Neighbours

I live next door to a farm, with some of the strangest people ever.

They own a rooster. Yes, a rooster, what the hell? It crows at the most random times ever. No, seriously. I’d be sleeping in the middle of the night and it’d crow like some crazy cow and wake me up. Annoying thing is, it never wakes me up in the morning, when it’s supposed to! Stupid, useless rooster!

Sometimes, the rooster gets a little bored, so it gathers up all its friends (like the chicken, oh and who could forget the duck), and so they decide to fly over the fence and invade my backyard where they peck and strut (or waddle) around doing god knows what.

And no, I have never had any intentions to capture and eat it. (You do not know the amount of times I have been asked that question)

We’ve never actually properly talked to them (our neighbours, not the rooster) either. The only time we ever did, it was because they had attempted to climb onto a ladder, over the fence in attempt chop down our bananas. (Yes, like any typical Asian family, we grow banana trees in our backyard. Actually, now that I think of it, they're Asian too... yet they don't have banana tress. No, They have roosters.)

My other neighbours, (you know, the ones on the other side of my house) have this obsession with playing music during the middle of the night. No offence intended, they’re really talented in so many musical areas, but must they sing and bang their drums (along with whatever instrument they have) whilst I’m trying to sleep? I mean, I already have to deal with a rooster!

As you can see, my neighbours and I don’t have a very good relationship. I’m not saying a fight has ever broken out or anything, nothing dramatic has ever happened, but we don’t exactly visit each other and you know, send cookies around or something. (I don’t know, what do friendly neighbours do?) For all I know, they could be complaining about us too.

I don’t know whether this is supposed to be normal or not, but I know others who are actually friendly with their neighbours. What are your neighbours like?

Self Portraits

Images from: larafairie, monkeyman, toma01, ilina S, zemotion and ikate.

We were discussing the possibility of taking self portraits the other day. I haven't taken any photos in a while, and my hands are just itching to do something. Only thing is, we don't just want some boring camwhorey common fuzzy photo. We want something artistic, creative and funny.

So we were collecting all the self portraits that we particularly liked, in hope that it would inspire us. But we stand still uninspired, so now we're turning to YOU. Give us your ideas and we'll use something someone gives us

♥ Du Jour

Currently, I'm loving:

1. Black Chandeliers: They're so sophisticated and simple, unlike those giant flashy chandeliers that are dripping with crystals. Those chandeliers should be left strictly for castles and ballrooms. But the black chandeliers, they're modern, pretty, and you can hang them in a room without making yourself seem like someone who enjoys flashing your money.

2. The Bravery: They're a New York Rock/Indie band, whose songs are frequently featured on the soundtrack of Gossip Girl. Their songs will make you wish you were in the privacy of your room where you can whip up that air guitar and start bellowing out their lyrics. Take one of their songs, Bad Sun for example:

I don't know what's wrong with us
They just made us this way
There's a hole in you and me
That pulls us together

And I don't know where we belong
I think we grew under a bad sun
I know we're not like everyone
You and me we grew, under a bad sun

3. Brown leather jackets: or synthetic leather if you're a cow-lover. I'd love love love to get my filthy little hands on one of these jackets. They add that extra vintage-y boho-chic look to any outfit, and can be worn all year round. Only problem: it costs $699 (from Kookai). I've seen one for $60 in Supre, but like most of the rest of the clothes they sell, it looks cheap.

4. Funky staplers: Seriously, who's the guy (or woman) who invented staplers? We all need to give them a round of applause. I mean, who goes around thinking hmm, I should invent something that gives a satisfying *click* sound, all while shooting a piece of thin metal through pieces of paper, hence binding them together. And those staplers that are placed creatively in various plastic animals (like hippos) are just an added extra

5. Lily Cole: she looks like some life-sized doll that just climbed out of your toy box. She looks so strange and bizarre (in a good way), and I love how her super blue eyes contrast with her red hair. Find more on her here: clickCLICK!

