Simply whining melodramatically about the banality of institutionalised education
and covering up negative thoughts with classic movies
until my thoughts are in black & white and my movements are underscored by dramatic musical accompaniment.

I have to focus on doing things so that my brain can't talk so loud.
So I've baked chai flavoured butter biscuits -
and made beetroot salads, cooked tom yum noodle soup and grilled chicken pasta.
Perhaps my proudest culinary moment was passing over a plate to my kid sister;
upon it was my first - and near perfect - egg-in-the-basket.

Upon reflection - joy is not in the bulk of life
but more so in the small things you do or experience.
It's the 'little pleasures'...
I guess a cliche has to come from a truth.

I'm no good at LJing anymore.

But, to keep you updated (this is me thinking I have readers) here's some news:

First semester of university is OVER! I am officially on my 7 week holiday. So excellent. I feel so relieved and happy - which is a little worrying, should I be missing it?

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Malaysia with my family. We went primarily to visit my chinese relatives. Which proved eventful. I have many chinese relatives over there - none of whom I recognised. But they were all so loud and boisterous; they were a lot of fun!
We ate so much great Malaysian food when we were over there: mee, roti, curries, red bean buns, kways. We also went to Sukau and stayed on the river. We went on safaris at dawn and spotted orangutans, proboscis monkeys, snakes, crocodiles & pygmy elephants. I also peed in virgin rainforest! Huzzah! I have peed all over the world!

Morgan and I are leaving for New York in just 4 days. I am way excited! You should be following our blog: bunandtoast.tumblr.com to keep updated on our trip. There are links to our twitter, etc from there, too.

And to keep updated with me, personally, try following my twitter @hannahmarymei - because I hardly update here anymore! :(

Since my uni break began I have been performing street guerilla art attacks with m0rgasm, working, eating chicken burgers, slurping at es kendal, stealthily recording with audio equipment for uni, editing said audio, stealing wifi from behind apartment buildings, stocking up on vinyls at record fairs, missing the days I use to drink root beer, baking bread every other day, drawing again, writing until I'm bleary eyed and working on Bun & Toast.

Dear life,

you're pretty ok.

Love from your pal,
Hannah

1. I officially applied to my desired University (in Canada) and am awaiting an offer.

2. I turned 19 last Friday! To celebrate, Morgan and I snuck into 'no tresspassing' zones, talked to an old lady with broken dreams of fame and screamed our way through a game of laser skirmish.

3. My family and I made pancakes on Sunday morning, we rolled them up and filled them with marscapone and fresh homemade berry compote. It was like eating tangible love.

On Christmas Eve, come midnight, my family began to open our Christmas presents - as we do every year. Mouths gnashed at dozens of chocolates, whilst frantic hands ripped at wrapping paper or fiddled at new toys.

Today, although exhausted from having stayed up late, we ate yum cha in the city, then went home and played on the streets with new skateboards from santa and old roller-blades found in the back of the garage.

By late afternoon we took our dogs to the beach where they frolicked, care-free, in rock pools; scaring crabs and fish out of their hide-away crannies. We laid on barnacles and drunk the sun in.

Chicken, lamb, mint sauce and buttery potatoes were eaten by night, regardless of being hungry or not. Then, we sat around our 'joyeux noel' chocolate-mousse log covered in strawberries and pistachio macarons. One by one we picked and sliced, until it was all gone. Pure christmas opulence!

I feel fat and tired beyond belief.
What a wonderful Christmas.

I currently have a crush on dried pineapple rings and Shirley Maclaine.





For now, settle for make-believe romance with the ghost-like-lovers found in dreams. And for the sleepy hugs with a pillow in the quiet dead of night.

If only reality made as much sense as the inner workings of my imaginary world.