The Meet

I was looking through my old album and found this old picture of us. That was the assembly area where we used to sing the national anthem and take our pledge each morning. That LONG path (long enough for our 2.4km run) we had to take in order to reach the school compound. I remember how I used to rush to school in the mornings and get caught for being late. Twice or thrice, Yvonne would let me pass so I won't need to get my name written down on the detention book! Haha of course I didn't get to escape from detention totally. There was one time when I had to clear rubbish bins from every class after school as punishment.

I miss the macaroni soup from the school canteen! That stall always had the longest queue.

Julie, Yati and myself used to skip P.E. lessons as much as we could. Then we'll either sit at the stone areas or in class and start chatting away. Haha yeah I don't like P.E. There was once when almost everyone in class skipped Mdm. Zurinah's F&N lesson after exams to play badminton for over 2 hours. We all got muscles aches the next day and couldn't walk properly! Going up and down the stairs was a terrible experience! Lol that's what we got for skipping classes heh.

So I met the girls after my exam. Everyone seems to have lost a bit of weight.

Our dinner at Jalan Kayu

Khai and Atie


Julie, Hana and Myself

Eryani had to work late so we made our way to her home area after dinner for a short meet.

On our way home, Julie was talking about how we used to skip lessons after the exams. I totally don't recall! Lol haven't I always been a good girl? :p She also said that everyone is still the same. I would agree and disagree. I think we have all changed in one way or another but the core of who we are deep inside still remains...and that's a good thing.

Julie was always the funny and jovial one. Khairiyani was the loud one but always kind at heart. Yati was the sensible one. Eryani was the talkative and fierce one while Farhana was the soft spoken, prim and proper one (Eryani and I agrees that Hana has the cutest voice over the phone!).

Well, that was what I thought of them back then...and who I think they still are now :)

1995-1998. It was a good four years. How I miss those times. All of them have either moved or are moving into a new phase of life with their significant other and I am truly happy for them! See you ladies again in less than a month!

Checked my inbox today and I got my first buyer for my cupcake painting! I am so excited to know that someone actually likes my painting enough to want it in their home. I've been on a painting break for quite a while and will hopefully start again soon.

Ciao!

Niza A.

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A Year Wiser

The youngest of the seven princesses celebrated her birthday last weekend. As always, it was filled with laughter and antics.

I was probably still half awake on the way to meet the ladies. First, I made a call to confirm our H.T reservation but got connected to a residence line because I conveniently punched the last number that was stored in my memory log without checking first. Then I missed a train stop and ended up in Somerset instead of Orchard so I had to take the train back in the opposite direction. Lol how did that all happen?

So I finally reached RP. The lady at the counter took a quick glance at her notes. "Table 36," she said with a smile. She gestured to a man with a ponytail and I was escorted to a table where Jas, Jing, Eve and Suh were already seated. He then pulled out a chair for me before wandering off to serve another customer. Shortly after, a man smartly clad in a black suit came over and asked, "Would you like tea or coffee ma'am?" If he had simply said Madam instead, I would've probably slapped him dead (kidding!). Hehehe the best thing about these places is that you will always be greeted like a VIP. Maybe that's why some people do not mind splurging and dining in these places. The experience makes all the difference.

We had a filling 2 hour lunch before making our way to lucky plaza and finally DFS Galleria.

The seats were extremely comfortable. If it wasn't for the tight security and surveillance cameras, I would have brought the sofas and cushions home!

One happy customer. Truly tai-tai. Tell me again why you ladies call me tai-tai? I don't deserve the title in comparison :p

Next. Off we went to Pitstop for our games session. I had plans to head home early but as predicted, I stayed through the night.

Our birthday girl and winner of Spy Alley!

Our fastest game...was it called Mr. X?

SWAP was probably the best game of the night. "what colour? what colour?" "switch" Big swap - "heart pain!" haha. Of all the times we've played at a games cafe, I think Snorta was the most memorable for me.

The birthday girl pouring our free flow (which is actually not free) of water from the mini dispenser.

Pretty Jasmine and Funky Jing goofing around.

Each time we stay out late, Huijing will always call me up to make sure I have already reached home safely. Very caring. I am so touched. (You my beeesssstt frreen... :D)

We should really really really try out TAG Paintball sometime. Pretty costly but I think it would be crazy fun!

After our games, we decided to join Jasmine's husband, Adrian and his friends for karaoke. I think KTV (Suhui's fav) has almost become a ritual each time we're out as a group. Give it another year and I might just be able to sing every mandarin song on KTV haha.

The birthday lady got a mini cake while the guys sang their hearts out. Then it was more picture taking and of course, more singing. The duets at the end was a pretty good way to end the night.

Look forward to our annual meet with the complete seven!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I'm glad that my exams are over, my baby sis is still studying hard for her next paper.

When studying, she gets distracted and blames me for it when I've caught her watching music videos on YouTube several times! Haha she is always extra cranky during the exam period :p

All the best! You'll do well :)

Niza A.

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It's a Weird World

A question posed by a man during an SOS dating segment:

"In a relationship, how soon should I be passing gas?"

??HUH?? (Yea, I hear ya)

Seriously.

Should that even be a question?

I don't know if it was meant to be a joke... but really...... How would a dating expert answer that one? hah

Then the host went on to ask another man:

"What about a girl? What if she happens to pass gas somewhere during the relationship?"

So the man replied:

"I don't know... but I think if it happens then I'll be like...(acting cheeky as he moves closer towards the lady host) oh we're soooo close!"

ROFL!! :D

People are weird.

I'm weird too.

It's only a difference of being a good weird or a bad weird.

I'd rather be the former, thank you.


Niza A.