That's all for this week folks, Jenny will be contributing next Tuesday

I'm DIFFERENT

Am I the only one who…

1. Punctuates on MSN? Yes, I type like this everywhere. Anywhere everywhere. It makes me look like a nerd, I can't stop. It’s stuck. I automatically go for the 'Shift' key when I start typing something, and always end with a full stop. There are some exceptions however. At times when I am eating something, on the phone, or anything that leaves me with only one hand to type, I am normal again. This would probably because I need two hands to create a capital letter. Unless of course, I use the 'Caps' key, which I never do.

2. Doesn’t do housework on a regular basis? No, I do not cook for the family, nor do I clean the toilets. Well, I know Theresa doesn’t either, but I don't know anyone else who doesn't as well. Jenny Nguyen calls us 'spoilt'. I beg to differ.

3. Isn’t excited about getting my L’s? I have Theresa to do that for me. As much as I do want to drive, I'm scared. I'd probably be so nervous and scared of crashing that when I get into the car that I'd end up crashing anyway.

4. Doesn’t have any idea what I want to do with my future? Seriously, everyone knows exactly what they want to do when they leave school. I’m the lost and confused one who’s wondering around not knowing what to do. It didn't really help when I was deciding on my subject selections for next year.

5. Doesn’t play Maple?! Why does everyone play Maplestory these days? Ok, maybe not exactly everyone, but all the people I usually talk to (Jenny, Jenny, Richard, Sophie, Theresa, Vincent. Yes, the people who I’m supposed to talk to the most!) have decided that their world suddenly resolves around Maple. Yeh, I don’t do much on MSN anymore. Feel free to come start a chat with me. You’d be more than welcome, I’m lonely.

15 Ways to Schoooze Up Your Bedroom

I was budgeting earlier, and realised that my dreams of a Louis XVI bedroom would have to come crashing down. So I made a list of possible creative features to include in a bedroom:

1. Painting the ceiling sky blue with white fluffy clouds. And if you're more of a night person, painting it dark blue with specks of silver stars and a moon.
2. Sticking a letter box, a house number and a knocker on your bedroom door.
3. Painting a window on a random wall, showing a field of sheep/dandelions/whatever tickles your fancy.
4. Buying white, opaque fairylights, and stringing them around your room.
5. Have your favourite artworks canvas printed, and hanging them up on a single wall.
6. Buying a jumping castle, and using it as your permanent bed (this is going to be slightly harder to achieve )
7. Panel a wall completely with mirrors = instant expansion of your bedroom. It'll make it look twice the size.
8. Painting a wall with black paint, and using it as a chalk board to draw whatever you please.
9. Placing a disco ball in the middle of your room, and leave it on constantly.
10. Painting fake furniture on your walls, e.g. bookshelves, chandeliers, lounge chairs, etc
11. Forget traditional lighting, have your room lit completely by wall scones.
    
12. Buy a bunk bed, use the top bunk as a bed, and store your junk on the bottom bunk.
13. Use the shiny sides of CDs to cast rainbows all around your room. Place them strategically on your walls, so that at a certain time of the day, the sunlight will hit the CD (this one works, I actually did this when I was in 12)
14. Place a running fountain in your room somewhere.
15. Don't use normal flooring like linoleum or wooden panels. Instead, use exterior flooring, like pebbles and make mosaic pathways in your room, or use stepping stones.
    

Okay my brain is completely dry now, fifteen will have to do.

♥ Du Jour

du preposition: of the

jour noun, masculine: day, daytime

Hello hello. You are currently reading the very first post official post of our new segment: ♥ Du Jour.

Yes, we decided to liven this place up a little by introducing a segment where on Tuesday each week, we will blog about five things we are loving at the moment. They can be anything; food, movies, songs, websites. Simply anything that makes us smile; things we are thankful for. I’m sure it’ll help us appreciate the little things in life, and if anything, it’s something to look forward to every Tuesday!

Ok, so I’m going to start off. My ♥ Du Jour for this week:

1. Free Sundays. I no longer have tutor on Sundays, and Sunday is the only day my dad isn’t at work, so for the past year and a half, we haven’t been able to properly go out on a Sunday as a family. So, since I was now free, my mum got excited and decided we would go visit my cousins in Chatswood and have yum cha! I had a lot of fun; it made me realise how much I miss going out with my family on Sundays.

