Transatlanticism

I was counting down the hours until I took off to the skies.

The terminals and runways merge into one time and time again.

You find sanctuary in the clouds,

and solace by the sun.

So, I close off for comfort as I could walk for miles and miles;

and never reach my destination.

I sleep on my side without the safety of your arms.

The pavements no longer crunch,

And the leaves no longer fall.

The expanse of flatness we walked over, over and over,

Changes to tower over me instead.

And it casts a shadow that echoes in my head.

I attempt to make familiar feeling of this foreign scene.

Winter’s chill keeps my chest warm,

And five past sets me on fire.

Tangled in the duvets,

Gazing out the window.

The moon marks the nights we spent staring at the same starry skies that are now empty to me.

I am not a writer but I feel like you deserve some words from me.

A Review Of Sorts (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)

So, I'm never really one for reviewing things, especially films (despite studying film,) but I have just stumbled out of the cinema after the three hour long adventure that is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (And it's Spoiler free!) I am still in the process of sorting and formulating my own thoughts on this, so apologies for the jumble.

To start with, this is a film that has been facing potential scrutiny and criticism since day one - it's got Jackson's previous Lord Of The Rings trilogy to measure up to (including the Oscar winning Return Of The King), whilst the intense fandom hype that has been surrounding the film since it's initial announcement almost seems to be calling for a severe backlash. It's also been shot in 3D, at 48 FPS, allowing for "better colour vibrancy and realism etcetera etcetera," and features a whole range of actors from those noted and loved (such as McKellen,) and newcomers into Middle-Earth lore with big, big boots to fill. (Freeman as Bilbo, for one.)

There is good news: it is not a bad film. (In my opinion, anyway.)

In order to make this easier for myself - and perhaps for you, reader, - I am now going to break this down into several seemingly random categories and discuss them in relation to expectations, execution, and any other notes. And although this is a film adaptation of a (very well loved, I might add,) novel, I am going to vaguely attempt to treat it as a film for film's sake. I cannot fully discount or be un-bias to the existence of its source material, but that's why I cleverly stated 'vaguely attempt.'

Firstly, narrative. The film starts by pulling you in like a novel (how very fitting,) and allows even the audience member with no prior Lord Of The Rings knowledge to understand and delve into the lore of Middle Earth. For the avid fan, however, the film plays much homage to its filmic predecessors; watching The Hobbit will make you feel like you are returning home.

From the minute Shore’s gorgeous score really kicks in, we return right back to … the beginning of where we left off from at The Return Of The King. The beautiful, vast, landscapes are back – and Jackson sure does make use of them, with panoramic shots tracing the action, helping us suspend disbelief in this amazing diegetic world both he and Tolkien created. Little sequences serve as nods to the first trilogy, reminding us that this is a standalone film that isn’t actually standalone, allowing us to immerse ourselves fully in the world of Middle Earth.

Those concerned with pacing may complain about the slowness of the film – and it is undeniable that some parts drag out. However, it also cannot be denied that the action scenes are, on the whole, brilliantly executed, and that the second half of the film really picks up. Without giving too much away, (or any, if I can help it,) the special effects really go to an impressive level with some of the beasts. More impressive still though, is the scope and scale of some of the gorgeous sets, and the attention paid to detail in order to create as rich a diegetic world as possible, in which they definitely succeed. (Those first establishing shots of the dwarven kingdom, anyone?)

The film is one out of three, and roughly 140 pages of The Hobbit. My sister, sitting beside me, worried for a minute about a cliffhanger ending – after all, the next film isn’t out for another year. Luckily, Jackson followed his old tact with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and leaves us on a good leaving note – partially resolved, but ready for more.

Secondly, we cannot discuss the film without discussing the characters. A diverse and colourful range of dwarves of all different types, (apart from gender, we may note, but this is adapted from Tolkien's work so hey ho,) everyone's favourite wizard, and a familiar-in-a-way hobbit all team up to embark on an adventure – a quest! With an adventure party totaling 15, not including minor characters, appearances from elves, antagonists and beasts, it was always going to be a challenge to balance screen time, characterisation and narrative development.

