Guy Sebastian - Battle Scars (feat. Lupe Fiasco)

Mali in the City

Common pictures that have shown up on my 365 Project blog are elephant sculptures. For a while, I've wondered why elephants are starting to populate the city, and here's the answer.

A spectacular exhibition featuring fifty life-sized painted elephant sculptures inspired by Mali, the Zoo's first Asian Elephant calf, to celebrate Melbourne Zoo's 150th Anniversary in 2012.

Mali is an ambassador for many species facing extinction. She represents Zoos Victora's commitment to fighting the extinction of threatened species in Australia and overseas.

Zoos Victoria works with our community to reduce the threats that humans pose to wildlife. We have madea commitment to ensure that no more Victorian land-based species will go extinct on our watch.

Credit: Plaque

Total Mali elephants: 50 (Part I, II & III)
Amount that I've spotted: 8

42 more elephants to find? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Answer Me, 1997

I am currently obsessed with the adorable drama that is "Answer Me, 1997 (Reply, 1997)."

Here's a summary of the drama thanks to dramabeans. And for anyone interested, here's the link to the recaps.

The throwback drama features a group of teenagers who are all 18 years old in the year 1997, and while the story unfolds there, we get a How I Met Your Mother-esque flash-forward, where we meet them all again in 2012, as 33-year old adults. They gather for a small high school reunion dinner, and there, one couple will announce that they’re getting married. We just don’t know which pairing survives the 15-year gap. It’s a fantastic setup, especially for a drama that’s only 8 episodes long.

After the engagement announcement, it is revealed that a second couple has survived the 15-year gap. We just don't know who. But, my bets are on our main leads, Shi-won and Yoon-jae. Since I've been so obsessed with this drama, I've re-watched the episodes released at least 3 times. I've come to notice some details during the flash-forwards which just fuels my OTP love and reassures me that they will end up  together.

(The other contestant for Shi-won's love is Yoon-jae's brother, Tae-woong)

Something that I love about this drama is it's accuracy in re-creating the 90s. I love watching this and being able to point out "I REMEMBER THAT OLD THING!" Another is I am very familiar with the music by the 1997-idols. I grew up with some of them, thanks to my cousins, but they were inactive or broken up when I became their fan. (There's also the issue of just how much was accessible to international fans at that time[1]). Watching this drama allows me to live out something that I missed out on because I was too late and the opportunity just wasn't there. Essentially, it's like I'm living out an alternative version of my childhood.

Words cannot describe just how much I adore this drama. But one main reason is that I firmly believe this is a drama about best friends. The ones that have been with each other all there lives without realising just how compatible or perfect they are for one another. The ones that don't realise that they're halves of a whole. There's just something about best friends getting together that speaks to me. Maybe it's because I've always imagined my boyfriend being my best friend. Or it's because that's how my parents started out. Either way, I'm rooting for Shi-won and Yoon-jae as if my life depended on it.

I have considered what would happen if Shi-won ended up with Tae-woong. I'll probably grudgingly accept it, especially if it's narrative to that conclusion makes sense. But even so, I'll probably be off in my own happy land and pretend that my OTP ended up together and lived happily ever after. I've done it many times before, no reason why I can't do it again.

Below are the "evidence" I've found (or delusioned myself into believing) that suggests Shi-won and Yoon-jae being the end game.

The first three pictures show how Shi-won is eating and sitting next to her is Yoon-jae.
He sees that she's struggling to finish so he lifts the bowl up, making it easier for her.
This is just an example of how Yoon-jae is consistenly sitting by Shi-won's side
and always seen caring for her and watching over her.

