or checking who was or wasn't there. Thank you for doing all the calling and the inviting, and thank you G for opening your house for my birthday. It was so awesome to see everyone there.

The best part was that they had Wii Just Dance 3 which became our entertainment for the night. The need to dance was just booming in each person. People you didn't expect to dance suddenly displayed an entirely new side to them. I had the shock of my life when Ath beat me in the game. Utter humiliation. HUMILIATION. Although it was extremely amusing and I laughed nonstop thanks to his dancing.

My awesome birthday triple chocolate cupcake. I blew out my candle and gave a small birthday speech (not like the 2 hour Murli speech :D) All in all it was an awesome birthday with the people around me. Many people asked me what I wanted as a gift for my birthday, but my wish had already been granted,

I got to spend it with the people I love.

Then later at the end of my birthday we began to film Trent and Kesiah's video clip for their cover of Breakeven. It was funny being the random person that probably becomes blurred out in the scene.

Thank you list

Antonio for the wonderful card

Mum, Uncle Mike, Murli, Godknows, Mina, Trent, Guide, Miriam, for the card and cash $$ oh yeah!

Samantha for the pretty pretty bracelet from Newbridge (extremely shiny one :D)

Masha and Tian for the gorgeous scarf and card

Wessel for the fowl keyring

Isorah for the buggy necklace

Sonia for the card from back home :D I wonder how many letters I've received from you already

But most of all thank you to my beloved who even appeared in matching colours (can't you just sense the cornyness) who spent the entire day with me, planned the entire day and got me tickets to watch

Tyler Ward !!

AHHHH. I love you ! I can't wait for the concert. You made my 18th a special one.

Definitely succeeded in gaining some brownie points.

The big 1.8. Part 2 - Killaloe-ians

2012-01-05T23:34:00.001Z

The second part of my birthday begins!

Still, not on my actual date, I had my birthday dinner on the eve of my birthday together with my schoolmates. Getting ready for it was a nightmare! I was coming in from Limerick, dependent on the bus. And for some irritating reason, the bus didn't stop even after I waved. So, I had to call my mum to get me, which thankfully worked out. By the time I reached my hous-e, I had 15 minutes to get ready for my birthday.

The awesomeness of speedy catlike reflexes! It actually succeeded.

Aside from myself, there was another birthday girl who as well, was born on the same date as I was, 6th January. The only difference is...I'm an entire year older than her (facepalm)

But it was all good. I realise I'm the only 18 year old in my year currently (double facepalm)

We met up at Abacus, Killaloe and the entire restaurant was booked up by me. Thanks to Vicky and Katie who were our classmates AND our waitresses for the night, the room was beautifully decorated with balloons and "You are 18!" banners. The menu even had my name printed on it (Fancy)

An assortment of dishes were available. Many of them took the typical sweet and sour chicken, chicken curry or something that revolved around the word chicken.

I on the other hand indulged in an extremely delicious plate of duck with chilli plum sauce together with white boiled rice. It was absolutely nomalicious.

Katie D organised my birthday cake which was ordered from the Wooden Spoon! An enormous mountain of chocolate brownies, chocolate tiffins, caramel squares and rocky road drizzled with melted chocolate all over. It was absolute sinful!

So I blew out my candles, still unbelieving of the fact that I'm no longer seventeen. but i have officially hit the big

ONE EIGHT.

Thank you to all that made it,

Aine D

Aine R

Aisling

Amy

Anna

Caoimhe

Connor

Claudia

Daniel

Darragh

Emer

Emma

Eoin

Fiona

Jade

Jess

Katie D

Katie M

Lauren

Marie

Mary

Noel

Orla

Peter E

Phelim

Ronia

Roisin

Ruth

Sean

Shannen

Stuart

Vicky

What shocked me even more was when the owner of Abacus presented me with a humongous fresh cream cake on the house! It was even more humiliating when both of them started chattering to me in Chinese.

I answered with the typical

"wo bu hui qiang hua yu" (I don't understand Mandarin)

But atleast I understood the "sheng re kuai le" (Happy Birthday)

Thanks so much to Darragh who gave me an adorable card with an awesome handbag which I absolutely love! Nice choice!! And also not to forget the 2 euros which you pitched in for my dinner and being one of my most awesome friends since I've moved here !

Eoin and Stewie

For getting me the best present in the world.

AN ORANGE IN AN ORANGE

Nice racist joke giving a Chinese girl an orange.

Just kidding,

I LOVE IT. it made me laugh till my sides split :)

Marie

who gave me a hot shocking pink awesome clutch together with an adorable card. It's so funny how she chose the very picture I had chosen ages ago to put on my blog ages ago! The card was absolutely heartwarming. I love it!

Sean

for buying me a CREDIT CARD? Haha nah it's a voucher card which has 20 euros inside it which allows me to shop in any shop in the Crescent, Limerick which is awesome because it's valid for a whole year!

Thank you so much Sean!!

Thank you to Connor, Phelim and Claudia for all the wonderful birthday cards!

They are all safely stored in my box of memories in my room :) Thank you so much !

The big 1.8. Part 1 - Family

2012-01-04T15:22:00.004Z

As an early birthday celebration with my family, we went to Molly's to have a nice lunch. Filled with delicious food and a simple fun time together.

Ordered a Seafood Mare Pizza which was absolutely delish. Filled with chunks of salmon, cod, shrimp and mussels (picks off all the olives and disposes of them discreetly)

Mum had the Poached Salmon that came with a creamy cheesy sauce

Uncle Mike had the Haddock with a creamy onion sauce

Finished the meal of with some absolutely sinful dessert

Death by chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream

Apple pie with vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce.

Banana split with several scoops of Neopolitan ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce

Ah.the belly is fat.

The Heart-Shaped Key

2012-01-03T21:08:00.001Z

Mum and I decided to watch Hugo at the cinemas today.

I went into the theatre without a clue on what the movie was about.

I have got to say, the movie was very well done, in accordance to the graphics and making it look real life yet animated.

But when it came to the actual movie,

I felt it was like the longest 2 hours of my entire life.

Draggy. Very Draggy.

Well this is just my own personal opinion. My mum on the other hand absolutely adored it.

Sales were still on and there were 70% discounts everywhere. But as usual the sizes were always either too small or too big. Saw this really nice dress though, but I properly couldn't sit in it. It fitted just nicely for me to breathe. Any sudden movements and BAM it would explode in every direction. I have got to get a one shoulder dress one day.

ONE DAYYY.

Recapitulating 2011

2012-01-02T20:56:00.001Z

So the Recap of 2011 Memories commences.

Being included in the 4 Science 1 Class photograph even though I was in Ireland. Geniuses who printed my photo on an A4 sheet and placed me in the middle of it all.

When the photo went up on Facebook all I could do was melt internally. The friends that made my high school years the most precious ones.

Graduating from Transition Year.

Friendships formed in school in Ireland finally strengthened, and the feeling of belonging grew. Many crazy adventures we went through together. Different trips, river rafting, singing, dancing, parties. I no longer felt out of place, no longer had the worries and upsets upon going to school.

I began to love school.

Trip to Rome

together with Sam who I hadn't seen in months. Neverending walking in the glorious warm sun, getting tanned again before going back to Malaysia ( so much for being fair. pfft ) visiting the colosseum, eating gelato and taking photographs all over, finally getting the time to see my ridiculous brother once again.

The addition of two new pets to the family

Cincau the chinchilla

Hachiko the labrador.

What's a Chinese chinchilla and a Japanese dog doing in Ireland. Ah the adorableness.

Both cute in their own way

Taking up of a new instrument, finally.

Not to say I've mastered guitar at all. But hey, I know the basic chords, something I've never done. The occasional basic major and minor chords and the purchase of a 50 euro guitar from Lidl.

All thanks to Music class in Transition Year

Climbing Croagh Patrick Mountain

Never in my life have I set foot on a journey up a treacherous mountain. Freezing to death, being soaked by ice cold water and being surrounded by fog with my classmates and a handy stick I made it!!

My mini company, Starling Records winning the County finals

and proceeding to national level together with Sean, Noel and Darragh. Recording our own songs and covers, designing the CD labels and having our own talent shows in primary schools and even our very own concert which had about 100 people present. That was definitely one crazy experience together.

Returning to Malaysia

A 6 week holiday spent back home. Meeting up with loved ones, and even added new people to that list. Always on the go from morning to night, eating my way through the entire day. Watching movies, hanging out at mamaks, returned to Acts church and my beloved school SMK SS17. hung out till the morning chatting and enjoyed myself thoroughly, making it so hard to return to Ireland, but yet made it okay for me.

Working in New Straits Times

When I was in Malaysia I had a week of work experience in the NST and ended up receiving my very own fortnightly column in the YOU section until now. Giving me the freedom to choose whatever I want to write about at the age of 17, and even getting paid for it.

A week in Germany

I spent a wonderful week with Vivien and her family who treated me as their own kin. Brought me touring around their area, introducing me to all kinds of new things and definitely food. Took care of me in their loving home and definitely making me learn a few German words.

My first penpal friend from Malaysia (snigger)

Sonia Kang Xiu Yi

who decided to mail me frequently and has so far been the only snail mailer I have from Malaysia. With the multicoloured felt tip pens and the stickers and updates from home, definitely puts a smile on my face everytime I see a new letter at my doorstep.

Winning the county finals for Public Speaking

together with Sean and Claudia. Something I had never joined before. Public speaking? Audrey? Haha well it was a pretty interesting journey and it was definitely unexpected returning with the prize. It taught me loads about mental health as well, and I'm not just saying it for the sake of saying it :) It really did teach me something.

A purchase of a Blackberry Curve 8250

which unfortunately is so common in everybody's pockets nowadays it's actually freaky. But oh well, it helps me to keep in contact with people back home thanks to the wonderful Whatsapp that can be in every smartphone, not to mention internet on the go is heavenly!

The removal of wisdom teeth

The drips, the surgery, the mouthwash, the eating of mushy food and the popping of a million pills after the surgery which cost about 2000 euros in total but thanks to the health insurance, only about a 1/4 had to be paid. An agonising procedure I had to endure, but yet definitely a memory to be kept.

And finally,

the addition of a special someone in my life.

Letting go of the past, accepting the present and expecting the future.

Something I never thought I could do again, but yet I managed to do so.

The unimaginable friend that went up a rank on the scale of friendship.

Thank you God for the amazing year of 2011

2012, you better beat 2011 FLAT.

Don't you dare end this year.

LIVING OVERSEAS : How I Got To Know Audrey Hepburn

2012-01-02T18:32:00.001Z

I WOKE up in the car to the sound of Mum saying “Okay, we‘re here!“

Totally oblivious to my surroundings, I had a huge question mark floating above my head.

“Where am I?“

A giant sign displayed in big bold letters, “Newbridge Silverware“.

I wondered why we drove more than 100km to see... silverware.

Then, the automatic glass doors parted and my eyes were drawn to a long, black marble staircase. It was eye-catching with glowing purple neon tubes at each step.
I climbed the brightly lit steps and entered a museum.

