Grow in experience, find happiness in the ordinary.

I was watching a Singaporean Film - Timeless Love (Chinese title: 那个夏天) the other day, that I came across this quote that I find rather meaningful. Oh, the movie is quite nice. Many of my favourite cast were in it. Go watch it if you can. :)

The original quote in Chinese from the movie itself:

人生要经历风雨，才能窥见彩虹的美丽；要经历过挫折，才会认识自身的不足；要经历过失去，才会懂得珍惜现在所拥有的；要经历过痛苦，才会明白幸福多么不容易。

在经历中成长，在平凡中寻找快乐。

For those who doesn't read Chinese, below is a rough translation of the text above that I tried my best to make out of:

In life, one must experience the storms of life to catch a glimpse of the beauty of the rainbow; one must experience setbacks in order to recognise their own shortcomings; one must experience loss then only will they know how to cherish what they currently have; one must experience pain to know that happiness is not easy.

Grow in experience, find happiness in the ordinary. 

Don't you find the quote speaking about some of the rules in life? All the ups and downs, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. 

In life, we have taken many things for granted. Only when we lose sight of something, then only will we start to panic and grieve. Then it'll be a little to late to get back that moment in time. Slow down, take some time to appreciate the little things around us. :)

Slow down and live life,

Hannah

First few days of 2013

This is only the 3rd day of the new year... but it doesn't really occur to me that it's 2013 and no more 2012 now. Why? Because, I DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL!! Yeah.. while both of my brothers are waking up everyday at 6 AM to prepare for school, I'm still in bed.. only maybe waking a few hours after that. Ahhh.. the relaxing days of my life. I could get used to this. Somehow, I kind of envy my brothers having to go back to school... although I'm loving my non-school days very much. :P

However, there's a guilty part in me. There's this inner voice in me that always tell me not to rot away everyday and instead do something useful. So, I'd always have a book with me that I can read apart from spending my time watching TV or going online for hours. Well, I might start a couple of new activities or maybe go do some work outside of home. I shall see how things will work out for me. :) 

I went to the movies with my 2 of my aunts a few days ago and again yesterday with another aunt. (Yes, BIG FAMILY results to you having many relatives) Both of the times, I watched Les Miserables!! I love it!! It's another musical made into film that I like besides Phantom of The Opera. It's amazing - with a star-studded cast and a few fresh faces that all sings very well. Who knew Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe could sing?! (Okay, maybe some of you might have known them doing something involving theatre in real life. I checked Wikipedia. But I seriously have no idea. ><) And Anne Hathaway really went all the way to cut her luscious long locks into a pixie cut just to get into her character, "Fantine". How can you say NO?!?!

Anyway, I love how well the actors and actresses can act and sing at the same time. I love how the emotions run through this movie and the cast really brought out the emotions of the story very well. WOW!! As I was watching the movie, I can feel the sadness and the pain of the individuals. It's not every movie that does this to me. In summary, Les Miserables portrays the sacrificial love of a mother to her daughter, a father to his adopted child and a woman to a man who will never love her back. Just amazing, a masterpiece!

One of the funny reviews that I've stumbled across. Just for laughs. ;) [I enlarged the photo just so that the comment below is readable ;)]

Also, I love the music from Les Miserables. Having their music covered by so many singers previously. I love this Film soundtracks. Not bad at all and the cast sang it live while filming. They're not even lip-syncing or anything, only the music and the orchestra were added in later. After watching the movie, the songs from the film have been stuck in my head... EVEN TODAY!! Here's the trailer to the film : Les Miserables :)

Go watch it if you haven't yet. :)
Hannah

1 week post-exam

Life's pretty good for me right now. It's been a week since my last paper for the exam. A week, and many things have happened. A lot of outings, movies and fun. I'm enjoying life as it is now. Better enjoy it now before my results come out. Already I'm worrying about my results when exams are just over. Well, that's Hannah.

