Travel to Northern Ireland && Christmas

wow.. it has been quite some time since I blogged.

First of all, Merry Christmas and happy new year 2009!!
so I'm now in Northern Ireland with my aunt and her family. =)))

Okay. so I flew from LAX to Chicago. and at Chicago get a connecting flight to Dublin. But, at Chicago, my flight got canceled due to some engine problem. And it was 12am when I got rescheduled for a flight the next day and received my coupons to stay at Hyatt hotel and money for food. anyways..
So that night was my first encounter with snow. It was freezing. But beautiful view.

view from hotel window

Next day, I made my way to the airport, was really excited with the thought that 'at last I'm flying out of Chicago!!!' and the time came for the plane to take off. BUtttttttt.. while taxiing, our plane's (an airbus) right wing crashed into a small plane's tail!!! it was so dramatic. But I did not even bother to take photos. I was too tired, having been in the airport for 8 hours already. and we had our plane's wing checked and stuff, and the engineers decided that it was too dangerous although it was the tip of the wing. So, my second flight got cancelled. ='(((((

Talk about having 2 flights canceled not because of the bad weather (it was snowing and windy) but because of technical problem 2 nights in a row. =='' sounds ridiculous, but it sure did happen.

But. all is well now. I got on my third flight the next evening. and now here I am at Northern Ireland.

Christmas was pretty sweet. Everyone got up at 7.30am to open presents. Got lotsa presents!! =)) really awesome! and then at 10.30am, we were at church for Christmas service. and then to my cousins grandparents house for lunch. a.k.a Dinner to them. *apparently big meals are dinners* Opened more pressies, and popped crackers, and went for a walk. It was good. and I passed out as in went to sleep while everyone talked. haha.. just like after thanksgiving meal. =))

7.30am presents opening ceremony. >< Foood.

Cracker!

Countryside. =)

xoxo
Laura

Friday Night Fun~

Finals are next weeek!!
But Christmas is coming soon tooo! So there are like many events happening.
Tonight I had my own floor - The Beat White Elephant + Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.
White Elephant is the give exchange game. it is fun!!
After that, we went to Hart Hall at lower campus to join in the fun at Deck the Havens.
Deck the Haven is an event organized by the first floor on Hart hall - Haven, a boys floor, where they decorated their rooms and the hallway with lotsa lights and creative stuff. and each room had a theme. There was a polar express room, a room showing the movie White Christmas, Starbucks room, Mistletoe room, etcetc. and there was Santa! xD
It was really fun and exciting! My first Deck the Havens. everyone who went in were given a Ballot to be filled in. There are 4 categories:-
1. Best light display
2. Most hospitable room
3. Best room theme
4. Most sexually Suggestive Room *okay. I know this is ==''' *

Well, I did not remember the room numbers and so no vote from me.

And now... I'm back in my room. and for some photos.

Haven Hall Entrance..

Sarah and the Beatles

Decors!

The Polar Express Room

Oh.. and I had some fun photoshooting time this afternoon with Joshua and Yuto and Dahye and Sarah!!
Photos are on facebook. Go check it out people! xD

Merry Christmas!!

Xoxo
Laura

Christmas Tree Lighting at Biola

So.. tonight we officially lighted up the Christmas tree at Biola. The whole night it was really fun. =)) really feel the Christmas mood here. After that, we went back to our dorm where we had the upper campus Christmas party. and there was lots of candy.. Yummm.. and fake snow.. haha..

that's the big real pine tree. decorated with lights and ornaments =)

me, candle and christmas tree.

Dahye and I! <3

That's my dorm! yay for Horton!!! *hosted the upper campus party*
and you can see the snow machine blowing fake snow.
hehehe.. =D

Well.. that's all for my fun-ness I had for tonight.

