… and if I could do it all again.

November 23, 2010 – 6:24 am

I called Romania this morning to check and make sure that Genie made it ok. She did :) and she’s finally at the start of her amazing adventure where she will be challenged, she will learn, she will discover and hopefully she’ll love every second of it.

It’s almost exactly one year since I left for my awesome summer away and honestly it was possibly the best experience of my life. Despite the simple regrets and the pain of leaving, the memories of places, people and fun times were unbelievable, unforgettable, irreplaceable. If given the chance, I would do it all again.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Skipping Christmas, Skipping Commercial Bullshit

November 10, 2010 – 8:50 am

While at the Botany Library the other day I decided that I should start my literary adventure (during exam break) and pick up a couple of books to read during the holidays, one of which is Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. This book was actually made into a movie starring Tim Allen and Jamie-Lee Curtis and it was renamed Christmas with the Kranks.

Grisham is better known for his legal thrillers yet I trusted that the literary skill would transcend the genre and make for an interesting procrastinating read. I’m only about 4 chapters into it, but I’m not really enjoying it. While the writing itself isn’t awful I don’t seem to at all sympathise with the main characters and their plight.

The main characters, husband and wife, Luther and Nora Krank, have decided to skip Christmas in order to save the large amount of money they usually spend on it every year and go on a cruise through the Caribbean instead. This I can understand, but there is so much else I can’t. Luther hates the shopping malls and the insane amount of Christmas shoppers etc etc. Ya, don’t we all. It’s crazy, people are crazy, and as someone who doesn’t enjoy shopping, I can sympathise with this. However, the book goes on to describe other elements which go on to create social tension among family, friends and neighbours. One of which is the lack of a Christmas card from the Kranks. In New Zealand we do Christmas Cards differently to how they do them in America. In NZ you go down to the Warehouse and buy a 20 pack of Christmas cards and write a little message about hoping that the recipient will have a Merry Christmas etc. Or, if you’re just lazy, you’ll write something like: Dear Aunty Pat, at the top and, Lots of Love From Brenda and Tom and the Kids, at the end, letting the card speak for itself. In USA, however, they write a letter summarising the year-that-was for the family in question including scholarly and sporting achievements of the children and all of this other nonesense that the recipient probably didn’t want to know anyway. These are printed and sent out in bulk to family, friends and neighbours. As simple as writing, posting and printing these cards sounds there are the added stresses of trying to get a good Christmas photo for the cover; editing, deleting, adding to the mailing list; making sure to have spares for the ones that you don’t expect to receive; individually handwriting the addresses and applying the stamps… all of which sounds like a complete nightmare. Apparently these are a big deal and cost quite a bit of money.

Another thing which I didn’t get was when the boy scouts come to the door to try and sell them a Christmas tree only to be told that they weren’t going to buy a Christmas tree. This left the boys sad and confused. Most of the people I know who have Christmas trees have a plastic one they bought from the Warehouse in 1999 which is thinning and could probably do with a replacement. I know of one family that uses a fresh tree. And telling someone that you weren’t going to put up a Christmas tree and decorations because you didn’t see any point as you were going to spend the holidays in the Caribbean wouldn’t cause them to shun and ostracise you as it seems to have for the Kranks, the normal response would be a nod of understanding and a fair comment on how nice that would be to do something different. The news that the Kranks weren’t going to “celebrate” Christmas has already (only 4 chapters in) caused many feathers to be ruffled and un-understanding by many of the secondary characters. And when they mean celebrate Christmas they mean: buying presents, sending out Christmas cards, the insane Christmas decorations, the huge Christmas Eve party, the huge turkey Christmas dinner, the halls, the bells and the holly.

It appears that in America Christmas really is a commercial holiday where there is a larger emphasis on spending money on the actual holiday rather than spending time with family. In NZ Christmas is about waking up at 5.30am with the sun to open presents, Christmas lunch with one side, then dinner with the other, lazy afternoon around the BBQ with a cold beer, summer, family, sunshine, pavolva and kiwifruit, ice cream and jelly, Christmas crackers, cicada chirps and a long warm night. I don’t understand this uproar about boycotting the commercial bullshit. It’s not even what Christmas is about. From this kiwi’s point of view it’s not only completely acceptable for this man to want to go away to spend alone time with his wife, but it’s even expected that he’d want to escape to somewhere sunny and beautiful to enjoy Christmas in the proper fashion, being alone with his family, just like a good Kiwi Christmas.

