The DIVA

Shameless Advertising (ver. Okie)

2011-01-29T11:36:00.001+08:00

This blog is pretty much history but since it's still on the web...

Please follow us if you have a heart (lol)! ^^

Shameless Advertising (ver. Okie)

2011-01-29T11:32:00.002+08:00

Until time me has to properly edit this and revive this blog, here we go~

Please follow us (lol)! ^^

S.A.D.

2010-05-17T06:09:00.000+08:00

What Is Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety is the third largest psychological problem
in the world today...

A woman hates to stand in line in the grocery store because she's afraid that everyone is watching her. She knows that it's not really true, but she can't shake the feeling. While she is shopping, she is conscious of the fact that people might be staring at her from the big mirrors on the inside front of the ceiling. Now, she has to talk to the person who's checking out her groceries. She tries to smile, but her voice comes out weakly. She's sure she's making a fool of herself. Her self-consciousness and anxiety rise to the roof...

Another person sits in front of the telephone and agonizes because she's afraid to pick up the receiver and make a call. She's even afraid to call an unknown person in a business office about the electric bill because she's afraid she'll be "putting someone out" and they will be upset with her. It's very hard for her to take rejection, even over the phone, even from someone she doesn't know. She's especially afraid to call people she does know because she feels that she'll be calling at the wrong time -- the other person will be busy -- and they won't want to talk with her. She feels rejected even before she makes the call. Once the call is made and over, she sits, analyzes, and ruminates about what was said, what tone it was said in, and how she was perceived by the other person....her anxiety and racing thoughts concerning the call prove to her that she "goofed" this conversation up, too, just like she always does. Sometimes she gets embarrassed just thinking about the call.

A man finds it difficult to walk down the street because he's self-conscious and feels that people are watching him from their windows. Worse, he may run into a person on the sidewalk and be forced to say hello to them. He's not sure he can do that. His voice will catch, his "hello" will sound weak, and the other person will know he's frightened. More than anything else, he doesn't want anyone to know that he's afraid. He keeps his eyes safely away from anyone else's gaze and prays he can make it home without having to talk to anyone.

A man hates to go to work because a meeting is scheduled the next day. He knows that these meetings always involve co-workers talking with each other about their current projects. Just the thought of speaking in front of co-workers raises his anxiety. Sometimes he can't sleep the night before because of the anticipatory anxiety that builds up. Finally, the meeting is over. A big wave of relief spills over him as he begins to relax. But the memory of the meeting is still uppermost in his mind. He is convinced he made a fool of himself and that everyone in the room saw how afraid he was when he spoke, and how stupid he acted in their presence. At next week's meeting, the boss is going to be there. Even though this meeting is seven days away, his stomach turns raw with anxiety and fear floods over him again. He knows that in front of the boss he'll stammer, hesitate, his face will turn red, he won't remember what to say, and everyone will witness his embarrassment and humiliation. He has seven miserable days of anxiety ahead of him -- to think about it, ruminate over it, worry about it, over-exaggerate it in his mind.......again and again and again.....

A student won't attend her university classes on the first day because she knows that in some classes the professor will instruct them to go around the room and introduce themselves. Just thinking about sitting there, waiting to introduce herself to a roomful of strangers who will be staring at her makes her feel nauseous. She knows she won't be able to think clearly because her anxiety will be so high, and she is sure she will leave out important details. Her voice might even quiver and she will sound scared and tentative. The anxiety is just too much to bear---so she skips the first day of class to avoid the possibility of having to introduce herself in class.

Another young man wants to go to parties and other social events---indeed, he is very, very lonely---but he never goes anywhere because he's very nervous about meeting new people. Too many people will be there and crowds only make things worse for him. The thought of meeting new people scares him---will he know what to say? Will they stare at him and make him feel even more insignificant? Will they reject him outright? Even if they seem nice, they're sure to notice his frozen look and his inability to fully smile. They'll sense his discomfort and tenseness and they won't like him --- there's just no way to win --- "I'm always going to be an outcast," he predicts. And he spends the night alone, at home, watching television again. He feels comfortable at home. In fact, home is the only place he does feel completely comfortable. He hasn't gone anywhere else in twelve years.

In public places, such as work, meetings, or shopping, people with social anxiety feel that everyone is watching, staring, and judging them (even though rationally they know this isn't true). The socially anxious person can't relax, "take it easy", and enjoy themselves in public. In fact, they can never fully relax when other people are around. It always feels like others are evaluating them, being critical of them, or "judging" them in some way. The person with social anxiety knows that people don't do this openly, of course, but they still feel the self-consciousness and judgment while they are in the other person's presence. It's sometimes impossible to let go, relax, and focus on anything else except the anxiety and fear. Because the anxiety is so very painful, it's much easier just to stay away from social situations and avoid other people altogether.

Many times people with social anxiety simply must be alone---closeted---with the door closed behind them. Even when they're around familiar people, a person with social anxiety may feel overwhelmed and have the feeling that others are noticing their every movement and critiquing their every thought. They feel like they are being observed critically and that other people are making negative judgments about them.

One of the worst circumstances, though, is meeting people who are "authority figures". Especially people such as bosses and supervisors at work, but including almost anyone who is seen as being "better" than they are in some respect. People with social anxiety may get a lump in their throat and their facial muscles may freeze up when they meet this person. The anxiety level is very high and they're so focused on "not failing" and "giving themselves away" that they don't even remember what was said in the conversation. But later on, they're sure they must have said the wrong thing.....because they always do.

How is it ever possible to feel "comfortable" or "natural" under these circumstances?

To the person with social anxiety, going to a job interview is pure torture: you know your excessive anxiety will give you away. You'll look funny, you'll be hesitant, maybe you'll even blush, and you won't be able to find the right words to answer the questions coherently. Maybe this is the worst part of all: You know that you are going to say the wrong thing. You just know it. It is especially frustrating because you know you could do the job well if you could just get past this terrifying and intimidating interview.

Welcome to the world of the socially anxious.

Social anxiety is the third largest psychological problem in the United States today. This type of anxiety affects 15 million Americans in any given year. Unlike some other psychological problems, social anxiety is not well understood by the general public or by medical and mental health care professionals, such as doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers, and counselors. In fact, people with social anxiety are misdiagnosed almost 90% of the time. People with social phobia come to our anxiety clinic labeled as "schizophrenic", "manic-depressive", "clinically depressed", "panic disordered", and "personality disordered", among other damaging misdiagnoses.

Because few socially-anxious people have heard of their own problem, and have never seen it discussed on any media, such as the television talk shows, they think they are the only ones in the whole world who have these terrible symptoms. Therefore, they must keep quiet about them. It would be awful if everyone realized how much anxiety they experienced in daily life. Then what would people think about them? Unfortunately, without some kind of education, knowledge, and appropriate treatment, social phobia/social anxiety continues to wreak havoc throughout their lives. Adding to the dilemma, when a person with social anxiety finally gets up the nerve to seek help, the chances that they can find it are very, very slim.

Making the situation more difficult is that social anxiety does not come and go like some other physical and psychological problems. If you have social anxiety one day......you have it every day for the rest of your life.....

The feelings I described to you at the beginning of the article are those of people with social anxiety disorder. That is, their symptoms apply to most social events and functions in almost every area of life. I suffered from social anxiety myself for twenty years before I ever saw the term or read about its symptoms in a book. (The first book that specifically dealt with social phobia was not published until the 1990's.)

As with all problems, everyone with social anxiety has slightly different secondary symptoms. Some people, for example, cannot write in public because they fear people are watching and their hand will shake. Others are very introverted and they find it too difficult to hold down a job. Still others have severe anxiety about eating or drinking in the presence of other people. Some people with social anxiety feel that a certain part of their body (such as the face or neck) are particularly "strange looking" and vulnerable to being stared at. Others experience a muscle spasm (usually around the neck and shoulders) and it becomes the center of their focus ---"it's so embarrassing that if someone sees it I will be humiliated forever!"

One thing that all socially anxious people share is the knowledge that their thoughts and fears are basically irrational. That is, people with social anxiety know that others are really not critically judging or evaluating them all the time. They understand that people are not trying to embarrass or humiliate them. They realize that their thoughts and feelings are somewhat exaggerated and irrational. Yet, despite this rational knowledge, they still continue to feel differently.

It is these automatic "feelings" and thoughts that occur around social situations that must be met and conquered in therapy. Usually these anxious feelings are tied to thoughts that are entwined in a vicious cycle of negative expectations and negative appraisals. It is a catch-22 situation: there is no way out without the appropriate therapy.

Here comes the good part.

How can social anxiety be treated? Many therapeutic methods have been studied, but cognitive-behavioral therapy is the only modality that has been shown to work effectively. In fact, treatment of social anxiety through cognitive-behavioral methods has the capacity to produce long-lasting, permanent relief from the anxiety-laden world of social anxiety.

Social anxiety responds to relatively short-term therapy, depending on the severity of the condition. I have seen significant progress in just twelve individual sessions, although most people respond better with sixteen to twenty-four meetings. To overcome social anxiety, completion of a behavioral therapy group is also essential (when people feel ready for this and not before).

What socially anxious people do not need is years and years of therapy or counseling. You can't be "counseled" out of social phobia. In fact, socially anxious people who are taught to "analyze" and "ruminate" over their problems usually make their social anxiety and fears much worse, which in turn leads to depression, which just reinforces the fact that "I will never get better". (Shudder...this statement does NOT have to be true.)

THERE IS A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL PEOPLE WITH SOCIAL ANXIETY. Without treatment, social anxiety is a torturous and horrible emotional problem; with treatment, its bark is worse than its bite. Add to this that current research is clear that cognitive-behavioral therapy is highly successful in the treatment of social anxiety. In fact, the people who are unsuccessful are the ones who are not persistent in their practice and who won't stick with simple methods and techniques at home. They are the ones who give up.

If a person is motivated to end the years and years of crippling anxiety, then cognitive-behavioral treatment provides the methods, techniques, and strategies that come together to lessen the anxiety and make the world a much more enjoyable place.

Many of us have been through the crippling fears and constant anxiety that social phobia produces -- and have come out healthier and happier on the other side. You can too.

---Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D.
Psychologist

~O~

Source :: SP/SAA

Someone help me please...

"Fate's Hand"

2010-05-05T23:36:00.004+08:00

Doing a certain Ame-chan's story justice:
Fate's Hand

Somehow I'm wondering if I'm doing much of anything by putting links up here. There's always minimal proof anyone even reads this stuff. I've learnt what blogging really is a while back now and I'm pretty sure I know why, but hey, I do what I do, right? Plus there was always the good thing about not having anyone read some of the crap I write because that just means I don't have to worry about anything stupid getting out in the open.

When one's famous, things just get hectic -- constant surveilance takes away that freedom to be 'normal'. Guess that just means I'm one of the few people who may actually BE 'normal' in this world. But hey, I guess society always chooses to look at the masses to see what's normal and what's not -- Holocaust? (heck I never learnt World History) O.o

*sighs* I've so gotten sidetracked now! Gah, been reading too much. It's really fascinating, mind-blowing stuff though; gets you thinking about the way you 'act' in public and all. About how we've all been taught and conditioned to behave a certain way in social situations...I should really just start on my essays.

PS :: I think it's great how her (Ame-chan's) dad is following the story along too. Meh, not like my dad probably wouldn't -- sure he hates the genres I usually write in but my dad almost always makes exceptions for me. Makes me questions things about being a parent sometimes...

Ah, but of course my dad's an even greater perfectionist than I am when it comes to the written language. He might try to beta everything to the point it isn't even my writing anymore, pffft! XD

"The Place I'll Return to Someday"

2010-04-27T18:35:00.002+08:00

Now if anyone didn't know what talent was before, well here's a clear example:

That girl is pure awesomeness. She has a bit of choir experience and plays a plathora of musical instruments but other than that I believe she's picked up all her amazing skills completely on her own *hails katethegreat19*.

If anyone's paid any attention to one of my few recent posts (scroll down) on dubs, you might remember the 14-girl-choir I mentioned, 'Stella Voci'. Well? Do you? Hmph, well if you do and actually looked their members up after being mesmorized by 'Scarborough Fair', you'd realize that Kate's the leader of that very outstanding bunch of amateur-vocalists. Why amateur? Because they have miraculously missed the notice of professionals for a recording contract -- seriously, there are some AMAZING people on Youtube!!!

But anyways, Final Fantasy Fans might recognize the melody of the song she's singing in that embed video; Final Fantasy 9 fans in particular (as if the accompanying scenes from the game weren't clue enough).

