Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas, Les Mis, and Wreck it Ralph

Well, Christmas time is always hectic in my family. I had an awesome Christmas, and I hope you did too!

My family went to watch les mis, and no joke i cried the entire movie. haha. it's really really good guys. Though i might not be willing to watch it with you since i will cry the entire time and look kind puffy eyed and blind and blotchy when we get out. (Which is apparently what happenned when we left :P)

Also watched Wreck it Ralph with my younger cousins. The film was cute! I loved it! It kinda appealed to my geeky side as well as my disney childhood obessessive side and also my emotional side (I kinda tear jerked a bit... BUT then again I always cry in movies haha)

Also i saw this on the internet. Freaky.

Chatbot talks to Chatbot.

The last question totally freaked me out.

Also.

DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL RTJQA83U96GQKU18325F67!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CLARA OSWIN OMFG SHE COULD BE MY FAVOURITE COMPANION NOW. I was a  Sarah Jane enthusiast but boooooooooooooooooooooy if her story turns out good i might really really like her. I love her personality already. :D

bye guys

Monday, December 24, 2012

Almost Christmas!

It's almost Christmas :D :D :D

And the only reason i know is because of the ever increasing hours of orchestra practice we have until the actual Christmas Eve concert, haha.

To bribe us, the conductor, (We call her Aunty, like real asians lol) give us monogrammed cookies and also cookies with faces. She's a professional baker as well as music teacher! So she's really good at both cookies and yelling at us when we're off a semitone. lol.

TBH, sometimes, i get SO sleepy during rehersals, that I fall asleep at the piano, and I wake up finding myself playing the final chord. And AuntyS is all "you played very well" and I don't really know how I finished the piece... lol

Tomorrow it's Christmas eve! Or I think it's today by the time I post this haha. Do you guys have any plans? I can't wait for Christmas, with our present openings and Christmas foods. :D :D :D I'M SO EXCITED!

Do you have any family traditions at Christmas? In my family, everyone wakes up early to open presents, and then we go to a church service, and then I help my mum make food for Christmas lunch, which is taken at my YehYeh's place (So my Dad's parents lol) and my grandma makes like a bajillion dishes, no joke. Then we head to my PorPor's (mum's mum) and we eat MORE food (and prep more food), all the while picking up and giving out presents.

It's a very fattening and fulfilling day.

Tomorrow i'm going to go baby sit before going to the concert, (as in orchestra, not some crazy fun event lol) and i'm doing christmas crafts and baking cookies with the kids! It's going to be hella fun haha. I hope. lol.

If you're interested, i'm making this recipe.

Basic Shortbread (about 14-16 cookies [big ones])

Ingredients
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 225g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • decorations optional 

Directions
  1. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Wisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides of bowl, about 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed, scraping sides if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers.
  1. Turn out dough, forming into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out 1 disk to a 1/2centimetre thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutter, and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Reroll scraps. Repeat with remaining disk. Indent cookies with desired stamps. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. Bake until firm and golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.


yum yum yum cookies

Bye guys!






Friday, December 21, 2012

yayayayayayay

Today I pulled out an old pair of short hesistantly.

I have not worn shorts for more than a year an a half.

And after I put it on I smiled.

I DIDN'T FIT LAST SUMMER BUT I DO NOW.

HELL YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Loving that post-HSC weight loss.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ATAR

Well i didn't get 92. I got 93.8. Lawl.

GUIZ, LET'S HOPE I GET 2ND ROUND OFFERS FOR UNSW.

kay baiz.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

English tutoring

 Soooooooooooooooooo how'd you guys find your HSC marks? AHEM SHELLEY SHE JUST SAYING WTHECK HOW CAN YOU BE SO SMART AND BEAUTIFUL AND BEASTLY TAKING OUT STATE RANKS EVERYWHERE. (plz have my babies. Then they will be smart and beautiful and incredibly imaginary, because that's not possible, sadly. Which you would know because you state ranked bio. In which case, I'm sad because I love gurl, cos you are amazballs. And James is now feeling threatened.)