Not your typical museum with historical artefacts, but one filled with style icons and names that have graced the big screen such as Michael Jackson; Diana, the late Princess of Wales; and Marilyn Monroe. Their clothes, handwritten letters, newspaper articles, black and white photographs and props from movie sets were on display.

Then, there she was, displayed in all her glory, my namesake, Audrey Hepburn.

Many of her movie posters were framed on the wall. There were magazines with her face immortalised on their covers and even the Vespa she rode in her famous movie, Roman Holiday.

And then suddenly, a voice echoed through the hall.

A feeling of uneasiness came over me as there was no one else around. Then I discovered that the voice was coming from a little black speaker on the wall. It related the biography of Hepburn.

All I knew of Hepburn was that she was an incredibly attractive woman who became a famous star in her time.

My perception of her took a 180 degree turn when I learnt of the hardships that she had to endure.

She came from a broken family which left her traumatised as a child.

Food was scarce during World War 2 and she suffered malnutrition which resulted in anaemia, oedema and respiratory problems. However, she blossomed into a successful ballerina, a renowned actress as well as a humanitarian.

She famously said: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I‘m possible!“

As I stood there, taking in all her accomplishments and experiences while listening to her memoir, I realised that Hepburn is still highly respected for her unique personality and achievements.

Her presence had added so much flavour to the film industry and she would forever remain in the hearts of many.

Then I wondered: “What kind of legacy will I leave behind? Would I even be remembered?“

And most importantly, what would I want my life to speak of?

As a teenager, I do not dwell on these questions too much.

Someone once said: “When you pass away, your gravestone can only say so much. Your name, an epitaph and then the period of time that you walked on Earth. But the most important thing on that tombstone is that little dash between those years.“

Life is not based on how you begin or finish, but how you run the race.

I want to leave behind an inspiring and mind-blowing tale that even my great-grandchildren will talk about.

A legendary story that would leave them in awe, and hopefully, I would be a role model.

I do not want people to say: “I wish I had your life“. I want them to say: “I want to live life like she did“.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart.

The New Year (1994th post!)

2012-01-02T18:31:00.001Z

FIRST OF ALL

THIS IS MY 1994TH POST WOOO!!

(Since I was born in 1994)

Okay. Now to the post,

On the 30th of Dec the classmates decided to go over to Limerick for some ice skating! Obviously I love it and since it's the only time of the year Ireland has it, it's a must go. Despite its 12 euro fee and 1 hour entry (grrr), Was pretty fun and no butt falls ! Although those tended to be the fun parts :)

Sleptover at the Maglaque's and spent the first night engrossed into kpop stuff. Pranks were the itinerary for the night. Kesiah crept into my sleeping bag when I was gone and when I returned I didn't realise there was a creepy person beside me. 3 of us decided to prank Trent by all sleeping in his room on the floor but mission was aborted when he started to wake up HAHA.

Ended up zombifying till six in the morn.

New Years Eve Party

was held at the Maglaque's house after an awesome Praise Night at church. The countdown was spent by screaming and then stuffing our face with food. Hunger pangs. Hunger pangs.

Interesting conversations were held after midnight. Definitely was one crazy New Years Eve. Despite the 6am sleep once again.

Murli's birthday was held at a dance studio and it was several hours of pure dancing and boy did my jaw drop. Crazy breakers were swivelling across the floor, a popper there and a locker there. Dance battles breaking out and it was absolutely breathtaking. Not to forget, my eardrums probably died just by being there.

We all returned to Sam's to celebrate Murli's birthday. He had by far, the best birthday speech I've ever heard in my life. It went on for 2 hours. I'm not kidding. A personal message was spoken to each person that was at the birthday, and tears started to flow, hearts started to melt and it was definitely a memorable celebration.

Thank you Murli for inviting me to your birthday, and saying such things about me that made me melt on the inside.

Thank you Munya for driving me all the way home to Killaloe at 6am in the morning

Thank you Trent for lending your car so I was able to get back

Thank you Ath for accompanying me all the way home although you didn't have to

So there you go

3 days in a row, sleeping at 6 in the morning.

The Visit

2011-12-29T22:15:00.001Z

Ath got a bus down to my place in Killaloe for the very first time! (The joys of holidays!)

And to force ourselves to wake up due to lack of sleep, we went for a morning stroll around Killaloe in the freezing cold wind which eventually turned to rain. Pretty cool, I didn't realise that Ballina had new exercise machines and a basketball court! Proves how long I've been cooped up in school and home.

Since he was going to spend the entire day, we decided to do something he's never done before.

BAKE.

A cup of oil, a teaspoon of vanilla essence, a dash of cinnamon and 3 mega cups of grated carrots (no this isn't the actual recipe)

Was pretty fun teaching someone to bake, and it was even more fun since I have never baked this cake before!

And voila!

A mighty great tasting

carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

And yes there were no nuts thanks to his allergies (grr..I wanted walnuts and pecans)

It was really yummy :)

In all fairness, compared to the first time I baked (which ended in utter chaos and catastrophe) he was really good :)

Was a pretty awesome day, doing every random thing together, going grocery shopping, posting things at the post office, giving the chinchilla a bath, running in the rain or being couch potatoes together (I made him watch Korean dramas oh gosh..not the entire episode, I'm not that evil),

The joys of having holidays!

Today was definitely special.

Moody Much?

2011-12-28T21:28:00.000Z

"I Had A Bad Day"

You know, that song.

Never really thought I'd have that in my head

Started out the day extremely fine. Got dressed, and headed to the bus stop.

Waited for a while, a while stretched into a few minutes, a few minutes stretched to an hour.

Throughout the hour the weather just changed from

sun - rain - downpour- hailstones.

And if you know, most bus shelters, are practically USELESS.

Then when I thought things couldn't get worse, my iPod crashed for absolutely no reason.

Shelley and her friends were at the bus stop and I ended up sitting with Corey to Limerick.

Finally reached to spend some time with Ath and we managed to go to the Moody Cow this time! Since my usual order contained nuts which he'd die consuming, and his usual order had chocolate orange which I dislike, we decided to order something totally random

An unusual blend of Crunchie and SOUR Skittles.

That was one funky combination :D

It actually wasn't too bad hah!

Thanks for cheering me up although you were partly the reason I was upset :)

For feeding me when my stomach was on a rampage

And for guiding me through Limerick which I'm still able to get lost in!

I love you :]

Dublin all aglow

2011-12-27T22:36:00.000Z

Mum woke me up to say ' We're going up to Dublin today! '

Oh wow that rhymed. Teehee.

Anyway. We wanted to go up to see the lights with all the Christmas decorations,

I wanted to shop :]

Not to forget grab myself some Malaysian goodness by stopping by Charlie's one of the Malaysian restaurants in Dublin which served an amazing Nasi Lemak which is

boiled fragrant rice with chicken rendang with peanuts, sliced cucumber, fried egg together with onion and anchovy spicy sambal.

MMMHMMM...

And after 6 months without japanese food, my teeth finally sank into some yummy spicy salmon roe. So delish! The streets were filled with people, people who were ready to kill for bargains. Managed to get myself a new dress, a tub of Body Shop passion fruit body butter which smells oh-so-awesome and the Britney Spear's Midnight Fantasy perfume for only

40 EUROS!

And Dublin was definitely a brightly lit attraction

Especially this Christmas tree which couldn't decide on which colour it'd rather be :]

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T18:09:00.000Z

A hot bowl of creamy mushroom soup with crunchy cubed croutons.

Roasted turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, slices of ham, mashed potatoes with mushroom sauce with brusselsprouts and sliced carrots.

Mum outdid herself by cooking up a storm for us all.

And I dug my hands into the presents that were snuggling under the tree. Thank you to all those who gave me something this year :) Thank you to all those that wished me Merry Christmas. Thank you to the ones who sent me cards from Malaysia.

Catching up with people over Facebook and Skype

Oh the joy :)

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-24T23:02:00.000Z

On my first day of Christmas Holiday, mum and I headed down to Limerick for a mother daughter lunch with an awesome grilled panini filled with roast beef and melted cheese and a piping hot cup of Mocha!

The streets were absolutely crowded with people all attempting to complete their last minute Christmas crash shopping. Thankfully the weather was pretty good, as long as there's no rain, it's good :D

Then later on in the afternoon, met up with Athiei and walked around the town with him for the very first time (gasp). Well there was once during the summer, but that was just as friends. Was pretty fun, getting to see the different tastes we had in stuff, or him attempting to see if he could pick out outfits for me.

Then we hit the cinemas to catch the breathtaking Sherlock Holmes 2.

Rating : 8/10

If you loved the first one, you'll love the second. Filled with webs of confusion that made absolute sense. At first, this was to be a movie outing for Jamzone Youth but then due to lack of cash and transport it ended up a pretty amusing group.

A double date of Elton and Louise, Athiei and I.

Funneh.

Heh.

I enjoyed it though :) Athiei, thanks so much for spoiling me by paying for practically everything. Utterly and truly appreciated.

Christmas Eve was spent at Church together with the congregation as we sang Christmas carols, watched performances by the kids in the sunday school, and the receiving of a present or two, and the giving of a huge bag of presents. If I had my way, I'd definitely have given out more, but I hope all those that got something liked what they got

I even sang Silent Night in Malay.

Haha that was a pretty funny one.

Malam sunyi, malam suci

It's Christmas in Malaysia already (funny how I started getting wishes at 5pm today)

And it'll be Christmas in Ireland in an

HOUR!

Instant Sad Face!

2011-12-23T01:37:00.000Z

My secret santa finally sent her really tall elf, Roisin to deliver my Christmas present. Definitely the best present I've ever received on Christmas ever. I could just sense the love oozing out of the package. In the box there were FOUR gifts, all individually wrapped with little post-it notes stating the reasons why she got me the gifts.

We headed to the nursing home in Killaloe to sing them Christmas carols and it was such a heartwarming experience to see the smiles on their faces when we sang, or when they tapped their feet or sang along with us. It was definitely one unforgettable experience as we weaved in and out of the extremely homey nursing home.

When we returned to school, the Ceili (Irish dancing) was running in the hall. It was the first time I was present at the school ceili. Thankfully I wasn't all that clueless due to those random Irish set dancing classes in Transition Year. Although it was HILARIOUS, how most of us didn't even know what we were doing or who we were even dancing with (thanks to the rapid exchange of partners)

Best part is when Orla and I clunked our heads together doing a twirl at the same time. nice.

After school, a huge group of us headed down to Scoops as school ended at half 12 ! WOOO.

Now scoops has frozen yoghurt! Which was absolutely yummy (yes I was craving for something cold..weirdly it wasn't cold today in the midst of winter)! together with granola, blueberries and smashed maltesers.

Big thank you to Roisin for the treat!

Then a 'few' of us decided to crash at Darragh's house. This were just the amount of people on his bed, while the others were all scattered over in his room, possibly playing the guitar, singing at the top of their voices or exiling zombies on the computer screen.

INSTANT SAD FACE!

Or, taking a million photos? Think we easily snapped about 150 photos today. in an assortment of colour modes. It was a pretty awesome start to our two awesome weeks of Christmas holidays!

