The Best Time of The Year [December 2015]

Hellooooo!! WOAH. Hope holidays have been spectacular for you~ I actually wrote this post late December while I was finalising my Christmas gift shopping/wrapping but now we’re in 2016 …. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! hahaha ;_;

I now present to you, a big fat photo dump of my December:

One of December’s highlights has definitely got to be . Taylor Swift’s 1989 concert at Suncorp Stadium. I cannot express how amazing the experience was for me because I’ve been a huge fan since ‘Fearless’ in 2008. I was absolutely in love throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011. Years had gone by and I had missed two concerts in Brisbane. Luckily a friend bought some tickets at the end of 2014 and I have to admit, I wasn’t overly psyched because my first impressions of 1989 were so-so but I couldn’t let this one pass by. I wasn’t able to take great photos [DSLRs weren’t allowed anyway] but the experience was nothing but incredible.

Pre-concert fuel at Vapianos. Carbs for life.

 Everyone received little wristbands which activated when Taylor appeared on stage and changed colours according to the song that was playing, flashed with the beat and created awesome patterns across the crowd. Each song was performed so well with the many costume changes, dances and propeller walkway that was suspended into the air extending towards the crowd. Not to mention the fireworks that shot into the sky at the end. Jackson and I were pretty stoked that she sang a little bit of ‘Enchanted’ with ‘Wildest Dreams’. I appreciate the songs from 1989 a lot more now and nothing compares to seeing the performance live. SOKEENFORNEXTTIME.

IT WAS SO FREAKIN’ MAGICAL AND I FOUND IT INSANELY HARD TO CONTROL MY HAPPINESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!ヽ(ಥ╭╮ಥ)ノ

Okay, back to daily life’s highlights:

Disney Classics – I’m working through all these movies and I think I watch about one a day on average. Well… there was one day when I watched about three but yeah. I CAN’T BELIEVE that I hadn’t watched some of these films up until now! Treasure Planet, Hercules and gosh, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (probably the most grim, intense and scariest Disney movie I’ve seen). Loving the music and childhood throwbacks.

EB Games on Queen St moved just TWO spaces across but IloveitIloveitIloveit! There is so much more room for merch. A good portion going to Pop Vinyls. eh<3

I mean, LOOK AT THIS. OnO

Discovered some good italian gelato at the Wednesday markets. Pretty much Gelatissimo :p

First ever brunch at Bar Pacino

Walking through Southbank in bloom

Alex and I wanted to eat Japanese BBQ for a special occasion so we chose Nonbei in Fortitude Valley. [THEY DO BUFFET HERE PEOPLE!] It was my fault for deciding to walk there instead of using public transport because we ended up getting caught in a storm, just a few blocks away from Central. (hehe sorry b). That was probably the riskiest thing we’ve done- running across slippery roads with heavy downpour. We warmed ourselves up in front of the grill and ordered more food than we needed but I’m glad I discovered Jap BBQ.

*sighs with satisfaction*

                      My fave was the salmon yukke nomnom. Decided to insert a blown up photo because it deserves that much love.

Connect Camp was a ball. It was super uplifting being surrounded by people with loads of enthusiasm and energy- we played games, picnic-ed at the beach, had a giant bonfire and performed skits. It was also an opportunity to come out of my shell and meet a widely diverse group of people who collectively want to improve student connections within the university. Oh, growth mindset- that’s important! :p Looking forward to working with everyone next year.

Proud moment for all of Navy team when we all jumped from this tree. (It looks a lot scarier when you’re up there).

The same day I got back from the Sunny Coast, Jenny and I went to watch Conrad Sewell live at The Triffid. It was a quaint gig with some guest performances like Aston Merrygold (who is awesome aaaand not the one pictured above). It was a bit difficult for us to see since almost everyone around and in front of us was taller buuut we were closer to the stage.

Conraaaaaaaad Sewelllll!

Best known for his track ‘Start Again’ , which won song of the year at the ARIAs shortly after :p

That was also the day we tried Uber for the first time, two elderly men for the journey to and from the concert. The driver on the journey back was lovely- despite having a hearing impairment, he was still very kind to us. Good first impression of Uber (y)

Auntie’s yummy food

Krispy Kreme Caramel Crumble Doughnut Sundaes. It took me a while to convince me to try this~

Bull Bar feed for the time we were starving and Hatch and Co no longer served brunch past 10am.

Renae’s little bae, so precious <3

That’s my little sister’s arm vs mine (before I got roasted on Moreton Island). The difference is real.

The week after, I travelled with some high school chicas to a 3 day, 2 night trip to Moreton Island organised by UQ Singaporean Society. There were grey skies on the day we arrived but that didn’t stop us from driving in the little safari bus on a bumpy track inland and sliding down the huge sand dune. I was the first to be pushed down the dune, my positioning was terrible so I got sand in my eyes and became temporarily blind as a consequence.

The first night of the trip was also an unforgettable experience. I actually don’t have any photos because it was night time in the water. The sky was clear and the moonlight was bright, we went kayaking in these transparent kayaks lined with bright lights which allowed us to see what was in the water below us. I was glad I paired up with our tour guide because he could steer really well and because we were always ahead of the pack, it gave me plenty of time to observe the sharks and coral below us. BTW these were sharks that looked like giant axolotl/catfish. The island was really dark at night with the only glow coming from the Tangalooma and Brisbane city in the horizon.

Second day was swimming in a freshwater lake and sightseeing

Honeymoon Bay- Where it is said that the tides are strong enough to whisk away your new partner if you find you don’t like them anymore :p (Srs though, those waves were really intense.)

That evening, I witnessed the most beautiful sunset of my life.( This was taken without a filter ), there’s only so much a photo can show. The breeze was refreshing, water as far as I could see- left, right and centre. The scene changed with every passing minute. It was then that I decided I wanted to spend more time like this. Disconnected from the world, surrounded by nature and in the moment. 🙂

On the last day, we went snorkeling in the same artificial reef where we went kayaking. It was a surreal experience and a good workout too! We saw plenty of fish and even huddled into a little enclosed area where they would jump out of the water to get a teensy bit of bread we brought along. I freaked out a little because it went from seeing a few here and there into hundreds just a few centimeters away from my body. I also learnt that spitting on the snorkeling goggles prevents fogging hahaha…..gross. but it works!

Thanks for making it to the end of the post :p Please let me know what you guys think of the diary entries! I don’t publish them often but I enjoy it just as much as posting beauty related content.

 Hope 2015 was a great year of trying new things and wishes coming true.