The Student Life

Hi world,

This post is a reminder that I'm alive and kicking except that I'm all effed up from exams, assessments, performances, essays, you name it. It is the life I chose and embracing challenges isn't really my most favourite thing in the world. Nonetheless, I'll be OK after Monday. Not GREAT but OK.

C'mon Ashley. 

For the first time... In my entire life, that I've spent 7 hours writing an essay.. of 1,400 words. Yeah. I wasn't even talking to anyone while I sat in my living room, just grinding my brains and typing away about the Assumptions of Degenerate Music during the Third Reich through the case studies of Krasa and Hindemith as an essay for my Music History paper. I am so gonna remember that forever. Yay me. Also, I think I've lost a part of my brains in the process.

I've literally got only 1 week to do this essay before the deadline, as my essay question was constructed then. Today's breakthrough is finishing my draft for 2696 words! *throws confetti* Sometimes, no, not sometimes, but EVERY TIME I think about it, I really hate Msian Education System man. Why the hell do you not teach students to write proper essays? Bloody hell. Most of my teachers in primary school and secondary school taught me squat!! More often that or that I should skip school and study stuff by myself at home... or rely on tuition out of school. Which was how I got by. God, I never even bothered studying for my English exams then! -_- If it wasn't for A Levels, my writing skills would be even more screwed than it already is, as much as I hate to admit it. 

Rant over. Nope, not quite. Anticipating Monday, my essay is due then, together with a Music History journal, and also it's the day of String Tech Exam! Weehee. Just hope I don't mess it up like last year and ran home crying. Lol

Ok, the most exciting thing that happened this week was purchasing this baby. Cooking brown rice now is fuss free and it doesn't bubble all over the table! Yay!

I love brown rice. So much better than white rice! Chewy too. 

Recently did a shoot with British photographer Andrew Gibson and it was one of those portrait shoots. Nothing experimental or crazy, a rather nice and laid back shoot on a cloudy day in the Wellington Botanical Gardens. 

As you can see, it is autumn now. My favourite season! Not too cold and not too warm. Oh, and also I'm dressed in my everyday uni gear. Haha definitely had no stress in picking out wardrobe for this shoot.

I had one of the best times shooting with Andrew. Didn't feel like my pictures made my face look fat for once, he captured my angles quite nicely and the natural light certainly helped too! My pet-peeve is photographers when they take photos with flashes, washing out all my makeup and making my face look 2D.

Ugh ugh ugh. JUST NO. Finally, one that doesn't do that. :) 

Here's a special one he took of Doug and myself. <3 My favourite photo of us so far! ..which is not a selfie. Haha. Hard not to laugh though when we were, uh, posing. It's just not.... what we do. Posing like couples. Heck, even some people think we are siblings (wth?)!!

Anyway, it is one of those fabulous photos, taken during a candid moment even.

The next two weeks will be assessments and exams! After which is the winter break, which means I get to play Guildwars2 for the entire day again. :')

Throwback : Redbull event in 2013

2012 - Gotta love Oktoberfest!

2012 - with the girls at a Hennessy V.S.O.P Bottle Launch

In contrast to the posts that I used to write, it is pretty clear that my blog is going through a diary-fying process. Lesser events, lesser parties, alcohol, high heels (it's Wellington, what are you gonna?) and glamorous photos at happening places. I miss all of those. Nonetheless, I'm going down this different road, learning more about music and getting closer to my future. So... Life's still good! Though, I'll try to update as often as I can, since this is one of the things I do to keep my sanity. hehe

I'm living the student life!!

xxx,

Ashley M

Throwback Event - Night Out at Chyna Black

Going through my albums and I found these pictures. It's been quite awhile since I've gone to events and such. It's a different life here in Wellington. Albeit being quite relaxed, I miss the occasional opportunity to get dolled up and prance around in my 5-inch heels.

"Why can't she do that there anyway?"
Imagine walking uphill and downhill in heels. I'd close my eyes and silently mutter a prayer while I try not to imagine rolling an ankle or tripping over when I see a chick in super high heels walk the ups downs of the Welly road (though there are some who do that, they're frikkin brave). It ain't Bukit Bintang, or malls where the ground is flat, or all we have to climb are stairs.

Pic above taken by Stoutlager.
Speaking of which, I've not worn my favorite pair of Kiss Me false eyelashes in a LONG while too.
They're the flashiest ones I own. Although elaborate, they're nice and comfy and don't make my eyelids feel like they're lifting tiny weights and make my eyes constantly look half-opened. Still in my luggage, waiting to be used. I remember wearing them during this event too.

Anyway, this was one of the last few events I made it to before starting off my new life in Welly. It was Carlsberg's York Spencer's farewell party at Chyna Black, at The Pool, Ampang. I was there with the MHB girls to celebrate the farewell of our favorite Carlsberg Marketing Director (far right in the picture above).

It was also the beginning of when I started to like wearing stripes. This striped dress is from H&M, one of my favorites! Looks like I'm not alone in this stripey affair because my babe Linora was also in a gorgeous striped dress, with roses and all that! Also sipping from a bottle of Somersby Apple Cider. Yum. #greatmindsthinkalike

Of course, a party isn't a party without some hot dancers!

Honestly don't know why I was pouting and unintentionally photo-bombing this picture.

Andy & I, one of my favorite pictures. So missing him and his awesome pictures over here!

Pretty MHB Chelsea Chil and Linora

Group pic!
What looks like the unintentional theme color being Blue & Black... and I'm stickin' out like a sore thumb.

Us with Tim Chew!

Remembered this event being one of the really fun ones. People just chilling, mingling and drinking. I made a couple of new friends here as well as meeting some others that I've not seen in a while.

