Day 139: goal setting!

so a few weeks ago, we had to do a goal setting assessment (aka assignment). and we set our long term (~3yrs), and short term (~6mos) goals, plus 3 action steps for them.

so figured i'd share mine on here. when i look back in 3 years, i wonder what i would've achieved!!

they gave us many categories to pick from (career, family, relationships, health, finances, etc).

so here are mine, in order of chronological order!

1) find employment with steady income, sufficient for living on my own

ideally, this would be a job in the entertainment industry, working behind the scenes. i would like to stay in TO (as it IS the hollywood north). not necessarily on a movie set. even TV stations, a TV show... something! i wouldnt mind travelling for it either. but gotta be based in TO.

getting a 9-5 job would probs not happen. haha... since its a "work according to deadline" type of job. i.e. production date/time. so it'll probs be in waves of busyness, then chilling.. then busy... cycle!

2) move out, get my own place!

once i get a steady income, i would like to move out.

dont need a big fancy place. if theres anything i've learnt about myself since moving out for school (london/uwo, now sydney), is that i'm happy with just my room, bathroom, and kitchen. as long as my room can fit a bed and a desk, that'll be enough! most of my activities take place outside of home. home = sleep and relax. hm... just realized how HK i sound. LOL

3) get a dog! :D

so i'll make to make sure my apartment (or where ever i live) will allow pets!

ive always wanted a dog. im really good with dogs. they all love me! when ppl walk their dogs, and im walking by them, their dog ALWAYS comes up to me in a playful way! a lot of dogs that dont let ppl touch their heads, they let me!

there's a connection with me and dogs. ahahaha...

but since my mom's dream was to get a grand piano, she didnt want anything with claws in the house cus it would scratch the piano.

plus when it sheds, probs fur will land in the piano. haha... so no dogs allowed.

these are what i will set as goals for my personal life anyway.

would definitely be involved with church life (a/v, drums... whatever's needed, small group), will want to fit in softball in the summer, snowboarding in the winter, continue with helping out at TC (a/v? coaching?)... some things wont change.

just that i'll come back to TO more equipped to serve! =)

PS. i guess with that being said, my plans are still to only complete the 1 year at Hillsong College. no current plans of doing a second year, nor staying in sydney. should be back in TO for good by December 10th at 12:17am!!!

update: flight plans have changed. i will now touchdown in TO on Dec12th at 6:17am! (i have 2hrs to kill at YVR. im going to OD on timmys!!!)

finally reflecting on my NZ trip

from an early age, my parents have always taken me on road trips, vacations, to retreats, etc.

pretty much all long weekends/holidays, i can be expecting to hop in the car (sometimes plane) and go somewhere. mostly, driving to small towns all around southern ontario and the north eastern united states.

my dad has always told me "try to learn something each trip. anything at all. from planning a trip, to help navigate with the maps (pre-GPS era), visit somewhere new, learn some history, try new foods, experience the culture... anything!"

but the last few years, our main road trips were just shopping trips. lol...

only recently, travelling all the way to this corner of the earth, did i experience an adventure trip like that! i guess for one, travelling with my parents, we always went with hotels (at least a motel), ate ~3 meals a day, travelling with comfort.

but when travelling with 3 other college students, we're gunna go see NZ backpackers style!

we kicked it off with roughing it for the night at Christchurch airport, since our flight landed at 1am, and we couldnt pick up our rental car til 8:30am. so no point travelling far from the airport.

after exploring Christchurch for a few hrs (mainly seeing the earthquake aftermath), we did a 5hr drive down to Queenstown! now... im usually used to the 2hr drive from TO to London. but 5hrs of driving after a 3hr flight and a night of no sleep? this brought a whole new definition to "backpacking" for me.

but hey, when you're driving towards mountains, then alongside them (beautiful snowy peaks with totally blue rivers/lakes beside it), and when the sun hits them just right when its setting... amazing!

arriving in Queenstown, not having booked any rooms or anything, we began the search for somewhere to spend the next 2 nights. we finally settled on YHA Central Backpackers. thankfully, we got a room for 4, ensuite with bathroom. 1 double bed and 1 bunk bed. =) was like $27/person/night. so not too bad.

the next morning, we kicked it off with 8:30am SKYDIVING. now definitely wouldnt do this with my parents around! jumping out of a plane 9,000ft in the air? (for reference, the mountains around the jumping area are 6,000ft. meaning i jumped the height of 1.5 mountains!) was pretty incredible!

