Not sure if another Islamic protest, or if Bulldogs are through to the grand final.

Last night I attended my first live NRL game (semi finals between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs).

Rocking the nosebleed section.

As those of you who know me are aware, I'm quite paranoid about worst case scenarios coming to be, so I planned to get there quite ahead of time to have a bite to eat, settle into my seat, have a bathroom break and so on and so forth.

As a result of getting to the stadium early, I managed to make it in time for what I assume is normal for   most sports matches; there was pre-game entertainment in the form of a relay race by teens who I gathered were aspiring NRL players or fans.

After the race was done and the winners were announced, there was a short interview with the testosterone-fueled winning team. Not many words were exchanged in the interview, but instead a simple gesture which apparently said everything they wanted to communicate.

A strong pelvic thrust motion similar to the below.

Now, imagine his hands are gesturing to his crotch area with each forward thrust...

As I watched this 15/16 year old boy eye me through the jumbo screen whilst he suggestively drew my eyes to his nether regions, I had instant flashbacks of my childhood.

I used to live in a really horrific part of Doonside (the real ghetto of Sydney).

What my family didn't realise when we moved into that house is that the street it was on was half occupied by housing commissions. We had the absolute pleasure of witnessing a number of pleasant scenes around the neighbourhood, including Aboriginal kids trespassing on our property and riding their bicycles in our front yard (yes, IN our front yard, ON the flower beds).

I remember looking out the window, semi-fearing for my life and watching one of them look at me and, as if to check-mate me in life, he thrust his pelvis at me similar to how I witnessed last night.

Just as I did back then, last night I asked myself two questions:

A) How did this boy's mother get it so wrong?
B) What does this aggressive pelvic thrusting actually mean!?

I'm aware that kids these days with their hip-hop, and their backwards caps, and their discmans have all sorts of cool lingo and slang, but what does this pelvic thrusting actually mean? Is it a symbolic reference to his masculinity? Is that why those kids rode their bikes over our garden on a regular basis? Someone please explain this to me, because I seem to have missed this class during my time studying at the School of Hard Knocks and the University of Life.

Wanting to beat the traffic home, we left a few minutes early not knowing who had won the game. Driving home amidst the looting on the street by most of Sydney's Middle Eastern population left me confused as to whether I had found myself in the middle of another Islamic protest, or if the Bulldogs had in fact made it through to the grand final...

I was relieved to discover it was the latter.

In other exciting news, I started my new job on Friday. Despite still being in the same building, it felt really fresh and I'm really looking forward to the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead. I loved where I used to work; the culture, the atmosphere. But it was really conflicting for me being someone who strives to excel at everything and not being able to in my role.
I love the media industry, and the 2 years I spent in it were unforgettable, but I just wasn't made for it. But I will be forever grateful to anyone and everyone who helped or supported me along the way.

So it's goodbye to the parties and the freebies, but hello to the beginning of something I can really see myself pursuing for a long time.

And finally, because I don't think it has nearly enough views as I anticipated when posting it, here is a video of me singing a song and stuff...

I'll see you back here next Sunday for next week's post :)

The awkward moment when you're the only Asian within a 100km radius

One of the many qualities in people I love is when they have talents and interests completely different to mine. It gives me an opportunity to explore places and things outside of my little Blacktown comfort zone/bubble.
For those of you who follow this blog weekly, you'd know that "X", a guy I'm seeing who is working in Western Australia at the moment came back last week to visit.
He and I are very different. He loves the outdoors and getting amongst nature, whilst I am a 5' Asian who's afraid of butterflies. My idea of an extreme outdoor adventure is getting the mail from the mailbox in Winter without a jacket on.

One of these experiences I was able to live out was riding on the back of his motorcycle to a small country town called Picton. If you haven't heard of Picton, I don't blame you. It is literally one street of civilisation (if you could call it that) in the middle of the bush. I feel as though it is a place not many of us get a chance to escape to due to our busy lifestyles, so let me save you time and petrol and give you my analysis of 'The Real Picton'.

