And So.. Summer came to an end

 I have uni tomorrow.. meaning I may not have time for life. But I want things to be different starting from now. I have always been doing one thing at a time, when I could be doing so much more. I procrastinate a lot. I want to change all that.

I want a balance in life. It's time I seize control. Carpe diem baby!

This year may be one of the most hectic in my life. But I feel it is the year I will change for the better. Insha Allah I will be taking up other things. I have decided to go to shari'ah classes again and learn some fiqh. Fiqh is 'Islamic Jurisprudence' for those of you who are wondering :)
I've also set my mind to take up taekwondo again. But at the university. It's been around 8 years since I have last donned a taekwondo uniform and did some proper training in a group. I've quit the gym, but I do not want to quit exercise.

However, the taekwondo training times at uni are pretty inconvenient. They're from 7-9pm and I live like an 1-1.5hrs away.. hmmm. Still trying to work it out. But I will worry about that once I finish my GAMSAT exam Insha Allah, when I will have more free time.

And to reflect on the summer of 2013-14? It has been one of the most eventful and most exciting. I resurrected my blog, travelled to the northern hemisphere for the first time (the furthest I've ever been from home), visited family in Indonesia, ran a marathon, and found my goals.

I have learnt so much this summer. I will not forget all the experiences. I will collect them and treasure them in my heart. I am coming out of this summer refreshed and recharged!

I am determined. More than ever. To reach my goals. Insha Allah! Amiin!

Green Tea Ice Cream

I am having Green Tea ice cream withdrawals it's not even funny. My blog's green theme is driving me insane. There is such a shortage of green tea flavoured anything here in Australia!

Such a contrast to Japan right? In Japan, you couldn't pass a restaurant or food shop that DID NOT sell Green Tea flavoured dango, ice cream... even kit kat!

I will forever miss Japan's green tea craze.

To get such delicacies, one must travel to the edge of the world! Lol literally!
Nahhh in Australia, you would most likely find it in an Asian grocery, or in a Chinatown. I don't know if Sydney has a Japantown..

Green Tea Ice Cream - Bought in front of the Kinkakuji trail exit

I ate so much green tea stuff in Japan, I may have a whole album of it. Hmmm do I?

[Update]
I just checked the pics I took in Japan.. I'm not the type to take pictures of my food before eating it. As you can see from my ice cream above, I was in the middle of eating it before remembering to take a photo! It's SO YUMMY!

I definitely recommend that ice cream snack bar in front of Kinkakuji!

Usually in Japan, they offer green tea ice cream combined with vanilla option.

But me.. im like "NU-UH! I have plenty of vanilla ice cream at home! Im going to make the most of my tourist experience and have stuff I can't have back home. In it's completion!"

So here's a bunch of pics. Most of the green tea stuff I found was in Kyoto.

The Snack Bar at Kinkakuji

 At the kinkakuji exit, there were also stalls selling these cute boxes filled with cute Japanese snacks. And the sellers spoke okay English. They even let us eat some samples!
But I felt like a pig just eating the samples and not buying. All the Japanese people around me that were trying ended up buying. Is it impolite not to buy? I sure felt impolite ahahah.
So I coerced my sister into buying a box.

Box of Dango

Dango Sticks

Oh! And you can't forget actual Green Tea tea right? The hotel we stayed at in Kyoto gave us free green tea every day! They were such hospitable people!

Green Tea at the Village Kyoto Hotel

Munching on green tea dango while drinking some green tea in our hotel room

 Okay, so not everything Green Tea I bought was edible! I regret buying this hand cream because it's so small! There was a larger size that I wanted but I was saving my money for Tokyo afterwards. But I wonder if maikos actually use this hand cream? I bought this hand cream at a store in Gion, the 'geisha district'. Mind you, I didn't see any geishas that Wednesday night. My mum saw some in taxis though.

Green Tea Hand Cream Case

Green Tea Hand Cream - 300 Yen

Snapchatting

 We also went to the Kyoto International Manga Museum! It was such a beautiful place and I could have been there all day just reading the manga! Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.. but I can't stop kicking myself about not taking pictures or selfies OUTSIDE. The building was so pretty! And the courtyard had the greenest grass ever I could've eaten it.

The only pics I took at the International Manga museum was what I ate. It was really good though! It was so cold that day and I had been so tired after walking around and getting lost in Arashiyama all day just a few hours before.

Green tea + mochi cubes

the animation on the wall of the restaurant (in the background)

 On our final day in Kyoto, we went to the only halal restaurant on our Japan trip. Wow. Rose cafe was a cosy little place right around the corner from the Kyoto Masjid. I loved how we had our own little room at the back. And best of all, it was halal!
So we ate here while my dad was at Jum'ah Prayer at the Masjid. Convenient right? Unfortunately women weren't allowed in. My dad said the place was packed to capacity. (Masha Allah). After my dad finished, there was another round of Muslim men waiting outside to pray Jum'ah. Subhanallah. Whereever you go, you are bound to find Muslims.
Most of them were from Malaysia and Indonesia though.
So anyways, when we got to the restaurant, I was craving some hard core meat. The store didn't really have any traditional Japanese food. But I was okay with that. I've been eating that for the past 3-4 days. So I ate a steak burger. And of course, the green tea thing on the menu: green tea (of course) and green tea chocolate cake. I couldn't really taste the chocolate though. And the green tea was subtle. But still. YUMMM.