Seriously, I think we’ve got this holiday sorted.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Accents

November 7, 2010 – 2:53 am

Ah, I lufve me a goud accent. (Pirate accent) I really love accents for the fact that they tell you a little bit about the person and make up a little part of your identity. Interesting accents belong to interesting people. Of course, I don’t love listening to all accents. Here are some accents in particular I would like to highlight:

Mixy accents:
I love mixy accents. A mixy accent is where someone has grown up somewhere with one accent and has moved to another place but has only adopted half the accent. This is cool because it gives a good indication about how long that person has been there and how well they have assimilated into the new culture. One of my favourite mixy accents is the British Indian, where you have Sanjeet who moved to the UK some 20ish years ago and all his kids have the har’-ou’ bri’ish accen’ but Sanjeet still retains a bit of the curl in his Rs and of course the inexplicable-mutlifunctional-head-nod-shake-thing.

The Singapore/Malaysian accent:
There are some things that are really really really wrong with Singlish/Manglish, it really isn’t proper English at all and half the time you aren’t saying anything new, but are just repeating the same thing. Not only this, the grammar is all over the place, e.g. My five year old cousin’s favourite line : “You do what?”. BUT in saying this, there is something that is so comforting about it. I’m pretty sure it’s just a personal thing, because of my ties to Malaysia, but everytime I hear a Singapore or Malaysian accent it just feels so comfortable. I really can’t think of another word for it.

The Ukrainian/Russian accent:
To be fair I have expressed my non-love for the Ukrainian/Russian accent, and if you ask Jeremy, a fellow traveller of Ukraine, he will say he adores it whereas I detest it, which simply isn’t true. Having spent 6 weeks in Ukraine I can spot a Russian accent from ages away. Honestly, I don’t love it, but I have a soft spot right near my heart for the accent and will immediately attack anyone who may be able to help me fulfil my dream of learning Russian.

Surprise accents:
I love these, and you never know when one is coming your way. A surprise accent is when someone has a totally different accent to what you expected. My favourite suprise accents are the old naturalised chinese kiwis. They look at home in a paddy field wearing a straw hat but next minute they’re asking whether you want any tomato sauce on that hokey-pokey ice-cream, or in my case saying “Chit-chat, chit-chat, tall people, short people”, only Eugenia Ng will truly understand that last one.

Tainted accents:
Tainted accents are accents of people who have English as their second language and their English is tainted according to what type of English they learn. Tainted accents are awesome and are a bit like a mixy accent where the words flow in and out of the two accents. Sometimes they even turn into into invisi-accents where speaking becomes so natural that you can’t tell that this person had to read and slave over text books and listen to endless documents and do hours and hours of exams to finally achieve perfection in their writing and then have to spend an extra kajoolian hours trying to perfect their accent on the streets of whereever. Most notable person who has achieved the perfect invisi-accent is Kevin, one of my French professeurs, his English is ACTUALLY BETTER than almost anyone I know. I hope to one day achieve the invisi-accent in French. Chances aren’t high though.

Kiwi accents:
Now, a kiwi accent can go one of two ways: slow and annoying or homely and comforting. The first can best be seen on New Zealand’s Next Top Model where for some reason most of the girls sound like it’s REALLY hard for them to form their words, like they have a tennis ball in the back of their throat that prevents them from talking any louder than a faint whisper and at the pace of someone 4 times their age. I don’t like this accent at all, it annoys me so much, it’s sounds so airy-fairy. When I see them I think: Please woman! SPEAK A BIT FASTER! The second is more like Richard Till who is the face for the “Shop Smarter NZ” campaign for Countdown. He talks like this: Hi, Ruchurd Tull in the kutchen taday cooking chucken. It’s awesome, I love it. I also love the sound of a not-so-exagerrated kiwi accent when you touch down after a bit of time being surrounded by other accents. It feels like home when the customs officers asks you whether you have brought back with you any plant material that may harbour pests which may be a danger to NZ’s biodiversity, in a kiwi accent.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy.

