First Dawn

My dad and I got up at 5am to cycle to a nearby reservoir where we could watch the first sunrise of the new year from a long bridge. I suppose any other day of the year I would not have been at all inclined to wake up so early (5am doesn't really exist in my normal daily schedule..). However, the first dawn of the year can be given meaning if I choose to deem it special, so why not? It's a new year. It's the last year of my second decade on earth. I'll have to savour my last few teen day!

I thought 5-6am would be super early, but it turns out that there were many people already camping at the bridge waiting for the sunrise by the time we got there. Hardcore, keen photographers! Many had their huge cameras and tripods all ready to go. I was impressed by the turnout of people and their dedication...!

(The photograph below was taken by my camera phone, not quite as fancy, but it'll do the job.)

20 Facts About Me

                                 

Thanks to my friend I had to do a 20 facts instagram post, so why not blog it too.

(Btw this photo was taken when I was biking  yesterday)

Okie here goes:
1. I once almost swallowed a bee, it was in my can of ginger ale and naturally I only realised when I spat it out. 
2. I own more than 100 pairs of earrings. It's the best present I could ever receive, earrings. 
3. I intend to join my uni's Quidditch team. 
4. I wouldn't mind being a Slytherin. 
5. I've never lived in my hometown, KL. 
6. I was in the newspapers when I was 6 for an advertisement, I used the money from the photoshoot to buy a Casio watch that I still use.⌚
7. I have in my possession a fake cockroach, itching powder and stink bombs. It would be wise to not be my enemy. 
8. I'm better at cooking Western food than Asian food.
9. I have a vampirish body clock. 
10. Which is why I rarely voluntarily open my curtains. 
11. So it's not unusual for me to go running near midnight when there's no sun. 
12. I have K-Pop, J-Pop, French, Mandarin and Spanish songs in my phone besides English ones.
13. I love Snoopy. 
14. I still love Pokémon for that matter. 
15. I can tell a zucchini from a cucumber.
16. I bring mints and gum to exams, once I brought 4 flavors of gum and 3 types of mint in a plastic bag and earned a bewildered look from the supervisor. Needless to say, it was a math exam that required so much ammo. 
17. I actually got away with eating lollipops in my IB mocks.
18. My close friends know me for my sarcasm. 
19. I laugh at all bad puns and jokes. ALL. I appreciate bad humour to the max so more often than not my friends are face-palming at ME, not the bad pun. 
20. I have recurring dreams of flying. I was totally born to play Quidditch. 

Pramuka Island

For our IB Group 4 Project Trip we went to Pramuka Island for 4 days, 3 nights. Really enjoyed renting bikes out to cycle around the island, grab a bag of iced coconut water, befriend the cute kittens... besides the research work we had to do, it was almost like a quiet little holiday by the ocean. :)

Double Rainbow

Can you see the second rainbow? :) 

We were really lucky to spot this on our last day at Pramuka Island for our Group 4 Project Trip. We woke up early to see the sunrise, saw the fading moon and a double rainbow! Sounds trivial but it was reaallyy beautiful. :) 

Dawn

What 5.30 am on Pramuka Island looks like. 

Dawn

By Mark R Slaughter

Dawn blushed – betrayed her waking sky
To gently break another morrow fine.
Night waned – the black receding – highland
Reaching for the early morning wine.

The chorus rendered frantic caws and
Chirps and other avian song,
Mapping out the 'mine and yours, ' and
Goading more to sing along!

Quiescent water – deep of lake –
Reflected out the hazy red, but
Through the glass, a flick, a break:
An urgent tail from hidden bed!

And in the meadow, waking faces
Calmly spread a coloured veil;
The dew disclosing spider laces –
Oft with once a fly’s travail!

Dawn blushed; revealed her inner peace;
She handed on another blissful day.
Night ebbed, relenting to release of
Warming blood that gives to her display.

Fall, leaves, fall

Fall, leaves, fall

BY EMILY BRONTË


Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Bandung Tea Plantation

Just a short escape from the city during mid-terms. :)

Camp Caldera

December 2011 - A 3 day-2 night Camping Residential to Caldera for my Silver IA.

IA = International Award -- Our Duke of Edinburgh Award equivalent. :)

Rubber trees!

The Land Down Under

Summer '12: ten days in a camper-van driving around Western Australia, it may have been my summer holidays but it was winter there - a nice change actually, from the mercilessly hot city of Jakarta!

First time in a camper-van, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience in the Land Down Under. :)

Norway, Summer '11

throwback to Norway, 2 summers ago, a beautiful place I'm unlikely to forget :)