breaking the pain barrier

SIGHHHH.. today has to be one of the longest days of my life..

recently i've made a resolution to finish my thesis before march 2007.. this means from now on.. i'll be head down bum on seat mode.. however, not in a million years when i first started the PhD (not even when i was writing my proposal) did i envision experiencing this much pain.. both psychological and physical.. this is why PhD = Permanent Head Damage..

at least now i know i do have a brain becoz of the pulsating pain i experience behind my eyes as my brain protests the amount of knowledge i'm trying to cram, synthase, and integrate... it's difficult to articulate what's so complicated about writing a thesis that can implicate such pain..

but after a day of hard slog, i have to say, apart from 10 pages of verbal diarrhoea, an elaborate plan to kill myself by bubble wrap (complete with illustration), and an overwhelming desire to stabbing my eye out with a/any utencil (which i imagine would be less painful than writing the thesis).. this is all i've got to show for it..

Monday Blues

yes, i'm catching up with my blog..

after that big weekend.. it's not surprising that i'm totally useless on monday.. with a GIANT ZIP on my chin that looks like a mole :( *sulk*

so in the morning i did a lot of spinning around on my chair, looked over the shoulders of my work mates.. and wished very hard that the uni would burn down, they would feel really bad about destroying everyone's computer and the vice chancellor decides to grant everyone their PhDs... and i wouldn't have to actually WRITE my thesis... :D (now where did i put those matches..)

since i was so useless at work, i was rescued by a call from my cousin HW, and we caught up at Leaf at Mt Lawley.. it was lovely.. we laughed, sighed, appalled, marvelled, giggled, .. it was nice to be a lady of leisure.. and talk about all the naughty stuff that you can only tell your girlfriends..

but um.. not so nice was the immense guilt when i emerged 3 hours later, one full pot of tea and lots of little delious cakes heavier and still PhD-less.. *shrug* one must feed the soul first right?

here's what's left of our parisian morning tea.. don't worry.. it's not your eyes.. there's nothing left.. tee hee..

p.s. just coz i have the proud readership of exactly 21 visitors.. i thought i'd put in a plug for HW's exhibition, really awesome stuff.. HW's an engineer by trade, then decided on a seachange to pursue her passion.. art.. this is stuff that inspirations are made of..

Domestic Goddess vs Party Animal

yep.. that's right.. had a busy weekend.. one 21st, one 27th b'day, one australian idol curry night.. and not only i baked this lovely maple walnut fruit n wholegrain loaf, it does taste as good as it looks.. *takes a bow*..

check out that buttery goodness.. but i can't take the credit on my own.. Nigella did contribute a little with the BRILLIANT recipe..

the 21st was fun.. can't believe i'm still being invited to 21st parties at my age.. i loved how 21st is the only occasion when you can fill a tub with alcohol and get away with it.. (i arrived late.. it was only 10.. and this was all that was left..).. i've never been so proud.. HA HA!

the good ole days when it's socially acceptable to drink till you pass out on your boyfriend's front lawn or talking to god through the big white telephone (aka the toilet)..

back to the 21st.. since it was glamour and glitz themed.. the girls were all decked out..


so from right is my baby sis (cindy), wj, sl. they are lovely aren't they.. i said it looks like a catelogue.. small, medium and large.. some how cindy didn't like being called large.. so it was x-s, s, med. sighhh.. women.. just fabulous regardless what size ok!

WHAT THE!!!

recently i've decided that charging 3 bucks for a small handful of cherry tomatoes is WRONG.. so, as a sign of protest i'm growing my own!!

i bought 3 seedlings, put them in pots with 'premium' organic potting mix, put up support stakes, and they grew and flowered.. i was ecstatic at the sight of the first fruit, apart from some minor glitches (e.g. an army of caterpillar had to die a squishy death but taking several tomatoes with them, some casualties to the 'blossom end rot' and lopping off half of the foliage due to some disease that put lots of little holes in the leaves..).. so here are my babies...


yes they are beautiful aren't they.. and yes, it all bear some resemblance to the picture that came with the pot.. but then.. there's this...

errmmm.. WHAT THE?? yes.. look at picture - small, oval.. look at actual tomatoe.. hmph.. yes.. round and absolutely MASSIVE!! something's not adding up.. and there's no amount of squinting, self denial or photoshop can make these babies grape tomatoes.. although i do love it just as much as the other two.. but.. i think mr. bunnings is going to get a 'false advertising' complaint letter some time..