The first thing to note about Picton is the scenic journey to the town. "X" took me there because he "enjoyed the ride" (meaning, the roads that lead to Picton are winding and the speed limit is over 100km/hr) for the majority of the trip.

I'll let the below Google map illustrate the wondrous sights on the way from point B (my house) to point C (Picton) from the perspective of a pillion passenger.

So much to see and do....

The Main street of Picton has a wide variety of stores and facilities to keep you entertained for hours on end. Below is a guided scenic tour of the town.

As you can see, the local Picton surf shop has all the latest surf gear and merchandise. I would say this is a reflection of Picton's convenient proximity to the beach.

Should your vehicle happen to break down in Picton, FEAR NOT! Picton Tyre and Mechanical is the answer to any of your automobile crises.

Auto Parts Picton stores the latest and greatest in auto parts. Lucky for you, Picton is conveniently located close by to all major cities in Sydney, only 2 hours and 25 minutes from the Sydney CBD.

The local tattoo parlour has showcased it's finest artwork in the window to entice potential customers. I don't know about you, but I would say it is well worth the trip for this calibre of art.

Need a cheeky root canal? Picton Dental can sort you out.

Picton is also renowned for it's state of the art emergency services, with their facilities and resources updated regularly with the latest in technology.

Picton Police Station (last modified 1928)

Picton Fire Station (last modified 1971)

And just when you think you've seen it all, Picton brings you the famous Picton Mall, complete with Coles, Asian nail salon and an under construction Target.

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any more rivetting, I assumed we were heading back home after a fun-filled adventure in such a happening town..... NEK MINNIT, "X" surprises me with a trip to Warragamba Dam (he does engineering, he's into that stuff) - COULD MY DAY GET ANY MORE EXCITING!?!?!

All in all, I was completely out of my element travelling to Picton and Warragamba, but as mentioned, I like experiencing places and things outside of what I'm used to and for that reason, I'm glad I went.

In other news, I'm writing an article for a magazine called 'Warhol's Children'. The article will be about life's underrated simple pleasures, and I would love any suggestions. So far I've got:

• Getting to the platform right in time for the train. 
• Not being colour blind. 
• Watching the trailers before a movie. 
• Air freshener availability when you have to go at your friend's house. 
• When the person you don't like at work is away. 
• Having just enough change in your wallet so you don't have to break a note. 
• When McDonald's accidentally give you 7 nuggets, instead of 6.
• When your favourite song just finishes playing on the radio, and you change the station and it starts to play again on the other station.  
• When you walk into a public toilet and there ISN'T urine on the seat.
• When you find a chip shaped like a love heart
• When your Asian parents let you switch on the air con during a heatwave.... for 10 minutes.

Let me know if you have anything to add?


And with any luck, I'll see you back here next Sunday.

Does it offend you, yeah?

I mentioned in last week's post that I wanted to put a greater weight of focus on being soft-hearted and considering other people on my goals for this year... So much for that, as it turns out I blew that one pretty quickly.
Apparently making accurate comparisons are now also on the list of things that offend people. Apologies, I didn't get the memo.

This week I posted the below photo/status on Facebook:

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Before I break down why this perplexed me so, please see below what I find when I type in "asylum seekers" into Google images.

Now, I'm no expert, but I'd say that the photo I posted has a lot in common with these ones I found on Google. The main thing being that it is an overcrowded, confined space full of people who would like to get out as soon as possible and be elsewhere.

Had I said "asylum seekers have got it easy compared to me on this train right now" or "LOLZ ASYLUM SEEKERS!!1!!1!", I could maybe understand, but I think the comparison I made had merit behind it, and I don't understand how I managed to fail this personal goal so quickly after setting it.

Agree? Disagree?

Someone! Please! Show me the error of my ways! How was that NOT funny?

In other news, I've taken a few days off work because "X" is back for the week and we've been cruising on his motorbike, eating ribs, consuming liquid nitrogen ice-cream and other such activities.

I didn't choose the thug life. The thug life chose me.