Jackson has here, I believe, set the base for characterisation. We know the dwarves, but not well enough. Whilst lack of full character development is always an important critical factor, we must bear in mind that despite the almost-three-hour time stamp, there are still FIFTEEN CHARACTERS we have to deal with, not including narrative and action. Luckily, Jackson's decision to turn the novel into a trilogy allows him the ability to further develop these characters in the next two installments. Whilst I believe that the 'more-minor' dwarf characters have had a relatively good establishing character base set, it was not really into the later parts of the film that we really began to see character development from the titular character, Bilbo.

Despite this drawback, character dynamics were handled well, and audiences saw a new hero of Middle Earth arise in the character of King Thorin, who seemed like the real protagonist of the film – for the first half or so, at least. In addition, Jackson does well in characterizing the overall lifestyle of the dwarves, establishing quickly their natures and different personalities in a fun sequence early on, creating distinctions from the elves of Rivendell, and of course, the hobbits of the shire. It does help that those familiar with the original trilogy (so basically everyone,) will know all these species back to front – and this is again, what helps to make this film so delightfully familiar in its settings.

As with the original trilogy, Jackson delicately balances humour and light-heartedness with both gritting action scenes. In addition, a certain exchange between Thorin and Bilbo starts the tapping into emotions and begins to delve into more complex character relationships; this is not completely a film about action and adventure - but about dwarves and a hobbit. Andy Serkis’s portrayal of Gollum highlights this perfectly, with a both endearingly humourous yet tragic performance.

Returning to aesthetics, it would be silly not to mention the technical aspects of The Hobbit. Whilst the 48fps did give it an overall smoothness – and gorgeous, vibrant colour, especially with some of the landscape shots – combined with 3D (there was no 2D option to watch it any of the closest cinemas,) it gave some of the characters a very glossed-over feel; I initially almost felt like I was watching a CGI film. Luckily, either my eyes adjusted or the effects did, but by the time we were being introduced to our dwarven company, it looked much more real – and a good thing too, as the dwarves are all brilliantly adorned, with defining physical appearances. Thirteen, newly introduced characters are, after all, going to be hard for non-readers (and perhaps for readers to distinguish on screen,) to remember, but as mentioned before, Jackson has set the base – some are more characterized than others, allowing for further development in the next two films. (No doubt they’ll be just as long.)

This is, without a doubt, an exciting film. Sure, the pace is a tad unnecessarily slow at the beginning, but it makes up for it by throwing you head first into the middle of the action with our large group of protagonists. It’s not a perfect film, but it definitely starts us off on the journey. Fans of the previous trilogy will find solace in the familiar feel of the film, and new viewers will find themselves drawn into a brand new adventure. It is a great introductory film for setting the pace, and tone, and for introducing a brand new range of not-yet-heroes for Middle Earth – as Bilbo says, “I’m not a hero… or a warrior… or even a burgular.” We will, however, come next year, see the next installment of The Hobbit, and see what adventures lie in store for our characters next, as they grow and develop into the heroes we know them to be in The Lord Of The Rings. 

Resolution

I only seem to ever blog when I have literally NOTHING else to do, which isn't really fair to all you readers! (Stats say there are somehow a few of you out there, okay, that's legitimate.)
Maybe my New Year's Resolution this year can be to start blogging again ... all the broken link pictures really got me into a right upset state because I like neatness, but hey, I can always just kind of start again on the same blog, right?


I'm back in Hong Kong now actually. As in, got off the plane today after a failed cab reservation that led to me calling a cab basically in tears down the phone, almost hitting a child with a rogue luggage trolley, oh, and getting an upgrade and having the whole aisle to myself and because it was Air New Zealand, it was basically AIR MIDDLE EARTH. (No kidding, that's like totally their seasonal tagline.)

So, updates: I had my birthday on tuesday! 19 isn't amazing so far. I did get lots of lovely things including chocolate (duh always works,) and i did get sung to in Welsh which was cute. My party was the friday before which you'd know if I'd been bothering to update this but I haven't. Y'all haven't missed much, I swear - house parties and sometimes I went out but mostly just stayed in because I'm boring and afflicted with Couple Syndrome™ now apparently.