then we did an LoTR tour in the afternoon. i guess my dad would have done that too. hahaha... but yes... once again. when the sun hits the mountains just right... oh man. for that short period of time, it is just gorgeous!

next morning, we were in the car by 6am, to begin a 4hr drive to Milford Sound! this was one interesting drive. from watching the sun rise, to driving through a layer of fog! lets just say ive never appreciated the beauty of fog so much. it was like a misty kinda fog near the ground, with the sun hitting it just right on top of the fog layer, with a mountain peak poking out at the top. pure glory!

and we finally arrive at Milford Sound!! lets put it this way. the pyramids are to Egypt, as Milford Sound is to NZ. so it was a must see. and boy it was!!! absolutely gorgeous fjord!

so by now, keep in mind that we've spent 4hrs in the car that day already. but its not over with. after 2-3hrs of admiring Milford Sound, it was time to head out again. this time, it was another 5hr or so drive to Dunedin! Milford Sound is location on the west coast of the south island. we are going to Dunedin, on the east coast. so we're literally driving cross the country, from coast to coast! dont think my dad would ever spend 11hrs in a car in a single day... (actually wait.. we did! nvm. we did the drive from TO down to Orlando. so that was like 2 straight days of sitting in the car. lol)

in Dunedin, we stayed in the sketchiest place ever: above a bar. lol... at least we got a room with 4 single beds. but had to share bathrooms with all the accommodation. ah well.. for $20/person/night. what can you say?

explored Dunedin's night life (there was none... most things were closed), found dinner, met up with my dear cousin Lisa and her bf, Yu! wasnt too long ago since i saw them since they visited TO and surroundings back in nov/dec 2010. but called it a night pretty early. travelling = tiring!

next and final day in NZ, Lisa and Yu took us to Sandfly beach! we saw WILD SEALIONS. was pretty awesome. too bad we didnt see any penguins. that would've topped the trip. but its okay. sitting on the beach for half an hour, enjoying the ocean breeze with a bit of sunshine was lovely.

after a nice brunch at a NZ cafe, we went to conquer the steepest street in the world: Baldwin St! by the time we walked to the top, we were waaaaay outta breath. hahaha. altho i walk 1hr to/fro school every day, walking uphill uses completely different muscles. that was a killer! but it was pretty cool, having conquered something tahts in the guinness book of world records. =)

by ~3pm, it was time to get back in the car for another 5-6hr drive back to Christchurch. the last and final leg of the trip.

yeup... never spent so much vacation time in a car before. but it was a good balance of energy. since we are still young, we managed. just for 4-6 days (4 days of fun, 6 days altogether) of exploring NZ, it worked out really well.

learnt a lot, saw a lot, was amazed a LOT.

so what did i get from all this? definitely want to explore Canada more.

i came all this way and saw so much of NZ in 4 days. ive lived in Canada all my life (til now) and what have i seen? southern ontario, montreal, mt tremblant, and vancouver airport.

i hear canada is as beautiful as new zealand... but i cant say ive seen it in canada. maybe just Niagara Falls. =)

its been a dream of mine to go to Banff, Stanley Park, the East Coast, see the forests of northern Ontario, see aurora borealis... so much to explore!

and it doesnt even have to be as far as those places. theres so much in TO i havent seen! i dont remember the last time i went to Casa Loma or the Toronto Zoo (my mom claims she took me), havent been to the ROM since elementary school, never been to the Don Valley Brickworks, nor the Distillery District. plus theres many pockets of neighbourhoods too!

theres so much of this world to explore =)

Day 132: small role vs big role

so after being in australia for 4 months and a bit, i FINALLY got rostered for TV Crew on a sunday morning!

altho.. it was only as a "Observer". aka training, aka run around and complete any errands. i pretty much just watched, and helped out with "Tape Op". (record copies of the 9AM and 11AM services onto DVDs for archiving purposes, and recording the sermon only for the TV Crew to watch later)

i guess i did a good job, ready to learn anything thrown my way. but most of the stuff is just similar to thursday mornings during Sisterhood. except this is Sunday morning instead!

so by the time i was waiting at the bus stop to go home (i bought a week pass! so figured i'd bus it as much as possible to get my money's worth. asian... i know =P), i checked my bb and voila! new email. i had been rostered AGAIN for next sunday!!!