On a side note, FF9 is still possibly my favorite of the FF series thus far in terms of characters. Sure many people weren't all too cool with their somewhat cartoon-ish appearances but I think those people really just have to not judge something based on appearance alone. Fact is, it goes much deeper than that. Not only was the story interesting and touching from beginning to end, FF9 had some of the most memorable characters of the entire franchise in my opinion. Zidane was possibly the most alive lead character I've encountered through my plays of the various game titles. Then there are characters like Vivi and Dagger (heh, haven't figured out where the 'Dagger' in my username came from yet?) who's stories are almost as moving as Zidane's themselves -- I could so play through this game again when I get home in June.

FF9 is probably the first game of the franchise (again in my opinion) that appears to have a really happy ending; no weird-funky-creepy-confusing stuff like in FF7 and FF8. They really gave us gamers the closure we needed for this game, though that's probably the reason why it's sort of slipped into the background now in comparison with the former two games of the series. Heck I personally even think it has the best soundtrack out of the entire franchise of games thus far (yes that includes the PS2 and presently-only PS3 FFs). Maybe not to the liking of everyone out there but it's just classic beauty to me. Of course, if you're listening to Kate's singing right now you'd so agree with me on this. Lyrics are epic-beautiful too:

"Look into the sky

Can you see the moon across the ocean
Coming close to me
I can hear the melody

Cry into the void
Let my voice become the hand that reaches
Out to you and leads
To my long lost memory

Carry me home

I lost my way on roads ever weaving
Home
Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing
Carry me home
I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming
Find me
Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving

Voice that calls from there
And the footsteps of its fallen angels
Now becomes the beat
Of my heart so incomplete

Every night I bathe
In the blue that washes over me
And brings me to my knees
In this longing I believe

Carry me home
I lost my way on roads ever weaving
Home
Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing
Carry me home
I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming
Find me
Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving"

Those who've played should be able to grasp what the song's talking about and who's POV it likely is -- actually, it's pretty darn clear.

Originally an instrumental-only composition of the infamous Nobou Uematsu (I will so marry whoever brings me to see 'Distant Worlds' at least once in my freaking life!!), Kate's self-written lyrics seemed to really capture (yes I'll just tell you) Zidane's feelings regarding the search for his home, the other world Terra. I really REALLY love this rendition. The girl is practically the epitome of talented! Let it be known she played all the instruments in this and sang all the harmonies herself~

Meh, I should just turn my blog into a dubbing central for my personal use. I'll probably shift things over to a new Wordpress something when I find the time later on. Till then! ^^

~O~

CREDITS:
Music composed by: Nobuo Uematsu
sung and arranged by: katethegreat19
lyrics written and copyrighted 2008 by:
Kate Covington / katethegreat19
clips from Final Fantasy IX, owned by: Squaresoft/SquareEnix

Dead Fantasy Idols

2010-04-25T06:29:00.002+08:00

Can I totally worship montyoum? Heck why am I even asking. Seriously, the dude's got it going on with all the Dead Fantasy episodes. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better he does stuff like these:

Song :: Obsessed
Artist :: Mariah Carey
FF Gals :: Tifa, Cissnei
DoA Gal :: Kasumi

And if that wasn't fun enough, he made one with the entire Dead Fantasy cast of females (minus Rachel from Ninja Gaiden):

Song :: Gee
Artist :: Girls Generation
FF Gals :: Cissnei, Tifa, Rinoa, Yuna, Rikku
DoA Gals :: Kasumi, Ayane, Hitomi
KH Girl :: Kairi

Haha, pretty awesome how the characters all went K-Pop on us!! XD

Totally worth the watch people. I so hope he does more of these stuff eventually. Can't wait for the next episode too!!

Misc Dubbing Ventures

2010-04-18T14:03:00.002+08:00

It's gotten pretty interesting how online communities can somewhat exist outside the realm of an MMORPG these days. The internet's really helped bring people together, mostly through shared interests. Anyone stumbling onto this (more or less) dead blog of mine would probably realize how I've just been spamming fandubs I happen to be in, in the few most recent of posts...

*inserts contented sigh here*

Behold the existence of online J-Pop/Rock fandubbing communities!! Heh, for now, I'm just happy to be a part of one. There are tons of amazing undiscovered talents all across Youtube and the internet connects us all! How else would someone all the way up in say...Canada get to have a duet with someone else living in...heck, Egypt (purely example people)? Gotta love the possibilities~

Here are a couple more dubbys:

Pinky Team's (I have no idea how the name came about XP) attempt at Berryz Koubou's 'Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda'. I'm the second person to solo in this as Miyabi, pronounciation's a little iffy but meh, whatever. Mitsuki (who dubbed Aa!'s 'First Kiss' together with Rixie and moi previously) sings after me as Momoko. Of course Rixie's amongst the voices here too (if that wasn't obvious); she's the second one to sing during the second verse as Saki/Captain.

Now this one was just a random group dub with two people who have only just joined Pinky Team's line-up: Sayuri and Aiko. I've gotten to know Sayu-chan quite a bit lately and found out that she's also Malaysian and living in Gold Coast, Australia. Similar situations? Haha, she's a fun girl who just so happens to be lucky enough to sound so incredibly-alike Airi; which should explain why she's singing as Airi in this two-song dub of 'First Kiss' and 'Yume to Genjitsu' (yes, I previously did this with Mitsuki and Rixie but we didn't continue with 'Yume to Genjitsu' T_T).

Unlike with the later duo though, I wasn't singing Miyabi (Aiko does -- and does a splendid job) in this cast but Akari. I think my voice (being as high-pitched as it is) suits her better in this.

Heh, it's a whole lot of fun, singing with other people that is. Sure I'm not trained or anything and heck I know a near nil about singing techniques but nothing wrong with doing something for the fun of it, right? Even if I suck, lol! XD

Oh, now here's one that's just...beautiful (never really even knew they existed till I caught a glimpse of their works on Aya's blog -- she comments on various dubbers across Youtube, though mostly in the J-Pop/Rock realm).

It's Stella Voci's cover of the song 'Scarborough Fair'. Ever heard it? It's an amazingly serene and charming song; apparently about ex-lovers. They're a total of 9 people in this dub, though word is the group-choir's member count has increased to 14 just recently. Ah, by the way, avid RPG fans will probably recognize (and adore) the various game scenes.

Well, that's it for now peeps. Ugh, a long entry for once eh? Well I've tons of blogging to do so hah...kind of got into the mood for this. Till next time!! ^^

Another HWEE! moment

2010-04-03T19:55:00.002+08:00

Believe it or not it's been a while since Ame (Rixie) and moi sang together as HWEE! so...finally, after a whole (freaking!) month, we've released something, lol! Sounds kind of like we're professional or something. Sadly though, we're just hyper-weird-enigmatic-epic amateurs~ XP

We've also our second special guest singer with us this time. Props go to Mitsuki (MitsukiUsagii) for being such a sport and singing this with us despite being sick. We REALLY appreciate it (bleh she's not going to stumble here to read this, haha!).

Anyways, here's our 'First Kiss' cover/fandub:

Rixie sings Airi here, the lead and center girl for most of the song; Mitsuki's singing as Akari, the girl to the left of the screen with a pink picture on her shirt; and I'm Miyabi this time, to the right side of the screen with knee-high boots.

Ah well, this was really fun~

VOCALOID-IE

2010-04-02T16:21:00.001+08:00

Probably the most unbelievably tough song I've tried singing yet. What amazed me though is that I pulled it off pretty well, or so I think anyways, haha! XD

More Dumping

2010-03-30T15:12:00.001+08:00

Bwahaha, solo!

Lol, bleh, I'm a crappy singer by myself, but hey, I don't care~ XD

Masayume is such a pretty song~

Recording Notions

2010-03-23T10:12:00.002+08:00

Okidokies peeps (heh, I'm pretty sure no one comes on here now that I'm hardly putting up anything worthwhile of reading -- wait a sec, did I ever? Pffft!), tentative fact but I'm probably coming home for the mid-year hols in June. It's likely I'll stay for a little shy of a month while before returning to then-winter Melbourne for my second semester of Year 2 as an RMIT Media student.

Just thought of an interesting to test out while I'm home though -- something I'm going to need either a test subject (guinea pig, lol!) or an accomplice; basically an extra set of hands or a face to stick infront of a freaking camera (if not me, that is). I'll probably bug Ame-chan to help me do it, or be my (so-called) Guinea Pig. Odds are she won't mind since what I intend to do is try shooting a music video, lolz! Yeah, I'll give it a shot, just something stupid and basic. It's a way of practicing/applying the knowledge I've supossedly gained while I'm studying here in RMIT.

We'll see how it goes when the time comes.

I So Knew It

2010-03-22T14:23:00.002+08:00

Goldberg Depression Questionnaire
Ivan Goldberg Updated: Jan 18th 2006

Score Interpretation
54 and up Severely Depressed
36 - 53 Moderate - Severe
22 - 35 Mild - Moderate
18 - 21 Borderline depression
10 - 17 Possibly Mildly Depressed
0 - 9 No Depression Likely

You scored a total of 69.

You appear to be suffering from severe depressive symptoms commonly associated with serious depressive disorders, such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder or dysthymia. These symptoms appear to be causing you some serious impairment and distress in your normal, everyday functioning. You would likely benefit from the immediate attention of your physician or a trained mental health professional for further evaluation and a more accurate diagnosis and treatment. If your employer offers an Employee Assistance Program, you might also contact them for help and referral.

Scores on this test are not meant as a diagnosis tool! You should not take this score to represent a mental disorder diagnosis or any type of behavioral healthcare treatment recommendation. Always consult with a trained mental health professional if you are experiencing depressive feelings and/or difficulties in your daily functioning that cause you anxiety or worry. If you are suffering from feelings which are causing you concern and interfere with your daily functioning or if you are having thoughts of killing yourself or someone else, you should seek immediate treatment from a licensed mental health professional or physician within your community!

Web 2.0

2010-03-15T14:37:00.002+08:00

Things that provoke thought never fail to amuse me somehow. It's that sense that things aren't exactly what they seem. We may think we're all our own individual people. But really, ARE WE?

Lol, guess what people, we're all being manipulated! Everytime you watch a movie, listen to a radio piece, read an article, listen to someone talk or state their opinion, etc. you (that's right, I'm pointing) are being influenced. And no, I'm not going to take the time to pour my reasonings here -- have to do it on my student blog anyway, bleh. Still, fascinating stuff; so THINK about it.

I'm off, but here's a little something worth watching - and then - thinking about:

Pokes No Response

2010-03-12T00:37:00.002+08:00

Heard some good news today about my little bro's SPM results. Nono, it's not my information to give away so I'll not mention them (the results). Hint? He gets to keep his iPhone, haha!

Congratulations dudey!! Though I bet you never read anything I put on here. Heck, the guy probably doesn't even acknowledge the fact that his sister HAS a blog, hmph! Tried expressing congratulations to him earlier during the day too in real-time but apparently he must be too busy celebrating with friends -- ever the socialite.

Oh well, he's missed his 'congratulations' from me then, mwahaha!

Peace~ XD

Blown Away

2010-03-09T10:55:00.001+08:00

Words need not be said...

She's a phenomenon all on her own.

Linking Myself to...Myself

2010-03-08T22:32:00.003+08:00

Alright, now just because I'm expect this blog to be pretty inactive (dead) till I can somehow get my head above water again (in terms of dealing with workload), figured I'd post the link of my RMIT student blog here in the un-likely-hood that someone might just want to have a look at it, and maybe even...read the stuff I put on there?

Heh, who am I kidding myself. How many people even come on here? Hello??

Well yup, any nobodies missing my long-crap-ish rants on here can entertain yourselves with my long-crap-ish rants on this student blog instead -- only difference is it's stuff that has to do with my studies.

Here's the link then:
My RMIT student blog

Enjoy yourselves, kiddies~

The Optus Whale Song

2010-03-03T14:05:00.002+08:00

Yeap, like I mentioned, this blog really is on pause in terms on updates on what I do. Still, there're going to be a couple of these short stuff as posts from time to time. Why?

I suppose because they catch my attention? In some form or another, that is.

Optus is one of the main communication technology service providers here in Australia. But no need to go into that. Was shown this advert during my 'Communication Histories and Technologies' class on Monday. Really just thought the advert was kinda...cute? Eh, well...as a classmate said, "it's a very romatic idea, though completely unrealistic" -- which is true. Still, that doesn't change the fact that the idea really IS 'romantic'.

Have a watch and see for yourself:

Byaooo Intermission

2010-03-02T20:00:00.003+08:00

Okay peeps, I ain't going to be saying much. In fact, I'm not going to be saying much for (perhaps) quite a while...

Bloggings great and all but since I have to manage two others (blogs) for the purpose of my studies at RMIT, well, obviously managing three blogs is getting to be a bit much -- I'm so not one of those people who're good at juggling a ton of stuff.

