Anyway, I just remembered that a few days ago Koko sent an email to me, saying that he'll be back in NZ today. Let alone telling me where he's gonna stay for the night (cos he already moved out of his house before he left to Indo, and he hasn't found a new one), he didn't even mention to me what time he's gonna arrive.

Oh well.. but this means that Goddess will be taken away from me in a few days. *hix hix..*

Hari ini gua baru nyadar kalo dia sifatnya masih kayak dulu 'n belom berubah..

Jadi gini.. I have a friend named "Shizca". Dia tuh sebenernya bae, kadang bae banget malah. Tapi ada satu hal yang gua gak suka dari dia: she hops from one friend to another. Ngerti maksud gua gak? Kalo enggak ya udah gua jelasin..

Shizca tuh deket ma temen2nya yang udah kenal lama banget ma dia. Well, I totally got no problems with that. But the problem is, misalkan kalo gua + temen2 deketnya lagi ada 'n kita lagi ngumpul bareng, dia cuma mo ngobrol 'n cerita2 ma temen2 deketnya, sedangkan gua ('n her other not-so-close friends) pasti dikacangin abizzzz..!! Pas dia cerita2 tuh mukanya cuma menghadap ke temen2 deketnya, noleh ke yg laennya aja enggak! Tapi giliran sohib2nya lagi gak ada, baru deh dia "pindah" ke tmn2nya yg agak lumayan deket ma dia (including me). It always hurts to be treated like that. Seolah2 dia butuh gua kalo tmn2 deketnya lagi gak ada. Tapi giliran mereka ada, gua seolah2 dibuang begitu aja. And because of this, I used to despise her soooo much!

However, things have changed and Shizca gak terlalu deket lagi ma sohib2nya (well, at least for a year only). Nah, pada saat itu gua jadi lumayan deket ma dia (I even had a thought that she's become one of my closest friends), and kalo lg ngumpul2 ma yang laen tuh dia memperlakukan kita semua sama (gak ada yg dikacangin ma dia). Since then gua pikir dia dah berubah, dah bukan the bitchy girl who throws away her friends when she doesn't need them. But I was wrong, soalnya hari ini kita ngumpul2.. and salah satu sohib lamanya ada disitu. Gua kira Shizca bakal ngobrol ke kita semua (cuma berempat kok), but gua salah banget. Soalnya dia cuma ngajakin ngobrol sohib deketnya, while gua 'n tmn gua satu lagi dicuekin bo!! (padahal kita juga dengerin dia ngomong 'n ikut ngobrol juga). As a result, rasa benci di diri gua terhadap dia mulai tumbuh lagi. But I don't wanna hate her!!

Oh damn, my next class is about to start in 3 minutes! Yg jelas nih moral buat diri gua sendiri ('n mungkin juga buat kalian para pembaca yang interested) : Don't get too close to someone who throws away their friends and takes 'em back at times only when they need them. You're not their toy, alrite??!!!! And no matter how you think they've changed, they can always go back to being the same old bitch/asshole they used to be!!! So don't even try to consider them as one of your close/best friends, or you'll get hurt!!!

Back to a new semester in Vic!! I wasn't really looking forward to it, but I guess it didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would.

Spanish turned out to be fun and enjoyable, I love it! The lecturer's actually a native Spanish speaker, and sometimes he's quite funny too.

Oh yeah, yesterday I joined three clubs: Vic French Club, Vic Spanish Club, and Vic Muslims Club. I wonder what sort of activities and events will be coming up throughout the year. Last year I didn't join any clubs though.

There's gonna be a Fiesta (party) on the 3rd of March to welcome the members of the Spanish Club. I think it's gonna be held in Latinos Tapas Bar at 8 PM, and I don't know anyone else who's joining the Spanish Club, so I'm gonna force Winni to join the club and come with me to the Fiesta! (Why Winni? Cos my other friends don't wanna join, and I kinda have a hunch that Winni might be interested, as she's gonna do Spanish too in the upcoming summer course).

Oh well, gotta go to the Kelburn campus for my Spanish class! (I'm in the Pipitea campus at the moment).

