Fate loves a see-saw...(Either that or God loves a prank or 2)

Yesterday was quite an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Basically for the last 2 weeks, I've been looking fervently for apartments or units for rent online to jump start my house hunting research before I arrive at Perth. It's very difficult to find one that really fits my criteria. And it's been quite a sensitive topic for me considering how worried it's made my mum and I and it upsets her sometimes as well. Discussions have often escalated to near heated arguments about what we should do about the matter of accomadation. Also I was suspicious about why I haven't received an invitation to the UWA pre-departure seminar for Singaporean students while I've already received those from the other unis I applied to, ANU and UQ. So I called WAEO to ask them if UWA was really having a pre-departure sem and to my horror, I was informed that it was held last Sunday on the 26th! I was so upset and pissed off because I really did want to attend. And I had wanted so very much to talk to the representatives from the uni to have some of my pressing questions answered. It felt like everything was going wrong and I was near breaking point.

Then I decided to check my e-mail. I couldn't believe what I found...there was an e-mail offering me a place at St. Catherine's college! I got a home! As soon as I read the first sentence offering me a place, I jumped off my seat and ran to my sis's room and blurted the very good news. We were jumping and shouting in euphoria. This has solved quite a big portion of my anxieties. It just proves to me that more often than not, when things seem to hit rock bottom, there'll be a step to bring you right up again.

I read Life's article today about the Oscar contenders. Honestly, they were easy picks since they were the big winners and nominations from The Golden Globe Awards which were often said to be the Pre-Oscars. I also found out that The Pianist will be screened here on 12th Feb, before I fly off to Perth!! Yay!! I agree with what the article had to say in that I've also noticed that distributors pretty much use the Oscars and other award shows as a marketing tool for these films. That's fine and dandy but I hope that distributors and viewers would go beyond what's nominated and what's not. The Academy does often leave out stuff that're just as good or even greater. I really hope to see Philip Seymour Hoffman nominated for Love Liza. He's such a great and underrated actor. To me, he's practically stolen the scenes he was involved with in most of the movies I've seen him in. I was also surprised that Jennifer Aniston was not nominated in the Golden Globes for The Good Girl. She did a great job. She was melancholic and hateful but didn't disolve to being melodramatic or hysterical. She was subtle. So I hope the Oscars also honours those that don't seem to loom and occupy such huge spaces in the psyche of media attention. We just gotta wait and see I guess...

For the uninitiated:
UWA=University of Western Australia
ANU=Australian National University
UQ=University of Queensland
WAEO=Western Auatralia Education Office
I was inspired by Ben... =)

Trailer Utopia!!!
The Super Bowl's going on in the US which means high profile and highly anticipated blockbusters and some smaller but uber cool movies are being showcased with amazing spots on TV...something very worthy to check out if you can spare the time...

The Matrix: Reloded- The Jap trailer I found some time back doesn't even come close to what they've been showing the Americanos!! Go watch it now! Don't think twice! Don't even consider it later! Go now please! I beg ya! This trailer is too bloody good to skip!

Hulk- Yay! Jennifer Connelly! Yay! Nick Nolte! Yay! Ang Lee!..I've yet to be convinced about Eric Bana...maybe I need to catch Chopper. The narrative aspect of the trailer is reminiscent of Spider-man though.

Bruce Almighty- What if you're bestowed the power of God? And what if this important responsibility is given to...Jim Carey?*gulp* Prefer the original trailer though...

Kill Bill- Ok, ok so I cheated...this movie was not given a spot on Super Bowl. But it doesn't lack in the cool factor also. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino but this is very interesting considering it's his latest directorial effort after 4 years. Also it has a heavy duty ensemble cast of Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Vivica A. Fox and Samuel L Jackson. About a female assassin who was attacked on her wedding by her own husband and group leader(named Bill of course) who wakes up from a coma to seek revenge. Now how cool is that premise...

Of new things and nostalgia...

