Miss Universe 2011: My Top 16

After watching the preliminary show I have decided my Top 16. Usually there is a Top 15, but this year the MUO is allowing the public to vote a contestant to enter the Top 16. I was impressed by some of the contestants performances, but a few of my favorites were disappointing and I expected way more than I imagined!

16. PHILIPPINES

It is quite obvious that the Philippines will get the public vote, simply because they are "pageant fanatics". But overall Shamcey's performance was very energetic! I wouldn't be surprise if she was in the Top 5! Her evening gown was so much better than last year's contestant and she also looked very elegant.

15. INDONESIA

Nadine was definitely a dark horse during the preliminary show. Her evening gown was so flowy and spectacular! Although before she arrived to Brazil, the gown wasn't my favorite but it looked so much better in motion! However, I think she needed more energy and enthusiasm during the swimsuit round. But overall she was absolutely a surprise in the show! Indonesia has sent one of their best participant since 2009.

14. BRAZIL

Since Brazil is the host country of the pageant, I think she will get placed. But I believe this lady Priscila deserves to be in the Top 16. From the beginning she was never a favorite of mine, but she proved me wrong. I enjoyed watched her evening gown performance!

13. FRANCE

Laury was a dark horse to me before she arrived to Brazil. Every day she just keeps improving and she looked beautiful in her white evening gown! It's been a while since France sent a stunning contestant.

12. NICARAGUA

I never caught my eyes on Nicaragua until the last few days before the preliminary show. She is just simply elegant and she presented her evening gown very well! But I am also impressed with her web interview.

11. USA

Okay firstly with Alyssa I am just disappointed with her overall performance at the preliminary show. I thought she would've done so much better than that and I had high hopes for her! Even before she won Miss USA, Alyssa has always been a big favorite of mine and I just instantly knew that she was going to win Miss USA for sure. I also thought that she would win the 8th crown for USA and she has dropped down my list in the Top 16. But she will definitely be in the Top 16 because of the sash factor. I liked her evening gown, but I expected more. What also worries me is her body! She looked so unhealthy to me :/

10. CHINA

I love her height which makes her stand out from the rest and she is also the tallest contestant for this year. I'm pretty sure she will be in the Top 16 because of the sash factor. I liked her top bit of her evening gown, but the bottom part wasn't a favorite of mine. Although she did carry that gown very well and I wouldn't be surprised if she also won the first crown for China!

9. PANAMA

Sheldry's strongest asset are her lips! She was so energetic during her swimsuit round and she also looked lovely in her white gown. She just seems to be a bubbly girl! Sometimes she reminds me of Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003 for some reason.

8. COSTA RICA

This girl is naturally stunning! She has one of the best bodies in the competition and I am expecting to see her in the Top 16. Her red evening gown during the presentation show was a let down for me, but she did a fantastic job overall!

7. MEXICO

Once again Karin also has one of the best bodies in the competition. She is just naturally beautiful and very elegant. I wouldn't be surprise if she won the crown again for Mexico. Who said it was impossible to have another back to back victory!

6. AUSTRALIA

Sherri is such a natural beauty and I love her smile! She also looked very lovely in that gown and maybe it's time for Australia to win the crown again since Jennifer Hawkins?

5. GREECE
She is such a Greek Goddess! I love her height and her red lipstick which is her signature look. She really does have the chance to win the crown! Also I actually liked her national costume.

4. PUERTO RICO

Viviana for some reason was never a favorite of mine since the beginning, but my whole perspective during the presentation show changed. She looked stunning in her evening gown! Overall, she did a great job!

3. MALAYSIA

Deborah has been the strongest representative of Malaysia for years! I would love to see her win the first crown for Malaysia! She is just simply elegant and very intelligent.

2. VENEZUELA

When Vanessa first won her national competition, I thought she looked old. But she is such a stunning lady! Her performance was just amazing! She also has one of the best bodies in the competition and her preparation towards the Miss Universe Pageant was totally worth it!