November 1, 2010 – 11:59 pm

If I could remove a part of my personality it would be my irrational and extreme emotions that prevent me from concentrating and only serve to freak me out or bring me down. Seriously I need chill pills, and sometimes I need uppers. But let’s face it, everyone at one time or another has these freak outs but I feel like mine are a bit more extreme than the usual. Sometimes I feel like my mind has been taken over and I can’t do anything that I need to do, and there are times I get completely irrational and irritated for a very small problem. I hate these feelings because there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop it. I look at other people and question how they can be so level headed. I want to be like that. I don’t know what to do sometimes. I don’t think it’s normal and I don’t think I’ve always been like this. I hate it.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Tunnel Vision

October 22, 2010 – 4:14 am

I didn’t realise it until today, but I get serious tunnel vision. Since finishing my last class of the year at 11am this morning I don’t think I’ve left the building because all I could do was freak out about doing my notes for Tort. TORT. TOOOORT! And even now when I’m making myself take a mandatory break by writing a blog post, all I can think about is how I need to finish these NOTES!!! This is a great mechanism for making sure I actually do work. Good work, brain. However, now I feel like I have this massive monkey on my back that I won’t be able to get rid of until I FINISH THESE FUCKIN NOTES!!! These notes are important because I get to take them into my exam so they are kind of the reason I may or may not pass my exam… I feel like I can only start Criminal study once these notes are done… Ah. AH. AHHHH!!!!

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Facebook- being social on your own.

October 11, 2010 – 8:48 pm

I have recently taken myself off Facebook, just for a week, to try and increase my productivity seeing as I have two FULL YEAR (!!!) exams coming up in less than a month and I seriously need to start studying for them properly and it worked… for the first couple of days. I’m still off Facebook though. Woot!

However, as with quitting any vice, I have had a couple of withdrawal symptoms associated with isolating myself, which I first noticed a couple of months ago when I didn’t have my phone for a while. These are:
1. Low mood, my mood got really low and now my face looks like this :|
2. Replacing Facebook with Twitter
3. Hysterical laughter and anger at the same time- I think this is more associated with my low mood and the fact that my brain is trying to compensate for the fact that I have had less of what it associates with human interaction and so is making me giggle at really inappropriate times to try and correct this disproportionate emotion, or perhaps it’s the fact that a part of my brain is bi-polar and hasn’t told the other half and they are competing to see which has the stronger hold over me. Or perhaps, Facebook or no Facebook, these reactions would have occurred anyway because I’m a giant spaz.

Facebook is an amazing tool for keeping in contact with people far away but isn’t it just a lazy way of keeping in contact with people closer to home? How much news have you heard from your friends through Facebook that you would traditionally have heard from them? How many new relationships are kept secret until they become “Facebook official”? How ridiculous is it that a two people can’t say that they’re a couple until both of their status’ have changed on Facebook? Facebook is like a giant community notice board where we indiscriminately post information and news about ourselves and assume that people are going to find out about it sooner or later, not taking into consideration that they might actually want to hear it from you first. To be quite honest I am really really bad with staying in contact with people, especially when I know that they’re only a text away which is why I’ve found Facebook so helpful. On the other hand, how many of my friends would I walk up to and tell them something useless like ”@Eudocia Ng and @Eugenia Ng just baked brownies” and then make this face–>  :D
Answer: only people who like brownies and who don’t think I’m absolute freak for making this face :D

I’ve noticed over the last couple of days that the number of people I see on a regular basis around uni is quite small compared to the number I would communicate with on Facebook and, in turn, this has made me realise how much time I spend on my own. It used to be compensated by the fact that I would see what other people were up to via Facebook. So, isn’t it just allowing us to stay connected yet isolated? I could spend an entire day by myself and not not realise because I was having an ongoing conversation about figs with half a dozen people on Facebook.

And so I challenge heavy Facebook users to go and spend a couple days without it. What do you notice? Most probably won’t be able to do it. Hint: stop email notifications and change your password.

I personally wonder what it was like in the days before phones and Facebook, when you actually had to SEE and TALK IN REAL life to know what your friends are up to, instead of this texting nonsense. To a degree I also think that Facebook and texting has decreased our ability to have decent one-on-one conversations with people without it getting awkward and you feeling like you need a good minute to reformulate that text into the wittiest language possible. But maybe that’s just me.

And despite not being on Facebook, I’ve still managed to waste a good 45mins on this blog instead of rewriting my Crim notes. That just goes to show that procrastination isn’t something you can just log off.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Am I a Disney Princess?

October 9, 2010 – 11:46 pm

Beauty and the Beast Subliminal Messages: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGnnaP5ePHs 

This week’s video is half shit and half interesting. If you are going to watch it, you can start it at 4mins, the beginning is just highlighting the word “sex” in the landscape. Ya. Sure. 