how awesome is that?

its for camera 1 asst. a small role. but its for Sunday AM Hillsong Church. =)

which reminded me of a sermon Louie Giglio preached, on living your life to bring God glory.

the analogy was this:

"i'd rather be an extra on some major big budget movie (i.e. star wars, lotr, etc), than be the main actor in a small unknown short film."

comparing it to:

"i'd rather live my life, playing a small role in God's grand plan, than be the star of my own life."

it totally reminded me of that right now. i'd rather have a small little role with Hillsong Church's main campus TV Crew, than proudly walk around bragging about some tiny lil video i made and uploaded on to facebook. (not that i do. haha)

all i can say is, im super excited for sunday next week!! haha

would also like to mention, i went to BLUE MOUNTAINS yesterday with cell!!!

now, i know all you Ontarioans are thinking "what! the ski resort in Collingwood!". no no... thats just a big hill. here in sydney, Blue Mountains is an actual range of mountains!

its just on the edge of Sydney, and it took us like 2hrs to get there via public transport. lol

so we met up at strathfield at 7am (yes, on a saturday morning!), arrived in Katoomba at like 9 something. took us another 30-45min to walk to Echo Point. twas a beautiful australian fall day. cloudless blue skies, sun shining, small slight breeze, but not windy. perfect for seeing the Three Sisters, and going hiking!

to be honest, the three sisters was a big disappointment. the view of the rest of the mountainous area was so much more astonishing! lol.

we climbed down The Giant Stairway, which consists of 1,032 steps!! talk about a workout! lol... so we ended up near the bottom of the mountain. then we went for a 1.5hr hike along the side of the mountain, following the trail.

so after that, there is NO WAY we were willing (nor had the energy) to climb back up. so we hopped on the Scenic Railway Cable Car thingy (said to be the steepest in the world!), and got back up the mountain that way.

all in all, it is now 3pm the next day, and my legs are MAJORLY sore. thank goodness i wasnt cam1 asst this morning. or else i'd be standing all morning. lol

so... i have this coming week off from school! yay! :D

my plans?

- SLEEP IN.

- movie 2mrw w/ Sum and Suzanne at Parra

- do Amos and journal assessments

- catch up on movies (tangled, princess and the frog, LoTR, little fockers... any other suggestions?)

- oh and kicking tonight off with Debbie's bday dinner at The Outback!!! (legit!)

Day 126: softball = anger management

so things havent been the easiest at "home"... in college housing.

and thats when i realized softball was more than just a sport for me. it was a good way to take out any anger, frustration... anything that can be transferred from my mind, to the action of whacking the crap outta some softballs.

if not softball, i also had the drums handy. feeling like i needed to take it out somewhere? well, why not hit some drums and cymbals? i can hit up a beat, or just bang away at anything, until my arms felt tired. haha...

this is gunna be a long week.

mon: goal setting assessment due (submitted it last night! :D)

tues: cam 1 asst at Frontline Encounter Night

wed: CCU for chapel

thurs: cam 1 asst at Sisterhood

fri: short film assessment due

friday is also the day i get my ipad2 in the mail!

saturday is the day i go to BLUE MOUNTAINS with my cell group! =) (no no... not the ski resort in Collingwood all you canadian folks are thinking about. click the link!)

sunday is the day NLCC PM service moves into Riverside Girls High School for service, instead of the warehouse in Rydalmere!

monday-friday is a week off. =)

okay... i can do this. must get thru this week.

starting with getting back to editing this short film. ugh!

HERE.

WE.

GO.!!!!!!

PS. i still miss softball. haha... maybe i should find some batting cages over break week... hm...

Day 121: i miss softball

this time difference is gunna drive me nuts.

most friends/family back home are asleep for most of the time im awake.

whats more, is that most of the Jays games are on at like 3am or 6am. sometimes 9am. and once in a while, i get the 12pm games, which are the ones i can watch if i dont have class =)

and today's 9am game was absolutely fantabulous!! i kept getting notifications during tutorial and chapel (8:30am - 12:45pm), and it said that bautista, arencibia, and cooper all HR'd!!! near the end of chapel, it says "end of 9th, tied. Blue Jays 6. Red Sox 6". argh.

so chapel ends, and i rush downstairs to my classroom. still half an hr before class starts. okay.. time to stream the Jays!

it finally loads. middle of the 10th. still tied. here we go! johnny mac is up!

he Ks with an 0-3 count. =(

1 out.