1. PERU

I believe Natalie can become the next Miss Universe 2011. She is just simply gorgeous, young and modern! She did such a fantastic job during the preliminary show and she also looked wonderful in that gown! I also love her hair-do and she was just fierce during the swimsuit round! She also has such a good body as well!

Overall I believe any of these ladies can become the next Miss Universe, you just never know!

Dark horse: Ghana, Finland, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and Portugal.

Vice Captain Report - Jirra Magazine No. 43

As I reminisced about the past, it literally felt like just yesterday that I had to deliver my speech to Year 12. I can still remember how my speech started off. “My Dad has always told me, if there’s any opportunity out there, go for it! It is true what people say, the only things in life that you regret are the risks you didn’t take.” Being Vice Captain of Randwick Girls High School has been a truly rewarding experience and an absolute honour. Although it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, the lessons I have learnt are countless and have taught me that I can make mistakes and learn from them.

I have always looked up to and admired the past Captains of our school, ever since I was a Year 7 SRC member. They have been such an inspiration to me and I too used to always dream about being one of Randwick Girls High School’s School Captains. I have now achieved what I dreamt of and hope that I have done my position justice.

The Vice Captain’s role isn’t all about chairing assemblies or meeting politicians, it is about being a role model and being there to care and support for each other. I have always been passionate about fulfilling my role as Vice Captain and have learnt that “The key to successful leadership is influence not authority.”

I just wanted to thank Mrs Emerson, Mrs Posener and Mr Raskall for believing in me and always encouraging me to do the very best that I can. I truly do appreciate all the support and guidance that you have given me this past year. I have really enjoyed working with you all and have learnt so much from you that I will definitely take on board for the future.

A special message to all the amazing teachers that have taught me throughout my six years at Randwick Girls! You are such wonderful teachers who have done so much for me. You have passed on priceless lessons and I thank you for that. You have created such memorable moments in class that will stay with me forever. Without my teachers, I would have been lost. Thank you so much for guiding us, inspiring us and making us who we are today.

To all the SRC girls, I just wanted to say that I am so proud of every one of you! I’ve had such a fun-tastic time working with such wonderful girls and I am proud of what we’ve achieved together this year as a team! (GO TEAM!) Also, a huge thank you to Ms Mack and Ms Jordan for all that you have done for us. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you, thank you for putting in so much time and effort to accomplish our goals.

To my lovely ladies, the Class of 2011! One of the best gifts that I’ve ever received is the love and friendship you have given me. Our memories won’t just stay for a while, but for a life time. We’ve grown up together for the past 6 years and we’ve all gone through our ups and downs. However, in the end we always strived to be there for one another. I’ve never met such beautiful young ladies in my life and I’m so glad that I got to know you all. I want to thank you so much for having faith in me and for helping me through the hard times. Can you girls believe it? We made it through, because (sing this with me) - we’re all in this together!!

Of course, we wouldn’t be able to do this without our amazing year advisor Mrs Randall, who has been so supportive of all the Year 12’s. Mrs Randall do you remember our Year 10 Graduation Assembly when I chaired the event and you sat right next to me and told me how much we had grown and how proud you were of us? I still remember that moment till this very day and it felt like it had just happened yesterday. I thank you so much for always looking out for us and for your endless kindness.

To my beautiful best friend Anna-Marie Venites, we’ve seen each other grow for the past 11 years. What in the world would I do without you in my life? All I can say is thank you so much for being there for me no matter what. I must say we truly have a “unique” friendship. We have been through happiness, laughter and tears, and how can we ever forget our funny moments! You are so beautiful inside and out, never change because I love you!

All I can say is that my time at Randwick has been the best moments of my life! The friendships, experiences and lessons will always remain forever in my heart. Although I can’t believe that this chapter of my life is ending, I know that “It is just the beginning”. I have also learnt that “Time is precious” and to all the girls out there, please make the most of it at school because you don’t realise just how fast it really flies. Enjoy your time at school, work hard, stay positive and be happy!

