what's wrong with this picture?

i found this photo from a kmart catalogue and thought it look weird. then I realised what was weird. But when i asked my mum and she said she thought it looked fine ... so can you try and spot what's wrong with this picture?

... it isn't really wrong, just looks weird. Easily explainable, but simply a bit unusual.

stop looking here, you're cheating.

ok did you notice that the girl has no legs? D: SHOCK. HORROR.

wowowowowowwoowowwowowowowowow. no, not world of warcraft but WOW.

haha it really isn't that significant. there can be a hole in the ground. or with all the photo editing .. (which I have noticed, like Levis representing all jeans, Hoovers representing all vacuums and now photoshop representing all photo editing software ... basically i mean that no one says photo editing software. you say 'photoshop it') you could have just cut her legs off the shot. and the list goes on.

sharing a little bit of my weird observations :)

sandmen

click blog post title for more photos! and excuse me if i say snow instead of sand. i've tried to correct them all but who knows where i said it.

we went to Brighton beach again today! And, as you can guess from the post title, we made sandmen. For the first time. Which makes up for the absence of snow in Australia (minus the Snowy Mountains and the tips of the Great Mountain Range ...).

i felt like everyone was looking at us (me being quite self conscious) especially since we were doing it near the side walk. apparently some teens even teased my brother about it when I went looking for sticks.

ok. here're some photos :) the smaller sandbaby is basically entirely made by me in a matter of 2 minutes (explains why it's 'melting' into the sand) and the sandman was constructed by me but my brother shaped it and decorated it :D

me with sandmen with our engraved names …

mr sandbaby

mr sandman

well i would upload a video or two but it's around 50MB (which i found out isn't that much in terms of videos :O) <--- hehe looks like a clown ... and I don't want to waste my peak quota. I'll upload it later :)

oh and in case you wanted to know, I ate a medium McChicken burger meal for lunch. My mum and my brother ate large while my dad ate small (yes, weird the people who usually eat the most got small and the people who usually eat the least got the large. queer.) i am pondering if there is meant to be a full stop after that bracket ...

well. we had a nice day :D

my trip to brighton beach

yes,  I went to Brighton Beach yesterday.

so when I was walking, I saw a very curious sign which made me think about the human race evolving into machines. why? here is a photo of me being very confused. sorry about the bad quality and lighting, I'm not a photographer (nudges Alicia) ...

BTW, no vehicles other than bikes can enter this area.

ok. first things first. 5km/hr isn't actually that slow, considering the average person walks at 4km/hr. But anyway, how are we meant to know at what speed we're walking? Am I the only one without a built in odometer (or whatever it's called) in my brain?

Now that reminds me of the current drama I'm watching ('Happy Salad Days' and I have no idea why it's called that since it's about death and sacrifices and a rock - you'll have to watch it to get the rock bit - and yes, I did only watch it because I saw that Aaron was in it -coughs-) where Aaron is the only one who can see the 死神少女 (directly translates into: 'Miss Death God' or something) without seeing through the rock because apparently there is something in his brain (hence my 'thought jump' into this topic). And I'm sorry that I didn't watch this drama the moment it was out (i think September 2010) and that I can't tell you what is in his brain because I don't know myself :) I haven't finished you see ...

Ok back to the built in odometer. This also reminds me of ... oh dear. I forgot the book title. I can't believe this. Be right back. OH YES starswarm! Yes. Totally. I feel so guilty. A very awesome, beloved and idolised human lent me that book to read in the holidays. Happy memories ... WAIT WHY AM I GETTING SO OFF TRACK TODAY? Okay. Well in that book this boy has an implanted chip in his head which talks to him :) lots of brains today.

Wait! Epiphany! I think I know what happened. I just went and typed the caption in ... and it occurred to me that the sign may have been for bikes ...