Green Tea Chocolate Cake

 And then it was the shinkansen to Tokyo. I bought a packet of green tea kit kats from Kyoto station. I had bought a packet in Osaka as well..  but forgot to take a pic of it. To be honest, I can't really taste the difference between the green tea kit kats I bought in Osaka and the green tea kit kats that were labelled with "Kyoto Edition" as if it were some limited "must buy" thing. But hey. Blowing money on a holiday to try new things is what you're meant to do hey?

Eating Green Tea kit kat on the Shinkansen to Tokyo

 I've had a green tea latte before. But I have NEVER had a green tea latte at STARBUCKS before. IN JAPAN. IN SHINJUKU!
There was a foreign couple sitting behind me at starbucks. One was an English man, the other.. I can't remember. Was it a Scottish or Irish woman? Anyway, they were speaking in English and were talking about learning the Japanese language. The woman was going on about how difficult reading Japanese might be because of all the kanji.
I really wanted to join in on that conversation because... after all, I did study Japanese for two semesters and could have offered my bag of 2 cents'.

Green Tea Latte - Shinjuku Starbucks

I ate a green tea ice cream cone at the Ghibli Museum as well. But forgot to take a pic.

And to end my Japan journey, what better way to end it with a green tea bang! I think the best treat was saved for last. I bought this cup of green tea ice cream + wafer + red bean glutinous rice balls. It was delicious. It makes me want to cry because I miss green tea Japan so much!

Green Tea Parfait: Green Tea Ice + Wafer + Red Bean Glutinous Rice Balls - Haneda International Airport
Taken by my Mama

That Dream Car

I've been thinking about my dream car for a while. And I've always wondered whether or not to go for class or comfort.

Ideally, I could have both. And I wish I could but lets be realistic. If I were to buy one now, my wallet wouldn't be able to afford one.

Hahah.

Anyways.

I've just recently watched a new video off youtube. About a new brand of car called Infiniti.

So in the video, theres a well-kept looking man in a suit who looks likes hes in a factory. But the thing is, he is the factorys product.  And he is on some sort of cable track in a line of other well-kept looking men that are being dressed by robots in the same look hes wearing. Along with the grey business suit that all 1000 of these "clones" are having put on, they are also given an accessory: the keys to an expensive-looking car. The expensive-looking car stereotypically imagined that rich people drive.

Yep. The rich peoples car: BMW and Mercedes.

Summing up that long story short. Theres a new sheek looking car in town for you rich people to show off your status and drive in, called Infiniti.

And to be honest it makes me mad because its JUST A CAR.

I dont understand the tendency for people to buy these cars. This concept is similar to an iPad. The only use an iPad is, is to show that you can afford an iPad. Same with these cars. There are perfectly better, and perhaps more comfortable cars in the market out there.

Its a sad story when you want to buy these items purely as a status symbol. in addition to all of this, it's all a marketing ploy.

I mean, what happened to looking at character first and displaying humility? These days, I feel like the simple things in life are being overlooked.

Being Australian on Australia Day

So, in my previous post, I said it was very unpatriotic of me to be eating Korean noodles on Australia day...

But I lied. The night before (which was a Saturday) I decided to make LAMINGTONS!! and might I add I was causing quite a 'racket' while the Women's Tennis Final was on?

Anyway. I made lamingtons because I felt like it and I had COMPLETELY forgotten that the next day would be Australia Day!

In fact, I thought it was on Monday!

Well. I stayed up covering my sponge cakes in chocolate icing and coconut till the middle of the night. Took a break. And finished covering all the pieces this morning.

And voila. I had my lamingtons ready to be eaten on Australia day. Oh how patriotic of me.. even though it was by complete coincidence and INITIALLY unintentional.

Some other very Australian things that happened in my day today was seeing my younger sister change her bed covers into an Australian flag print! Yep. I must admit, they are very cool. While I sleep in my Arsenal bed covers (im a gooner you see ; D )

And something else.

Whilst I was flipping the channels between two very intense games of cricket and tennis, I saw that Wawrinka was only a few games away from winning his first grand slam, in his first grand slam final against, disappointedly, a very injured Nadal.

But oh the joy I felt seeing the underdog win the Australian grand slam. Stanislas wawrinka,  the man who ousted the defending Aus Open champ, Novak Djokovic, the underdog wins the Aus Open! Love it! Althought it was quite a boring yet painful, Murray-less tennis game, I was on the edge of my seat!

And the cricket. Oh the cricket game that sealed this years Australia Day as my most Australian Australia Day ever. England only needed 12 more runs from 12 balls to win the ODI game (Australia had already won the series), while Australia needed 3 more wickets to get England all out. It was seriously the most intense thing when I saw the Australians appeal against England's Bopara. It was such a close call to see whether his leg was on tbe ground before the bail on the wicket was dislodged from its groove. And it was out!

