Belated: Mary Poppins in Sydney

So, I was browsing other blogs, and I noticed this function which I never used- Labels. Its extremely useful to narrow down the many posts into categories. So I've come up with several labels, and I noticed my musical lovin' was rather empty. Given my love for musicals, its unjustified to have only blogged about the few musicals that I've been to. 

So I've dug up musicals which I have attended that I've failed to blog. Better late than never, at least years down the road, I'll be able to read em and recall how magical that feeling was once more. 

Mary Poppins, Sydney Capitol Theater

Weeks before my holiday to Sydney, K informed me that Mary Poppins was coming to Sydney!! Mary Poppins is a childhood classic for me, the countless of times I was so proud of being able to pronounce supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and having my name appear in the song, Jolly Holiday. Besides, who doesn't love Julie Andrews?

Practically perfect in every way indeed.

Chim Chimney, one of my absolute favorite number!

 

 

Fabulous seats from a comfortable distance

Pre-show excitement!

 

 

No photos, but managed to sneakily capture a shot of the theater. Pretty!

When the first musical note rang through the theater, I could feel all the memories flooding back in. Its like a trigger mechanism, hearing certain songs just brings you back to the time period when you loved that song so much! I was probably 11 then, and I haven't seen the movie in years! Yet, I could still recall all the songs from it, cept' for the 2 songs that wasn't featured in the movie.

There is something I enjoy dearly about attending a musical and knowing all the songs. There is a greater degree of enjoyment, tried and tested. Rocky horror show was great, but I only knew one of the song, and although I enjoyed the energy and musical numbers, it was different from say, The Lion King, where I could appreciate the finer details of the costumes, stage design, and the overall cast performance. 

The cast for Mary Poppins was beyond fantastic! The songs were better than I remembered, the cast was incredible, voices were amazing, not a single flaw about the entire musical.

My favorite bits in the musical was when Mary 'flew' above the audience right across the theater, and when Bert went upside down and continued singing. The tap dancing was fab fab fab! The coordination and energy was beautiful.

It is no wonder Mary Poppins is one of the more popular shows on Broadway, it is really deserving of that status. Was absolutely blown away by the end of the musical. 

Loving the decorations- the ceiling was lined with Mary Poppins' umbrella with the parrot head

When the musical ended, its a bittersweet feeling, as always. Something that I've anticipated for so long, had a thoroughly good time, but it has to come to an end. The most amazing part was the euphoric high during the entire musical- but that feeling nosedives at the end of the musical, and its like 'awh why did it have to end so soon??' and 'when's the next time?'

Mary Poppins is a definite must-see for all fans, or at least those who grew up watching Mary Poppins! I'm easy to please so I'm definitely giving this a 9/10, but I believe it is one of the better musicals for it to last so long as a top-seller on Broadway. Didn't check who the cast is, but I'm pretty sure it was a Broadway cast from what I remembered. 

Amazing!

If you were an ice cream flavor, you would be my favorite one.

Its my second last Thursday afternoon in TCU, what am I doing? papers, papers and more papers!

Working my way through the last one, but I soon got distracted by so many things.

Got introduced to a really cool app by K today, it lets your mind creatively transform inanimate objects into the cutest things! Been having so much fun the whole afternoon! 

 

Don't eat me, please!

So I brought my pack of raspberry yogurt pretzels to 'life'.
These snacks are seriously the yummiest I've ever tasted, gonna ship home tonnes of this, or maybe they do have them back home, just that I never bothered looking for them before. Anyhow, just to be safe imma ship them back still!

Shipping is so darn expensive here, and all I'm shipping back are my winter clothes and some bulky items which I do not want to haul around on my 3-week vacation. The cheapest I could find was by seven seas shipping international. Still, it costs USD158 for 30kg, by sea freight as well. This is the first time I will be trying out their service as well, so I hope they're reliable.


Moving on to happier news, I just got the confirmation date this morning for my trip to Bangkok, on the 5th-8th July. That week coincides with SY's graduation week, I'm really hoping and praying that her graduation is before the 5th, because I really wanna attend real bad, but I have to travel within those dates because its no longer just two of us traveling, but 6 of us.
Note to self: shop less here, shop more there.

