Invisible Rainclouds

I was going to post a happy song, seeing as my mood is kind of melancholy at the moment. Didn't really work as you can see. Oh well, everyone likes James Arthur right?

It's not exactly a specific thing that's getting me down - more like a combination of everything. Maybe I should break it down into groups:

1. University. This is a big one. I spoke a little about how I'm kind of dreading the start of uni before and my feelings towards that haven't really changed much. In actual fact, the closer I get to starting, the more worried and stressed I get. I'm worried about starting all over and trying to meet new people. I'm worried about getting used to the independence of uni and most of all, I'm worried about not liking my course. That last one bugs me so much because lately, I've been questioning my desire to do international studies/journalism. Perhaps it's because when people hear about my ATAR, they start asking my parents whether that's a smart choice or not. After all, I could get into Law, or Medicine (they all seem to disregard the fact that you need UMAT for that). Why would I do something that may potentially get me nowhere? I'm starting to question it too tbh but not for the same reasons. I'm a pretty pragmatic person (even though I may appear a bit of an airhead at times) and this means I really hate uncertainty. I like feeling stable. I like knowing what my next step is. Journalism is so full of uncertainty. A lot of the jobs (if you even get any) seem to be freelance and temporary. I can't believe I'm saying this but when I think about the future, an office job is actually quite appealing to me. It's stable and it's comfortable - that's all I want. God, I can't believe I'm saying that.

2. Tutoring. This isn't a big gripe. I'm still really grateful that I have a job and a relatively comfortable working environment. It's just so much work sometimes - especially when I'm teaching a topic that I haven't learnt before. And the responsibility that comes with educating a whole class of people still kind of freaks me out. I gotta man up though. I mean, I've only got two permanent classes whereas older tutors have like, eight. I don't know how they do it. 

3. I have about 3 and a half more weeks of holidays left. Considering how fast time flies, they're not going to last long. I feel really lazy and unmotivated but at the back of my mind, there's this voice telling me to use the time wisely. I should be looking at preparing two term's worth of tutor work so it doesn't start weighing on me when classes start but I just can't bring myself to do that. I should be preparing for uni but seeing as how the topic of uni tends to put me in a funk, I don't want to do that either. I'm not really sure what I want to do to be honest. Staying still makes me antsy but going out seems like too much effort. It's a really strange hole I've dug for myself here. 

4. I just feel sad a little bit blue. I think there's an invisible raincloud following me around and raining on my parade for no particular reason. I wish it would go away.

Maybe the uncertainty is all part of growing up. Maybe it's not. I envy all those people who know exactly what they want and how they're going to get there. I used to be like that too but somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost it - that certainty of what you want your future to be like. Or maybe I was just deluding myself and now that I've gotten away from all the confusion of high school, I realize how much more practical I could've been. Fail before you even start. Typical Cynthia.

Sorry for the really depressing blog post guys. They're not always going to be like this. I promise. Perhaps the wrackspurts have gotten into my house and floated into my ears, making my thoughts all jumbled and muddled. Hopefully this thing will blow over and I'll realise my fears are unfounded and foolish. It might just be the nerves talking.

The Domestication of Cynthia

 

Hello everyone, how was your Australia Day? I spent mine chasing after little kids at Darling Harbour. Oh wait, I should probably rephrase that sentence.


Yes, in fact I did run around Darling Harbour trying to chase down little kids but that was only because I was babysitting. My neighbours. For free. In all honesty though, someone should have paid me. Babysitting is HARD. Especially when you're at the city on Australia Day with about 20 million other families gathered around the park area. You try to keep an eye on three and a half hyped-up kids when there are fifty-thousand other ones running all over the place. I'm starting to see why some parents like to put their toddlers on leashes.



 

We had sushi for lunch and my sister and I had to deal with our little neighbours constantly running up to us to tell us they've finished eating. Awesome dude. Now go back to your seat and stay there. And please try not to yell across the restaurant to tell me that you just ate an egg.