2. 'I’m Yours’- Jason Mraz. When I first heard this song, I was like “Wth, this is weird”, but after hearing it on TV so many times (it’s the commercial song for ‘Packed to the Rafters’, if you didn’t know), it’s sort of grown on me now, and I really like it. Judge for yourself:

3. Vegetarianism. I’ve been a vegetarian for a while now. It’s been rocky, my parents aren’t entirely happy with it, but I’m going strong! It’s a lot easier than I had anticipated. I’m not even craving meat!

4. wordle.net. There is something about this site that never ceases to amaze me. It’s simply a place where you give it a bunch of text and it makes a word cloud out of it, depending on the number of times you use the word. I find myself sitting there clicking ‘randomise’ over and over again, watching the words transform into various shapes and colours. Yes, I am easily amused.

5. Project Runway. I love this show. I am so glad Frock-Lady is out now, but that only means that I like every other person still in the competition! They’re all brilliant designers, its heart-breaking to see any of them go out.

And that ends our first ever ♥ Du Jour segment. Theresa will be doing hers next week!

Gossip Girl Returns!

I know how excited we all are for the start of Gossip Girl season 2, so I've done a little research, and have found some behind-the-scenes pics of the new season:

--Images from fabsugar.com--

I'm already in love. I'm eyeing the dress Blake is wearing in the second pic, and the one Leighton's wearing in the third pic. I absolutely cannot wait until the new season releases. *squeals*.

For those of you who are impatient little kiddies like me, here are more previews of the new season: clickCLICK!

And The Winner Is...

And it's now time for the answers! I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who participated. Thank you, It was much fun reading your answers, and seeing what you really thought were true or false about us

Anyway, let's cut to the chase. The answers (the lies) are in bold:

Jenny's:
1-
a. I find satisfaction in doing Maths (46%) - I have a love-hate relationship with maths. As much as I hate the subject, I do find satisfaction in doing it. I hate doing maths. I will never do maths just for fun, but when I do do maths, I like the feeling I get when I finally find the answer after 47598756 hours of trying to work it out. And yes, I do realise there is little logic behind my explanation.
b. I have always been jealous of one of my friends. This is the reason I do not like her, though I pretend to (16%) - Not true. I don't really have a reason for it, simply that it isn't true?
c. I have had a crush on a teacher (38%) - Ok, some people commented something along the lines of "I hope this isn't true". Well, I guess it is now, but I'll tell you that it's not one from school (haha, as if I'd like anyone from school), and that he's 19, and in uni. So it's totally acceptable!

2-
a. I have fallen for a best friend. Things didn't turn out as well as I expected (23%) - true.
b. A best friend has fallen for me. Things didn't turn out as well as they expected (62%) - true.
c. I've fallen for a best friend and had the feeling returned. Things didn't turn out as well as we expected (15%) - Ironic as it may seem, not true.

3-
a. I have stolen milk from the camp kitchen about every 2 hours or so, during Year 9 camp (16%) - Yes, I have done this before. I have no idea why, actually.
b. I have ripped a very expensive item of clothing in a store, and returned it back to the rack (46%) - And yes, I've done this too.
c. I bargain with shopkeepers everytime I make a purchase (38%) - I would never do this, although, I'm cheap, and not to mention broke, I'd never bargain with shopkeepers. I'd just be too embarrassing.

4-
a. I have posted one of my secrets to PostSecret and it has been published (31%) - I think this one is the less extreme one out of the three, but yes, it is the lie.
b. I have deliberately mislead someone to fall madly in love with someone else, by providing them with false information (7%) - Yeh, I have done this, with a group of other people *hides in shame* It was a long time ago, and I was young and stupid back then, and I was under the influence of others. I know none of these are excuses, and I know what I did was stupid and I have learnt.
c. I have attempted a mass media fraud scheme, which almost got me famous, until my parents got in the way (62%) - Hardly a media fraud, but one nonetheless. My group and I were planning to go camping and pretend we were stranded in a river or something, and then call the police and turn famous for surviving I've-forgotten-how-many hours without food. But then we realise our parents would never let us out, ever again, so the plan was scraped. Poor us.

