Come what may and love it

hah, I've been MIA again.  This semester wasn't as busy as last semester, but I'm mentally tired.  I guessed everyone is.  Finals are in 2 weeks time.  Am I ready for exams? Heck nah.


That calmness when you press the shutter.  That's the beauty of photography.
Constantly chasing for lights, seeking for colours.
   

Weather is just nice to walk around and snap.  Spring has finally sprung!  But it's getting hotter :(
   

Come what may and love it. 

I'm uncertain about future. It's unpredictable.
Keep praying, I have faith in you Lord.

The last day of semester one: my temporary breather!

Ello Ello!

I find it so apt that I'm actually blogging right now, in my fav BSL.  I just stuffed myself silly with two sushi rolls (first time in uni!) that I got from physiol food court and I'm so full that I can't possibly imagine eating any more food...

and I should be listening to my lectopia....

I can't believe it's already June!!! So much has happened in May that I have yet to find time to jot them all down properly at this site.  I've been so caught up last month with so many things, so many thoughts... It's quite unimaginable to me how MAY is over and we are down to the last day of semester one.  I had to eventually screen through my own diary/instagram/facebook to get a recap of this month before conjuring up this post.

In addition to that, I'm losing motivation to blog, every time I logon to blogger, I always convince myself that I have many uni works to do and I should really blog on the other day. 3 cafes reviews to be done, as well as my Melbourne Trip updates. Ehh. Stop procrastinating.

In fact I used to update Dayre on my phone everyday to keep track of my daily life. Now I just don't bother to record all the moments. Enough 'essay-writing' on reports aha.

Anyways, I'm in the midst of drafting my Melbourne trip, hopefully I can get it done before my first day of exams, which is the 18th!

Stay tuned.

So I ransacked through my instagram photos quickly and....

The Sunday before uni started I was shopping at Harbour Town with a bunch of awesome friends.

The first day of uni, I had this shoes of the day post: I was wearing my new pair of KEDS sneakers and my new pinky pants. Friends were like: WAHH CLARE Happy Chinese New Year ah? :P 

The first Monday of mid semester break, I was at a house party and that was the craziest night ever.

etc.

etc..

To summarise my semester one, 2014:

1. Uni
So yeh, everyone was so busy with assignments and reports.  Everything has finally came to an end today, everyone handed in their works.. which pretty much marks the end of the semester!

And I handed in two reports on wednesday and that signalled a temporary breather for me! Eventually decided to leave all exams revisions behind. I sat in front of my laptop: earphones in, volume up and ignore the world. Did some online shopping with friends and that simply concluded my relaxing arvo.

2. Love
Constantly receiving love from friends and family.  Dad has registered a snapchat account and his selfies will never fail to make me LOL.  Mom has been calling/whatsapping me just to check 'my current location' when she knew i've been staying late in uni, make sure I eat my meals (especially dinners) properly as well as nagging me to tidy up my wardrobe + do my laundry.

3. Fitness
Seriously, I feel the need to find time in between my extremely packed swot vac schedule to spend some time working out.. I have to develop a healthier lifestyle!

4. Food
yes food, I'm still enjoying good food(mainly breakfast) at the moment.  If you haven't inferred from my instagram posts which I posted recently.. I'm a breakfast person so any breakfasts can catch my eyes and steal my heart! Here's some of the highlights of my homemade brekkie :P


5. Sleep
I think I came to a worthy realization of how sleep matters to me.  I have to make sure I hit the sacks before 11pm, or the latest by 12am.  At the beginning of the semester, it wasn't a big deal for me to go to bed around 2am and got out from bed (like a zombie) for the 8am lecture.  But things have changed... I JUST NEED MORE SLEEPS. bleh.

6. Thoughts
"How would you describe your semester one? Peak or trough?"

Well, my highs are pretty crazy high too. I could be laughing like mad on my own laughters that my friends filmed, I could be running around the house yelling and distracting my sister about small little things that can eventually annoy her.  I could spam my besties' inbox in the middle of the night just to tell them how hungry and sleepy I am, bug them over a hundred messages to get them to reply me... or

At the same time, I could be really emotional.  To confess, my feelings are erratic, especially during those stressful days when I was extremely swamped with my work load. But it was A.L.R.I.G.H.T at the beginning of the semester and I enjoyed every single moments: basking under the sun with friends and sipping our fav iced coffee/iced choc; walking home together reminiscing the good old days that we had in Form 4...

But at some points, I can be right down smack in the lows during lectures and whining over text to whoever pouring out my woes about how much I wish to get out of lecture halls... I can be so depressed when several thoughts start haunting my mind. Hah, not the things that I usually do, I'm usually an optimistic girl (blehh:P). Sorry if the rants made me sound stupid, I just need an outlet.

