My Cousin's Wedding

Time started: 22:55
Place: Living room (Adelaide)
Listening to: "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 (AOL Sessions)" - The Flaming Lips
Weather: Freezing cold >.<;; Mood: Exhausted...

I went back to Darwin for four days from 8th-12th August for my cousin's wedding. Kevin Phang and Christina Chau (now Christina Phang :D) had their Chinese wedding on Friday 8th. It took place at my uncle's house in Alawa. They looked glamorous in traditional Chinese wedding gowns. It involved the bride and the groom presenting tea to the elder members of their family and the younger members of their family present tea to them. I, being the younger cousin, had to present tea to the bride and the groom. It made Kevin and Christina feel old. After the paying of respects with tea, we stuffed ourselves with homemade cooking from various members of the family, including my mum. We all sat outside in the yard, eating and chatting away and it has been such a long time since I've had a family gathering like this. There were also some family members I've never met before, such as one of my paternal aunts who lived in Japan. There were also aunts and uncles I haven't seen for years. Later that night, we all had a BBQ at the same place and together we watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games! It was sensational! I especially liked the drums and the taichi.

On Saturday it was the official wedding at Pee Wee's restaurant at East Point, by the beach. The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous! You could see the love for each other between the bride and groom as they exchanged their vows. Christina bawled her eyes out with tears of joy and sent the whole room bawling along with her. It was a very touching moment. Then we all took many, many photos of the bride and groom and of each other. As the sun was setting we all sat down at our designated tables and ate a marvelous buffet dinner, followed by scrumptious desert. The sunset was beautiful, but since we were at the East point, we couldn't actually see the sun, but the sky was still rich in colours and clouds. At night fall, the ocean was so calm, and we could see the city lights across the water. It was beautiful. There were several sailing boats along the water with their lights too. The view was breath-taking and the scene had a very romantic mood. I was very glad that this beautiful place was the venue for my cousin's wedding. I was very happy for him and Christina. After dinner, the bride and groom played some wedding games. The first one involved the bride being blind-folded and a group of men (including the groom) had to line up as the bride had to run her fingers through each man's lips and she had to guess which one was her husband's. Kevin was the third man out of six and she guessed right the first time with much thought. The second game involved the groom being blind-folded and six girls had to line up with feint wedding rings on their left hand (including the bride with her real wedding ring). Kevin had to feel each of their fingers and guess which one was Christina's and he guessed right straight away. It was amazing! The third game involved Christina standing on a chair with a napkin held against her chest. Then she had two strawberries hanging from her chest and Kevin had to eat the strawberries from her chest without using his hands. It was funny to watch xD. WARNING, THE LAST GAME CONTAINS SEXUAL REFERENCES. UNDER-AGED READERS READ AT THEIR OWN RISKS! The last game involved Kevin standing on a chair and Christina had to put an egg up his pants and take it out from the top of his trousers without breaking the egg. Christina did well to get it all the way up to the top of Kevin's thigh but was unable to pass it and take it out. It was stuck and funnily enough, it looked like Christina was giving Kevin a hand-job xD. The bridesmaid was commentating and said "Uh oh...the egg appears to be stuck after Christina successfully moved the egg up Kevin's leg! Could it be that Kevin's package is obstructing the pathway of the egg?" and after minutes of fondling the egg in Kevin's pants, Christina gave up and Kevin announced "On behalf of the bride, I would like to apologise because I found the strawberry game before too arousing..." xD. Classic stuff! Towards midnight, the bride and groom finally did their first dance and it was funny watching Kevin trying to do the waltz. It was simple, yet touching. Soon enough, the rest of us joined the dance floor. Soon it was late and my mum was tired so we went home. Believe it or not, it was the first time I've ever attended a wedding and it was a beautiful experience! I am so happy for Kevin and Christina.

On Sunday and Monday I enjoyed my remaining time in Darwin's blissful weather. I mostly stayed at home bumming around and watched the Olympic games. AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE! OI, OI, OI! xD I flew back to Adelaide on Tuesday morning and I was very unhappy to be back into the cold weather -.-;;. I was also feeling quite sick too after the wedding and the flying. I still haven't recovered from tonsillitis. I completely missed the third week of uni because I've been so nauseated and lethargic. I had a fever on Thursday of 38.4 degrees Celsius and all week my body's been experiencing so much aches and pains. At night I can't sleep because I have trouble breathing and I can't stop coughing. I'm very worried about being so behind uni now. So far this semester I've only attended three classes...I've missed out A LOT! Today I went to the doctor and he has a huge hunch that I have chronic fatigue syndrome which explains why I'm not recovering at all and why I experience palpations, low blood pressure, have a shocking immune system, and respiratory problems, as well as of course, constant fatigue over the past few months. Well if I do have CFS, that sucks because there's no way to treat it. On the brighter side, it is not at all life-threatening...just a pain in the arse to go through. I hope I get through second semester of uni okay...this is a very important semester and I want to be able to pass through it with flying colours. One great thing about being sick is I get to stay at home and watch the Olympics all day! I'm really enjoying it. Australia's doing pretty well so far. GO THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S SWIMMING TEAM!!! :D Everyone's making such a big deal about Stephanie Rice though...but I can see why. Three gold medals and three world records at the age of 20. Everyone's making such a big deal about American Michael Phelps too...again, I can see why...self explanatory...xD. China is scary...they're flogging the whole world. With 25 gold for China, and USA with 14 gold...the US can't even compare with them in terms of number of gold...I know China's always been good at Gymnastics, Archery, Shooting and Diving but...weightlifting?! Since when have they been dominating in Weightlifting? It's the first I've heard of this...maybe I've always just been oblivious about weight-lifting. I always thought the Middle East and Mediterranean countries were good at weight-lifting. I wanted China to be on top this year since they're hosting the Olympics but now I'm already sick of them haha xD. How disappointing that the little girl at the opening ceremony was miming too...I'm more annoyed with the fact that they didn't want to use the REAL singer because she isn't "pretty" enough. How discriminating! But anyway...Aussie's getting many medals for such a little country so I'm happy :D. They're also doing well at other events BESIDES swimming so WOOO! First week finishing off with 6 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze...GOOD EFFORT, AUSSIE! WOOOO! Yeah, shut up...I'm patriotic.