BRING ON THE PRESENTS PEOPLE (I kid)

Once again, thank you to Aisling

Your homemade chocolate pistachio fudge was extremely delicious, I felt like I flew to heaven.

The bejeweled A necklace was so beautiful

The tube of 36 flavoured jellybeans is AMAZING. Gosh.

And of course, THE RANDOM PENCIL HEADS ARE MINDBLOWING.

Thank you so much for such a thoughtful Christmas gift :)

Christmas Service in School!

2011-12-21T18:50:00.001Z

For the first time in my life, I went to a

SCHOOL Christmas service.

Definitely not something you'll find in Malaysia, oh no.

So for the past month or two, I've been going to choir practices for Christmas and the songs we sang had both the typically Christmassy ones such as 'O Holy Night' but there were some Modern mix ups like 'Fairytale of New York' and 'Winter Song' which was great.

Here's the classic Christmas song from The Snowman,

"Walking In The Air"

Together with harmonies and all :)

Here's Winter Song sung by Sarah McKeogh (left) and Fiona Meek (right) which is by far the best song that was sung ( to me of course ).

Should really listen to it! just don't watch the video cos it's crazy shaky.

Best part of this was, we got to have practically an entire day of school turned into a Christmas service! In the morning the primary schools came over to watch us and further on in the day we had our own St. Anne's students staring at our faces.

It was definitely fun with all the Santa hats and what not. We're even heading to the Nursing home tomorrow to sing em' some songs.

Oh, and I had a free BBQ-ed dinner thanks to the Killaloe Community Centre which is just 2 doors away from me, I could just smell them patties on the grill. Had a great time chatting away with Aisling, Darragh, Vanessa over scrumptious piping hot burgers :)

OH!

Meet my Secret Santa!

Who forgot my gift!!

A week to Christmas!

2011-12-18T18:25:00.001Z

Christmas trees fully covered with ornaments. Minced pies heating up in the oven and fairy lights around the room, we decided to light the place with candles for the Parents Night on Friday.

As I lit the final candle with utmost triumph,

A quirky stench filled the air...smelt like smoke..

But not just any smoke..

Till I realised,

MY HAIR WAS ON FIRE

Wessel's horrified face watching a section of my hair on fire, till I doused it.

That was definitely an interesting episode.

IT HAD AN ABOMINABLE SMELL. ugh.

Spent my weekend as usual with the Maglaque's.

It's crazy how retarded we can be, talking for hours over matters we don't even remember.

Like how hungry we are and all the different kinds food we wish we could have.

All of us as a worship team had to go up to Ennis for the African Concert and boy that was interesting. The last time I remember standing so close to humongous speakers was at Planetshakers concert 2006. You can literally feel the vibrations from the speaker, and I possibly went deaf for a few minutes.

But other than that we managed to get a free cup of hot cocoa from Johnny !

Not to forget I got to spend time with Ath :]

It was Johnny's birthday on Wednesday, and as our worship coordinator we passed around a card filled with many "endearing" birthday wishes. And he brought us out for a hearty tasty dinner of APACHE PIZZA. Four large pizzas were zapped up in no time.

Hope you had a great "EIGHTEENTH" birthday Johnny!

It's crazy how the roads are slowly but surely icing up, on the first day of ice, several victims of that cruel frozen water hurt their bums. I almost fell in to that list, but thank goodness I didn't, it felt like ice skating.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT,

I'VE DONE ALL MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

AND CHRISTMAS'S NEXT WEEK!!

(although..I feel like I should add more people to the list...pokailah!! (broke)

LIFE OVERSEAS: Magic of an Xmas fair

2011-12-18T15:55:00.000Z

SPREAD the love this Christmas. It is that time of the year again. That annual season full of cheer, happiness, giving and hopefully, snow (although impossible in Malaysia).

In Ireland, Christmas holds much importance and I look forward to the Christmas Fairs.

My family and I went to Galway which is famous for its Annual Continental Christmas Fair.

What is unique about the fair is that it has more than just the regular stalls.

People from across Europe sell all kinds of surprises.

This year, there is an assortment of French pastries, freshly brewed Italian coffee, Dutch baked pretzels and waffles, and even piping hot German sausages on the grill.

Then, I came across this bizarre sign stating Exotic Meats, with a price list below it.

It was a burger stall and, of course, I smelled the sizzling patties on the grill. But what made it “oh-so special“ was the main ingredient in those patties.

Kangaroo, venison, springbok and even bison burgers were available!

I took a chance on a bison burger and, boy, was it flavoursome. Topped with grilled onions, it was tender, juicy and each bite took you on a whole new adventure.

Aside from the fascination of food, there was a magical place that each child dreamed of — Santa‘s Grotto.

The grotto took the form of a quaint little cabin decorated in red and white in the middle of Eyre Square, Galway. Even giant candies were used as ornaments.

Children of all ages waited eagerly in line for their turn to have a one-on-one time with Santa — sit on his lap and tell him their ultimate Christmas present.

What startled me is these children truly believe in Santa until the age of about 11 — when their parents, a friend or a sibling burst their magic bubble.

I do not remember, as a child, believing in this burly man, who extraordinarily squeezes down that tiny, narrow chimney and drinks your milk and eats your cookies.

Do not even get me started on his flying reindeer and elves.

I was told the significance of Xmas and I knew my parents gave me presents which made more sense than a make-believe Santa.

As a child of nine, I wanted a manicure set with the works. As the years went by, the list included electronic items — a mobile phone or a laptop.

At the fair was an enchanting experience that everyone, who is a child at heart, would love — a ride on one of the horses or carriages in the grandly lit, merry-go-round.

My eyes lingered on it as if there was a magnetic pull to the revolving words in glittery gold at the top stating: “For your pleasure, to both young and old.“

But sadly, due to lack of companions who were feeling the same urge, I failed to satisfy my longing.

There were many visitors to the continental fair, despite the freezing cold weather with its unexpected showers of rain.

The crowd consisted mainly of families — father and mother with their little bundles of joy, buzzing around, completely captivated by the fair.

The stereotypical celebration of Christmas is shopping and more shopping. It is a feast consisting of the compulsory enormous roast turkey, Christmas pudding and minced pies.

What most people take for granted on Christmas Day is the importance of the family.

Sadly, being abroad makes it physically impossible for me to spend time with my siblings and this is when I realised my Xmas wish for the year — appreciate the loved ones around you by spending quality time together and let them know how precious they are to you.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart.

Feeling the Freedom..ish

2011-12-14T20:45:00.002Z

all the tests I've sat for since the beginning of the school year have been calculated and my grades have returned. It's actually the FIRST time I've ever received a proper grade in Ireland. And boy are they different from what I used to get in Malaysia.

English was an easy A back home.

Over here English has a standard so high that it's incomparable.

After experiencing the grading system for English here, I truthfully feel an A in Malaysia is equivalent to a C or a D depending on the person.

Not to forget 84 is a B and 69's a C in Ireland (sniff)

So grade averages?

Biology, Home Economics and Music - A

Accounting and Maths - B

English - C

Oh yeah.

I GOT A C FOR ENGLISH.

woop-dee-do.

As exams have ended, I was browsing through Facebook and realised that Joseph had a Youtube channel and was crazy shocked at the amount of subscribers he had! Decided to watch one of his videos and boy did this make me

laugh my head off.

(it's only funny to Malaysians or people who know Malaysian habits)

As Christmas awaits, the perfect gift to get that person becomes a mind-wrecking dilemma

(although, loving every single day thanks to him, it's actually weird how you can make my heart smile)

It's been such a great past two days. despite my slight sniffles, Was able to catch up with all several close friends from Malaysia.

Esther, Choon Thye, Damien, Cammie, Xing, Zhu En, Jon Lim, Jon Ho, Wei Yng, Shaun Chien.

Exchanging news and random talks. Ah I miss you guys.

And you Ken-Ji are not counted since we talk all the time HAHAH.

Ah Christmas.

Can't wait.

Although, it would be an crazy gift to be able to spend it with the Malaysians I love.

Just one day.

That'd be a dream come true.

A Christmas day filled with nasi lemak, cendol, roti canai. That would be an interesting one.

The Christmas Spirit

2011-12-12T22:09:00.000Z

Received my very first Christmas card today!

Yes it's a tad bit early. But better early than late isn't it?

From my beloved sister! Sonya who's currently in Sabah!

So it's the first time I've ever received something from East Malaysia woo (fascination)

Which then made me realise,

OH CRAP I BETTER SEND MY CARDS OUT NOW

(forgot it takes about 10 days to reach Malaysia..facepalm)

Normally I'd design my Christmas cards. but it's the first time I've ever gotten tests during Christmas season..So my time is spent hitting the books rather than cutting cards up making an utter mess out of my room.

Pity, i love decorating cards.

So yeah, over to the supermarket to get some cards to send out.

Translation from picture

Maaf no hadiah : Sorry there's no present,

I pokai di : I'm broke already

This card enough kan? : This card's enough right?

Bolehlah : Of course it's alright!

Gonna be posting em' to the post office tomorrow!

P.S. PROJECT MATHS, I DETEST THEE WITH A PASSION OF HATRED.

Never thought I'd dissect a sheep's heart.

2011-12-05T21:43:00.000Z

BIOLOGY CLASS

was the bomb.

When I grew up, I thought I'd one day grow up to dissect a frog (as usually done in Biology class back in Malaysia) but here, instead we dissected A SHEEP'S HEART. which was worth 97 cents. HAHAH. Sorry, but that was pretty pathetic, I expected it to be a crazy expensive thing to buy (yes we had to purchase our own hearts)

Fully equipped with a scalpel in one hand and a camera in the other, I began snapping photographs around the class (probably the first class I've ever snapped a photo in for this year). Was pretty hilarious seeing people posing with half opened hearts.

A little incision here, a little incision there. We explored the

wonderful world of ventricles, atria and blood vessels.

The best part was when we were required to identify the blood vessels by sticking your finger into each one to see where it led to. Sweet. Pretty gross and disgusting for the weak stomachs in the class.

But it was pretty fascinating.

(jabs heart with 5 flag labels while I'm at it)

Galway Christmas Fair 11

2011-12-04T19:48:00.001Z

After church together with mumsie and stepdad we headed down to Galway for their annual Christmas Fair! Last year I spent the time there together with cousin Rachel, this year, Athiei came along instead :)

Weather was rather wonky. A downpour, a sudden ray of sunshine and then hailstones would have probably fallen from the sky for all I knew. Thank you Uncle Mike for bringing us there and back in one piece :D

A Burger.

BUT NOT JUST ANY NORMAL BURGER

A BISON BURGER

I know...not exactly the typical thing to do. I like to try new things, particularly, food. I remember last year at this fair I tried the Kangaroo. Was actually looking forward to a crocodile burger but the guy said he was sold out this year (same with the last year). Poor Athiei reluctantly tried it and ended up liking it.

The French bakery from last year was here once more with their many assorted tarts which looked so saliva-dropping gorgeous. But one thing is, they definitely came with a price. Most of the stuff they sold was charged based on their weight. Although was mighty awesome. Thanks mum to buying all the scrumptious goodies.

