My Family Celebration

it was awesome. so much food, you wudn't believe. everyone was there, even 'luangpucde'. even my friends kathy + jason and phuong + josh came a bit later. Vman's final bday surprise came today. he woke me up at 11:30am and told me his brother and family are coming over. Ate Donna had baked me a cake, on vman's behalf, and wanted to assemble it here!

The cake was an Eiffel Tower, and indeed it towered. The cake was made of ube, icing and nata de coco. 7 layers all up! it was incredible work. You could tell by the weight of it, the complexity of the icing, the thickness and compact layers, and the intricate detailing of the Eiffel Tower exterior lines. This was indeed a work of art. There was even a small figurine of me at the bottom, complete with blonde hair, eyelashes, red lips, toes and fingers!

'Happy 21st Jen

Love Vince'

Seven layers of Ube and Coconut

Thick icing around it

Thats me

I still have the entire top half untouched and a few slices of the bottom. i must consume as much as i can.

Ate also baked me a cake. She offered to make a cake for me, i requested chocolate and coffee. On the day on the party she we had a conversation on the phone:

Ate: Don't expect it to look nice

Me: Don't worry Ate, as long as it taste good

Ate: I don't know if it tastes good..

Me: Oh, okay. As long as its chocolate and coffee then

Ate: .. coffee??

Me: ... as long as its chocolate then

haha! so there it was, it was just chocolate, and it was covered in chocolate swirls. It was very pretty and pleasant tasting - not too sweet, crumby or compact.

Dark and white chocolate swirls

My 21st cake

You know its a special occasion when there is lechon at your party. This was the first time in my 21 years of life that my parents have ordered a lechon. $300 for 37kgs, the meat was plenty, juicy and tender. It was so good and so big. Before all our guests arrived i was pigging out on the skin, which i kinda got full on. mmmm crunchy skin. I had the honour of cracking the lechon with a large knife, starting at the ass. The lechon was so big, we couldn't even get to half of it. We gave each family a large plate of lechon and still we had 5 large containers full of meat.

You can't see it here but I shoved a red apple in its

mouth for the sake of tradition

Everyone was enjoying the food,

including vman

The gang by the end of the night

After everyone went home, it was present time. =D

Phuong surprised me yet again with this inspiring little arty book. It was titled 'Jen11'. It listed 11 designers and artists around the world with the name of 'Jennifer'. This book was highly thoughtful and unique. I'll look at it whenever I feel like shit designer.

All my presents from my family

Din din, one of my cousins bought me this pink iPod Shuffle. Kathy, crazy kathy got me a hand full of presents, individually wrapped in red love heart paper and tied with metallic ribbon. Each present had a message hinting what could be inside. She made me wear a stupid pirate hat, apparently she's going to make it a habit since last year she got me a 'Thirst Aid' hat.

Pirate hat with Bling Bling ring (contrasting ideas)

worn whilst opening Kathy's presents

A lucky dip where I could have

EVERYTHING

'Hellllooo' *creepy voice*

Ironic for this present contained underwear

'Superman that hoe, now watch me YOUU!'

Kathy had written on the Lonsdale undies price tag

'Don't look at the prices!'

'These remind me of you'

Astro Boy Children's book and the

VB Can in the form of a coffee mug

'The original GN'

Wooden letter blocks for display

This is for when you go on your study tour

A walking tour of Paris and Paris PJ short shorts

France and the French

I am watching the movie Amelie for the 3rd time. I want to familiarise myself with the language, scenery and people. I hope to learn some basic French. If i am exposed to enough French culture and language i my be able to learn something useful. The movie was set on location in Montmatre, there is a scene in St. Martins Canal too. These two places we will be visiting. Its so beautiful in the movies, and so are the characters too. I hope that this portrayal is true, althought i doubt that. One should never take movies as reality.

I love this movie so much that i went to the imdb.com website and looked up trivial facts about the movie:

The part of Amélie was written specifically for Emily Watson. She wanted the part but had to decline because she didn't speak French and had already agreed to be in Gosford Park(2001).

---

Director Trademark: [Jean-Pierre Jeunet] [actor] Dominique Pinon. The photo booth picture collection is based on a real collection created by a friend of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. He is credited during the ending credits ("D'après la collection originale de Michel Folco"). A faux photo booth picture collection, with, among others, Tchéky Karyo, was created for the film, so that the rights to the real collection did not have to be purchased.