I find it freaky, because after putting my marks into an ATAR calculator, it told me I would get 92.1. And I dreamt I got 92. :O

I HAVE FUTURE PREDICTING QUALITIES!!!!

(in b4 I get 91 tomorrow hahaha)

Haha actually after I got my marks I went and changed my preferences to more realistic goals. So sad lol.

I don't think I can sleep tonight. So tense for ATAR. I could barely sleep last night. Luckily no work tomorrow ^.^

I was so tired today I bought a coffee from the local cafe during lunch whilst tutoring. Haha actually I slept for like 4 hours, and I felt more awake today than I did yesterday, when I slept for like 10. Mysteries of life.

So I've been tutoring this year 6 kid for selective. (his mum runs the Pre-uni I work at, so she asked me to tutor her kid) I'm his specific English tutor. She asks other tutors to teach math and GA depending on their skills :p I was kinda happy because he wanted his mum to make me his permanent everything tutor haha. :D he likes me! Yayayayayayay. Even though I'm strict, I guess he laughs a lot, so that's ok.

A deal we made is that when he writes a short story with stimulus, I have to write one too. I don't mind, because we have very different ideas and writing styles, so he can learn from mine.

But today I actually really liked what I wrote, so with some extra polishing and a bit more writing (they only get 20 minutes to write their short story! It's so fast! I struggle to complete anything because I'm used to double the time haha... Stupid HSC)

The stimulus I gave him was a picture of an old wooden box with gold lettering that read "do not open." I told him that the character disobeys and he has to write about what happens. He was pretty excited haha.

He writes well, with great ideas. But his writing is a bit basic and lacks good grammatical structure. I helped him structure his writing better already, so now it has a clear plot line. But now I need to help him be above acceptable. He needs to be brilliant >:3 (haha alysha's annoying English perfectionist streak returns! Although English is the only thing i did well in, apart from legal, so makes sense I guess.)

Anyway his mum has noted clear improvement, so she wants me to come more haha. On boxing day! Right after Christmas! As the day after! Shes kinda sad I'm going overseas for 3 weeks, because I can't work with him haha. But I'm so excited! Yayayayayayay overseas!

I'm ranting.

Anyway you don't have to read the next part, because I've probably lost ability to write over the non-HSC-period. Though I did nano. But that wasn't very good. I suppose this isn't very good either... More writing may come up, seeing as I have to write every time he does haha...

Alysha rant writing Yayayayayayay! Or not... haha :3

---

Humans can never obey orders.

It's in our nature.

We can't help it.

A part of us wants to rebel. To break free of obligations and rules. To go wherever we want. To do whatever we want. Regardless of what other people say.

A park bench is infinitely more interesting when it is labelled 'wet paint.' You always have a compulsive desire to touch it, confirm that it is, indeed, wet paint, and that you should, indeed, not touch it.

People always want to do the opposite of what they are told.

So when a mysterious package that was simply labelled 'do not open' appeared on the doorstep of young Sally Nightingale, what else was she to do?

Naturally, she was fulled with an immediate and pressing need to open the box and discover it's contents.

However, this was a difficult task. The box was fairly small, but it was a heavy box of beaten metal that shone with a dull silver light. There was a lid and a hinge, but no latch.

Sally had a frustrating time trying to open it. There didn't appear to be a seal, yet the box remained firmly shut. There were no buttons on it's side, and even after shaking it, the box did not budge.

Just when she began to lose hope and start feeling depressed, the lid made a small clicking noise. It had opened by itself. (Perhaps the box was sentient.)

The object that was hidden inside was odd.

Her initial reaction was one of awe. Her second was deep concern, and her third was downright fear.

The small peak inside that Sally exposed herself to when the box opened slightly, enough for the lid to be ajar, was a vision of light. A warm, yellow light that seemed to hum with with energy and reminded her of sunlight breaking through clouds after a storm.