 

We also took them to Galaxy World and wasted 10 bucks on games. I use the word "wasted" because we only got about 15 tickets out of it. They wouldn't stop fighting over basketballs or trying to bash another person's crocodile so it was all a bit of a blur. It also looked like a fight was going to break out when it came to choosing prizes but my sister knew the girl who worked there and she ended up giving us an extra prize. Crisis averted! Huzzah!

 

Bathroom break time! And I almost had to physically restrain two of my charges from running into the girl's toilet. They found it funny that I freaked out everytime they dashed in there.

 

 

Then there were lasers, giant ships and fireworks. Ahh, fireworks. Best part of the day/night because no one tried to get up from the mat to do a runner. 15 minutes of awed silence. Couldn't have asked for more.

 

So there you have it - babysitting at the city. Stage 1 of domesticating Cynthia has been complete. Next thing you know, I'll be cooking dinner in the kitchen and balancing a kid on my hip. Past Cynthia would be having an apoplexy right about now. I used to say I wanted nothing to do with kids or teaching because KIDS ARE OBVIOUSLY EVIL INCARNATE JUST WAITING FOR THE CHANCE TO STAB YOU IN YOUR SLEEP OR SOMETHING. Now look at me. I just spent Australia Day babysitting  and I've got 7-8 tutor lessons lined up for this week. Awesome.



Movie Review: Les Miserables

When I first heard that Les Mis (or as Tian likes to call it - Miserable Lesbians) was being turned into a movie, I was excited, especially after finding out that so many good actors were involved in the project. And then my cousin told me that he died a thousand excruciating deaths whilst being forced to watch Russell Crowe sing his way through Paris, so I went in expecting a snoozefest. Ten minutes into the movie, I was so close to agreeing with him... but then Anne Hathway turned into a prostitute, Russell Crowe stopped singing, Hugh Jackman shaved his beard and SHIT GOT REAL SO FAST THAT EVEN THE GIGGLING TEENY BOPPERS BEHIND ME DECIDED TO STFU AND WATCH THE MOVIE.

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I'm not really good at summarizing and plus, I'm guessing most people have already seen the film. To those who haven't seen it or slogged through the 1500 page original text, Les Mis basically follows the lives of a few characters during the French Revolution and that's all you need to know.  

 

I can see why sitting through 2 and a half hours of Les Mis might seem like such an ordeal to some. The acting and (most of) the singing was brilliant but the whole "camera pointed at your face whilst you sing about how crap your life is" thing may have been too tedious for some people. TBH I got a bit tired of it near the end but I suppose if you're adapting a musical into a movie, you have to stay true to the source material. And the source material called for passionate solos so what can you do? At the same time, there were so many great moments in the film to make up for the boring bits. I LOVED all of Fantine's (Anne Hathaway's) parts. When she resorts to cutting her hair, pulling out her teeth and selling her body for money - those scenes were terrible but gripping. If I could cry, I would have blubbered my way through "I Dreamed a Dream". As such, I contented myself with the fact that the lady in front of me was crying enough tears to prevent an Australian drought ten times over.  

 



 

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Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen had one of my favourite parts of the whole movie.   In a film that contained so many dark and bleak scenes, "Master of the House" was such a welcome change of scenery. It reminded me of "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" from Oliver! the Musical. (Borat can sing, lulz!) Those two have so much charisma on screen. It felt like I was drowning in it. 

 

 

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This film had the best child actors ever. Young Cossette was like THE CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN MULTIPLIED BY A BILLION and Gavroche helped rid my mouth of that sour taste I got after watching "Henry" "act" through 22 episodes of Once Upon A Time. Dude seriously needs to learn how to emote or like, move his face.

 

 

Marius has a very sexy face (I think. Not sure though because his ass over Jackman's shoulder took up half the shots or something) but I wanted to punch it (his face not his ass) after what he did to Eponine.

 

 

Take a bullet straight through my brain chest / Yes, I would die for you, baby / But you won't do the same... because you fell in love with the first blond bimbo you ever met and totally forgot about me or something.

 

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Just kidding. Amanda Seyfriend is totes awesome and stuff. She can have a picture too:

 

 

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So yeah, all in all it was a great movie and I would definitely go watch it again if I could. And yes, I will cut Russell Crowe some slack because even though he isn't the greatest singer ever, his acting bits were all brilliant.

