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

3 More Days to Home.

Not only have I been on a gaming/video watching spree for about 20 days after my final recital, I've been packing my arse off for the past week just because I'm coming home to Malaysia for the summer and I just have too many things!

 I've been back in the dance scene lately too, it's been good to be dancing. I've also successfully lost about 2 plus kgs for the past 3 months! Also learnt that my body rejected the Keto diet, and sorta backfired on me for 2 weeks. Instead, I'm just eating food low in calories like clear Chinese soup and limit myself to 6 spoons of rice, when I do have rice. 

Here's a couple of pictures from my recital. I'm wearing this beautiful designer dress by Zorro Potion from her Ghost Train collection. Feeling so blessed to be wearing a designer dress for a music exam. :)

Not perfect, but I also took the time to do my hair up, which is rare for me, since my hair is usually low maintenance on normal days. I also got this beautiful hair chain from an online shop, which complements the dress. Yay! My final recital was nerve wrecking. I may have performed for many events, weddings and fashion shows, but I still get the nerves when I entered the hall. This is not just an ABRSM/Trinity Guildhall exam (bad enough)... this is music UNI. Which makes it all the scarier. I seriously apologize to my neighbours for having to listen to me playing the same (crappy) thing over and over for hours, daily.

Well, it is all finally over. Last exam of my first year of uni - done. I've officially done my first year of degree studies in New Zealand. Hard to believe but it has sunken into my system, especially when I've realized how much I've to buck up to keep up with the standard of music here. So happy to have a once in a lifetime experience in this country. Thanks to my family and people who have supported me. 

The next thing to look forward to was all the days I could use for sleeping, resting and being a couch potato. Then of course, it started getting sunnier and warmer... and the right thing to do was to go to the beach!

Visited Oriental Bay in my summer attire on Friday with Doug, Shu Run and her cousins. 

My first beach experience in NZ. Gotta say, it definitely is not as warm as it looks. Nonetheless, scenic and beautiful as ever.

A very windy paradise.

NZ couldn't have been more fun without her! We've been friends since high school and miraculously met at uni here in Wellington. It is fate for us to have reunited, woman! :D

It was one of those nice days.

Although, we hardly touched the water because it was too cold!We tried to follow the angmohs and pretended to tan ourselves. Lol. Us and the group just ended up talking and laughing on the sand.

Couch days and lazy days are almost over.
It's almost time to go home and the hectic packing finally ended this afternoon, well, sort of. 

Three. More. Days.

I can't wait to go out for makan at any time of the day with my family, events for the MHB girls & Tim, perform for more weddings and events, do some photoshoots probably, mamaking with friends and dancing! Since airport day on February 26th, the day to return has finally come. It's so close that I can taste it! 

Officially having Nasi Lemak and Chicken Rice cravings now... and Ais Kacang.

See you soon, Kay Elle!

xxx

Ashley Mah

Is it Spring yet?

I should be happy that it is slowly warming up here in Wellington. 

Before, I would always check the weather temperature on my trusty iPhone (which is getting a bit wonky now) and it would show the temp below 10 degrees Celsius. Now, it's getting to 13, 14, sometimes 15 degrees Celsius.

Time to bring on the skirts and shorts!

 I've never experienced winter before this.

This year in Wellington marked so many firsts for me. The winter season was one of them. Concerned Dad always texting me to remind me to keep my feet warm when it's cold. Lemme tell you, how Malaysians keep complaining about the scorching heat in KL is how Wellingtonians are always going "BRR, its so bloody cold!" here. Lol. Tahan-ing the cold is horrible.

Firstly, for all of you who wonder if I'm happily playing with snow here, the part of Wellington where I am at does not snow. So yeah, I'm not making snow angels with the "Time of My Life" song in the background. I haven't experienced snow before still, except that time in Genting Highlands when I was a tiny little thing, but it was disappointing, as far I could remember. 

Back to the question, it doesn't snow here but it rains.. a lot. Imagine cold wind and rain. That's Wellington for ya. I still wonder how I can survive without a waterproof hoodie for most of my rainy days.

Another question I get is about days of which people call perfect sleeping days, or stay-in days, watching movies and huddled up in your blanket on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate. That one's a given especially in the winter. Just like in the movies where you picture a quiet apartment with dim yellow lights and a girl in her fluffy robe curled on the couch with her laptop and watching the rain form outside the window - yeah, that's me, except that I'd be playing Left 4 Dead or The Sims Island Paradise or looking up classical music.

