Miles and miles away.

 

Annnnd here we have on the left side, my awesome father getting excited after knowing that a thing called skype conference call actually existed. "You mean I can talk to you and talk to abang at the same time?!" =.=

Annnnd on the right side, my adorable little brother, Mikhail, perfecting the whole 'Who the hell are you, why are you all up in ma face?' look.  He finds the image of him much more thrilling to look at than to look at me, who is obviously trying really hard to get his attention by swifting side to side and flailingly waving my hands all over the place. Flailingly? Is that even a word, Faten? It should be a word. Mama said Mikahil could do the 'you sing twinkle little star and I'll do the star with my hand' thingy but as soon as I started singing, he started fidgeting around which probably meant 'get me out of here before she starts singing again!' =.=

So since Papa now knows the existence of conference call and its uses, he insisted we skype with Opah tonight considering my brothers are going back to Taiping today. I'm really excited about it, but Abang has been harassing me with skype calls 'cause apparently something's wrong with his skype and he can't video call. So I've been getting calls with a greeting of "Can you see me now?.....How 'bout now?" for the past half hour. By the end he figures out that he might as well on skype through his iPhone since you can vieo call on iPhone. WHICH BY THE WAY, I happened to have informed him of it the first time he called but as usual, he shrugged off every idea I say as useless. And when I say "See, I told you to do that earlier!" And he replies with a simple "I didn't hear it." =.= 

Sigh. I miss my family.

Oh well. For the time being, I'll put on my hot blazing red mask and conquer Spectrochem. 

Nanananana Batman!....?

Like crazy. Literally.

 I don't care.

I don't care about the fact that I have 3 assignments to hand in tomorrow.

I don't care about the fact that I have a lab report due this wednesday.

I don't care about the fact that I have my mid terms in a week and I have absolutely no idea what I have been learning for the past 3 weeks.

I don't care.

I need a break.

And I want it now.


I am tired and I know some people have it worse than I do right now, but all I can say is; good luck!

But everything else can wait because I am taking some of my time for a movie because I have had it up to here with all this....stuff.

 

And, yes. Hand me that box of tissues! 

'All Tomorrow's Parties'

My 2nd year here has finally come to an end! Woohoo! *fireworks*

Time does fly fast doesn't it? This year, God really tested my patience. For a minute, I thought I had everything I ever needed, and He went and took one thing away from me, and I immediately fell to pieces. It was good to be tested. Makes you remember and realize that you can never really have everything all at once..

So last night we had our Farewell party for all the seniors who are going back to Malaysia for good this March. We had to cook, set everything up, by the gifts; so basically we had to do everything. It was tiring, but the outcome was amazing.

Cake with names of the people we were celebratingNazriq and I. Goes to show I will never be able to get to his height no matter how high my heels are (=.=")

Oh, the theme was purple and blue. Perfect combination of my two favorite colors.


I love this picture. Everybody looks so happy!

*pictures credit to Fatin Rosyadah*

It was fun to see everybody all dressed up and looking all handsome and pretty :p It was one of the best nights here I've had so far, I think. May there be many more memories to come!

"Most of our life is a series of images. They pass us by like towns on the highway. But sometimes a moment stuns us as it happens. And we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever.'"
-One Tree Hill

Bring on all the pretenders

I officially declare that winter break is over! (actually, it has been over for 3 days now :P)


Spent my winter break with my lovelies; those that light up my world.

23/12/2011:

Spent the first day of winter break at..the embassy =.=" Dasar Pandang ke Timur has reached its 30th year, and the embassy held a discussion where we were given topics and had to present them in a group. It was..okay, I guess. Met up with so many people that I hadn't seen in a while which felt really good. Ended the night with a Starbucks session with the girls at Shibuya :)

24/12/2011:

Went to Odaiba's Aqua City for Illumination with about 10 (or more) of my friends. I kinda lost count when everybody was together :p Exchanged hugs, smiles, laughs and had much fun despite the fact that the only thing we saw was a so-called Healing Christmas tree or, something like that. Although, the night did light up with fireworks for about 10 minutes near the Rainbow bridge in Tokyo which was spectacular! So that cheered up my night.