You see, I planned a fancy dress party with a wide theme and basically TOLD everyone they'd HAVE to dress up but actually didn't end up getting a costume until the DAY BEFORE MY OWN PARTY.



Portia and Esme also came down and it was nice to have a great CATCH UP HANGOVER SESH the next day when we all dragged our sorry asses to Spoons to devour breakfast. Spoons is becoming my hangover cure - testified by Saturday, when I woke up blindingly hungover at 7.30. Managed to get halfway down the stairs before I had to stop and rest, then turned the heating on and crawled back into bed and then I spent the rest of the morning feeling very sorry for myself and complaining in my delicate state before I was able to go have breakfast and then of course I was fine although quite confused after a very fun and strange house party.

I'm going to have to up my tolerance big time before I fall in the ocean heading home one night and drown.

Last sentence because I've moved to an island which requires ferrying - which is annoying but I can forgive that based on the disneyland fireworks I can see every night. The door also beeps like a maniac every time you leave it open which really confused me the first time. And we have no keys but use a hidden keypad which does admittedly make me feel like a spy every time i walk in which is awesome.

Been trying to dabble with a (writing) piece about traveling and the international lifestyle based on how many times I cross through airports and come through clouds every year, but I guess my mind's not in that creative a place at the minute. I'm going to have to get my hands on a guitar at some point which basically just suggests that I should get a new one for christmas, right?

No one's back for a week so i guess i'll be running errands and staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar house wondering what I'm going to do with my life in the time being. I'd keep you updated but I think that would even bore me, so, later.

Liveblogging Twilight from a Module Screening

10.01am: Wander in late during Bella’s monologue. Rosy groans “Why are we watching this”

10.04am: NICE WEAVE, JACOB

10.06am: Bella cruelly beats up some kid with a ball, Kristen Stewart attempts showing remorse

10.07am: Jack’s “oh my god!” as Anna Kendrick comes on screen

10.08am: dramatic music starts. Something big is clearly happening

10.08am: Bunch of lookalike models all dramatically walk in, in slo-mo

10.09am: Footface enters the building

10.10am: they all stare creepily at Bella

10.10am: If Edward was looking at me like that I’d cry that’s terrifying

10.10am: a fucking fan is blowing her hair

10.10am: Edward pulls the world’s biggest derp face, puts hand over mouth as if he is going to be VIOLENTLY ILL ALL OVER BELLA

10.11am: Bella checks to see if she smells

10.11am: Montage of the teacher teaching and Edward looking in a mix of looking like he’s about to vomit and/or jizz himself.

10.11am: Edward is really being very rude and Kristen Stewart is trying to portray Bella trying hard not to cry but doing a very poor job (as usual)

10.14am: Emmett standing up in the car like some kind of hood rat

10.15am: the one “proof” that Bella is clumsy as she falls over. Kristen Stewart has absolutely no facial change.

10.17am: Edward makes least charming, most awkward introduction ever.

10.18am: Bella doesn’t like ‘cold wet things’

10.19am: So many close-ups of Edward’s face I am beginning to feel super uncomfortable.

10.19am: Rosy: ‘She thinks he’s sexy’

10.21am: Edward foils a car’s attempt to assassinate Bella. Kristen Stewart still portrays absolutely no emotion.

10.22am – 10.25am : Bella and Edward have some kind of awkward debate over his heroic antics. They have absolutely no chemistry.

10.25am: Edward is watching Bella while she sleeps THAT IS NOT NORMAL IN ANY UNIVERSE YOU JUST DON’T DO THAT.

10.26am: Mike is quite adorable she should just date him so we don’t have to deal with sulkypants sulking in the background and all the drama he brings.

10.28am: Edward sassily scolds Bella like the incompetent child she is. ‘Why don’t you at least look where you walk?!’

10.31am: Edward dropping hints like bombs, tries to sound dark and mysterious. Comes across as a twat.

10.32am: Bella, world’s biggest hypocrite, talks about ‘strong, independent women.’ The world collectively groans.

10.33am: Outburst of laughter from Sophie during ‘The cullens don’t come here.’

10.35am: Here come the shitty slowmo special effects showing their ‘powers’

10.38am: Special snowflake not into dresses and girly things.