And so, I've decided to put my blogging activities on this here blog aside till further notice; pretty much so I can concentrate on the other two and the rest of the things I've got going on at the moment in RL. Now that doesn't mean there won't be any updates here from time to time. Odds are they just won't be much in terms of content at all -- sort of like the few previous posts of my dumping dubs onto this thing.

Who knows, maybe I'll even get the URL adds for the other two blogs posted up here some time in the future so the rest of you people can check out what I've been up to...or something.

We shall see, till then!!

The Appearance of "HWEE✿BANG"

2010-02-24T03:57:00.003+08:00

Lol, okay, so this blog is starting to turn into a place for me to dump dubs onto. Honestly I've found various other things to do with my time than blog these days. There was also the juggling of a second blog for my Summer Semester's Networked Media subject. *sighs* Perhaps I'll return to updating on 'life' eventually. We'll see. I've learnt a lot about 'blogging' this semester and part of me feels like starting over again with this one -- well, mabe I'll just keep this here and make a new one or something. Meh, anyways...back on track!

Ame-chan (a.k.a. Rixie) and moi have been collaborating as 'HWEE!' for quite a while now and (I'm surprised) we've actually gained some attention as a duet group, lol! Go figure that! Guess I'm not that bad of a singer as I first thought after all.

This is the first time we've to have someone else sing with us as 'HWEE!'. A fellow friend and dubber I got to know through one of the Youtube H!P dub groups, Izumi (a.k.a. faraBANG on Youtube) had basically been following mine and Ame-chan's progress since a while back and asked to sing with us. Now she's a pretty epic singer (as everyone who even read's this is about to find out) if I do say so myself, so like heck was I gonna refuse that request!! XP

So EVERYONE already knows I'm a crazy 'Buono!' fan, right? Well I've never got to sing and put up one of their songs before...till now! You might (because odds are some people just don't care XP) be able to imagine, it feels like one awesome accomplishment!!

There's three girls and three of us, do the math! I'm singing as Momoko (small girl in the center), Ame-chan sings Miyabi (girl to the right with dyed, bobbed hair) and our 'special guest', Izumi is singing Airi's (girl with long hair to the left) lines. If that's still too hard to get, it's basically me, Ame-chan, then Izumi in terms of solo hearance.

PS :: Do note people, this is the Auto-tuned version (that's why the voices are all robot-ish). You can find the original one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQvfvtvOyU

"Romeo and Cinderella"

2010-02-20T14:21:00.004+08:00

Kays, a little side-step away from the realm of Hello!Project for this dubby of ours. As far as I can think...all the details should be in the vid itself so heck, beats me crappy explanation on what's what.

Our voices are pretty different so odds are no one will have probs distinguishing between who's singing when.

Compared to the Nico Nico Chorus version I think Rixie (a.k.a. Ame-chan) and moi did reasonably well -- which is a surprise! XP

Walks...Walks...Walks...

2010-02-16T11:40:00.001+08:00

Pyramid - Charice Pempengco

2010-02-02T00:22:00.002+08:00

"Stones, heavy like the love you've shown
Solid as the ground we've known
And I just wanna carry on
We took it from the bottom up
And even in a desert storm
Sturdy as a rock we hold
Wishing every moment froze
Now I just wanna let you know
Earthquakes can shake us
Cyclones can break us
Hurricanes can take away our love

Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock
It feels just like it's heaven's touch
Together at the top, like a pyramid
And even when the wind is blowing
We'll never fall just keep on going
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid

Cold, never ever wear any clothes
We will never let it fall
A story that was never told
Something like a mystery
And every step you took we've grown
Look how fast our time has flown
A journey to a place unknown
They're going down in history
Earthquakes can shake us
Cyclones can break us
Hurricanes can take away our love

Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock
It feels just like it's heaven's touch
Together at the top, like a pyramid
And even when the wind is blowing
We'll never fall just keep it going
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid

Call me up, just just like that
Call me up, just just like that
Call me up, call me up, oh oh oh oh oh
Call me up, just just like that
Call me up, just just like that
Call me up, call me up, oh oh oh oh

Pyramid, keep it going
Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock
It feels just like it's heaven's touch
Together at the top, like a pyramid
And even when the wind is blowing
We'll never fall just keep on going
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid
Built this on a solid rock
It feels just like it's heaven's touch
Together at the top, like a pyramid
And even when the wind is blowing
We'll never fall just keep it going
Forever we will stay, like a pyramid
Pyramid, pyramid, pyramid, pyramid
Pyramid, pyramid, pyramid" ---------- I so love her singing~~~ XDD

Murderers, We All Are

2010-01-15T00:58:00.006+08:00

Addressed to those of you who are Anime-freaks, or at least even BOTHER giving Anime a try – darn those of you ignorant fools who don’t! Okay, so that sounded a tad harsh. Still, ignorance isn’t always bliss. I’m ignorant enough, I should know…

Anyways, ever watched ‘Earth Maiden Arjuna’ (a.k.a. ‘Earth Girl Arjuna’ or ‘Chikyu Shojo Arjuna’) by Shoji Kawamori? Well, HAVE YOU?

Now if you’re thinking “no”…than you might just want to give it a try.

Yes, unlike some of the other Anime and J-dramas though, I’m not going to attempt force-feeding this particular one onto you people if you REALLY don’t want to watch it. Why? Because it’s basically one of those ‘you either love-it-to-death or hate-it-to-death’ kinds of Anime; that and it’s insanely ‘in your face’.

Hmm…seen Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’? Well ‘Earth Maiden Arjuna’ (Arjuna) shares quite a ton of similarities with it, and yet, there are just as many differences between the two. Oh yeah, probably with James Cameron’s ‘AVATAR’ too.

Honestly, I’d be in for a rough time if someone told me I had to pin a specific genre to Arjuna. It’s just…in an entirely different category all on its own to me; the series is almost unlike any other Anime I think I’ve ever seen and I definitely, DEFINITELY recommend everyone out there to watch it.

The story opens with (lead character) Juna telling her boyfriend, Tokio that she feels too ‘cramped’ in the city and they decide to take a trip to the sea. Unfortunately, during the drive they get in an accident and Juna dies. As her spirit leaves her body, she sees the dying Earth. The planet's suffering is visualized by worm-like creatures known as the ‘Raaja’. The Raaja vary in size, from microscopic to those entwining the planet. Soon, a young boy named Chris appears before Juna and offers to save her life if she will help the planet. Though initially hesitant, she agrees and is resurrected. Supported by SEED (yeah yeah, FF8), an international organization that monitors the environment and confronts the Raaja, Chris hopes for Juna to save the world.

Basic synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia (to an extent) there for you. Does it arouse interest enough for anyone to go and watch it? I don’t know. I can’t say. After all, I first stumbled across this Anime some two years ago, one night when I had trouble sleeping, went downstairs and turned on the telly. What channel did I flip to? Animax (duh!), and this (Arjuna) was on. Lucky me too – first episode.

That episode alone got me interested enough and I curiously stuck around (never mind my sleeping problems) for episode two. Sadly, that’s where that encounter ended because I can’t remember episode three ever airing on Animax. Maybe I missed it or something (though I distinctly remember scrolling through the channel guides like crazy…). Nonetheless, I remembered this series…and so here I am now, finally having found somewhere I could watch it online and got to the end.

And what do I have to say now that I’ve seen the whole thing? Summing it up, that would be “wow…”. Now I don’t think Arjuna’s the greatest, most amazing Anime I’ve ever watched or anything (lots of problems with it) but there is no denying it is pretty good (e.g. epic CG Animation and beautiful soundtrack); though maybe not in the way Anime like Naruto or Shugo Chara are.

This is undeniably…different (I cannot stress that enough).

Arjuna mainly (you bet there are other stuff in there besides this) addresses the idea of our dying planet (and other things that more or less relate to it in some way): pollution, the natural cycle/circle of life, processed food, etc. It is pretty hard for me to explain in words but…there’s a connection there…and that connection being the crucial message Kawamori is probably trying to stuff down the throats of everyone who watches it.

The intriguing bit though is the way in which he tries to deliver this message across to everyone throughout the Anime. I mean, the big question is there, he keeps jabbing it in our faces almost every episode…but the answer remains as vague, and yet, as clear…every single time! (though odds are most people might not see it till they’ve been full-circle – watched till the end).

Okay, the thing is it’s all so confusing, yet so crystal-clear-right-under-our-noses at the same time! As far as I’m concerned, Kawamori did one heck of an excellent job making his audience ‘think’…REALLY ‘think’.

***Hangs SPOILER alert up***

Because I’m going to rant on my revelations in watching this…

Personally, I think there’s a lot of reading in-between the lines one has to do in watching this Anime. It was pretty hard to get for me and I really had to re-watch quite a number of parts over and over to form the conclusions I have in my head now. For the record, I’m convinced they’re pretty obvious, but the way in which they were presented seriously makes me feel at awe. It’s really amazing.

For starters, I was really impressed with the portrayal of character Chris. Like Juna, he wields the same power (can go into ‘Earth Sympathy’ mode – that’s what I like to call it). Nevertheless, unlike her and pretty much every other character in the series, Chris’ personality and actions…made him seem like some higher, otherworldly being or entity; but I guess that was the idea all along. It was…how we were meant to see him? As in, maybe Kawamori intended for his audience in general to sort of…view Chris’ character that way…or so I think.

I mean, when I thought about it, Chris couldn’t speak verbally but through telepathy (not every character can hear him in the series though – watch it and you’ll understand better), was sick and crippled, and was so very unnaturally kind and patient (emphasized MANY times throughout the series).

What am I getting at? Well, the theme here IS our DYING PLANET. Got it? Honestly, I’m only assuming this but it just fits so well...

Chris REPRESENTS the planet!

Whether we like it or not people, our planet IS dying thanks to pollution and etc. Earth has a voice, it’s pleading for us to stop hurting it but hey, guess what, WE’RE NOT LISTENING! (turned on air-conditioning today? Drove somewhere? Yeah, that’s what I mean). That’s why Chris remains on the brink of death throughout the whole show. It’s probably also why only Juna and Cindy can hear his telepathic voice because they’re the ones who are choosing to do something about the planet.

Of course, Chris isn’t the only character in Arjuna who represents something (though the way I see it he definitely represents the most significant entity, that entity being Planet Earth). For example, both Juna and Tokio (who are practically the two main leads of the entire series) possibly represent two different kinds of audience – Juna being the one who wants to do something about Earth dying but not knowing ‘what’ to do or ‘how’ to do it, while Tokio seems the general type who thinks there’s nothing anyone can do.

Bleh, so pushing the representations aside, I need to get what I really gained from this Anime out here before I go crazy for not having anyone to tell it to. Basically, it has to do with Juna always trying to ‘become one with the target’. Ah, and then we have Chris saying that he ‘is’ the Raaja and that the Raaja ‘is’ him in the final episode. Basically:

“The earth and its inhabitants are the same. We are one. If we damage the Earth, we are harming ourselves…so, take care of it.” [Quoted from Youtube]

Somebody wrote it there and I just thought the way this person said it made it easier for others to understand. Plain, straightforward, obvious…but effortlessly true. I’d say more about this but that could touch upon religion so…I really don’t want to go there. Still, in hurting Earth, we really are hurting ourselves. Think about it, kay?

***Removes SPOILER alert…sighs…***

You know, I’m not even going to lie. This series brings up a bunch of…disturbing (somewhat) issues. Still, the discomfort one feels in watching them being addressed here does sort of prove their validity, don’t you think? It did for me. Arjuna questions the choices we all make in our daily lives, our sacrificing the environment for convenience. Don’t be daft, we all do it! We’re ALL guilty! And yet Arjuna doesn’t literally point fingers but simply asks us “Is it worth it?” (2012 is two years away people!).

So everyone, is it?

PS :: Just try eating McD after watching this...hehe~ XP

Home Sick?

2009-12-23T19:12:00.006+08:00

Bleh, so I told myself I'd leave some massive update on the things I did/encountered during my visit home to Malaysia, some month and a half ago. Honestly, back then it seemed like a good idea because I had lots and lots of fun back home and did a whole bunch of cool things. Now though, I can barely remember half of the things I did in much detail at all. They're mostly hazy recollections...