5-
a. I hate my knees and express this by stabbing at it with a Sharpie (38%) - I do hate my knees, and Theresa and I have stabbed at it countless times with a Sharpie in attempt to draw things on them. Yes, we're weird like that.
b. I have run away from home. I eventually got hungry and returned, only to realise no one even noticed I was gone (23%) - As if I'd ever run away from home. I'm not stupid enough to run away with no money, no job, nothing- I have nothing.
c. I faint on a regular basis. When I went to visit the doctor about this, I fainted again (31%) - Yes, I have fainted numerous times; I suffer from iron deficieny. When the doctor took a blood sample, I saw the blood gushing out of me and fainted again. Someone save me.

My set of statements proved to be much more difficult than Theresa's. No one actually got them all right, and some people didn't get any right at all. I was talking to Richard about it outside, and he says that it may be because I don't "open up" to people and tell them things about myself. I beg to differ.

Yeh, I have things I like to keep to myself, but I believe that telling someone about something will actually help the situation, so I tend to talk about things, as opposed to bottling them up. I'm not saying I do it right away, I need my time, and I'm not saying I can "open up" to just anyone either, but I'll say I'm not one to keep everything to myself.

Despite this, most of the statements above happened over a couple of years. You either had to be there, or had to have known me during that time, to know about them. It has nothing to do with me "opening up" to people. They're just not something I'd randomly bring up in a conversation. As you can see, they're not exactly my proudest and finest moments.

My turn. Before I go on to explaining the answers, I would like you to note that some of these things happened a while ago, I am ashamed of some of them, and I have learnt from my mistakes. Some of them may seem uncharacteristic of me. This is because, as I said before, my compilation of facts span back from a while ago. These facts have been based upon my entire life, so please don't let these truths differ what I am to you.

And for those of you who got few right, there is no need to be ashamed. This is just for some fun and games, and even my closest friends don't know some of these things. Like Jenny said earlier, these aren't things I bring up randomly in conversations.

Theresa's:
1-
a. I have this weird obsession with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and secretly wish to dress up as her (31%) - I'm actually hoping that someone would chuck a costume party already, so I can dress up as my all time favourite fictional character.
b. I have this weird obsession with Louis XVI furniture, years before I watched Marie Antoinette, and secretly wish to decorate my room completely in Louis XVI furniture (15%) - Also true, I fell in love with the style a while ago, and plans to redecorate my room are underway right now.
c. I have this weird obsession with guys who have thick eyebrows, and it's the first thing on a guy that I look at (54%) - HA as if. I can't believe all of you who thought this was actually real. Eyebrows?! WTH. They don't matter to me at all.

2-
a. I have been approached and asked to model for a certain product, but I refused (38%) - as if I'd refuse. Anything for extra money, I say...
b. I have performed for over 200 people on several occasions (7%) - if you knew that I've been playing the piano for the past eleven years, you should know this also.
c. I have played in a crowd scene for a movie, alongside Cate Blanchett (55%) - True, Cate Blanchett acted in Little Fish in Cabramatta a few years back, and I was walking buy randomly when the director snatched me up and made me walk back and forth several thousand times.

3-
a. I have been involved in a fight, and lost three teeth in the process (62%) - HA! Do I look like I'm missing several teeth to you?!
b. I have a fake ID which I have used (7%) - Yes, the school issued me with an ID that said I was born on the 29th of March 1992, making me one year and one day older than I really am. And yes, I have used it . But I got a proper ID card the next year.
c. I have shoplifted for a friend (31%) - True. Ask Jenny Nguyen if you want to know more.

4-
a. I purposely start sobbing my eyes out on a regular basis, because it makes me feel better (15%) - Okay these are starting to get harder to explain. Crying is underrated. A good cry never hurt anyone.
b. I go up to 48 hours without food whenever I'm down (70%) - I can't even skip a single meal of my day, let alone go up to 2 days without food. I'd die.
c. I eat icecream on a daily basis, because it puts me in a good mood (15%) - ice cream is my saviour.