I reckon that is just an accumulation of collective feelings over a period of time.  All I can say is that I'm satisfied, I'm appreciative of what I have, I'm thankful for the people (awesome-ly awesome people!) God has placed in my life. I am surrounded with my loved ones and they are definitely strong pillars of support throughout the semester.  Be it friends, family or anyone else, I'm way too blessed to own these relationships that I share and help me grounded.  Honestly, I'm gleeing with joy that I have survived my semester one 2014, not sure about the finals, but let's skip it first. 

I really can't wait for exams to end. I'll definitely go for (a few) hiking trip(s) / do some bakings / shopping and what I look forward the most is my back-to-hometown-trip.

Alright, I should stop ranting now! Life is all about keeping yourself occupied.

But before I sign off.....



Just a silly photo of mine.

Have a nice weekend, and enjoy swot vac to the max!

You gotta be kidding me?!

Every once in a while I recall that we used to shout, scream and laugh in 1A, 2A, 3A and 4S1, spent our not-too-leisurely mornings copying each others' homework, talking crap and eating breakfast. 

That sure was nice. 

Though it was quite a long time ago. When we were still 13, 14, 15 and 16 years old.

Now we are turning 20 or 21. Not expelling a loud: "You gotta be kidding me?!", but welcoming the years with open arms. 

Eventually, you guys make everything special.

In the space between the two classes, I have found acres of blessings. :')

Good night. 

标着Just Do It 的口号 我希望我也是NIKE.

正午后的阳光一点儿也不客气，走在路上的时候那仅有的微风拂过被晒得刺痛的皮肤。

原来那一瞬间就是幸福。

最近很喜欢望着天空，除了恼那太阳公公为何那么来势汹汹，我喜爱天空总是存在的遐想。

偶尔看见飞鸟，偶尔看见缓缓上升的直升机。还有一次很好运地看见了升空的热气球。

热气球上的人儿肯定很兴奋，就那么一点儿热气，载着沉沉的人类飞翔。

坐在车上沿途的风景依然那么熟悉，那是两年以来每个星期固定的路程。

同样的道路，同样的建筑物，还有那与我同名的Clare Street。

在等一个交通灯的时候，坐在静止的车，抬头看见了那台缓缓飞行的飞机。

看似那么近的距离，感觉伸手就能把它捉住。忽地红灯转绿灯，在车开始运行的当下，明白了我们之间的距离是那么地遥远。

我不能像有些人那样回忆当初，感慨这个遗憾那个，因为我就是不容许自己那样。

我不能像有些人那样潇潇洒洒，挥一挥衣袖不带走一片云彩，因为我本能地想把一切都收起来。

或许，我就是一个怪人。

（365乘2）天，同样的我，又或者不同样的我。

这些的起承转合纷纷扰扰，有谁不能更了解人生？

17岁的那一天，直到19岁的今天，19减17也只不过等于2。但这个2要经过那么多的加减乘除，来到了19的时候，我依旧迷茫。

一片黑暗，看不清是什么，因为我们都曾蒙蔽了双眼。

蒙了双眼，蒙不了心。

我们需要的就是那种在黑暗中乱闯的勇气，就是要be adventurous啊。

就算被人认为是mental problem那又如何？至少在跌入谷底的时候曾经开心。

呵呵，什么时候我变成了不三思而后行的人，那是在18岁前的莽撞，在迈入2014年即将变成20岁的当下，我请自己把鲁莽莽撞收起来吧。

我还有3天的时间，去把思绪打包妥当，背了2年零4个月的包袱，2014年我不想背了。

不想战战兢兢，不想草木皆兵。

 New Years Resolution总是不成功，算了吧，别勉强了。

只要把这个包袱给丢了，我想我2014年就算是the best of the year了吧。

险中求胜，我就是个坏丫头。

好了好了，不该把这种坏情绪带到第二天，这样太不值得了，撇开睡觉时间不算，我只剩下不到12小时的时间去快乐。

这个分岔口，我们来到了停顿点，看谁先走向谁吧。是的，你和我一直都是那么地倔强呢。

标着Just Do It 的口号

我希望我也是NIKE.

Being sociable

Life during summer has been good. I am pretty sure I'm gonna fall in love with it soon.

Being sociable isn't that easy for me. In comparison with some of my friends, without a doubt I will probably be the noisiest one among the gang. However, the moment when I need to meet new friends - ohh, one word. awkward.

I get to know more friends in uni, I'm not sociable, but really thank God for giving me a friend who is really really really sociable. haha, can't describe how sociable my friend is. However, the first impression my friend has on me was bad, oh not that bad though. She thought I was the 'coolest' person in the world! When both of us talked about this, we laughed out loud.