So much has happened over Spring sem. It's been one heck of a ride/journey and I've learnt and taken notice of so many other things I failed to do so before. Maybe it's true that varsity life is where all the soul-searching stuff happens. It's the turning point where people really figure out who they are or where they belong or something (heh, 'Honey and Clover' influence here). If so, I'm on my way perhaps. Just sadly not there yet -- sucks to me! XD

Anyways, what I do remember is the yummy-ness of Jap food when my parents took me to Zanmai Sushi at Pyramid for dinner. Besides that, I remember surprising the life out of my relatives (gosh some of them had lol-worthy reactions). Some of my uncles had to stare for a while just to make sure it WAS me, haha! Best reaction award goes to my Muffin cousin though -- she did the epic-freak out thing splendidly!! XD

**Sidetracked :: [Oh yeah, to Muffin (who I'm going to assume only stumbles onto this blog of mine say...as often as she comes online -- ain't often, trust me! XP), I appreciate the effort you went through to try planning an outing with me while I was home despite your finals being on. Of course, we couldn't manage it in the end but thanks soooooooooooo much honey!!~ ^^]

Ah, it was great being home, and thus, close to that awesome oven my mom got a while back since our old one kept burning everything. I had fun baking cupcakes for Ame-chan (which she claims were yummy, haha! XP) and that heavenly chocolate-cheesecake (which is just too good!). Made some epic roast chicken with the thing too, which was probably my favorite meal while home (excluding the Jap food from the account).

Anyway, Ame-chan took me mic shopping on one of the days. Truthfully, buying the mic only took like 20 mins tops and the rest of the time we wandered around One Utama doing who knows what (oh right, just to entertain her, "Tekken fi-six" XP). Got to go over to her place too the day after. The initial plan was for her to teach me the dance for Momosu's latest single, 'Kimagure Princess'. Of course, guess we should have known better~ XP

As it turned out, neither one of us could concentrate on the dance because we kept laughing uncontrollably every few seconds into the teaching/learning process -- oh yes, we're crazy together! (fear us people! FEAR US!!! XD). Gosh Ame! Thanks to you that first move of 'Kimagure Princess' will forever be known to me as the "Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" XP

Oh wells, I'm sure I did other entertaining stuff too. I certainly remember watching Micheal Jackson's 'This is it!' and being entranced by how talented the late King of Pop was; not to mention how capable he was for his age. I'm learning though that that's probably what the director of said film wanted to make us all feel when we watched that film. It's one person's vision of MJ and it doesn't mean all of it's true. Still, I don't think there's any way of denying MJ was an amazing artist and performer -- plus he had some great songs.

Come to think of it, that movie was practically the last thing I did while home in Malaysia before catching my flight back to Melbourne. Things proceeded pretty smoothly all throughout the flight. However, getting back to my apartment at Unilodge made me realize for the first time how much I really missed home and the company of those I live with. I'm alright here by myself. I know I am; but it's just kind of hard...being away from home.

Meh, I just wish I could keep a pet cat or something so I wouldn't be talking to Mokona (stuffed plushie) all the time, haha! XD

PS :: I am still in a major AVATAR hype. Therefore, I'll end this post with the film's main theme song. It's called 'I See You' by the great Leona Lewis and pretty much proves that point about the whole opening-our-eyes business. Just listen...

I See You

2009-12-17T18:43:00.004+08:00

Behold…

I’m going to go ahead and be ignorant and say…I don’t care what anyone else has to say about this film…ever…because I think it’s wicked, epic, and freaking awesome! And I seriously mean all that. Forget ‘Iron Man’ or ‘Transformers’ and whatever else; James Cameron’s AVATAR literally blew me away on a level beyond any of those other films. It’s so spectacular I just…gah! I don’t even have words in my vocabulary great enough to praise it. Oh, and for once it’s not centrally the story that drew me into the film.

Ok, so not that the story was boring or anything – it’s actually pretty interesting (oh no, don’t expect me to give it away here). Although, it does seem like an old idea that’s been used one too many times to me (heck Hayao Miyazaki did it in ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’ and ‘Princess Mononoke’); mind you, those two were pretty spectacular films too, plus AVATAR’s story does deviate from that idea quite a bit so I ain’t exactly complaining.

That aside, along with the fact that I actually myself have suggestions for improving the film (haha, I’m studying too much here people!), let’s get on to what really interested me about Cameron’s AVATAR.

First, quite obvious but I would so have to say I fell deep in love with the movie’s graphics. Cameron’s directing makes it almost painfully evident that he’s trying to draw viewer attention to the world around the story’s protagonist, somewhat urging those watching in the cinema to look (and I mean ‘really’ look) at his envisioned world of Pandora; and perhaps immerse themselves in it. Gotta hand it to the famed director, he sure knows how to frame his shots and use his characters well to achieve this (if it even was what he was going for, haha!) – making Jake play around with all that unbelievably-eccentric flora noticeably near the start of the film. It injects curiosity and humor too, which is good, since it sort of slips in there the reminder that Pandora is a world alien to us humans (or those in the film in this sense).

Anyway, Final Fantasy fans are sure to love the film’s many landscapes and sceneries. Cameron’s chucked a whole lot in there and AVATAR is practically a dream-come-true for people like me who have always been aching for something like this to be put on the big screen. Think Final Fantasy 12 (sort of), only way better!

I don’t know if it’s just me but locations such as the tropical-marine-ish (lol, watch the darn movie and see for yourselves!) forest, as well as the floating mountains in the film really made me feel as if I was in this epic game world; especially since those floating mountains reminded me of Bhujerba City from FF12. You can bet there were various other angled extreme-long shots of Pandora’s landscape in the film that jilted my memory of something from one of the Final Fantasy titles too. And if that wasn’t enough, one has to marvel at all the unique wildlife that was created to be a part of Pandora’s world.

Have to admit, when I first watched the film’s trailer several months back, I remember my mind being in heated debate on whether those ‘blue people’ were computer generated or not.

Surprise surprise, they are! (Yeah yeah, they just looked so real). We’ve come a very long way since the days of ‘Tron’ people!

So yes, graphics equal a definite plus for this film. And what else captured me? Being honest, I loved the themes (I guess this is somewhat related to the story) of the film. For anyone who has watched it, I would think they already know what those themes are then. After all, director Cameron is practically spoon-feeding them to us viewers rather forcefully throughout the entire film; so forcefully in fact that you might just have to be asleep in the cinema to not get it. Still, let’s get real: no one would be sleeping through this movie unless they hadn’t had any sleep seven days prior or something. Anyways, seen ‘Princess Mononoke’ before? Then go figure.

Finally, yeah, I’ve just went through what basically got me into the film. Everyone who reads my blog should honestly know by now that I can so go on with that. However, a certain ‘somebody’ is waiting on me to finish this here blog post and update the freaking thing so she can read it now though, so I guess I’ll just move on to what literally…made the film for me...

Hmm, I suppose I would describe it as the main message Cameron was trying to get across to his viewers through the film. Oh, it’s not hard to grasp, but probably something people might just have to either pay attention to as the film progresses, or reflect critically on the whole she-bang after watching it. I was lucky enough to actually get it at the very end of the film, though I had picked up hints of it along the way (yay, my awareness is improving! Lol~). Here’s a clue – it’s in the post title…

“I see you.” One simple phrase, yet so powerful.

Cameron had his two leads constantly repeating that one phrase, over and over throughout the film (or so it seemed like it was being repeated over and over to me). Yes, I have to admit I thought the repetitions got a little corny after a while and were somewhat overdone...and then when I saw the ending…

It. Seriously. Just. Hit me! – it’s all about opening our eyes!

The whole darn freaking film is about that one stupid quote! The camera angles, the shots, the excessive amount of screen time Pandora’s landscape gets, the characters constantly looking about their surroundings…it’s all crapping there! GOSH!!! Ok, so yes, I sound crazy right about now but how many people who watched AVATAR actually saw/thought that/came to that conclusion the first time around? It is probably my theory anyway that this was what Cameron was trying to do; open our eyes…

On second thought, I’m quite positive of it. Man, what I would give to be a director of such caliber. The movie posters (well, some of the first – I think) kept showing the eyes (or eye?) of a Na’vi. Oh, and I think the way the film opens and closes is proof enough – it actually opens (more or less) with Jake opening his eyes and ends with the same thing: Jake opening his eyes!

Haha, ok, I am so amused by this film, seriously. I’ll need to watch it again to try to see if I can get anything else from it though. I guess that is a huge part of why I think I’m doing the right thing for now: studying media at RMIT. There’s just this thrill about being able to watch and try to comprehend films like these and so much more. I should probably stop my rant now. Know what, here you go oh-bored-maggie-mee-lover-friend-of-mine.

Go! Entertain yourself with tis post which will probably only catch your attention no longer than the 5 or 10 minutes you'll take to read it and then forget it right after. Pffffft! XD

PS :: By the way, thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday this year~ I'm really happy! ^_^

Spring is Here!!

2009-11-09T13:59:00.002+08:00

Yes, I know I need to blog about the trip home to my place of birth dear Ame but today's first class just totally captured my attention--this is going to be one funky Spring, haha!

Okay, so what's got me so hyped? Obviously I attended my first Monday of Spring Semester Classes; Writing Media Text (WMT) and Editing Media Text (EMT). Seeing as there weren't many people who started mid-sem like I did, one can imagine the pretty small number of people in the lecture theaters and the even more dwindling numbers in the classrooms. SH seems to have gotten herself exempted from the Spring subjects by some miracle (I'm just saying that cause I don't know how/why she got the exemption~ XP), which leaves me to darn freaking fend for myself. Oh well, always a nice time to make new friends since there looks to be lots and lots of group work involved. Plus I know quite a few of my classmates already--just never really had the opportunity to get close with them in the last semester.

Anyways, back onto topic (though I bet I'll get sidetracked again), let's just put it this way...

What would you do if your lecturer literally told you this: "You are encouraged to play."

If you're thinking what I'm thinking...you're either rolling on the floor in uncontrollable laughter or staring at this here screen with some blank-disbelief sort of look on your face. Well, (quotes Naruto from the annoying English dubs) 'Believe it!' cause both the lecturers I met today said the EXACT SAME LINE!!! (not the 'Believe it!' by the way XP)

You know what, I think RMIT might have just been the best thing that may ever happen to me in this silly little life of mine. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ready to 'play'~ (and there goes the Ouena-ness--only my Anirealm peeps will get this, lol!) XP

So yeah, basic stuff happened: introduction to what would be learnt, focus, objectives, grading criteria, what we need, blah blah. Am so dreading the presentation at the end but meh, people here really are a lot friendlier than I remember back in Malaysia.

The lecturers and staff are graciously helpful too and they really want what's best for you; like...sincerely! Looking at my timetable I was expecting to feel completely drained by the end of the day but heck here I am, still full of energy (meh, not really, but hey I still have the mood to write all this XP). I guess it helps too that the EMT lecturer is another hottie (I so need to stop that, lol!--but he's real funny too!!! Meh XD).

Know what, ignore me. But seriously, this is getting pretty interesting~ ^_^

The Terminal...

2009-10-27T11:26:00.002+08:00

No, I'm not stuck in the same situation as Tom Hanks was in the movie--his was way more severe; I've just got my flight delayed. Haha! Apparently the plane that was supposed to arrive from Malaysia has experienced some mechanical problems or something (the check-in counter lady said this) and isn't here yet. And so, flight's been rescheduled to leave Melbourne 6.25am (3.25am Malaysian time--if I remember right). This means check-in time is at 4.00am--so much for not travelling at weird hours huh? XP

Yeah, you're probably thinking I should be all sour and moody about this but looking at the accommodation I've been arranged to spend the night at...I can't say I'm all that sour at all about this--after all, it is the Hilton Hotel (in short, WAAAAAAAAY better than my Unilodge apartment; so who's complaining?)~ XD

Decided to snap some pictures to remember this funny turn of events:

Yeah, you'll be finding this odd--girl gets to stay at the Hilton for free and the first thing she snaps a picture of is the bathroom (lol!).

I sure haven't seen a bathtub for a while--so going for a soak later~

Lol, you know what that is XP

Here's the shower, with my reflection in the glass XP

Here's the actual room~

Heh, the PS1 controller that got me excited--reminds me I can play the PS again once I get home~ XP

Nice full length mirrors there~

You know, little me is going to feel very awkward about sleeping on a king-size bed...by myself, lol!

A way more comfortable study chair than the one back at Unilodge--thank you!!!

And finally, the view out the window--the airport~

Will probably have to walk over there later for dinner or something. Oh well peeps, till next time. ^_^

Because I Decided

2009-10-19T11:15:00.004+08:00

A lot has happened, and yet, all the same nothing really has. Does that make sense? Well, it should.

Alas, my first semester as an RMIT Media student has come and gone (though I still have an essay haunting me for completion). And how do I feel about the experience? Well, it’s an interesting one to say the least; definitely different. Throughout the semester I’ve made some friends and discovered a few interesting notions; things that have provoked lots of thought and a reinvention of my view of the world in some cases. It’s funny what people can learn as they grow older, only to realize they could have so used such knowledge ages ago.