5-
a. I have asked someone out but have been rejected (55%) - untrue. Need more be said?
b. I once ran an online match-making service in attempt to interrogate a guy who liked me (7%) - It was ages ago, I was young and naive, please don't question this any further.
c. I fell for someone I met over the internet, and still think of him regularly (37%) - I'm not expanding on this. If you know who I'm talking about, then good on you.

That is all.

And in case you haven't noticed, nobody won But thank you to everyone who gave this a shot anyway. Thanks for participating, even though many of you didn't know us too well. And there is a small prize for those who participated! Free Hugs! Just request us for one next time we see you, and if you don't know us in real life, then feel free to request a cyber-hug . And no, those of you who didn't participate should be ashamed of yourselves No hugs for you.

Just for the record though, Jenny G and Jenny N got the most right for Jenny's set. They both got 3 out of 5 right. Jenny G again, got the highest for Theresa's. She knew all of them *shock*.

So You Think You Know Us?

EDIT: Haloscan's up and running again, so feel free to comment!

Happy Dandelion Day!

Ok, dear blog readers, as mentioned yesterday, we shall be celebrating Dandelion Day by playing a little game!

I'm sure it'd take us a step closer to understanding each other (actually, you do most of the learning here, we merely get to see what you guys think of us). I encourage everyone to participate~ it'll make it a lot more fun. Be prepared to be presented with pieces of information that will shock and horrify you. Just try not to think of us too differently.

Below are 5 sets of statements, each containing two truths and one lie. Your job is to hunt down the lie, and comment with the answers. (God, I sound like some game-show host)

Let the game begin!

Jenny's
1-
a. I find satisfaction in doing Maths
b. I have always been jealous of one of my friends. This is the reason I do not like her, though I pretend to
c. I have had a crush on a teacher

2-
a. I have fallen for a best friend. Things didn't turn out as well as I expected
b. A best friend has fallen for me. Things didn't turn out as well as they expected
c. I've fallen for a best friend and had the feeling returned. Things didn't turn out as well as we expected

3-
a. I have stolen milk from the camp kitchen about every 2 hours or so, during Year 9 camp
b. I have ripped a very expensive item of clothing in a store, and returned it back to the rack
c. I bargain with shopkeepers everytime I make a purchase

4-
a. I have posted one of my secrets to PostSecret and it has been published
b. I have deliberately mislead someone to fall madly in love with someone else, by providing them with false information
c. I have attempted a mass media fraud scheme, which almost got me famous, until my parents got in the way

5-
a. I hate my knees and express this by stabbing at it with a Sharpie
b. I have run away from home. I eventually got hungry and returned, only to realise no one even noticed I was gone
c. I faint on a regular basis. When I went to visit the doctor about this, I fainted again.


My turrrrn. You will probably question my mentality after I'm through with you, and my reputation is going to shatter, but it's just for some fun and games, so why not? Okay here goes~

Theresa's:
1-
a. I have this weird obsession with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and secretly wish to dress up as her.
b. I have this weird obsession with Louis XVI furniture, years before I watched Marie Antoinette, and secretly wish to decorate my room completely in Louis XVI furniture.
c. I have this weird obsession with guys who have thick eyebrows, and it's the first thing on a guy that I look at.

2-
a. I have been approached and asked to model for a certain product, but I refused.
b. I have performed for over 200 people on several occasions
c. I have played in a crowd scene for a movie, alongside Cate Blanchett

3-
a. I have been involved in a fight, and lost three teeth in the process
b. I have a fake ID which I have used
c. I have shoplifted for a friend

4-
a. I purposely start sobbing my eyes out on a regular basis, because it makes me feel better.
b. I go up to 48 hours without food whenever I'm down
c. I eat icecream on a daily basis, because it puts me in a good mood

5-
a. I have asked someone out but have been rejected.
b. I once ran an online match-making service in attempt to interrogate a guy who liked me.
c. I fell for someone I met over the internet, and still think of him regularly.

There you go people, take your guess, and please give reasons for your choices It'd be interesting to see what everyone thinks of us. Remember: there are two truths, one lie. Find the LIE. Feel free to remain anonymous, and participate and you could win a prize!

D-Day minus 1

As most of you will have realised by now, tomorrow is DANDELION DAY!