Well...I guess that's all for now. There's nothing much else to talk about besides being sick and the Olympics... Hopefully next week I will feel better and go to uni and cope just fine...

Time finished: 23:52
Listening to: "Ewan" - The Radio Dept.
Mood: Patriotic :'D

First Week Back with Tonsillitis.

Time started: 21:37
Place: My room (In Adelaide)
Listening to: "Looking For Water" - David Bowie
Weather: Cold...
Mood: Lethargic.

I didn't have a great week back in Adelaide. The night before my flight, I came down with tonsillitis so flying was hell. I felt like vomitting, I had a fever, and my throat hurt like hell. Luckily Jasper was on the flight with me. It was stupid that Jarrad wouldn't pick us up from the airport either but I don't really blame him since we arrive at 6:35am. We caught the taxi all the way home and thankfully the fare wasn't as bad as I anticipated it to be.

On Monday, our first day of semester 2, I began with a piano lesson with Lucinda. We went through my Italian Concerto by Bach and the lesson seemed mundane but I guess I was feeling really under the weather. Keyboard musicianship looks really hard this semester and I have a feeling I'm going to struggle. During Technique and Repetoire Class, I had an asthma attack and missed out on 3/4 of the class and wound up at the health clinic at uni. The doctor gave me some ventolin and prescribed me some antibiotics because he said I have tonsillitis. As soon as I went home, I slept until late in the afternoon on Tuesday. I was so incredibly lethargic.

On Wednesday, I had uni again. The History lecture was all about Beethoven. The course outline didn't really explain much either. Chauralation was cancelled because our conductor Carl was sick which sucked because Chauralation is fun. It's also good too because I didn't have a voice. Pey Shin, Sam, Fei and I spent our two hours worth of free periods at the Backstage café just sitting together and chatting about stuff. It was good to hang out with them again :). Then we had our Theory lecture and I missed practically the entire lecture because I had another asthma attack. Paul, a classmate of mine, was very kind to come and see how I was going outside and offered to call an ambulance but that was unnecessary. He took me to a water bubbler though and I was very grateful for his kindness and concern. Later that day I discovered that my glasses broke. One of the lenses fell out and I couldn't find it anywhere so that meant I needed new glasses. I made an appointment with the optometrist after class.

That night I experienced excruciating pain in my left ear and I couldn't sleep all night. In the morning my ear was bleeding and I decided it was best for me to not go to uni for that day. My left ear has felt blocked and has been buzzing ever since. So yeah...that was my first week of uni and I feel like I've missed out on so much already. I'm not having a very good to semester 2 at all...

On Friday, I had a better day. I went to meet Riana and Helen for lunch and it was lovely to see them again. Jarrad and Jasper tagged along but I think they were bored. Later I met up with Sam to exchange burnt discs, then I shouted him laksa because I said that I would if he passed theory last semester. Then I had my optometrist appointment, got my eyes tested and picked two pairs of glasses (buy one get one free :D). I can't wait for them to get done because apparently they look good on me =P. I always look like a nerd when I wear glasses and I hate wearing them. I might wear them constantly this time.

My weekend consisted of just practising a lot on the piano. I'm proud of my efforts for the weekend. I practised 6 hours per day and I was feeling a little better with tonsillitis. It was a pity I got Ryan and Jasper sick though. Right now I'm trying my hardest not to get Jarrad sick...

Today I was meant to go to uni but I had an asthma attack last night and didn't sleep so I felt absolutely awful when I woke up and didn't go to uni again. It was a bad idea because I'm going to miss out on next Monday's lessons too since I'd be in Darwin for my cousin's wedding. I'm having such an awful start to this semester and I'm already feeling overwhelmed...
Well...today I was bored and decided to bake pandan cake again. This attempt was a much better success compared to when I made it for Jarrad's birthday. The only thing wrong with it is I added a bit too much cream of tartar so it's a bit on the sour side, but aside from that...it tastes pretty good :D.

I fly to Darwin on Thursday evening and I can't wait to spend a few days in Darwin again where it's nice and warm. It's freezing cold here and I DON'T LIKE IT!!! I'm concerned that it's going to disrupt my start to this semester even more though...and I hate being sick...I'm wondering if I'll ever get better...damn my immune system...

Time finished: 22:00
Listening to: "La Cerca" - Sparta
Mood: Worried...