• Name: Goddess
• Photographer of this pic: ME!! I'm such an excellent photographer, aren't I??
• Owner: Koko permanently and me temporarily (sorry Ko, but Goddess is half mine)
• Breed: Turkish Angora
• Descriptions: Cute, beautiful, lovable, sweet, cuddly, snow-white, adorable, photogenic, pretty, long-haired, smart, playful, lively, a bit naughty and cheeky
• Fave food: Whiskas Cravers, Whiskas Singles
• Fave drink: Water
• Fave toys: Ropes, squiggly stuffs, my hands and feet sometimes (cos she can suddenly bite them! she just wants to be playful though)
• What she is to me: The sweetest, most beautiful and most adorable cat I've ever met in real life
• How I feel towards her: I love her sooooo much!! ^^
• How she feels towards me: She definitely loves me too, cos she follows me everywhere I go, and she sleeps with me on her very own will ^^

Last night was the last sleep I could ever enjoy again, because a new semester of uni will start tomorrow, and I'll have to wake up very early cos my first lecture starts at 8.30 am. I finally made up my mind: I'm gonna do Accounting Information Systems (ACCY317) instead of Taxation (ACCY305)

Oh yeah, yesterday we had arisan at Mirna's house. Likta and Vanna won the arisan money, and luckily I didn't have to pay for my ex's money, cos he can just pay it on the next arisan.

At night, I watched the Grammy Awards in TV2. Unfortunately they cut some of the parts in the show, but they showed all of the performances though. Alicia Keys was singing "If I Ain't Got You" and played the piano simultaneously, and her performance was superb!!! I totally loved it!! Joss Stone's performance with the bald guitar-playing lady was also awesome!! (and she's only 17!! A year younger than me! But her soulful voice is just so contagious!!) Oh yeah, I didn't see Fantasia Barrino's performance (she's the 3rd season's American Idol winner, and she's suppose to sing "Summertime" in the Grammy Awards). It's either they cut that performance, or I already went to bed before it was time for her to sing.
<-- Oh anyway, this is U2. They also performed in the Grammy's, but sang something else.

Somebody's been a bad driver in my family today. I wonder who could it be..?? Hmm.. hmm..

Of course it was me!! Yupz, I went driving with my mom this afternoon to Porirua, and she kept on fussing about what a careless driver I am. First, she kept on telling me to watch how fast I'm going in the motorway. Then, in the suburban roads she kept on repeating these words: "Pelan-pelan!!", "Kamu ngebut2 mulu!!", "Awas!!!", "Hati2!!!!", etc.

And then there was this one time when we were going home (with my li'l bro as well), I was passing between these two cars with "normal" speed (meaning: a speed that's only normal to me, but may be too fast according to the others), and suddenly they hissed "Ya ampun Dessyyyyyy..!!"

I really didn't know what they were hissing for, so I innocently said "Kenapa?".

"Nyaris banget tadi mo nyerempet mobil sebelah," my brother replied calmly, continued by my mom who said "Kamu kalo nyetir tuh hati2, pelan2! Perasaan maunya ngebut2 mulu deh!"

Hmmm.. am I such a bad driver??? Am I "that" careless and reckless??!! Cos I really don't feel that way. I feel fine every time I'm behind the wheel. Whether I drive fast or slowly, I know what to do (well, at least I "think" I do). And it's not like everyone's got to tell me to slow down and be careful all the time!! Especially mom, she always says everything in an angry intonation!! I really hate that!!! I'd rather drive with my dad, cos he'll talk calmly (even when he's angry).

Alhamdulillah.. I feel so blessed!! I just checked my course grades too see if my summer course marks are there yet. And they're there!! And.. and.. oh my God.. I got an A- for ACCY221 (Financial Accounting 1) and A for ACCY223 (Management Accounting)!! I'm so surprised, cos the exams were god damn hard, especially the ACCY223 exam! For ACCY221, I can't believe I got A- in the final grade, cos in the mid-term test I got a terrible mark (which was a C+).

Now, it's time to move on to the next semester!! Yeeeehhaaaa!!

(P.S: actually I'm not really lookin' forward to it, hehe)

As usual, every morning I go online as I have my breakfast.

