Time to unwind?

I know I shouldn't but I really have to write to unwind.  Been spending last night and the majority part of the day cramming for my oral and it's going very slowly indeed.  Not even sure if I'll remember half of what I've read.  =(  So much for enjoying Anzac Holiday.

Anyway, I am currently listening to 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush.  Heard it for the first time on 'the Voice' a few nights back and although my initial thought was 'Eek! Sounds like the girl swallowed helium!'  I am pulled in once she reached the chorus.  So mesmerizing.  You'll find the song on my blog's playlist.

Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

Chorus :

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,
I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,
I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,
You know it's me, Cathy


Lol.  Such a dark lyric, but so fitting of the novel.  I read it a few years ago when I was really into Classical novels.  Only once and never again.  I don't get the hype about it being one of the most romantic novel of all times.  It depresses me, is cruel and I totally cannot connect with the main characters.  Of all the Bronte sisters' novels, I love Charlotte's Jane Eyre the most.  Should get dad to bring over the books from back home when he visits in June.

I read two novels by an author while I was at uni and for the life of me, could not recall her name.  While I was reading my notes last night, the title of the books hit me like a tonne of bricks.  "Beating about the bushes" and "Reading between the lines" by Linda Taylor.  I'm ecstatic. >_<  Totally love her novels.  They're light, easy and made me laugh out loud.  Feel good novels that I cannot get enough of.  Found out that she'd written a couple more novels since and can't wait to get my oral over and done with so I can start raiding the library for them.

Time for a run and back to studying. *sigh* Wish me luck guys~

Public Transports

Caught a train home last night and had the unpleasant encounter of having someone who probably hasn’t showered for at least a week, sit on the row in front of me. Tried to act cool at first and resisted pinching my nose but the smell kindda stings and breathing shallowly had me gasping for air after a while. So, I did what the poor guy in front of me did and leaned as far away from the offending person as I could (didn’t help much though).  I have this weird habit of not breathing when I walk pass people, especially if they are running with sweat pouring out of them.  The more shabby and dirty a person looks, the longer I would hold my breath in case the whiff of them haven’t completely disappeared.  I would always choose to sit or stand near a girl/woman.  They generally smell really good and if they’d just washed their hair, I would have to stop myself from sniffing.  Lol.  I love perfumes.

This got me thinking about my experiences in public transports.  There’s an incident in the bus a few years back while I was on my way to the city.  I’ve just taken my seat and a drunkard (he reeked of alcohol..eww) was walking pass me, trying to reach the seat at the back.  The bus started moving and he lost his balance and slammed into the back of my seat.  At the time, he was holding a big glass bottle (seriously..alcohol in the afternoon??) and somehow managed to bang the back of my head with the bottle.  I almost passed out from the pain thinking that I probably have a blood clot that will see me dead the next day.  Shocked and angry, I turned around and said…………….and said “ARE YOU OK??!”  =___=!!

I swear I didn’t mean to ask that.  I was supposed to be saying things like “You banged my head! Careful you idiot!” or “You nearly killed me!”  I guess he really did manage to bash me stupid.  To add insult to injury, he walked off without any word of apology.  Made me want to throw my shoes at him.  I should sue him for physical and emotional damage.

Taking the same bus on the same route for 5 years made a few faces familiar to me.  There’s the kind looking old man who probably had a stroke a few years back since one side of his body is paralyzed.  I always look for him when I reach my bus stop.  If he’s there, it means that I haven’t missed my bus.  He really likes newspapers and is always reading one. I have also observed a girl grown from a cute little child into an…obnoxious and loud adolescent.  I know her name too since she and her mum likes to think that they own the bus and shout conversations over everyone’s heads.  They have breakfast of apples and sometimes yogurt and her mum combs her hair in the bus almost every day.  They sometimes have dinner at ‘nanna’s’ house but she doesn’t really make good pastas so can they please have chinese.  She apparently does well in school, dislikes socializing, etc.  Ugh, even when I’ve mastered the art of tuning out of private conversations, I still know too much.

I don’t dislike public transports though.  The unpredictability and having people around me, even if they’re strangers, are oddly comforting.  Besides, how blissful it is to be able to read while someone else does the driving.  ^_<

Food for thought

Was chatting with mum and a few friends over tea last night and somehow, the topic shifted to gardening. Since I know nothing about it and have no interest whatsoever, I just sat and listened.  Mum started to say that most of the seeds that she planted in our backyard refused to blossom and she suspects that it's because our soil isn't fertile.  However, considering the fact that the soil is black, it should have been fertile by right. That led to one of our friends asking if mum made sure that the seeds were well and truly buried in the soil and not just scattered on the surface.  It appears that he once saw ants carrying away the seeds that he had scattered.  He even showed us how it’s carried away i.e. both hands over one shoulder hefting an imaginary item.  Lol.  Food for thought.