 

Also, greatest screenshot ever or greatest screenshot ever?

 

 

Nothing like a great big elephant ass to ruin the moment...

 

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Bella Ferraro's "Set Me On Fire"

Bella Ferraro's "new" song. Well I guess it isn't really that new since it was posted on Jan 10th but this is the first time I've heard it. Too busy getting my wanderlust quashed in Ho Chi Minh city and all that. Ha. Just kidding. They did have nice food there, even if my appetite was somehow dampened by the presence of slimy lizards clinging onto the walls of their restaurants. 

I love the song. It lets her voice do that amazing thing that it does. I also love that the producers didn't try to change her style too much. She tried her best during X-Factor but the show's attempts to craft her into something that she wasn't made her seem so manufactured each week. It got to the point where even the judges and audience felt uncomfortable for her. And those bloody song choices. Nat Bass, I hate you with the intense passion of a thousand Bieber fans. Please glue your lips together and never try to give constructive criticism ever again.

So yeah, the song is awesome sauce with chocolate sprinkles scattered on top. Not quite sure about the dress with the giant V in the back, the hair roots or the I-just-got-punched-in-the-eye makeup either. None of that's her fault though. The Australian music industry has always been a bit hit or miss in the quality of their music videos. (Delta Goodrem, I'm talking to you). As a whole, I quite like it. It could've been a lot worse. It also deserves way more than 74k views and I hope it gets promoted a lot more in the upcoming weeks.

Change of topic - can everyone please wake up now so I can ask you if you want to go watch Les Mis tonight? I need me some Hugh Jacksman and seriously dudes, y'all must try to break this habit of sleeping till 2pm every day. Kthxbai.

My Reaction to Sherlock: Season One

This is totally irrelevant to the rest of this post but when we were in Vietnam, my dad casually told one of his friends that I was a "Yellow Banana". Cue my WTF face. I was all like, "did you just refer to your daughter as a bright yellow, tropical fruit?" But when I asked him later, he said it was because I was yellow on the outside but white on the inside. It took a while for me to process but then I laughed and said,

So. After much nagging from Tian, I finally got through Season 1 of Sherlock. Okay, "got through" makes it sound like such an ordeal or something but really it wasn't. Plus there were only 3 episodes so it's not like I had to slog through a whole bunch of filler episodes or anything like that.

I liked it but at this point in time, it is not a full-out, IMMA HAVE YER BABIES type of love. It's not the show; it's me. I've been feeling a strange sort of disconnect with everything I've watched recently. I can't seem to get through Season 4 of True Blood or bring myself to start the new series of Doctor Who. Oh wait, there was that one Korean drama I watched a few weeks ago... Answer Me 1997. It was literally the only Korean drama I watched last year but was considered by many to be one of the best dramas of 2012. If I find time, I might blog about it... or not, considering I have 6 tutor classes to take next week.

But I digress.

Episode 1 of Sherlock was great. I think. Hard to tell really since I watched THE WRONG PILOT. (Tian, you should have warned me. This is all your fault dammit). Episode 2 was kind of boring and also a bit uncomfortable to watch to be honest. It wasn't bad per se and I appreciated their efforts to include a bit of cultural diversity in the show but someone really needs to tell the writers that if they want to include Asian people in a storyline, they don't always have to include stuff like gangs, smuggling, ninja acrobatics, jade artifacts, teapot ceremonies, stilted accents and a weird Chinese lady trying to sell you a lucky cat in a seedy part of Chinatown, okay? (Read this article if you want a more humorous explanation of the "orientalism" of the 2nd episode. The word makes me laugh btw. Orientalism. Reminds me of Fantastic Noodles.) Plus the plot was kind of boring. Did I mention that? Third episode on the other hand was BLOODY FANTASTIC. Can't reveal any more because I might spoil it but jaysus, that ending.