The top 5 things I (heavily) depend on in cold weather :

1) My fluffy fleece robe 

The way I dress at home requires this robe most of the time! Sometimes you can get away with a tank top and a pair of shorts... but sometimes, you can't. That's when I wear my robe over my clothes. Warms me up instantly! Did you know you could wear your robe to sleep?

2) Some more fluff....

Otherwise known as Bedroom Slippers. Know those that hotels provide you with and you secretly stash them in your bag and bring them home with you? Yeah. Never knew I'd NEEEEEED these slippers so badly until one day I decided to walk barefoot to my kitchen and started hopping back onto the carpet floor to retrieve my slippers. They are super important! 

3) Hairdryer

My best friend before I get into my bed at night. Lol. Seems really funny and silly but I actually blow hot air into the duvets before I put my feet in!

 Effective? Hell yeah. 

Who wants to go to bed freezing at night?

4) Coffee, Tea or Me?

Totally kidding about the latter. 

But hot drinks keep me warm... and full! With that I need not hibernate and gorge on food like a hamster in cold weather. Some people tend to gain weight during the winter and that will NOT be me.

 Lots and lots of hot fluids keep me warm constantly. They are also 60% of my meals most of the time. Soups, attempted Tong Sui's, Hot chocolates, Coffees, Teas and hot water are gonna help, if you wanna stay warm. Well, for me at least.

5) That sexy trench coat...

One of the myths that I've busted is that you don't have to look like a ball of clothing in the winter, after seeing pics of tourists in huge thick jackets... I wondered if I could get around keeping warm and at the same time, not making myself look fat. All I really need is my long winter coat that my good friend/photographer Brendan gifted me before I left Malaysia. Never really worn those trenchcoat-style coats before, except this one. I love how it looks smart, classy and keeps me warm at the same time! This be the queen of all coats and jackets in my wardrobe.

We're going out tonight! *excited*

Anyway, here's a tiny update of my weekend last week.

 Who had a good weekend? I've been seeing Instagram pix of my peeps going to Good Vibes last week, I assume ya'll had a blast? :) I can't wait to get back and jump on the events bandwagon again.

Last Sunday when I was super hyped up for this part time job interview. I've encountered the MOST UNPROFESSIONAL & MOST UNORGANIZED interview ever at a retail shop at Manners St. 

Firstly, the employer was 30 minutes late... then when he had finally arrived, there was another interviewee waiting to be interviewed as well. He actually asked me to "come back another time today". Doug and I were speechless. I got there 10 minutes early to show some professionalism, but omg. This infuriated me so badly and the other interviewee was actually later than me. I said no, of course then he conducted the interview in the style that I would never have imagined. Over the counter, in front of the other interviewee, and not even 5 minutes of solid attention! Asked me what I'm currently studying and past experiences and my details in front of the other interviewee. This was super unprofessional I tell you, since when were interviews like that and my details were not kept confidential? To make matters even worse, he made me send in my CV again to his email address. When I got home, I immediately launched an angry feedback to SJS telling them about this annoying incident. Seriously, I don't even want to work for such an unprofessional dont-give-a-crap employer! Some people, seriously. What the hell.

Ranting over. I've had a fairly good week this week, despite tests and exams. 

Time for the 2 week break and the coming of spring! :)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Ps. Some photos are reposts from weheartit and some belong to me, courtesy of emotif.co.nz

xxx

Ashley Mah

Monologue : Loose Knees and The Dark Knight Rises

So I just got back from watching The Dark Knight Rises.

IT WAS FRIGGIN AWESOME!

I've not enjoyed a movie as much as this. The ending was just so epic. Shan't spoil it for you guys but you definitely won't be disappointed watching this movie!

Words of advice : WATCH BOTH BATMAN BEGINS & THE DARK KNIGHT

Best advice ever! Then everything clearly makes sense and enhances the awesomeness!

 I really enjoyed the movie despite the service MBO Cinemas at Subang Parade being shitty, the ratio of the screen not perfect, movie blurry, the lights took so long to be switched off and the worst part of it all is the sound of the movie in the cinema! One minute it was loud and perfect, then the volume just drops. It was as if your ears were blocked. 

Totally uncool.

Other than that, man, I had quite a night. A few eye openers here and there in the movie. So pay attention, people! Oh yeah, Anne Hathaway makes an awesome Catwoman. And Bane is quite creepy. Totally different than the Bane in the super old-school Batman movie with Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy in it.

My ratings : 10/10

Spent a few hours at the gym today. 

And realized that my knee felt a little loose while exercising, had a very odd pain and started shaking when I put weight on it. It was pretty scary and I almost had tears in my eyes. So I quickly rushed over to the pharmacy to get a knee guard. Now the other knee seems to be failing on me as well, guess they aren't recovered from the dance rehearsals and all. : / freakydeaky.