With 2 wickets remaining,  it looked possible for the Aussies to clinch the win. And Englands run chase was ever so close!
But alas, I chose that time to flip to the tennis to watch wawrinka,  who was only one more game left to winning the championship. And we all know what happened next.
Wawrinka won.

I flipped to the cricket and to my shock, I see a close up on Michael Clarke doing a victory lap.
 So.. Australia had won, by 5 runs. Kinda disappointed I didn't see that final dismissal of that ODI series..

But still. So proud of Australia! After a disappointing Ashes test in England, they were able to retain the Ashes here, back home in an epic whitewash. And to seal it with a cherry on top, they sent England packing with nothing. Not even an ODI series win.

Although it was a 4-1 victory in the ODI for the Aussies, a whitewash in that would have been the sprinkle of icing on top. Unnecessary,  but would've made it just a tad bit bit sweeter! Especially since England won the previous 3 Ashes tests.

Poor Captain Cook of England would be going home with heavy shoulders. And not from a bag of trophies on his back thats for sure.

No, Im not talking about THAT Captain Cook of the Endeavour that came to Australia, this day many years ago...

LOL. How interesting! Australia Day marks the day Captain Cook of the 'Endeavour' first landed on Australian shores. And I guess the Aussie win has now sunk present day's Captain Cook's boat. Ahahahah.  Okay. That joke was a little lame. Ahahah.

Anyways.

Though I may not be the most Australian person in Australia,  I love this country and am proud to be Australian.

Eating Korean Noodles on Australia Day

So the picture says it all.

Its Australia Day today and I'm really not the patriotic type...

Personal Invites seeming like they care about you, when the person next to you received the exact same message anyway

So you're lying down having a nice cup of tea, minding your own business when you receive a text message on your phone.

No, it's not a Whatsapp message. Not a spam email. And most definitely not a LINE,Viber or Kakao talk message.

It is a TEXT MESSAGE. An SMS!

The only ones that send SMS' to you these days are probably the phone company or centrelink.

Either way, to receive an SMS from a friend you haven't seen in months means its pretty important right?

Correct.

It's SUPER important. Most definitely! I don't doubt this. Probably.

But it annoys me SO MUCH when it's so obvious that the message is a copy-and-paste message, message-blasted to all their contacts. It annoys me even more that the sender dares to write "how are you?" and "long time no see" as if they wrote the message JUST FOR YOU and as if they care, when really, they're just putting it in as a formality.

Perhaps to make it less obvious, they could have put my name in the message somewhere, to make it more personalised? Just to indicate that on a one-on-one personal level, they really are making an effort to reconnect with you and WANT YOU to come to their event.

And instead of using up all that credit sending bulk text messages, they could've just made an announcement on the Whatsapp group, where I wouldn't get over-excited whenever a message is posted there. Where I wouldn't be fooled into thinking that I'm 'special'. At least I know that messages on whatsapp group convos aren't always JUST for you.

Thoughts?

I think that these invites are probably no better than spam and my level of annoyance to these types of things is just.. yeah.


But still, no matter the type of event, whether it be a wedding, or party.. I guess I'd have to appreciate that I am getting invited at all right?

A Reality Check

So I'm doing my Honours this year, insha Allah. And I've just received my schedule for the year. It doesn't look easy. And truthfully, I'm scared. Really scared.

All these thoughts are running through my head: what if I'm stupid and not really cut out for honours? They're going to find out I'm a fraud and am not really a scientist! They're going to laugh at me! What if I don't know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it? What if the people in the lab look down on me and think I'm some stupid scientist wannabe?

My self-esteem is at a real low at the moment. And I am also stressing about my future at the moment. For me, honours is a stepping stone. A taste of what path I want to take. Insha Allah I would like to pursue a medical career. I want to become a doctor. And I want to study Medicine after my Honours year insha Allah.

I have the medical school admissions test called the GAMSAT in March.. and looking at my Honours schedule for March.. I am going to have one hectic schedule. I'm scared that I won't be able to get things done. I'm scared of the possibility that I would be faced with disappointment once again. I'm scared that I won't get the GAMSAT mark I need. I'm scared that I won't do well in Honours.

During this entire trip in Indonesia, meeting family.. I've been asked countless times what I am studying. "I'm studying Medical Science" I tell them. And it just makes me cry a little inside when they think I'm studying to be a doctor. "No, not yet. Hopefully I will after Medical Science. I'm going to be sitting the GAMSAT in March and hopefully next year I will be studying Medicine and then become a doctor."

See the thing is... it would be embarassing if I don't get in right?

I should really stop thinking these things. I know that I want to do Medicine because I WANT to do it. Not because of my pride, or expectations family members have of me. I should really change my way of thinking and be more positive. And have faith in Allah Subhaanahu wa ta 'alaa.

Please make do'a for me. That I do achieve my dream. I want to become a doctor.

Insha Allah I will.