And I love how the writers mess around with the undertones of Sherlock and Bilbo's John's relationship. But because I care for you guys, I'm going to have to warn youse not to type "Sherlock and John" into Google Images unless you're into some very, uh, overzealous, explicit fan art.

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John: I'm glad no one saw that.

Sherlock: Mmm?

John: You ripping off my clothes in a darkened swimming pool. People might talk.

Sherlock: They do nothing else. 

Like best quote ever or best quote ever?

To end this post, I'm going to post up a list of my predictions for Season 2 (which will most likely be greatly inaccurate and cause me much embarassment when I read over them after finishing the season). Here they are:

• Moriarty will continue annoying everyone in the second season with his strangely feminine, high-pitched voice. Oh, and with his evil and dastardly plans too.
• John Watson will receive a fatal injury and in the last moments of his life, will confess his undying love for Sherlock who will most likely say something like, "Emotions - such an unnecessary state of the human existence. I find that having them often clogs up my mind.".
• An important female character will be introduced. She is most likely going to try to seduce Sherlock who, as always, will remain oblivious.
• There will be an episode titled "The Immense Hyperbole". I don't know why but it sounded pretty cool in my mind.
• Ms Hudson is secretly Sherlock's long lost Grandma, posing as the landlady in order to keep an eye on her her grandson.
• Or maybe she's a secret spy working for Moriarty who aims to murder Sherlock bit by bit with poisoned tea.
• There will be more "ethnic-focused" episodes.
• There will be more episodes in which I find that my puny brain cannot handle all the clues and ,revelations so it will spontaneously combust.
• There will be more episodes which highlight London in all its glory and which will make me curse my parents for choosing for the wrong country to become a refugee in. JK. I luf Australia (most of the time).

The Future and Stuff

(Any Doctor Who fans willing to help me out with something? Just scroll down to the bottom of the post.)

I don't know how it is for other people but enrolling in uni scares me more than it excites me. A lot of people have been talking about how they can't wait to start their courses and meet new people and yes, there are so many new experiences to be had but at the same time, I personally feel like I haven't changed much from that shy, unsure teenager who started high school six years ago.

On some level, I know that I am a much more confident, easy-going person because of the experience of high school (despite getting off to a rocky start - understatement of the century yo!). But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not naturally a chatty, fearless, go-getter type of person. I can pretend - sometimes quite well - that I am, and in front of old friends, I don't have to pretend at all. At the same time, I'm definitely more of an introvert than an extrovert. This is something that I definitely have to change I guess.

Speaking of uni, my recent trip to Taiwan and Vietnam has made me realise a new goal of mine: learn as many languages as possible before I die! People have been telling me all my life that language skills are highly valued by employers and up until now, I haven't really paid it much thought. Maybe it is a result of my newfound maturity (or maybe I've just been inspired by polyglots on YouTube) but I've finally realised how much I want to be able to communicate in languages other than English. For my course, I start language lessons in the 2nd year and during the 4th, I will spend 1 year in a designated country. Logically, Chinese Mandarin seems like the best choice (Asian power and all that) but to be honest, the prospect of spending 1 year of my life in China scares the bejeesus out of me. If I can't even survive 1 and half weeks in Vietnam, how will I survive crowded, polluted China for a year?

Along with the language lessons, I will also get cultural and historical lessons about my designated country but at this point in time, I seem to have zero interest in Chinese culture and history. It is also one of the hardest languages to learn because of all the symbols and the lack of an alphabet system. I should know. Eight years of Chinese school and the number of symbols I can write in Chinese number less than 20. I am not even kidding. Twenty symbols in eight years.

A small part of me really, really wants to learn Spanish but despite the widespread use of the language, I'm extremely unsure about the job prospects for someone who knows both Spanish and English in Australia. Perhaps it is different if you live in the US but I haven't heard of many jobs in Australia. Same with French...

But enough about uni, languages and my ineptitude at learning the Chinese language. I've decided to focus on science fiction as a genre study for Year 9's at my new tutor job next term and I was thinking of analyzing one of the Doctor Who episodes. As much as Sadistic Cynthia wants to make them watch either Blink, Midnight or Silence in the Library, she can't because the former two don't have much to say about future scientific or technological advances and their impact on humanity and the latter is just too long (2 episodes instead of 1).