I've begun to shop for the assorted things I would be needing for my stay at Perth. New clothes, 2 new pairs of track shoes(I've a distinct feeling I'll be wearing trakkies everyday), laundry stand and bag, clothe hangs, stationery, bed sheets/quilt cover/quilt and the like. Still haven't started packing... I know I know, I'll get down to it soon I promise. =p I love buying new things in preparation for school. There's this air of anticipation, how all these things can be used to get organised. To be enjoyed in all its glorious purpose.

I've also started looking at some apartment units for rent online should I not get a place at St Catherine's College. I've come across some that come close to what I'm looking for(i.e close to school, one bedroom-bathroom, etc) but not perfectly fit the criteria though. When push comes to shove, there're times we can't afford to be choosy. There's quite a nice place at this block of apartments known as The Pines @ Nedlands. Great thing is that it's only a street away from UWA but I'm ruling it out because it comes with a garden(I don't have time nor do I want the responsibility) and it's not fully furnished. There's this other place which sounds promising. It's a little further away, about 0.7km, but it's one-bedroom-one-bathroom and it's fully furnished and in good condition. But of course I haven't come to a final decision about anything. These are just some to look at. I will have to do more house hunting when I get there and also, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a room at St Cat's.

I took a blood test yesterday. Finally stopped procrastinating about the Hep A and B jabs and decided to go through with it. Been busy going out, buying stuff and hanging out with friends so much so that my movie watching's neglected. I need to get back to it, man! =) I found a relatively new clip for The Matrix: Reloaded whilst doing my frequent mandatory movie news surf. It's a teaser for Japan. Looks like the folks at Warner are upping the chips in a major Asian market. Rumour has it that it'll be the same clip to be aired in the US during Super Bowl...sans the Japanese dialogue at the end of course. =p Do check it out, it's pretty cool.

I've been downloading a lot of songs from the '80s lately. Much more so than usual. And been putting all the retro mp3s I got from before on my player. All the Belinda Carlisle, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Tears For Fears and Toto! It's a sign, man. A sign that I'm getting and feeling old. =p Enjoy your weekend....

they've got Monica Bellucci, an international class act, in it as Persephone. How do the Wachowskis do it?? =)

1 more month to go...(and I really need to say this)

that I can enjoy the comforts and other precious things of home before I fly off to the pseudo unknown in Perth. Despite my good fortune of being presented with the opportunity to study abroad, I can't help feeling dread, fear, anxiety and sadness that comes with being away from family, friends, loved ones and home. They've been the constants during the whole course of my life and not having them in my immediate surrounding in time to come feels disorienting to say the least. I haven't really been talking to my family about the way I feel because I don't want to add to the worries and the anxiety piled up on them already. And I guess I can't bring myself to do so also because it makes me feel sad. And it saddens them too, especially my mum. It's been building up inside me, and I get frustrated sometimes and stressed out even though I'm not doing any work at all. I also display the classic signs like denial. I spend most of my time watching movies, the boob tube and reading books instead of taking care of the necessary packing and planning. I know I have to eventually get down to it. Not getting my accomadation straightened out is another curved ball thrown at me which I seriously do not need right now...

I'm happy and excited about going to school. Experiencing a new way of life elsewhere. Possibly finding myself and hopefully, improving my sense of person. And at the same time, I'm afraid. I'm so scared that things won't go nicely and I'll end up maybe worse. I can't have too much room for failure considering what it took for my parents to put me there and how much I have gone and will go through for that. I am so going to miss everyone and everything. Simple pleasures I took for granted here in Singapore. I just hope that the sad moments there won't get to me too much. I won't have the security of familiar comfort while I'm there.