There are other trivia from the conversation that I thought I’d share since they are soOo cool.  Did you know that all food discards/leftovers can be turned into compost?  I mean, I KNOW what compost is but have never really thought of how it’s made.  I guess I’ve always thought that it’s made out of manure.  That’s how little thought I’ve ever spared on that topic.  It’s interesting to know that some people don’t throw wastes away.  They bury all leftovers (fruit and vegetable peels, leftover foods, etc) in the soil and in a few weeks time, everything turns black and walla..you have your home made compost.  HEY! A thought suddenly occurred while I am writing.  Since our friends are vegetarian, all their food wastes must be vegetables.  What about non-vegetarians?  Can we turn meat into compost as well?  Would that make the vegetable that we plant inorganic???

Apparently, there is a type of storage bin on the market just for this purpose.  You chuck all your food waste into the sealed container and it’ll help ferment the waste into one gooey mass.  To use the compost as a fertilizer, simply turn on the tap located at the lower end of the container and I imagine you’ll see all those black mass flowing out.  Truly gross.  But earth saving.

Another trivia is soaking all citrus peels in a tub of vinegar for a few weeks and recycling them to be used as detergents.  Ingenious!!  

p/s:  This weekend will be spent playing in the garden and throwing out seeds on the soil to test my friend’s theory of stealing ants.  Xd

James Morrison - I Won`t Let You Go

Blogger's Note : *Heart melts* Heard this on the radio and fell in love with the song at first hear.  Love it =)

Birthday and Everything Nice~

The night before my birthday (2012 not 198x) mum announced that we are out of Shao Hsing Jiu (Chinese Rice Wine).  She desperately needs it to cook Chang Sho Mien (Longevity Noodles) for my birthday the next day.  Nothing beats cooking Chang Sho Mien with Foochow Red Wine infused chicken soup but since it is impossible to find one in Adelaide, we have resorted to using bland SHJ.  The only shop open in our area at that hour is the Woolies and the possibility of finding a Chinese rice wine at a local Australian supermarket is nearly nil.  Anyhow, we thought we’d give it a shot since the only other option is to cook the soup without wine, which in my opinion, is equivalent to cooking kimchi fried rice without kimchi.  After searching high and low and almost giving up in despair, I finally spotted a single bottle of SHJ in its full glory on the very top level of a shelf.  Hallelujah! The day (or soup) is saved!  I’ll consider this my birthday gift from God >< ♥

Shao Hsing Jiu

I had the noodles + 2 boiled eggs for breakfast (only 1 for others since I’m the VIP for the day =p), trying very hard to not cut the eggs with my spoon so that my lucks are intact.  Lol..I am THIS old and I still love all these little traditions.  In the middle of the day, mum messaged me while I was at work and apologized for not remembering to wish me a Happy Birthday!  She stayed up late to prepare the ingredients for the soup and got up really early the next day to cook the noodles and still, she felt sorry for not saying what was already obvious from her actions.  T^T I have the greatest mother ever. ♥

Chang So Mien

We made plans to meet up and have dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the city but found out at the very last minute that the restaurant has been shut down.  Since my younger sis and I were early, we decided to take a walk along Rundle Street to see which other restaurant would suit our fancy.  While admiring the clothes on display along the street, she dragged me into a boutique and made me try on a few outfits.  We found a gorgeous black dress and after I tried it on, she insisted on buying it as a birthday gift.  She doesn’t believe in surprise gifts and would rather buy something she is really sure I would love.  I guess I am the opposite of her.  I love surprises – both giving & receiving.  They made my toes tingle XD.  Asking people what they want kindda defeats the purpose in my opinion.  I don’t always give good surprise gifts though.  Especially to my younger sister as she has very firm ideas about the things she thinks suit/doesn’t suit her.  =( In any case, I absolutely love the dress and it’s ingenious of her to buy me something I like and still let me enjoy the process.  Thanks bi! ♥ Mum got me a handbag all the way from Malaysia.  I’ve been admiring the bag while out shopping with her in Penang and were in mental anguish deciding whether to get it or not.  Decided not to in the end because I have already spent waaaay too much.  Mum and elder sis went back to the shop just before mum is due to fly over to Adelaide and got it as a birthday gift for me. ♥ My brother’s girlfriend got me  an adorable owl necklace~  ♥ Brother announced that he didn’t get me anything and if I’d just let him know what I want, he’ll get it for me from ebay.  Haha..guys.  He paid for my birthday cake and dinner and bought a box of my favourite apple ciders so I’ll let him pass.  ♥  Dad and elder sis called to wish me a Happy Birthday.  Miss them and wish they are both here with us. ♥

Dinner @ Brunelli's Cafe, Rundle Street

After dinner, we went home and I changed into my newly bought dress for photo taking session.  ^_^V

My Birthday Gifts.  FYI, serving suggestion for the apple cider : Bloody Cold XD

We put sparklers and a candle on the cake and after taking pictures and making a wish, I blew up the candle.  My brother and his girlfriend REALLY enjoyed the sparklers, as noted from the pictures. 

Birthday Cake & Sparklers

Haha..cute. 

All in all, I had a really good day.  To everyone who’d left birthday wishes and greetings on my fb, sent them through whatsapp, msn messenger, phoned me and even drawn me birthday cakes on draw something (siok tze, andrew and jon – very inspiring! XD) Your wishes and greetings mean the world to me and I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.  =)

XOXO

p/s: I don’t mean to sound like I am dying..and if I sound like I just won an award, I am even more sorry =p but REALLY I am happy! **\ (^___^) /**