The end of the video is the creator’s view about how the movies expresses sentiments about looks, beauty and the social values and benefits of being beautiful. And he does point out some interesting points that I had never really thought about.

I was raised on Disney movies. I used to want to be a singer for Disney soundtracks and I can actually say and sing all of the words to Mulan. SO! It’s interesting to see them in a new light after viewing this video because, of course, when you’re six you don’t realise that there are so many different layers of meaning in the stories.

As pointed out in the video, there is a huge emphasis on beauty and its social utility. For those who haven’t seen the movie, here are a couple of clips I would like to highlight.
Belle- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyP4kuvXe9A&feature=related 
Gaston- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhG9hKiplfQ

The first is about the beauty possessed by our heroine, Belle. The second is about Gaston, the villain, and how fantastic he is because he is extra manly and eats lots of eggs and likes to kill animals. Through both of these examples we can see how beauty and respect are directly proportional, with Belle capturing the admiration of the village and Gaston gaining the respect from his peers. While this maybe true, there is also the equally strong idea that a person’s personality can overcome looks that comes through the story as a whole. While Belle has an amazing face, when compared with others within the social context of the time, she is seen to be lacking in social skills, probably because she’s always reading and educating herself too much and is the only woman in the village not throwing her overly exposed cleavage at Gaston. And in the end, sorry to spoil it, Gaston ends up falling to his death because, although he’s really fit and cut, he’s a complete cockhead and we can’t let children thinking that just because you have a huge biceps that it’s alright to be an right arse. So I think Disney does well to dispell this idea that beauty is all that matters; don’t like how they’re trying to encourage kids not to read though.

I could really go on about how Disney movies and kid’s stories enforce gender stereotypes and unrealistic expectations in relationships, but I’m going to stop so that I can talk about me.

Being a child who was nutured through the songs and stories of Disney I wonder if these so-called subliminal messages have at all influenced my expectations about relationships and what I would find desireable in a guy. Unfortunately, current data in this area is too limited for such conclusions to be drawn, but perhaps this lack of data is a sign that indeed it has. Perhaps these Disney movies have worked their wicked magic on my mind that, like the Disney princesses, I would only be able to love someone looks like Prince Charming, Aladdin or Simba. Am I really that shallow?

Lastly, even if you didn’t watch any of the other videos, I would like to share with you my favourite Disney song at the moment from the Hunchback of Notre Dame: Out There- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCALg2levk  I love it.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Mon Chéri, le Soleil

October 5, 2010 – 5:25 am

Cher Soleil,

You, my beautiful sun, have decided to return from the north. I can say that it was a cold winter without you. And while at the time I didn’t feel any difference without you, you’re current presence in the southern hemisphere has made me realise that life without you is thin, cold and unloving.

Without you we all retreat into beds and slippers and scarfs as though they may some how compensate for your skin-tingling rays. We cling to fires and hot water bottles but there is no replacement for the genuine article. Our bodies turn to flab as we inhale stew and soups, partly to feel the warmth that you once brought us.

You make everyone want to lie down and take their clothes off. I think it’s fair to say that we lust you. There is nothing I want more than to sit with you all day. Your presence is intoxicating. You make me delirious. And at the same time manage to make everyone sun-kissed and beautiful. Secretly though, I think I prefer your friend Shade. But, Shade doesn’t mean a thing unless you’re there too.

Our lives revolve around your orbit. We take months off just so that we can maximise the time spent with you. Less work gets done and we definitely have more fun when you’re around. Eras of enjoyment are named after your season. The Summer of ‘69 wouldn’t have meant a thing if you hadn’t have come too.

You truly bring out the best in nature. But I fear that my love for you is influencing my ability to study, my thoughts are only with you, and with the exams less than a month away I wouldn’t mind if you were to head back to the north for a few more weeks and return when I’m free from the chains for academy. If you leave, just promise to come back. Thanks.

I will love you always,

Novia

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

I kick you!

September 27, 2010 – 8:38 pm

Before reading this, you must watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olLp8Cssh_M

I love this video.

I am uber compettive. When it comes to certain activities and sports I get crazy. Has anyone ever watched me play Cranium? Buzz? Anyone tried to beat me at a quiz??? Ya, that’s right, I pretty much want to blow your brains out when you beat me/overturn your trolley of victory and make you eat my cheese of poor sportsmanship. And I know exactly where I get it from. Mum.