With a trembling hand, Sally raised the lid a centimetre higher.

Instantly, she was hit with a giddy sensation of ecstasy. It reminded her of her 4th birthday, the last birthday her entire family was together, the day at the beach when she was 16 and carefree, her first kiss in the pouring rain with a guy she thought she was destined to be with, and numerous days where she could sit back and just sleep, all rolled into one second of feeling.

She collapsed, her chest heaving, gasping for air. The pure emotions swirling inside her, powerful shots of memories, mixed with warm bubbles of joy. It shot through her brain like champagne, and left her feeling warm and happy.

She wasn't quite sure what is the box, but she knew it was something strong. Amazingly strong, bringing her memories out like that.

And then she stopped, concerned. What if it was some kind of wonderdrug, trying to capture a new victim that would pay excessive amounts for their next hit?

If it was a drug, she had a responsibility to hand the box to the police.

She swallowed her concern and pushed open the lid all the way.

It felt as if she was floating on cold fire. Head thrown back, she shrieked with joy and the rush she was experiencing, the pure exhilaration.

And then the lid snapped shut, and she lay on the ground, breathless with fear and wonder.

The box seemed to be full of something strange. An energy source? A drug?

She wondered how it came to her.

But what it was, she was certain of it.

Inside the box, was pure happiness.

---



Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas is coming!

At work, my boss keeps saying how much she is looking forward to christmas haha :) She paid me in advance, so I went on a huge shopping spree and bought pretty much all my Christmas presents for this year! I spent SO MUCH MONEY!!!! (inward sob) Like two weeks worth of pay. (cries openly) I hope everyone likes their presents! haha

Wrapping is always my favourite part, because... i dunno. I like wrapping.

I was looking for cool printable tags to put on with the cards, and I made some of my own, but here's an awesome link to print lots of cool tags if you're thinking of wrapping presents too!

Yesterday was really fun at the connect, we played Jungle speed! Which reminds me that the jungle speed i ordered online still hasn't arrived yet. I'm not sure if it'll be here before Christmas :(

Are you guys nervous about ATAR? I'm somewhat concerned.

Also, I've been going around humming Christmas carols under my breath. lolol

*I SHOULD BE PLAYING IN THE WINTER'S SNOW, BUT IMMA BE UNDER THE MISTLE TOE WITH YOOOOOOOOOOU, SHAWTY WIT YOU, WITH YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU, SHAWTY WITH YOU, WITH YOOOOOOOOOOOOU, UNDER THE MI-STLE TOOOOOOOOE*

I'm losing it.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Sister luncheon

My sis skipped school today. What a bad kid.

She woke me up at 10 and was all like "LET'S GO OUT FOR LUNCH!!!!"

To which the just-woken-up-semi-zombified me replied "mffeepenohpecombarkter"

Which roughly translated to "im sleeping now. Please come back later"

So she said "I'll be back at 11"

And I rolled over and continued my nightmarish dream about my English advanced paper, where all the HSC supervisors decided to leave halfway through and there was like no more paper and I had to write my entire short story (I used 5 booklets) on one side of an a5 sheet of paper. Futhermore, on the other side of the paper was math questions,and if I wanted to get the paper I need to solve it, and we only had like 10minutes left and all I was thinking was "OMFG IM GOING TO FAIL ENGLISH AND THEN I WILL FAIL HSC AND MY ATAR WILL BE BAD"

And then I dreamt the ATAR came out and JJ got 99.7 and I got 92 and I cried.

I'm very frightened for ATAR results :/ Have you guys had any post-traumatic HSC nightmares?

And then my sister came back cause it was 11.

And she was looking at all this like kpop stuff on my computer and I was like "whzxtjlsatnqhuyeroonyputer?"

Which translates to "what's that? Why are you on my computer?"

And then she proceeds to tell me how it's so amazing, this chick who's been in the industry for so many years, like 15 years or something, and she's so old now.

And I'm like "how old?"

And she's like "26"

so she started training when she was like 11.