I decided to take advantage of my days off and make an appointment to meet with someone who I've been thinking about a lot lately. Someone who literally is the reason I say high school were my golden years; My year 11-12 music teacher.

When someone doesn't have Facebook, and you work full-time, and you don't have their phone number, you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to get in touch with them.
In a random strike of luck, I managed to meet someone who is currently his student and gave her a note to give to him with my email address on it. These are the proceedings:

So, finally after all this time I will be reuniting with the man who single-handedly transformed the way I perceive the study of music as well as a few other staff members who managed to climb my favourite ladder. I'm sure you'll be hearing about how it all goes.

Who is your favourite teacher, and why?

Leave a comment below or share on Facebook.

Who's your daddy? A Father's Day Post

Isn't it funny how much one day can make a difference? It's been 2 weeks since my last blog post because last weekend the internet was down at my house, hence I spent most of my time pondering life's purpose and questioning my identity #firstworldproblems style instead of being a productive member of society like everyone else.

In these last 2 weeks, I've managed to end my search for a new job - one which I feel is more true to the kind of thing I can see myself doing long-term (something I guess I couldn't really write about prior to it becoming official). I received a couple of job offers on the same day which was such a blessing for me as I've been searching for a role that I am more suited to for a little while now. It was strange interviewing for jobs when I already had one. It's the first time I've looked for a job with the intention of finding something that I am suited for and that suits me too, rather than just a job I am capable of doing to get me by for the time being.

So to sum it up, I'm moving into a market research role mid-September, in a different company but within the same umbrella as my current company. This means I get to stay in the building I currently work at, which is even more of an added bonus because daily free breakfast and a 20-30 second walk to the train station is hard to come by in this cut-throat world.

I've made it known that this year is all about progression for me, and pursuing the things I want to pursue from an achievment stand-point. But these past 2 weeks it's dawned on me that I'm not a very soft-hearted person. To be honest, I don't know if I ever have been. When people come to me with their problems, I'm the one to whack them on the back and say "she'll be right", "man-up, son!" or more commonly "why don't you go buy a purse to match that skirt you're wearing, Nancy?" - being a stronghold or pillar for someone emotionally has never been my strength as a friend, I guess because I'm so emotionally fragile I'm usually the one in need of this.

This fortnight I managed to make and lose a best friend, and upset a few other people along the way with words I don't realise at the time cut deep. I don't know whether it's because I've been hurt and have built up an emotional resilience or if its a subconscious result of the way I was brought up, but I'm cold and brutal, and that's something else I would really like to improve in myself for the remainder of this year. To become more soft-hearted.

Soft-hearted like my dad. (seamless segue, right?)

Arnold Gallardo - aka coolest Asian you will ever meet. The below screenshot sums him up perfectly.

In light of Father's Day today, I thought I would list a few reasons why my dad is the best dad.

• Every morning, my dad drives my mum to the train station so she can get the early train to work. My dad then comes back home and picks me up to drive me to the station so I can have a 15 minute sleep in.
• My dad still packs my lunch for me.
• My dad still pays for my phone bill. Though, not for much longer.. (see next dot point).
• My dad writes me emails to tell me how much my phone bill for that month cost. I deflect these emails with replies such as "Sorry, who is this?" and "ERROR. MAIL COULD NOT BE DELIVERED".
• My dad refers to anything and everything on the internet as being "downloaded". It's his hip 21st century street-speak. (e.g. "Can you download these photos to Facebook?", "All you need to do is download it on Google" and "Can you download the weather for today?"

So in a nutshell, he's pretty much amazing.

And finally.... my big announcement!

HTTP://ZERAHAHA.COM

HTTP://ZERAHAHA.COM.AU

&

HTTP://ZERAHGALLARDO.COM  - (still a lot of work to be done/added).

are now live and active! Peruse as you wish!

Do you have any similar father stories? Why is your dad the best?

Leave a comment or share on Facebook if you're feeling kind, otherwise, you can find a new entry on here next Sunday as usual!