The crew with the Rainbow bridge behind us! Not everyone's in the picture because it was friggin cold outside, but then again with good company I was warm enough :) *picture credit to Nazriq*

25/12/2011:

Spent the morning at the guy's house for breakfast (or more like brunch), with Roti Canai and Apple Pie made by Pja :) Then spent the evening at the beach, 'cause Pja insisted on going although it was winter =.= But once we got there, it didn't seem so cold which was good.

Priceless. It got colder as we got closer to the sea, so clearly, I wasn't so excited.
*picture credit to Nazriq*

*picture credit to Nazriq*

Ended the night with approximately 6 hours of Karaoke-ing and good laughs, of course.

26/12/2011:

Friends slept over so we did the usual slumber party madness. Sleeping at 4 am. Saying good night and turning off the lights just to end up talking so much more than before. Baking. Gossiping. Fangirl-ing. Well, you know. The usual stuff :p

Hmm, as I write this I actually realize..that my winter break actually ended long before this. It ended when friends went back home to their places and I was left in Chiba while everybody went of skiing or snowboarding. *sigh* Oh well, it was fun while it lasted :) Great friends. Great company. Great entertainment. The foundation to a great life :)

Long live the walls we crashed through
While the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming, long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders, one day we will be remembered
-Taylor Swift, Long Live

December boys.

I have approximately another 30 minutes before this gets outdated, so, Hello, December! :)

Goodbye, November. It was good to know you, but I honestly don't ever wanna go back to November where it was all loneliness and depression for me. I was such a mess.

Oh well, so cheers to December! Cheers to a new month and to a new stronger me. InsyaAllah.

Went to Chiba today and got my バイト許可. Yay! I can finally start searching for a part-time job! While everybody will be happily going snowboarding or skiing etc, I'll be cooped up at home or if God's willing, I'll be working my ass off so I can get enough money so I can shop in Europe and actually get a ticket back home for spring break. I wanna go home. I wanna play with Mikhail :(

So after I went to get my バイト許可, my friend and I went to look for new boots and heat-tech clothes from Uniqlo since winter is here and the temperature is dropping like crazy! Anyways, its amazing how you see things so differently when you know you have no money to shop. I am such a big spender, so when I go out and just NOT buy stuff, it just seems weird. Like how I went with some friends to Harajuku and bought..nothing! We went to Forever 21, H&M, almost all the places I love to shop at, and I bought nothing! I felt really proud of myself at the end, although there was that one jacket that kept haunting me in my dreams. lol I do however, hate the fact that I have to cut my money also when it comes to getting food. That sucks. Anyone who knows me knows that I would do anything to get my hands on good food :p Oh well, itu semua nafsu kamu, Faten! Ingat tu!

Got my weekly dosage of Takoyaki today, although had second thoughts on actually going to get some or not T.T Couldn't resist so there goes money on Takoyaki. But mehhh it was worth it! So I got home at around 6 and decided to catch up on some reading, which I have put hold on for a long time now. Then it seemed like the perfect night to get into the bathtub which I have not been in since spring 'cause..you just..don't get into the bathtub when its summer..So got to catch up on my reading and felt so refreshed after my bath. I skipped dinner 'cause I have this whole new plan on not eating any carbohydrates for dinner or basically just, stop having dinner. lol It didn't go so well though. Not tonight, it didn't. I felt so hungry and then teringat pulak cucur ikan bilis I had when I went over to Pja's place and just the thought of it made my stomach grumble and so I just had to make some. And I finished it in 10 minutes. T.T So there goes my diet. But overall, I think I started my December with a good kick. Did something life changing, if you call getting a job life changing that is :p Did myself proud with not doing any unnecessary shopping. Got myself refreshed. Stomach's happy. So..bring on December! Oh wait, I have mid-terms which I'm not done with...Damn it!

