Mommy's 51st

I had it all planned out. Well,it was some thing like it. All I was missing was a cake and the mood to celebrate.

This year, I decided to be creative and do something handmade for my mother. I used newspaper and made her face out of newspaper and the earrings I already planned to give her since last year.

I came back home after choir practice and ran up to my room. I wrapped up and did the final touches on the small box of earrings. I looked at my craft and hoped that my mother would not think a kindergarden child did it. My drawing skills were not necessarily the best out of all the three of her children. Basically, it did not look that impressive.

"It is the thought that counts."

I walked down the stairs and to her home office. I bravely knocked on the door and went in. "Happy birthday, mommy!" I wished her. I passed her the gift and looked for satisfaction in her reaction. Let us just say that it was not the best reaction I could receive from my mother. It was enough for me. I then ran back upstairs and tried to finish my homework. Sadly, my nerves would not let me. I was still too excited (or you could say nervous) from giving my mom her birthday present. The thoughts of doubt sped through my head like a racing car on the track.

The thought rushed out of my head as my brother and I were called down for dinner. We ate in such solemn atmosphere. My mom told us that she did not want us to sing for her nor blow candles. "I'm too old for that." I quote. No matter what she said, my brother and I still sang her that birthday song even without the candles. At least it felt somewhat birthday-like. My family will never get used to celebrating birthdays cause all we would do is get cake, sing, blow candles and eat cake after dinner.  I guess the big celebrations and meaningful parties were just an influenced misconception from the many American television shows I used to watch as a child.

We had this beautiful delicious cake from Ficelle Boulangerie & Patisserie that was given to my mom from her friend. We made a guess that it was a sponge and cheesecake mix because it was as filling as a cheesecake but the texture was spongy. It was quite amusing trying to figure out what kind of cake it was. It was an elegant hemisphere shaped cake which was totally cream coloured all around it. We sang for my mom, took some photos and continued with cake cutting and eating of the cake. My brother even had two pieces.

I kind of forced my brother to take a photo with us cause clearly he did not look that happy. I wish I could have done more for my mother's birthday but as a high school girl, some things are not possible at this age and time. I hope my mom enjoyed her birthday and had a good time. With that, I end my post. Hope you enjoyed my blog. Till next post!

Librarian One Day Camp 2015

14th of March 2015
Before the sun woke up, librarians dressed in our black librarian T-shirt and white school tees gathered in the school canteen. Everyone brought their bags and food, ready for a full day ahead of them. I walked to school with my beloved ice box, bought a bag of ice from 7-Eleven and made my way to school. It was still dark and chilly as I enjoyed my walk. We around 7.30 in the morning we boarded the bus and made our way to the two destinations which is the Rimba Ilmu and the library of Universiti Malaya. I went to Rimba Ilmu first so let me tell you about how my day went. Gladly, we were allowed to put our food and heavy items in a room before we began our adventure.

We started off with an informative explanation of the bugs we will be able to find later in the Rimba Ilmu. A young man named Safuan told us differences between an insects and other bugs like the spider which is an arachnid. We learned that an insects has 3 parts(for those who did not know already) which are the head, thorax and abdomen meanwhile a spider has only two parts-  the head and the cephalothorax. He introduced to us the damselfly which come from the same order as the dragonfly which is Odonata. They look pretty much like the dragonfly but the two insects have their differences. One, as larvae, the damselfly larvae has a little tail that the draognfly does not have. Secondly, when adult damselflies are at rest, their wings are held closed which is opposite to the dragonflies that have their wings open when at rest. It was even more intriguing when Safuan told us about the shedding of insects to become bigger. He even showed us a shedding of an adult damselfly if I am not mistaken.

An exoskeleton that has been shed

After that, we headed to the exhibition room. This room is where all the information and even some creative artwork was displayed. We even saw this display that creates a hologram. It was quite interesting. There were displays of the different types of stick bugs, butterflies, beetles and spiders. We even saw Lichen. Lichen may sound familiar to most form 4s because we learn about them in symbiosis as an example of mutualism. The lichen consists of a fungus combined with one or more species of alga. The fungus provides water and mineral elements as well as protection to the alga from intense sunlight, whereas the alga supplies carbohydrates from photosynthesis for growth. Thus there is symbiosis.

