"The bride cuts the cake, the bride cuts the cake..."



On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a friend's (Don Yee) wedding to his American fiancee (yep a long distance relationship that actually worked), Vivian. Luckily for them, it was an absolutely beautiful day, blue skies and sunshine.

It was also a pretty tiring day for me, as our band (Jonny Panic) was playing at the wedding and the reception. It was a pretty good gig. We were a bit late setting up at the reception, but once we started playing, everyone seemed to be quite impressed with us (which was nice). We were quite suprised actually, to be recieving so many compliments. I mean, we did alright, but it certainly wasn't our best attempts at playing, and we had many drama's with guitar tuning and our mixer overheating & blowing a fuse. :\ The setlist went something like:

1. "Moon Dance" - Van Morrison
2. "Have I Told You Lately" - Van Morrison
   (break to eat the entree)
3. "Blue Bossa" (jazz standard)
4. "Close To You" - Burt Bacharach
   (break to eat the now-cold mains + speeches)
5. "Now and Forever" - Richard Marx
6. "Cute" (jazz standard)
   (break to eat dessert + more speeches)
7. "The Cake Cutting Song" (while they were cutting the wedding cake.. heheh)
8. "Rearrange" - Tim Woo

Hm. Thats not exactly right, but I can't remember... anyone who remembers better, feel free to correct me!! Below is a shot of Jonny Panic, and also one of me and Andrew, after the reception.


Anyway, I've put up the above pics (and more) from the wedding in my gallery under "Friends". Go check em out!

Oh, I guess I should mention a "highlight" of the reception was that I "caught" the bouquet (note the inverted commas) - to much laughter and cheering and congratulating of Andrew. (And I didn't even go for it.) How embarrassment. :o

Current listening :: "My Funny Valentine" - Miles Davis

Photoblog entry

This post is probably more of a photoblog than blog. I'd been having lots of fun with my parent's digital camera over the last few months, taking pictures everywhere I go, alot of which I never get around to posting. So I thought I'd post some now. Enjoy. :)

Note: this post is probably easier to read when expanded. You can use the nav on the left to swap between layouts. It'll remember what you choose the next time you visit this page too!

Lets start with some more photos of my kitten, Coltrane. I took these one morning last week when I let him come into my room while I was getting ready for work. I don't think he'd ever seen himself in a floor length mirror before.... it was funny watching him trying to attack his reflection. :)

He always finds a patch of sun to lie in. So cute!

This was taken one sunny morning a week or 2 ago, as I was leaving home to go to work. It looked so pretty I decided to take a photo (from my driveway, looking down the street).



In April this year, I was driving down Silverwater Rd to church in the late afternoon (on the way to Kyckstart actually), and as I crossed a bridge, the view of the sky was so absolutely breathtaking that I just had to take a photo (erm.. while I was driving yeh.. but I did slow right down, and used the viewfinder on the digital camera, also relying on luck to get me a good shot! :P)


As you may have guessed, I like to go wandering around the city sometimes with my digital camera. For some reason I find the city quite beautiful at times. This first was taken at some alleyway next to the MLC Centre. The second one is another Martin Place shot.


The last two here are of Pitt Street mall, at the beginning of the lunch hour (its wasn't too crowded yet).


Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this photoblog entry. (Sorry if the page took too long to load!) I'd best be off to the gym. Its almost 6pm now!

Current listening :: "Rock your body" - Justin Timberlake (Ugh no, I've succumbed.. I actually like a Justin Timberlake song! Only this one though.)

Belated Friday Five - Hair edition (ooh girly post!)

1. Is your hair naturally curly, wavy, or straight? Long or short?

Naturally straight, but not dead straight.. got a very slight wave to it. Its long of course. :)

2. How has your hair changed over your lifetime?

Hm. Not much until my later years. I have only ever cut it short ONCE (short = above shoulders / bob) when I was in kindy.. and boy did I regret it. I was so embarrassed at school - I think I cried. From then on, I never cut my hair short again. Over primary and high school, I grew it really long (the longest it got was to my lower back). Then in uni I discovered layers and colour - red streaks or brown streaks were my fave. It was still longish (shortest I have gone is just below the shoulders). Then upon entering the workforce, I discovered the asian "magic permanent straightening" technique - and have done it three times in the last three years, coupled with red or brown streaks every so often, and a slightly feathered, layered cut (which every honky hairdresser cannot seem to resist giving). My latest cut was at a non-asian place (was getting sick of feathered cuts), and has long layers now, more choppy than feathered.

Btw if you guys have no idea what I'm talking about, what "layered" means, and if the word "feathered" conjures up images brightly coloured feather boas, then here's a pic of my (straightened) hair with long layers & slight feathering!



3. How do your normally wear your hair?

Out and long. I never tie my hair up, unless I'm at dance class, when I'll have my hair in a pony tail.

4. If you could change your hair this minute, what would it look like?

Well, I'm due for another hair cut soon. I think I'll go to a korean place this time, and get a better shaping, with a few more long layers. I've also been itching to get my hair coloured/streaked again... this time a bolder light brown I think (too chicken to go blonde).