Skyped with mom&dad this morning, collecting all last-minute orders from Amazon, I am really going to miss my amazon prime! But all wonderful things thrown together here, I still miss home dearly, and it seems so surreal that I've been away from home for 4 months now. As much as I love it here, I miss my family, friends and food back home. The three big Fs of my life.

Back to writing more papers.. Hopefully I will be able to complete it before midnight and have some time to spare for a movie later on. 

9GAG Y U SO ADDICTIVE?!

Why I love Groupon.

Been obsessively shopping on groupon recently. So many good deals and we've even picked up a recent deal to This Texas scottish festival next friday! Although I do have an exam the following day, i believe experiencing this scottish festival is higher up on my priority list! Its a semi beer fest as well. Nothing like ice cold beer on a warm summer's afternoon!

I have this crazy urge to just open myself up to experiencing anything and everything new suddenly. Its like this exchange brought about this sudden burst of wanting to explore new places, talk to people from differnet walks of life, peek into the culturally-rich societies that have not been tainted by modernism. I am to a very large extent, spoilt, in some sense. I hate traveling to places where I can't get a decent shower, i am paranoid over streetside food, i hate muck and dirt. And yet, i suddenly feel the need to embrace all of these, that genuine immersion and understanding of suh places can allow me to experience something i have never experienced before. Hmm. Weird realization just before I end my long wednesday.

Bangkok in July!

I think I have overplanned my summer holidays. There are so many things that I want to do, so little time, running low on the financial end as well. This always happens, and summer holidays are the best time to replenish my bank accounts which will have to last me for often an entire year. 

Just this morning, I saw a really good deal. 4D3N to Bangkok via SQ for $399! After much consideration and toggling between a holiday to Taiwan, Hong Kong or Bangkok, it was finally decided! Its just me and style going for this one, finally my first holiday with her! :D We've been talking about having a holiday since my first year in college, but it has never been fulfilled until now! The tickets and packages are all paid for, and we're going to be leaving sometime in July! :D

Bangkok here I come!

Then I wandered over to the deals corner for Groupon, and found many other good deals! However, time and financial constraints are holding me back. There are just too many places that I yearn to visit, and right now I'm already researching on places to go in Bangkok. Will I love this city? I'm pretty darn sure I will. I have heard nothing but good reviews on the culture, food and shopping! however, its just going to be us two traveling alone, and I'm pretty sure the word safe does not apply to this city. We just gotta be extra careful, and it will ultimately still be an experience for the both of us I'm sure. Can't wait to see if the culture is really as awesome as they say. & the food, thai cuisine~ I simply cannot wait! 

Note to self: no more trips should be added to this upcoming summer holidays.

Today's my long day, was working on my papers when I fell asleep halfway thru, going to continue working on them tonight! I really do hope Intercultural ends early today. Not in the mood to sit through all the way until 8.30pm. I can't believe this week is the one Friday I have to spend working on a paper. My Fridays are often considered my weekends already, argh. Big submission due next Wednesday as well. While others have spent the last 4 weeks working on slowly building up a project notebook, I'm going to attempt the impossible by condensing 4 weeks worth of development and exploration of ideas into 3 days. Seriously, exchange students are at a disadvantage here, do they not realize that. We have to build a model, where am I supposed to get my supplies for building a model? I do not drive, and public transportation here sucks. PLUS I do not want to waste my money on buying supplies for this model at all. If only we could have done a ten-page paper instead of this submission, I would gladly trade in any day. 

No sleep tonight!

Today's been the most unproductive day ever, as are most Tuesdays. 

Lazed around after lunch, and fell into a deep sleep until 7pm, funny thing about summer, 7pm is still as bright and sunny as 3pm. Rolled around in bed because my mind was fooled by how bright it was. Eventually pulled myself out of bed to head to the gym, needed to clear my mind for the night. 

Decided that I am going to finish what I have set out to do for today, even if it takes me until tomorrow morning. At least I'll end my long day tomorrow knowing that I have the rest of the week off! :) Its a good thought. 