---

Whenever this film was shot on location, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the crew would clean the area of debris, grime, trash and graffiti, so that the film would match his fantasy more so. This was an especially difficult task when it came time to shoot at the huge train station.

---

Director Trademark: [Jean-Pierre Jeunet] [orphans] death of Amélie's mother. An orphan is considered to have lost both parents. As Amélie's father is still alive, she is not considered an orphan. However, Jean-Pierre Jeunet often portrays children who have suffered the loss of one or both parents.

---

Jean-Pierre Jeunet originally started collecting the stories and memories that make up the story in 1974.

---

The artwork in Amélie's bedroom (the dog with collar, the white bird) and her crocodile imaginary friend are by artist Michael Sowa.

---

Some of the locations in the film can be found in Montmartre. The café "Les 2 Moulins" can be found at the beginning of Rue Lepic and the vegetable/fruit store "Collignon" at 56 Rue des Trois Frères.

---

The main colors in the film (green, yellow and red) are inspired by the paintings of the Brazilian artist Juarez Machado.

---

The traveling gnome was inspired by a rash of similar pranks played in England and France in the 1990s. In 1997, a French court convicted the leader of Front de Libération des Nains de Jardins (Garden Gnome Liberation Front) of stealing over 150 gnomes. The idea was later used in an advertising campaign for an Internet travel agency.

---

Voted #2 in Australia's Favourite Movie poll.

---

When Amélie goes to Mr Collignon's parents, the father, who makes holes in flowers, says he'd rather make these holes into lilacs. This is a direct reference to French singer Serge Gainsbourg's song "Le poinçonneur des Lilas".

This movie reminds me of another french movie. Its about an orphan house controlled by two women in one body (two heads, 4 arms, 4 legs) who train flies to sting orphans in the neck to make them into slaves. This orphan girl with the help of a strong circus man helps to over take the evil ladies and save her orphan friends. oh look i just found it on imdb.com its called 'The City of Lost Children' and it does have a surrealist influence on the aesthetics. i need to find this movie and watch it =] what a coincedence, it is shot by the same director as Amelie. interesting.

A conversation of the two main characters in the film, Miette a young smart orphan child and One a strong man who cannot talk fluently. One talks about his old job and his younger brother Denree.

Miette: One? [One grunts] Miette: You asleep? [One breathes deeply and mumbles] Miette: What did you do before? One: One sailor. Harpooned Whales. One night [pauses] One: One hear whales singing. After [gestures throwing of harpoon] One: always always the target I miss. One loses job. Miette: One? [pauses] Miette: What's it like to have a little brother? One: Keeps you [pauses] One: running. Miette: Well, he can't complain he's got nobody to worry about him. One: [Turns over] Denree- little brother. Miette- little sister. [Blows air on Miette's back] Miette: What are you doing? One: [Whispers in Miette's ear] Radiator

Haha! Love. Love. Love.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112682/plotsummary

@ ze movies

I hate going to the movies simply for the price of a movie ticket. remember the days when they used to be $5 every tuesday? now they are as high as $14.50 for a student ticket, $16+ for an adult and $19+ for a 3D movie ticket. fucking full of shit that is when u can rent 5 weekly dvd's for $6.95 at VideoEzy.

anyways, vince has always loved paying a rip for movie tickets so today i agreed to go. he was always raving on about watching Prince of Persia and Robin Hood in cinema. i have rejected this idea as a possibility until i found out Prince of Persia was directed by the same guys who did Pirates of the Caribeean. WOW! i love that movie. so off we went for the 7pm session at Village Cinemas, Sunshine.

we had to stop by for some toasted kebabs at Ballarat road 1st, then get some drinks at Safeway.

The movie started off good. Really suspensful and kept me on the edge of my seat, lifting my scarf to cover my eyes and mouth when the scary/violent parts were happening. but towards the middle i found the plot unbelieving. How and why would the young king believe Dust'an so easily after Dust'an was accused of killing their father?? and how and why would the princess fall in love with Dust'an within minutes of meeting him?? I wouldn't. he's not even that hot. i wish they got someone else to play the main character.

Overall the film was OKAY. but meh, i couldve waited for it to come on dvd.