WHICH IS SO RIDICULOUS.

HOW CAN YOU START TRAINING FOR SOMETHING  AT THE AGE OF 11? ESPECIALLY FOR SOMETHING LIKE A MUSIC INDUSTRY?

It's just so wrong on so many levels.

---

so we went out for lunch, and then we went to this Korean restaurant in Eastwood. AND IT WAS SUPER SPICY!

but they gave us nice sides :)

Look at my derp. And then my sister is so pretty :p


 Also as we were leaving there was this old mando man, he looked about 80, who had an accident of some kind. There was heaps of blood and his wife was crying and I just stood there and kind of wished I was remotely helpful.

Yeah...







Thursday, December 13, 2012

Holidays

Hello! I haven't been here for a while haha... I know, this isnt very regular at all. But I've been doing a lot :p

Anyway, I hope you guys have been spending your holidays well! Mine's mostly been jam packed with work and my new found obsession with gaming haha...

I got a new computer! It's a desktop, since I wanted one anyway, and it was cheap. The laptop I want come out in January so I'm going to save up until then :3

I finished at the full time place! Kinda sad, but I was only there as a casual contract :p I'm working at a tutoring centre and babysitting now :p also when the new school term starts I'll be teaching musicianship :p

I havent gone out that much this holidays though :( I probably should go out more. This week I want to go out everyday :D so Monday was connect (which is this just-out-of-high-school Christian group) which was actually was pretty fun, went out for dinner and froyo after haha.

Erm tuesday was LL 18th, where much funz were had which spontaneous beatboxing and dancing and Partying in the USA hahaha. Ngawww NC so cute >.< then games till 3:30am Hahahaha I'm not addict I swear :p

Today was really really fun :) went City with church people who all harassed me about JJ lelele. We played pool and I'm really bad at it >.< I can't hit straight, I always 'jump' the ball lol. Though apparently jumping the ball is like super pro. Haha. But I found it really fun :D should go again next time.

Kareoke was the BEST. I've only been K three times, and I know I love it haha... But I guess I'm not surprised by that :p

Omg I was so tired that I fell asleep on the train home and missed my stop so I had to get off at Cheltenham and I was like "omg how to get to other side of the station?????" and then I saw their was a bridge so I walked the length of the platform and there were no stairs! So I was really confused. Then I stalked this woman who was leaving the platform and realised you had to go out, around the corner, then the stairs were there, and then go around again. And I was like "oooooooh" lol.

It took me like 10 minutes to work it out Hahahaha... So sad.

I'm steadily going broke. I need to babysit again, to get some more cash. The kids I usually take care of left for hong long for two weeks. But they just got back, so I should be working on Monday :D yayyayayayyay work.

Oh on last Saturday, I had a work party at this Korean restraint called Gangnam haha.


I've been practicing really hard for the Christmas Eve Orchestra concert at my church :) piano none stop. Rehersals at my church go from 12:45 to 4 :o super long and tiring haha. :p but it'll be worth it ^^

One thing I like about orchestra is that everyone sounds so pretty together, and every instrument has an important part. Flutes/violins carry soprano, sax/clarinet/violin play alto, and Tenor sax/piano/cello play bass. And the drums/guitar on rhythm. It's fun being on piano in Orchestra because it's very easy and you get no where near as tired as everyone else because all you have to do is move your hands haha. And pedal. Also, you get to improvise a lot, and choose what you want to play, because there usually are parts missing because no one plays tuba or euphonium, so you can play those parts as well :D also you don't get yelled at as much HAHAHAHHA. Or maybe that's just me haha.

Sorry for the somewhat rant :p

Walking home right now, someone is using a sprinkler in their garden, and it smells so nice. Petrichor! Yay for Dr Who!

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL GUYS! EVIL ZOMBIE SNOWMEN YARGGH!



If you ever want to play games with me, just Skype/steam/Facebook me, I'll 80% be online and willing to play haha.

byeeeeeeeeeeeeee guys