I wish I had the chance to travel more while I was here, but traveling is expensive. I wish I had visited other states as well, but there's always a chance for that in the future. Its just the most amazing feeling to first lay eyes on a new place. I think the shutterbug has gotten to me whilst I am here as well. Photography used to be more of a recording mechanism for me, to help me remember where I've been. But recently, I've learned how to appreciate what gets captured within the frame. It is not just incessant snapping away at whatever catches your attention, there is so much more to it. Of course, it may also have been that I am influenced by friends around me, what with all the pretty photos that are surfacing on facebook or flickr, and this may soon die off, as did my short-lived interest in so many other things. 

Road trip home from Austin.

The best people I can ever find!

During the few months that I've been here, I haven't added much photos, and quite honestly, even though blogger has improved their image uploading interface, nothing's easier than Facebook & I'm not about to replicate another upload. These are just the few that encapsulates the awesome people that I've met while in TCU.

Susan and Malu. Canoeing in Austin.

Barton Lake, Austin. Best memory of Spring Break.

That odd little German restaurant, Schilo's, in San Antonio which had the best mustard & home-made root beer.

Our most recent trip to FW zoo! Beautiful day out.

I had only wished I had the time to record down every single one of those events, but I haven't, I will try to do so from now on, it is a promise to myself as well.

Its funny how I still yearn for my summer holidays as much as I don't want my school term to end. This is the first time I'm kinda dreading the end of the semester because I know it marks the end of my exchange in TCU. There are so many things left undone, so many more people that I want to meet, so many goodbyes I refuse to face.

But most importantly, I have to live in the moment, live for what each remaining day here has to carry. Every night I go to bed, I glance around my room, and I dread to think of the day when I have to move out. This exchange has also helped me become more independent. When I used to think I could never survive living alone in my own room, I did. In fact, it gave me the space to do my own thinking as well. I often find peace and comfort in that quietness, and I will miss having that, and I surprise myself by growing to like it. Guess I am a level up on the introvert scale. Enjoys highly personal space. Check.

Right now I've still got 3 more papers, and a heck load of deadlines due, even back home. There are so many commitments I have gotten myself tangled up in, and I have no way of keeping up. Its inefficient, but I couldn't care less at times. The way of life here has definitely reshuffled my priorities, not sure if it is a good survival skill to take back home, or perhaps this is just a temporary phase, its like how holidays always come to an end, and reality slaps you hard in the face again.

I am glad to say though, that I have been seeing vast improvements in my stamina and strength. Those weekly sessions to the gym has definitely paid off. I used to pant and wheeze after 15 minutes on the treadmill, but now I breeze by 15 minutes easily. Glad to know that friends back home are also gaining interest in keeping fit. I look forward to participating in event runs or marathons with them when I get home. But more than just the physical aspect of it, running helps me think. If I'm lucky, my brain will permit me to mentally work on any essays that I have due, but I mostly think of random thoughts, and then delve deeply into it for the entire session. Often, these thoughts lead to motivational action, perhaps it is something that I have neglected, or something I have failed to consider before. So I act upon those actions, which is why I love these sessions so much. Its fruitful in so many ways, plus, I get to rid my body of all the extra calories and fats that have piled on because there is no way I can resist a good, sinfully cooked meal.

If only my papers were this easy to work on, I would have gotten them done ages ago.

that single peeve.

Have you ever had days when you realized that there is just that one thing in your life that's imperfect? Its something you have no control over, try as you may to avoid, it just keeps intertwining with your path. Its like an oil spill in the middle of the road, you never ever wanna encounter one and there it is. And at the end of the day, you question yourself, why are you the one that has to chance upon it, how on earth did it end up there in the first place.

Sometimes I do think it is a test, to understand yourself better. These things bring out the worst in you, a side of you that you never knew existed. It pushes your patience to the limit, and you cannot understand why such an ugly thing would be allowed to manifest the face of the earth. There is no beauty in it- try as hard as I might, I cannot find that silver lining.

This thing, it haunts me. The further away I pull from it, it somehow finds a way to re-emerge back into my life. I hate it so, sometimes I wish that incessant nagging would just stop, but it never does. I do not see a point, how it finds joy in taunting me, and making me feel this way. What creature derives joy from another's bitterness and hatred? Then I take a step back, and chide myself for thinking such thoughts, and I realize, without the existence of it, I would not have such thoughts in the first place.