The second part shows her friend returning an ultrasound sonogram to Shi-won's husband.
Both Yoon-jae and Tae-woong are putting something back into their pockets.
However, the 5th picture shows that Tae-woong is on the phone.
Which means, to me, he was putting his phone in his pocket.
And Yoon-jae was putting the sonogram away.
Hence, YOON-JAE IS THE HUSBAND!!
WOOT! MY OTP!!
:D

[1] Even now, there is still A LOT of information being kept away from international fans. However, speaking from experience, when something drastic occurs to a certain idol group, some information gets leaked out (i.e 2PM). In most cases, information will reach the international fans years after it was originally released (i.e. DBSK). Most of the time though, the information kept from from international fans is to protect the idol's image. When these idols do something very severe (read, piss fans off), the information may be leaked to further damage the idol. This is just one of the reasons why the relationship between fans and idols are so dysfunctional.

Family Dinner

Last Sunday, my family had an overdue family dinner. After much deliberation, we ended up eating at Gold Leaf because Hoa Tran was too full.  I used the term "overdue" because we used to eat together every Sunday, but changes in our life has made that near impossible.

My father works as a baker, so he works at night and sleeps during the day. My mother works in a bakery, so she works in the early morning till late afternoon. By the time she gets home, she's too tired to do anything. This pretty much explains why my father does all the house work. I help whenever I can.

Whilst my father works everyday, my mother gets a break on Sunday. But even then, our Sundays are usually filled with church and family gatherings at my grandma's house. Knowing this, I tend to leave my Sundays free for my family.

Anywho, during this family dinner, I asked my parents why they never call to check up on me or my sister when we go out with our friends. They reasoned that they've raised us well with a moral compass and know not to get involved with drugs, alcohol etc. When I was younger, I always told my parents the details of my outing - the who, what, where. If I was ever planning on staying later than usual, I would give them a call. Because of this, my parents trust me to be sensible and have faith that I would always do the right thing. They've also met Anna and Kim, with no objections to their characters, so they trust that I've made the "right" sort of friends.

I felt really proud to hear my parents explain all that to me. I've always had a feeling that that was the case, but to hear it out loud was... rewarding. It's not everyday that I get them to say that they're proud of me as a person and who I've become.

Later on during dinner, I asked my father how he met my mother. My mother has told me the story countless times, but I wanted him to tell it to me this time. My siblings and I laughed so badly when he just summed up their meeting, whereas my mother goes into minute details.

According to my father, he knew my mother because they lived in the same neighbourhood and were in the same parish church. Yep. Short and Simple. On the other hand...

According to my mother, my father was mesmerised by her and asked around for her name. After that, they became friends and he would follow her around. She was 13 when this happened. At that time, they both had "fanclubs" or admirers of their own. My father would have a flock of girls waiting outside his house to follow him to school. Unfortunately for them, he only had eyes for my mother hehe~ (Random fact: They had their first kiss at around 20 years old).

From this, my mother deviated and just boasted how good looking my father was back in the day. He paid her the same compliment. Eventually, this lead to her speech about how her kids are just as pretty and handsome because we had such beautiful parents. LOL. This also meant that there are no worries about any of us being switched from birth, since we resemble our parents too much (she watches A LOT of Korean dramas. HAHAHA. This was her way of poking fun at the overuse of kids being switched at birth.)

That's pretty much all I can remember right now.

Bye~

WIKI THIS - Ethnic Slurs

Ethnic Slurs

Junsu - Uncommitted

Letters to No One

The project I've been working on for the past month is writing letters. I've always wanted to start writing letters but I always hesitated. What hindered the progress was fear. Fear of not knowing what to write. Fear of someone other than the recepient reading my private and personal thoughts. And lastly, fear that my letter would go unanswered.

I've had some past experience with letter writing as a child. I wrote while I was in Western Australia to my cousins and I think to Tuyen (I asked my cousins to pass her the letter but they never found her...). Another was when I moved back to Victoria and wrote to maintain the friendships I made. I also wrote to my year 6 teacher who moved to Brisbane.

For a period of time, the letters came regularly but eventually, the waiting time became more spaced out until the inevitable came. It's a pity that I couldn't keep in contact with my friends, but that's just life. Fortunately, due to the rise of social networks, I can be a stalker and be up to date with everyone's lives! YAY! But even with such amazing tools to "quinch" my thirst for stalkerish details, I wanted more. Something that was more intimate. More personal. And well, letters was the obvious answer.