5. Ever had a hair disaster? What happened?

Erm. Aside from when I was in kindy with the bowl bob cut (and the boys in my class laughed at me :\) - one time after going to a honky hairdresser, I asked for a shorter cut (but still below shoulders). What I got was this really honky, really layered/feathered look - with short layers.. so some parts of my hair were only to my ears in length! I was so distressed I called a friend afterwards (Vron, u may remember this :P) and babbled about going to another hairdresser to get it fixed! (Which I didn't in the end.)


Expecto Patronum!

I finished Harry Potter - Order Of The Phoenix last night. *sniff* I'll try not to spoil the book for those who haven't read it yet. I'll only say this.. I felt kinda depressed afterwards :( (white text for your benefit.. highlight it if you want to read.. not a spoiler, only saying how I felt at the end of the book). Anyway..... it only took me a day and a half to read the whole book! :D

Current listening :: "Sakura Drops" - Utada Hikaru

Bookworm

I've been reading the latest Harry Potter practically non stop since last night. Ugh.... Can't. Stop. Reading. It. So. Addictive. I'm actually close to finishing the book now. *sheepish grin* I bought it at GB's just before it closed on Sat, 5:30pm (only $25.85 coz I had a Coles Myers card!) and only got a brief read on Sat night. I was busy all day Sunday because Jonny Panic (our band consisting of me, Andrew, Tim and most recently Sam) were recording a cover of Coldplay's "Clocks" (instrumental only) for a friend's video. It was fun, and kinda hard coz each part had to be absolutely perfect (we tried to record one track at a time, ie each instrument individually - but ended up recording piano and bass together coz of rhythm issues). T'was cool coz we recorded at Tim's place - it was all set up with wires running everywhere. Will post a photo soon!

Anyways, I gotta dash now.

Current listening :: "Touching heaven, changing earth" - Hillsong (*cough*... erm... yeh I like listening to hillsong music sometimes :P)

Fusion last night

My jazz fusion class at the Con last went well... suprisingly! See, I was considering not going to class. I've been feeling a bit discouraged the last few weeks. I felt that the class was just getting too hard, so why bother?

But I'm glad I went! It was the best I'd played this term. Funny how it works.. coz I hadn't managed a practice this whole week, and then I have a class like that. I think my attitude and mindset had something to do with it. I'd been pretty stressed out and negative about my ability to play this stuff over the past few weeks. Then I just got tired of it, and decided I didn't really care if I stuffed up.

Of course I still cared about playing well, but I wasn't trying to get it so right.. I wasn't so afraid of making a mistake. And it made a difference. I mean I still spent a lot of the time fumbling around trying to find the rhythm and chords, but there were moments that I got it.. that I was there.. that my solo flowed, and was sitting nicely within the rhythm (syncapated even). I think the shift in attitude made a difference. Being afraid of stuffing up made me play timidly, which is not good for soloing!

Current listening :: "Motet" - Yellowjackets

CUTE!!

Omg... check out this pic! How huuuuge is that dog! He's soooo cute!! :D



Darn it... my chances of going skiing this year are not looking good. There are no more spots in my friend's ski trips, and not enough people can make the one I'm trying to organise. *sigh* :\ Bah.. maybe I should just go by myself with one of those organised ski trip groups.

Hooked on the white stuff ;)

I wanna go skiing this year! Wah! Was trying to organise a group to go, but people are being flaky and unavailable. :( I sooo wanna go skiing... anyone in a group already going that I can join up with?

I've been back at the perisherblue.com.au and ski.com.au websites, checking the snow conditions and forums for the latest forecasts etc. The snowcams shots look so nice. *sigh* Skiing is just irresistable.



On another note, I went shopping during my lunch break today. Hee. I bought myself a new white angora jumper (on sale), napolean navy & silver eyeshadow and sand beige sparkle dust (I'd been itching to buy this stuff since that napolean class coz these were the exact colours he used on the model), and some L'Oreal Hydrafresh face moisturiser and eye cream. (See pics below!)


Current listening :: "Feel Good Time" - Pink (can't wait till Charlies Angels : Full Throttle comes out!!! :D)

Kitty TV

Coltrane likes watching tv. Hehe. Its so cute! He goes right up to the tv screen and sits there looking up at the tv, entranced. He likes sport the most I think (typical male!) - and even tries to swat at the ball in the tv screen. Tee hee. It was so cute, I had to take some pics.

Counting the hours

Woah. Looks like I've been ported across to the new version of blogger. Its pretty nice. :)

Anyway, today is the last day of my training course. (Woohoo!) I'm definitely gonna be taking tomorrow off. I *need* to rest up at home and get better! Its been pretty bad enduring a full day of training whilst very sick. Talk about bad timing. Anyway, it'll be nice to spend time at home tomorrow. Maybe I'll watch one of my 4 new dvd's that I haven't had time to watch yet (with Coltrane on my lap of course)!

Hm. Is it lunch time yet? *sigh* Only 5 hours to go before this is over...