So my question is, do any of the Doctor Who fans who read my blog know of an episode that is a very good example of sci-fi? It doesn't have to be the most brilliant episode ever but it should say something about the possible consequences of technology and science on humankind (or the environment) in the future. It also has to be 1 episode long so I can't use stuff like "Silence in the Library". A possible example is "Gridlocked" because it takes a contemporary issue (traffic congestion) and extends it to pose "what if?" questions for the future. I'm a bit iffy about using it though because of Martha. Eww.... Martha.....

New Stills From Catching Fire

Is it just me or is choosing your subjects/course structure for uni really, really confusing? My brain is too puny to handle all those different options and sub-majors so I think I'll wait till my cousin gets back from her outing before clicking anything. Bloody hell. Getting into the course was easier than figuring all this stuff out.

In the meantime, here's something that doesn't need much brainpower to understand: new, high-resolution stills from Catching Fire!

When did Peeta get so buff - oh wait no, that's just Finnick. 

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I guess as the years have gone by, my sheer, unadulterated love for The Hunger Games has lost much of its fire but it's always nice to see updates from the movies. Brings back some of that old excitement, just being able to see how they'll transform words into pictures. It feels like the older I get, the harder it is to find books to just fall in love with. I read somewhere that childhood is when you experience the most excitement and joy from things such as books and movies. As we get older, we spend a lot of time chasing that old excitement but we can never really quite catch it. Nothing lives up to your childhood ideal.

And on that sombre note, I think it's about time I ended this blog post. Here's something to cheer you up though: the child actors from GoT beatboxing to the opening sequence of the TV show. Thank god they're better actors than they are beatboxers and rappers.

Back to Civilisation!

And by civilisation, I mean a world where your life doesn't flash before your eyes everytime you try to cross the road. Jokes. I've gotten quite good at it actually. The trick is to walk slowly and to remember that motorbikes are more important than people. Road rules in Vietnam?

Seeing as how I just spent about 12-13 hours on a plane (we had to transfer planes in Taiwan), I really don't want to do a vacation wrap-up right now. There isn't much to say to be honest. We spent the last few days in Ho Chi Minh city just shopping, walking around and eating ice cream. On the last night, the parents went out to eat so my sister and I ordered room service and watched Step Up 3 and Real Steel while pigging out on hotel food. Seriously. This trip has turned me into such a fatty boomsticks.

Before I go, I just want to point out how bad Australian Airport Security is. Okay, that's a lie. It's actually one of the most meticulous and thorough systems there are. So thorough in fact that it is a pain in the ass. They asked us tons of questions before they even let us past the first barrier and geezus, don't even get me started on Customs. To be fair, we are Asian. And after watching so many episodes of Border Security, it's a well known fact that it's always the Asians who try to smuggle in the dodgy foodstuffs. Entertaining on TV but so bloody frustrating in real life.

So yeah, that's about it. I would like to spend some time hanging out with the group before having to start working again next week but seeing as how Tian and Nancy are in Queensland and Juliana is somewhere in America driving on the wrong side of the road and photographing fire-hydrants (or not - that may just be me), that might not be possible. I really want to see Les Mis though. Anyone? Anyone?

Days 9, 10 & 11: Da Nang and Getting Scammed in HCM City by Taxi Drivers

Oh Ho Chi Minh City. There's no other place quite like you (except for maybe Gotham City pre-Batman). Where else would we go to get scammed by taxi drivers or mugged by shady-looking men in the streets? The former happened to us the minute we got off our plane from Da Nang and as for the latter, we were lucky enough not to be the victims but we did see the aftermath. We've also had family friends tell us reports of people getting their arms amputated by thieves in order for them to steal bracelets and rings. Apparently, this is not as rare as it might sound as we've heard the same thing from various sources. It wasn't this bad when I came here 5 years ago but apparently crimes rates have skyrocketed like crazy in this city. You don't know the meaning of paranoid until you've taken a stroll down a street in Ho Chi Minh City.