Oh well :D I had a fun time laughing about it with my brother anyway. And I was sure I had a really cool line to add after the inbuilt odometer bit but I got so carried away I forgot :(

whitewater world

linked the photo album of our trip in the title :D

i'm sorry but this entry isn't going to be as detailed as the movieworld entry :(

my mum and I woke up at around 7:40 while my dad and my brother woke up at around 8:20. enough said. apparently Horizon's family got up at 6 o.O wow. after we woke up and prepared, ate breakfast, etc. we kids had some time together! so, of course, we  played uno :) ... and big 2!

Horizon and I against the hotel view

Big 2 :) before we left ...

travelling to whitewater world on a non-pink bus, we passed wet 'n' wild. you really should have seen the line. it was longer than the entrance path and stretched across and around the entire front of the theme park! we (*cough* Horizon *cough*) took some photos.

we didn't get a lot of photos at the theme parks this time we went to the Gold Coast, so there weren't much especially since you wouldn't go on a water slide with a camera.

after the boys ignorantly ran away leaving everyone else to find a table with seats to leave our towels and stuff, Horizon and I really couldn't be bothered to find them. Afterall, it was a THEME PARK. so we decided to go on the Octopus :D and maggie won .... (I was so sure that I wouldn't come last since heavier people have a higher maximum velocity ... -hmph-) and managed to continue sliding several metres after where I stopped. After reuniting with our brothers who admitted to going on the Wedgie after lining up fo 5 MINUTES (later maggie and I lined up 30 minutes + for it), we decided to go on some rides together: (some details may be dead due to my memory being ... very bad)

• The Rip
• this was quite cool :) our tub thingo was meant to go around the basin once and on its second trip descend us into darkness, but the boys tried to make us go around a second time. the current won.
• The Green Room
• this was a really fun ride. the majority of the ride was in a pitch black tunnel, so you never knew where you were going. I loved the sudden, unexpected drop, especially when I was going backwards the first time. The rest of the ride wasn't too scary, other than the second drop into the funnel which seems quite similar to the kamikaze in wet 'n' wild to me. It was really funny because most people didn't scream until the first significant drop - so as the group going several times before us descended into the darkness, they must have been going slower than the others because just milliseconds after my brother remarked 'they didn't scream ...' we heard a long and waning scream marking their encounter with the drop.
• The Hydrocoaster
• lining up for this, all four of us, dwelling on my brother's discovery of an artificial rainbow, made rainbows with our swimmers. we had the sun in the right spot and, flapping our damp swimmers, propelled minute water droplets into the air. They acted as prisms and we had a rainbow right next to us :) however, our brothers soon got bored and left the line ... leaving Horizon and I to have VERY interesting conversations. Content of such interesting conversations you may ask?

There was the word 'one' engraved onto the metal railing. We had just finished watching the Matrix. That led to our fascinating conversation about only the 'one' being able to read it ... eventually leading to our conclusion that I must be either the second or ... the 'two' -drumroll-

so there was a parking lot beyond the stairs we were lining up on and maybe a 20m drop or so. it was so funny because somehow the conversation went into issues about eyesight and I told Maggie how I'd pull at the edge of my eyes (you know how you do the stereotypical 'asian eyes' thing?) and adjust the pressure I apply to my eyes and I can see clearer. Maggie exploded. Not into smithereens, but into a roaring laugh. I WAS SERIOUS. Has anyone done that before? yes no? It really works! 

• The Wedgie
• Horizon wasn't allowed to wear her waterproof watch on the ride, so she had to take it off and put it in a felt bag which would be flushed down after she went ... i.e. before I would go (after 'mischievously' throwing Horizon in front of me in the line despite her protests against my intelligence). I had to laugh when I reached the bottom and Horizon puzzly asked me: 'Where's my watch?' after a laughing fit and deciding against the possibilities of walking all the way back up and retrieving it, one of the monitors spotted something right at the exit and asked Horizon if it were hers. it was :D

but of course the most interesting bit: the conversations we had during our wait. i was horrified. it was THE WEDGIE. like HOMGA it was THE WEDGIE (repetition reinforces my point as my english teacher explained to me). so then, like many other people would say i said: i'm gonna die D: ... then guess what Horizon says? at least you die wet :D very helpful. Horizon, in an attempt to make me feel better, convinced me that I had a lion in my stomach which would fly out the moment I stepped into the wedgie ... and I immediately thought of astro boy. why? because I have a mcdonald's happy meal astro boy that flies out of its capsule and breaks the glass :) i will find some way to post a photo ...