Now I don’t know whether I believe that certain characteristics of personality can be inherited from your biological parents but in this case I think it may be true. My mum is super competitive. Now, I wasn’t really raised by my mum til I was a teenager so I don’t think that the time I spent with her during my childhood had much influence on this very strong characteristic. But perhaps it’s just coincidence that we both have to be the best, I’d need to ask a psych student.

I think however the defining difference between me and Mum is that when I’m competitive I don’t neccessarily feel annoyance toward my competitor but more feel annoyance toward myself for not beating them. Whereas she still thinks she’s the shiz when it has been demonstrated otherwise.

Argh. I’m bored talking of this topic. I really want to eat my dumplings that I have for lunch. I had to get up at 5.15am so that I had enough time to have a shower and get to uni in time for work at 7am. Funnily, despite both daylight savings and the earliness of having to wake up I feel fine right now. In fact, I feel really uber relaxed, as though I’ve slept on a cloud/had a really strenuous session of yoga just before going to bed and slept on a scientifically designed mattress for people of my exact height, weight and crazy sleep arrangement. Now if only someone would come along with some pepperoni pizza or whatever, that would be fantastiche!

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Me and KFC

September 18, 2010 – 10:55 pm

Now, don’t get me wrong. I really love KFC. I remember we used to to have it every other Thursday when I was younger. I used to make chicken, chip and gravy sandwiches with the little bread rolls. It was great. Marriage however is a very different thing. I was watching fellow Kiwi-Asian Raybon Khan last night where he said: “Marriage is like KFC, seems like a good idea before but by the time you get to the end you’ve had enough.”
Ahem, brother.

When I was younger, probably about the same time we used to have KFC every other week, I pictured myself getting married and having kids at around the age of 25, like my dad. I also remember my mum saying that this was too young, but I had always thought that she was wrong. My idea of marriage has changed considerably in the last 10 years. I personally don’t believe marriage can work for everyone but more or less everyone will give it a go.

I don’t believe marriage is viable in today’s society because of the instant gratification mentality we have been brought up with. Parents spoil their children so much more these days, rarely are children only “seen and not heard” which is very different to our grand-parents’ generation who have a stronger perserverence because of the tough life growing up. In addition to this, the relative ease of getting divorced in terms of both administration and social stigma has meant that divorce rate has increased. According to divorcerate.org 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce. While these statisitics are based on American divorce rates I see New Zealand heading in a similar direction. By the time you get to the third marriage I don’t really know why you would bother.

So, how do the oldies do it? I think it’s fair to say that, in the past, it was much more serious if a couple were to get divorced. I am in no way saying that divorce today isn’t serious, but, in most cases, it doesn’t come with the same social ostrafication as it did in yesteryear. So, divorce really wasn’t an option. I also believe that people were more loyal to their partners which I think is semi-linked to the availability of contraceptives which has both liberated the sexual lives of millions, boomed the sex industry as well as facilitated the casual nature of how most view sex. The links between sex & love and sex & marriage have become completely switched around. Back in the day you’d “save yourself for marriage” which meant marriage=sex with someone you could NEVER EVER LEAVE AND SOMEONE YOU WOULD BE WITH FOREVER. These days you don’t necessarily love the ones you fuck and most people view marriage as an end to the great or, more likely, the frequent sex of single life. This has meant quick establishment and disbandment of intense intimate relationships, something the oldies would have seldom encountered.

The oldest living married couple Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher have been married for more than 86 years. That’s freakin insane.

Personally, the main reason I don’t believe in marriage is because everytime someone gets divorced it means that they were wrong. They were wrong when they said that they were going to live and love together until death do us part. Every divorced couple believed upon the day of their marriage that they were going to be married forever and when they get divorced it shows me that they were wrong. And if there is one thing I hate being, it’s wrong.

However, I do believe there are some young people out there who can tough it through marriage. GO YOU GUYS!

I don’t want to get married. There are certain specific circumstances in which I would get married. But on the whole I believe that I’m too wussy to get married and don’t have the balls to tough it out. And, besides, I wouldn’t trust anyone willing to marry me anyway because their judgement is obviously out of whack, because, let’s face it, I’m a loon.

I don’t believe in marriage for myself personally , but I still believe in KFC.

By Novia Ng | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (2)