Ps: WHY has it taken me so long to realize how effin gorgeous Adam Levine is? I wanna marry him and have his babies. And this isn't just any random thought anymore lol

Coming Home.

'I'm coming home, I'm coming home. Tell the world I'm coming home.'

In approximately 11 hours I'll be on the plane back to Malaysia. Honestly, I can't wait to be home. These past 6 months has been such a roller coaster ride. There's only so much of stress a person can cope with.

People have said to me, 'You're always coming home. You might as well have just stayed and continued your studies in Malaysia.'

And some people have said, 'It's not like you do much when you get back, why don't you just stay in Japan and enjoy it over there.'

And some would also say, 'Go work part-time or something, over there. Get some experience!'

What they don't know is that, the difference between us is the fact that I can run away for awhile from all the pressure I have, while they might not have the chance. What they don't know is that, studying abroad is so much more challenging than they think. What they don't know is that it ain't all fun and play. You have responsibilities. You have bills and rent to pay. You have groceries to buy. You have only loneliness to keep you company sometimes. You have to stay positive all the time to keep yourself from falling apart. Its hard. Its fun, but its REALLY hard. So stop complaining about your education because trust me, half of us here wish we were in your shoes right now.

This past semester has been really tough on me. Everything is starting to get harder, and more complicated than I have ever imagined.

So I need to get away from this place for a while. I'm not running away from it, no I'm not. I'm just not ready to face it again..just yet. The intensity of it all is driving me crazy.

Oxygen

This felt so right, pull me upsideDown to a place where you've been waitingAnd how am I supposed to tell you how I feel?I need oxygen

-Colbie Caillat

It's Spring. So for those of us who are trying their best to survive and live with all the radioactive stuff going on in Japan, it's just about a really nice time to go Hanami. In other words, we go out to a park, have a picnic under all the beautiful cherry blossom trees. I assure you, its much more fun when you're doing it rather then reading about it :p

Chiba has received 3 new members to the family, and we have accepted them with open arms. They, are my juniors. Watching them, guiding them reminds me a lot of how I was exactly one year ago. It surprised me by seeing them, to as how much I've grown more independent and changed so much.

So basically, this is the main reason we go and have these activities.

What would a picnic be without food, right? Menu for lunch: Nasi Lemak, Agar-agar, Spaghetti

There's actually a story to tell about lunch. As we were busily and noisily, as we Malaysians tend to be just because nobody can understand what you're saying, eating lunch, suddenly a Japanese woman comes up to us and hand us a plate of Sushi! Or more in lines of Onigiri, I think. So in return, I set up a plate of agar-agar and some kerepek we had to that woman and her group. It's amazing how friendly Japanese people can be. Then again, were they just drunk enough to give us food?

So this is the park we chose to have our Hanami. Chiba Park. Yes, you could go on those boats for..i'm not sure how much.

I really wanted to go on one with one of my seniors, but we were unlucky as we got to the counter at 4 o'clock, and it had just closed :(

Addition to the Chiba family, Fatira & Syadah

Half of the guys in Chiba

So this is what a Cherry Blossom a.k.a Sakura looks like up close. Pretty, right? :) Their's apparently a lot of colors, but I've only seen white and pink.

Atiqah, or Atie as we like to call her. My senior, and my cooking mentor :p

Wahi and Atie, two of my closest friends in Chiba.

It wouldn't be Japan, if there weren't stalls selling their delicacies such as Takoyaki and Yaki Ika (grilled squid)

After a month and a half spent at Malaysia, coming back and smelling all that grilling smell of Yaki Ika, Yaki Soba and Takoyaki somehow made me feel nostalgic and just happy to be back to the place which has most of my favorite foods.

The gang :)

Just to share, apparently there's a Sakura park in Manhattan, United States. Japan gave Sakura trees to the United States as a token of their growing friendship. pffftt