My Year 2010

2010 IS ALMOST OVER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? 

This Q&A is my favorite post whenever it's the end of the year. One of the reasons I'm doing this so early (I did this on the 30th in 2008 and 31st in 2009) is because I've abandoned my blog for more than two months. Sorry, blog. I just can't find time to write.

stayed single almost the whole year?
- Yes, and this is the third time I've said this. I'm not desperate though, after what had just happened, I think I just want to be around friends at least for months.

kissed someone new?
- Nope, but I got a kiss on the cheek from John David Alexander, my favorite kindergarten kid is school ^^

done something you've regretted?
- For the past two years I've said yes but it wasn't something that I could remember. This year...kind of the same. The two intangible things that I fear are guilt and regret; before I do something, I consider "all the shades of gray" (HAHAHAHA) so that I don't do something that I will regret in the future. In conclusion, I think I can say that I did not do anything that I've regretted this year.

lost someone?
- In some ways, I've lost a few people.

Chris Choi - he left to South Korea to continue his studies. Although we are not not friends, but we rarely talk these days. He brought me a lot of happiness during the 2nd semester of Grade 10. Lame jokes!!! I used to feel so 无奈 when he tells me those jokes but now I miss them so much...such irony! He told me that he will be visiting next winter (I have to wait one more year >.<) and I can't wait to see how tall he will be then. Hahaha

Jenny Yang - My dear Jenny, one of my first friends when I arrived at SSIS, left shortly after fall break to the United States. Although she's 2 years younger than me, she doesn't make me feel that way (basically all of my friends at SSIS are younger than me - ggggrrrrr - but I don't really feel that I'm older than them). In fact, she sometimes makes me feel I'm younger because I listen to her for advice. I miss you so much, Jenny, when will be the time for us to meet again?

There is another friend that I've recently lost, or I thought that I've lost. After reconsidering our friendship, I've gained the friend back in a different way. I'm just happy that I did not lose that friend.

Cut class?
- No, no, no. Maybe private classes for once or twice but definitely not school.

Were involved in something you'll never forget?
- Hmm....I started the IB diploma this year, and I don't think I will ever forget the days when the homework pile just never gets smaller.

Visited a different country?
- Yes, I went to Hong Kong this summer! It was a great experience :)

cooked a gross meal?
- I've cooked something that is not very delicious but not gross, thank god. Haha

lost something important to you?
- I lost my Lenovo Thinkpad laptop that was only under my ownership for 2 months. It was a depressing time for me, and a painful lesson to learn.

got a gift you adore?
- I love letters compared to materialistic gifts. And yes, I did get a letter that I like ^^

tripped over a coffee table?
- Fortunately, no.

dyed your hair?
- My brother just asked me to highlight my hair yesterday, and I didn't really want to. Maybe during summer I'll do it, haha. What color though? The only color that I've really considered is dark/light blue, but I don't even know if it suits me. Any suggestions?

Is this blue okay?

came close to losing your life?
- Nope, I want to live loooong.

went to a party?
- I was supposed to go to Kajol's birthday party but I came back late from the NHS biking trip, so no.

read a great book?
- Sadly enough I realized that I didn't do much pleasure reading this year...

saw one of your favorite bands/artists live?
- T.T I'm sorry to say no, I didn't see any of my favorite artists live this year. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I get to attend Jolin's Myself concert when she comes to Malaysia.

2008: Friends and Enemies

Did you meet any new friends this year?
- I met some new people but none of them really became my close friends. I became closer to a few friends though, and I'm very happy about it ^^

Did you dislike anyone?
- Yes, I'm not very good at controlling my emotions and that probably is one of the reasons why I dislike people easily.

Did you grow apart from anyone?
- Yes, I did :( It's either they left SSIS, or I find that I just can't "click" with them, or the friendship somehow just fell apart. Did I make an effort to stop the friendships from growing apart? I think I did, but maybe not the best as I can. Not everything goes the way how we want it to be, right?

Do you have any regrets when it comes to your friendships?
- Again, regrets are not something that I like to have. Although there are some parts that I wished were better, but sometimes it's probably better to go with the flow. We can't force ourselves to have something that doesn't belong to us. What is yours is yours, eventually.

2008: Your BIRTHDAY!

Did you have a cake?
- Finally I remember my birthday! Because photos were taken and I wrote about it in my blog, haha. So yeah, thanks to Kajol, I did have a cake for my 18th birthday.

Did you have a party?
- Not really a party, as I'm not a party person. But I invited some friends and we had dinner at NYDC.

Did you get any presents?
- Yeah

2008: All about YOU

Did you change at all this year?
- I think I did, although I don't know specially how, but I'm pretty sure I changed.

Did you change your style?
- I...got my nails painted black two days ago, does that count? Hahaha. But yeah, I do like to wear black, although it makes me feel hot like hell when I walk under the sun.

Were you in school?
- Of course, I went from a sophomore to a junior.

Did you get good grades?
- The 2nd semester of Grade 10 was the best since I attended SSIS. Junior year...it will be my worst since I attended SSIS :(

Did you have a job?
- I have no work experience! >.<

Did you own a car?
- I want to learn how to drive first! Vowed to during summer 2010, and I failed.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
- Hmm..no.

Did you move at all?
- I moved from My Phuc to the studio apartment that I live in now.

Did you go on any vacations?
- During the summer, I went to Hong Kong and Macau, and this coming week I will be going to Universal Studios at Singapore, Pulau Pangkor, and Penang Island!

.Would you change anything about yourself now?
- I wish for this every year: my weight to go down down down! I wish I can also improve my temper, so that I don't flare up so easily.

2010 WRAP UP

Was 2010 a good year?
- Every year has its own ups and downs, but yeah, 2010 was definitely a good year. 

(x) stayed single for the whole year
( ) kissed in the snow
(x) celebrated Halloween
(x) had your heart broken
( ) mooned someone
(x) went over the minutes on your cell phone
( ) someone questioned your sexual orientation
( ) came out of the closet
( ) gotten pregnant
( ) had an abortion
(x) done something you've regretted

OTHER

( ) painted a picture
(x) wrote a poem
( ) ran a mile (I cycled for 45km though!)
( ) shopped at Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch
( ) posted a blog on MySpace
(x) visited a foreign country
( ) cut in a line of waiting people
(x) told someone you were busy when you weren't
( ) partied to celebrate the new year
( ) cooked a disastrous meal
(x) lied about how old you were (That's what you start to do when you're 18 so that you can still get the non-adult price)
( ) prank called someone

In 2010 I...

[x] broke a promise
[x] fell out of love
[x] a little white lie or a joke.
[x] lied
[x] cried over a broken heart
[ ] disappointed someone close
[x] hid a secret
[x] pretended to be happy
[ ] slept under the stars
[ ] kept your new year resolutions
[x] forgot your new year resolutions (What were my new year resolutions???)
[ ] met one of your idols
[x] changed your outlook on life (I try to be as positive as possible, to make the best out of the worst)
[x] sat home all day doing nothing (Not exactly nothing, but I wasn't being productive)
[x] pretended to be sick
[x] left the country
[ ]almost died
[x]given up on something/someone important to you
[x] lost something expensive
[x] learned something new about yourself
[x] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it (The black nails!)
[x] made a change in your life
[x] found out who your true friends were
[x] met great people (Great teachers and great friends are great people)
[ ] stayed up til sunrise
[ ] cried over the silliest thing
[x] had friends who were drifting away from you
[ ] had a high cell phone bill (It's hard for me to use up the credit in my phone since I don't use it often)
[x] spent most of your money on food/clothes (I spent a lot of money on food, since I live alone)
[ ] had a fist fight
[ ] went to the beach with your best friend(s)
[ ] gotten sick
[ ] liked more than 5 people at the same

I think many, many things happened in year 2010. It's just that everything feels so distant and I don't feel as if they all happened in one year. The few big things that happened:
1. Joining the National Honor Society - I'm sad that we're recruiting new members because it won't just be the first batch people anymore, everything is going to be different. We had great memories, especially the Wildlife at Risk and Mekong Biking Trip.
2. Attending prom - It was my first time attending such occasions. Dressing up formally, etc. Although I didn't really have fun, prom is just not my thing as I don't dance, but I'm attending prom again in 2011.
3. I became good friends with this guy called Chris Choi who I didn't expect myself to be friends with (I cannot say that we are good friends now, but we were). It was all because of Pre-calculus. We suffered together, we studied together, and we got bad grades together (although our definition of bad grade was different).
4. Summer vacation to Hong Kong
5. Studying the IB Diploma
6. Started my independent life in Vietnam alone
7. And so much more!