Lichen

Next we made our way to the Rimba Ilmu, there we saw many things including the different trees as our classes are named after trees. We saw a leafless tree that bears flowers only when the leaves drop. Other than that, we saw a huge Golden Orb spider, some huge pandan, a tree that sheds red leaves, lots of palm, red barked tree that makes itself look sick, some dragonflies at this marsh area, a cute tiny brown spotted toad, the mickey mouse plant, a huge Sukun tree leaf and many more interesting plants and animals. The best of them all was this beautiful clear pond which you would never expect to find in the an urban area like Kuala Lumpur. I fell in love with the clear water with the little fishes swimming around in it. The rest of the photos I took are on Facebook if you would like to see them.

Beautiful clear pond

When we gathered back, the other group was already feasting on lunch. We joined them and had our share. My friends and I grouped up and brought pizza, drinks, nuggets and fresh cold fruit. My habit of bringing fresh cold fruit is one hard to break. My love for watermelon and cold fruit runs deep. My juniors were overjoyed when they heard I bought cold watermelon. You should have seen how fast it was finished. Next was the ice breaking games which was 4 stationed game that made the teams swap around every 5-10 minutes. I was in charge of the chopstick game. As always, most of my photos are on Facebook but here is one on the better ones.

After that we had some complications with the bus driver that did not know he had to pick up one more round. Gladly the bus finally came and we went to the library at around 2.15 in three rounds due to the insufficient space. We had a short 15 minute tour compared to the 45 minute tour the first group got. It was not that enjoyable though. I would have wished for a chance to glance through the amazing trove of English fictional books that sat proudly on a whole one and a half floors. We moved to a empty space close to the big bus stop in Universiti Malaya and played our last game which was Minesweeper. Then we got back to school and was joined by the other group before our camp was finally finished. Everyone adjourned home happily and safely. It was a good camp this year but a little bit more messier than expected due to the lack of leadership and slight confusion.

That is all for now, hope you have enjoyed my post. Till next post!

Dear 7th.

Dear 7th of March,

I had a fun time today with you. I woke up early to greet you at 6 in the morning. You were still a bit glum and dark as I made my way to school for my last annual school road run on my bicycle. I am sure you watched over me as the many students and teachers dressed in blue, red, yellow, purple and green flooded the multipurpose court. Everyone (well maybe not everyone) was pumped up for the run that morning. I know the runners from the P1 category were all hyped up. You seemed to lighten up as we progressed from announcements to the entertaining and safe warming up routine. The Mickeymitez cheerleaders lead us with our stretching. The event kicked off with the girls from P1 category (which is also my category). The journey was not the best one but a least I finished the run in the top 40/50. I could not tell because they stopped giving numbers after the 30th, you see. I am sure you were overjoyed as the guys of L1 category left as the last to leave and came flooding back in within 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I hid away in the packed canteen as it filled with the students who had finished the run. My friends and I just rested there after we finished, anticipating for the award ceremony. You were glowing, I could tell. Your smile so bright that it blinded us if we looked for too long. We clapped and cheered for the winners that took home medals. I was proud of my friends that won. I never did expect this irony when I heard a guy from my class had gotten first place for his category. Our history teacher was in charge that certain category and let me say that he is not the best student off the block. He apparently reached, tapped the table and slumped to the floor. My teacher instantly asked him to get up in a strict voice. It was a fun story to listen to from my classmate.The event ended at 11a.m. sharp. I cycled home in 5 minutes and got into the bath after some rest.

After my shower, my mom's friend came over. She is a skin specialist or something of that sort. She sells the Artistry products and teaches people how to use them. My mom was buying a new set so she taught us how to for about 45 minutes including talking about makeup and taking before and after photos. We used the Hydra V Artistry set - foaming cleanser, scrub, mask, softening lotion(toner) and refreshing gel. It was pretty nice, my face felt really good after that. Apparently she explained my acne was probably due to hormonal changes at this stage and soon it will go away. It was pretty nice talking to someone who knew about face care and makeup. The session ended at 12.20 p.m.. I have no idea what I was doing between then and 12.40 because I was supposed to be preparing for my choir performance that night.