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a message:
Remember that there is always going to be the good and the bad, but never give up your dreams. Anything is possible, always aim high, believe in yourself and stay strong. If you’re passionate about something you are most likely going to achieve it. Ultimately, it’s all about the effort you put in, because, "Action speaks louder than words". To reach your goals in life, facing the different and difficult obstacles are inevitable. Your dream is right at the end, waiting for you.

Love always Claudia.

19/08/2011

I haven't blogged for a few days, been busy with assessments! Like give me a break from trials please! -.- But anyways I just finished my assignment and Ms Symthe is too nice to let us give our assignment by 12am hehe :)



But anyways, remember how we won the Talent Quest Show? Well we finally celebrated with our $100 gift voucher which we used it for dinner at Pancakes in Darling Harbour. Unfortunately the weather was horrible since it was soo cold and it was full hard core raining. Although we had our funny moments haha! We went karaoke and we had so much fun, we literally sang our lungs out which was pretty hilarious! We went back to chill at Rina's which was so good and relaxing. I know I had a good night and we realise not long till Rina goes back to Japan :(

I love you my five amigos!! LOL

TRIALS ARE FINALLY OVERRR!

3/5

Finally my English, Legal and Society & Culture trial exams are overrr!

Monday - I had Paper 1 English in the morning and Legal studies in the afternoon. I can't sit on a chair for 3 hours, it felt like I was there for years lol!

Tuesday - Day off, but it wasn't even enough to study!

Wednesday - Paper 2, English in the morning and Society & Culture in the afternoon. Suprisingly Society wasn't that bad since I didn't study.

If I didn't do Society, then I wouldn't have to do that PIP and I would've used those 2 weeks of school holidays to study hard for my trials! But I can't complain anymore, but now I feel soo relieved because I just need to study for Business on Friday. Now's my chance to finally concentrate on one subject. I wished my time table for the trials wasn't too crowded. Oh wells, what can you do and I've tried my best! I've just been so exhausted and stressed out for studying like 2 different subjects for the same day, since I've only been getting 3 hours sleep per night cause of fasting as well. But it's almost overrr.. then we can partaaay! Well not really, LOL! I still have 3 assessments to do after trials, fml :(

2 MORE EXAMS TO GO BAYBEHHH!

I just finished watching the film "Attacks on Darfur" directed by Awe Boll. It was soo heartbreaking.. :( I even started crying throughout the film and what made me watch this was firstly because of Legal studies and I just wanted to know more of Darfur's history. Those people who killed the villagers including infants are so cruel, no heart and no sympathy at all. I can't imagine what it would be like living over there.

Throughout the film, I realised that I am so previleged for having a life here and having a right to freedom of speech, education and etc. It was just so horrible watching those innocent people getting killed. I'm so lucky, Alhamdulillah..

Miranda Kerr

She is soo lovely and stunning! I love all those outfits, especially the red dress hehe <3

My PIP is finally done!! I just printed them all and I'm going to get them binded tomorrow YAAAAAAAAAAY! I've waited for this day to come hahaha, it's finally over! :D

Lately I've had my eye on the gown from the second right, maybe because it looks stunning on her!



This is the white version of the dress and which one do you prefer?

It's coming to an end..

It's a Friday night and I'm suppose to be doing my draft for my English assessment task. Trials are on very soon in 2 weeks and the thing I can't seem to get off my mind about is that school is coming to an end soon..

It hurts so much inside, I'm making it sound like as if someone broke up with me bwahaha! But no really I feel so sad and can you believe it, we literally have 2 more months till we graduate or even almost 1 more month to go since it's going to be August soon. I'm trying to run away from that day, but I can't and it already feels like something apart of me is missing..

Time does definately fly and time is precious..

Enrique Iglesias Sydney Concert 23/07/2011

It was such an amazing night!! I had soo much fun with my ching and I'll never forget this night. I was suprised he sang his old classic songs since it was his "Euphoria Tour". Enrique full waved to Anna and I, we waved like a retard haha! We got jealous how he picked that old lady to go on the stage haha! It was so funny the way she looked at Enrique because she looked like as if she was getting hypnotised! It was so LOL!