There were definitely ups and downs in year 2010, but I'm happy to say that it was an amazing year because of my friends and family that love me so much, who have been supporting me in whatever I do and being there for me when I need them. ^^ Thank you. Right now I'm not sad that 2010 is ending (maybe I will be on the 31st, haha) because I believe year 2011 will be a better one. Don't you agree? :)

Tricks

How many changes did you spot?

The only change that I saw was the card,

and nothing else.

Isn't it funny how people do not realize the change?

Is it because they don't pay attention to who they are talking to?

I did not see the gorilla at all,

I was focusing at the basketball and white shirt players the whole time.

What about you?

By the way,

did you realize that there was another gorilla in one of the other videos too?

I spotted that,

just so you know. ^^

Happy 18th Birthday

Thanks to Kajol, Amy, and Rimta for the surprise birthday cake ^^

Phil and Lucy took crazy pictures all night, haha

Hain and Rimta were very creative.

When I'm in the picture, it's always more normal.

From left to right: Me, Hain, Amy

Kajol~~~

I've known her since 9th grade.

A miracle is happening in this photo.

Joseph is actually SMILING!

Hahaha, it's a miracle because usually he doesn't smile and he's stiff like a robot.

Thanks to Rimta, Joseph was smiling.

Haha

See the normal Joseph?

Almost expressionless,

hehehe

Sometimes I just feel like shaking my head at my friends,

look at them!

They said that they look like ghosts here >.<

Pretty Jenny and Rimta~

Although it was just a dinner,

I'm glad that these people - 

Jenny, Phil, Lucie, Kajol, Joseph, Rimta, and Amy - came.

It meant a lot to me,

thank you! ^^

Rock Climbing

As IB diploma students,

we went for a CAS retreat to District 3 for rock climbing.

Students were writing on their CAS workbook before leaving the school.

"Cheese!"

The wall that we were going to climb.

When I first saw it,

my reaction was, "How in the world am I going to climb that wall?"

Put on harnesses to get ready for rock climbing!

Left: Phil

Jinny was the first one to arrive at the top - she's Good!

Go, Jinny, go!

As you can see, although she was climbing at the easy part of the wall,

the wall ain't that flat either.

After moments of looking at my fellow students climb,

I finally convinced myself that it was my turn to climb.

This is me deciding on where to step,

which hand I should raise in order to move myself up.

Approximately four to five people climb the wall at the same time.

If you look closely, Phil is actually not climbing,

but hanging on to his rope.

Reason: He's afraid of heights and he didn't realize how high he was.

When he realized, he started screaming and stopped climbing.

Poor Phil :(

My initial goal was just to climb halfway up the wall,

but I was focusing so much on climbing the wall that I didn't realize how close I was to the top.

Hurray!

I made it up to the top!

Victory~ ^^

A picture with Jenny and Liem after I came down.

I was exhausted.

We did it!

Mission accomplished!

Well done, IB diploma students.

I like rock climbing so much that I'm planning to go rock climbing at least once a month with my friends.

This October when I go back to Malaysia,

I'm planning to conquer the ones at One Utama and Summit,

who's with me? ^^

Meal #3

By looking at this, you know that I cooked Prawn Mee! 

Woohoo~ ^^

Ingredients:

 Yummy tofu and juicy prawns

(Tofu is DELICIOUS ^^)

 My first half boiled egg: Failure.

Wondering why the shell is cracked with some yolk in the water?

Well, I didn't boil the egg long enough,

so when I was cracking the egg,

I realized that it was a half-boiled egg, not a hard-boiled egg.

So, I put the egg back into the pot and continued to boil it.

When it finally became hard-boiled, because the shells were cracked a little,

the yolk came out.

Oh well, I'll improve.

It's difficult to get yellow mee in Vietnam,

so I used one of my favorite type of noodles - spaghetti - as a substitute.

Believe me, it's a surprising substitute if you haven't tried prawn spaghetti.

大功告成！

Doesn't it look b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l?

Hahaha, it doesn't matter if it's not beautiful to you,

but to me it's enough because it was my first time cooking it. ^^

A shot of my delicious prawn mee from another angle.

I only had one packet prawn mee paste for the soup,

so now I have to wait till October when I can restock my food in Malaysia. ^^

Dios mio! 

I can hear my stomach rumbling by looking at spaghetti coated with prawn mee soup,

fue muy delicioso!