At 12.55 till 1.15p.m., I managed to do up my hair, put on some basic makeup, grab my stuff, pack stuff in the garment protector and rush off to school with my black shoes and socks on. At school, we met at the canteen. Everyone looked fresh and well prepared even though some of us ran this morning. After moving to the choir room, we got our blazers and did our warm up. We practiced a bit of our songs and then faced to mirror to look at our expressions. At around 2.15p.m., we packed up and got on our way to the MBPJ Civic Centre Hall. It was a pretty magnificent hall but not as amazing as some I have seen before. We enjoyed part of the cheerleaders routine and then got on to the stage for ours. Sound check went well and our teacher and senior said we sounded good. All we hoped for was to get an even better performance later.

We waited and ate dinner. Enjoyed some funny moments, had a laugh. We got into our performance clothes and then waited for our cue. We were so nervous yet excited but knew in our hearts that it could not do anything to stop us. I was so proud of them after the performance. I knew we could safely enjoy the rest of our evening. We enjoyed the Mickeymitez + All Star performance, the several dance routines - Jia Wen and Yvonne(hope I spelled their names correctly), Checkmates, the KL Stepperz, and K-Famez , Solomon's infamous famous act, the amazing solo singers Ashley from Sri KL, our own choir girls Julia Gonsalvez and Natasha Tan that sang with Solomon and also Syahiran, entertainer / beatboxer. It was a wonderful night and it ended well.

That is my day on the 7th of March. I had a schedule packed full of stuff and we also managed to squeeze in birthday songs for Rachel Lim Jia Ying and Ooi Del Phin in the bus on the way back to school! Here is a little shout out to you two amazing people in choir. Rachel Lim being president for Harmonix Youth Choir 2015. She is my best friend till this day and forever more. We knew each other in kinder and was reunited as tuition friends then joined as choir buddies in our school now. We have been cheer mates and are now on the same softball team and choir international team to Bali. I cannot thank her enough. Hope you like your little present (if you see this). To Del Phin, you are the best junior and one of the most experienced ones I know. From conducting in SK TM to conducting the junior choir in their first ever competition when we went to Ipoh in 2012 to conducting us in 2015. Talented and hard working, stay happy and don't stress.

With that I end my blog post for this week. Hopefully you have reached the end of the post. If you have, thank you for actually reaching the end of my post and reading about my day. Till next post, bye!

7th of February

On the 7th of February, many events have occurred in the past years. Ironically, the seventh of February also turns out to be my birthday. How hilarious. Back to our topic for today - events that occurred on the 7th of February.

Firstly, "Black Tuesday" occurred on the 7th of February 1967. It was summer in Australia. On that date, over 100 fires were burning across southern Tasmania. A combination of abundant forest litter, strong notherly winds up to 100km per hour and extremely hot air, created the ideal conditions for bushfires. The bushfires swept across the south-east coast of Tasmania and burnt through 264,270 hectares within five hours. Sixty two people lost their lives, and 1400 homes or buildings were destroyed. The fires killed thousands of chickens and sheep among other livestock. The Insurance Council of Australia estimated the 1967 damage at $14 million, with the 2011 estimated normalised cost of $610 million. It has been 48 years since that incident, the Australians still remember that tragic day. The people were in total shock and could not explain how they felt. Most of them had nowhere to go. This was the first and last of these severe bushfires in Tasmania. 

Second event that happened was on the 7th of February 1992. The Treaty of Maastricht was signed on the 7th February 1992. The Treaty on European Union(TEU) was signed in Maastricht on that date and entered into force on 1 November 1993. The Treaty of Maastricht went beyond its original economic objective where it was to also to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the institutions; improve the effectiveness of the institutions; establish economic and monetary union; develop the Community social dimension and establish a common foreign and security policy. It marked a crucial milestone in the process of European development and integration. Seen from a chronological perspective, it elaborated and implemented concepts discussed in the previous Single European Act of 1986. Perhaps most importantly, it established the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It also paved the way for further developments.

Sadly those were the only two interesting events which actually happened on the 7 GH of February. The date is not as interesting as other dates. That is the end of this post. Once again, thanks for reading! We shall meet in the next post.

Mood

What is mood?

Feelings. I define them as how you feel after reading a few lines of a story, seeing a photo or listening to a song. It could be the mood of disgust when "Ms. Lina's face contorts after seeing the big fat rat scurrying around her kitchen" or the mood of joy when "Ariff grins from ear to ear as soon as he gets his final examination results that are straight As.". That is what mood is about.

How to put it in your writing?

Step 1 : Select different details to point out each time

Firstly, you pluck out those things to shape your mood. You select specific details support the mood you are after and helps you to  construct different images in your mind. If you are about to write a scene that is supposed to be scary, be mindful of the images and vocabulary you use to describe the setting. You should probably remove the cute and happy family of bunnies, in other words.

Step 2: Use of word pictures and comparisons

You should heavily use work pictures and comparisons in writing. This helps to accentuate the mood in the scene. For example, when describing a yard, you can just use simple similes instead of personification which could be too much at some point.

Step 3: Vocabulary

When writing a scene, choose your vocabulary carefully. Words like grave, bole, shrouded,withered cand creeping to describe a scene very mysteriously while using words like blossomed, furry, bashful and bounded helps you to paint a happy mood. Images of regret and loneliness is helped by the words wasted, brittle and cry to make a scene just pop with that depressing mood.

Step 4: Words that help you paint the picture

When writing a scene, you should subtly use words that "sounded to the eye" . For example, the word shimmered is used when the author wants people to think about shivered, using "cherry" to sound close to cheery and "lacy" to sound like lazy which is relaxed.

Description are like painting. With the right tools, you can convey the right message, image and feeling that the artist wants to create in the painting. It is the words that you choose in your description that helps to convey the mood you want to create for the scene. Use those tools careful and let your imagination run.

Lunar New Year 2015

Wonderful weather on our journey

17th Feb, Departure
We woke up at 5 in the morning, packed up our things and departed at 6a.m. to our destination - Batu Pahat.  The morning was slightly cloudly and the weather was pleasant. (picture is attached below) We rode 3 hours to Batu Pahat and reached my grandmother's house at around 9.30a.m..It was pleasant to be greeted by my grandmother after not seeing her for almost 5 months. We spent the day just sitting in the house and waiting for the eve to come. Fiddling with our phones and reading some books is all we did as we awaited the arrival of our cousins the next day.

18th Feb , Eve of Chinese New Year

 The eve was a relaxing and fun day. I woke up at around 8.50a.m.. At around 10, my mother drove my grandmother, brother and I to the restaurant that we ordered food from. My younger cousins managed to reach around noon. We all got into my mother's car and made our way to the Batu Pahat Mall at around 2pm. We bought our stuff, some clothes and the Yee Sang for tonight. We got back to the house and I just chatted with my cousin, Andrew about the Singaporean O-level system as he is taking O-levels this year while I am taking SPM. We all got ready for the reunion dinner. This year we were missing my eldest uncle and my three elder cousins. The two of them which were doctors had to be on call until the end of eve so they were only arriving late that night.

We started off the dinner by following tradition where we "Lau" Yee Sang and wish ourselves and relatives fortune, health and etc. We had delicious food of modern and traditional like my grandmother's famous cereal prawn, meat buns, sea slug, KFC chicken, black Hokkien noodles, longevity vegetable and many more. After dinner, we played several rounds of mahjong. Our long awaited games oh mahjong which we play once a year during Chinese New Year was enjoyable. My cousins, brother and I also played firecrackers.

At midnight, we fired off this huge box of fireworks. This box was mistaken as a box of canned drinks by my mother and a box of oranges by my aunt. I was a spectacular watch. As we stood outside enjoying the rest of the firework filled night sky after finishing our fireworks, a police car drove by. The evidence for a fine was right at our feet behind us. It was a hilarious feat of the night.

19th Feb, First Day of Chinese New Year

All the cousins woke up at around 10.30 in the morning. We all showered and changed into our new year clothing. The shower was not empty until after everyone showered. One by one every one took their turn in the shower because my grandmother's one floored hour only had one shower and one toilet. I put on my long dark red dress with the beautiful lace bottom that lets my legs peek out of it that I got from Mirrorcle(the women's apparel store I worked at last year). The parents went around giving red packets to the children and the single young adults. My relatives also visited the house. Afterwards, my elder cousins left to their other grandmother's house in Batu Pahat and my younger cousins left for Melaka. Thus leaving my family with my grandmother once again. At night, we visited my Aunty Poohoon's house. My aunties from KL were also there when we visited. We all chatted for a while then got distracted by the movie "Karate Kid" on the television. We enjoyed the movie and once it ended, we all left. That was the end to the first day of chinese new year.

20th Feb, Second Day of Chinese New Year

The second day of Chinese New Year was a busier day for me. I sported a french braid for the day. My eldest uncle brought us out to eat lunch at this restaurant right outside. We were joined by my aunties too. It was a nice meal but a bit too much for all of us. Leftovers were brought home The aunties, my mom and grandmother chatted for a long time after. My brother and I fiddled with our mobile devices and did our homework. In the afternoon, my mother brought my brother and I to her friend's open house. There I met her son, Kenjin which is also 17 and his friends. All of them were debators and I could relate well being an ex debator. All of them were outspoken and very friendly. I learned about the Johor International Student Leader's Conference. They were apart of the committee in charge and told me about what they do. It was surprising to me that this kind of events started happening in Johor. Even though I could not go, it was nice knowing about that. I also met this guy called Amirul. He is a fellow otaku and is in to cosplaying too. Syaraf and Lisa are also some of the people I got to know at the party. I also tried Putu Mayam for the first time there. 

We went back at around 6 and ate a light dinner. It was heartwarming to see my aunts crowded around one table eating dinner at our place. After dinner and some rest, we waited for Aunty Lee Fang before making our way to Aunty Ahnah's place. Aunty Ahnah has a Chinese New Year party on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. I have forced my mom to bring me for 3 years straight already, if not mistaken. I was excited to go this year because I made friends there last year. Gladly, most of them were there at the part this year too. The normal Joel, Jaryl, Samuel, Sarah, L'sa, D' Yinn and Jared were there at the party. Jared, Jaryl, my brother and I even went to fetch Rachel to the party as she had just came back from celebrating the eve and first day of Chinese New Year in Sibu. Some of their church friends all came along. It was a fun night. They played fireworks there too. Angpaus were given to the children by the many aunties and uncles around. It was a festive night. The last few hints of people went home after midnight. We reached home, cleaned up and went to sleep.

So that concludes the 3 main days of Chinese New Year that I celebrate. We did not do much on the 3rd day of Chinese New Year and we went home early in the morning on the 4th. It was a nice celebration and a good start to the year(Chinese calendar). Hopefully everyone had a great Chinese New Year and a goat-ful year. That is all for now, till the next post!

Worst time of the year(other than exam periods)

Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day. Most people say this is the best time of the year cause you get angpau from your married relatives and loads of sweets, cookies, chocolates and love letters from your friends and admirers. Well, for my case, yes we do get angpau but the travel of four hours back to my mother's hometown in Batu Pahat can be a killer.

Back when I was younger, my mother's BMW was like a mini human oven. On hot days and long journeys,especially when the air conditioning was not as cold as it use to be, my siblings and I used to hang our blankets up to block out the hot sun. Only thing I liked about going back there was seeing my cousins and spending time with them. Even the time was limited though due to the fact my cousins that come from Singapore have such short New Year holidays. The scenery and holiday mood was also enjoyable.

On the flip side, spending almost close to a week with just my family and my grandma in the house was a bit torturous. Being from a generation where WiFi has become a necessity, you could say we were deprived from it while we were there. Only time WiFi was available was at an aunt's place or at my mother's friend's place. The party she had there every year was pleasurable cause there were actually people my age at the party.

Normally in my grandma's house, I am stuck in the middle of the age groups. I have many cousins who are older than me by 4 years minimum. Then I have my closest cousin who is a year younger than I. Then cousins which are younger by 3 years or more. I end up only having that one cousin who actually talks to me but as I said before, he is Singaporean.

Last but not least for Chinese New Year, as a child that was born in early February, my birthday was normally really close with Chinese New Year and I have not got to celebrate it with friends for a long time. Their families busy due to Chinese New Year preparations. My family going back to my hometown really early or coming back really late. Those things tend to happen and even if it was my birthday on the second day of new year's, nobody really noticed or knew. In my opinion, Chinese New Year has its goods but the reasons above are why I dislike it.

Next for Valentine's Day, also known as Friendship Day in school (cause schools do not encourage relationships so Valentine's day is a no-no), most people end up buying chocolates and all for their friends. When you get to my age, sometimes spending money on such frivolous things can be such as waste of money. No offence to those people who yearn for February 14 every year but I just dislike this spending of money to give your friends chocolates, brownies and sweets that people sell.

It also makes me feel like a Scrooge or that I am poor. Some friends just do not understand that I am not in a position to spend money of thing that I do not really need. These materialistic offerings to a friend does not mean you treasure them fully. It just means you have some extra money you want to spend on them. Being a true friend is having their backs and helping them when they need it.

People in the world should be happy with what they are given not just on Valentine's Day. Just because it is the 14th of February, people think those gifts are worth gold. No! We should be thankful for all gifts. A hug when your sad, a piece of cake they share with you on any simple day, the teaching they give you when you just cannot seem to solve that math question. Treasure all those, not only the gifts on February the 14th.

I'm not an avid blogger because sometimes I feel sharing my thoughts may not make the world a better place. I tend to say things I feel very bluntly. If you know me in real life, I probably have hurt a lot of people with my dagger like words. After all nothing runs on the truth. If an industry told the truth all year long, a war would break out when men and women with army gear waiting to stab one another.

Anyways, with that I end my blog for today. Hopefully you got to read all the way till the end. If you have, thank you for your time. See you in the next blog post.

Screams

They screamed at each other. When they saw each other, war would break out. You could feel the walls reverberating as they raised their voices. The worst was when they were at each other's throats, trying to suffocate each other. The little one was asleep, too young to remember that it happened. I just looked at them battling it out at the stairwell. Sister was scared, tears ran down her face. She tried to ring them out of the horrible trance that clouded their thoughts with the urge to kill each other. I looked, stared and just absorbed. I never thought it would turn out to be one of the worst nightmares I have experienced with my own eyes.

The sight comes flooding back and shrouds my mind like fog. This fog that makes me feel lost and useless. It stabs me like a thousand needles, which hurts more than a single blade. It was triggered by the scene of the little one and her shouting and quarreling. How ironic it is that, once many years ago, the father of the little one was in that position. This leaves me sickened and unsure of how I am supposed to feel.

We, the little one and I, sit there like morons and minions. We do not know what to do or just do not wish to do. We follow her orders and clean like we should. We sit around the table and eat as we accept the "advice" and "lessons" we are given by her. We bare the barrage of words as brave as soldiers do. I listen and absorb while the little one fights back. I seem like the one that is useless but what use does bad words bring back.

She is not the villain but who is to say she isn't? She raised us three - sister, little one and I alone from the horrid one, him. She asked nothing more from us than good grades and a clean room. Who are we to say that she is the bad parent? She just wants us to learn and make us more capable. At least, she is better than the scum that left thirteen years ago. To visit six months once, give us nothing more than some money and a nice dinner. Who are we to say that life should always be pleasant?

Long ranting from me but sometimes what is the use? Where many listen but no one does anything for you. I scream from my heart and hope that someone hears. I'm not okay, I wish people were there, at least to lead the way. Hope you hear what I have to say and maybe take another look. What seems to be on outside could be all just an impressive overcoat.

Inside and out school

It has been a long time since I've gone back to blogging. So here goes everything until my trials start and SPM starts.


 Here is my 2014 in 100 words.


I sat in front of class (still do in fact). I scored in my exams and I took part in any activities- choir, house cheer, wushu and the librarian board. My choir and I represented Malaysia and took part in the 1^st Singapore International Choir Festival. We claimed a silver award. For house cheer, the bronze was ours. My friends and I planned the annual librarian leadership camp and library week in my school last year. I ended the year by working for two months plus at the clothes store, Mirrorcle and went for the bi-annual choir dinner. It was a great year.

That is all for now. We shall meet again in my next post.


Cheers,

Clarissa.