Watched The Golden Globe Awards this morn. Nicole Kidman won Best Actress for The Hours, yay! Although I haven't watched the film, judging from the trailers and snippets I watched from the movie and reading up about it and Kidman's commitment to the film, I feel it's a deserved win. I was rooting for Nowhere In Africa for the Best Foreign Film category but honours went to Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her. I heard good things about that movie and besides, it's from a talented director. No complaints there. It was like a head to head fight between Adaptation and Chicago. And I was surprised when Richard Gere walked away with Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and even more surprised when The Hours came away with Best Dramatic Picture against heavy weights like The Lord of The Rings:The Two Towers, About Schmidt and Roman Polanski's The Pianist!!! I heard it was good but didn't know it was that good to kick the asses of three movies most movie geeks swore were the best of 2002. I have yet to catch the beloved The Pianist...I'm still waiting...and waiting...

doesn't Nicole look stunning? Loved her dress...
I finished reading Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones today also. It's a great book. What I love most about it is how passionate Sebold is. I got to feel and relate to every possible emotion she ran by her multi-dimensional characters. Her protagonist, Susie Salmon, a 14-year old girl raped and murdered and speaking to us in heaven, is omniscient yet intimate and vulnerable. Very fascinating read. I totally recommend it.

I really oughtta start packing....

5 weeks till i leave and a worrying problem erupts...

I received a troubling e-mail yesterday. It's from St. Catherine's College which is the hostel of my choice for my stay at Perth next month onwards. Apparently, my application wasn't successful and I'm not offered a place there. However, I'm still on their waiting list and should any of their offers be declined, it'll move to the next person on their list. Due to the urgent nature of this matter, I'll be placing a call to Ms Tara Houlahan, the college's accomadation and functions coordinator, at St Cat's itself later on to try and explain to her my situation and if she can help me in any way to improve my chances of staying there. Though I know my place and won't expect any guarantees at all. I'll also be investigating other accomadation alternatives. I've got my heart set on St Cat's honestly. I've made some friends there already and I personally feel more comfortable living in an all-women's environment. Sigh. Wish me luck guys. 5 weeks till I go there and I've got no place to live as yet.

3:45pm:
I called Tara Houlahan an hour or so ago and she's really nice. I was a little panicked since this matter concerns where I sleep/eat while I'm there. She assured me and gave me some advice. I found out I'm actually number 8 on their waiting list which according to her may seem quite grim but there's still hope of getting in and she considered it "good news". Apparently if I'm number 12 or 15, she could've told me on the spot that there's no chance of me getting in. She's already sent my name to other colleges to consider my application. So hopefully, I get to move up the list and get into St Cat's. *crosses fingers* But in the mean time, I gotta look and prepare for alternatives as well. Sigh. Really hope this clears up.

And so a new week begins...

Man oh man last week was so busy. There wasn't a single day I got to stay home and just bum, I was constantly on the move. Serious! I was tired and came to a realisation that going out and meeting with friends and celebrating things doesn't equate to having that much more of a life. Caught 2 movies in the past week, Das Experiment and the sneak preview of White Oleander. Das Experiment is well done and the issues of the film were thought-provoking and the dynamics of character interaction did move me but I still prefer the film I caught at the German Film Fest last year(Das Experiment was screened then also), Nowhere In Africa. White Oleander is amazing. I'm not sure if the adaptation was faithful cuz I didn't manage to read the novel when a friend lent it to me some years back but the film on itself was a job well done. It is about the life and trials of Astrid, a young teenager who moves from one foster family to another when her mother, Ingrid was jailed for murdering an ex-lover who dumped her unceremoniously. The difficult relationship between Astrid(Alison Lohman) and her artistic, wild and often dangerous mother Ingrid(Michelle Pfeiffer) was painful to watch. There was so much character depth, not just in the protagonist and the antagonist but the other note-worthy characters as well. Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn were beyond convincing. And I fully relate to the fact that a mother can be a force of reckoning even if she is not present. An entity that watches and affects you simply for the fact that she's part of you. But my mummy's a sweetie pie of course and nowhere near dangerous. =p