10.39am: Attempted gangrape of Bella. Kristen Stewart doesn’t quite manage to convey fear.

10.39am: The attempted rapists can feel Edward’s BLOODLUST. They back off promptly and he engages in reckless driving.

10.41am: Edward’s ‘charming voice’ sounds like mashed potatoes.

10.43am: “But you…nothing.” Rosy: “Because she doesn’t have anything.”

10.50am: Camera attempts to make us dizzy as Bella reaches the staggering and unexpected realization that Edward is INDEED A VAMPIRE.

10.51am: Laughter as Edward yanks bella onto his back and does some kind of slobbish sprint.

10.52am: Edward walks into the sunlight, glitters like a discoball. Jack: “He’s fabulous” Rosy: “He looks really wet.”

10.53am: Edward runs around the forest and breaks shit, whines about being a predator.

10.54am: “I’ve never wanted a human’s blood so much in my life.” “I trust you.” Vom. Bella you fucking idiot.

10.56am: Romantically lying on the grass, staring at each other as camera spins round and round.

10.58am: Bella’s description of Edward just makes him sound like a giant mosquito.

10.59am: Sepia flashback sequence where Carlisle passionately gives Edward a hickey.

11.02am: (Tweet from Jack) ‘I think Kirsten Stewart is a great actor. She taps into emotions I didn't even know existed.’

11.06am: Jack and Sophie both cough. Jack: “COUGH BUDDIES!”

11.07am: Bella: “No bed?” Edward: “No, I don’t sleep.” Rosy: “That’s not what she was thinking.”

11.08am: Edward listens to Debussey. He is clearly so cultured.

11.09am: Sophie splutters in an attempt to hold in a laugh at Bella’s ‘I can’t dance.’

11.09am: Jack erupts into laughter as Edward grips Bella on his back and runs around the forest like a loony.

11.11am: Bella lies on the sofa. PAINT ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR FRENCH GIRLS, EDWARD.

11.12am: Stephenie’s moment of stardom, she grins to herself as she drinks her coffee.

11.15am: Whole room groans at “I like watching you sleep.” Jack: “yuck!”

11.16am: Bella gets too frisky. Edward is ‘stronger than he thought.’

11.19am: Forgot about this awful baseball scene

11.20am: FAMILY FUN TIME

11.21am: James and his models strut in.

11.24am: James wants to eat Bella and the two teams of vampires stand and hiss menacingly at each other.

11.29am: Cullens GEAR UP FOR WAR.

11.32am: Montage sequence – James sniffs things, gets angry, Alice has a vision and draws things.

11.35am: Bella goes off and her own and fails miserably at basically everything from now on.

11.37am: James starts to direct his snuff film.

11.39am: Bella starts to get crazy vampire spasms – Kristen Stewart flails around like a fish and pulls awkward faces.

11.39am: The rest of the gang arrive and Alice rips james’ head off whilst Edward just cries and almost kills Bella BECAUSE SHE JUST TASTES SO DAMN GOOD APPARENTLY.

11.42am: Shockingly edited montage depicting their ‘relationship’ and what she means to him.

11.48am: Jacob and Edward have an awkward, hostile confrontation. Me and Rosy both hiss.

11.55am: Mike’s extreme disapproval at radiohead being used as the credits start to roll. We all all severely relieved.

Small Town Moon

Christ, it's really been a while. Facebook's gone and changed their picture formats and the lack of photos on here and how much time it's going to take to edit them all has been depressing me, thus, lack of posts. I should really be typing more and relying less on photos, but I am a photographer and my already not so interesting life is just less interesting without visuals.