But this morning, I felt very contented! When I checked my Yahoo email, I received an e-card from Leila!! Leila's one of my best friends ever since I was in Jordan, but she's originally Palestinian. She came to A.H.S.S. (my school back then) when we were in 6th grade, and that's when I first knew her. But at that time we were just friends, and we weren't even close. Then in 7th grade, we were much closer to each other and became best friends. And it's still lasting up til now, cos we still keep in touch (although the duracy might be once every few months).
Aaarrgh! Only two more days until the beginning of a new semester! I won't be able to wake up late anymore, cos my first lecture's gonna start at 8.30 a.m.!!! That's so damn early! It's still summer now, so I think it'll be okay going to uni at 8.30 in the morning. But when winter comes, it'll be terrible cos the sun might not even show up yet at 8.30 a.m.!!

And I'm still confused whether to choose ACCY317 (Accounting Information Systems) or ACCY305 (Taxation). I've enrolled in both, but I gotta drop one of them, or else I'm gonna do 5 papers this semester (which I won't!! I only wanna do 4, and I'm sure that's goin to keep me busy already).

I might go to North City mall with my mom later in the afternoon.. I'm lookin' forward to it, cos I've been staying at home since Monday (or Tuesday, I 4got!)

You Have Type A- Personality!!

You are one of the most balanced people around.

Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want.

You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you.

When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back!

Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love.

You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

MOFI201:
SA Ross, RW Westerfield and J Jaffe, Corporate Finance, 7th ed. Irwin ($110.95)

COML203:
I Eagles et al Law in Business and Government in New Zealand 3rd ed. Palatine Press 2001 ($125)

SPAN111:
B Van Patten, J F Lee and T L Ballman, ¿Sabías Que …? Beginning Spanish, McGraw-Hill, 4th edition 2003, includes text plus workbook, laboratory manual and cassette tape ($181.70)

[ACCY305]:
Alley et al New Zealand Taxation 2005 2nd Edition Thomson Brookers ($81)

OR

[ACCY317]:
B Considine et al Accounting Information Systems Wiley 2004

Hari sabtu ini bakal ada arisan lagi.. Gua insya Allah bakal dateng, tp bareng Likta 'n mbak Trusye. Gk sama kyk dulu lg nih, hehe, coz kalo dulu kan gua datengnya ma ex gua, 'n lagian jg dia sekarang lagi di Indo. Udah gitu, mbak Trusye juga bakal mintain duit arisannya Coconut (my ex) ke gua. Well, gua sih gak keberatan bayarin duit arisannya dia meskipun dia udah bukan tanggungan gua lagi. Tapi yang bikin nyebelin tuh, dia selama di Indo gak pernah ngabarin gua sama sekali (unlike what he promised me, huh!!) Jadi yach, malesin amet dech kalo gua yg bayarin duit arisannya ex gua tapi dia sendiri gak mo ngehubungin / keep in touch ma gua!!!!! Padahal dia juga nitipin kucingnya di rumah gua sampe dia balik lagi ke NZ!! (which I dunno when cos he never told me, but probably the end of February though). Masa dia sendiri gak mao nanyain keadaan kucing kesayangannya sih??? Emang sih, dia tipe cowox yang super duper cuek bebek abizzzz!!! But still, he promised me that he would contact me once he reached Indo!! Now's already mid-Feb, and he's already in Indo since the 30th of Jan!! And until now he still hasn't contacted me!!! That can only mean one thing: his words are bullshit!! Kok kayaknya di dunia ini banyak banget ya cowox2 yang bullshit??!! Sebel gua!! HUH!!!

I was trying to put a music playlist on my blog, I got it from www.radioblogclub.com but I just don't know how to make it work!! I tried it so many times for about 2 hours but it's just so frustrating!!! Finally I give up!! Arrgh!!

And now what? The shoutbox isn't even showing up! What's wrong with everything today???

I reached someone's blog a few hours ago and got this pic. The person named it "Superbowl Snacks", don't know why though. But hey, I bet it's so easy making these, as you can just look at the pic below and voila, you know what to do!! Actually I haven't even tried these myself, but they look tasty.. mmm..