I've always lamented the disapperance of letters and letter writing (probably not as much as the Post Office). I still remember what it's like to check my mail box to find a letter by someone I know, who has taken time from their busy day to write to me. Now a days, I only recieve bills or advertisements.

After some deliberation with myself, I decided to stop lamenting and remincising about the past and plan for the future. I went on an eBay rampage (aka my arts and crafts rampage) to find cute writing paper, envelopes, stickers and most importantly, a wax seal. I would like to blame the wax seal on my recent re-visiting of Pride and Prejudice. I've always wanted one, and now I have one in my possession!

The second part to my project was Hogwarts acceptance letters. I'm a Harry Potter fan. It was part of my childhood and a series that I treasure. Growing up, I was one of those kids that constantly waited for their Hogwarts letter to come, despite being older than 11 years of age. The Hogwarts letter took some time to "make". It wasn't difficult to find a template, the problem was the address for the envelopes. I wanted my letters to be as authentic as possible, but I had trouble describing the location of everyone's bedroom. After much deliberation, I decided against the envelopes. Another factor contributing to this decision was my obstacle of finding the right coloured sized envelopes. Something else I'm unsatisfied with is that they weren't printed with green ink. I just hope that despite the weaknesses it won't ruin the overall affect of receiving a Hogwarts acceptance letter.

In total, I spent about $60 on envelopes, stickers, stamps, inks, sealing wax and the seal. Unfortunately, the stickers, stamp and inks haven't arrived and I just really wanted to finish my first batch of letters. I could always use them for any future letters, right? Still lamenting how I couldn't finish the letters before July 31st so that the Hogwarts letters would be more... fun. 

All letters were delivered by me. On Friday the 10th, I managed to deliver Tuyen's and Sophie's letters. I would've been able to deliever everyone else's if it wasn't because of the bus. I waited for an hour and none of them showed up. By the time it came, the sky was pitch black, and the chances of getting lost trying to find Alyssa's house was pretty high. So on Saturday, I spent 3 hours walking to everyone's house. Forgot my wallet so I couldn't bus it to Keysborough...

I was planning on wrapping the letters with purple tissue paper and a ribbon bow.
It didn't turn out too well so I discarded the idea.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of the brown envelopes
so three people got pink envelopes instead~

Letters are inside the envelopes and are sealed.
If it's broken, your letter has been tampered with!

A close up shot of the seal with the initial S.
The first couple of seals didn't come out well.
But I eventually got the hang of it!

A glimpse of the Hogwarts acceptance letters.

Everything bundled up and ready to be delivered.

Marcel Nguyen

Watching the Olympics was worth it cause I discovered...

Hehe, I even changed my favicon to him :D

LINHee's 365 DAYS

I've always wanted to do the 365 Day Project. I started it twice in high school but I never really took them seriously because a camera was never readily available. Most people I know are using the app on iPhone/iPod. Unfortunately, my iPod does not have a camera and therefore, I must settle for creating my own blog exclusively made for a picture I shall take everyday.

I contemplated between using Tumblr or Blogspot but eventually settled with Blogspot. Though Tumblr would be more ideal, I use blogger more.

Cosmetics

If there's one cosmetic that I indulge myself in, it would be nail polish. Unlike it's peers, I actually know how to use it, albiet not quite professionally. It comes in a wide range of colours and are inexpensive. They last for some time and have not damaged my nails, yet.

I think one of the reasons why I like nail polish so much is because I don't use any other cosmetic. Nail polish makes me feel a little bit prettier and girlier. I'm sure that they can be achieved through the use of eyeliner, mascara, foundation, concealer and blush, but I'm most comfortable with nail polish. Plus, I don't really think I need eyeliner and mascara since I wear glasses. Doubt you can see it with them on. Likewise, I have naturally pink cheeks so blush isn't really needed. I do get pimples from time to time, and using foundation or concealer would just make it worse. 

Sigh, I wish my collection was more extensive.