When faced with such a thorn in the neck, what am I to do? Run away from it? Hide? I have tried countless of times, it still creeps and crawls its way back into my life, like a mean termite infestation that never goes away. I have no answer for this problem that I face, but my only solace is staying as far away from it as I can, to distance myself, to treat it like none of this ever exist. Perhaps this is a sign, a lesson to be learnt, that some part of me isn't that perfect. That ugly human trait reinforced by hatred, it grows and it grows, and its trying to find a way out. It makes me miserable, but what does it care? Maybe this is my chance, to deal with it once and for all, to understand and learn that this is a weakness in me which I someday have to face, this ugly monster that is drawn out by that which plagues my life. I see no joy in being in its presence, I only see darkness and loneliness. Miserable is what I feel.


Then, there comes a gift from God, the antibody, the medicine to that plague. It arrives in the most unlikely of forms, but it is still a gift nonetheless. Suddenly, the dark clouds are gone, streaming rays of the morning sun bursts through the clouds. The ice melts, flowers bloom, birds sing and the stream flows to that melodic tune once more. This gift allows me to appreciate the finer beauties of life, the simple and sweet joy that I find in everyday things that surround me, of which I was unaware of. It drives that darkness away, it squishes it under its radiance, and my life is perfect once more.

I hope never to meet that darkness again, I know sooner or later, it will emerge someday, sometime. I can only hope to stay as far away from it as possible, and immerse myself in the many gifts instead. I have so much to be thankful for, so many joys that I could share with others as well. I will not let that darkness destroy it.

This entry definitely has a deeper meaning to it, one which I am sure not many would be able to easily decipher. But it has certainly provided me a channel to vent out my anger and frustration, without hurting anything in the process. Read into it if you must, but consider your own darkness as well. Everyone has one, its just a matter of time and place in which it will creep into your life unknowingly, leaving you to deal with the aftereffects when it has passed.

America, FUCK YEAH!

I have nearly forgotten and given up on this blog for my entire exchange, I am feeling so guilty now. I promised I would write and document my entire exchange here, but seems like I've been too preoccupied with really immersing myself in the whole exchange experience. Still, it is not too late to begin.

My previous blog post just made me realize how wonderful trey parker and matt stone are! They have serious music talent, albeit the crude lyrics, but its still funny! Its not a scary-movie dumb kinda funny, I genuinely laugh when I listen to their songs. Today, I watched Team America, a movie created by both of them again. All my life, I have been studying this particular sex scene using dolls, and it is only today that I realized it is from this movie. How slow.

But apart from the crude humor, the set design is AMAZING! Imagine creating all of that from scratch! The main cities they replicated were Paris, North Korea, Cairo, Team Base and Panama. My favorite was Paris- fun fact: they decided to combine ALL the major city attractions within a small space, and their set design was based on an American viewpoint of what Paris would be like.The details that went into the planning was amazing, and recently, my lighting and design professor has been showing us many movies relating to the set design. My personal fav, and will always be, pirates of the caribbean. But i digress.

Team America's set design for Team Base, which is this awesome penthouse-clubhouse area where the team stays, was also so pretty! And its amazing that they actually make miniatures of actual furniture that were popular during that period of time. The room they spent the most effort on was Lisa's room, which sadly went unnoticed because of the puppet sex. But because they had pointed that out, I spaced out during the sex scene to pay attention to the details of the room, it was really well done to create the right mood, and certainly captured the essence of Lisa in that living space. But when it came to the whole shitting-on-the-face part, my attention was completely drawn back to the puppet sex. Parker and Stone certainly know how which buttons to push to rile the MPAA, for it is deemed obscene for any excretory activity to be portrayed.

I really love their portrayal of Kim Jong Ill as well, and I really wonder if he did watch this movie. His palace in North Korea was so accurately detailed that it is scary. I wonder who did his voiceover, but it sure sounds like that chinese dood from The Hangover, he has this annoying undertone in his voice. I especially loved his 'shark' tank and pet 'leopards' which were actually catfishes and black cats. Wonder how they trained the animals to attack the puppets though, I'm suspecting they hid food in the puppets.

One part I didn't get was the Matt Damon scene, he seemed all retarded in the movie, I tried googling it but all I could find was his anti-war stance or something like that. Matt Damon's an awesome actor, he's nothing as retarded as they portrayed him to be. Still, I read that Damon loved his spoof in Team America.