~I love Biola and Christmas~

Xoxo
Laura

The 'anticipated' Thanksgiving~

so I said I'd blog about thanksgiving. so here it is. It's been like two days since the big feast!
Thanksgiving was goooood. =)

So this year's thanksgiving, I spent it with the Mcmillens. On that day, we went to Sarah's mother's parents house at around 12.30pm. Waited till 2pm to have lunch. So while we were waiting, we talked, played, sit around, introduced ourselves, etcetc. Then after the 'early dinner', we hung around till like 5.30pm and proceeded to Sarah's dad's parents house. =) This is house were a lot noisier than the previous house because all her cousins were around our age. while before that, her cousins were either married and therefore not there this year or really young. 13 was the oldest. But in the second house, everyone was talking on top of their voices, shouting and even screaming! haha.. and that night, we watched Wall-E who was super cute. ^^

So for the foood stuff,
there were lots of food. Turkey, ham, turkey stuffing (i don't like it), mashed potatoes and gravy, and lots lots lots more.
Deserts were even better. I had chocolate fudge, peanut brittle, mint ice cream pie, apple pie, dried apples, etcetc.. they were sooooo goood.
The highlight was pumpkin pie. but yours trully here have not acquired the taste for pumpkin.
*good la. other people can have more mah.*

So, that concludes the thanksgiving post!

WaiT!!!!!!

okay. so.. the day after thanksgiving was Black Friday.
just by Hearing the word black friday is like super creepy this. When I first heard about this term i was like 'Wadt?'
But yeah. Black Friday's awesome! This is because a lot of malls and departmental stores open as early as 4am in the morning. and the things sold on that day is like super cheap! I heard people tell me that got people would line up at 3am just to be one of the many early birds to be able to grab good bargains. =='' So maolit ooh.
butbutbut.. being the Malaysian who have not witnessed such stuff before, along with the Korean, of course we curious la. so.....
we went shopping tooo with all the crowds. The sensible Americans whom I am staying with did not want to get drowned by the crowds. So they only dropped us off at the mall. ahhahahh..

Oh. FYI we went around 10am la. who would want to sacrifice sleep time ler?
ok. so.
Dahye and I went into the mall, and started shopping! yay!! It was really fun. the lines were so long. When I say long, you must imagine about 40people in front of you waiting to check out from the store. so yeah.
But, at the end of the whole shopping experience, Dahye and I concluded that there weren't that MANY people compared to the weekends at Midvalley Megamall or everyday in Korea. hhaah..
So we went back around 1pm *thats the time the sales end*

We were happy but tired shoppers.

Now, thats the end of my thanksgiving and post thanksgiving blogpost.

oh! oh! oh! Announcement: Laura finish crocheting her very FIRST scarve. muahahahaha..

XoXo
Laura

Dim Sum with ISA! =)

Okay.. It's amazing that I blog 2 days in a row. But sometimes exciting things just happen one after another... so.. this is another exciting post! well, it is exciting for me as you can see... its a Dim Sum post. --> FOOOOOOD!! More so.. CHINESE FOOD. Authentic ones in LA.

So, I havent ate Chinese food like forever. More so Dim Sum. But today, ISA brought the first 40 people who signed up out for Dim Sum at this place called Ten Ten (天天)Restaurant to eat Dim Sum. And we did not need to pay. =) Thank God for ISA who is so so so so so generous. Oh. in case you don't know. ISA is International Student Association.

Siu mai, ha gao, cha siu pao never tasted so good before.. hahahah.. =))))) But of cox Foo Phin ones are really good. So take note all those reading this. Bring me out for DimSum when I'm back.
Who knows when. ^^

Dim Sum!!!

Happy Dim Sum eaters. =)


The 40+ people who went for Dim Sum!

This was my exciting day! yay! Well, for me maybe. lol.
But yeah.. that's all for now!

XoXo
Laura.