I spent my morning cleaning half of my room. Ahhhh... what a chore. Well, I had to clean out all my stuff, discard those things that can't be used whereas, recycling those still good. This is what I get for not cleaning out my room often. I have many stuff piled up in my room, especially books and papers during the exam. Now that I have the time, I shall clean my stuff up, one by one. It's not easy but hopefully it gets done soon! :)

Anyway, dad, the youngest brother and I took a spontaneous movie trip yesterday night. Dad and I have wanted to watch "Cold War" for a long time (a couple weeks in fact :P), so we left for the 9.30 PM show yesterday night after dinner. "Cold War" was really good for me. "Cold War" has many big Hong Kong Household names like Tony Leung, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and many more. Check out the link. :P

I love how this movie has a good plot. It's not really that predictable with the many twists and turns in the movie. Though, there's not many action scenes and I don't really mind since I'm not a big fan of action scenes. I love how the movie needs you to think. Haha.. overall, I love that movie. Opening film for the 17th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) this year, yeap, you make us Chinese proud!! :')

Oh, and I think that the older Aaron Kwok gets, the more charming he looks. Haha!! He's just really good looking especially in the movie. He has this mature masculinity in him. :D Just go watch it. Recommeneded!! :)

Life's Good,

Hannah

p.s Sorry for the Aaron Kwok spam in this post, he's just really good looking. :P

Freedom!!!

Yeap, you've guessed it! Judging by the title of this post, I've got my FREEDOM back! I'm finally done with my A Level exams and I'm really happy and relieved about that. The past 2 months have been a really challenging and stressful period but now, it's over! I've been looking forward to the end of my exams for as long as I could remember.

I finished my last paper on Wednesday afternoon. The feeling of me, actually finishing my exams, didn't quite hit me just yet until the very next day. I spent my Thursday morning yesterday, back in school, to complete all the documents and things necessary for me to leave school. When I returned my locker back to the school administration, it hit me that it's real now, it's the end.

Oh, and a BIG THANK YOU to Kenny for being such a great friend, driving us out to get the things we needed done and to Dean, for being a nice company the whole time. :) I think I'll miss this a little. The school life, the friends, the escapades. It's the memories that binds us all together. 

Anyway, I watched Pitch Perfect yesterday afternoon at the Times Cineplex. I think that this new Times Cineplex would be my new cinema to hang. It's really convenient since my dad's office is just nearby. I get to spend my free time waiting at the office instead of spending $7 on a cup of coffee so that I can wait at the coffee place to kill time until my transport to come fetch me.

Pitch Perfect was AWESOME! Haha.. kidding you, NOT. I love movies like these, all the singing, the chick fights, the music, the good amount of romance = good chick flick. I loved how they mixed and mash up their songs. I like the actresses and actors. Any movie with Rebel Wilson in it, is worth watching. So far, all the movies that I've watched with Rebel Wilson in it has not disappointed me. It's just hilarious! Oh, and the actor Skylar Astin, a fresh face, who plays Jesse in the movie has this nerdy kind of cuteness. :)

Other than that, I started reading "Catching Jordan" by Miranda Kenneally yesterday. This book was lent to me by Maria a few months back but due to my studies, I couldn't really find the time to read it. But when I started reading it, I CANNOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN! That was just how good and captivating the book was!

I found myself giggling, laughing, tearing up, getting angry and frustrated as I was reading the book through. I have the habit of putting myself into the shoes of the character, which allows me to fully understand the story better. It has a nice story plot with a good amount of high school football and a little bit of high school romance. A great read and I recommend it. :)

I finished the book this morning. Time taken to finish this book, less than 4 hours. I'm liking this author. This book was my first from Miranda Kenneally and I'll definitely be looking out for more of her books now.

This is how I spent the last couple of days post-exam. It's wonderful and I have more activities lining up for me which I can't wait! Looking forward to the fun except for the dental appointment which I have for tomorrow afternoon. I never liked dentists. 

Having a ball,

Hannah