Current listening :: Ok Computer - Radiohead (this is during the lab work practice time of course)

Suffer

Hello from Aspect Education Services! I'm sitting here in my "Upgrading Web Development Skills from ASP to Microsoft ASP.NET" training course (having afternoon tea break of course). We actually have web access from our computers in class which is pretty cool! Training has been alright... am learning all about Visual Studio .NET, and the new functionality of ASP.Net. Woohoo. :\ It would be a bit more interesting I suppose if I weren't really sick at the moment. :( I managed to catch myself a cold on Sunday night at SuperJamm. Grr. Blocked runny nose, stuffed head, blocked ears, headaches, sore throat, unstoppable coughing, phlegm.... Gah.

Codral is my friend. Anticol too.

I keep dozing off at regular intervals for some reason. I'll be listening to our teacher, watching the screen, then suddenly I'll hear a soft snore coming from my mouth.. and realise I'd fallen asleep for a split second.

Finally Friday

Its long weekend time! Woohoo! Not that I'm gonna be able to get much rest this coming weekend. Not with youth group (Glue) tonight, Rice Fate event tomorrow, morning service & sunday school (we have to "present" ourselves to morning service & SS this sunday) then music practice & evening service on Sunday, clubbing Sunday night... phew. Only on Monday will I be able to finally spend some quality time with Andrew and just relax. My life is waay too busy. I need a holiday.

One thing I'm definitely looking forward to though, is SuperJamm VII on Sunday night. Yay! At last I'm gonna get my clubbing fix. Heheh.

Anyways, almost time to head home.. or rather, to youth group. Next week I'm gonna be at an ASP.Net training course... so yeh, things are gonna be a bit quiet on the blogging front over the next week. But I'll try update whenever I can. See ya's, and have a great long weekend! :)

Updates + stuff

I've updated my photo gallery. I've finally ported it all across to my new hosting, and have organised the albums into categories - friends, gigs and performances. I've also created a new "miscellaneous" album under "friends" - and put in various amusing photos I've taken of friends over the past month or so. This will be an archive of memorable photos of friends. :)

Jazz Fusion class tonight! Yay! Or should I shudder with dread? Hehe, nah just kidding. I practiced last night, for about an hour, which was good. Its still frustrating though. Trying to impro on the off-beat. Argh. Makes me wanna tear out my hair. I can do it slow... but when the speed picks up.. nup. Its all over. Sorry I'll stop ranting about this... soon... when I can do it (which'll be in 10 years time at my rate!) :P Anyway, I hope my practice paid off and that tonight's class will be better.

Well I'm staaarving.. I didn't really eat the lunch my mum packed me (last nights leftovers as usual) today coz it was kinda yuck. I think I'll go buy myself some early dinner, to tide me over till after class. Hm... do I want Boston Market 1/4 chicken meal, or Japanese udon noodle soup... hmm..

Current listening :: "Baby I" - Tenderoni (from "Soul Food" OST - my gosh.. listening to this song.. reminds me so intensely of uni days, its like a physical blow to my body.... it all seems like another persons lifetime.. I kinda miss it.. hm, maybe I'll blog about it later..)

Sap

I'm feeling so happy at the moment. And its all because I've just finished reading this young adult romance series (which will go unnamed so I don't totally embarrass myself). It had such a wonderfully happy & romantic ending. *swoons* Hehe.. I'm such a sap. :P

But I love girly schtuff. Romantic movies and books... girly singers (eg Mandy Moore).. doing make-up.. getting facials.. having girly nights cooking scrumptious dinners and desserts... dancing... girl heart-to-heart talks. It rocks being a girl! :) And I'm sure there are many girls out there who agree wholeheartedly - right Vron? ;)

Not so sappy

If you're a Radiohead fan, Triple J are currently playing the entire new album "Hail To The Thief". You can listen online here, right now!

Current listening :: Mandy Moore/Britney Spears/Jessica Simpson/Christina Aguilera playlist shuffle - and proud of it!

Weekend

Had a rather tiring weekend. Saturday was the RICE Fete - thank God we had a beautiful sunny day for it. It was a great success with about 430 highschool kids turning up. Our SaltLight gig there went fairly well, considering the (miniscule) amount of practice we'd had. From all reports, we sounded pretty good. It was fun, and the set up we had was... absolutely awesome. We had a real stage, foldback amps, mixer desk, sound crew.... basically thousands of dollars worth of equipment for us to use. *sigh* Well, we'll never get that again! Here's a piccy for ya's. (From the left, me, Andrew, Sam and Tim - thanks to Ajamedor for the pic.)



Last night I took short nap on the couch... and guess who was happily snoozing on my tummy... :) Coltrane is so cute! :D

Oh, my Emma dvd arrived (from ChaosDVD) on Friday! Yay! Am looking forward to watching it with Coltrane. Heh.

Anyway, I really should head off to the gym now before its too late. I've given myself the goal of going to the gym every day of this week! Mon to Fri. :)

Current listening :: I Wanna Be With You - Mandy Moore