The little kids had the golden opportunity to meet 'Santa'. A feat I never particularly accomplished. What I was used to was random Santas in the malls in Malaysia. Especially different races. One day you'd see a Chinese Santa and an Indian Santa at the next. Was pretty hilarious to be honest.

A Carousel a.k.a Merry-Go-Round was there. The child in me felt like just jumping into one of the seats and go round...and round... and round... BUT NOOOOO. Some people were just too 'grown up'.

(bloats face and pouts)

Loved every single minute I spent with you.

The laughter, the insults, the random chats, the half-dead times, the walking in the lashing cold rain with wind freezing every cell in my brain while you attempted to keep me warm.

Loved it.

LIVING OVERSEAS : Vanilla Ice Cream Saves The Day

2011-12-04T19:16:00.001Z

SEVERAL months ago, I discovered that both my bottom wisdom teeth were growing at a slant, or so I thought. If I chose to ignore them, they would cause damage to the neighbouring teeth.

A visit was paid to the dentist and I was told that an x-ray of my teeth was necessary.

“Please remove all your jewellery,“ ordered a nurse. Fumbling with my hands, I managed to take off my earrings.

Then, I approached a weird contraption with an irregularly shaped piece of plastic jutting out at the height of my mouth.

“Please bite the plastic,“ said the nurse in a monotonous tone.

As I did so, out of nowhere, a strange apparatus began to revolve around my head, circling like an alien spaceship.

Little did I know that it was the x-ray process because I expected to stand behind a huge rectangular screen before the x-ray was captured.

As I exited the room, the nurse handed me my x-ray film, which left me astounded as my wisdom teeth were not slanting, they were practically horizontal!

I decided to extract, not just my bottom two wisdom teeth, but the upper ones as well to avoid future problems.

The dentist then explained the entire procedure that would take place during the operation.

My gums would be sliced at all four corners, peeled back and the teeth extracted.

The surgery date was set, and she said “I‘ll see you soon!“ with a smile, displaying her two neat rows of pearly whites.

My nightmare began. All I could see was a shadow of a man with an evil smirk and a monstrous set of pliers heading for my mouth. Diabolical laughter drowned out my screams as he wrenched out my teeth.

Once, I even dreamt that the procedure was performed without general anaesthesia.

After many dreadful nights, it was the date of my appointment, my doomsday.

As I registered my name and sat down in the waiting room, nervousness overwhelmed me and I did not even realise when my name was called.

Up the elevator I went, to the first floor, bed no. 26. I changed into a blue hospital gown made of paper. I stared in horror at a girl as she was pushed into the ward on a gurney. Her face was so swollen it was as if she was attacked by a hive full of bees.

What made it worse was I had to undergo the same surgery. I have had a glimpse of my future, and would have loved to escape from it.

But before I could run out the door, my name was called.

With my hair caught up in a cap and little plastic bags covering my shoes, I entered the operating theatre.

Everything went lightning fast from then on.

One nurse took my blood pressure while a doctor attempted to find a vein on my left hand.

As a needle pierced my skin, I figured the worst was over.

Then I felt another needle in my right arm which turned out to be thrice as painful.

Things started to swirl, my eyes went blurry and I was out cold.

When I finally fluttered my eyes open, I was drowsy and my numbed mouth was stuffed with blood-soaked gauze.

Yet, there was a feeling of triumph as the wisdom teeth were finally gone, thanks to a caring Irish dentist with fantastic bedside manners.

However, the highlight of the day was when I saw a glorious bowl of vanilla ice cream in front of me.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart.

Speak it, Believe it, Win it.

2011-11-30T20:04:00.002Z

With trembling hands with 9 brightly coloured flashcards. Typed out neatly in separate paragraphs with individual headings, I headed out to Ennis together with Sean, Claudia and Ms. Mcdonnell.

Mental Health Ireland was having their Public Speaking Competition for Secondary school students. A month ago when I heard about it, I wondered that it would be handy to try and boost my self esteem, thus I entered it mainly with the aim to get my head around speaking in front of a crowd.

As I went with expectations of overcoming my fear, I returned with a much greater reward. Who knew that we would actually return being the champion in Co. Clare. Of course, this isn't the National Finals and in fact there's still the Regionals and the Semi-finals to go through ( by God's grace if I even get there )

It was definitely an interesting experience. Of course I felt the swarm of butterflies in my stomach, but at least I managed to keep them in there without flying out of me. Big thank you to Ms Mcdonnell for spending so much time giving us tips and pointers of how to improve ourselves and also to Claudia for jumping in the place of Ronia just over the last weekend.

And obviously,

Big thank you to GOD for giving me the ability to accomplish what I just did :)

Also! The auditions for the lead parts for the musical I'm in, Beauty and the Beast will be next week!

Unfortunately thanks to me being a girl and my age, the only possible roles to try out for are

Belle (The main character who must have a flawless voice and superb acting skills) and Babette (the silent flirtatious feather duster).

Hahaha this is going to be interesting.

Just gonna try auditioning for both, not hoping for much, but hey, who knows ;)?

Munster Youth Tralee

2011-11-27T16:27:00.000Z

Munster Youth made its way down to Tralee this time. A bus full of people with one thing in common, loving Jesus. So from Ennis to Shannon to Limerick to Adare picking people up on the way and finally arriving at Aquadome in Tralee. First time our 'games' time for Munster Youth was turned into a splashy event in the Aquadome.

I didn't participate in the water due to a purse full of moths. But as I've gone before with my class I already knew what it was like. The long winding water slide that stated the speed of your swoosh down, and you could even try a million times to beat your own score.

Instead, the people who didn't go swimming ended up just chilling in the cafe and for my case, snapping photos (with permission from the administration mind you) And I had to make sure that I took no other people who weren't part of our group or else I'd be in HUGE trouble. We even got little plastic bags to cover our shoes in case we slipped on the watery parts.

We arrived at the church, set up, got something to eat, and had a great time of worship. Well, for me at least. The message was given by Rob, who talked about Love. About how the world's definition love is so unstable, nothing like God's love. The world's love is all about lust, what's in it for me, whereas God's love is all about true love with sacrifice and it doesn't change. Love isn't just a feeling. It's more than that.

Had an awesome time on the 2-3 hour bus ride to and fro. Thankfully the pills stopped me from hurling (woooo!) Had a great time together with everyone :) Best part was smuggling all the hot food onto the bus. Can you believe we got a whole lasagna for 2 euro. SuperValu's awesome. Big thank you to Ath for that and especially the Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

I love you :)

Christmas is around the corner.

Christmas Fairs, Lights, Colours, Winter is coming soon!

Fiddler On The Roof

2011-11-24T19:36:00.000Z

Just last night, myself, mum and Uncle Mike went to Cistercian College in Roscrea.

Their musical was advertised in the paper and they were putting on

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

At first, it didn't ring a bell and I was wondering...what kind of musical IS this?

Then mum started humming some of the songs and suddenly there were a hundred bells ringing in my head. The worst part was I recognised the songs but had no clue WHY I knew them.

According to mum, she played them loads when I was a kid.

There was a huge cast and they were superb! It was definitely the best student musical I've ever seen. Every singer had their own unique fabulous voice. The main lead, the father was the most enthusiastic person with a fake Russian accent too (as needed for the musical). They even had a live orchestra with a piano, drums, violins, violas, cellos, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets and even cor anglais!

Oh yes, it's a private boarding school, thus things were rather classy.

But the best part had to be that..It was an all-boys school.

As the main cast consisted of a mother and 5 daughters...

They were all boys as well.

Never did I think I'd see several guys frolicking around in dresses, with pink cheeks and hot red lips.

But the best was when one of them had to wear a wedding dress :)

Breaking Dawn Part Uno

2011-11-20T23:55:00.000Z

As Breaking Dawn Part One finally hit the cinemas, the urge to watch it was just there and definitely, Taylor Lautner played a huge role in that desire hahahahah! I still remember the craze I had over Twilight when everyone was just reading it in school, all morning and night. And when Eclipse came out, Breaking Dawn was all I wanted to see.

Sadly movie wasn't exactly THE BEST, you know how books always beat movies...but ah it was all good

But the best part was that I got to drag Ath to see it with me. A movie that he would have never even imagined of seeing but yet he did. Hanging out the entire day together, a rare opportunity indeed thanks to us living practically an hour away. A bus ride down, chomping down KFC and that awesome Krush ems' Milkybar shake.

I had an awesome date :] Thanks hun.

Big thank you to Orla as well for giving me a lift back :) Wouldn't have been able to go if it wasn't for you.

LIFE OVERSEAS : Me, myself & Minnie Mouse

2011-11-20T16:52:00.003Z

IT was a Saturday, though not the typical lazy day where you remained in your pyjamas till the sun went down.

Instead, it was spent out in the beautiful sunshine at the Transformation Limerick event.

What is this exactly? Its name is self-explanatory. Limerick is a county in Ireland and the event is to transform the area into a better place to live in.

There was a variety of programmes to entertain the crowd.

Some people expressed themselves through song and dance about how life could be rejuvenated. There were live testimonies about how even after 20 years of drug addiction, it was possible to press the restart button.

Other attractions included a barbecue competition, games for the elderly such as bingo, face painting by clowns and a talent contest.

While I was nibbling my free piping hot barbecued food, I overheard an interesting conversation.

“No! I certainly am not going to dress up as a mascot!“ Apparently, the organisers were looking for volunteers to dress up as cartoon characters to entertain the children.

Not letting a great opportunity slip by, I found myself offering my services.

I put on a black full body suit with to an extraordinarily large red dress decorated with white polka dots.
To complete the outfit, I put on a bulky polyfoam head with a bright big bow in the middle and two jumbo-sized black ears.

It was as if I had stepped through a portal to a new world. My sight had diminished to about five per cent, the ability to speak was gone and I was clutching onto my guide‘s arm.

Young high-pitched voices screaming “It‘s Minnie Mouse!“ were heard from every direction.

A group of curious children began taunting me by poking me, trying to see up my breathing holes and demanding for my real name.

Another group of mischievous rascals seemed to have come up with a diabolical plan to murder me. One of them literally ran off with my “head“.

They later ran up to me for a hug and posed for photographs, which made the torment worthwhile.

All I was required to do was smile (it was impossible to change Minnie‘s face anyway) and wave. A tiny innocent baby even landed in my arms.

Then, things started to get interesting. All the mascots were called onto the stage to dance.

As peculiar as it seemed, I was not overcome by nervousness.

This was truly unusual compared to the normal butterflies in my stomach when facing a crowd. In contrast, excitement coursed through my veins.

Embarrassing choreography such as the Macarena and an assortment of moves from the 70s surfaced during the dance.
Despite a kid throwing fruit at us, I was in my element and enjoyed every second.

Then, the music ceased. Just as Cinderella had to leave the ball and return to where she belonged, so did I. The plastic ears and the suit came off, replaced by my jeans and T-shirt.

My thoughts on mascots altered after experiencing being one first-hand. Under the headgear, a mystery was all I was, an anonymous person who had no fear of expressing herself.

The need to live up to expectations disappeared and my prime concern was to make the children smile.
For one hour, I was unrecognisable to the crowd and even to myself.

