February 3, 2009
Livvy & I
I’ve just finished reading Marley & Me.
And I’ve decided that I don’t want to watch the movie after all.
Even though it stars two of my fav Hollywood faces plus a to-die-for yellow Lab.
No, I’m not watching the movie.
You know why?
YOU KNOW WHY?
BECAUSE IT HAS A SAD ENDING AND MANY SOB-WORTHY PARTS IN BETWEEN AND I CRIED SO MUCH I ALMOST COULDN’T READ THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS BUT I DID ANYWAY AND SPENT THE REST OF THE NIGHT WITH A HEADACHE COS I KEPT TRYING TO SNIFFLE THROUGH MY BLOCKED NOSE.
Can and will die.
And now I’m thinking twice of whether to (eventually) get a puppy or not. Because I will get so emotionally attached to that thing and when it dies and goes to dog heaven I will be shattered. T.T
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I got to babysit Amanda’s pooch last week, and now as I laze around the house bored to tears I wish I had her around, if only to curl up asleep by my feet. 
The boyfriend hasn’t been much of a companion these days; ever since he bought himself an XBox 360 with his Christmas money. =.= And every time he buys a new game, he launches into GamerGeek mode and will just sit for hours in front of the TV, jabbing away furiously at the controller.
And we only have one controller.
To his credit, he always did offer to buy me games. But being someone who’s never really been big on any sort of computer/video/console gaming, it was quite hard for me to find something I really like and want him to spend money on (even if it’s only 20 bucks).
I’d rather him treat me to bubble tea or even buy me some good chocolate but he doesn’t wants to pay for those why ar it’s even cheaper somemore. Obviously our priorities in life are different Yang oh what do we do now.
But yeah, for someone who’s idea of awesome virtual fun-time includes beating the high-score in Windows default games (I am still the undisputed champion in Minesweeper as far as I know, if only cos no one else gets the game) and Neopets’ Word Poker – trying to find a good Xbox game for me is near impossible la.
Shooter game is too hard.
Role-playing game is too complicated.
And racing game is simply impossible.
And there’s only so much Viva Pinata you can play before the pinatas start crowding around your garden and you run out of space and nothing else happens except for your plants dying. (- -”) And then the theme song gets stuck in your head and you go mad.
A$13 for a pre-owned copy, at your nearest EB games outlet.
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Eh I digressed so much, was supposed to be writing about the dog.
Anyway people, meet Livvy-Pillar Tan – property of Belle and Amanda Tan; born in Melbourne, raised in Perth.
Hello, Valerie just bathed me and I smell of artificial apples.
I’ve never been a fan of smaller dogs, if only because previous experiences with them plus the stereotypes going around in the pet circles led me to believe that all mini-dogs are annoying, yappy little bastards that serve little purpose in terms of loyalty or protection of mankind. You know, like what dogs are meant to be for.
But Livvy had been a joy to have around the house, even though she behaved like a little brat at times and I want to lock her outside until she’s learnt to behave.
Or when she starts getting all emo and mopey, and refuses to come when you call out to her or even when you offer her treats (which, you know, isn’t supposed to happen by my books).
Two of my favourite puppies, napping.
By the end of the week, we concluded that the dog suffers from manic-depressive disorder, plus a bit of multiple-personality thrown in for how she can suddenly like someone and then starts shaking when the same person tries to pat her the next second. =.=
Then we also suspected that for the little time she spent outdoors in our backyard, she somehow managed to get bullied by the neighbourhood cat of which she became fearful of afterwards. (- -”)
Yes, them.
Yet on the other hand, when she met this 5 month old Doberman at the park, she seemed to lupa diri and started teasing the five-times-bigger-than-her puppy – whom I’m sure just wanted to play but you’ll get worried too when a giant barking thing starts chasing after a suddenly-fearless Chihuahua-Shitzu cross or whatever breed Livvy was.
More so when the owners, a German couple, said to him:
“Play nice now, it’s not a fly!”
And then they laughed. O_O
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Nevertheless, Livvy still had her canine senses where and when it was called for.
Like the night Yang woke up to go to the toilet cos he was feeling sick, and Livvy woke up from her slumber and stayed up waiting for him.
Or that when she was up to one of her mood swings or feeling terrified, all she really needed (or wanted – we haven’t quite decided whether we got scammed or not) was a good cuddle and scratches behind her ear.
Like when she does all these tricks just to get a biccie treat.
Then there was the one morning I left for work around 6am, and as I made my way quietly passed her room (she was sleeping with Val that night), she let out a bark. Of which I had to yell under my breath at her “HOI LIVVY, IT’S ONLY ME” and then she went silent – assumingly back to sleep.
In other words, I’m trying to say she can be a half decent watchdog, even if it meant not recognizing my scent and barking at me. =.= But still, good work Livvy, Imma proud of you. *cuddles*
Who's a good puppy? Whooo's a good puppy?
Miss you long time Livvy! Even though you probably don’t even remember me, judging by how fast you sped off when Belle came to pick you up. T____T
I want one to call my own!
Preferably one that looks like this.
December 2, 2008
victorian state
Hello Melbourne!
I am only 2 hours away from you, and in less than a week, I will be coming to embrace every bit of your big city lovelies.
I will be visiting with my mum and sister though, which means I won’t be seeing your magical night wonders until my next visit.