Its finally down to these last two weeks here in TCU. Time really flies, it wasn't long ago when I first arrived in TCU, all ready to begin a whole semester. Many things have happened in this semester, I've met many awesome people, forged true friendships which I am sure will last even though we're on completely different continents/ends of the world. These people whom I've met here are so awesome, and they've given me so much more than I can ask for. I have been told many times that I often live under a rock, there are so many things in the world that I haven't tried, and these dear friends of mine are always saying 'You have to try this before you go!' I'm so grateful to have met them, and they're truly the reason behind my awesome exchange experience.

It really brings tears to my eyes when I know I have to leave this life behind. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself these past 4 months. I go to school, I enjoy all my classes, I have spare time to catch up on all the movies on my watchlist, which is a habit that I intend to continue even when I return home, I have the time to go to the gym at least thrice a week. On weekends, I sometimes stay over at S, and its wonderful, its like sleepovers all over again. I marathon kdramas with K! I'm gonna miss it so much, we're still in the midst of dream high 2, and I had forgotten what its like to be a fangirl with another fangirl and go crazy over all the sweet bits in the drama! I thought I'd left that all behind years ago, but that part of me still exist.

M was the first friend I met here, she is the sweetest, she invited me over to her place and cooked me dinner twice within the week. I missed chinese food so much that when I had the first bite of her cooking, I honestly felt so homesick and my insides warmed right up. These dear friends of mine have really provided me a home away from home, they were the company that I look forward to every weekend, and I have forged so many memories with them here, its gonna be really really hard to say goodbye.

There are of course others, like E, who has never failed to brighten up my day. He gives the best hugs in the world, and everyone's a friend to him. He just brings the energy wherever he goes, and its so hard not to feel energetic and alive in his presence. Ks is always the funny guy with the funny laugh, and is always generous with his time.


During spring break, I got acquainted with new friends again. M&C are the sweetest couple I have ever seen. They're both so unique and awesome that its almost like they're a match made in heaven. I know it sounds ridiculous to say this, but speaking from a completely objective POV, you can just feel it when you know two people are meant for each other. M always brings out the fun side in you, she has this quality that makes you want to open up to her, and just go crazy with her. While in Austin, we stayed at A's place. Her home is amazing, and that was another home away from home. her family showed such profound hospitality that words couldn't express my gratitude when we left. Austin was one of the most beautiful memories I had forged during my time here, and I will always carry that with me.
Some of the places we explored in Austin were the SXSW festival, Barton Springs, the food trucks, Trudy's, and I also remember the night we spent watching Adventure Time! One of the best cartoons ever! I miss Shamaus very much too, its their bunny cat, and he's soooo fluffy!
 We also headed to San Antonio which was a beautiful beautiful city. I will never forget the city walks, and that dinner we had in Schilo's, and that one night at D's in San Antonio.


After spring break, it was a mad rush in school again. Having spent the week at S, I was completely drawn away from all the work due that very week. As a result, I had to rush many of my assignment through the nights, that was a baaaad week, but for all those memories in Austin & San Antonio, I would have done it all over again if were given the choice. Its still amazing how I was able to recover and be ahead of my deadlines again in 2 weeks. Back home it takes me an entire sem, and having to forgo so many outings and weekend meetings. I made myself promise that weekdays were reserved for work only, and starting from Friday, my weekends would be prioritized to hanging out with friends! It is sometimes difficult to let go of the mentality that I need not do well for my modules here, I still have that nagging feeling deep down inside me. Through my exchange here, I have learnt to let that go and know that I have so much more to appreciate in life rather than just my studies alone. It is a beautiful lesson that I have learnt.

The weeks zoomed by, weekends, weekdays, a blur of assignments, lessons, movies and more movies, and before I know it, I'm down to my second last week here in TCU. :( The weekend before, I went to awakening as well, it was a spiritual retreat, and I got to meet some really great people there! It was well worth it, and just last weekend, I headed down to the ZOO! FINALLY! :D I have been rushing to visit everything in this area before I have to leave, and its so sad that I have to say goodbye to this beautiful place. I really wish I could have been here for another semester, just one more semester. I miss home, don't get me wrong, but the life here is too amazinggggg. Although I am envious of friends that have gone to Europe for their exchange, given the same choice once again, I wouldn't have forgo this chance to come to TCU!


so right now its down to this point, 23rd April 2012, I have 3 assignments due this week but I am more bummed out that school's ending. Was working on a law&ethics 10-page paper, and got the best email informing us that the deadline is only on Thursday. Life is good with such simple joys. I am almost tempted to watch a movie tonight and continue working on it tomorrow. HEEHEE!