TGIF!!! =)

yay!! so its Friday again. Last night at this time I was rushing an assignment on Worldview Analysis due at 12.01am. I made it!! ONTIME! It was my first time ever rushing an assignment. *prays that this would not happen again* WELL... it's all because I kept putting it off. Procrastination and its TOOOOOO HARD! But.. yay! Its OVER!

So.. its been a while since I blogged. I've been busy. busy. busy.... @.@
but this afternoon, I took an 'afternoon off' to go to the Norton Simon Museum at Pasadena for another ARTS100 project. We took lotsa pictures inside the Museum this time. Posing all silly or weird. haha.. but the exhibits were really nice. this time round, Heather (Sarah's oldest sis) brought us there. Visiting an art museum with an artist --> Heather, has proved to be a more fruitful and different experience with the art works. =))))
Conclusion: Art museums are not that bad after all. The works are really very interesting. Malaysians should start to be more exposed to art works. Our mindset are too 'Scientific'. We should pay more attention to ARTS too! If not we are very ulu la...... =='''

Okay. for some pictures

Pond in The Sculpture Garden




Heather and Sarah

That's all for today! Anticipate my Thanksgiving post! Wheee~

Xoxo
Laura.

My 25 hours 18th Birthday =)

This is a Belated post. The following events happened on Nov 2, 2008.

So you might ask: "She doesn't know how to count. There's only 24 hours in a day! How could it be 25? But indeed, I do know how to count. The 25th hour came from the change of Daylight saving to standard time. So on Nov 2, 2a.m. the clocks turn back 1 hour. and so it became 1a.m. again. so... we got to sleep for an hour more!
Well, firstly, I Just wanna thank all of you who wished me on fb or fs. and to those who msgd me. and to those who mailed me gift. and to those who wished me through MSN or Skype. Thank you guys so much!!!!
★★★
So this was what happened on my birthday. A normal Sunday. We planned to go to Sarah's house to bake and make PINEAPPLE Tarts! That's the first time! and so we did. and we succeeded. The americans tried them for the first time. and they loved it. I think we did a pretty good job! It tasted just like Chinese New Year to me! =) *note to self: make more pineapple tarts soon*
Then around 3p.m. Sarah said we should go back to campus to get lots of homework done. No kidding you all. I still do homework on Birthdays! haha.. anyways.. so that's what we did. Then as usual, around 5.30 we went to the cafe for dinner. We stayed at the cafe for a really really really long time that particular day. We only went back to the dorm at around 6.30p.m.
To cut the long story short... When I opened my room door like I usually do, I open it to find about 10-15 people in the room! I got so freaked out. And surprised of course.
SO...
I did celebrate my 18th birthday after all.... It was amazing. Then around 7.30, after all the cake eating, doritos and chips munching, soda drinking, we went out to play 'SARDINES' all around campus. That was really fun. People hid behind tall hedges and bushes where it was like impossible to find. The last person that hid, it took me and my partner 20 minutes to find while it took everybody else who played the game around 50minutes to find. So we were hiding in the dark, behind a tall hedge against the wall for like forever..

Really wanna thank roomies, Sarah n Dana, and of course Dahye onni. who helped in this whole surprised party. *I couldn't imagine how they sneaked the cake in the laundry basket w/o me knowing*
LOVE YOU ALL!

★★★
Anyways... the whole point of this blog post is...
I HAD AN AMAZING 18TH BIRTHDAY!
★★★

This is What we Do on Halloween. =)

And so this is like my first official Halloween.

there were really alot of people who dressed up. and of cors... I dressed up too!
So Dana aren't in any of the pics as she went off campus to her sis place.
Sadly, I did not go trick or treating. although I would love to. =)) but we did have fun. went to yamcha at night at a Boba place. Its like the pearls from yoyo or easy way. bt mushier. they are tapioca balls. maybe its just this particular shop that doesn't serve good Boba. because the one Dana brought us when we were at her place one weekend was better than the pearls we get at home. hehehe.. =D

anyways.. here are some pics.
This is at the all girls dorm next door. Alpha Chi. They have Candyland on Halloween for children to go trick or treat-ing. That's Lydia! .
Pirate, Princess, Gypsy

Sarah with her Boba

Kyo wearing the pirate's eye-patch. He has a sword in his hand.