Last Saturday I went to the national library board book fair where all english language books were going for 2 bucks a pop. I went with Ady who's in love with books also. We arrived about 25 mins before the sale began and already there was a long snaking line. 3 rows of pple before us and we were in the fast-forming 4th. As the time neared to the opening, hordes of folk joined in and we realised to our astonishment that we were actually one of the first few even though there were loads of pple in front. Channel News Asia arrived to film the crowd. Many people turned up with trolleys, y'know the kind where aunties go to the wet market to put their produce in. And baby prams too which were suspiciously empty. I think the toddlers were made to walk and the prams were for books. The sale began and many ugly singaporeans emerged. There was a bit of running for, a number of shoving as crowds thicken and many mishandling of books and magazines. It made the whole process more tedious. Someone stepped on Ady's toes and she yelped and the perpetraitor(this unruly auntie) turned around and glared at Ady as if she did an offence unto her! Tsk. Old people these days...

In the end I didn't manage to get the exact titles I was looking for but I did get an author I had in mind. Bought 5 in all for 10 bucks which was kinda a steal.
The Castle by Franz Kafka. I was actually looking for Metamorphosis but this sounds interesting too.
Feast of July by H.E Bates.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl. This is like a blessing! I lost my copy from my childhood and now I got a replacement. =)
The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulison.
London After Midnight which is a collection of short narratives by the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Graham Greene, Agatha Christie and etc.

Think this week may be busy as well...

A Trip To The Dentist.

I went to see a dentist today and it's been quite a while since I've last done so as compared as how regularly i used to go then. I've always known that I have a bit of the gum problems as they bleed quite easily when I brush my teeth. That's why I refrain from flossing cuz I cut my gums quite frequently and also I do the mouth wash thang with listerine quite rarely cuz I hate it when it burns my tongue. So it's kinda my fault my oral state deteriorated over time eventhough I brush my teeth very regularly and more often than not, more than twice a day. But I didn't know my gum problem was worse than I thought and according to my dentist, it's quite alarming at my age. So today when my teeth were cleaned and cleared, there were gaps between some of them where gums should be and I can never grow them back. They've been receeded that badly. I'm very bummed about it. It may be trivial but I'm quite upset. To make matters worse the ones at the bottom front were most effected. From ugly, I've stepped down to ugliER. So much for wanting a prettier smile...

I'm meeting Jo, Ady and Lou later to have an early celebration of Jo's birthday which comes this Monday technically. So I better cheer up by then, wouldn't wanna spoil anybody's mood. I'll be catching Das Experiment before I go see them. Time for a little bit of me-time.

Some folks need to be potty-trained.

Alrighty.

This has been one of my biggest pet peeves for a long time now. Ok, the term pet peeve may be a severe understatement. Sounds like something has ridden up my leg and got my panties into a hard knot doesn't it? It really pisses me off when folks...well...can't take a piss the right way. I'm not sure what the toilet etiqutte is like in the little boys' room but in the ladies'(well a considerable number of them anyway), it's like a stink bomb has gone off and left an apocalyptic mess of pee, poo and sometimes soiled tissue and pads in its pungent wake. In the name of what's fair in this world, maybe the cleaners haven't been doing such a great job but I also believe it is part of the whole cleanliness deal for the users to wash up and clean up after themselves as well should they accidentaly make a mess.

Today I went to East Point to accompany my sister who's sending off her 2-year old to pre-school for the first time. I had to take a leak so I braved one of the bathrooms there. I wasn't in such a perky mood to begin with since I needed to pee really badly and the current users within the cubicles were surely taking their time. Finally when one emerged, I had to stop myself from sprinting inside with the intensity of my pressing bladder and lo and behold, a lovely sight greeted me. there's pee on the floor, on the seat of the toilet, there's wee wee practically everywhere except for inside of the bowl itself. Ok, for guys I undertstand they gotta aim and might miss(but i still enforce that all should clean up after themselves after making a mess). But for us women, all we gotta do is just sit on the pottie and let go. And this method has been tested, folks...if we do it that way, we'll surely score and hit the bull's eye WITHIN the toilet bowl. But no, I had to wipe and clean the piss up with toilet paper(which is gross! cuz it's secreted waste from another person) and line the soiled seat with toilet paper before i can settle down and continue with my business. That's 5 minutes of my time and five stars out of five in the gross factor. I disposed of all tissue and flushed. One more thing, flushing is a virtue and a kindness the next user is sooo gonna be grateful for. Walked out, practically scrubbed the skin off my hands and left.