Which will be some time next month maybe; after I’m done with all the Christmas and New Year busies with the rest of the McDonald clan in Sydney – which I’m looking forward to a lot actually, since this is going to be my first proper Christmas celebration. One that involves family, and traditions such as big hearty dinners and exchanging presents.
But because I’ll be meeting the entire McDonald family, I am also feeling terribly flustered and nervous over Christmas, still. It’s one thing to be accepted by his biological family, it’s a whole different ballgame to be making a good impression and charming an entire house of relatives of all ages, in less than a week. T.T We are talking about grandparents and uncles and aunts and cousins and cousins’ spouses.
Maybe I should just load up on as much punch as I can the whole time I’m there – so, at least if the booze factor fail me, maybe the sugar will ease me along the week, albeit in a jumpy hyper sorta way. =.=
My idea of a Christmas punch.
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But till then, I’m here in Longwarry, soaking up the warm Victorian sun whilst freezing my butt off in the breeze (you know how you are, you crazy climated state); and very much enjoying the comfort of a beautiful home and the kind hospitality of the McDonalds. 
Save for the brother who seem to enjoy having someone new in the house to pick on – but even then, I’m sure that’s just his twisted way of expressing his love for anyone in the family. (- -”)
Oh dear Melbourne, do await my arrival!
November 27, 2008
so long, farewell
Today marks my official final day at TAFE – which I know I haven’t spoke much about except to bitch about assignments. =.=
But it has been a pretty incredible experience, this one year of my life. Despite the crazy 40-page reports and long travelling hours in the early mornings that I had to endure, I actually enjoy my classes.
I loved having a lecturer – two lecturers, in fact – who actually gave a shit about the students’ welfare. Say all you want about independent learning and personal development; after having spent 5 years of my life at various colleges and universities where the lecturers couldn’t care too much if you passed or failed (with exceptions of some lovely ones we had in KDU), it’s nice to once more be spoonfed and cared for by your teacher.
Not that I’m judging the other lecturers I’ve had before or anything; I mean after all they are just doing their jobs.
It’s the intentionally wicked ones that is worth a hate mention or two, but that’s another story for another day aha. Oh you KDU peeps would know who I’m referring to anyway. =.=
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But yeah, on top of a fatherly-figure teacher to kick push and shove us through the two semesters, there are also the rest of us who makes for a wonderful year in TAFE.
We started of in Semester 1 with more than 25 students. And naturally everyone kept to their little circles, although we do still talk to each other from time to time… and hey at least everyone knows each other by name.
Then came Semester 2, and the remaining ones who made it to Diploma level were only half of the original students. ._. (so maybe some bits of the stereotype was kinda true. +_+ ); and from there, a couple more drop out so now we’re only down to 8.
But with what’s left of us, everyone got to know each other a little better. And despite our obvious differences (there were 8 nationalities between 11 of us), we still had this comfortable little surrogate family arrangement going on.
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And now we’ve all reached a point where we all head off to different directions in our lives. For some of us, we probably won’t be seeing each other again – namely those who are headed back to their respective home countries for good.
As for the rest of us remaining in Perth – well, we’re definitely gonna try keeping in touch and all. But previous experiences have proven time and again that once you take away the one common/shared element that made two people friends, it’s just a matter of time before they drift their separate ways.
Oh well, that’s life hey?
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Nevertheless, it has been an incredible one year with this people. They are some of the most genuinely kind and good-natured people; and I do honestly wish I’ve had more time with each and every one of them.
October 14, 2008
nature effs you
This is a Huntsman spider.
Mofo.
This is a Huntsman spider, according to Wikipedia:
Huntsmen can generally be identified by their legs, which, rather than being jointed vertically relative to the body, are twisted such that the legs extend forward in a crab-like fashion.
These eight-eyed spiders are found in Australia, New Zealand….
They also tend to exhibit a “cling” reflex if picked up, making them difficult to shake off and much more likely to bite.
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And while not life-threatening as such,
Mother nature's expression of WTF
… we’re talking about getting bitten by those monstrous fangs.
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And this isn’t the first time we found evil critters wandering about inside our house.
Being in Australia, land of the bushes, and home to some evil mofo looking bugs and reptiles, that is never a good thing.
Because you don’t just get homey lizards, flies, mozzies and harmless little daddy long legs that could easily be mistaken for a hairball (although arguably, some mozzies in Malaysia are fairly life-threatening).
We’re talking about slimy silverfishes under everything, gigantorous cockroaches, spiders that can take down a horse, A HORSE, with a single bite… and from time to time, some unidentifiable reptile that you can only pray and hope that they never grow any bigger. Or breed.
Here’s one captured on video, found under Rach’s bed:
October 3, 2008
Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
Cookie monstah stole them scrumptious-licious choc chip lovelies from the cookie jar~
But it got distracted by a creeping bug on the wall
Which, somehow, triggered it to do an Andy Warhol.
Which then brought about an inspiration to smex up (hiao up?) the cookie
Taking a break from monsterdom to impersonate a local personality (tsk, monster these days)
And finally, back to business.
Oh no! Are they... are the cookies fighting back?? O-:
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And here’s one especially for yang:
Cookie Mouse!
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Now, excuse me while I let the cookies fulfil their true calling.
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p/s* I’ll put up the recipe some other time, maybe.