So, yes, I reckon I should take Communication as my electives in order to improve my social skills. bahhh. In fact, according to many, I'm talkative. I talk too much. Of course, to clarify, this happens only when the person I'm talking to likes talking as well!

Everyone tends to stay in their comfort zone. When I have close friends around me, I will not bother to meet new friends! (hmmm, not good!) Anyways, I'm starting to love meeting new friends, different people and different cultures! I smell adventure!!!

Oh well, these people conquered my house last night. Steamboat, followed by a birthday surprise & movie marathon from 10pm - 4am in the morning. Everyone was too tired to go home and decided to sleep at my place! 

After 4 hours sleep, a really old cranky man (yes, he's probably getting grumpier for he needs to work in the early morning) woke all of us up when he was repairing the neighbours garage gate. UH-HUHHH. 

- 

Lala. I can't wait for the girls talk tomorrow night. Another party is on. Before uni comes back into my life! Summer semester officially starts next Monday, and sadly I have 8am classes from Monday to Thursday. Oh wish me luck! 

For those who are going on vacation/already enjoying their holidays in Malaysia, yes I AM JEALOUS and stop making me jealous. 

My phone rejects all photos of durians, laksa, shopping centres and also, the sky. 

mehhhhhhhhh!

和狗做朋友了

长大了有时候不得不面对从小就怕的人事物。

‘所有动物绝对不会是我的朋友，尤其是狗！’

但是在逼不得已的时候，我和狗做了朋友。就那五分钟，我觉得自己过了五十年，苍老了。

胆战心惊地假装和它玩耍－说了一句“sit” 它却跳到我身上。

接着就是高分贝的尖叫声 -.-

被吓傻了～ 

长大了，接下来就要面对即将出炉的成绩。

再也没有小时候－妈妈先面对我的成绩，而我所必须承受的只有妈妈的脸色，而不是拿成绩的压力。

啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊~ 

回忆

当你发现你的脸上还会冒青春豆的时候，你以为自己还很青春，其实19岁已不再是那些年了。

说起回忆每每存在无限感慨；大家都很喜欢回忆，但回忆从不为我们停留。

“呵呵。” 回忆嘲笑人们呢～

这样，你还喜欢它吗？由始至终，无论回忆怎么践踏人们，我们还是义无反顾无时无刻地说起它。只要关于回忆的话匣子一被打开，就无法结束。

一段段的回忆编织另一段回忆。

听，至少人们幸福的声音遮盖了它的嘲笑声。
至少，我们都还幸福并感恩着。

What, who, where do you love, and why.

So a few days ago, I was questioned by someone about "what, who, where do you love, and why."
Then for the very first time I was so serious and patient enough to type them all out in Whatsapp.

1. I love my family.

Yes, I really love my family. I've gone through a really hard year in 2011 as it was my first year in Brisbane ALONE, away from my family. And I still miss them now, a lot. I love my daddy because what I eat, he eats: he can share my happiness. I love my mommy because she is a great housewife and an awesome mom: she does everything; nothing can beat her. I love my sisters because they can entertain me a lot: quarrelling is somehow a type of communication, as well as an entertainment. I love my brother because he is my brother: kids.. you know. 

2. I love my friends.

I don't think I can survive without friends. I have many different types of friends. Those who can talk crap with; those who can share everything with etc etc.. and of course not to forget some 'normal' friends who don't even bother to give you a smile when you show them a wide broad smile.  Nah, I still love all my friends because in Jesus Christ we are a family. I love my family.

3. I love the chefs.

How can I don't love people who cook!!! They serve me nice food, it's even better if I don't need to pay for them. 

4. I love food.

From the fact that I love the chefs, you know I love food ya. oh, but wait, I don't like rice, bread and ramen!!! 

5. I love nice and good-looking clothes.

All girls love them.  However, for me, the priority of putting something on my body is the thing must be comfortable.  If it isn't, no matter how pretty it is, I won't bother to wear it. bahaha, so t-shirt and jeans/shorts are my best friend. Denim is my love. 

6. I love my bed.

For just a simple reason: I love sleeping. 

Guess what: I'm the queen in the pig kingdom. 

7. I love beaches.

Enjoy the breeze! Watching sunset at the beaches will be great.

So that's basically what I typed in my reply! Of course, when you get older the list goes on and on, or maybe in future you won't love what you are loving now. 

But who cares? appreciate them, just because you are able to love. and they are "love-able". :)

Insta-talk #2

The third day of uni: it wasn't my day to be honest. okay let's forget about it.

This is the second insta-talk! I've not been writing about my Instagram for ages, the first edition was in July 2012: click this.