I grinned as I discovered my different facets.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart.

modnar is random backwords.

2011-11-16T23:47:00.000Z

It's actually fascinating to see how a relationship status can cause a flooding of facebook notifications over a day or two. Not saying I hate the attention ( it was pretty exhilarating seeing all the random comments especially from those who should be studying due to their SPM exams ahem!)

I really should get off Facebook more.

Blame the Blackberry, it's a walking Facebook!

And every second for the past few days have been utter bliss :)

Just realised I have not really blogged about this little guy.

So here's

HACHIKO

The latest addition to the family, a 9-week-old Labrador pup which is the definition of adorable

He's been named after Hachiko, the dog that was a legend in Japan for being possibly the most loyal dog on earth.

Hachi means 8

Ko means prince

Fun facts :]

Sorah's & Charmaine's 18th

2011-11-13T19:00:00.000Z

Charmaine and Isorah

celebrated their 18th birthday together looking like absolutely gorgeous princesses. It was like a wedding literally! Flower girls, a guy by their side, 20 full tables of guests with decorations galore at Oakwood Arms.

Thanks to Isorah, I was invited :]

The wallpaper of photoshooting. Took a million photos of random poses the entire time while we were waiting outside the ballroom. Mostly my camera managed to get entirely flooded with photographs of both Stuey and Shep.

Finally more and more guests began to fill up the room and we were assigned to our respective tables..although we kept table hopping and some tables were awkwardly overcrowded while others looked rather empty.

Racist jokes began to start among ourselves, you know how you can somehow get away with insulting your own race, since you're indirectly insulting yourself and it ends in laughter anyway. Did loads of catching up with friends I haven't seen for awhile, and made new ones as well :)

The dances began to start and since there were two birthday girls, both of them did it together at the same time. And as the tradition goes, 18 Roses represent the 18 closest guys.

and Charmaine's 18th rose : Jhuly

Isorah's 18th rose on the other hand was Gustav! The dances were just so heart melting, so many of the songs chosen were some of my favourites. Especially So Close - Jon McLaughlin from Enchanted. Ah my eyes were tearing up.

FINALLY FOOOD!

Our rumbling tummies were extremely satisfied with the range of food that was provided there.

Sitting between Shep & Stuwey, I kept hearing the words, " I miss my girl " which didn't exactly make me feel all that happy either cos then I started to miss someone else. So basically 3 of us were just moping there like rabbits. Funny rabbits.

The princess cakes came out and the change of dresses as well. they changed their dresses THRICE throughout the night. Imagine that!

Now it was time for the 18 Candles - representing the 18 closest girls to the birthday girls.

I was honoured to be chosen as one of Isorah's candles. A short 1 minute speech of our friendship and how awesome the birthday girl is and one by one all the candles were blown.

The dance floor was opened and the music was abooming. Suddenly I felt two cold hands covering my eyes from behind. People advised me not to fidget. I heard Shep's voice and figured out he was the one behind me, which added all the more to the utmost confusion.

When his hands left, and I opened my eyes, Athiei was there, who previously told me he wouldn't even come :) So yeah, an awesome possum surprise.

Dancefloor was hilariously fun as I loveeee dancing. All the more when you're with crazy friends as well. Watching the other people dance was pure entertainment as well. Some were really really hilarious. Some were extremely good at dancing though. You just wondered how people could just dance so effortlessly!

Unfair.

Then Ath asked the words which made me go all tomatoey-red. And I said yes. And so, it's official. I'm going out with Ath. A big thank you for Shep who planned the dance for us at the end of the party. Pushing both of us out on the dance floor while making everyone else leave it and changing the disco music to a slow song. Never ever have I had something so romantic.

Here's to a whole new beginning.

Leaving the past behind.

Embracing the present.

Expecting the future.

12th November 2011.

LIVING OVERSEAS : On a culinary adventure

2011-11-08T11:40:00.002Z

AUDREY CHEW ERNERN gets creative in the kitchen when her mum is away WHEN a tourist arrives in Malaysia, the typical agenda is sightseeing and probably soaking in the sun for the highly dreamed of tan. But if a tourist asks a Malaysian the million-ringgit question, “What is Malaysia famous for?”, what will be his answer? The internationally famous Petronas Twin Towers?

The heritage city of Malacca? Or will he be a true Malaysian and state the No.

1 thing we hold dear to our hearts? A simple word that unites us all — “food”.
Ask any Malaysian who is studying or living abroad and one of the main items on their wish list is food. For example, mouth-watering Kajang satay, Ipoh chicken rice, 1m-long roti tisu, or that famous rojak at the hawker stall down the street.

Over here in Killaloe, Ireland the closest you can get to a taste of home is stir-fried chicken with non-spicy satay sauce. But thanks to the hard-working and wise entrepreneurs here, Asian supermarkets are available. Choices are limited but your eyes will light up when you spot a packet of Milo three-in-one sachets.

I emigrated to Ireland with my mother and, as we all know, nothing can substitute for mum’s cooking. But for the past six dreadful weeks, mum has had the time of her life in Malaysia while I started my fifth year in high school.

My first week was spent scavenging through the freezer for leftovers. After every corner has been thoroughly searched for frozen meals, I had to face reality. I had to cook. Proper planning was essential as time was of the essence. Returning home from school at four with lots of homework added to the burden.

I started by organising a weekly menu. Home-grown lettuce was a bonus.

Next, going through the larder was an interesting adventure, especially when some spices toppled over and made a mess. Sneakily, my eyes wandered over to the cupboard filled with instant noodles but I figured they would not be an ideal menu for six weeks in a row. Squiggly noodles would be coming out of my ears by then.

So, conducting experiments in the kitchen became my daily routine. There were successes and catastrophes.

First on the menu was rice with oyster sauce chicken and stir-fried vegetables.

The pan began to sizzle too much and I had poured in too much water.

On the upside, it became soup, which tasted fairly palatable.

The light bulb in my head flickered on and I had the idea to add egg noodles into the soup.

Some vegetables followed suit and I topped it off by cracking a fresh egg into the boiling hot soup.

And there it was, my pride and joy, a bowl of home-made yee mee (minus the clay pot).

Cooking has changed from being a chore to a treat, especially with wonderful recipes from the Internet and all those convenient pre-packed sauces.

Who knew that the wonders of kuah asam pedas were just a sachet away?
Then, I realised I did not just miss Malaysian food, but all the food available in Malaysia.

A choice of three types of cuisine in a day is eventful. For instance, nasi lemak for breakfast, rice with sweet and sour fish for lunch and tandoori chicken for dinner.

And as Japanese food is one of my favourites, I ate sushi, which I made, with a grin on my face while my classmates munched on their rolls of bread for lunch.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart. Email her at audreychew94@hotmail.com

Read more: LIFE OVERSEAS: On a culinary adventure http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/LIFEOVERSEAS_Onaculinaryadventure/Article#ixzz1d74warTr

Allo? ALLO!?

2011-11-07T23:59:00.001Z

Aisling facebook-ed me yesterday asking if I would like to watch a play at the University of Limerick. To make it even more interesting was that I would know two of the people in the play. Since it was 4 euro per person, just gave it a go.

Met up with Julie there as well :)

Darragh came along as well. At least I knew there was another person going out on a "school" night. (pfft)

It wasn't the usual hall I would have gone to when watching musicals in UL. It was a lecture hall fitting about 50 people?

There was even free tea, coffee, biccies and orange juice during intermission!

All inclusive of 4 euro.

When using the vending machine, it dropped two chocolate bars instead of one.

AWESOME :]

Only worked when I did it hahaha!

The play was ALLO ALLO. Which was basically a scene in France being infiltrated by the Germans.

Some of the French accents were superb. but the German accents were just hilarious to listen to.

Jared was in the play! Which I had not known before

The woman I went to see was Vanessa! It was hilarious to see those awkward moments as she's a french maid in the cafe.

The awkward moment when they're all over each other...waiting for then next scene to commence when it just doesn't.

Ah the awkward face on her :]

You guys were great!

P.s. just found out i have tests throughout the entire week. NICE. -.-

Baskets, Kids, Birthdays, what's not to love?

2011-11-06T22:11:00.000Z

Who knew that one day I would go to a basketball camp. In my entire life I've never step foot into a sports camp or anything similar to it (cheer not included). But by some weird force of nature, I became a helper at a children's basketball camp which was run by my church !

It was a wonderful adventure being able to just hang out with the kids, teach them how to never give up and give them constant encouragement. But the best part was when they taught me how to believe in myself. After much pleading, they managed to pull me in to play a game of knockout.

And miraculously, I did shoot some hoops.

Who knew :)

Ireland was having one of its happy days as the sun was just shining above us. Made things all the more awesome when G pulled down the hood of his convertible and blasted his music till the whole neighbourhood knew of our existence :)

Bonded loads with Godwin and Jojo and big up to Godknows for buying sparklers!! I've never played with them since the last Chinese New Year in Malaysia. Although dragon bombs and more were absent, who can not stare in awe at the beauty of shooting sparks!

Wessel had his Italian themed 21st birthday in church and it was magnificent! The decorations, the cake, the food, the atmosphere, the people.

And most importantly

THE FOOD

(yeah I know I've already stated this one)

Spaghetti and macaroni with handmade meatballs and bolognaise sause.

Oven-toasted garlic bread

Sliced up tomatoes, lettuce, onions and feta cheese with Italian dressing

Amaretto and Biscotti

Bread sticks

Sliced Baguette with balsamic vinegar

Cheese puffs

Pesto

Pizza

Ice cream

Somehow our table ended up with all the Asians. and the occasional Polish (Kamil)! It was hilarious. We had our never ending racist jokes. Which yes, I should really stop. I made a deal with me, myself and I to try and cut down on the sarcasm. Meh.

Cover of Jessie J - Who You Are
Kesiah and Godknows had a surprise performance for Wessel and this didn't really have any practice as G made the rap just 10 minutes before the party :)

There was SOOOOOOOOOOO much more to update about. Like Jamzone, Wildlife, Sunday School Teacher's Training and going up to Ennis to join their youth group for that day. But time is lacking and I really should focus on more important things, like packing my school bag.

[nerd mode]

outs!

Youth Citizenship Awards 11 - Love and Pizza

2011-11-03T02:45:00.001Z

Boarded the bus with a bunch of humans on the journey to Dublin to support the Killaloe Community Youth Centre Group as they made it to the top 10 finals in Ireland for the Youth Citizenship Awards! Awesome bus buddy was Aisling, which I haven't seen in ages. And basically the ride was spent screaming and singing all the way there.

We arrived to an extremely congested and claustrophobic place as the other 9 teams brought many supporters along with them as well. Best part was that the doors to the auditorium wasn't even open yet thus, MORE CONGESTION!

The actual people involved in the Killaloe group (minus all we screaming supporters with awesome handpainted banners I must add) and they're team had focused their project on Domestic abuse and how 1 in every 5 families in Ireland experience it. They had earlier in the year launched an art exhibition expressing their concern and it was pretty awesome.

These was all of us! I am proud to say I hand painted two of those banners (just 2 hours before the bus ride). And the groups name was NRG by the way. Which sounded more like ENERGY. haha It was great craic getting to know new people around.