On Saturday, 12th of Feb, Yani and I went to Adrian's Hairstylist for a haircut. Yani had this funky tomboyish haircut 'n red highlights. As for me, I was only supposed to have a haircut (which also looks tomboyish, but I like it! It kinda shows my edgy personality!). But as I was waiting for Yani to get her highlights done..

"Would you like to colour your hair too?" The hairstylist suddenly asked. Oh yeah, it was already early evening that time (around 7 PM, but the salon already closed at 5 PM), and there were just the three of us (me, Yani, and the hairstylist).
"No thanx", I replied.
"I'll give you for free, but just a little bit on the front," said the hairstylist. I was suprised, and said "Okay!"
"But don't tell anyone, okay?" she said.
"Okay!"

Gosh! That was so nice of her!! Then she coloured my hair on the fringe with the hair dye that was left from highlighting Yani's hair. So practically Yani and I had the same colour, except it was brighter on her hair cos my hair strands were too black and thick.

On the 10th of February (Yani's birthday), I went to see Good Charlotte's concert in the Wellington Town Hall. There were 6 of us who went: me, Yani, Nina, Frengky, Nanda, 'n Fattah. Actually I'm not that much of a fan of Good Charlotte (I know some of their songs though), but Frengky forced me to go!! He kept on convincing me that it'll make Yani so much happier cos her birthday this time might be the last one in NZ, as she might not be here anymore next year. So, although the ticket was $70, I said yes and went there. The concert was cool, although I guess I enjoyed Scribe & P-Money's NYE gig better. The fans were mostly dressed up in a punk, street style, 'n rock/metal style. They were cccrrraaaazzzyyy!!! So fanatic of Good Charlotte!!
Anyway, here are the pics:

L-R: Nina, Yani, me, Nanda, 'n Frengky (Fattah took this pic)

Good Charlotte in concert

The guitarist/keyboardist, damn he's cool 'n hot!

Public Sector Financial Reporting

Okay, public sector financial reporting sucks, BIG TIME!! Not only do I totally not get this topic, but I also dislike the lecturer (no hard feelings or anything, though). I also HATE the fact that while this topic will make up about 36% of the final exam, there are no relevant readings on it in the textbook (which is partly a good thing, because I won't have to read a whole bunch of crap about it, ha!)

Oh well, now let me try to revise what I've learned about the public sector financial reporting (uuurrgghh..!!)

Alright then, for a start, here's how the accountability in the NZ government works:
There are Voters and Taxpayers (they act as the Shareholders if compared to a company)
Then the Parliament (similar to the Board of Directors)
Then the Government/Cabinet (similar to the Managers)
Then the Departments, SOEs, and Crown Entities (similar to.. the various departments in a company, I guess..? )

The Central Government consists of the Parliament, SOEs, Ministers, Crown entities, departments, bla bla bla..
The Local Government consists of regional and city councils (oh, and not to forget the district councils!)

Now, what's the importance of the public sector in NZ?
Well, they obviously have an impact on the economy and social well-being. They also provide essential services such as education, health, defence, transportation, water supply, etc.

Oh yeah, the public sector also has different purposes, such as maximising national welfare through not-for-profit and for-profit entities (also known as State Owned Enterprises - SOEs).

The government has coercive power, and what's that?? Hell, it's the power to force you to do things (such as imposing a death sentence to innocent 5-year olds, naaah the NZ government's not that vicious!) It has the power to tax, legislate, create rights and obligations. But there needs to be control on this power! Like I said, the government can't just impose a death sentence to kids! Oh no, wait, I don't think death-sentencing is applicable in this peaceful nation of New Zealand.. hmm..

Do special features of the public sector financial reporting result in a different accounting from the private sector?? Well, there are some differences, but actually the private and public entity reporting are soooo similar. The differences are in the case of power (increased reporting to constrain power), purpose (public benefit entities must report on services, not profit!), and unusual assets (such as heritage assets and infrastructure assets). The FRSs require these sorts of assets to be presented in the financial statements, but there are still some controversies about it. Like.. should heritage assets be depreciated? Etc.

Departments and Crown Entities should have a Statement of Unappropriated Expenditre, Statement of Actual against Projected Expenditure, Statement of Service Performance, and Statement of Intent (similar to budget statements).