Because I am backdated by like, 2 months, I'm just going to summarise.
(1) Got back to uni and was reunited with everyone including my lovely boyf. Because we're living in Leamington this year (and by we, I mean I kind of occupy a little space including a shelf and a corner of the floor and half the bed in Joe's room...) there's been less going out and more house parties. Been to a fair few, several dress up, at all sorts. (cbf to go into detail)
 











(2) Wow I literally remember nothing else (serves me right for not updating sooner.) Basically, been going into uni, course still great, mondays suck blah blah, house parties sometimes, mostly staying in because I'm turning into an old lady and OH WOW YEAH I'M STARTING TO GET HANGOVERS FUCK THIS. :(

(3) Buuut a recent exciting adventure was that me and Joe went down to London to go eat at MAZE because we absolutely fail at being uni students. First day was spent just wandering around oxford circus because shops don't actually close at stupidly-early o'clock there. Went to Hamleys and basically relived my childhood, although I was disappointed that it seemed so much smaller (In before y'all can think 'No shit Laura you've gotten bigger in 10 years,) but was still a nice wander. Went and had a steak (!) in cafe rouge and literally the best desserts ever. I do not think you understand how good this dessert was. Have some pictorial proof of the menu:

MAZE itself was ridiculously nice. Did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and navigated the tube - I still get crowd stress it seems - and ate so much and I got really upset that I got too full to eat all dessert. Drinks and service charge still was a big chunk of money.

Train'd home Monday morning to return back to student life. (Or not.) 


There is really not much else to write here; I guess I just wanted to do a clearing up of all the backdated stuff - because this kind of stuff actually does stress me out ... - so I can move on and post when (if) anything interesting happens. Maybe I'll do more text-based posts or something.


I'm barely motivated to do anything that's not lie in bed and watch films as of late really. And try to befriend cats on the street who just don't want to know...

A Drop In The Ocean

Back again after a fruitful absence from the internet as Lucinda was over for 10 days. In these 10 days, we scaled mountains in a runaway mine cart, tripped over snakes, got hung up on by service operators, and made cocktails in my room watching studio ghibli films.

Rundown:

(1) Lucinda arrives exhausted. I drag her up to the top of the mountain and we get starbucks and walk down and I show her the city lights. Weather decides to be a dick and it's horribly polluted and doesn't look near as pretty as it usually does.

(2) I go for my last day of work whilst Lucinda sleeps off her traveling. I get back just as she wakes up. We wander town - looking in toy shops because we are so mature - and go for korean bbq. We use the excuse of having to eat lots to absorb all the alcohol we'd no-doubtedly be chugging later (jaeger night,) before heading out and indeed, consume a fairly impressive amount (for the two of us lightweights.) I end up dragging her home at three, exhausted cus of work.

(3) Visit to Lamma island with my parents. Walk around the island with proper chinese seafood. Lucinda's hangover fucks off at about 3 so it's all good. We watch cute films. Memory can't even remember what now.

(4) Disneyland! We start the day off with frozen yogurt because with a day that STARTS with froyo, there's no way it can be bad and it can only get better. Highlights include space mountain, the new grizzly mountain in all its shocking backwards glory, the philharmagic orchestra as usual because it's cute, everything about toy story land, and of course, FIREWORKS!!!

We got bows as well, cos we're cute.

NEVER FAIL TO GIVE ME GOOSEBUMPS.

Okay, I think y'all get my eternal undying love for fireworks at this point.

(5) Went to cheung chau late afternoon for more seafood - don't know why - and cycling. Rented bikes and cycled along the seafront until Megan got lost. After dinner, went to Sav's gig and ended up accidentally out at $10 vodka night for a bit. I finally have a witness as to how strong the drinks are here.

(6) Ladies' Night - went to Esme's to chill for a bit before going out for a letdown of a ladies' night to be honest. Too busy and we waited for like 15 minutes to get a drink. My guy friends had even more trouble, so we gave up and came home and watched films tipsy instead.

(7) I think we went shopping today? Everything has sort of merged into one big memory again. Wandered Mongkok and the little malls and picked up some things. Came home (again) and marathoned studio ghibli. (Lucinda is now a big fan. Can't describe how pleased I am.)

(8) Ocean park!!! Despite it being a friday, it was literally the best day we could've gone... there weren't that many mainlanders as China's holiday was just about over. The longest line we had to wait in was about 15 mins and there were loads of new rides to go on! We cleverly went straight on the hair-raiser (new rollercoaster,) without actually looking at it which was lucky as once we were on it we freaked out as it looked far more horrifying than it actually was. Yay, reckless moment of bravery - 1.

From the collection of photos titled 'Laura & Lucinda wait in line.'

Lucinda had never seen pandas before !!!

