新年快乐! 万事如意! 新年牛冲!

Translation: Happy (Chinese) New Year! Have many prosperous years! A successful Ox Year!
Lol my Chinese actually came in handy ^^

Anyway being a proud Australian-Chinese-Russian (just a lil,) I am profoundly patriotic to my both heritage and my roots for it represents who we were and will be. And today, being a rare occasion when the festivals of two cultures can vividly express their uniqueness are on the same day, I was fortunate enough to experience both Australia day and Chinese New Year :)

25th Jan – New Years Eve

Friends and family. That's what celebrating Chinese New Years is all about :) So I actually went to two get-togethers, one @ Annie's and the other with family @ Shark Fin Inn.
While rocking up @ Annie's at bout 10:30 (haha thankfully she was awake, though still in frantic clean up mode before everyone else got there - well "clean" as in the classic "gives up half way and ends up just shoving everything in the cupboard and hoping no one opens it" ^^) Anyway not before long when Pricilla, Charlie, Nat, Micheal Wu (haha thanx pricilla my new editor, shall pay you....eventually? haha jks - but my bad and btw sorry Micheal if u read it! ^^") Daniel, Keith n Gab (eventually withOUT the help of the directions from google maps or Annie/Michelle :P) we passed time by first attempting to play Wii and realizing that a) we all suck, well all except Keith who owned us all and actually got past level 2.... n b) not all guys have the "amazing ability to play video games" genes :P
LOL we (the girls) also made red bean dumplings that turned out quite pro-ish after cooking (and NO Daniel, you DON'T eat them raw :P haha) ^^ Though Pricilla's unique bun with the mysterious "green thing" was passed around the table at lunch until it ended up with it's maker.... Considering she (or any of us for that matter) hasn't gotten food poisoning thus far, it's now safe to say that: we can cook something beside 2 min noodles! ^^ (without burning it or the house down of course) Oh and, despite not being a purely chink tradition, Singstar was a major occupant for the rests of the time after lunch, well that and playing mahjong on the floor - which surprisingly worked out ok.... :) But srsly, I find this EXTREMELY hard 2 believe, that somehow, the guys team won singing "Barbie Girl" (though they did a fricken hilarious Ken imitation! Man, so should've recorded it....but damn Barbie's ditzy voice is annoying and hard 2 sing, if u can call is that....) But then again, the girl's team won later by rapping. Yes, you read right, we won by RAPPING LOL! Later on we just passed the mike round and battled each other while juggling b/w varying era's of music (e.g. 80's, 90's - which we'd actually known a lot of songs from, indication of age? I think not ^^") Oh, and just for the record: the girls won OVERALL, sometimes full on thrashing the guys! Hehehe :) shall post more proof here soon when Annie recovers it from her camera.
Reminder: Never get Michelle to rap EVER again....unless u wanna either cringe or crack up laughing that is :) But after scoring many high scores n sore throats, we gave our voice boxes a rest and played mahjong for the rest of the time, and learnt about 3 different ways of saying the same thing in different dialects.