okay so I think those were the only rides we went on in whitewater world. other than the cave of waves where we braved the waves on a floaty that our brothers managed to secure and the nickelodeon pipeline plunge where Horizon and I embraced our childhood self and played in the water and got drenched by a huge bucket of water. after arriving at the hotel, Horizon and I went swimming. where Horizon scraped her chin :) it was very amusing. we were trying to be 'mermaids' (excuse the kid side of us) - where you sink down near the ground of the pool and make a snake-like motion to travel. Maggie went too low ... put it that way. she asked me if it was bleeding, and I said no. because I saw no blood.

but there were scratches that were red when we went back up to the hotel ...

anyway Horizon claims that the pool contained psycho water. why? because it made her go hyperactive (yes, feel oh so sorry for me). we ate at a Chinese restaurant in Surfers Paradise near our hotel :) it was quite yummy, just like tomorrow's ;) i recall playing uno and charades off my ipod touch that night, but I'm not too sure :D maggie's mum and my dad were always already asleep when we started playing ...

anxiety disorder, social phobia or laziness?

this post is going to be a rant - me about myself and my trivial problems.

put short, I seriously am considering myself to be a victim of at least one of the 'illnesses' (referring to laziness) in the title of this post. why? I will list some examples.

confessions which I believe contribute to my claim:

when I first entered my new Chinese class in 2010, I was so scared and nervous that my hands were leaving puddles of sweat wherever they touched. I was afraid - perhaps my insight into Chinese lessons before (I was only at  China's year 3 Chinese level and I picked up Chinese in Australian year 9) - that I wouldn't know anything and be the laugh of the class. Luckily, everything went well and the class was somewhere at my level, maybe even slightly behind. I felt as if I was part of the family by my second lesson.

i am not exactly sure what happened here, but I get the feeling none of the other new students to the class (i.e. Fiona, Emily, Jackie) felt the same way I did. Thinking back, I often don't understand why I was so scared.

Before the OC exam (you know the one you do in year 4?) I didn't eat my breakfast that morning. I was too nervous - I could barely open my mouth and only managed to eat half the sandwich. I felt like I would gag and vomit if I ate another bite and resorted to throwing it in the bin. I remember my dad seeing me bent over the bin and asking what I was doing - I lied and said that I was throwing the juice popper away, which I had used to bury the sandwich, in the bin.

I'm quite sure that this had nothing to do with eating disorders - it was just the nervousness. I highly doubt I will be able to survive high school if I refuse to eat everyday before and exam. Which is almost where i am heading now - i eat but not enough.

I had just finished the english component of the selective exam. running out of time, i coloured in C for the last eight questions, seconds before the instructor said 'pens down'. Walking with everyone else outside for a break, my mum offered me some chocolate to 'power up my brain'. I love chocolate. But I couldn't eat a single piece - resulting in the entire block being shared between all my friends. i could tell my mum was concerned. i knew that if the rest of the exam was this hard, I wouldn't be able to make it into the school I wanted to ... 

so. i couldn't eat before the OC and not even a snack during the selective. did i put too much weight onto these exams? maybe. I'm not sure. but I managed to do quite well in my selective, make it into my current school and stand up in the year 7 talent quest and perform without the nerves interfering.

every time i need to pack things to go somewhere which I don't go to often, I cannot get the thought of me missing something out of my head. oh and this reminds me: i spend far too long at my lockers for similar reasons. should i leave this book at school? it's always a minute long dilemma.