Finally the doors were opened and we saw the magnificent stage and it felt like I was at the Kids Choice Awards or something (first time I've ever gone to this kind of event). Music was ablasting, and you could see all the other teams just settling down bringing their own banners and such.

Despite our group having one of the least supporters, we were definitely by a landslide, the noisiest group around. We stomped, cheered, sang, stood up, danced, did our own Mexican waves and caused the most havoc! So proud to be part of that group :D

Special performances came after every interval and little did I know I'd ever get to see Jedward live. They're the famous Irish twins with their famous hairdos, who were one of the winners of X Factor. Never fancied them, but felt cool anyway being able to see them live. Their voices were fine, but I got to say their dance moves were ALL OVER the place.

Ryan Sheridan

who was a terrific singer with his guitar and his partner was terrific on the cajon!

His hands were just moving at lightning speed and it was an amazing performance.

DANCE GROUP FLAWLESS!

Definitely my favourite performance out of the three. I was absolutely blown away by their moves and who knew I would get to see one of the finalists of Britain's Got Talent!

I managed to catch their video of the dance so here ya go!

After watching all the 10 videos of each teams review of their projects. They were all amazing to say the least. One group even raised 25,000 euro and went to Zambia to help out the children there! That was definitely WOAH. But the winner was the

ATTIC FOROIGE YOUTH CAFE

We cheered on for Orla, our beautiful spokeswoman, even after the results were announced.

Definitely the best supporters our group had :]

There was a disco at the end of the event and this was definitely the first time I've actually been to one. Well I've gone for dancing and stuff, which was similar to I.U. Day back home with the dancefloor. But it was pretty fun, since I was with Ais and the gang. Other than that...many of the others were so young (I felt so old gosh)

Felt extremely freaked out when a 14 year old asked me if I could meet him.

Meet in Irish terms mean, lock lips.

Ugh.

(shudders)

Even the idea of 'meeting' someone you don't even know makes me wanna puke.

But anyway, the dancing was great fun :]

Main humans I hung out with for the day made it extra hilarious :]

It's 2.40 am and I gotta get up at 8 so, yes I better hit the sack.

Photos all up on Facebook!

Man the last time I did these kind of elongated posts was AGGGEESS ago.

(happy smile)

Playing A Different Role.

2011-11-01T22:31:00.000Z

Never knew I'd wear the very uniform I wore when I was 14 in Cheer 2008 Malaysia again. As it was Halloween decided to take it out of the closet and YES I CAN STILL FIT. (wipes sweat off forehead). Realised how much I missed cheerleading and even started to watch Youtube cheer videos from this years competition.

Went out with mumsie today and got some school shoes for me :) The typical wet Irish weather has been wrecking my shoes and they've become rather holey. Decided to try out the new Italian restaurant that opened opposite Eddie Rockets in The Crescent and it was absolutely delicious!

THE CALAMARI WAS SO GOOD. Cheesy pesto sauce. mmmmm.

Oh..and the warm melty chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream made you feel all happy inside.

Then the legendary moment when I wore the 3D glasses over my own glasses (awkward to the max) to watch the best historical movie ever. It was produced the year I was born, and now it's making its comeback.

THE LION KING.

Together with mum, I travelled back to my childhood, one of my favourite movies of all time. I remember picking that movie when I was undergoing my thumb amputation to watch in the hospital.

Laughed till my tummy ached, the fact that I knew bits and pieces of the script and all the songs too. Was just extremely fun.

P.s. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE VOICE OF ZAZU = MR BEAN!?

Oh yeah, updates on my surgery!

My face has thankfully gone down to its original size.

Chewing is still done by my two front teeth, but occasionally using my molars.

Medication intake is coming to an end tomorrow (cheers)

The pain has subsided as well. Well if I was able to open my mouth that wide to take that photo, it's becoming much better.

If you look closely you can see the stitches !

Couldn't capture the top stitches though :]

Hope I grossed you out.

Toodles, noodles.

Chipmunk faced

2011-10-28T23:00:00.000+01:00

Had a hilarious time with woman Chia Sing. The last time I skyped with her was months ago. Had to show her my chipmunk face. No that is not the way we normally pose, but as my face is naturally that fat now, might as well put it to good use and put all you lala's to shame that attempt in making your face puffy.

WHY DO YOU WANT A BLOATED FACE REALLY?

And yes I am making absolutely no effort in making my face that balloony.

That's what wisdom teeth surgery does to your face.

Ath's Birthday & Me wisdomless?

2011-10-27T22:51:00.000+01:00

Since a year ago, the trailer was on the screen and I had always wanted to watch Real Steel. I didn't even know it was out in Ireland till Ken-Ji told me he had seen it. Since it was Athiei's birthday, we headed to Omniplex for a movie and thanks to it being a weekday, the cinema was half empty! Thus, awesome seats!

Movie was awesome. Action and the Aww. moments between father and son :]

Definitely a recommended movie to catch !

Headed for a scrumptious dinner after that at Spice of India. Sizzling tandoori chicken on a hot plate, together with delicious curry and Pilau rice with some poppadoms by the side. The place was lovely and it's the first time I've actually sat down in an Indian restaurant here.

All I've ever gotten was takeaway :D

Hope you had a great birthday Ath :] Hope you liked the present, the card and the chocolate tiffin which I made sure had no nuts. HAH. Wouldn't want you rushing to the hospital on your birthday.

And thanks for the meal, which you were not supposed to pay for, it was your birthday!

And big thanks to Mumsie and Uncle Mike for bringing me there and bringing us back

So those who have been reading my blog, I discovered while I was in Malaysia that my Wisdom teeth were growing at a peculiar angle. Not exactly like the tooth above, but 100% horizontal. which was way worse. After many appointments and an x-ray, my doomsday finally arrived.

Mumsie brought me down to Barrington's Hospital and after I was admitted into the ward she went home. Little did I know I had to wait for AGES till I could be operated on. Finished my math homework and actually wished I brought more. Made a new friend around my age in the ward too who had a similar situation with me.

Then, with hair all neatly piled up in a cap, with shoes covered in plastic, I was brought on to the operating table, As the doctor pierced a hole through my left arm to give me the drip containing the general anaesthetic, he complained that I had no vein there. SO he repierced my right hand.

SERIOUSLY? TWICE??

I hate needles okay. with a passion. And soon things began to become hazy and everything went blank.

Woke up a little groggy and with a mouth of a bloated chipmunk. Half my face was numb and I couldn't feel a single thing. A wonderful tray of mushy food was placed in my face and boy was it yummy. I hadn't eaten since the night before and I was starving! A bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream, a banana and a pot of berry yoghurt.

You know how hard it is to eat when you can't even feel the spoon go in your mouth!

Thanks mummy for coming :)

Athiei paid me a surprise visit as he was in town. Thank you so much for coming, truly appreciate it although I looked like little miss bloated with blood dripping out. Ugh. Thanks for calming down and helping me to walk (was so...dizzy).

Oh and and for a while, my pronounciation was hilarious

all my Ps were Fs.

all my Bs were Vs.

was some funny stuff.

Elthiei's birthday

2011-10-23T18:34:00.000+01:00

Church was on today and thank God for unblocking my nose during praise and worship. I sounded so nasal during practice, for the least, I'm feeling great ! Had a great weekend and even got to make a new friend, Grainne, which came down all the way from Dublin.

We spent the night at Macdonald's just laughing our guts out. Never had that moment since Malaysia.

After church we had a birthday party for both Elton (19 Oct) and Athiei (26 Oct).

A delicious chocolate cake with ..seven candles? Ah who cares!

Of course you don't expect just to have cake for lunch did you? A scrumptious spread of assorted cuisines. That's the best part about coming from a multicultural church. We had salad, sausages, rice, sweet and sour chicken, chicken curry, some sort of chicken with rice yet it's not rice dish which was absolutely delish! and 3 whole chickens. Yes I realise, there's only chicken. Hahah!

The gorgeous pavlova smothered in fresh cream and assorted berries with scattered nuts.

Was the most sickeningly sweet to-die-for dessert :)

To bad for those who was allergic to nuts! haha.

THREE MORE DAYS TO MY DOOM :]

LIVING OVERSEAS : Grease weaves its magic

2011-10-22T22:13:00.000+01:00

AUDREY CHEW ERNERN shares her experiences as both a cast and audience member of Grease

GOOSEBUMPS popped out like daisies while I sat in the sixth row from the stage at Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.

From the stalls to the upper circle, hundreds of people were filling up the venue to check out Grease, the highly acclaimed musical. As music played, the curtains began to rise. We clutched our popcorn and soda, and there stood the captivating cast.

The legendary musical of 1971 tells a tale of the unresolved summer love between bad boy Danny Zuko and the girl next door Sandy Dumbrowski. It even made its way to Hollywood and starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
As summer ends, neither Zuko nor Dumbrowski knows that fate brings them to the same school. This leads to teenage rebellion and an emotional roller-coaster ride.

As the drama is set in 1959 and Elvis Presley was the idol then, the guys appear with locks slicked back with gel, ever ready with a comb in their back pockets in case of a hair crisis.

Mary Jane heels are all the rage as the girls prance around in matching poodle skirts and cinch belts to accentuate their hourglass figure.

What made this musical even more exceptional was that Irish star Mary Byrnes, one of The X Factor 2010 finalists, played the role of Teen Angel.

The crowd went delirious as she appeared glowing in a white suit with a silver sequinned collar and a matching fluffy white wig.

As the cast danced and sang their hearts out, the audience were engrossed and you could even hear them singing along and grooving in their seats.

I was guilty of both as I know all the lyrics by heart because my school, St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe staged Grease last Christmas and I was a part of the cast.

A smile began to appear on my face as I reminisced the months spent on rehearsals every day after school.

There were many firsts for me.

It was the first time that sheets of lyrics had to be memorised. The need to make sure my voice carried meant that sore throats became a norm.

It was also a time for making friends with people of all other ages and who I rarely meet in school.

Next, bringing an extra pair of sport shoes to school was mandatory as the cast prepared to be grilled by the dance instructor.

Then, we had to learn more than 10 dances for the songs. These dances had to be synchronised as a troupe but what made it all the more challenging was that we had to sing the nonsensical “rama-lama-lama-ka-ding-a-da-ding-de-dong” from the song We Go Together. We were practically out of breath due to the dance moves as it were.

But all the worries and fatigue vanished when we had to stage four shows in the school hall with hundreds of eyes on us.

The feeling was just magical and unexplainable.

The act of getting out of one outfit into another and scrambling onto the stage in time brought about an adrenaline rush.

When the standing ovations never seemed to come to an end, we knew that our hard work had paid off and the performance was going to be a lasting memory.

The knowledge that we would go back to our daily routine after our final bow was heartbreaking.

But this time round, I was in the audience and I was able to relive the memorable experience and I envied the cast.

The members are going to do this again today, tomorrow and many more days to come.

The performing arts is a tough option to venture into and I can only imagine the joy and satisfaction after every performance.

But there is one thing I can absolutely relate to.