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Our Current Love

The sisters are loving this song at the moment. Enjoy!

Shiella & Niza A.

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Clone, Brain, Festive Collage

Here I am in the small hours of the morning, finishing my bowl of instant noodles and tuning in to the radio. Class 95 plays the best songs at night, I'll tell ya...

I had the strangest dream last night. I usually get peaceful, dreamless sleep. Except for this recurring dream I get every now and then. A dream interpreted by the Chinese to mean that I will prosper financially soon. Haha. Oh never mind about my dreams.

My clone is complete. Painting a portrait of myself can be quite scary...because of the intense observation of photo realism, I notice every little feature that I would otherwise never really see.

I think the end result doesn't look much like the reference photo but I guess it's not too bad for a first attempt at a full colour realistic portrait. I see where I've gone wrong but I'm too lazy to make changes. Well, they say practice makes perfect so I hope to get better with each new face I paint. Provided I don't get bored painting faces or with painting altogether.

Will someone tell her to stop smiling at me?!

There is another project that I hope to start on soon. Actually, there are 2. Well, 3 to be exact. I wanna be a full-time artist can? Haha but I probably wouldn't last too long...soon enough, my left brain will start screaming for attention. It's amazing...whole brained people like Leonardo Da Vinci and Einstein.

I was reading an article about brain activity and there was this part that I found interesting. The article talked about how changes in our breathing patterns could help shift our moods and attitudes. By controlling the air we breathe in, we can activate our left or right brain dominance. Since the left brain controls the right part of our body and senses, we can activate the left brain by forcing air through our right nostrils and vice-versa.

**Edited**
Shiella said I should not miss out this small info. So just in case anyone wants to try out the test below heheh:

Some right-brain activities would include:

• Singing,
• Painting/drawing,
• Visual – e.g: Looking at pictures, recognising faces
  
• Movement – eg: dance, etc
  

Some left-brain activities would include:

• Reading,
• Writing – language and word skills,
• Calculation,
• Organising data/information,
  
• Remembering names etc
  

****

Ok here's a test of your brain dominance. Breathe deeply in and out of your nose. Then hold a mirror, CD, CD case or something similar under your nostrils. You will find the pools of condensation from your nostrils are of different sizes. This dominance can last for a few hours or shift back and forth from left to right to left in a few minutes. Try it :D. I found this to be true. When I was reading, the condensation produced from my right nostrils were bigger, indicating that I was using my left brain. Soon as I shifted my concentration on a piece of painting, the condensation on the left became bigger. I marveled at this new piece of information and called Shiella into the room to try it out. This test worked on her too. Haha then came the funny and interesting part...

Shiella the science buff said, "Let's try something out."

She took the cd case from my hand and repeated out loud to herself, "Left bigger, left bigger, left bigger." She then breathed out onto the cd case and the condensation pool was bigger on the left.

She did this for the right, repeating out loud, "Right bigger, right bigger, right bigger." Now the condensation pool was bigger for the right.

We were fascinated yet laughing all the same. I took the CD from her and tested this for myself. Yep, it worked on me too. Not too surprising though...considering the fact that our brain usually believes whatever we tell it.

Oxygen, psychology, science of the brain, whatever it is, I have another assignment that I just can't seem to focus on. Maybe I'll force air through my right nostril or simply repeat to myself: "Dominate, left brain...dominate, left brain...dominate!" Maybe that would work...hah. Or perhaps I just need to get back to my exercise regime and get more blood and oxygen pumped up to my brain so I can focus better.

I realised we don't have too many Hari Raya pics this year 'cause we just can't be bothered to take much...many times, we just forgot to snap any. Oh well. I'm signing off now with a collage ('cause I'm too lazy to upload each pic separately) of the festive season.

Now get back to some serious stuff.
Yeah. That was the subconscious talking.

Ciao!
Niza A.

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Doodles and Paints

I have this blank piece of paper that I put underneath my keyboard. At times, I'll start doodling on it when I sit at my desk. Mostly, I don't even know what I'm doodling...but it's as if the right hand has a life of its own and I would suddenly end up with some kind of sketch. Haha. So here was what i got the other day:

I lifted the sketch and placed it right in front of me. For what seemed like a brief moment, we locked eyes as the lips spoke: "Paint... me... a.... portrait...". It was the most mesmerizing voice I've ever heard. Hypnotised, I took out my set of oils, held the paint brush in my hand and let each colour splash itself on the blank canvas. I took a step back, trying to make out the fuzzy outlines. The nose, the eyes, the lips...they all looked too familiar. I pondered further...Have I seen you before?... Then a realization came. I opened my mouth in disbelief as I stared at the face that stood only inches away from me. I pointed my finger at her and uttered, "You...You impostor!" Right there smiling back at me was none other than...my very own...portrait. :D

Ok ok...I'll cut the crap. That of course, was not the real story. I just decided that I should take a break from my child-like paintings of landscapes and cupcakes...and do a more realistic looking portrait. Above is the photo reference...

...and here it is upclose.

This is my second portrait on canvas. I know it looks weird and scary. I'm currently working on the first stage of underpainting. Since I'm using oil paints, it would take about 2 or 3 days for it to dry a bit...after that I'll get on with the shades and highlights. Hopefully, it'll end up looking like me!

Below was my first pop art, cartoon-ized style portrait, using gouche as the painting medium. I gave this to Janice for her birthday this year and she loved it!

I might wanna do a portrait of a couple...and then a baby...and a cat too...then I wanna paint more cupcakes, sweets and desserts.

One of these days, I will want to get on to create paintings that provoke thoughts and emotions - of the viewers. Oh wait...I just remembered...I should be preparing for my upcoming quiz and assignment! Bleh...

Ciao!
Niza A.

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