That night after I got changed, my family headed to Shark Fin Inn for our annual Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with family, mostly from dad's side. Although dinner itself was relatively uneventful as I just chatted with every1 (e.g. cousins Nela, Jess etc....), one of the highlights HAS to be dragon dance! :) Being a traditional Chinese culture activity, red bags with coins in them were distributed as the dragons danced in with rhythmically beating drums and banging gongs. All together there were 3, a gold, black/red and purple, though only the gold and purple dragons came to our table. Haha every1 @ the restaraunt managed to work them quite a bit as they danced acrobatically between tables and towards anyone who offered their red bags, n of course I was no exception ^^ So just to tease the gold dragon one a lil, I stood up n waved it up high (not on a chair like some :P) This time, the guy even jumped on onto the other one's shoulders to stand steady and tall above the tables just to "eat" my red packet, unlike the other creative ones who dragged a chair and hopped on that instead....) I'd thought they might've been sick of constantly having to jump so high, but seeing the guy genuinely smiling at me as he jumped down proved that this is as much fun for them as it is for us, and indeed, it's also a major part of the festival ^^ The purple dragon came later as he saw I had a red packed left in front of me, so it decided to come up and playfully nudged me a couple of times -.-" aka hinting: give me! Lol, so who am I to deny it :P And the front seats to see them acrobatically reach the dangling cabbages high above (which has a similar pronunciation to "fortune" in Chinese) and sorta spray it all over the manager :P LOL so he ended up with cabbage all over his suit and hair ^^ But hey, it's all in the name of good luck :) Haha the manager even came round to our table and went "here you go! Gong xi fa cai!" while sprinkling some dragon shredded cabbage :P hahaha nice one ^^
Oh my cousin Nela and I also, took advantage of the Karaoke DJ person there, sang a song too :) We were gonna sing “老鼠爱大米” if we could get Uncle Tim up (mayb nxt yr) so we ended up singing "Can you feel the love tonight" as we, and the table of kids were massive fans of The Lion King ^^ Haha and just when you thought I had enough of singing for the day :P lol
The rest of the night till midnight we watched the Chinese New Year program which was AWESOME this yr! Sooo much better than last years :P Haha did any1 catch Jay Chao n Jackie Chan singing? LOL though I think Jay's choice of song was the only down side -.-" Should've chosen something else :P haha oh well, it's the thought that counts. And man the place went CRAZY when he started singing! Lol. Haha and mum also ate the "lucky" dumpling with a peanut as a substitute for money/coin @ the midnight meal :P Despite Aunty Kim's desperate attempted search and going "ok people, stop eating now, the rest is mine!" LOL

But what did I do to indulge and appreciate my Australian roots for Australia Day? Although I've been participating in mostly Chinese New Year celebrations, the fact that it's also our young countries' special day has never been far away from our conversations, hearts or minds. But one doesn't necessarily have drink beer (I'm too young anyway) or get sun burnt from the beach to have to appreciate our country, this place I've called home for all my life. Though for some reason, the Aussie anthem is still stuck in my head atm 2 ^^" (and yes ppl, I actually know the lyrics which too little people seem to do....) Although the Australian and Chinese culture might be two completely unique and rich cultures, who celebrate in quite different ways, the values which bind and make these festivals so important are actually similar (it's not all for the public holiday :P)
Our values of generosity, family, tradition, honesty, love, faith, trust, friendship, patriotism & so many more overlap as universal do they not? So even if these two cultures and countries might do seem so uniquely distinct to each other, and indeed they are in some aspects, the foundations of both are still the same - through the hard work of people and the values we all hold dear, we built these nations and will ever continue to.

So be proud of who you are and where you come from. And on that note....



alone at 10:54 PM

Everyone's probably already sick of hearing this all day, but hey, it is surely a day that will down in history - yes, Barack Obama is now officially the 44th (lol hopefully not that unlucky :P) President of the USA, and first African-American one at that. Sure he may not be our president (i dont THINK he can speak fluent chink....) but this is proof that people, the foundations of our society, can change should we want it. For now we are one step closer to truly being accepting all people for who we are and what really matters. We now have even more proof that a vision and hard work can lead to even the impossible happening. Speaking of change, this historic day has inspired some personal change too....

Most may live to avoid flux, preferring to succumb to a world where stability is everything, where the fear of the unknown is neither pursued nor contemplated. And ok, fair enough, I may be guilty of occasionally choosing constancy over fluctuation in life, but who isn't? Of course, I'm not gonna change everything as certain aspects of myself define me as who I am. But I do realize that I need to strengthen certain weaknesses and sharpen my skills and mind. I acknowledge the fact that it will not be easy. Duh. As easy as acing spesh....(when you're just an average person NOT some super genious who can do complicated complex no's....u noe who i'm talking about! lol -.-")

For although man makes the habit, the habit soon after makes the man.

Thus in order to break this comforting shell where things are always as they were, I need to find a strategy, formulate some sort of plan. Somehow. ^^" That's technically the next step.... I've said, and only said, this for far too long. But this time, this time, something is stirring, deep and resounding. Time never stands still. Attitudes have been altered and thoughts provoked. Something is yearning. And so the action starts today. Not tomorrow. Today. This moment. Right here. Right now.
I believe life should be measured in *moments* not *seconds.* And so this is one of many of my moments to come, a turning point that could be either major or insignificant in my life.
Hard as it may be to break a habit, to accept change and be flung into a world, environment or situation unknown, I will nevertheless try my hardest.
I will be a better person. The best I can be. I will be someone of worth. I will prove to myself, to those who doubted, to those who seek inspiration as I did, do and will, that it is possible.

~Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.~

alone at 9:24 PM

Haha call us nerds if you will but going to the State lib yesterday with friends (i.e. Annie, Anthony, Bala, Clarence n Gab (eventually) wasn't exactly a TOTAL distraction or work-fest :P It also happened 2 be the day of the anti-Gaza war rally (for those who actually read the news, yes there is one with a temp ceasefire, and no flicking through till you get to the comics doesn't techniquelly count as "reading" either :P) Damn we could've been in the background on channel 7 or SBS ^^ Oh and Australia's biggest chocolate fondue party @ fed square was on too!
For someone who's been living in Melb for....wow all my life....I find it kinda sad that I (and a few others) am state lib newb ^^" oh well there's a first for everything right? :) From the towering pillars to the memorable etched quotes on the walls of La Trobe reading room, from that musky paper smell of aging books mixing with the whirring of modern computer technology to the room specifically dedicated to chess fanatics (which also provided the guys with a momentary distraction from hw :P) Must remember to go again when the chance arises. haha (btw pics availble 2 moz)
Lol despite the idea of "free choco" @ fed square was (REALLY) appealing 2 the guys, we ended up just having lunch @ MC while trying to not get bogged down in the gathering crowds, yet somehow we still ended up with 10 pamphlets after walking a mere 10m stretch to the crossing -.-" Memorable LOL moments of the day: #1 – Phoning for directions Gab: “Where are you guys?” Annie: “We're upstairs....in the food court with all the food places in it....” Me and Clarence: .... *cracks up laughing* haha yup totally specific directions ^^ I'm suprised he managed to find us (eventually :P) #2 – Potatoes? Annie: “Oh yeh he can't come today” Someone1 (haha forgot who ^^") : Why?
Annie: Um he say's he's minding the potatoes Everyone: .... LOL There's probably way more but I may have a momentary mind blank ^^" and some others you just had 2 b in the moment (e.g. attempting to feed Anthony noodles, finding Annie's baby pic in her diary or Bala's suprisingly awesome analogy with nuclear bombs and "safety from being blown up into bits" somehow actually explained how cricket works to the rest of the table....)
Anyway I'm blogging off for now, so continue to: :) Live for smiles and smile for life :) REMINDER: PICS COMING SOON! :)

alone at 12:30 PM

So in a spur of the moment I now have a blog! (After much waiting and the immense "suspense" Leah went through :P lol)

A lil bout myself? Well considering you're reading this I guess you probably already know me (unless your some sort of phyco stalker person then....o.0) But I, like any person or life itself, am mysteriously complicated yet amazingly simple. That's just how it is. It's who we are and who I am. An amazingly wise, yet suprisingly normal person/s (hence don't judge a person by their looks! lol) once told me that "Life wouldn't be life if it were so linear and straight forward. There will be joyous moments but it is also tempered by disappointments. How you act/deal with them is the artistry of living." So true right?!

So in honour of that quote, though also mainly for myself, this blog is basically just going to be about my life - the joys, the pains, the smiles, the tears, and well anything and everything that comes along with the package. As I attempt to make the little sense I can out of what I do, feel, see and learn each day (or a period of time depending if/when I remember to blog ^^") I hope that through my words I can share who I am and who I want to be.

True, some entries might be totally random, quirky, interestingly new or plain out there, but hey that's normal....right? Pictures and maybe even vids will also be in ample supply when I figure out how to use the damn link....(haha no guarantees how long THAT'S gonna take so bear with me ppl! :P) Maybe, if these entries of one mere person can help brighten up one person's day with but a smile, shed light on a different perspective, lighten up a heart, or spark a new idea, all would be worth it. Time would be well spent. But one step at a time....:)
So while I find a better looking blog background I leave you with this to ponder when procrastinating: The unexamined life is not worth living, though the unlived life is not worth examining.

~Sophia~

alone at 8:51 PM