Grease is, without a doubt, the word.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart. Email her at audreychew94@hotmail.com

Read more: LIFE OVERSEAS: Grease weaves its magic http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/LIFEOVERSEAS_Greaseweavesitsmagic/Article#ixzz1bXyxKMny

George's and Sarah's Knot.

2011-10-21T16:59:00.001+01:00

At the Howth Presbyterian Church in Dublin, decorated with delicate pink and white petals scattered all across the isle. with ribbons hung high with lace and all sorts.

A beautiful, memorable wedding was to be held.

The wedding of George and Sarah finally arrived and I was honoured to be invited by them. I knew George through all the Munster Youth worship practices we had, but being invited to his wedding was such a surprise and it's officially the first Irish wedding I've ever been to :]

All dressed to impress, the people started flooding in. Guys in their suits, girls shivering in their dresses and thin scarves. Isn't it so unfair how guys can look smart and terrific yet wear 3 layers of clothes and girls can't exactly pad up on a dress.

A few of the guys from Ennis were there like Stewie who looked absolutely dashing in his bright green star earring, which should have been pink, because we all know that's Patrick Star's true colour.

Sven, Bright and a few new friends were made that day as well :).

The ceremony started and there were memory verses being said. Especially the exceedingly famous "Love is patient..Love is kind.." Three great worship songs were sang, my favourite : "Your Love Never Fails".

Vows were said, which led people to tears, and rings were exchanged.

And the much awaited moment finally arrived, which was definitely longer than a second. Cheers were made, photographs were snapped as if from a giant crowd of paparazzi and they finally walked back down the isle, with the background music of Stolen by Dashboard Confessional, hand in hand as

Mr. and Mrs O'Callaghan.

At first, I wasn't invited to the dinner but thanks to a certain special someone, I was put on the list!

They had tables categorised into different varieties of chocolates such as Praline, Chocolate Caramel and so on. They had a cute plate of assorted chocolates displayed for us to eat.

They even had your name written down on your own personal card!

Sadly Godknows and Shepherd's card remained there with cold seats beside them as both of them were unable to make it to the wedding..Well we ate their share anyway. Snigger.

The appetizer of Chicken Mushroom Vol-au-Vent came which was extremely scrumptious and creamy. and the puff pastry was fluffy an

A bowl of hot creamy soup with croutons came and sadly for some reason I began to start feeling full.

I KNOW WHAT A WASTE. If only there was a gadget that just jump started your appetite in a second.

I for some reason forgot to take a photograph of the main course which was sliced meats with a side of potatoes and vegetables. The usual Irish dinner. and an assortment of dainty little desserts arrived.

A tiny meringue with a strawberry, a square of cheesecake, a mini cream puff and a chocolate biscuit wafer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Speeches were made and stories were heard, and soon after everything was over it was a time for the dance of the newlywed couple. Something I've not seen at a wedding before so it was just magical. Was definitely a night to remember. Heart's left in a puddle by the time I reached home.

Lastly, a big thank you to Louise for bringing me up to Dublin and Elton from bringing me back down to Killaloe at like 2 in the morning while we were like half zombies floating off to sleep.

[and yes I did go to school! Even though I practically slept at three in the morning]

Feeling a lil Meh.

2011-10-16T23:03:00.000+01:00

It was Sorah's birthday today and at the end of church celebration, the lights went down, the candles were lit and a song was sung. At church today reports came from every section. Videos of the sunday school, Photos from the youth, Jamzone and Wildlife, Updates from the leadership team as well as the worship team.

Word of the day : Mmmmbooglay

After church we headed down to Kilkenny, but yet somewhere close to Waterford, to meet our soon-to-be edition to the family. In two-three weeks time, he'll be old enough to be without his mum and he'll be coming over to Killaloe. And the name? As expected, it ain't gonna be the typical "Paws, Scruffy" or something.

My mum tends to come up with unique names.

Hachiko

named after the famous Japanese dog that waited for his master to return from work not knowing that he passed away. But continued to wait there for the next 10 years until the dog died.

Thus, Loyalty

So yeah,

Hachiko shall come soon :]

P.S. FACEBOOK IS ACTING UP.

It updates my phone just fine.

But no...on any laptop when I sign in, my facebook profile page isn't getting updated!

SO peeved.

Voulez-vous

2011-10-16T00:04:00.000+01:00

An early morning (so much for sleeping in) as we took off on a journey to ol' Dublin together with Mum, Uncle Mike and Mark. Before zooming off straight to our destination, we stopped by White Waters Mall in Newbridge.

At first I was like OH GOSH SUCH AN AWESOME MALL (drools)

Then...wait a minute...

I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE (facepalm moment)

Remembered the time in Transition Year when we were allowed to have a stop here to grab our dinner and obviously we just went sprinting all over the mall shopping at the amazing shops

We stopped by the Newbridge Silverware and above it was a mini museum displaying articles, clothes, and many personal items of known stars. And for all you fans out there that recognises the person in the picture, it is indeed one of Michael Jackson's jackets! Authentic. Ain't no replica.

Then, the woman with the best name in the world, Audrey Hepburn.

Many of her outfits she used in movies were on display, which cost the museum thousands to get their hands on them. The Vespa from her movie was there as well. Was pretty awesome to see

"the most beautiful woman of her century"

We reached the Dublin Grand Canal Theatre slightly earlier than predicted. So time was just spent by the pier watching little birds bobbing their heads up and down...Or the exceptional one who just had its head stuck to his non-existent neck. Was funny to see a non-bobbing head bird.

And so the show commenced.

Mamma Mia!

A show which I have seen two years ago when the Australian team came up to Malaysia. As this was a whole different crew, it was still as mesmerizing. All the more when I knew practically every single word from the songs.

The crowd was so enthusiastic with the clapping, singing and just bopping to the music.

My personal favourite is definitely the one in the photo when they dance to Voulez-vous. The lights, the striking dance moves, the eye-catching flashy/fleshy costumes. It was just utterly breathtaking.

The day ended with a piping hot cup of Ipoh White Coffee made by a Ipoh man himself at one of the Chinese restaurants in Newbridge.

Thanks to that, my eyes are as big as bulging fresh fish eyes now.

See what home economics does to me.

How to determine if whole fish is fresh = EYES ARE BULGING.

good night. :D

P.s. Thank you mumsie for the musical.

Wild indeed,

2011-10-15T01:01:00.000+01:00

Wildlife was great! Got to hang out together with Leann and Shauna. Had a bit of a dress up game/lesson today. Where they were required to dress up as 3 different characters. Mr. Nerdy, Miss Emo and as seen in the photo, Little Miss Ghetto.

Had an awesome time at Jamzone as well :D

Sorry Jade that I couldn't make it for your performance at Scoops. I'm sure you sang beautifully!

A splash of colour came. Blinding my senses.

My pulse stopped, almost believing it was my brain making this little fantasy happen in front of my eyes.

Until I opened my mouth to blurt out the most embarrassing words.

Probably causing unneeded confusion due to my own stupidity

A feeling I have not known for a long time.

A smiling heart.

Crunchy Crickety Goodness

2011-10-13T19:46:00.000+01:00

So air flown all the way from

Thailand - Malaysia - Ireland

a box of deep fried crickets arrived at my door, courtesy of mum.

WHY?

The last time I went to Cambodia with mum, every day was spent searching for some sort of insect food to munch. But unfortunately, that quest wasn't successful.

So she kindly packed some deep fried packets in her bag and brought it here for me to taste.

DON'T get me wrong. It's not that I'm craving for crickets.

I just wanna try all kinds of food in the world, no matter how disgusting. At least one bite.

AND OH MY GOSH.

(after pulling out the crickets head as it was staring at me with lil beady eyes)

It was actually YUMMY.

Felt like little prawn-y bits

Crunchy Crickety Goodness.

A definite must try :]

I'm not disgusting.

I'm adventurous.

Artsy fartsy inklings

2011-10-11T23:35:00.000+01:00

Oh so tempted to just splatter my entire room with a humongous wall of photographs making the wall practically invisible. But I don't wanna damage the photographs but

AGH THE URGE!!!

Just a couple of photographs up on my board and cupboard isn't enough!

Anyway, since i had to suppress the artsy-fartsy inklings in me, I took it out on my computer. Designed my own wallpaper for my desktop. Got the inspiration to do so thanks to Athiei.

So many things I wanna do, but if only time could be just frozen.

That would come in handy really.

P.s.

Anyone wanna donate their brain which is an absolute genius in math and accounts?

*tears hair out*

Mumsie's back

2011-10-11T00:17:00.001+01:00

Mummy's back from her 6 week holiday in Malaysia together with Uncle Mike. And together with her came the mountains of stuff and the best part was some was for me!

Mum bought me a new Kipling school bag with a matching sleepover bag.

A top from London since she had her transit there.

A whole stack of the photos I asked her to develop as duh they're so much cheaper

A pair of b-e-a-utiful slippers from Vietnam

A box of fried crickets from Thailand... which I shall update more about tomorrow.

Mummy even stopped by my old high school to collect my PMR CERTIFICATE. Which I should have gotten like TWO years ago. Imagine, the results came out two years ago but the certificate just never came. Not like it's really worth anything much, except probably helping me to prove that I know Malay.

And I finally get to lay my hands on the hard copies of my hard work! Since July I got the golden opportunity to be a columnist for the New Sunday Times as a foreign correspondent in Ireland. But as I was in Ireland, I could see were the 2D copies through the internet. So finally I get to see proof in my hands!

Delighted

Utterly delighted

Springing with joy

Oh yeah, I even bought Maths and Add Maths workbooks from home. Hilarious how it's bilingual.

Been a long time since I was required to read Malay in my books. Haha.

Too much sponge

2011-10-09T22:34:00.000+01:00

My weekend was hilarious. Made some new friends at Jamzone, Sunny and Cathal who is by the way an awesome pianist considering he's self taught for only ONE year. Fuish. Played a mad shark game using a large parachute.

Too hard a game to explain. But basically you get dragged under the parachute by 'sharks' grabbing at your legs. Violent I tell you. I got two bruises thanks to that. Super funny though.

Had a Spongebob Marathon together with Athiei and the very much reluctant Shepherd. I just downloaded all 7 seasons of Spongebob. Yes, torrents are addictive. all 7 seasons downloaded in two days! Imagine that. Just spent the entire afternoon watching television. How unhealthy.

Oh! Together with homemade munchies, very first time me making chocolate tiffin. Despite its crumbly nature, it tasted so sinful, in a good way.

Spent my weekend together with the Maglaque's and had a crazy time tinkering with Trent's new iMac and its awesome photo editing features. We spent almost an hour just taking photos. Was even funnier when about 20 of the photos edited everyone else's faces except yours truly.

Big thank you to Elton for bringing me up to Shannon on Friday

and to

Godknows for bringing me down to Killaloe on Sunday :]

Living Overseas : At home in Germany

2011-10-09T17:40:00.000+01:00

ACHTUNG! Greetings from Germany.
At the beginning of this year, there was pandemonium in the school courtyard.

“Oh, there she is!” shouted someone.

