My friends look so godly I cry.

Clearly I didn't get the memo that this wasn't a parody/silly photo.

Plot twist: that post title wasn't autocorrected. Essentially, this post is a photo dump of ducklings (photo credits to my mom) she saw on her travels. Enjoy.

In all honesty, I am a closet waltz music fan. It's not that I hide it- I've just never felt compelled to share it with others. There is a little notion out there that those who adore classical music are just really pretentious people, which is pretty presumptuous to believe if you ask me. Yes, I get some music out there can bore you to tears if you listen to it for over two hours on end, but if you listen to certain movements of certain sonatas/pieces/long orchestra music (?? I'm not really technical with the terms, I just like what I hear), they actually sound incredibly awesome. Heart-wrenching, blood rushing and lots of feels (just listen to Winter first movement of the Four Seasons from Vivaldi). What I'm trying to say is this: waltz music can give you lots of feels. So unless you're heartless, you're probably going to be moved by the soaring notes and trills of violins like I have. I will provide my own commentary and my feels about some of the tracks on this playlist. Just consider this the mundane teenage interpretations and thoughts of incredibly complex music superior to what I can appreciate.

My favourite track from this would be Fairy Dance from the live action Peter Pan soundtrack. (This is where I would put the heart eyes emoji if I could. If you haven't seen the Peter Pan live action movie- go, do it now.)

Tracklist (not in particular order)

• The Second Waltz, Op.99 Dmitri Shoshtakovich
• This track starts with a tone that makes you believe you're waltzing away with the one you're out to secretly assassin, especially when you're a Russian spy. Preferably a femme fatale. And somehow you end up falling for them. And then your heart just soars as you waltz and you end up disregarding your mission in order to save bae them.
• Sleeping Beauty Op 66 Act I Tchaikovsky
• This is the ultimate angry and moody waltz. You're introduced to this furious mood and then out of nowhere it gets really sweet and mellow which abruptly erupts into a turmoil of emotions thereafter. This would be the background track to a scene where you're considering if you should hex someone and then actually do it when you see them trying escaping your clutches. I mean- this track is part of the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack for a reason.
• Winter Vivaldi
• Oh god- don't even get me started with this one. This is perhaps one of my favorites- although this doesn't really count as waltz music (if you can really waltz to this I applaud you) This is absolutely perfect if you're looking for the angst and anguish you never knew you could feel. It tugs at your heartstrings and soul in the first movement and then tries to soothe you in the second. I don't know what really happens in the third movement though. It's really beautiful. It definitely delivers the winter mood (as titled) with the fervent violin bow strokes that give off an impression of a biting winter wind that whips in your face.

It's Sunday night and here I am gloomily sitting on my bed, alternating between folding clothes and trying to type this out. My father and I had just dropped off my mom and my sister at the airport a few hours ago, and now here I am, feeling the most void than I have ever felt in my measly seventeen years of existence.

I'm usually the one who never gets homesick, always tempted by the possibility of independence and freedom. And now I realize that whatever I've been through or wherever I've went, my sister has always been with me, following happily.

In a way, this is a wake up call, the perfect chance for me to get accustomed to university life after I finish high school this year. My mom, who always cooks and cleans for the family, and my sister, who always keeps watch after me, will be gone for a month, leaving me to fend for myself with a father is just as skilled as I am in the kitchen.

Despite the sadness of having some empty bedrooms in the house, I'm excited to prove to myself and test my capabilities this month. Sadly, my sister had taken my DSLR camera on her trip, so I can't document this month that well. However, as seen in the picture above, I am resorting to using my rickety and unreliable $10 Vivitar digital camera, to follow through the upcoming mishaps and ventures of independence.

What's in store for this upcoming month:

1. Preparing for Lunar New Year (cleaning, praying, temple, ceremonies- all on my own (ahhh!)
2. Cooking (which actually doesn't revolve around boiling water for instant noodles)
3. Getting a job
4. University supplementary applications
5. Errands errands errands
6. Extracurriculars
7. This list is already too much so I'm going to stop now.

The closest I've ever gotten to a chipmunk.