Was disgustingly hot. Really, really bad. But it looks pretty.

babyyyy

Several long stays at the south pole encounter / north pole encounter / aquarium / ANYWHERE REMOTELY COOL AND AIR CONDITIONED for prolonged periods of time.

Also: they have a walrus now!!! For something so ugly, it really was majestically beautiful! Doing all its graceful backflips and just swimming around. We spent quite a lot of time just watching it.

We both actually didn't go on the turbo drop because she hates anticipation and this time there weren't any 11 year olds around to make me feel bad for not going on hah.

(9) Did more shopping today after a long recovery. Lingered in the cat shop for ages buying presents for Lucinda's boyfriend and I just looked since I hadn't been paid yet. Such a big list of things to buy now! Went out for the last time this night - jaeger again, and I also took Lucinda to see LKF which she liked. Since we're both apparently old now, we left earlyish.

(11) Lucinda left late at night so we just went up to the peak again and had new york fries (of course) and just stared at the skyline before dropping her off and then I came home and skyped boyfriend for like 3 hours to catch up.

Since then, I've gone shopping (and blown half my paycheck already oops not really,) and have just been playing guitar / piano and composing and drawing and running and counting down the days. As of now, 9 sleeps til i'm back in england with boyfriend :) Finally into single digits. Me & Lucinda both kept reiterating how this was the first time we'd complained about the length of a holiday. Sucks being so far away from half the people I care loads about for so long. Not long now. I've got a 12 hour (upgraded, yay!) plane flight and an extensive to do list once I land. So excited. ♡

This Deadbeat Summer

Apologising here for this shall be a very, very, jumbled post. There are writings from several different times and I just think I'm going to make it easy for all and post one entry instead of like a million.

A month 28 days  NOW IT'S 21 DAYS 'til I touchdown at Heathrow, then a few more hours until I'm back in the slightly familiar, but less familiar territory of Leamington Spa.

Not going to lie, this summer is dragging on even longer than the last, which I thought was the longest thing ever. It had reached the point where I was forcing myself so hard just to do something and dragging myself around like some sad zombie. Lately, I've been waking up, going to work, coming back and just sleeping and watching films until I have to go out for the night. And if I don't have to go out for the night, I just continue doing nothing. Time-passing is a really boring activity.

A few notes and distinctions that I have made concerning this time last year:

August 20th was the date Portia left last year - no, I am not freakishly obsessive about her, it's just I checked the last blog entry, - whilst Lucinda, my summer visitor for 2k12, hasn't even arrived yet, and won't until the 24th. It'll be nice showing her around again and showing her this metropolitan hell hole I call home. Like Portia, I don't know how well she'll be equipped to the heat (I've lived here 17 years and struggle to not melt into a pathetic puddle on the sidewalk)

Last year, I was excited to leave to leave this behind and start 'afresh' as it were, on almost the other side of the world. I wanted to meet new people and see new places and live independently and I was determined to have a really, really good year.

As a result of that (a.k.a, I did,) now I want to go back to that. I've left behind the familiar places, the feeling of living independently - the amount of times I leave the house without saying anything just because I'm used to it is ridiculous - and the people.

It's now this really strange thing - my friends don't live a few doors down, or a short walk away from me. It's also a different group of friends - I love them just as much, but there are those moments when something striking reminds me of someone and I want to tell them or show them, and then remember they're not actually physically present with me, or even in close proximity.

I suppose it is really a case of I miss there when I'm here and here when I'm there.

Now, time to update on a few work tales. I've been working every day so I've got quite a few stories. Children are funny ones, aren't they? Chinese children even more so perhaps - some of these kids do lessons a few hours a day with ME; can't imagine what their other extracurriculars are. Anyway, here some some of the high/low lights:

I've had to sing the ABC's about three hundred million times because the youngest class of 2 year olds - who can barely speak chinese let alone english -  insist I join in every time they sing and they sing it a lot.

I have met the devil. He currently walks the earth in the form of a 4 year old girl who wears frilly dresses and pigtails. I may have kind of under my breath called her a bitch after she made one of the sweetest little boys cry.