is this low self esteem? i don't know. is this my brain moving too slow? most likely. 

when i am going somewhere unfamiliar or via an unfamiliar route, I feel very self conscious and as if everyone is looking at me. I am unsure of exactly how to get there and feel extremely embarrassed when I have walked in the wrong direction and need to turn around and walk back. I often feel as if everyone notices that I have walked the wrong way and is laughing at me discretely, although I know that they can't possibly be doing that.

i experience this quite often - at least once per week. I try to avoid making eye contact with anyone so I end up looking at my feet. i had a phase of being scared of being alone (i would panic and get very nervous) but I noticed that it was only at some particular locations that I had not visited soon before I had been to that approximate area. Let me explain in my next example.

There were three places i couldn't go to alone at school - the library, the canteen and the lowers. They were all linked in that I didn't visit them often and never during my familiarising with the school. There was no problem with me visiting the library with my class, but i couldn't do it myself. I felt as if everyone was looking at me once I stepped into the lowers. I felt as if everyone was looking at me and getting agitated at my long decisions regarding what to buy for lunch - my first attempt to buy from the canteen went like this: stepping into the canteen, i headed to hot food. I didn't know what to buy. a meat pie, potato pie, sausage roll? chicken burger? everyone was pushing from behind me to get to the food before it ran out, so i resorted to stepping to the side and having my panic attack. Seeing my friend walk in, I walked over to her and explained my situation. She took her food and I, reaching for the chicken burger, found that area empty. I ended up buying a meat pie. The rest of the canteen trip was fine. But I managed to buy by myself most of the time from the canteen - i do now at least.

that went on for over a year - almost two.

some other factors which may contribute to my claim include: 

i feel as if every one of my acts in public is being scrutinised. i often feel very self conscious. i expect people to notice when i change one of my routines for good or bad. i put myself down more than i brag about myself. i like it when people are older than me so i have an excuse to not be as successful as them. I get jealous at the most pointless things quite easily but i tell noone. the list goes on and on and on ...

so. there are my complaints regarding me being nervous. bored yet? i think so. what is wrong with me you may ask? I don't know. i don't like erupting into a panic everytime I need to go somewhere unfamiliar. Now for my claims on laziness or memory loss.

mum on phone: jennifer could you please place the rice in the rice cooker at 5:30? 

me: ok!

mum comes home at 6:30: dinner time!

me remembering: oh no! ahhhh mum I forgot to cook the rice D:

mum is angry: why did I expect you to remember? can you actually TRY to remember next time?

the sad thing is that this has happened at least 5 times. all the other times I have had to set a reminder on my phone, otherwise I will forget. the point my mum is trying to make is that it is not my memory that is failing - rather it is my WILL to remember things. apparently I prioritise useless things and forget things that are important. i have no comment. something even more pointless and stupid:

i have left my milk in the microwave for several hours after it is heated at least, again, 5 times. I set it to microwave for 45 seconds, leave and forget about it. Usually someone else finds out when they use the microwave - once almost 12 hours later.

I can't help it! I don't do it deliberately but it's only been happening lately. What is happening to my brain? But of course - I'm just being lazy.

so that is my very long rant about my issues/problems. it seems as if this rant itself has been very pointless. so next time you see me lingering around, pop into my bubble and say hi ... it usually helps :D Please comment freely - I do not mind comments about my laziness :)

am I Australian enough?

ok so just then I decided to create an account on flickr.

and the moment I finished, it redirected me to this page - the first line saying:

For those who can't see, that says:

G'day c18406aa1991cd5d0365094a41741d1c!

Now you know how to greet people in Australian!

Why did I never know my name is c18406aa1991cd5d0365094a41741d1c in Australian? Am I Australian enough?

a very very very EPIC photo

i was the one who took the photo (more like: i was the one who set the camera on timer and set it on the chair) in the header of this awesome blog:

http://www.anowlspirit.blogspot.com/

i feel so honoured :D

just in case she changes it: