how i spent my sunday

i've got too much free time on my hands. so i should do something to keep me sane, hence this post here. i tried... i tried this morning when i woke up to stay positive about things. i really did attempt to. but as the day wore on and what with my severe lack of friends... here i am, holed up in my room yet again, lonely and desperately finding for things to occupy my mind and time.

otherwise i might just fall into another bout of depression.

man, i'm so bad at making friends. some people just do it effortlessly, and they just seem to fit anywhere. i wish i had that skill as well, but for me it's hard and scary (at times) to exert myself to make new friends.

i don't think i'll go all out and aggressively try to make friends here, just take it slow, join a club or something and see how it goes. meanwhile do bear with all my griping and moaning about my lonesomeness. you're so kind...


so, i do have some pictures from the 14th of feb, cny or vday if you please... it's all the same to me since i'm not with my family or jootatt to celebrate them with. yes i know, believe me i was really sad too. instead, i went to church in the morning, and later on, a scottish festival in the riccarton house and bush with my housemates.




we actually planned to just have lunch, but since the place we originally wanted to go to was near this event... you know the rest of the story.



yeah so, the whole event was pretty exciting. lotsa tartan, kilts, bagpipe playing; as per every scottish festival. but the interesting part was that they had an antique car exhibition




as well as people dressed up in period costume. i think victorian and georgian period which was wayyyy cool. i love loved their costumes and their mannerisms and everything. it's like, my heroes and heroines from all the books that i read have come alive.

here they are having a spot of afternoon tea on the lawn.



among the things on display there was the list on etiquette for gentlemen during picnics. lol. one of them was "to be amusing and entertaining to the ladies at all times". tee-hee... and another was "to assist the lady in sitting down and getting up, and to bring her food". i wish this still applied now.

and some highland dancing. my first time seeing it upclose.




oh and in case you were curious to know how my house mates looked like- here they are!




that's michael, me and megan.


it was a lot of fun, mostly because i hadn't seen this kinda thing before. but my poor feet ached a lot from all that walking.

hmm... since this is how i spent my sunday, i won't elaborate much on that... but it's something that i think you guys would like to hear about.

on sunday night, i went with a malaysian family to a cny open house. basically the people there were malaysians le. so after the eating and jollities, we went to the nearby basketball court to let off some firecrackers. tradition ma right? even though it's banned in malaysia. heheh. anyway... we were in our element when suddenly, this big burly white guy started shouting profanities and coming our way. he was like "f- off, f- off" all the way, and when we apologised and said we would leave, he wasn't happy enough and started really getting violent. he pushed a girl down, and because she was sortof carrying a younger girl, both of them fell. when one of the uncles in our group went over to help them up, he pushed him roughly to the ground. and i was like... 'should i run or should i go back and help?'. the man eventually felt that he had had enough of shoving people and left us. but not after a whole anti-asian "go home" tirade.

it was scary i tell you. what an orientation to nz. it kinda makes me very wary towards ang mohs now. it's very hard to trust them now that i've seen what some people can do. hmm... but i guess you can't judge all from the behaviour of one right?

more of it

i hope you're not sick of me and my photos yet





.
cos i want to to tell you about my day. at the park.



and how pretty lavenders look. though ever since i arrived, hydrangeas are officially my fav.





and how nice the weather was today. nice being sunny yet chilly enough to need a jacket. here, you see a diverse sort of dressing. there'll be people in skimpy tops and shorts, and at the same time there'll be people in warm coats and boots. so it kinda depends what your level of tolerance to cold is. which i think is bad news for me and a sign that i should get a nice coat that i like since i presume i'll be wearing that a lot. my tolerance towards cold being very minimal. blame it on my lack of fat. that, and my upbringing in a tropical country. i like warmness. to a certain extent. lol.
i know it's really extremely hot back in malaysia now so i shan't complain of the cold here.




and the cathedral that i visited as well. it's christchurch's biggest attraction ya know






and the hustle and bustle of the city in a place where life is walked at a slower pace. they take their time to do things, like the bus drivers will actually take their time to patiently answer all your questions, the counter lady will go through things throughly with you, which gets a bit frustrating when you're in a hurry.

well i haven't got much else to say. getting sleepy. goodnight!






hopefully i'll stop feeling homesick soon. it's hard when cny is a usual family time. used to loathe it but now there's no where else i'd rather be than with family.

more pictures

while the photo taking/ uploading mania is going on... have a look into my life on another side of the globe.


this is a part of the touristy area of the city. touristy or not i like it a lot. it really gives the city character, y know? those quiant old buildings, and parks, and the avon river.

i shall be city-ing again tomorrow. whee!




and saja lah you know... camwhore in the bathroom. lol. don't you think my cheeks became rosier since i came? am loving it! like natural blush. though these photos don't really justify them. my bathroom here is sparkly white, but for how long is another question...




ugh! my hair! i wish it would be more obedient.

i know it's not that cold here to be wearing a jumper but i like to be snug and warm. to them, it's a nice normal summer but to me it's like a bad case of too much air con. how am i going to survive the winter here?

by the way, the pinks and purples are way too cute! so bubblegum sweet. like me! :)

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and here we have the books i'm reading now. i wish i brought more. jane eyre and david copperfield, okla i know they sound so yawn... will be borrowing more erm fascinating books next time from the library.






ahh you can see that i've already cluttered the bathroom with my treasures. i thought i was relatively neat but i now see how messy i really am. thanks to my housemate.

guess that's what you get for asking for tidy housemates in your application form.




i, we... did another tour around the campus grounds again this afternoon. so i finally have seen like, a sizeable portion of it yay.

here're some buildings. the science building i think. not really sure.




on the way to engineering department





and the little and older english building.





and man do i wish i was back in penang for vday and our anniversary. 2 years might not be very much but it's still something to celebrate.

in God i trust

in times of trial, he saw only one pair of footprints. "why?" he asked his Lord. "why did You let me walk alone during my hardest parts of life?"

"that one set of footprints that you saw, that was when I carried you."



if i may say so, ever since i arrived here in chch, i have been having a bit of a rough time breaking in so to speak. but as i look back at the past few days, those times when i felt that i was so alone, when i got too homesick, i just realised how involved God is in my life. how much he helped me get through the dreary days of being alone. and also the people he put in my path to help ease the settling in. i'm so blessed because He really is my Jehovah Jireh, my provider. everything i needed, He provided. sometimes, you really need to get out of your comfort zone to know how much He cares for you. in time that you become to accustomed to relying on yourself to acheive things, you somehow forget that Jesus is in control of our lives. but when you find yourself totally and wholeheartedly dependent on Him... that's when miracles start to happen!

and i am excited to see what God has installed for me next.

a little update on myself:
i met this lovely malaysian family from penang through a church member. and they've so kindly invited me into their home to spend time with them, cooked for me, taken me around, and acclimated me with the basic things i needed to know. praise God for that!

tomorrow... laundry and cleanup day. i shall go roam around campus again if i have the time. when are my other housemates moving in?? i'm so impatient to meet them. hope they're great people.

life in ilam

today i went exploring around my campus. or well, a small part of it at least. it's humongous so i couldn't have possibly covered all in a short half hour walk. it was lovely strolling amongst all that greenery and it also made me feel slightly better. so, i present to you a better denise than before. at least, i'm a little less homesick now. anyway, pictures pictures...

greens. you see the signboard in there? yeah that's my uni. UC.

just some random path.

now this is where i live. the ilam apartments.

this is my block. and my room is on the third floor. last window to the left.

my room! heheh a tad messy right now. i have yet to sort things out and tidy it.

and ... the first meal i cooked here. also, the first meal i cooked by myself ever!

and hello!

hello from christchurch

i'm here! christchurch nz and i haven't settled down (still got lots and lots of packing to do), i haven't found a church, i have one friend so far (who also happens to be one of my flatmates), i don't know how long my internet will last though i think i might need a credit card with a larger amount soon, i don't know how long my cash will last me, i'm really horribly homesick i feel like crying everytime i think about home, everyone speaks differently i am so lost in their lingo, and i miss him, and mom and dad and sis and sara. so much.


when i arrived, i thought i would have a tough time clearing customs... but it turned out pretty easy and fast. nothing got confiscated haha. but what i didn't expect was the difficulties i would have once i touched down. like, how my plugs don't fit into the socket because they're a different kind. take note people who intend to go to aus or nz, the plugs are different from the ones you find in m'sia (which uses the uk kind). and how many things i didn't have which makes a house home. and i guess the whole getting used to it part. i really hope i'll make many friends here, don't want it to be a repeat of kl where i was lonely a lot of the time.


but thank God for ann ann who's helping me with well, hp lines and stuff. and my boyfie for giving me the support i need. things must be pretty tough for him as well. hugs love you babe for still wanting to be with me through distance and all. i did buy a few things already, adaptors and all... so yeah, hopefully things will get better from here. one day at a time denise.


also, to my lovely friends who've rained wishes and love on me, i love you guys too. keep me in your prayers as you are in mine. and people... i want news from home ok?

au revoir!

how the days just soar by. i'll be leaving in a coupla hours, there is no time to use fancy metaphors so, goodbye cute lil penang. i'll miss hokkien and food and rojak english. and to everyone who've somehow been there throughout my "leaving" period, whether through parties, wishes, get togethers, packing... i'm gonna miss you guys. goodbye til november.

with all my love,
denise


ps: next chapter- christchurch meets denise

i have a ton of things to talk to you about but you're not here.
i have got lots of things to say to you but the time is always not right.
in some aspects, you could compare me to a kid
because i'm crying out for you to pay attention to me.
because i really want to talk to you.
i want your time, i want your attention
to listen to my things and nothings

please?

wanna play?

when the weather's bad, when you've had just enough of everything, when you're just so emotionally exhausted... what do you do?

well, i usually play silly computer games to get my mind off things.

click me to find out what crap denise is playing now.

(try to beat my score :P )

or me to play whatever waste of time game she plays too!

hallo

i shall not complain of being home all day
i shall not grumble about being bored
i shall not whine about everyone being too busy to accompany me around

because working is infinately worse.


i should really do something productive. oh oh... i know! i'll bake tomorrow. and i guess i should really get to finalizing my packing *sigh*. part of why i loathe packing (other than being the usual slothy me) is that it brings the reality of leaving so much more ... real. it's like the luggage bag's smirking at me "you're leaving! HAHAH! *sucker punch*". but i suppose i must stop procrastinating soon. real soon. otherwise i might end up packing on the flight to nz.


i'll let you in on a secret: i'm having cold feet. as departure begins to draw near, i'm having all these thoughts of "what ifs", and well, sadly a lot of them are less than positive. scared la. lol. funny. since not going was never an option, not that i was forced to go, no nothing like that. but because i just knew that one day i'd be going overseas. i am thankful, but you know, like the groom who sits in the toilet in cold sweat right before the wedding... i know like him, i'll be glad i had the courage to take this huge step. lol, anyway, it's just going overseas right? no biggie.


and i have this outrageously oversized card from the wonderful people of ignite to send me off. so sweet of them really. because i never in my life expected that! and it was really a wonderful surprise.


it's lovely to be loved and to love. i'm a big big fan of love.