Before anyone second guesses and derives the same ol' belief that Singaporeans mainly pass the time by complaining, I think there are many issues worthy enough to be ranted and toilet etiquette is definitely one of them. The rest room is a universal place where everybody goes when nature calls so why not take good care of it? During my vacation in Brisbane, I was so pleasantly surprised. Their toilets are so clean. Even those that were in the down town areas were clean...there was graffiti but they were free of human excrement. If things continue to go on like this..we've got a lot to catch up on to get reasonably clean toilets here.

Diary schedules of movie geek.

Thursday, 2nd January 2003: Catch Uzumaki.

Friday, 3rd January 2003: Catch The Cat Returns.

Saturday, 4th January 2003: Catch Deathwatch.

Sunday, 5th January 2003: Catch Gangs Of New York.

Looks like I don't have much of a life, do I?...Hey, you're not supposed to agree with me!!! *bleah* =p

Wishing Everybody a Great 2003 Ahead.

One of the most outstanding things I will always remember about 2002 is how fast the time passed during the course of the year. It has been eventful, to say the least, in many aspects. For all that was good and even for the moments that proved the contrary, I'm thankful for them. Looking back this year, I've realised that there were many defining junctures that moulded some of my perspectives on life and people and I can't help but feel that I've grown some...maybe even much more than I have done previously during certain periods of my life. I hope that for all that it's worth, I've become more aware of things and stronger if not braver although I know courage is something I'd probably have to work on till the end of my days. I also hope that I'll be able to learn and grow more in the years to come and it looks like 2003 may just be slated for that. I feel an important chapter approaching and it can either make me or break me. But no matter what the outcome, I'm definitely going to give it my best shot. I bet 2002 for you all has been profound even though you might feel otherwise at first. Here's wishing you a great 2003 and a new year for resolutions and new beginnings. *cheers!*

And what year is complete for a movie geek without awesome flicks? =) Managed to catch a total of 124 flicks last year. Here's a list of the top 10 films I absolutely love from 2002. I'm a sucker for films that make a bold stand whether it be technique or subject matter. Movies that are unusual, intellectually and emotionally moving, well executed and are the products of fantastic scripts often score points with me too. And of course they'll have to be awesome to watch too. =) I'm kinda fickle with my favourites and I constantly have to re-think and re-number so I better list them before I change my mind again. =p

1. Nirgendwo in Afrika(Nowhere In Africa), Germany- Caroline Link

2. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, USA/New Zealand- Peter Jackson

3. El Espinazo del Diablo(The Devil's Backbone), Spain/Mexico- Guillermo del Toro

4. E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary, USA- Steven Spielberg (muahaha, i found a loop hole to include this in my 2002 list!!!)

5. La Pianiste(The Piano Teacher), France/Austria- Michael Heneke

6. Iris, USA/UK- Richard Eyre

7. Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets, USA- Chris Columbus

8. Vanilla Sky, USA- Cameron Crowe

9. The Man Who Wasn't There, USA- Joel and Ethan Coen

10. Stand-By, France- Roch Stephanik

Very honourable mentions(above honourable mentions which i can't list or else my blog goes overboard):
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain
A Beautiful Mind
The Shipping News
Spider-Man
Star Wars Espisode 2: The Attack of the Clones
Dark Water
Insomnia
Road To Perdition
Monsoon Wedding
Mulholland Drive
Donnie Darko
8 Femmes
Geschicten aus dem Wienerwald(Tales from The Vienna Wood)
Saint-Cyr
Faithless
Below
Regarde La Mer(See The Sea)
A la Folie...Pas Du Tout(He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not)

2003's gonna be an awesome year for movies! I can just feel it...