Absence

Summer Youth Camp (SYC): 9th-13th January
Could not think of a better way to start the year (besides breaking like half of my new years resolutions, hah..) than with SYC. So so so so glad I decided to actually go, too, instead of stay home and study.. Brought my DSLR but wasn't bothered to use it, so I only took one photo for the whole 5 days; but made up for it with heaps and heaps of Polaroids. :) Highlights of SYC: coming late to breakfast every morning, Lawrence getting bitten by a shark, Bubble Pop!, night activities, Martin Garcia's talks, supper which came to be known as noodle time, TONYZZZ, amazing amount of Hurlstone pride, heaps of Polaroids, Nikkida chasing after the film protector cos she thought it was a photo LOL, Twilight: the Musical, eshayz, easy there tiger, pool Gladiators, me gusta, water bomb skirmish: youth vs. leaders, meeting new people and making closer friendships (as gay as this sounds but I'm so grateful :D), Tony singing 'Pricetag', late night DNMs, Nikkida's shampoo smelling like sour Coke bottles, abseiling, going to the beach and seeing dolphins (!!!), drawing on Bun's face when he fell asleep on the ride home and a group of 20 of us going to Pho Viet once we came home to Cabramatta.

SJPPS class of 2006 reunion: 17th January
A couple of my primary school friends (20 ended up coming, in total) decided to meet up at Black Muscat Park in Chipping Norton to catch up and have a bbq. It was so so so nice to see everyone again after (for the people I don't see at tutor) 6 years. :') Such a good day, or half-day since I left at around 4-ish. So good to see and talk to people again, ahhhh I'm so grateful for Kelly organising.. I only brought my Polaroid, but didn't end up taking any photos. :( Hoping to meet up sometime again, whether it's next week or after HSC, hehehe.

ANYWAY, chemistry is calling and I have a whole load of work to do. :(

Bachelor of design

Last night was my sister's graduation! After 4 years of her visual design and communications course, she's now a bachelor of design, yay. :D I looked like a giant next to her since I'm already taller and wore wedges, compare the difference in shoulder height! And I knew I should've bought her flowers, there was such a nice bouquet... except I would probably like them more than she would, lol. :$

For everything we always wanted but never had

At Star City Wharf

So typical of me to forget to remember to clear and bring both the CF cards I have, my Canon and forget leave the battery in the charger.. Luckily for me though, I had brought my Polaroid. A wonderful night with the class of 2012 on a cruise; huge huge huge thank you to Angela and Vanessa for organising and putting in so much effort into this for all of us! Fist pumping and crowded dances on the bottom floor, inhaling helium and laughing at each others voices, the insanely windy top floor of the cruise, the Hoang Do bus ride home, sleeping at 4.30am at Danica's... The best way to celebrate the end of our prelims. But with the year 12 graduation yesterday morning and the term holidays officially starting today.. I don't think I'm ready for my HSC year to start in a little over 14 days.

To the class of 2011, even though I don't know many of you, from the few (very short) conversations I've had with some of you and tweets here and there, you will all be dearly missed. You are actually all lovely people who have a true sense of Hurlstone pride - I'm so blessed to have met people like you, and I know that you all have the potential to make your dreams come true. x

The Amazing Race and Birthday Celebrations

Hooray for the weekends! These past two days (especially today) have got to be the most stressful I've had in a long long time.. Failed my tutor exam this morning, screwed up all the easy questions and have no idea about the rest. Uh to be honest, I only really started thinking and planning for Country Fair's Amazing Race yesterday... Which is why I apologise once again for all the screw ups and major major time delay. Huge apology to Danica and Vivian for writing the numbers incorrectly on one of the clues, screwing up their journey! :(

I don't know if I've even mentioned this but a long long time ago, I thought of the idea of organising/hosting a scavenger hunt/amazing race for my group, to be held at Country Fair (which is an annual fair held on the last Saturday of August at my school)? Even though like all the preparations I ever do for anything, it was last minute, I swear I still put a lot of effort into it! And since I had to keep it secretive before, hehe, would just like to mention that: when I said I was going to test a cookie recipe on Twitter, it was for fortune cookies which turned out terrible. When I was eating fortune cookies the other day at school, I was actually checking out their shape. When I went to the art rooms on Friday, it was to prepare the fortune cookies for CF's AR. Yes, I put a lot of effort into the fortune cookies, LOL. When I stayed back after school on Friday, it was to check out the whole school for any hiding places and to think about whether my ideas would really work or not.

For those who were wondering, since I'm actually really proud of this cos I thought up of it myself, for the clue that I was meant to text some people (to go to the cottage) actually went like this: It has been 19 years since Harry, Ron and Hermione first met, and over the years they have watched each other grow. Today, two of them will be getting married. They have decided to set their wedding outdoors, with a well-maintained lawn and evergreen bushes. The flowers will be blossoming, bells ringing, the bride's hair glistening in the brilliant sunlight as she walks down the brick aisle. One of the groom's older brothers is running late, but luckily, lives close-by the wedding, with his wife. But wait, they're not the only ones late - why aren't you at the wedding yet? Meet the groom's brother and his wife at their home so you can leave together!

Once I actually got the Amazing Race, time went by so quickly! Yes, I spent around an hour and a half longer than what I thought I would, and people had to leave. :( And yes, even though I took so long, I still had mistakes here and there.. but I'm incredibly thankful for all of you contestants for looking over my mistakes and making the best of everything, by making compromises and co-operating, by waiting and being patient. :) Huge thank you to Nick for putting up with my crap when I'm stressed, trimming off some of the clues, minding my bag while I frantically ran around the school hiding clues, for not participating, even though I knew you were pretty excited for it, for everything you did this afternoon. As host, I'd like to also thank everyone who lent me a locker key: Vanessa/Vivian, Julia, Nicholas, Lawrence, Mitchell and Amannda. Thank you for those who shouted me dinner at TK Something for Mitchell and Nicholas' joint birthday!

While the amazing race actually took place, I had a bit of time to get some food, so I quickly bought a Magnum ice cream , can of Sprite and bottle of orange juice for $1 each, score! Probably one of the best things about Country Fair is how incredibly cheap the ice cream always is, LOL. Would also like to congratulate Wendy, Michelle, Margaret and Christie for finishing first! Even though it was kinda rigged cos I wasn't even hiding yet, uh.. lol. After the amazing race finished, a few of us sat at one of the benches, and we took heaps of polaroids. I love how cheerful everyone was, and how you can really see that in these photos. Wonderful wonderful afternoon, really..

Took me a while to get to Mitchell's and Nicholas', especially since it was a pretty spontaneous decision. Once we actually got there, I don't even know how much I ate but I want more creme brulee, even though at the time I was feeling so disgustingly bloated, LOL. :D Had a fun night with everyone, haven't had a big outing with this group of people in such a long time! Had fun taking photos outside the restaurant, then went to Lisa's house until my dad picked me up. :) Overall, I had a wonderful wonderful day. All the comments I get on Facebook and Twitter literally have me giggling to myself, and it really means so much guys. Really, I love you all. /end cheesy talk LOL.