In a Boffin's Paradise..

i've been so good to avoid the save the children book sale which i drive by everyday to and from uni for the whole week.. but the lure of the collated pages just overwhelmed me.. lots of books, at bargain prices.. what boffin can resist?? so like a addict, i fed my habit.. just to browse i thought to myself, may be one or two books coz it's half price..

as i emerged 2 hrs later.. i'm a bag of books heavier and 7 bucks lighter!!! my bounty include: heaps of cooking books (including le cordon bleu ones!!), more cooking magazines, a whole pack of 4 buddhist chanting CDs still in sealed wrapping, lonely planet guide on turkey and argentina, illustrated garden doctor, one fay weldon novel, one jeffery archer novel, book on crepes for my crepe loving big mammal (aka bf), and three ounces of deliriously happy..

self discipline or self restraint obviously isn't one of my strengths.. well lets just say i tried that's why there's only ONE bag..

but who cares, i thought, as i fall happily asleep hugging my reap.. it's for charity after all..

Sunday Market Chic

3 months after a traumatic hair cut (I cried coz it was so nasty) by some incompetent highschool-drop-out-who-thinks-she’s-hot-shit-coz-she-has-4-yrs-of-experience at Tony n Guy, I’ve decided to take a chance and get a new cut, since, let's face it, it can't get much worse.

As it turns out, my $12.95 hair cut from a one-legged lady (yes, seriously) in a Sunday market out in the whoop whoop of Perth was way better than my 'styled' cut from Tony n Guy.

So I’m carrying out a one-woman boycotting of the stupid overpriced and underperforming salon.. feel free to join me in this crusade.. :P

GRRRRRRR...

p.s. fab hair cut photos to come :)

Exercise Saga

i've made a resolution to pull me socks up to get fit and get my phd done!!

was determined to do my second weekly combat class on thurs, then i was locked out of my building at uni (they changed the door and didn't gimme a key), then half way changing into my gear, i realised -- no shoes! ARGHHHHHHH!!! so i enjoyed some quality time with me tv..

exercise attempt no.2 on sat morning, got to gym, waiting to get coupon, then realised the reception chick was erasing the class off the board. so um, class cancelled coz instructor is on a break! sighhhh...

i think there's some divine intervention here... may be buddha is trying to tell me something.. like errmmm.. don't worry abt exercising..*pffttt* the fat will just melt away miraculously! HA!

anyway, finally made it to a BodyJam class on sat with my sis.. it's not a class for the uncoordinated.. (namely me..) so there i was swirling, swinging, jamming, confusing.. even the grandma the row in front was getting in the groove. while i'm still trying to distinguish left from right and trying not to crash into anyone coz i seemed to be going in the opposite direction to everyone. hot instructor though.. gay as x'mas :) i think i'm in lurve!!

blog virgin...

ooOoOoOOO...

just dawned on me...

so naked and vulnerable...

yet exhibitionistically exhilarating..

Identity Crisis!

I've never thought it'll be so challenging to write my own blog! (not to mention i'm technologically challenged)

what's my theme? what's my point of view? how do i dissect my personality and compartmentalise my life? am i a taiwanese australian? am i a isolated phd student? am i a psychologist with borderline personality? or am i a 28 yo woman in the midst of a 4-year quarter life crisis? may be i'm just a girl with bad grammar and hates capitalising my sentences...

*shrug*

At Last

After many years of fantasising of this self-indulgent not to mention borderline narcissistic act, I’ve finally succumbed to my inner Fabio.

I shall henceforth blog about life.. its adventures, gripes, epiphanies, ignorances, triumphs, failures, and I-so-wished-I-haven’t-done-thats.

So, welcome to my world, and share my journey through inner neurosis, occasional psychosis, and frequent insanities to navigate a path of existence in an incredibly small city where you know every man/woman and its dog/cat/parrot by 2 degrees of separation!