Maybe then things would be different. Heck they sure would. If I knew half the stuff I do today and had the ability to turn back time and do it over…I so would. I’d definitely change a few things—not quitting artistic gymnastics for one (I so could have gone national, bah!). I would definitely change the way I was in primary school too, along with my behavior throughout middle and high school—cause now I know life doesn’t revolve around good grades and living up to your parents' wants or expectations of you. Sure that’s a big deal all the same but still, I’ve realized that it really is MY life to lead. So I should lead it MY way, be who I want to be (lol, there comes the Shugo Chara! influence).

I little too late of a discovery in my opinion—it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to switch your life around a 180 degrees.

*Beware: Another one of my foolish reflections on my way-too-unlived life which will likely face deletion (this post I mean) some weeks down the road, lol~ XP

As far back as I can remember I’ve never been particularly happy about the way my life is. Day by day I’d wake up only to another boring, unfulfilled day: dress in the same clothes or uniform, eat the same boring thing for breakfast, exit the same front door, ride the same car to school or college, learn the same subjects, all over and over again. To me life was this stupid, almost pointless repetition of tasks I had to put up with, almost all of which I seriously had no heart in doing. There was nothing in school for me, I know that much. Lessons were bordering on too easy and acing subjects even without studying became the way of things—well, until I hit the important years of Forms 4 and 5 and had to deal with the dreaded SPM exam (which nearly destroyed me in a way, thank you very much!).

Oh no, it didn’t have to do with the subjects being too hard, or me not understanding what I was being taught or anything like that. Plain and simple, I finally realized the past 16 years of my life was this huge, fat lie. The world around me was changing and I couldn’t deal with that change (darns me). I didn’t know who I was anymore. I didn’t know why I woke up everyday only to face a day more depressing than the one before it. I didn’t know why I kept going back to school when I knew there was nothing to be learnt, when there were no real friends waiting to see me. I really didn’t understand why I continued to live my life when I clearly, outright hated it to the core. There just seemed no reason to go on and before I knew it I’d landed myself in a deep pool of pitch-black darkness. I wasn’t eating, had trouble sleeping, couldn’t concentrate on my studies, entirely refused to go back to school, and locked myself in my room more than half the time I was home (which was practically the whole time XP). What upsets me most I suppose was that no one else seemed to care of my slipping into darkness. Day after day of absence from school and not one 'friend' (should have known) bothered calling or saying anything to me through the web. It felt like nobody cared. It felt like I could just lay down and die and no one would even feel sad and mourn. Was I so insignificant to this world? I needed something to prove me wrong and I still do—need something that is.

Over the years I found myself observing others, mostly the people I called friends. It bugged me how they all seemed capable of leading ordinary lives in comparison to mine. I watched them bond with each other, forming all sorts of relationships; some lasting, some not. There were times when they took their own tumbles in life and me, being there for them (simply because I had nowhere else to be), would let them rant out their frustrations to me. Always listening, never really doing or saying anything worthwhile in return. I think some people thought this weird. I just wasn’t the kind who could comfort people. All I really could do was listen. And yet, half the time I bet I was aching to question whoever why they were so upset over the simplest of tribulations. A boyfriend or girlfriend cheating, lying, a break-up, financial problems, a fight with a best-friend. It really all seemed so trivial (minus financial problems XP); maybe because I’ve never had any real experience with either situation before. I guess I find myself so desperate for closeness with another person these days because I want to understand better—hopefully.

I used to think the rest of the world was weird and I used to think companionship was useless. But as always, those are mere perceptions and perceptions can change with time, age, or experience. Cheerleading has greatly awakened my desire for companionship, the spotlight and the hope that there’s something better out there in life. I guess because of this leaving the sport was what nearly crushed me. Still, in the end memories of my time as a cheerleader in itself (I suppose) have kept me going and remains the primary reason I decided to pick myself up when no one else would so much as bother to lend a hand. For half a decade it has been my light in the pitch-black darkness (meh, and here's the Kingdom Hearts influence XP). That first routine on the competition mat, performed with my group of enthusiastic teammates, listening to the deafening roar of a cheering crowd was unbelievable, indescribable. I think till today that it is the sole moment in my life when I truly felt alive and is definitely something I’ll always treasure.

As I am now, I believe I know what I want. Unfortunately those wants may as well stay just that—unrealized dreams, existing only within my mind. It doesn’t really bother me so much anymore (something I find surprising) and I’ve realized that I can live with things the way they are. Life isn’t great, that’s fact; but it isn’t exactly terrible either. I’m still young anyway (or so people tell me), maybe I’ll find something out there that’s really worth living for soon. Besides, I still have my imagination and the online world to live that so-called dream through—a somewhat satisfactory alternative.

So why did I write all this? Well, it's my blog: I can write/say what I want about myself and the way I see things (it's not like I'm typing out some evil plot to overthrow the U.S. government or something--or am I? Lolz!). Honestly, I've just been blog-hopping and reading what some people I know have been writing about their lives and somehow felt compelled to rant.

Shall leave you all with something that totally caught my attention. Now I haven't been the greatest Morning Musume (Momosu) fan out there but they've been getting a lot of nice songs lately, not to mention just about every member of the group is a great dancer and singer with really nice voices. This is, in my opinion, their best single yet; especially since member Eri blew me away (I'm usually for Ai or Reina more). In any case, presenting 'Kimagure Princess'!

Peace out peeps! ^_^

P-A-T-I~~~ XD

2009-10-04T08:58:00.002+08:00

Okay, so this is ONLY a preview but what the heck, here I was thinking there was no way Buono! could ever release another song that would top either of their previous singles, 'Renai Rider' and 'My Boy'; seriously, like EVER! But gosh must they prove me wrong!! XD

I mean, it's only the preview and already I'm brainwashing myself with it--totally can't wait for the actual single to be out~ Why do I love it? Well...

For one, it's ROCK! *whoots about*
Two, Airi's freaking center again!! Hwee~~ ^^
Three, the awesomesauce costumes and hair~ XD
Four, what else, CHEERLEADERS!!!
And five, that catchy P-A-T-I exclamation~~ *major whoots about* XP

Yep, you bet I'm totally digging this right now. Know what, Japan will always have the best music by my books; and this song so proves it. ^_^

S-A-M-U-I-!!!

2009-09-26T18:55:00.002+08:00

Well, so SH ad I figured we'd have some fun, visiting the Royal Melbourne Show at the Melbourne Showgrounds (pretty much the same place as Manifest previously). So, basically how was my day? Brrr...*shivers*...COOOOOOLD and tiring (since I had to keep moving to feel anywhere near warm).

We met at 12 noon, headed over to Flinders Station, hopped on the express train and were there in like 13 minutes. Convenient huh? So gotta love public transport here! XD

By the way, if it wasn't obvious enough, it rained a lot throughout the day (so much for me liking Spring >.<), pretty much resulting in the excessive cold. It's FREAKING cold here when it rains, even if only a little. To make things worse the showgrounds are practically wide open spaces of land so the wind was totally impossible to escape, escept when we ran into one of the few buildings. I tell you I almost lost my umbrella thanks to the darn weather.

Oh wells, I'll leave the pictures to do most of the talking from here on out peeps. Have fun! ^^

Yeah, it was sunny at first - Mr. Orange-ball-in-the-sky is honestly teasing us >.<

Bought some yummy jam donuts from this place - seriously yum!

Meh, other food options...not an option for Muslims living in a non-Islamic country like me XP

Alot of those rides were scary...this one included - you try imagining how high it went XP

One of many game booths ^^

Check out all the stuffed animals!!!

If it wasn't for the cold I so might have gone on that thing~

One of the many educational animal shows around - so love horses XD

Inside of the Patting Pen~

Little puppies XD

SHEEP!!!!! ^_^

And...LAMBS~~~ XD (aren't they just adorable?)

Rabbits snuggled together~~

Pat a lamb? Makes me miss my kitty more XP

Cattle~

SH and the Chicken (this was before we learnt we weren't supposed to pick'em up - Oops! XP)

Thought this guy was cute~ ^^

Yeah, you're probably wondering why I'm wearing specs in all these pics - I blame the harsh wind XP

A...dog show?

El should like this~~ XD (if she ever sees it, lol!)

Totally don't know the breed but heck they're cute~~

Gah!!!! I wanna pat'em too!!! >.<

Okay, if I COULD have a dog, I'd totally want one of these!! XD

KAWAII!!! XP

Lol, switching gears to the cats - didn't see many of them though since the Cat Shows seem to be over.

This guy had pretty fur - he looked mighty mountain cat-ish!! And those green eyes!! ^_^

Sleeping kittens~

Check out the Alpaca~

So enough with the animals, this was where everyone went for Showbags to take home~

Lol, yeah, you can start laughing now XP

SH and I ended up stuck in the Foods department thanks to a sudden pour of heavy rain - don't think we can complain much there (ignoring our freezing limbs and wet clothes despite our useless umbrellas) XP

Shall start tempting people now - cookies and gingerbread men!! XD

Cupcakes!!! ^^

Chocolate, Vanila and Strawberry fountains~

NUTS!!! XD

A cup of heavenly yogurt goodness and Raspberry sauce~~~ *licks* XP

The Coca-Cola Arena where fireworks were supposed to take place later on - SH and I decided to scram since we so couldn't take the darn cold anymore XP

Looks like a dressage competition - heck I dunno since I missed the whole thing XP

Visited the stables~

And now I miss horse riding >.<

And on to the art gallary~

It's...PIPLUP!!! XD

Mwahahaha, more food!!! XP

Honestly wonder if anyone's gonna end up eating those?

I spy Spongebob and Elmo, do you? XP

Yeah, I'm way too lazy and tired to elaborate on details. People say "a picture's worth a 1000 words" anyway. I got like over 40 here. That should do it, right? ^^

'Spicy' Things

2009-09-24T00:35:00.003+08:00

Hmm...saying life is boring now as it is wouldn't be a lie...but it wouldn't really be the truth either. I guess it's just somewhere in between--usually really routine with a touch of 'spicyness' kicking it in every once in a while. Gotta admit though, this week might just be the 'spicy-est' yet! Why?
Well, I made a list:

Social Relations presentation's over for me--scraped a distinction (whoot!!) XP
Both alarm clocks phailed (spelling error on purpose XP) me on Monday morning--nearly missed this week's movie screening entirely!! O.O Thanks to SH and Cal for waking me up, lol! XD
"Did you come to see my boobies?" ROFL!! Julie Andrews is a hilarious actress!!! XD
I WATCHED POWER RANGERS: THE MOVIE ON KAMUTUBE ('kamu' = you ^^)AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!! ROFL XD~
Previous problem...eh...making progress? Lol--I will get somewhere~ XP
Noxy has made a blog!!!! MAJOR WHOOT!!!^^
Noxy now owes me a picture of mohawk-him~ (get to it dude!!) XD
Have plans to checkout Melbourne Leisure Fair this weekend--hwee!!! LAMBS (wait a sec, why lambs? o.O) here I come!!!! XD
Hottie-of-a-MASS-subject lecturer praised me...and I feel...O.O...ZOMG!!! Here I go again?!? GAh!!! >,<
Fire alarm rang this morning whilst I was in campus library--haha, fun!! No fire though, ah wells (not that I really wished for one~) XP

Yep, this is turning out to be a pretty entertaining week. I shall hope for more 'spicyness' in my life here on out.

Ja ne peeps!! ^_^

The Real Deal

2009-09-19T16:05:00.002+08:00

Yeah, you've really gotta be living under a rock or something if you don't know the girl in the picture above. Still, just incase you REALLY don't, I'll fill you in. Her name's Taylor Swift; a 19-year-old American country singer-songwriter who exploded onto the scene some three (3) years ago with her debut single 'Tim McGraw'. That single was of course followed up by the song that led me to knowing of her existence: 'Teardrops on My Guitar'.

Both are stellar-ly beautiful songs in their own way if you haven't (by some miracle) listened to them. Ah, but by no means are these the only amazing songs she has up her sleeve. Some of my favorites include the all-famous number 'Love Story', 'Our Song' and 'You Belong With Me'; all of which have very moving lyrics and a nice (somewhat pop/country) tune.

So why am I dedicating a whole blog post to her? Well, frankly I think she quite deserves it. Having read her interview on a Seventeen magazine not too long ago, I pretty much realized that this was no ordinary 19-year-old. The way she answered the many questions of the interview...you'd think this was someone who had experienced the world and had some darn exquisite bags of wisdom in that brain of hers to prove it--yet she's 19?!

Indeed, I'd encourage everyone to find that interview of hers.

Taylor seems incredibly mature for her young age, if I do say so myself. She is (after all) only a year my senior. I guess though that her somewhat born-to-be-a-writer talents have contributed to this a great sum. Apparently she either writes or co-writes all her songs and they are even often enough based on her own personal experiences making them easily relatable and truthful (though mostly about the trials of love).

Just goes to show that a voice isn't all it takes to succeed in the music industry. Taylor's music reaches out to people and I guess that's what I like about her.