Yesterday i spent 2hours+ in Borders, Melbourne Central reading up on France and London and searching for bargain books. I have learnt a couple of phrases in french:

• Good day - Bonjour
• Good evening - Bonsiour
• Please - Siv'il plea
• Mr./Miss - Misour/Madame

here are some facts i learnt yesterday about france:

• almost all businesses close from 12:30pm - 2:30pm for a lunch break
• 1AUD = 1euro
• a cost of one crossoint is 1.20euro
• the french find it arrogant of tourists who dont acknowledge the french language e.g. if you speak to them in english
• majority of french people are not vegiterians
• it is illegal to smoke in public
• it is highly recommended to book accommodation in advance when visiting Paris
• Gypsy pick-pocketers distract you while they take your belongings and tend to appear near tourist destinations like the Effiel Tower and the Lourve
• graveyards are regular walking places, almost like parks
• catching public transport into the city from the airport is much cheaper than catching a cab
• there are few nightclubs in Paris due to the tendency for people to have house parties
• Paris was 1st establised in the 13th century (i think) by a group of people called Parisii

i skimmed through 3 Paris travel books. i bought a book $3 titled 'Death and Celebrities' a true crime book telling the stories of celebrities backgrounds, families, successes and deaths. and a lonely planet book listing all the countries in the world complete with photographs, trademarks and a to-do list for $13.75 from $54.99 =D

PARIS&LONDON

I would have never believed it until two days ago. I'M GOING TO PARIS&LONDON!

my dream to study design oversea and although this isn't an exchange program it is the next best thing, a study tour. it means we visit other countries and learn about design/art/architecture&typography THEIR way, visiting museums, galleries and taking tours around the city. i regret not applying for last year's study tour with my friends which went to New York&Chicago. i had too much shit going on and i was failing subjects (3 subjects at one time), for the very 1st time.

this year is paris and london. i thought i wouldn't get it, since i was a 3rd year student and it was only opened for 2nd year students. i thought anthony elliott (the teacher that i love and hate at the same time) would grill me for my 3 failed subjects especially the one which he was the co-ordinator for. perhaps he would take this personally? i stayed up for the majority of the night preparing for my interview and researching the places on the itenary list. we also had to think of 8 other places we wanted to visit and give a brief statement as to why and the relevance of it to our studies. i woke up this morning dreading my interview. i thought i wouldnt get it, i felt i wasn't good enough. i was ready to give up the fight. vman called me, i told him that i wasn't going to go. he told me i had to, that i worked all night preparing for it and reminded me it was something that ive always wanted to do.

so i attended the UK/France study tour interview that afternoon at 2pm. my heart was beating irregularly waiting outside that room. anthony elliott was taking his sweet time interviewing and laughing with another applicant and my interview time was meant to start at 30minutes ago. i felt like walking away and giving up again.

the interview was nothing that i expected. it was a pure casual conversation. i prepared for questions like:

• Why did u failed 3 subjects last year? Have you lost your passion for design?
• How will you pay for all these expenses?
• Do you know how to speak French?
• How will you cope from being away from home?
• How will you represent Swinburne as a university?
• How good are you at making friends with strangers?

All of which answers would generate a negative connotation. but he caught me off guard with the 1st question being 'How old are you?' i had to think for 2 seconds. He asked me questions about my health, if i was allergic to anything, if i had any cultural or social concerns he needed to worry about. He asked if i ever travelled before, where did i go, and in what conditions did i stay.. he saw my average results of 75.5% and said i was a Distinction student. he finished off the interview with the words, and i quote:

Well, there is no reason why I think you can't come

Like WOW. THANK GOD i got up that morning

So that is the story of how i am going to Paris/France. It will happen over 3weeks, Novemeber 19 to December 10. It will be with 12 other random design students who i do not know. i need to start saving up this money, FAST.

France

London

Yesterday was my 1st university exam. Since Communication Design is a folio subject, it has been 3years since my last exams. i kinda missed it. The marketing exam was held at festival hall, which meant i had to walk for 10minutes from north melbourne station. the suburb of north melbourne is indeed a quiet and beautiful one, i wish i could live there. the hall was full of students, there were tables that filled the floor, side and main stage. the seriousness of the students and the fact that the place was so orgainised was overwhelming. i had to take a picture, but didnt know if this breeched univeristy exam policy. maybe they thought id cheat? i had to take aphoto anyway to saver this feeling so here it is.

Marketing Exam @ Festival Hall, North Melbourne

The exam went for 2hours. I think i did well, but you never know with marketing until you get it back. When you think u'll do shit, u actually get a HD and when u think u did good, u get a 8/10. true story.

after i went start to Jwow for work. james took me to this cosy little japanese resturant down Little Lonsdale street called Horse Bizarre. strange name but cool place. note to self: all you can eat and drink at Horse Bizarre on Thursdays from 7pm-9pm for $25 per person.