I'm losing my voice from playing this stupid game called monster where I have to stomp around and roar at the kids and they think it's the most fun thing ever when it's really not.

Okay, NOW let's see what I've been up to on the front of socialising... apart from work, I'm barely doing much. I usually come home after work and just lie in bed watching a film because I'm so drained by the journey. I've never had to change 3 times on the underground before, urgh. #firstworldtransportproblems. I'm also broke at the moment so going out for meals and stuff just makes me feel bad about spending my parents' money so recently I've literally just been staying at home playing the ukulele at obnoxious hours.

Chris' belated BY 2 YEARS 18th birthday junk on Sunday. Brilliant, except it was 4 days ago and everyone is still burnt and peeling, (thank god for exfoliating) and I think i'm still TIRED from it. Spent the day on a boat in the ocean with drinks and loads of food and good company, even if half of them were hungover.

Went out as well last night from Mikayla & Nicole - from uni - and found basically my entire school in Skitz. Ladies night is free drinks so I stayed there and caught up with the year above, my year, and the year below which was weird. I basically knew the entire room. I hadn't really seen any of them so it was quite nice I suppose.

Finally, Lucinda gets here tomorrow (!!!) for 10 days. Should be fun. Her first time in Asia so it's gonna be such a crazy culture difference. So excited for her, and for me, for all the cute stuff I'm dragging her around and making her do. I should be getting paid for work as well so I'll finally have money. I'm already looking forward to spending it in the two weeks after Lucinda goes whilst I mope around waiting to leave. 

On A Boat

Update concerns the weekend's night junk party. For my international readers, (lol) a junk party is when you hire out a several story boat and drive far out to sea where the water is less shitty and polluted. You can jump off the top (i.e. shove each other off) and there's usually loads of food and alcohol of course and you may hire a speedboat and wakeboard and banana boat and enjoy fun sea activities as such.

Because the climate was still being a complete asshole, Esme & Megan hired out the junk for the night time instead and we drove round the harbour against the pretty lit up skyline and consumed both cake and for some, copious amounts of alcohol. I am pleased to inform that I was not the first to fall over.

 

oh YEAH we went to the beach on Friday aka Esme's real birthday. ~afterthought~

I reckon my pretty skyline photos would have turned out a lot nice if I had been sober with a tripod & stabilizer instead of tipsily stumbling around on a swaying boat. (Okay, I half stole that line from Joe, here's your credit.)

Cooler box 1/4 of our alcohol stash, which we managed to deplete. No one was actually really drunk - or at least, drunk enough to fall off the boat - so that was really impressive actually. High five for our group.

Paisano's does really big pizzas jesus, even between all of us we couldn't finish them and I was full after oNE SLICE like some kind of huge disappointment.

Lale. I won't really try to explain the inside joke of Lale because no one will just ever get it and it ends up being me, Esme & Lian just laughing ridiculously so there you have it.

Beautiful skyline ruined (or enhanced?!) by the best diva face I have ever seen on almost anyone, let alone Genie. "uh, you fucking what?"

Lazorzzz.

Me with mah main girl who also bought me fairylights. I need to just marry her already. We half drunkenly star gazed and argued about whether a star/satellite was a star or a satellite. We did manage to identify all the planes though, wow us.

Penelope was the best birthday gift one could wish for. Esme wished for a pony. She got a pink unicorn. Penelope also makes clopping and whinnying sounds, just sayin'

Burday gurlz.

Most amazing cake HAND MADE by Megan. She bigged this one up to me on Friday and it did not disappoint at all.

Drunk slut passed out in the corner already.

Arrived back on the pier and got a call asking if I could cover in work so I agreed and headed home "to get an early night," but of course I didn't and stayed up 'til 5 making the most amazing to do list with boyfriend for when i'm back in england. (Sept 14th yeeeeah!)

Meanwhile, Lucinda has officially booked her flight for here in SEVENTEEN DAYS or maybe sixteen, I don't know, too lazy to count, and Lucas has booked his for December. So many of my favourites coming to visit! 

I will end this relatively short update by saying that whilst new guitar shopping (white or baby blue???) I've spotted the most adorable instrument on Earth. A pink ukulele with a smiley face painted on it. I'm buying it next time I'm there.