The way I see it the girl's got it made--she's pretty and tall, definitely wise if not smart, humble (judged on the mny times I've spotted her on TV), and obviously she has talent others would probably die for (I know I would--to be able to write beautiful and honest lyrics like she can). Sure she's not the greatest performer and in no ways can she belt like some other country singers such as Carrie Underwood but this girl is special in her own way and it's uplifting...watching someone like her make it bigtime.

I really do think Taylor's an inspiration to a lot of people out there; me included.

Go Taylor!! ^_^

Moments

2009-09-10T04:56:00.002+08:00

"She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and lace

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear but they turn out the light
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning come it'll be too late

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

The statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
Her name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgot

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel"

*Salutes Martina McBride*

How could anyone not like country music?

Shoots Self For Randomness XP

2009-09-07T02:09:00.002+08:00

Yep, 'random' title as can be. I seriously owe Rixie a biggie for all her strange but totally welcomed influence on me--thanks dearie!! (lol, never called you that before, huh Ame? XP). She may or may not proceed to glomp or shoot me now, though I personally shall hope for neither, despite the unlikelyhood of it being neither less she never read my blog again--mwahaha!

Okay, back down to Terra people. *clears throat*. It's time to key in on a rather solemn note. Prepare yourselves everyone, I feel a tragic rant session coming on, starting....now:

So I'm sill witnessing the get-togethers and moving-ons of some of my friends; pretty much through means of the internet though. And while I am sure that the prospects of being 'alone' are not bothering me at the moment, something else is...

It's been almost a month now since my 'weird' night--like anyone remembers anyway. An unforgettable conversation shared with a persona I consider 'friend', whom now I have no idea what to think of.

I'll admit I was somewhat blur that night, maybe from lack of sleep? No, I can't possibly blame that. I'm as blind and clueless as a bat when it comes to advances of the heart--I know I am, no one be trying to prove me otherwise. Believe me when I say I'd probably never realize if a person liked me or was even flirting with me unless they maybe spelled it out for me, point blank: "I like you!" *stares meaningfully, rolls eyes* "Yes, in 'that' way!"

Hah! Now everyone knows I'm a hopeless romantic! Yay me! (non-enthusiastically spoken/written).

Back to the point. I think...I was actually confessed to...*ponders uncertainly*. Yeah, I had to repetitively recollect that conversation several times, words spoken, possible meanings behind each one to even come to that conclusion--if it even is a conclusion. I even asked for Rixie's perspective by typing out part of the conversation for her to read. Her reaction...honestly left me in an even bigger panic (lol) cause she saw what I had completely missed when I partook in said conversation. I clearly mistook every-darn-thing for 'friendship' that night. Heck even now I have my doubts if I'm merely reading too into this...

What if it was a confession? What if it wasn't? But I specifically remember the words "like you alot" in there! O_O

And now I'm too scared to ask. Too scared to admit I probably missed the whole point. To top things over it seems he's been avoiding me lately; or so it feels like he is. Either that or he's just too busy or having family problems or that with the computer again. Truthfully speaking I don't like this avoidance and not speaking thing. It's weird. Sure it's gone on longer than the present before (not speaking that is) though then it was usually stuff like exams and actual...I don't know...problems?

Why though? What did I say? Or do? I really don't have any idea--yep, blurgirl here *raises hand*. Was it the nature of how our last conversation panned out and ended?

Well, regardless I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait things through. Who knows, maybe there is some kind of situation going on? Meh, he'll have to clue me in sooner or later anyway. I really just wanna breach the weirdness.

Ah well, you know, when it all boils down to it, I've been down this road before, once back in high school. Similar situation, only then it never progressed to...a confession? Yeah, I need to stop being so darn innocent and start noticing how people are behaving towards me. I'm clearly missing the few chances I get here (lol)!

Rant over people, I'm out! Peace~

When Boredom Strikes

2009-09-01T17:34:00.001+08:00

Yeah, unknown to many (until they decide to read this, lol) I remained rather cooped up in my room over the first weekend of my sem break. Was honestly too lazy to go out, what with fasting month being around and all. Plus I'd turned semi-nocturnal thanks to Anirealm being back on--though I'm really happy about that (yay!). Have been taking it reasonably easy too where studies are concerned - hey, it is a break - but no worries, I'll get myself back on track in a jiffy; just have a fanfiction chapter to get drafted first (lol!).

Anyways, so I was reallyreallyreallyreallyREALLY bored having stayed indoors for most of the time except for groceries, dumping the trash or the short walk to campus for printing subject readings.

What did I do?

Call up someone I figured was still in town for the sem break (haha); thank goodness he was bored too and we ended up hanging out. Mind you, with no real plan or idea of what to do.

Turns out Cal already had a hair appointment fixed for the day at 4pm so that was a start. Yeah, you bet, I cut my freaking hair in Aussieland (term courtesy of Noxy from Anirealm XP)!!

Pictures at the end of this post--promise! XD

So yeah, we spent quite a bit of our time at Borders (the book store, duh!), where Cal couldn't resist buying some fashion magazines (drools!). We then figured we'd check out some of the exhibitions on the upcoming Fashion Week in Melbourne Central since we were there. Nothing very much from what I saw. Oh, not that they weren't nice or interesting--just that there was practically no life about the exhibitions. Once again, pictures below.

We browsed the many streets of Melbourne to pass the time later on. Pretty much walking from one end of the City Center to the other, snapping random shots of branded stores along the way--come on, we so had to! And of course, checked out a pirated (lol, no judging me XP) CD/DVD store in the vicinity which we stumbled upon some time back.

Heh, pretty darn random day, huh? Obviously I came home after the hair cut. It cost me a bomb (no, not literally) but heck I think my hair's never looked any better.

Take a look!~

You bet, one of the exhibitions.

Pretty neat stuff if you're into clothes.

Now this dress was cool--made entirely using fire and heat (no stitches!!)

Name says it all, doesn't it? XP

Here's another one~

The all-famous Prada~

Just a random shot. Nice view though. ^^

Yes, there was a Barbie display exhibition there. Too bad no Malaysian Barbie XP

And yep, I have a fringe now~ XP

Looks pretty different in my opinion (I know I look like I'm bored or something in the picture but heck I don't care XP). Haha, think I'll keep it this way for a while ^_^

Tashika Ni, Optimism

2009-08-30T01:29:00.003+08:00

Over the course of my single year in college, I guess I've established myself as someone--the weird freaky cheerleader girl who kept smiling wherever she went (oh, and spent half of her first semester as the campus' very own Bionic Woman--lol!).

I remember asking some friends during one of our more 'free' periods, "What was your first impression of me?" The answers turned out pretty funny, now that I think about it. One of them - I cannot remember who - said she (yes, at least I remember it was a girl) thought I was this really punky, stylish person. Why? She said it was because of the clothes I wore and my freaky stilettos.

Haha! And so my love for heels and fancy clothes are the cause! Too bad I ain't trading my classy fashion for anything...ever...maybe. You know what, we'll see!

Anyways, apparently that friend of mine thought I was some really fierce Femme Fatale (lol--can you believe that? I blame the fiery red hair and the Sasuke-ish hairstyle). Me? A Femme Fatale? If anything I think I'm more either 'the dark loner in the corner' and maybe part 'the cheerleader' or 'girl next door'. Femme Fatale however, is totally pushing it (haha).

Thank goodness her opinion of me's changed, huh? Just goes to say one really can't judge people by their outer selves (and now I'm going all Shugo Chara!-ish XP).

Honestly, 'Cool and Spicy'. I've learnt a whole lot from that Anime, Shugo Chara! And heck I like it a lot, probably because I can relate pretty well with the main character, Amu. She's a totally different person on the inside than what she lets people see on the outside. It's almost hilarious to see the transitions from her 'cool' self to her...eh...'real' self? Hmm...

Of course, the Anime's all about 'finding your true self' so Amu gradually changes and is able to show who she really is to the world. I hope to be like her too, someday. To be able to portray my true colors.

Somehow, I've really learnt over the years to break free from the outer shell I've hidden under for so long; slowly but surely. Those who know me now and can actually make the comparisons to way back when, you'd definitely see the big difference. I'm still that same girl, but different all the same. It's funny, it's weird, it's almost crazy to comprehend, but all of it's true. I know I still have my odd, inhuman-ish issues and my mentality's probably the freakiest thing on this planet (heck I'm naive and childish), I have my ups and downs, my quirks, my peeves...I'm me. Yet someday I'll be so much more.

I'll be who I want to be.

LALALA~

2009-08-23T01:29:00.004+08:00

My Shugo Chara! addiction is slowly easing into a simple fascination of the anime. Not that that's a bad thing. In fact, it's probably good--now I can control myself a little and stop streaming it everyday. Haha!

Anyway, I only watched it at first because I figured it might give me some other form of insight into the girl group Buono! And in a way, I guess it kind of has. Still, that was not the only enlightenment I received through watching Shugo Chara! (other than getting addicted to it). I also discovered the existence of the other two groups created to belt out Shugo Chara! themes, though they don't seem on par with Buono! in my books. There's just something about Airi, Miya, and Momo that catches my attention--they're just great. However, that does not mean the other two groups haven't put out decent tunes themselves.

Here's one from Guardians 4 which I actually find nice to sing along to:

School Days

Personal opinion? I'm not too fond of Risako. She dances funny and her voice tends to border on whiny. Aika, Yurina and Saki are okay by me. Though, I guess Yurina's height is a constant weird thing to watch.
~O~
You know, it's really funny how people deal with emotions. I'm seeing a lot of people get together and break it off lately. Wonder what's with the odd-little trend. All in all, I guess I find it even weirder that I'm not quite bothered anymore. It's weird alright, but a relief really.
Lol~

Manifest!!

2009-08-22T21:06:00.003+08:00

Oh you can all bet your shimmery-little-pokemon-trading-cards that I'm freaking hyped about today's events. Why? Because I finally (note the word 'finally') got to attend an actual Anime Convention!!

*whoots about her minuscule apartment room*

Yes, I've been wanting to experience what one of those was like for myself for quite some time now. Those who know me well enough, should definitely know how true this statement is. And now that I've actually been in one, all I can say is...

I FREAKING NEED TO GO AGAIN!!!!

Honestly, three hours isn't exactly enough to let a person cover everything. In fact, it's a far cry from it. Plus the convention - otherwise known as Manifest - was somewhat out of the way. Meaning Cal and I had to take the train out of the city center area to get to the Melbourne Showgrounds (where the event was being housed). Of course, it only took us around say 20-30 minutes, give or take, for a one-way journey. And that's even probably because we had to switch transportation to a tram along the way--following a Tifa cosplayer and some kimono-wearing girls so as not to get ourselves lost XP

Thank goodness we tailed the right people.

Just check out the on-the-day entrance registration line we had to wait in (don't really know if anyone can see a line though--it was more of a curve XP).

It was $30 to get in (steep huh?), but hey, I didn't plan on riding that train and the tram after it for nothing. Which reminds me, I still owe you money, Cal!

Anyways, once we were registered they gave us these really cute identification tags with a grinning school-girl chibi picture and the word 'Saturday' (the day, duh!) printed on it; as well as a big, white...(what, goodie bag?) each. And honestly the only two thoughts in my head at that moment were, respectively: "Cool!" and "Do they give these in Malaysia too?"

Yeah, know me well enough? Obviously the first character cosplayed of the day I just had to whip out my camera for--psst! No idea who the girl-in-green-with-a-frying-pan is, anyone?

Yeah, he kindly turned my way~ Lol! (I'm being hilarious people! XD)

And here's a view for the inside of the Activities Hall--the place Cal and I spent most of our 'short' time there. Oh how we loved the many stores and the items they had for sale on display~

Here's a little sample from one of the stores:

Hats, bags, plushies, etc. Cal was more into figurines and manga and stuff. Me? I literally just jumped after anything 'cute'. Heh, and now I'm thinking of the title Ame-chan has so graciously bestowed upon me.

Either way, we both got one or two things we wanted--Cal got his tiny figurines while I got something cuddly to hold and some...new ears? (lol!)

In all honesty, the only disappointing thing about attending one of these events (to me at least) would have to be the limitations money imposes on us. I am so going to work hard. How else am I going to quench my other-worldly thirst for the Anime Realm...

Hmm...Anirealm! (utterly random XP)

Well, back outdoors (where the wind was being a total big-fat grouch) there were more stuff going on:

Cosplayers as Light and L from Death Note. Absolutely heart the awesome wings~

This was really entertaining. Japanese drums are so the way to go.

Then there was this Battle Royale thing going on. The guy in the center of the above picture was swinging around this long spear or something, and there are girls behind him with swords and stuff. Yeah, they're in school uniforms. Really didn't get to see much of this though as they moved elsewhere after a short demo.