The show started off with Dj Havana Brown and I was suprised she sang her song live but she isn't that bad though, she was so cute and gorgeous! Finally Pitbull the special guest performed on the stage and he just went off!! It made me thought about our formal thats coming up soon and it's making me geeeeed! But I still have trials to get through :( The crowd was going crazy and especially when Enrique came on, it was just unbelievable! I'm speechless to explain how the night went but it was fantasticooooo!!! I didn't really take photos that night, more like videos and right now I feel so sleepy cos I took some Codral and it's making me fall asleep, but I can't because I have to watch my Amazing Race!!





Definately always a night to remember :)

Friends come & go.

1ST PLACE IN TALENT QUEST SHOW!

Anna, Nikki, Rina, Jen and myself won the 2011 Talent Quest Show!!! (Too bad we didn't get to create a group name! Lol)

Today was definately a memorable day and experience I'll never forget throughout my high school years! Something I can always cherish forever.

Basically a week ago, we had to form a new routine and remix because some girls decided to pull out in the last minute. But that didn't stop us from performing the talent quest show. It was only from the recent Sunday when we started to form our routine and we went to Rina's apartment to practice. Up until then we used recess & lunch times to practice our dance and thankfully all our assessments finished last week! Yesterday we all realised that we needed to practice the whole day because it was impossible to form another routine after we finish school, even though we only had half day of school. So we took the day off, started practicing at Rina's gym at 9am!! Lol! I swear we were walking around like gangsters ROFL, since we were hardout wearing black with hoodies and people were giving us a dirty. I have never dressed up like that to the city before and I shall never do that again! Lol. Then around lunch time we went to have Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant, which is a traditional soup with rice noodles and of course with chicken!! It was soo beautiful that I would love to go back to that place again one day! We then headed off to Market City because Jen wanted to look for a singlet and we went to Supre to have a look there. We walked out of the shop and one of their sales representative thought we were suss or whatsoever, because she needed to look at me and Anna's bag. Anna had a Supre item in her bag and the chick wouldn't believe us when we told her that we work at Supre Sydney City @ Westfield. Just because of what we were wearing and that's a little lesson I learnt, "Never judge it's cover'.



Off we went to the Entertainment Centre and we were practicing there till 7pm!! That was crazy, I felt like dieing and I don't understand how dancers can do that! I honestly struggled to learn the steps because I'm so uncoordinated when it comes to dancing, that's why singing is my thang haha! Got back home, and finally had the chance to relax abit and my whole body was aching! I tried to sleep early but all I could think while I was in bed were the moves and I kept going out of bed, by dancing front of the mirrors lol!

Finally today was the day and we got permission from our teachers to leave on period 2 so we could practice!! We practiced so many times that I made a few mistakes, which made me anxious! But it didn't matter anyways, because all we wanted to do was to have fun and entertain our school since it's our last year at Randwick Girls' High. We were the 5th act to perform out of 13 and I just didn't felt that prepared!! The performance started off with Nikki and I singing to "Anything by Jojo" then it remixes to "Give it up to me by Shakira". We never actually imagined ourselves dancing to a Shakira song but hey it was such a cool song to dance to! Hehe. Next we had the stomping part which I thought that part went off!! Since no one had anything like that in the show and finally the nerve racking part!! "Yeah by Usher", I completely stuffed that part, where I once just stood there looking like a lostie which was so looool, everytime I watch that part it cracks me up haha!! It was pretty cool though, because I've never danced front of the school before and it was also the first time I sang front of my school besides from singing to my year.



Most of all we had soo much fun and I definately enjoyed it!! We never expected to win because our intentions was not to win the prizes, but most importantly to have heaps of fun and like what I said above. It proved us all by putting our effort and dedication it will for sure pay off! Ahhh I'm still excited and we also won a $100 gift voucher from Westfield and we hopefully want to each get something sentimental to remind our experience together!