But as most of you don't know, Dandelion Day:
1. Kick's Daffodil Day's arse
2. Was created last year by me and Jenny, on the 12th of August
3. A sign of PEACE and LOVE and JOYFULNESS.

So our aim is to one day win the Nobel prize for peace. One day when Dandelion Day manages to go international, we'll become famous, and then we will make world peace happen.

Help us in our journey and celebrate Dandelion Day by blowing a dandelion in someone's face whilst wishing them a HAPPY DANDELION DAY!

And to celebrate Dandelion Day tomorrow, Jenny and I will be running this game/competition thing. It's scandalous, it's shocking, and it'll have you doubling over with surprise. But of course, you'll have to wait til tomorrow to find out what it is.

Point is, you can win something by participating. First person to solve the 'challenge' will win a prize of great value, that will help celebrate Dandelion Day. So be here tomorrow and get ready to be outraged.

Change

My tutor class has undergone a huge reshuffling and all the classes have been re-graded. So, as of next week, we’ll all be in different classes with new teachers. I find it really sad that I won’t ever see some of those people ever again. Actually, that’s an understatement. 90% of the people won’t be in my classes anymore.

I don’t see how I could possibly have grown so attached to a group of twenty-or-so people who I see only one a week, but I’ll really miss the class. It’s the only tutor I've ever actually looked forward to attending.

It has made me realise how hard it is going to be for me to leave school. Yeh, I know I’m always complaining about how much I hate school and how much I can’t wait to get out and do whatever I want, but when I eventually reach the end of high school, I know it’d be hard to leave. I’m not someone who likes change. Hell, I was the one complaining about how much I didn’t want to leave primary school, whilst everyone else was going crazy over the whole idea of high school.

There are a lot of people who are leaving at the end of this year, none of whom are very close to me, but it still makes me sad to think that next year, everyone will be gone, and there will be a bunch of new people here to replace them. My mum had initially wanted me to change school too. Thank god I convinced her out of it.

Scientific Research: The Source of Our Worries

Ignorance is bliss. Sometimes, I can't help but think that life would be so much nicer if we weren't bombarded with so much information.

True, it's good to be updated and knowledgeable, then you can go around like a walking textbook and show other people what a smartarse you are, but other than that, I see no point of knowing so much.

Knowing what's bad for us is bad. It makes people constantly fear things, it encloses people's minds, and it makes life a whole lot less enjoyable.

Would Jenny still fear hair-dye like the plague, if it wasn't for that A Current Affair feature she watched? Would I be worrying about terrorists and rapists every time I step on public transport if it wasn't for the statistics I see on TV? Hell, would I be a vegetarian if I hadn't researched the toxicity of meat?

No, if it wasn't for scientific research, I would still be blissfully poisoning myself with meat and Jenny would be blissfully dying her hair every other month, like I do (thank God I didn't watch that ACA segment, otherwise my hair-dying days would've been over long ago).

Scientific research makes our lives devoid of many things that we would've been able to enjoy otherwise. Sure, we'd be slowly killing ourselves slowly, but maybe that's better than living each day in constant fear.

Moving on now.

It seems like only a few days ago when I made the decision to stop eating meat, but believe it or not, it's been almost 2 weeks. I'm rather surprised of myself. I expected myself to have fallen in for cravings ages ago, but nope, no desires to be a carnivore again. Yet.

However, I am missing the freedom I had when I still ate meat. Being a vegetarian has probably wiped out 90% of the food choices I had before, and now I'm starting to appreciate the fact that I had the freedom of choice before. I can feel what people who are diabetic, or who are allergic to large groups of food, have to go through on a daily basis.

But I believe that the choice I have made is the right choice, and nothing will sway me.

Oh, and as you may have notice, we've decided to allow comments again. This place feels so dead without the comments, plus we've received a few requests to allow comments again. Do excuse our lack of responses to your comments, though.

One last thing: 3 days til D-Day. For those of you who still haven't guessed it, here's a couple of clues on what it's about:
1) our layout was made yesterday, especially for this occasion, and
2) go through our FAQ's, it's mentioned briefly in there

Until next time~