“What? Where?” screamed another.
After wandering through the crowd, I saw an unfamiliar face — a new student.
German exchange student Vivien Schneider had blonde hair, a small figure and a sweet smile.
As I offered a handshake and introduced myself, I had no idea that she would become one of my closest friends.

After her six-month stay in Ireland, when everyone said goodbye, I, on the contrary, shouted: “See you in the summer!”
I was planning to fly to Germany.

I bought a plane ticket with my hard-earned money from teaching music part-time.

As the flight was in the wee hours of the morning, I had to spend a night at the airport. I flew to Frankfurt, waited four hours for the connecting flight to Hannover and then took a two-hour car ride to the cosy village of Eberhausen.

Somehow, all the discomfort paled against the excitement of travelling to another country on my own.

Unknown to me, Vivien’s family had planned a week of events for my visit.
For me, three things stood out.

First was the city of Göttingen, famous for its university, which is well known for Medicine.

And what do medical students here do when they graduate?

They don’t throw mortarboards up in the air in celebration.

They hurry to present a bouquet of flowers to Gänseliesel (Goose Lizzy) and plant a kiss on her cheek.

Immortalised as an enchanting fountain, Goose Lizzy was erected in the centre of the city in 1901.

Rumour has it that Gänseliesel’s beauty is everlasting.
The tradition of climbing up the fountain for a kiss after obtaining a medical degree has continued till today.

It is not surprising that Goose Lizzy is probably the most kissed girl in the world.

The second memorable outing was a seven-hour visit to Hannover Zoo.
After the woman at the ticket counter handed me a map of the zoo, the adventure began.

Activities included a boat ride through the African savannah, a hike up Gorilla Mountain, an underwater experience with polar bears and jumping side by side with kangaroos from the Australian outback.

I even got butted painfully by a goat after several failed attempts to feed it.
Despite the blazing sun, we watched an elephant play the harmonica for a cheering audience.

What made it all the more memorable was that one of the elephants, named Sayang, originated from Malaysia.

I imagined Sayang had ears so large — like Dumbo from the Disney movie — she flew from Malaysia to Germany.

The Schneider family made me feel so welcome and at home, they were like relatives.

They fed and cared for me and even called me their Malaysian daughter and sister.

There were countless unforgettable moments with the family such as loading heavy logs onto the trailer of their car to be chopped into firewood at their home, running through wheat fields and even bringing home sheaves of wheat for my mother (she asked for them to hang in her kitchen), making me feel as if I was in a certain cereal advertisement where chocolate was poured all over the field.

Just before I returned to Ireland, we went to the porcelain museum in Fürstenberg.

There was a visitors’ book filled with comments in German at the counter.

I was about to write in English when I stopped abruptly.

I pondered and smiled, and then I penned the words: “Saya berasal dari Malaysia.”

No matter where life takes me, what countries I travel to, I will always be a Malaysian at heart.
Strange but true.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart. Email her at audreychew94@hotmail.com

bittersweet lane.

2011-10-05T23:30:00.000+01:00

Had a sudden feeling to take out my box of "stuff" and the last time I did this was several months ago. It's been awhile since I did this. Tears came, smiles and so did laughter. Then only I realised Schaefer and Esther both gave me the exact same card from Memory Lane :]

Valentine's Day cards that date all the way back to 2006.

A huge bundle of IU Day tickets, which were mostly from Seafield, ironically.

A letter from Wei Yng donating to my "camera and phone" fund when they got stolen.

A straw given by Xing with a secret message in it.

The surprise Valentine's card and bouquet that I got from Jon. Although well, the flower's are long gone.

Esther's exceedingly neat handwriting that can defeat any computer.

Kaelan's handwritten signature as I was his "peminat setia"

Inside jokes that were absolutely "hilarious" at the time which looks plain stupid now.

Essays and essays of goodbye letters that I received last year.

A bittersweet walk down memory lane.

Unusual warmth

2011-10-04T22:41:00.001+01:00

The air that was moist is now stale

But as the cold breeze breathes

It comes with most unusual warmth

Bewildering, baffling, mind blowing

Oblivious to what is to come

Yet the anticipation makes my

Heart beat like a drum..

Darn you Queen !

2011-10-03T23:17:00.001+01:00

Music test about Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

First question which was totally unexpected.

After spending the "whole" night studying the music,

"Name the band members of Queen and their instruments"

I attempted to extract every scrappy piece of information possible from my brain. I actually had remembered them based on the church band. Screaming in my brain, who is the bassist again!?!?

Freddie Mercury

Roger Taylor

John Deacon

Brian May

Must. Remember. These. Names. Grrr.

And I did not expect the question

Who is Galileo?

Everyone got it except probably for me. I didn't take European history okay :[

Okay fine, I'm just a dumb idiot, it's general knowledge that I should know.

Well, I did put

"He's a famous guy that comes from Italy"

Gave Cincau a sand bath and cleaned her cage too :]

I think she's starting to get more comfortable with me too. She doesn't jump around the cage AS much as before.

Munster Youth Shannon

2011-10-02T22:35:00.000+01:00

Munster Youth was at Shannon this time and it all began with our very own "Shannon Town Amazing Race"

A total of six teams battling it out at 8 different pit stops around the challenge. But instead of who reached the final challenge the first wins, who did best at all the challenges in total won.

The challenges?

1. Busking at the Town Centre, who can get the most money?

2. Ginormous Connect 4. How many times can you win in 7 minutes?

3. How many football goals could you get in 7 minutes?

4. How many basketball shots could you attain in 7 minutes?

5. How many bible questions could you get right?

6. How fast could the whole team finish off a Mcdonald's sundae each?

7. How many people could you fit in a telephone box [most we got was 8!]

8. How many honks could you score from annoying all the drivers on the road?

The giant Connect Fours were so fun. The night before when we setting it up, I think I played like for an entire hour of rematches between Athiei and I.

IT WAS ADDICTIVE !!

The amount of strategies you could do. The funniest was when you just slot in the "polo" without being allowed to wait to think.

People from Cork, Ennis, Limerick, Kerry all came together and it was great getting to see faces, old and new. Sadly I didn't manage to take part in the games as a player. But well, I did in a different way.

I got to be the attendant at one of the pit stops, and I dare say I got the most comfortable one indeed. Most others had to stand outside in the cold and rain, which yes it did rain halfway. Whereas I got to go into a warm house with a comfy sofa and enjoyed hot cups of coffee with biscuits while grading the contestants.

I got the bible quiz pit stop :] so yeah, self explanatory.

Awkward picture.

Disturbing on so many levels.

Because they were not posing for it.

Don't get them wrong. They ain't gay, just to clarify lol.

They're just them

HAD A CRAZY WEEKEND

Brought my textbooks and all over to study but failed to do so, that's what happens when you have friends all around you. I even played racing video games [which ended in utmost disaster] and I'm proud to say I cooked for other people and they didn't die.

Amen.

Believed.

2011-09-28T23:12:00.000+01:00

Today was definitely one of the best roasty days ever! The sun was shining, the heat was blazing, the craving for ice cream and ice cold drinks swamped all over us. It was like summer in the middle of autumn! The disappointing thing was that we had to spend it in school, the mere 45 minutes during lunch break wasn't enough to burn us :[

During religion class today we were required to choose one song that holds the most meaning to your life. After thinking for the past few days about it, I decided on the song I Believe, which was a song written by one of the pastors in Acts Church, Malaysia.

But definitely the fear of being discriminated came to the surface. As, well it isn't exactly the most normal thing in school to be so in tune into Jesus.

But I just wanna praise God that gave me the courage to step up and instead of just playing the song on my phone, I played it on the piano and sang the lyrics out.

"When I am weak, then I am strong, You give me strength to carry on"

Singing the lyrics gave me even more confidence in myself.

Felt even better when some people came to me and said they were blessed by the song :]

To top it all off, the sun didn't go down after school ended. Managed to walk around and at least soak in some nutritious vitamin D !

Message From Home

2011-09-26T23:25:00.000+01:00

Since I had most of my homework done at school thought I'd cook something yummy for dinner. ended up having some spicy "ayam masak merah" with tomatoes onions and garlic. I know it probably looks more like curry cause I added more water but the gravy was so good :]

I'm getting the hang of this cooking thing.

And for the first time since I came to Ireland,

I RECEIVED MY FIRST MAIL FROM MALAYSIA!!

Sonia Kang Xiu Yi

I loves you :]

LIFE OVERSEAS : Make Dreams A Reality

2011-09-25T22:48:00.000+01:00

AUDREY CHEW ERNERN is all ready to roll up her sleeves and work towards her goals

IN my previous article on Sept 11, I wrote about the Scariff Harbour Festival which took place recently near my home in Ireland.

I experienced many new sights and sounds at the event.

As I sat, drinking coffee and eating Iranian delicacies, I heard a tune in the air.
It was an unusual arrangement of notes that sounded both mystical and magical.

I looked around in search of the source and saw an olive-skinned man deftly playing a wooden instrument which looked similar to a flute or a clarinet.

Behind him were many varieties of woodwind instrument in different shades and with carvings.

Some even had 10 wooden pipes joined together, each holding its own note when blown.

The musician did not just sound the part, he looked it as well.

It was as if he had jumped out of the Disney movie, Pocahontas.

He wore a tribal headband made of beads strapped around his forehead, and a cloth with native designs and strips of tanned buckskin was wrapped around his waist.

His poker face took the cake.

Despite his native look, he had the savvy to wear a headset and install amplifiers so that his music was heard from a kilometre away.

He succeeded in his mission to draw the crowd; I took to him like a moth to a flame.

Instruments that he used in his transcendent performance earlier were on sale to the public, all at affordable prices too.

Hanging above my head were little wooden sticks held together by a cobweb pattern of beads.

Dangling from the contraption were strings of beads with beautiful feathers giving the art piece a majestic finish. I wondered what this extraordinary object was.

It is called a dreamcatcher.

Traditionally hung above a bed, it is believed to have the power to catch nightmares to ensure you have a good night’s rest.

Bad dreams are trapped in the net while good ones pass through it and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.

Today it is commonly used as an ornament due to its intricate design.
Everyone — whether asleep or awake — has dreams.

It may be something as small as learning to make the best iced beverage or as big as getting a string of distinctions on a certificate.

But where dreams are present, so too is fear of failure and doubt.

When I was little, I used to get nightmares for weeks. The same dream haunted me every night, leaving me terrified to bits.
If only there is a life-sized dreamcatcher to ensure life is forever a sweet dream.

But what is most important is what we do with the dream.

Do we just dream it, talk about it, hope for it but never see it come to pass?
Or do we work hard to turn it into reality?

It is common to be surrounded by negativity and the first step to achieve any personal goal is to stop fantasising.

We may moan and groan but without obstacles, life can be dull.

The time to be our own life-sized dreamcatcher is now and when I finally fulfil my dream, I can look back and say it was all worthwhile.

The writer is studying at a high school in Ireland. She loves to try all things but is a Malaysian at heart. Email her at audreychew94@hotmail.com

Read more: LIFE OVERSEAS: Make dreams a reality http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/LIFEOVERSEAS_Makedreamsareality/Article#ixzz1Z0Gkeyeu