Also I learnt something which proved it right front of me and hopefully to them. Karma is a bitch. Isn't just funny?

Go back to where you came from

I must say, it's probably one of the most incredible documentaries I've ever seen. This documentary "Go back to where you came from" is about the subject of asylum seekers and refugees. In this documentary, six Australians live in Malaysia, a Kenyan refugee camp, the slums of Jordan before travelling all the way to Congo and Iraq. As I watched this documentary, many questions triggered in my mind. I always wondered; what if we just accept refugees living in this country? It touched my heart so much that I wanted to help those people to come here and we all know that they just want to have a better life, especially for their children.

Personally, my family is an immigrant and my father fought for his own life just so we can have a better life in Australia. I owe him alot. I can never imagine living in those countries, where you don't get enough say or freedom. Also to mention this, I learnt something new today. Apparently Australia is the 2nd country in the world that has most freedom and the last is Zimbabwe. I wouldn't be able to imagine what it would be like in Zimbabwe right now..

It hurts my heart to see innocent people getting destroyed in Iraq, kids sleeping on the floor without no shelter at all or nothing. Can you imagine living in a place where you don't know what's going on in the macro world?

If I was in their situation I would probably travel on a boat to Australia right now, even though I know it's illegal. But I would do anything for my own children, just so they can get a better life than me. I wouldn't want them to suffer at all.

Sometimes we may forget to feel fortunate about living in Australia and I realise that I am so lucky to live here. I have the opportunity to go to school and complete the hsc where I can also hopefully go to university next year. Sleep on my mattress bed, eat junk food and etc. I can never ask more, because I'm so thankful to Allah.

Last school photos everrrr!

My lil sister & bestfriend hehe :)


Almost 12 years baby!!


I will miss you girlies!

Ximena Navarrete

This is Ximena at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 and her dress is designed by Gucci! She looks absolutely amazing!! I wish I was tall enough to wear these dresses haha!


Ahh she is the most stunning Miss Universe ever! I love it when she wears the colour red!

I realized that sometimes I don't know where I stand? I'm so lost! And I'm trying to finish my first chapter of the PIP, and the internet is so bloody slow! But so far the PIP is going good! Tomorrow I don't have school because there's this School Captains leadership program at the NSW Parliament House and that will be interesting lol. I hope I bump into some old friends from state cause that would be such a reunion! I really do miss state 09, it was one of the best moments and experiences of my life. It was such a privilege to represent the whole of Sydney region and what makes me even more proud is my beautiful girl Nisa. Not only she was a representative of Sydney region in 2010, but now she has taken the title of State Conference Action Team (SCAT) and which means she is one of the leaders of 2011. And it makes me so happy and proud of her because overall she's been doing such a great job!

I remember last term I was going through such a harsh time at school because of the work load and at some point I felt like dropping out. But this term I'm no where thinking of that because I'm pretty chilled and more relaxed, as in I am more determined to do well and there are some subjects that I would like to do better. English so far is my only subject that I've been ranking well, 7/52. And talking about English, I'm enjoying every classes that we have! At the moment we're doing poetry and I must say I really do love it! I thought it would be borring, but it's more than that. We're studying the poems of Wilfred Owen and it goes back to WW1 1914-1918. I guess you can say I'm becoming more passionate with his poems because it has such an overall meaning of real war, it shows the real tensions of the young soldiers and what they were actually going through at that time. English wouldn't be better without my teacher, she makes our lessons alive and she definately is an incredible woman. So thank you Mrs Newtown! I recommend people to actually read through "Dulce et decorum est" it's absolutely extraordinary!