So what's the insta-talk on my blog? Basically I just post all the instagram photos that I've posted throughout the month, haha I'm just so in love with instagram.  I think I should keep this up every month, as it's the best way to summarise the month I reckon.

The story started... on the day I touched down in Brisbane after that long summer holidays in SI.

I woke up to this; unpacking stuffs, tidying up my room!

 And starvation. The only food that I could find in my boxes.

Madura Green Tea and the Marie Biscuits.

 Then, online shopping with friends. 

Such a brilliant way to shop right! You see detailsssss.

Boredom. That hot summer night in Brisbane. 

Yes I dyed my hair in red but now the colour faded :(

 Finally done my groceries shopping and yayy for my yummy breakfast! 

 Plus a sunny day for laundry on A sunday morning. Praise the Lord.

 Hotpot for dinner, as a reward for ourselves after washing our cars. (we spent two and a half hours on it) geez.

 TADAAA, finally our Topshop has arrived!

My biker Jacket, my wardrobe is ready for winter.

 Miss them lots and lots, our friendship never end; 

letters & words are best to deliver and express our feelings!

(Yeaa, sometimes I write crap and handwritings getting uglier at the end)

owhh, of course, our dinner date every night for two weeks!

followed by the movie sessions.

Then, my family came for Chinese New Year because both my sister and I weren't in SI for CNY.

We stayed in the hotel, and...

Lots of fun!

 Yes, monkey. or koala on a tree.

 My parents woke me up at 6.30am in the morning for this.

Breakfast @Kitchen at Treasury.

 Happy Chinese New Year!

Reunion at Marco Polo Dining Bar.

(Stay tuned for the post, coming soon)

 Fresh fruits from the hotel manager. aww longan!

 Asians Brunch @ Yum Cha Cuisine, Carindale Shopping Centre.

The best dim sum restaurant in Brisbane!

Dinner @ Fat Noodle. And the lion dance troupe visited.

My sweet momma.

Check this out for Fat Noodle: Click here.

 Lunch @ New ShangHai, Queens Plaza.

(Food Hunting series about this: coming soon)

 Happy Birthday once again Mr Fritz Chua!

He's officially nine years old now. A big boy!

 Yes this is my big boy.

And no longer the little kid who kissed me and hugged me when I asked him to do so.

Six days later, they were going back! see how time flies yea.

The Pineapple Tarts from my dad's friend

 Supper with our new outfits on! Shop ASOS. http://www.asos.com.au

Me in my Did I Studder Sweater.

 Valentine's dinner with candles!

Check this out on how I celebrated it: click here.

 Dinner date: Lobsters in the house.

That cold night I drove all the way up to the highest point of Brisbane, Mt Co-otha.

It was after our dinner @ Que Huong Chinese & Vietnamese Restaurant, Darra. 

Well, I failed my Side Parking. heyy there's no lines on the ground like the driving learning institute has.

 Brisbane to Redcliffe: just for this seafood basket. REALLY FRESH.

 Heavy rain during our Redcliff trip. 

Check this out for the trip: http://www.clare-chua.com/2013/02/day-trip-redcliff.html

 Cooked dinner. Braised gravy beef; Green Veges and my favourite onions with eggs.

 Breakkie. Plain yoghurt with fresh blueberries!

 You have no choice but wearing this when there's no socks left in your drawer. due to the rainy days.

They are cute tho. Thanks dear!

 Sorry If I've frightened you.

But heyy I'm a little cute chipmunks Clare.

 This was yummy, although it looks disgusting.

Don't judge a book by its cover. 

 ENGG1100 Project Day.

Time to socialize. Met some new friends who are really nice!

 Who doesn't love sunny-side up eggs?

 My favourite frozen yoghurt @ Moochi, GC.

That busy Saturday, meeting up my dear Maddy who is now in Melbourne :(

All the best there! 

 The lotus root peanut soup for our last dinner date. (sobs)

 Food-creativity: instead of butter, I spread plain yoghurt on my toast.

YUMM.

 Thank God we are all back in Brisbane for the new year! Made fruits platter for Sherwood Youth Fellowship.

 Chinese New Year 2013 is over. Made this yee sang for our potluck. 

(The post about Chap Goh Mei, coming soon)

Sister gave me a mould for fried eggs; gave it a go.

Delicious eggs with that thick eggwhites layer! Cucumber and always my all-time favourite smoked salmon!!!

Owh, finally I'm done with this. I think I miss out some photos, but nahh, for more just check out my instagram @_ClareChua. Yes I apologise for those upcoming posts! As you can see, I'm updating my blog everyday (which I normally don't) 

hehee, gonna get ready for my dinner/supper session. I need a treat for myself after this long and hectic Wednesday. 

Ciao~