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

Break

Easter break. I think it is much needed. I love breaks during Easter! 

We get 2 weeks off uni. This is the time to catch up on sleep, laze around, watch movies and game. Also, do the other things that I had not enough time to do the past few months.

Liiiiiiiiike.... deep conditioning my hair. I'm sure my hairdresser would  go "tsktsk" because I'm such a lazy girl when it comes to my hair. Guilty as charged. 

It's gotten super dry (always have been dry) and now I'm deep conditioning it with olive oil once a week for about 3 hours. It feels tamer and smoother after deep conditioning. Plus, my bob is growing out, so it's a bit high maintenance, ie. dents and funky bed hair when I wake up in the morning. Short hair problems.

Another thing would be breaking into my new shoes. Yeah - I don't like having blisters and my feet being pinched as I walk around in my new shoes in town or something... and end up limping or taking off my shoes and walking barefoot. It's usually not the latter. I've tried the Hairdryer + Socks hack. 

And it works!! Damn, I've broken into 2 pairs of shoes already in the span of 10 minutes. Yay. Now I can wear my shoes comfortably.

Basically, it's just wearing your shoes with the thickest pair of socks you own and then heating them up with the hairdryer for a few minutes while stretching your feet in the shoe or wiggling your toes. Easy!

I destress lots by cooking these days too. This is a snapshot of what our Easter meal was this year. Carrot soup, Shepherd's pie(s), Salad and to finish off, Apple cake! It's my first time making a 4 course meal simultaneously. Happy it turned out well!

Aside from the girly things, a trip to Auckland is in order, just about 2 sleeps away. I'm quite excited to go somewhere a little livelier and happening than quiet Wellington. I'll forever be a city girl. I miss KL & Singapore so bad. There's just lots to do, especially the events, clubs, music, shopping, food! I spend 90% of my time here at home & uni. Anyway, that's the sole reason I am here..

Been going through a rough patch lately and slowly coming back to doing things I love, like dancing and writing (which explains my hiatus), with the loving support of some people and Doug. One step at a time and so far, so good.

Looking forward to Auckland!

xxx,

Ashley.

End of Trimester :: My musical experience in NZ

Spring's here! 

It's end of trimester! 

A whole first year of university has passed!

LEMME SHOW YOU HOW MUSICIANS PARTY!!

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It was the NZSM End Year Party last Friday.
We reminisced over the fun and crazy times over wine, pizza and jazz music playing from the speakers. Some of us recovering from making it through the 2 trimesters of the year.

Welll...how do you think we party here at uni? 

...though you'll never know behind closed doors now, do ya? :))))

(Though weekend nights in town is a whole different thing.)

I just can't believe first year of uni is over so soon! After all the drama of Airport Day, which is still a bit fresh in my mind (I refuse to think about it sometimes), I met some incredible people and had unforgettable experiences in this new world of music.

I wasn't even planning to come to NZ, honestly. When my mom was notified that there were auditions held at the Curve in Damansara, she told me to go for it. I had no idea how the auditions were gonna be like. 

Were there gonna be lots of people fighting for the scholarship? Umm, yeah?

Is it gonna be scary? Maybe. Most likely.

Am I ready? !@#$ no.

"It's in two weeks, mom, I'm gonna play crap for them to hear and embarrass myself to death," thats what I told my mom. She just told me to send an email to the email address given to her, and I was corresponding with a nice lady called Belinda, who arranged the auditions with two people from NZSM, who are lecturers in this uni.

I was never so reluctant to do something, aside from cleaning up after something gross had died in my house like a lizard or something. This was different. So, I thought, they weren't gonna remember me anyway. Might as well give it a shot.

...Which I did. And surprisingly, I passed the audition with a scholarship. 

I don't know whether to be shocked or die of excitement - because the problem lies in the fact that it was still a lot of $ to send me abroad, and I was currently prepping for my ATCL Violin exam under a private teacher in KL. 

 Months passed since the audition and I constantly emailed the school about documents that they might need from me, etc. There was a lot of drama, hard thinking, long discussions and stressful moments within those few months. I even told mom that I didn't have to take the offer, if it was too hard on us. I could settle with what I had. But she was more than determined to let me chase my dream to become a professional musician with experiences abroad.

 Dad made sure that I had everything to live comfortably away from home too. He even told my mom to get me a coffee machine, in case I didn't have proper coffee to drink in the morning. Lol. How sweet is that? :') So blessed to have a lovely family. 

Before I knew it, I was waving goodbye to my sobbing sister, Charms and Chee holding her, my bro Evan and Don. Deym. It was a crappy day, and a tough flight. I was told to watch LOTR before going to NZ, but since I had no time, I watched it on the plane.....but fell asleep watching it. Don't kill me but I guess it just ain't my thing. 

Then, I met Doug after Charms pestered me to message him on Facebook. He's a lifesaver to 2 blur people ; mom and I, in a foreign land. Lol. He even brought my mom and kept her company during the NZSM orientation. We became good friends after.

At orientation, I got to know few of my close friends now - Becca, Laura and Craig. They were also first years and were really friendly to me. Spent lots of time talking, whining, gossiping and laughing over nothing. :) Awesome bunch of people, I might add.

 I also am happy that I had people whom I could speak music to, making lame musician jokes, then laughing at our jokes and feeling proud of ourselves for coming up with jokes like those.... because we're musicians. That's why. :P

Performing in the NZSM orchestra was a huge thing for me too. I've only played in the KLPAC Orchestra in 2011, and playing with these really skillful music students really opened my eyes to the standard of music here. I enjoyed performing in the orchestra so much! I was so excited when I realized that it is a course in my first year studies. Dang. This so beats Accounting & Economics in A-Levels!

I really can't thank God enough for the way this year unexpectedly turned out. Pleasantly unexpected. I'm so thankful to the lecturers who had passed my audition and rewarded me with a scholarship, all the new friends I've made this year, my new boyfriend (who stepped out of the friendzone, actually) and my more than supportive parents.

It was definitely hard to be away from home, family, friends and events. But I've learnt to accept the new lifestyle here and get comfortable with my new surroundings. These people in the pictures above just made it all the easier to enjoy things here! <3

All I've left at the moment is the big one -- the end year recital, happening in 2 weeks time. Oh yeah, also my last written paper on opera. 

Wish me luck!!

Cherishing my musical journey here. 

Feeling awesome because it has just begun!

xxx

Ashley Mah.