GAAP for service performance:
Statements of Service Performance must show outputs, and may disclose outcomes. They must also present both the projected and actual service performance.

Outputs:
Outputs are the final goods and services provided by public benefit entities. For examples: education policies, clean water supply, highly-infrastructured motorways. The key measures of output in order to comply with GAAP are quality, quantity, and cost. Other relevant and appropriate measures are time and location. The output must also be specified and described in the reports.

Inputs:
Inputs are the resources used to create outputs. For examples: labour, stationery, electricity, materials, and other expenses.

Outcomes:
Outcomes are the impacts on or consequences for the community as a result of creating the outputs. For examples: well-educated children, lower crime rates, and healthier community.

Outcomes are more significant than outputs, because:

• Outcomes are harder to control, measure and predict
• They are difficult to budget
• The public benefit entities cannot be held accountable for them
• They are usually reliant on more than one groups, for example a safer community relies heavily on the police, the support from the community itself, courts, etc.

General Purpose Financial Reporting (GPFR)

1. The concept of comparability is important in General Purpose Financial Reporting (GPFR) due to issues of inter-period and inter-entity comparisons, as well as to maintain the efficiency of capital markets. Comparability also allows better decision-making to be informed.
2. The FOUR qualitative characteristics of GPFR are comparability, understandability, reliability, and relevance. The influences on these qualitative characteristics are: the balance between costs and benefits, the tension between the qualitative characteristics themselves, and the concepts of materiality and prudence.

Regulations controlling financial and non-financial reporting in NZ

1. Users of an entity's financial reports are its STAKEHOLDERS. For example, the stakeholders of Auckland International Airport would be the shareholders, Board of Directors, managers, employees, Auckland Regional Council, travellers, investors, sharebrokers, etc.
2. General Purpose Financial Reports are for users who do not have the power to demand the information they require. On the other hand, Special Purpose Financial Reports are for users who HAVE the power to demand the information they need (e.g. IRD and banks).

The application of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP)

1. All companies are either "reporting entities" or "exempt companies". Reporting entities are entities in which the users are dependent on their financial information for decision-making but do not have the power to access or demand them. Reporting entities include issuers, medium and large companies, overseas companies, and subsidiaries. They have revenue above $1,000,000 and assets above $450,000.
2. Exempt companies (small companies) are those with revenue below $1,000,000 and assets below $450,000.
3. Issuers are entities or people who have allocated securities/shares to the public.
4. GAAP includes Financial Reporting Standards (FRSs), as well as appropriate practices that have authoritative support.

Framework for Differential Reporting

1. The Framework for Differential Reporting (FDR) allows exemptions from reporting requirements (GAAP). The FDR is important because the costs and benefits of compliance with FRSs vary between entities. Differential Reporting means reduced compliance costs, avoidance of standards overload, less reporting, and fewer disclosures.
2. To be eligible, the entity must at least be closely held, not large, or not publicly accountable. Large means Revenues>$5mil, Assets>$2.5mil, Employees>20. To be small, an entity must not meet two of the above criteria.
3. Exempt companies have to present a balance sheet and an income statement at the end of their accounting period. But they do not need to provide a cashflow statement. Characteristics of exempt companies are: managed by owners, limited resources ($), reliant on short-term financing, high level of trade debt, and reduced number of stakeholders.

Important accounting-related organisations in NZ and their functions

1. ASRB (Accounting Standards Review Board): funded by the Government. Its functions are to approve Financial Reporting Standards developed by the FRSB, give directives on appropriate actions that have authoritative support, provide suggestions on the development of the FRSs, and work together with the IASB towards the harmonisation of the New Zealand and International Financial Reporting Standards.
2. FRSB (Financial Reporting Standards Board): largely funded by members of ICANZ. Its functions are to develop reporting standards that are applicable to both the private and public sector entities, and submit the standards to the ASRB for approval.
3. NZSX (New Zealand Stock Exchange): operates as a place for the trading of financial securities.
4. Securities Commission: its purpose is to foster capital investment in New Zealand and to strengthen confidence in the New Zealand capital markets. This is achieved by promoting the efficiency and integrity of the NZ capital markets.
5. IASB (International Accounting Standars Board): exists to provide internationally harmonised accounting standards.