Season Greetings!

During this busy holiday season, i'd like to wish everyone:

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"

You may disagree with me, but personally, I feel that "Christmas" is more a result of commercialisation rather than the celebration of the birth of Christ. To me, that seems really sad. Really, what do the Christmas tree and presents represent with regards to the birth of Christ? I could probably argue this myself and sound really silly. Let's see...

Well, the tree could represent the cross on which Jesus was supposed to be crucified upon. Then again, there are religions that don't believe there was a cross at all. Disregarding that, the presents could represent that Jesus was a gift sent by God for man on earth? But, aren't we suppose to celebrate His death and resurrection rather than his birth? One more thing, why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? Where's the proof that Jesus was born on that day? By the way, during those times, wasn't it only a 10 month year? *bLuR*

No doubt, it is nice to receive gifts but what's the significance? What's worse is that most people over-do the whole present giving or those that are in financial difficulty find themselves obligated because of social pressures and by the start of the new year, they're in over their heads in debt. Tell me, what's the point again?

Perhaps "Christmas" is the ang-mo equivalent of the "Chinese New Year" where gifts (ang pows) are given out to family and friends and where it is a time for the family to reunite and have an annual grand dinner together. Maybe?

Ai... No matter how much I try to understand the reason for this holiday, the fact is that it has been accepted worldwide as a day for the celebration of the birth of Christ and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Haha.

Below: Photos taken on Franklin Road (the popular street to view Christmas lights in Auckland) - very disappointing.





Just a quick update:
For those of you who don't know, I am currently in Auckland! Shocking moment for me - the roads are deserted and the streets are empty! Wow! Really looking forward to tomorrow because it's "Boxing Day" and there are sales everywhere! Hmmm... What's the reason for "Boxing Day"? *SiGh* Let's not go there. I'm leaving for a 5 day, 4 night holiday at the Coromandel Coast/Bay of Plenty on 27th, arriving back in Auckland on 31st to celebrate the transition into the new year. Will update when I get back.

Enjoy the holiday season! 'Tis the season to be jolly... falalalala... lalalala... ~~~

I'm alive and kicking!

Woa... I didn't realise that I hadn't updated my blog since November 16th and even then, it was only a forwarded e-mail. I guess it doesn't really matter too much because most of you have been in contact with me via sms or e-mail. As I can never really track who has actually visited my website, it's always surprising to see the few comments placed either attached to the blog or on the shoutbox. Although many of you may feel that it is an insignificant factor, for me, it's an inspiration to keep this blog going. So... thank you and keep it up! :)

So much has happened since my last blog. For those of you who haven't kept in touch with me, I arrived back in Christchurch on Sunday night in anticipation of my final results which were released as of midnight this morning. For some of you, they will plague your life forever just knowing that you could have done better "if only"... For some of you, you will appreciate the amount of effort that you have put in and for some of you, it will be a learning curve to pick yourself up and strive to do better next year. Either way, always know that you can lean on your friends and family to support and encourage you... including me.

After spending a month in Auckland, I thought that Auckland would grow on me. Hmmm... It hasn't happened yet. Maybe it takes just a little bit longer? Yeah, right. I still believe that Christchurch is still the best simply because it's the most convenient - the traffic jams can't even be called traffic jams! Hehe. But i'll admit that job opportunities are better up there just because it's a bigger city. If you're choosing lifestyle... then Christchurch is your place. Sorry Aucklanders. :P

Talking about jobs, I had the worst experience with Student Job Search (SJS) in Auckland. I simply wanted to update my account to be registered with SJS this year however, it would be more troublesome than expected. The person who attended to me asked me for proof that I had been a student this year. So, I showed her my student ID card. She took a quick look at it and told me that it doesn't say that I had been a student for the whole year. Her suggestion was for me to go online and print out an invoice as a form of proof. Sounds easy but... I didn't have access to the internet in the city since we had moved to St Lukes and I didn't even know where the nearest cybercafe was. As I was walking away from SJS, disappointed that I hadn't achieved anything that day, I decided to give a call to a friend who works at SJS in Christchurch. Luckily, she was able to register me over the phone. Thank goodness for friends, eh? So I thought, that was all sorted... but no...

Later that week, as I wasn't doing anything productive, I thought i'd find a job on the SJS website. I found a few suitable jobs and decided to head down to SJS again only to find out that, the jobs were for FutureGrads. I was told that I had to e-mail the respective person to register under this programme. Sounds easy yea? Think again. E-mailed the person... didn't get a reply. E-mailed again and received 2 different replies. Grr. Frustration was building up. To cut a long story short, a week later and after a sarcastic e-mail to them, I would be registered under the stupid programme after attending a stupid 10 minute interview. Even then, the programme and its people have proven to be inefficient. Absolute waste of time.

On a happier note, if you hadn't realised... I have placed a few photos on the photo section of my blog for your viewing. As mentioned in my earlier blogs, watched the Guy Fawke's fireworks display at the Viaduct just after arriving in Auckland. Also, visited the Parnell Rose Gardens twice - first time with Kevin:




Second time with Kevin and his family:

Let me also introduce to you, Lulu. I was told that she's a cross breed between a Chiwawa and another breed (not sure what). Isn't she cute?

I've never been a huge fan of dogs but this dog caught my attention and until today, I can still remember how cute the dog is. She's absolutely adorable! The width of her body fits perfectly in the palm of my hand and she's so incredibly light in weight. Apparently she will only grow to double her size and weigh a maximum of 1.5kgs. She's so cute! I wish I could keep her. Hehe.

I think I shall leave it here for now. It's such a long blog this time round. Hope it doesn't bore you to death. Well, wherever you are around the world, I hope that you are well and enjoying the summer holidays. Drop me an e-mail sometime: babymay@excite.com. Would love to hear from you. Take care!