Chyna Black is a little lounge located above The Pool, Ampang. It's small and quaint, with dim lights and a DJ deck, where only the stuff that really interested me were played at the end of the party. Bleh. I did like the interior decor of Chyna Black. Wish there were more pictures to show the interior (maybe the next time I visit). It's a nice place for a chilled night out for drinks with friends. A girls' night out just came to mind. 

Me and Andrea, whom I met at the event. She has super cool hair and a nose ring and a fun personality to match! We ended up dancing alot when the event was about to end... just cos the songs were better when we were just gonna leave. -_-

What'd I tell ya?
Heh heh.

Missing those white heels. I remember getting them in Singapore for a bargain price of $35.
One of my favorite easy-to-put-on shoes. (cos I'm lazy like that)
Maybe I'll get them to be shipped over to Welly so I can use them in shoots.

Till the next post, kittykats.

xxx

Ashley Mah

Carlsberg's Where's the Party? (2012)

Of all the parties I've attended in 2012, I have to say, this one would be the most memorable and epic party of the year! It was really exciting, because guests would not know Where The Party is. Hence the name! 

I was Chelsea's plus one. We all assembled at the Carlsberg brewery in the morning, then took off in respective buses which took us to the 'secret location'. Turned out, the destination was Batu Feringghi, Penang! From that moment on, I knew it was gonna be a crazy party...

We were given a very special VIP room at Hardrock Hotel, Penang, where the party actually took place! Chelsea and I gasped in awe when we opened the room door. Everything was so perfect!

On our beds, we were given a goodie bag each. :) How cute.

We went absolutely berserk when we saw this..... our room had direct access to the POOL!

HOW FREAKIN' WICKED IS THIS! 

We were shrieking and giggling in excitement like maniacs. Goes to show how much we loved the room! Special thanks to Soren Ravn who gave us the lovely VIP treatment. :)

 I could hear music from a distance, where the beach was.... and saw people walking around. So Chelsea and I made a quick trip to the party area for a look-see (for eye candy.. hehe) before the Press Conference.

Guests were chilling, drinking and playing games before the sun set. I guess everyone was in the holiday/party mood. At least, my roomie and I were!

Eek. 

This was supposed to be a decent photo. Chels captured me in the moment, literally. Lol

There were electronic darts for us to play! Thanks to iDarts Malaysia. Fun!

When there's iDarts, there's Leonard Chua! :)

Girls ready to party!

Got to snag a photo with Patricia K and Joey G! :)

Soon, it got close to 6.30pm. We headed back to our rooms, changed and got ready for the press conference. 

"Would you like a Carlsberg, miss?"

Q&A session with Soren Ravn, and other Carlsberg MD's from Singapore and Hong Kong who flew to Penang for the party!

After the lineup of acts and performers were introduced, I got super starry eyed when I saw KELIS, who sang the memorable Milkshake song!

Above : The MV for the Milkshake song, in case you guys didn't know what I was talking about.

 ...andddd homaigodd I GOT A PICTURE WITH HER!! She was super tall! So she had to stand one step lower on the staircase from me in our photo. Haha

The lineup of artists who will be making the party epic that night! And of course, the Carlsberg people from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong!

All my big sisters from MHB with York Spencer, Andy Kho and Tim Chew!

Press conference was over.
 By that time, I was itching to run to the beach to party already!

All the lights, the booming music and chilled Carlsberg to go around! :)

Party people everywhere! 

Here's Linora from Red FM.

Chammaine Tan

Clevermunkey & Choulyin Tan :)

Shawn Lee, Malaysia's talented beatboxer, who's also my high school senior. Hee

MHB Casey

Our facilitator in the bus!

Ah Bok and I

Ash & Ash

Soren Ravn, who's responsible for Chelsea's and my awesome room! 

Thank you again Soren! x

Louise and I

Maggy Wang and I

The Jessicat! I love her pink sunglasses!

The performances had started and I think this one, by a Japanese girl band, caught all the guys' attention. They danced really well though!

More pics!

Judging my the pictures, you can tell that it was a WICKED party! Heh heh. I remembered and savoured every moment of it.

Kelis sang Milkshake and Bounce. Dayumm. It was mind blowing! 

I LOVE YOU KELIS!

My lovely roomie. Probably the coolest I've ever had. If you came into our room, your mouth would be gaping open because it looked like as if it was Spring Break in our room. Clothes, makeup, shoes everywhere!

After the party ended, Chelsea and I had some girl talk in our comfy beds. But before that, I did play in the pool for a bit. Hehe

I know I looked silly in these frames. In fact, I usually make fun of people wearing lens-less frames. But that day, it was somewhat fun to wear it. Haha. 

Doesn't make sense. Nevermind. Moving on.

The view of the party directly from my room.

The next morning was slightly excruciating for Chels and I. Woke up like a pair of zombies. But we had partied so hard the night before, we made a beeline for breakfast at the hotel.

 

Sunglasses on = no makeup. Hee. She still looks gorgeous without makeup! 

 

Waffles, my 2nd favorite bfast food, next to pancakes! :)

 I expected the beach to look like a mess the next morning, which it did. Huge evidence of a massive party the night before. Haha! The poolside was very pretty. If only we could stay longer to have a dip..

That's the end of my suuuuper long post of pictures and stuff. I truly enjoyed Carlsberg's WTP and am thankful to have such a lovely experience with friends, meeting new people and enjoying such awesome music! I had a terrific time! 

For more information on the next WTP, go on over to Carlsberg Malaysia's FB Page :

http://www.facebook.com/Carlsberg.MY 

Photo credits to Carlsberg MY, Andy Kho, MHB Facebook Page, author's own.

xxx 

Ashley Mah