Life's Little Pleasures

Everyday I'm studying
posted on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 11:20 AM | 0 cmnt/s

So back at uni again.

Start of semester one.

And for once this semester seems different. Opposed to previous years' pledges to study hard this year I actually am converting my promises into actions. (yay!)

But occasionally we all need a break from the books, the notes, the journal articles and what better way to inspire study than some catchy tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFjLMrI5hZI&feature=plcp&context=C4cf441fVDvjVQa1PpcFMwtvtvK0dF48WaWSiWvveJUjFA6Ta-_60=

... so that at the end of it all, you are successful and you know it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAptXgldbo0&feature=g-vrec&context=G25cfcabRVAAAAAAAAAQ)

Anyways, study break over, back to contract law.

Fo realz!
posted on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 5:20 PM | 0 cmnt/s

You all have to watch this fo realz!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f897wcNYcPc

Shit People Say
posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 3:24 PM | 0 cmnt/s

Check it... It's absolutely true about Perth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpW1dv6rTgk

Playtime
posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 12:43 PM | 0 cmnt/s

I just listened to Bond's latest album, after taking a break for a couple of years, entitled 'Play.'

Brilliant album. It's the same awesome and catchy strings that Bond are somehow able to make so modern. The difference between this album and previous albums is that they cover modern songs such as Jai ho (Pussycat Dolls), Pump it (Black Eyed Peas) and also features a Lady Gaga medley (song: Lgg Medley). The covers of modern songs follow in the steps of other string groups, most notable the Vitamin String Quartet, and do not disappointing those who love to listen to classical covers of pop and rock songs.

However, classics such as Vivaldi's Summer (L'estate) and Winter (L'inverno) also harp back to the traditional roots of the string quartet.

If you only have time to listen to a couple of songs from the album, I would absolutely recommend that you listen to:

1. Diablo (alternatively track 13 which is also Diablo except is Bond vs Young Offenders)
2. Jai ho
3. Elysium
4. Lgg Medley
5. Last time (AKA Bittersweet)


This album is just so awesome, so I'd greatly recommend taking a listen :)

Public Service Announcement
posted on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 9:37 PM | 0 cmnt/s

Hear ye, hear ye!

Just a bit of random info just in case you were interested...

I arrived in glorious Singapore this afternoon and checked into the Shangri-La Hotel.

And you know how I was saying that my mattress and bed back at home were like heaven and you just sink into them...

...Well... this bed is equally amazing.

King size which is just AWESOME!

And the pillows are AWESOME!

And you just sink into them and it's just really cool and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the best night sleep ever tonight :D *thumbs up*

So, if you're ever in Singapore and have a spare $500 to spend on accommodation, I would absolutely recommend the Shangri-La Hotel. It is pretty swish here and comes complete with doormen in funny uniforms (picture to hopefully follow!). And as my brother pointed out the other day, it seems that the nicer and more expensive the hotel, the weirder the doorman's uniform generally is, so if you're the judge a hotel by it's cover-man, then this hotel certainly is tops!

BTWs, it is also the hotel chain that my FAVOURITE ad of ALL times is from. And in case you don't know what my FAVOURITE ad of ALL times is (or I claim that a lot of ads are my FAVOURITE ad of ALL times and you've just lost track), here is a link to it :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4jZ1UFR_Wc

AND, for you hardcore Shangri-La commercial fans out there (because, let's be honest, there are quite a few!) there is even... a MAKING OF THE COMMERCIAL!!!!!!!! YAY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mQK1gNYDyQ&feature=related

I'll sleep on top
posted on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 9:18 PM | 0 cmnt/s

Mattresses.

They are so undervalued.

You don't appreciate the value of a good mattress until you're presented with a bad one.

It's a serious matter.

Take, for example, my mattress at home. It's served me well over the years and, like most mattresses, has moulded to fit my shape. What a good mattress. It dips perfectly in the middle and give me a wonderful night sleep.

But it wasn't until I arrived in Bangkok that I began to appreciate just how good my mattress back home, all those miles away (!!), actually was.

The mattress here, in contrast, lacked a certain comfort, a certain sink that a familiar mattress holds.

I didn't sleep well on that first night, purely because of the mattress.

Upon consultation, I came to the conclusion that as a general rule, mattresses in Asia are typically hard. This conclusion was based upon personal experience and discussions with others whom had had similar experiences.

So to unravel the reasoning behind this conclusion, I did what any good Gen-Y kid would do and I googled it.

My research directed me to one explanation which seemed perfectly plausible:

On the Fodor's travel website, on a thread asking "Why are the beds (mattresses) so hard in Asia?", one posted under the name of Jaya comments that in India there is a "long, deeply rooted belied that sleeping on anything soft will deform and curve the spine and cause problems with the spine later in life."

Perhaps this same thought can be extrapolated across Asia?



On a slightly related comment, maybe there is something to that Indian belief.

I own a soft mattress. I have a deformed and curved spine that has caused me problems.

Conclusion: my soft, familiar mattress is the cause of my back problems.

A Thai Christmas
posted on Sunday, December 25, 2011 at 9:55 PM | 0 cmnt/s

Ahhh back in Bangkok, and just in time for Christmas!

Today began in the usual family fashion with present exchanges. I was a lucky duck and got a couple of cooking books, DVDs, 2010: Odyssey Two, a book of lists, plenty of chocolate, and some more watches to add to my growing collection. So I am feeling like quite a lucky duck at the moment.

Following that, we got ourselves moving and went down to Central World shopping center to get our (Mum, Carol, and I) hair done for Christmas lunch. It is so odd to have EVERYTHING open on Christmas day. But that's Thailand for you! Open every day of the year! Not to mention that Christmas is not celebrated by the majority of its population, which is non-Christian. So I got my hair cut and blow dried to perfection (my hair has never looked so good!!! :D), and also a pedicure for good measure!

We then headed to my aunt's work mate's place for a massive and absolutely amazing Christmas lunch with a full house of other Australian embassy staff members. The food was absolutely fantastic and our hosts put on a great afternoon.

After all bellies were thoroughly filled, we sauntered home. Upon arriving back at the apartment and realising that my back was really sore from the previous night's sleep, I walked literally across the road for an hour massage, costing me AU$12.61 (including 100 baht tip for my masseuse).

It's amazing how cheap things are here. It's so different to back home in Australia. I mean to get my hair cut back home, I'd be looking at no less that AU$50 considering the long length of my hair, but here I got a cut, the best blow dry in the world, AND a pedicure for 500 baht (AU$15.76). Hour back massages back home would cost me around AU$40-70, but I only pay a fraction of that here. Even at the supermarket, things are so different. There is so much more variety (excluding various supply shortages due to the recent floods, such as, to my mother's horror, Diet Coke and Coke Zero!!!). However, some things are much more expensive. Cheese costs a lot more here though. Fun fact: cheese costs more here because the local milk is no suited to making Western style cheese because it has less fat content. Furthermore, there is less market for it here. Mostly only the Westerners will have it, thus driving prices up.

But all in all, it's pretty cheap to live up here. Can't wait to continue to see how cheap it is over the next few weeks when I go shopping!!!

Merry Christmas all xxx
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