By the way, at some point of this whole she-bang Cal and I did end up eating Takoyaki (octopus balls--do not laugh XP) to quell any hunger. Why of all things Takoyaki? Well, I couldn't exactly eat their curry (Muslim, remember?). Wasn't going to risk the Soba either--who knows what they put in that sauce? Besides, the lines were freakishly long and the Takoyaki one was shortest. Need I say more?

The last thing we ended up doing before deciding we really had to get home before dark was watch an anime screening. The anime we watched--probably because it was the only one on at the time that Cal hadn't watched before--Toward the Terra (which now that I recall it, is a pretty good anime--do watch if you haven't! It'll make you really think about race and the sorry effects of misunderstandings from one race to another).

Cal and I caught a tram all the way back from the showgrounds after that. Wish I could have sat through one of the panels though (also wish they sold something chocobo-ish *sighs*). Alas, reality keeps on calling and we as beings living in it have to answer that call eventually. Still, it is always those few casual slips away from it that make me the happiest.

Here:

My first memories of attending an Anime Convention (Manifest): the bag and freebies (inside--technically their not 'free'), the identification tag, my cuddly little Mokona plushie from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and Chi's ears from Chobits (haha, I'll go as a Persocom for Halloween)!!

So now when I miss my cat I know what to hug~ *grabs her Mokona!* XD

PS: To those it may concern--have a nice fasting month! ^_^

Tamagoyaki!!! XD

2009-08-17T20:27:00.002+08:00

And thus thou be warned, had absolutely zero sleep last night, body is running on probably nothing but sugar, I am (very) sleepy, but heck I'm going to at least struggle through this post first for the heck of it. Why am I putting myself through this? Honestly, there are just some things in life where one feels a certain sense of need to do--I don't need anyone questioning my ideas of prioritizing; it's my life, I'll choose what I want to do with it. The end, period.

So anyways, I earlier mentioned 'sugar'. Well, I've been telling that fact to pretty much everyone I met today and then it occurred to me that I only recently discovered the tastiness of chucking sugar into an omelet.

Lol!

Does that sound freaky to anyone? It kind of did to me at first and I went: "Sugar and egg?!" In a total disbelief. I don't know if it's just me but I'm way much more used to the idea of egg as a savoury dish (except when one chucks them into cake mixtures and such). And so the idea of putting sugar into an egg, beating it, and then pouring it into a pan to cook over slow flames simply did not seem the brightest of ones.

Still, curious as I can be sometimes...I gave it ago--chucking in a teaspoon of sugar for two eggs at first. Obviously I didn't know what to expect but apparently a teaspoon of sugar for two large eggs doesn't quite do the trick--egg has a pretty strong taste on its own. So, I added another teaspoon the second time round and 'wala', yummalicious Tamagoyaki!! XD

Seriously, it tastes really really good! I'm surprised the rest of the world hasn't practiced the art of putting sugar into their omelets to the degree the Japanese do. Or maybe I'm just ignorant again and haven't noticed either way? (Yeah, that might be it).

Either way, the rolling of the egg to achieve that effect in the picture below took a slight bit of practice. I'm not very consistent with my successes yet but hey, I like the taste of sugar-omelets enough to keep practicing.

To anyone out there who hasn't given it a go, GO!!!

Yum!!! ^_^

Shitsumon...

2009-08-12T11:08:00.003+08:00

"What do you make of hearing something from someone, something you thought you'd never really hear from them? Not for real anyway. Say maybe it crossed your mind once or twice - maybe that person thinks this, maybe that person thinks that, about you. What are you supposed to feel? I know I asked out of curiosity and nothing else. I just needed to know. Does it mean what I think it means? Or am I reading this entirely wrong? And which way do I want it? Where does it go from here? Questions, questions; always questions. Wherever this leads, whatever it does to me and anyone else involved, I hope it's for the better."

~O~

Honestly, I had a weird night and I couldn't stop thinking about it. But anyway, here's something I thought really moving from one of Blake Edward's films, 'Darling Lili'; starring Julie Andrews.

I guess it's a natural thing to want to share 'beautiful' things. So here's 'Whistling Away the Dark' by the all-famed star persona:

The Director of Doors

2009-08-11T15:13:00.002+08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's been about a near month now since classes have commenced for me here in Melbourne, Australia - man time flies, huh? Perhaps when one's having a good time. Yeah, I do occasionally wish I had someone to talk to when I'm in the apartment room but hey, at least I still have friends in the online world and in reality (here in Melbourne). Some of whom crave the company almost as much (actually, maybe more) than I do. But anyway, loneliness is not to be the topic of today's post. Let's refer back to the post title now shall we?

*casts gaze at mentioned piece* By the way, if you haven't guessed by now, I am blogging to get my freaking mind off my readings for a little while - a brain can only take in so much info.

So, 'The Director of Doors', as is the title I remember my lecturer associating with the one and only, Ernst Lubitsch. Why is he called so? Well, for starters you'd have to watch a couple of his films, and then take notice of his use of (you guessed it) doors. I suppose it does go deeper than that really but I haven't the will or determination to elaborate on it today, what with my having to write an essay on it which happens to be due this Friday - yes yes, shall get down to that soon.
Adding on, odds are unless you were alive in the early 1900s you'd probably have never heard of this guy, let alone seen any of his films. Apparently Lubitsch's reigning era was that of when sound-cinema was newly brought into wide-spread use (should lead to your imagination of how long ago that was now, right?). Oh and yes, this does mean colorless visuals. Still, I'm direly encouraging anyone who hasn't seen even one of his films to give it a go.

Starting things off, I wasn't expecting very much when I sat down in that cosy (mind you, the movie theaters on campus are charming) little red chair two Mondays ago, reading off my 'screening list' to find the movie of said week up for discussion was Ernst Lubitsch's 'One Hour With You'. Clearly, knowing the guy lived a near decade ago I was more than half expecting to be bored to death by some cliche love story - which has probably been redone like a trillion times. Oh, but how the great director proved me wrong.

If it's anything I've noticed about Lubitsch's films (now that I've watched several few) is that he really knows how to keep the audience interested in the story and what's on the screen. From beginning to end, there was not a moment when I wanted to peel my eyes away from that giant screen for fear that I'd miss an explicitly fun scene. Sure it was a love story, sure it was a musical with no real dancing, a rather small cast, the lead male having this way-too-thick french accent that was near impossible to understand and the female lead's stiletto-high operatic way of singing would have probably broken glass if the sound quality was much better...yeah, but fact is that the film was really (seriously) really good!

Heck, it was great!! Brilliant even!!! I'd definitely give it a standing 'O' any day.

It was just so much fun to see a love story twisted the way it was in 'One Hour With You'. Besides the unconventional aspects, the comedy was well executed, lines were witty, the songs weren't bad for their time at all, characters were memorable, transitions were smooth and the story was very understandable. It was just really superb. Thus, I have found another director to place on a high-end pedestal for worship. It is only sad to know that Ernst Lubitsch left this world too long ago.

Below is a link to the first portion to one of his films (the one on screening last week), 'The Merry Widow'. I think it's just as brilliant as 'One Hour With You', or maybe even more so. One is encouraged to give it a go. And if you don't laugh at certain points, you must be crazy.

The film stars Maurice Chevalier (Danilo) and Jeanette MacDonald (Sonia) as the leads. It takes prime place in this imaginary country of Marshovia with some scenes in Paris (if I remember right). Maurice is captain of the guards in the film and Jeanette is (obviously) a widow. I'll leave figuring out the rest to those of you bright enough to watch it.

Over and out! XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKcPbgCnNp0

Taking It (Somewhat) Easy

2009-08-09T11:47:00.002+08:00

Bleh, why did the person who posted up that 'So You Think You Can Dance?' video on Youtube I had in my last post remove the darn thing? *mutters incorrigibly-chooses to ignore the matter altogether-moves on*

Well, so what can I say here? This post pretty much sprang out of a number of freakish things: boredom, loneliness, stress, irritation, blurness, etc. Yes, I have a wide spectrum of tragic emotions that just keep welling up inside me as the days plague on. Note to self: NOT HEALTHY! *growls*

Honestly, I'm beginning to think I need some form of a confidante-being in my daily life. Why? Because living alone (while not entirely a bad thing - since I finally get total privacy in that sense) is...well...boring? It makes one crave company, attention. Sure I have some friends whom I can talk to, but then there's work and the obvious dislikability of expensive phone bills and internet connection to add to that equation; despite anyone's thoughts on me, I am certainly not rich - get over yourselves people! Oh, and sure, I could always head down to campus which is no less than a 5-minute walk away, but still...

...you should be getting this picture pretty clearly painted in your freaking brains by now.

Conclusion: I so need a best-friend - not like I never needed one before; guess I just don't 'click' easily with people in general.

Blah me and my difficult ways! Pffft!! But enough of my pointless ramblings. I know it's just the stress of assignments due and the near-impossible set of readings I have to complete each week and write comments on. I'm critque-ing everything under the sun and now I guess I'm doing it to my own flaky life...(why flaky? I don't know, it just same out).

Yeah, but you know what, I'm going to take another cue from my current favorite J-Pop girl group, Buono! and try to 'Take It Easy' a little. Actually, it's more like 'relax' a little. I usually tend to make a big deal of the smallest of things - guess that's where all the stress comes from.

Yep, so while I have an essay and two reading logs left to attend to, I'm going to stupidly (perhaps) watch a movie (by myself, sadly), take a nice hot shower (note, all after I've posted this here post) and then attend to my blah-ish work.

Indeed folks, and now I leave you with my prime source of inspiration since a while back now, Buono! singing their latest single (the ending them for Shugo Chara! Doki)...

"Take It Easy!"

PS: Totally love this one since my fav member (in terms of voice) is center stage~ ^_^

Addiction

2009-08-04T20:08:00.002+08:00

Yeah, so I know I should probably be updating on my time here or something. Took some pictures here and there (besides the ones from the past) but uploading them was taking a bit too long the other day...so I just decided to forget that for now.
Instead, I've been getting to watch the American version of 'So You Think You Can Dance?' from here in Melbourne (yeah, it's one of the actual interesting things on my 3-chanelled room TV). Anyway, it's Season 5 (I think) and I've so gotta admit the dances are amazing and some are just a total experience to watch (if you know what I mean).
Here's one of my favorite numbers of the season thus far - it nearly made me cry (yes, me!). Do watch it, it's truly beautiful and touching.

Danced by Kayla and Kupono
Choreographed by the talented Mia Micheals
Song is 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles (the same person who sang that particular track that somewhat burned itself into every radio out there a while back, 'Love Song').

Enjoy! ^_^

The Start Of Something New?

2009-07-11T18:31:00.002+08:00

For lack of a better title...yeah. So anyways, as anyone who actually reads my blog can see, I'm obviously very much ALIVE since shipping over to Australia for further tertiary studies (yay me! XP).

It's only been about a week since I boarded that life-altering plane and rode it all the way to the land of kangaroos, koalas and fat-fat wombats; and sure enough life has been challenging. Proof? Well, I have nothing but my words and that of my mom's but setting up the internet and a local mobile line was kinda...confusing? Hey, maybe it's just me and my lack of knowledge when it comes to stuff like that (never used pre-paid stuff before--still not using any XP) and etc.

Of course, while fixing up my needs for communication to the outside world was pretty hard on its own, there was the lack of household items in my Unilodge apartment to deal with once I moved into it. And so, my mom and I have been busy spending practically every single day out shopping around the area, buying the necessities and what-nots; you know, pillows, blankets, pots, pans, mugs, blah blah blah. Hey, gonna needs those to deal with the cold of winter (which isn't anywhere as severe as I'd originally thought it to be--thankfully).

As to the university stuff, well I am officially accepted seeing as I went for the enrolment the other day. Met a couple of people from neighbouring countries (Singapore, Thailand, you catch my drift) and yep (definitely) met a number of Malaysians, though I might actually be the only Malay doing my course. Heck, I could be wrong, haven't exactly met the whole lot of people yet. Anyway, we were pretty much briefed on what we had to do before classes officially start on the 20th July--blah blah, pick major, electives, student ID, 'dot dot dot'. For anyone's info, I chose to major in Cinema Studies. Yep, hoping it'd lead me to a director's chair cause that would be MY FREAKING DREAM COME TRUE!!!

Meh, I'm just putting the bar up high but who knows where my river will bend come the distant future. Wherever it leads, I know it'll be great so long as I keep my head held high and let my spirits soar (I know this sounds corny but I'm just in one of my ranting moods since the lack of internet has been getting to me, lol!).

Ah yes, heard the news of Cheer 2009 (not in detail but at least I know some of the results). Interesting to know history's been made again with yet a new Champion. I'll have to look up Youtube for vids though. To my junior VLCs (whom I hardly know at all, lol), I'm just gonna say good job in keeping Vulcanz strong throughout this years competition.