Davis is up. grounds one UTM!! he's on 1st! we've got a runner on base!

cooper is up.

first pitch is thrown. DAVIS STEALS 2ND.

AND HE'S SAFEEEEE!!! omgomgomg the game is getting exciting! :D

next pitch is thrown.

DAVIS IS STEALING 3RD. OMG. NOW THIS IS BASEBALL ACTION!!!

AND HE'S SAFE AGAIN!! YAYAYAYAYYYYY!

still 1 out.

next pitch is thrown.

cooper swings: its up in the air, fly ball!

davis tags up. SAC FLY. DAVIS SCORES. WALKOFF!! JAYS WIN! JAYS WIN!!!! :D

click here to watch the highlights

=) good times. hahaha

also saw that the CCSA scheds are out. ppl are posting on each others' walls, excited to play each others' teams.

slopitch season is starting too. some have already started.

oh how i miss scorekeeping. lol... statskeeping ;)

its only May 11th... to get thru this season of no playing, spectating, and scorekeeping softball... and hanging out with fellow softball peeps? its gunna be tough. but i fully knew it when i signed up for aussie. just didnt think it would be this difficult.

Day 118: 2 more months... just 2 more!!

so one housemate of mine kinda "lost it" and showed her disapproval of me always "hanging around" in the living room/kitchen. thanks to living in the tiniest room in the house, have a roomie who isnt the most pleasant to be in an enclosed space with (scent wise), and needing a chair/table to do my work on (sorry, but laptop + bed isnt my type of work environment. trained by the mother to have good posture, and less radiation from laptop. lol).

i personally would like the privacy too. but for the time being, thats not possible.

so this one housemate was about to watch a movie downstairs, so i asked politely if it was possible to not put the volume at full blast, since im working on my video editing assessment. i even did some "conversation" before hand, asking what movie, and saying "oh thats a good one! enjoy! oh btw, im working on my assessment. can you please not be too loud?"

in return, i got a "yeah but you're always down here!" "but you know my room is really small and not in the most pleasant condition" (she disapproved of the room condition just earlier that day). "yeah but thats not my problem"

*sigh*.

earlier this semester, she asks me to use headphones because she's trying to do her assessments in the living room. so i do.

she watches a lot of movies... oh wait. cus she got them off MY hard drive.

and hmm... oh yes. its ME who edits hers assessments (english isnt her first language).

life aint fair huh.

and the passive side of me takes over. i just grabbed my laptop (and plugs) and migrated to the kitchen. mainly cus i know any further arguing just stirs up more anger for both parties.

blog = rant outlet.

thank you internet.

2 more months until another housemate moves out, freeing up a single room for me!

okay. break over. back to editing the video.

[don't get me started on ranting about that. all i can say is that im just aiming for a "competent". aka a pass. lost all motivation of doing a "fantastic" job on it cus the footage isnt the best. =\]

PS. i sound so bitter probs cus of the workload and living situation. not to mention how ridiculously cold i am... indoors. so yeah... its at a "low" point right now. but there are still good things. =) livin' the dream right? right!

PPS. im also really hungry right now. that may be a large percentage of the unhappiness. hahaha

Day 112: CAMERA CLASSSS

back from the easter break (NZ BABYYY!), and yessss! studio camera class begins in 2.5hrs! =) im excited!

also cus its not limited to camera op. but also stuff in the control room (aka directing, producing, CCU, etc)

and its being taught by Bruce too!

absolutely solid.

finally, no more being clueless when im serving. now i'll actually know what im doing! haha...

PS. home internet is still down. hopefully it'll be back up by the end of this week? coughed up an extra $38AUD to get it fixed (apparently, some unknown phone bill since jan, which got cut, and had to pay $60AUD to get it set up again. )

PPS. icaved =P. couldnt wait for the bb playbook (still no date announced for Oz). i hear its still super buggy anyways. so i opt'd for the ipad2. just ordered it yesterday, waiting for apple to mail it to me! white, 32GB, just wifi. short term anyways. dad says he'll probs take it from me once the bb playbook gets improved. im not too sure myself... since i know harvest wants to start using the ipad for worship service (song chord charts, live feed of whats happening, etc). Oz = apple land. back home in TO, most friends are bb users. hm....