Now to spoil myself with one more episode of Sex & the City then off to bed I go!

xxx

Ashley Mah

My weekend & Bastille Day Celebration with Kronenbourg

How was your weekend?

I had a horrible Thursday and Friday. Especially Friday, it was just really a series of unfortunate events. I had 5 things to do. Meetings, classes, rehearsals. 4 out of 5 of the stuff I had to do got cancelled. They literally self-destructed one after another. It was horrible because I got everything planned and laid out nicely. To top it all off, I had dance rehearsals at night, trying to do a stunt that involved some trapeze-like flying, I landed on my head and aaaallllmosssttt broke my neck.

Talk about a traumatic experience. Then again, no pain, no gain. Sigh. After everything, I remembered it was Friday the 13th. So I might as well just blame every damn thing on the fact that it was the 13th of July on a Friday, not that i'm superstitious. 

So, retail therapy rescued my mood. Went over to Ikea by myself to get some new mirror panels to stick in my room, and some PC games. Finally got to play Batman Arkham City and the graphics and action are awesome! And now my room has Tetris-inspired mirror tiles on the wall. :)

Saturday felt like a more promising day. In the evening, I went to celebrate Bastille Day with Kronenbourg with Tim & other MHB babes!

The event was held at Marini's on 57. All the way on the 57th floor, we were sipping on Kronenbourg and enjoying the view of Kuala Lumpur.

I think that's Jimmy Sax and a very talented band entertaining guests with jazz songs and setting the mood for the evening. I actually miss hearing music like that in comparison to blasting clubbing songs. It was really nice and romantic.

Of course, accompanied with yummy French finger food!

Ooh, guests were given a free mask each at the event as well! And I was super excited to put mine on (like a kid)! Heheh

Other than that, was some fun Art Jamming that was carried out at the open-air space of Marini's. 

It was a rather classy event! I really enjoyed it. I should also add that Bastille Day is the French national holiday which celebrates the start of the French revolution, which is formally called La Fête Nationale.

Raj & I.. totally forced him to put on his mask and take a pic with me. Lol

That pretty much sums up my weekend. This week is a totally crazy week just preparing for the Malaysian Latin Dance Championships 2012, happening this Saturday. I'm gonna post more about it. So STAY TUNED!!

xxx 

Ashley Mah

Monologue :: Deal Breakers

I've just gotten back from another Penang trip, this time with my lovely family. After reaching KL, I immediately went for Salsa classes and rehearsals! #likeaboss

Penang was blissful! I shall write up more about it later. and with more pictures! It was a much needed holiday for my family and I.

Just some food for thought.

 I was watching Sex and The City an hour ago, the question of that particular episode was 

"In relationships, what is the deal breaker?"

Got me thinking a little, I bet each and everyone has a different answer. I'd like to know! Dating counts in the question of course.

 In that episode, Charlotte had dumped a guy because he was a bad kisser, so bad kissing was her deal breaker. And Carrie was dumped by Aidan, because she smoked. That's his deal breaker.

Can some "deal breakers" be overlooked? 

To what extent would you overlook the habits or characteristics of a person you really like or love? 

Would you change your habits for the person whom you really like or love?

So yeah. Deal breakers.

What's yours?

xxx
 Ashley Mah

Monologue : Hennessy Artistry Penang

Hello!

Just popping in for a short post on my crazy awesome weekend with Hennessy Malaysia.

Firstly, my exams are OVER!!! *jumps around*

Then, I flew to Penang Saturday morning with the media team.

It was havoc and a busy day for us as we had press conference with the artistes, spoiled and pampered with reeeeallly good food, followed by the party at night! It was really cool getting to meet new people and make new friends during the trip. Having a fun team makes the whole trip worthwhile.

Stayed one night at G Hotel and then got our KL butts back home Sunday afternoon. The weather was so warm these few days! I'm so thankful for my new Armani shades I got before the trip. Life saver on makeup-less days and protects my eyes from blazing sunshines.

Now, the post exam tiredness is kicking in plus a some neck ache that I got from sleeping oddly last night like a squid on a king sized bed. I can't rest yet as tomorrow night is prom night.

An island party and stay for the weekend. Seriously, I wouldn't choose any other way to celebrate after my exams. *whispers : "Thank you, Hennessy Malaysia" *

If you followed me on Twitter, https://twitter.com/#!/AshleyEv3 , you could see updates and pics of my trip on Penang! Stay tuned for the proper post about Hennessy Artistry Penang.

xxx

 Ashley Mah