Sad as I am to leave fort worth, I am excited for my san fran trip, as well as my 3-week holiday with my babyboy. Its all planned out and set to go! :D This is the first time we're gonna be traveling so far away from home, and its just the two of us. I know how lucky we are to have this opportunity, and I'm going to make the best of it!

The Book of Mormon- controversial or simply entertainment

Just finished listening to the whole soundtrack of The Book of Mormon. Gotta say its really well-written, i enjoyed all the musical numbers thoroughly. I wonder if it is going against my faith to watch it tho. My favorite song in the whole musical is Hasa Diga Eabowai, which simply is something completely and utterly inappropriate! But if I fine-tune the lyrics out, its beautifully composed.
I guess this is pretty much like Jesus Christ, Superstar, one of the most controversial musicals in the history of Christianity, yet so many people stream in to enjoy this classical creation of Andrew Llyod.
Perhaps it is all in the mind, and to appreciate such degree of compositional creativity, I guess its just drawing the line between what is truly going against one's faith vs. hedonism in such 'trashy' musicals as some may say.

The week is coming to a close, and I love everyday after Wednesday! :D My kindle arrived today, its lovely & I'm bubbling with excitement BUT the kindle doesn't allow me to connect to the school wifi which sucks. Gotta find somewhere else with wifi. :(
My virgin book on my kindle's gonna be The hunger games for sure!
Watched my first episode of Homeland, an amazing show! Can't wait to watch another episode today. Biz media has gotta be my favorite module this semester! everything to do with TV and movies, what more can students ask for?
Our first assignment is a paper on 1 out of 5 choices. I've picked Alcatraz, but fell asleep when watching the pilot for it last night, but perhaps that was because it was 3am in the morning rather than the show was boring.

If there's one reason to hate the cold, it gives me the worst cramps. Been suffering since yesterday, to the extent that I can barely concentrate during lessons. Skipped breakfast because my cramps were working up again at 8AM THIS MORNING. grrr...
TGIF tomorrow, but it will be a mad rush trying to complete all the assignments so my weekends will be free. Its difficult to manage studies here because it is more time-consuming than anything else.

Everyday I'm studying

OMGGG people here are maddd hardworking. Spent my weekends doing readings, never used to do that in Singapore unless its near exam period. I guess that's the difference between the systems here and back home. Quite honestly, I prefer the ones back home. But then its all up to one's discipline to stay on track, here the systems force you to stay on track with weekly quizzes and papers that accumulate up to half your grades! The final exam here ain't important, but back home skip everything BUT the mid terms and final exams.

I'm just glad my timetable gives me lots of free time to read up before the lessons cos of the quiz. If there's one skill that I've perfected over the years, its procrastination. Perhaps its the thrill of completing an objective within such a short span of time! Hmm..

I'm still feeling sore over the fact that I'm missing CNY back home. I miss my grandmama's cooking. Its the one thing I look forward to every year, and within that lunch, I can spam myself with soooooo much foood because it is beyond delicious! I can't wait for CNY next year in that case. Many thanks to the ones who have been cheering me up while I'm so down and out about missing out, really means so much to me when I'm away from home!

Weather's here been pretty odd. Alternates between warm and cold, can't say I appreciate it being TOO cold, I like my weather just nice. :) I'm still hoping for snow this year although I know how highly unlikely that is. No matter, just don't rain this Saturday because I'm going to the carnival, the carnival! We never have such large-scale ones back home, pasar malam doesn't count. Its been twice that I've been watching from the outside of the gates, and finally we've got tickets to the rodeos which means a full day down at the carnival!
They have funnel cakes, hotdogs on a stick, all sorts of snacks, game stores piled high with prizes, everything! OH and even a petting zoo! I heard that there's a llama there, I've never petted a llama before, but ever since I've watched The Emperor's New Groove, they've always appeared adorable to me!

I can't wait to travel out of Dallas, school mood has set in all right, with all the deadlines and everything..grrr..