We arrived back in HCM City just last night and yes, we did get scammed by a taxi driver. He was supposed to drive us from the airport straight to our hotel in District 5 (which is even slummier than the other districts) but thinking that this was our first time in the city, he took a massive detour in the form of a giant circle around our hotel. The taxi fee was crazy. Realizing what was happening, our group talked (in Chinese) about memorizing his taxi number and license plate so we could report him afterwards but my Dad, being the biggest, bloodiest, loud-mouthed idiot the world has ever seen ruined the plan. He actually told the taxi driver directly that he was going to report him before we even got off from the taxi. Therefore if we did end up going through with it, the taxi driver would know it was us who blew the whistle. It probably doesn't seem like a big deal but in a city like this, you can't be too careful. The driver knows where our hotel is and he actually did seem very shady (he "accidentally" wrote his number plate wrong when my dad asked for a receipt) so now my Mum thinks something might happen if we did report him. Good going Dad. You were about as indiscreet as an elephant on steroids.

As for the thievery incident, we'd barely gotten our suitcases into the hotel when three ladies from Hong Kong rushed into the lobby in a state of near-hysterics. They were screaming about having just had a necklace grabbed from one of their necks right outside the hotel by someone who had followed them down the street. The thieves also made an attempt to grab one of their purses but the lady put up a struggle and he fled. I felt bad for them but even worse was finding out that no one had warned them not to wear any jewellery or bring any bags when walking in the city.

We've recently relocated to a new hotel in District 1 (the Saigon tourist area) so there's a chance that security and safety might actually be tighter here. I'm hoping that it is. Getting holed up in hotel rooms is getting old fast. But while I'm at it, you guys might as well have some photos from days 9, 10 and 11 in Vietnam. Most of these are from Da Nang because once you get to HCM, there isn't really that much to see or do unless you're into that whole post-apocolyptic, third-world, rubbish-up-to-your-ears scene.

Believe it or not, the house above is 300 years old.

We took an extremely looooooooooooooooong cable car ride up the mountain to visit a shrine first and then afterwards, an indoor theme park. Yes, that's right. A theme park in the mountains.

Of course, all that fog meant that after making the lengthy trip to the top of the mountains at about 7:30 in the morning, we were treated to the glorious and spectacular view of.... nothing. Nothing, except even more fog. Awesome.

Yay! Even more mountains! And even more steps!

Once again, my camera panicked at the sight of dark, inclosed spaces so I didn't take any pictures of the shrine inside the mountain. Here, have a picture from google images instead:

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And lastly, here's a picture from our new hotel room in Saigon.

P.S. Tian, before you leave for Queensland, can you please give Guild Wars 2 to your Dad so he can give it to me when I come back? I don't want to go digging through your house for it LOL. Thanks :)

Day 8: Some River in Vietnam

I miss being able to drink cold water without running the risk of catching a crippling stomach disease. I miss being able to cross the road without fearing for my life each time. I miss having clean surroundings. I miss being able to understand what everyone around me is saying. Above all, I miss having normal, sanitary plumbing instead of freakin' HOLES IN THE GODDAMN GROUND.

Which reminds me of a really, really strange fact I learnt in Taiwan. Compared to Vietnam, Taiwan is like Cleanliness Heaven, which is weird because in some places in Taiwan, they still use the "hole in the ground" as opposed to normal toilets. My mum asked a relative of her's who told her that the reason for this is because a lot of Taiwanese people believe that the hole in the ground is actually more sanitary than the toilet. Why? Because your butt does not come in direct contact with the toilet rim.

O-kaay... Whatever floats their boat I guess.

Anyway, back to my trip. Today is day 8 and we didn't actually do much to be honest. This might've been because we'd spent about 8 hours on the coach today just making our way to and from the destination. This is another one of those "cbf to blog" moments so I'm just going to upload photos again.

Rice paddies!

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Sorry about the crap quality of these shots. My camera has a fear of dark places and tends to malfunction when encountering such locations. 

So basically the Jenolan caves - but in Vietnam.



...and then back to the Luxury-Mobile we go.