New blog

To all my followers,

I'm so sorry about neglecting this blog for so long - life's just been so busy lately! 

Some news: I have officially switched blogging platforms from blogger to wordpress.com. While I miss the customisation options of blogger, I love the themes offered by wordpress as I find they look a lot more sophisticated and professional. So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to this blog and to all of you who I will lose due to my change. 

HOWEVER, I am really excited about my new blog and I think it'll be easier to keep it updated since it follows  my journey trying to complete a project of sorts. Basically, it's a 365 day project of random acts of kindness! :)

So, I would be absolutely thrilled if you followed me on my new blog instead: http://thepowerofkindness.wordpress.com/

Thanks very much and goodbye!

My Bucket List

I mentioned my bucket list in my last post and, after a request from one of my readers, I've decided to post it up here today! (Bear in mind that this isn't my entire bucket list since I want to visit a lot of different countries and I thought you mind find it a little bit repetitive if I listed them all here).

In no particular order:

• Run a marathon
• Write and publish a novel
• Visit Italy (and ride a gondola in Venice!)
• Visit France
• Visit the Galapagos Islands
• Learn how to scuba dive and dive at the Great Barrier Reef
• Discover a new element (here's to the geek in me!)
• Win the nobel prize (I can dream, can't I?)
• Become a billionaire (money isn't everything but it certainly doesn't hurt!)
• Horseride bareback on the beach 
• Learn to sew
• Be on TV
• See the Northern Lights
• Learn computer programming
• Learn to sing
• Grow a vegetable garden
• Make a scrapbook
• Learn to fly
• Learn lots of different languages (Hindi, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin)
• Perform as a soloist in an orchestra 
• Go busking
• Stay up for an entire night (I know, I really should have done this one by now)

So, these are the most interesting items on my list. What's on yours? 

Freedom!

So I woke up this morning (my first day of freedom) to a beautiful blue sky and sunshine!


I immediately took advantage of the weather and went for a run. It was nice to do something physical after the long period of inactivity that was exam leave!


In the afternoon my friend (I'll call her ElPe to keep things anonymous) came around to do some work on our upcoming year-long science investigation (I know, I know, what do I get myself into?!). We ended up getting rather distracted and spent a lot of time discussing our bucket lists. I might post mine up on this blog soon (just be warned that it's very long!) and sometimes I wonder whether I'll have enough time to do everything I want to in life. (Sometimes I almost think I have too much time and trying to come up with ways to keep myself occupied seems impossible!)


One thing I really want to do in the future though is go to Italy - possibly for my honeymoon. It just seems like such a romantic city - great food, amazing culture - and I definitely fell in love with it a hundred times over when I watched 'Letters to Juliet'. Perhaps I can go there with my own Charlie someday in the future? I mean, the scenery was just breathtaking and, I don't know if it was just the crafty filming, but the light was literally golden! *sighs*

One more left...!

I wish I had more exciting things to talk about than exams but that is seriously my life at the moment. Just scholarship calculus left though!

The French exam today was so-so. The listening component was quite challenging (but I THINK I got most of it), the reading comprehension was easy (as always) and the writing was fine (although you never can tell with writing in another language). I was freaking out in the last five minutes since I just realised that I'd been using the conditional ending instead of the future endings with 'ils' as a subject. I went through and changed the ones I picked up in my panic but I think I might have missed some. Hopefully there isn't too much difference between 'they will' and 'they would' in the context I used them in...

I should probably mention here that I'm a bit of a nerd and take school quite seriously. I mean, doing well in school isn't too hard if you really put your mind to it and it pretty much guarantees you a good, financially stable future. I'm also planning on being a doctor (yup, maths and sciences are my thing) so I definitely need good grades for that!

Despite that, I do get that school isn't the only 'education' in life. So I'm not just a geek - I do play sports, learn musical instruments and, most importantly, have friends. I guess education is just one of my main values - I mean, after all, 'knowledge is power'!

That said, I'd better practise what I preach and go and do some study for scholarship calculus!

PS. I now have four followers! :D

Five down, two to go!

Well, I just had my calculus exam and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Then again, you never can tell with calculus... I just hope I didn't do anything stupid!

Anyway, now there's only French and scholarship calculus to go (laughs) and then I'll be free! You know, the first thing I'm going to do once exams are over is clean my room. It's a mess at the moment with papers from my revision strewn everywhere. Then I'm going to post a joyful status on facebook. So excited for that moment!

Today is a rather special day because I can officially celebrate three followers for my blog! Best wishes to you all and hopefully there's more where you came from (*hint, hint*).

I'd better go and study for French soon. The only study I've really done in the recent past is read the first Harry Potter book in French. That was certainly an interesting experience... I found it rather strange how the translator changed the names of some characters but left others be. Harry, Ron and Hermione thankfully stayed the same but Hogwarts was renamed Poudlard, Neville Longbottom was changed to Neville Londubas and the four houses because Gryffondor (similar), Serpentard (can definitely see where they were coming from with that one), Poufsouffle (love it!) and Serdaigle (what?!).

Exams... and an upcoming holiday!

I am in the midst of school exams at the moment - four down, three to go! I've got calculus tomorrow and the Excellence questions are near impossible to do. I'm officially doomed...

On the plus side, once exams are over, there are only 12 days before we leave for India! I think now would be a good time to mention that, even though I live in New Zealand, I was actually born in India and lived there till I was two. This will be our first visit there in four years and I'm feeling excited and apprehensive at the same time. Excited because, well, it's a trip overseas! There's shopping to look forward to, as well as visiting cousins and seeing the sights (we're actually going to see the Taj Mahal this time!). 

But apprehensive because it's always nerve-racking being judged by your relatives, especially if you haven't seen them in a while. Also, I'm not looking forward to facing the poverty that is so evident on the streets and side-alleys. The last time we visited I was twelve and, somehow, I was able to deal with it. This time around, I'm not so sure.

Anyway, the scent of the holidays is growing stronger (yes, in my mind holidays do have a scent) and, even though I still have three exams to go, I'm already feeling excited! 

Reasons why I love Enchanted

Enchanted is actually one of my very favourite movies. Last night it was on TV and I got to relive the sweetness all over again!   

Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen it, here are some reasons why I love it so much:

1. The flash mob in Central Park! If I had to pick one reason Enchanted is on my list of favourite movies, this would be it. It is just the coolest thing I have ever seen! The setting is beautiful, the props are magical (balloons, flowers, a maypole) and the people are so... vibrant! Bonus points for being ethnically diverse too. You know, I think I'm going to add this to my Bucket List - to be part of a flash mob at least half as cool as this!

2. Amy Adams. Her acting (and singing!) as Giselle comes in a very close second. She doesn't drop character even once and, personally, I think she might actually be a princess! I love the bubbly vibrancy she brought to the role and I think she carried the movie extremely well!

3. Patrick Dempsey. Quite a good looking guy... Enough said. 

4. The songs. In one word - adorable. I'm not a huge fan of people randomly bursting into song but I had to make an exception for Enchanted. 'That's How You Know' is just the sweetest!

5. The animals. Awwww!