Oh wow I have not blogged for about 2 months?! But anyways, my life has been so borring but school is the only thing that's keeping me busy so Alhamdulillah for that! I full deactivated my Fb before I started school this term and honestly I don't even miss it at all, but the thing that sucks the most I wouldn't know who's birthday is coming up and all, it just makes me feel bad lol! But the negative thing is that I've been watching way too much TV!! Hahahaa I love it! I'm becoming like my lil sister lol! I feel like I'm not studying as much, more like chillin and I should be studying!! And I cannot wait to watch The Amazing Race (Australia) tmrw!! Anna and I decided to go on that race when we're abit older Inshallah hehe :)

I only have 4 months till I graduate school and it is exciting but emotional at the same time, I'm always wondering where will I be during this time of next year? I just hope to stay in good touch with all my good friends and you know who you's are :) I also lost contact with a few good friends and things may not be like back in the days, but I guess everyone is busy with their lives.

Ever since I deactivated my Fb, it's also interesting to see who would stay in touch with me instead of relying on stupid social networking sites. Who knows I may never go back to Fb, I like it this way.

But guess what?! The love of my life (Enrique Iglesias) is coming to Australiaaaa!! Featuring Pitbill!!!! Now that's a bonus!!!! Hhahaaha, I've been waiting for him to come here for a concert and my dream came true! I cannot wait till I book my tickets and I can partaaay! Hhahaaha But I have that PIP due 2 days after lol :( And about that PIP, I guess it's going well. I'm at that stage of collecting all my primary and secondary information so I can actually start writing everything. But I've managed to finish my intro and I'm almost done with my first chapter :) When you think about it and break them into parts it's actually not that bad! But the thing that pisses me off the most is when everytime I wake up each morning I can hear this going through my mind "Claudia you need to do your PIP, PIP!!" Even the word PIP sounds annoying now haha and Anna hates it too! I'm just soo glad that I changed my whole topic like after 5 months doing this, but it was worth it :)

Anyways I got bored tonight, so I just remembered about my blog. Hopefully I can keep blogging soon :)

Alhamdulillah!

I finally got to finish reading the Qur'an and I am so proud of myself since it was one of my goals to accomplish for 2011! Yayyy how exciting :) :)

Sickkkkk!

For the past 3 weeks I've been sick :( It starts from a bad cough, sore throat and finally a cold! But those 3 weeks is something I can always cherish as one of my teenage memories..

Me being sick it feels like I'm a little girl because my parents have been taking great care of me and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

I just wanted to express how much I love for them. I love you Mummy and Daddy <3

The first week of school is finally over! One thing I won't forget when we were in the hall clapping in to welcome the year 7's and I realise soon our school will be clapping out for us when we have our farewell assembly. It felt so weird because it all feels like everything happened just yesterday. Also my lil sister started year 7 this year and honestly I'm so proud of her so far, she's coping well in my school! Not long to go and we only have 8 months!! This week has been the hardest week of my life, I've been emotionally and physically painful maybe because of the women issue haha!

The most exciting news from school is that I will be turning 18 during my year 12 formal!!! Hahaha I'm soo excited yaaaaay! Looks like 2011 is going to be a great year, because it's our year!! I'm definately looking forward to the exciting events for school this year, yaaaay we're gna have soo much fun! I want to make the most of it this year and do well! :)

Happy 17th birthday Aldo!

Seeing you smile today made me feel happy because you deserve it. We were all there for you and I'm glad you like your new kicks & the birthday card haha! And oh suprising you with a lil birthday cake haha so unexpected but we hope you had fun stinky! We all love you and your Dad is looking out for you now :) Happy 17th birthday Rionaldo, all the best!

Love always Claudia

Rest in peace Om Tony, 28/01/2011

Firstly my heart goes to you Aldo and your family. Hang in there, stay strong my stinky boy.
Even though I didn't know your father too well, I heard many great things about him and I was glad I got that chance to visit him while he was in the hospital. Definately an amazing man, father & husband. One thing I can remember was his sense of humour and Aldo I want to let you know that I'm always looking out for you. Take good care of yourself and the family.

Love always Claudia <3

Amazed

It's very unexpected how you bump into the people that you use to be so tight and close with. I'm amazed how so many things has changed throughout the years, but definately at the same time I have learnt alot of valuable lessons.

Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world