So that's Halloween for me. =)

XoXo
Laura

Getty Center Visit~

Went to the Getty Center on Saturday. Its in LA.

I went to do an art project, so Kyo drove us (Dahye, Dana, Sarah and I)! Since we went into the special exhibition hall about Bernini and the Baroque Portrait Sculptures, no photos could be taken inside.
We did not go into the normal galleries this time round
*you could take pictures of the exhibits there.*
But we spent alot of time at the Gardens.
Its beautiful!!! Of cors we took lotsa photos. So here are some of the view from the Getty.


The Flowering Maze on a Reflecting Pool

Waterfall~

Flowers

The Getty from the Gardens

Its LA from the Getty!

Flowers growing on wall on 'That Forbidden Path'

Us lying on the lawn!

So... that's all for another blogpost.

XoXo
Laura

Oh My GOSHHHH..

Ok.. And so after LOTS of pestering of starting a BLOG. I've finally decided to start one. =) Don't know if I'm going to succeed. But... OH MY GOSHHH. my first blogpost!!

Okay. So.. that was dorky.

Now for an intro, my blog title is copyrighted. You ask why? Inspiration came from Sarah.
Sarah who? Mcmillen.

For those of you who don't know where am I, Im now in collegeland. In the most wonderful college in the world!!!
B.I.O.L.A.
30 minutes to Downtown LA
20 minutes to Disneyland
15 minutes to the Beach
and
many other cool places on earth.

But.. but.. but.. I've only been to LA and the beach but not Disneyland!!!
*crossing my fingers that I would be able to go some weekend*

so.. I've been here like for 2 months. What have that girl been up to? Here's some of the things that I've been up to!
Intl Student Orientation
- Third Street Promenade
- Getty Museum
- Griffith Observatory Center
- Watts
- Sept 1 Labor Day Picnic (All-American Bbq)
Other Memorable Stuff
- Intl Student Fall Retreat
*this was where I was involved with a car accident on the way there and was in the hospital for 6 hours till 4a.m. But Im good now =)*
- Dodgeball a.k.a Nationball
*its a competition between residence halls (hostels) and this fall semester... [drumrolls] HORTON dominated! That's where I stay =)))*
- Visiting an American-African Church with First Year Seminar class and Korean Bbq after that.
*Food was Good. But the church experience was even better*
- Going for GYRAD. Get-Your-Roomate-A-Date. at Venice beach.
- Visiting Trabuco Canyon
*That's where Dana lives. The OC (Orange County). 45 mins south Biola. Visited Laguna Beach too*
- The Newest: Torrey Bible Conference Oct 22-24, 2008
*No classes in sessions these 3 days. The conference was AWESOMe!*
Other Random but Fun Stuff
- Ran in the sprinklers *no rain in CA. Sprinklers needed*
- Laid down on the lawn
- Ate saltwater taffy and the filling of my teeth came out *the taffy was too sticky. This particular one was coffee flavor*
- Learning to crochet
- scrapbookings
- received friendship bracelets *wearing 2 now*

*of cox i've done many other nice stuffs but tooo many to list down*

So... who do I do those fun stuffs with?
3 closest friends here as seen as the header picture.
on top of me is Dahye *read as Dah-heh*
&&
to my left is Dana
&&
to my right is Sarah!!!
Dana and Sarah are my official roommates. Dahye is the 4th.

Dana! Its Pink Day.

That's Sarah!

Me!! Fluor Fountain of Faith Behind =)))

Can't find pics of Dahye. But coming sooon I guess. ^^

Oh welll... I think that's all for now!
I hope that I would find my way back here next time..

XoXo
Laura