I really can't think of anything else to add to this right now except for that I'm ridiculously missing a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE! Guys, hope you're all doing fine back in Malaysia or wherever you are right now. I might be getting quite busy real soon so catch-up time will probably have to wait a while. Also, to anyone who wants to know, thanks to my course structure it looks like I won't be returning to Malaysia for at least a whole year (meaning no returns home till maybe July 2010).

Well, I ain't complaining. Life will be hard on my own but the people are surprisingly friendly and helpful (not that I expected anyone to be mean though). Till next time then, ciao!! XD

PS: Yeah, it turns out the people here don't wear face masks. Swine Flu, heh. It's my suspicion the Malaysian news and media are tragically exaggerating that issue cause people keep staring at me like I'm some alien being whenever I wear a mask outside.

Troubling Notions

2009-07-01T22:57:00.004+08:00

Weird to say but a lot of ups and downs have been happening lately. Right now as I am, gotta say the shocking death of 'King of Pop' Michael Jackson following the already heartbreaking one of Farrah Fawcett's...and I don't even want to finish that sentence, let alone think I can.

Maybe that's what's been affecting my sullen moods lately? Then again, it might just be the horribly-depressing job of housekeeping that's got me in the down-lows. Whatever.

For sure, the two Hollywood Icons will both be remembered.

~O~

I guess I've had quite a lot to think about lately too. It's my last week here in Malaysia, and while people never seem to fail in hassling me with questions such as "Are you ready?" or "So how do you feel?", frankly, I'm tiring of it. I don't know if I'm ready. How does anyone truly know such a thing anyway? I'm not a heavenly being, I don't predict the future--of course I don't know. And as to my feelings about the upcoming leave, I don't know that either. It's my first time having to be independent in a foreign country. I've never been the best at reading or describing emotions to others. Words like 'excited', 'sad', 'afraid', none of it even seems anywhere close to synonymous with the emotions surging through my veins. So how can I tell you? What am I suppose to say?

~O~

*Sighs* I wonder if people even think about how it hurts--not knowing how or what to feel in a situation such as this.

I hope people will understand that each individual is unique and thus, behaves differently under different circumstances. So just because I don't cry, say things that seem out of context, dislike certain likable norms or act distant or indifferently, doesn't mean I don't feel the more common things others do. It is just the rare, weird, awkward side of me; the side that has spent most of these past 18 years being an outcast with nowhere to belong.

~O~

I've realized something about myself too. How I've always failed to form strong bonds with the various people in my life. I have few friends who know the true side of me, if otherwise none at all. It may sound crazy, considering one of my greatest fears is feeling that crushing sense of loneliness but I guess I'm just wary of putting my trust in people. As I gradually grow, one by one the people in my life end up betraying that trust, hurting me in some way or another. And while I forgive them and try to move on the damage has already been done and I can no longer go back to the way I use to be with that person. It's probably the reason that after 18 years of living I've never had a best-friend. I can't seem to get myself in a relationship either, so again emerges that foreboding of spending the rest of my days alone. It sure doesn't help that so many people are getting married these days either. Torture, pure torture. Someone please prove me wrong.

~O~

Sometimes I think the thoughts in my head are the weirdest, most inhumane things imaginable. If you lived a lie for nearly 18 years you tell me how you'd feel. Would you know who you truly are? Would you care about the things going on around you? School, relationships, gossip, news; I find it funny in a mildly sadistic way--how little I can actually care about such things. Nothing fazes you, nothing excites you; nothing's worth fighting for, living for. You hate seeing other people so happy; you wish they would just stop the laughter and go away. To wish you had never been born. To want revenge for being alive. Is this depression, or something else? Whatever it is I want it to leave me be.

~O~

"The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves. Until one day there are none."

"Dreams can be such dangerous things; they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely."

"If you'd asked me why I wanted these things, I would have answered, why does a ripe persimmon taste delicious? Why does wood smell smoky when it burns?"

[-Memoirs of a Geisha-]

Boom clap, boom de clap de clap

2009-06-22T22:46:00.002+08:00

Heh, yeah, I watched the Hannah Montana movie. Why?

I'm not really a Miley fan, that would be true. Nonetheless, the girl has talent and I acknowledge that full on. She sings, acts, writes songs, dances, and heck she has that natural charismatic disposition (you know, that X-factor that makes a person so entertaining to watch). Either that or just say she has what people like Simon Cowell are looking for.

So what about the movie? Hmm...my deduction: nothing much. While a nice plot, it's obviously very old-school and you'd have to be alien to not have seen a similar storyline elsewhere (better elsewhere too--the story flow was a little choppy for me here). Disney sure has a way with these sort of stories, but I guess it's just what they do. The only things I really liked about the movie was probably...the horses? Lol!

Anyway, the music is fun enough. Miley doesn't have the best voice in the world but the songs are fun to sing along and dance to. My favs from the movie were probably 'Hoedown Throwdown (Zig Zag)', 'Butterfly Fly Away' and (of course) 'The Climb', which is all over the radios and stuff lately.

And now with that out of the way, I had this silly little fascination with the song 'Hoedown Throwdown', basically because the lyrics were like one of those songs that tell you what to do when it's on. You know, the whole 'put-your-left-leg-in-put-your-left-leg-out' kind of thing. I found the song pretty entertaining and somehow started thinking...what if someone used it for their cheerleading routine? I mean come on, it'd be real cute!!

"Pop it, lock it, polka dot it
Country-fy then hip-hop it
Put your hawk in the sky, move side to side
Jump to the left, stick it, glide

Zig zag ‘cross the floor
Shuffle in diagonal
When the drum hits hands on your hips
One-footed 180 twist

And then a a zig zag, step, slide
Lean in left, clap three times
Shake it out, head to toe
Throw it all together, that’s how we roll"

Haha, yes, I know you think I'm crazy but really, I think it'd be cute as part of a routine. It'd be quite a bit different too, and heck loads of fun. Ah well, maybe someone already took this idea. If not, there's always next year~ XD

Hilarity

2009-06-15T14:10:00.003+08:00

You wanna know something?

The Past

Fact: I never thought in a million years that I'd ever reach my credit card limit.

The Present

Fact: I was proven (utterly) wrong.

*clears throat* You may start laughing your bollocks off now people~ XD

So the story goes, my parents finally found the time to accompany me shopping for a new laptop. I ended up settling over one of the Sony VAIO models available (go ahead and guess). Obviously, they being the parents, paid for the piece of technology with their credit cards. Why the 's' at the end? Well, basically because some of the cards just wouldn't punch through. It definitely took a while but hey, I got my laptop!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking now--where does that leave my credit card limit being reached?

After about a week or so after my laptop was purchased, my little bro's desktop decides to crash on him. And since little bro holds a mighty position in his school's Interact Club, not to mention is (alike me in the sense) suffering from a major dose of technosis (shall never forget those lessons Mr. G!).

Yes, you can see where this is going, can't you?

Sure there are other computers in the house little bro could use. My father's under-utilized (though tragically outdated) laptop for one, plus the house's main computer sitting in the study which generally falls into my mom's hands, she being a lecturer. Nevertheless, little bro had his many complaints (of which I shall refrain from boring you readers with) and so, posed a need...for a laptop of his own.

As one can imagine, my mom and I accompanied him to the Sony shop I'd gotten my new laptop from the week before and little bro settled for getting the exact same laptop model as mine, only in a different color.

And again, where does my credit card limit-reaching come into play?

Haha--payment, where else?

As it turns out, all of Mom's cards decided to be mean to us (basically the transaction machines wouldn't function--grr!!!) and we had to try mine as well, which, while thankfully worked...(as you already know)...reached its limit. Well who saw that coming? Not me, that's certain. Yes, do go on laughing! XP

Fact: There is good news--I now know my credit card limit.

Peace ^_^

PS: *tone of sarcasm* Thanks a lot, bro!

Buono! Frenzy Fest!! XD

2009-05-28T00:57:00.005+08:00

Okay peeps, prepare yourselves for possibly the most ridiculous post of mine in history--you have now been officially warned! XD

Taking a wing off my 'project', credits go to Rixie-chan for providing the link for the first part of the recent Buono! concert. And, as anyone can guess (I'm thinking), I spent the remainder of the day letting these Youtube videos screen through and am now (considering I'm writing/typing this as I think it) posting it on my blog.

So, you might find yourself asking the big 'Y' right about now? Well, honestly I just don't exactly want to go through the hassle of searching Youtube for the specific videos again the next time I want to watch them. The solution? Well...this!

To anyone insane enough to end up watching all of them listed below, you'll probably notice a few things; first being that there are no subtitles (will probably need to wait on that). Second is that Part 3 is oddly shorter in width (heck I'm too lazy to do anything about it now so deal my darlings XP). Ah, and if you would kindly scroll further down till near the post's end, you'll also find that Part 13 is temporarily non-existent here--darn me couldn't find the part on Youtube~ XP

Anyway, I'll get back to those small errors some other time. To any other fellow Buono! fans (though I only know one other in person right now XP), haha, the concert was pretty good no? If only I could have seen it live.

*Dreams*

Da*n T_T

2009-05-22T23:47:00.002+08:00

*Note: The following in 'italic' is NOT MINE.

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy

Grammy award-winning conductor Arnie Roth reunites with the Singapore Festival Orchestra for another stirring audiovisual extravaganza.

FINAL FANTASY has captured the imagination of gamers the world over in all its guises and manifestations. Experience the thrill of Distant Worlds as the most memorable sequences of the cult video game FINAL FANTASY are projected in high resolution on a giant screen to the highly evocative music scoring by composer Nobuo Uematsu. Regarded as the “John Williams” of gaming music, Uematsu seamlessly marries disparate musical genres with the epic grandeur of Wagner and the rhythmic exuberance of Stravinsky.

Under the music directorship of Chan Tze Law, the Singapore Festival Orchestra has won praise for its versatility. Adding to this powerful mix are the voices of Victoria Chorale and The Vocal Consort led by Chorus Master Nelson Kwei for yet another scintillating multimedia concert experience.

Date & Time: 22 & 23 May, 7.30pm

Price: $80, $60, $45, $35, $20

Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall

Duration: 105 mins (with intermission)

Programme:-

FINAL FANTASY VIII : Liberi Fatali

FINAL FANTASY X : To Zanarkand

FINAL FANTASY VIII : Don't Be Afraid

FINAL FANTASY VII : Aerith's Theme

FINAL FANTASY I-III : Medley 2002

FINAL FANTASY V : Dear Friends

FINAL FANTASY IX : Vamo' alla Flamenco

FINAL FANTASY XI : Ronfaure

FINAL FANTASY series : Main Theme

Intermission

FINAL FANTASY VII : Opening - Bombing Mission

FINAL FANTASY VIII : Fisherman's Horizon

FINAL FANTASY XI : Memoro de la Stono - Distant Worlds

FINAL FANTASY IV : Theme of Love

FINAL FANTASY series : Swing de Chocobo

FINAL FANTASY VIII : Love Grows

FINAL FANTASY VI : Opera "Maria and Draco"

And then comes two dreaded words--"SOLD OUT"

*sobs hysterically*

I'm gonna see this thing someday. MARK MY WORDS, I WILL!!!

Upsets Upsets

2009-05-21T22:05:00.007+08:00

Ladies and gents, I present to you American Idol 2009's Top 13 Finalist!!!

*uproar of applause ensues*

This is, probably by far one of the most talented batch of individuals I've seen in a while on American Idol. Last season, I really wasn't all that interested but this year's has strengthened once again my attraction to the infamous reality television show. Thank goodness!

As we all (already) know, this year's American Idol winner is none other than Kris Allen--the humble, dark horse of the competition.

Okay, that fact aside, to those who've more or less paid some attention to my previous American Idol post (a.k.a. my Adam Lambert rant) then you'd probably already know I had my eyes set on the dramatic, goth-rocker for this year's winner. Adam, who kept on gracing the stage with staggeringly fresh performances and out-of-this-world powerful vocals was just too hard to ignore. And heck, he's kind of good looking too--but so is Kris; alas that's not important~

Moving on to Kris, now I'd be lying if I stuck to my previous opinion of him--which would be, that he wasn't exactly cut out to be the winner. A few more weeks of watching him on the show and it became increasingly evident that this guy was something.

Swearing honesty here, pinning on voice alone, I'd easily say Kris has it better (Adam just has the glam and broader range). I like his tone more than Adam's and it's just smashing and thoroughly touching when he sings a ballad-ish melody with the piano. When it got to the guitar however, phew I kind of didn't feel the same awe-inspiring effect, that is until the dude sang that Kanye West song, Heartless (if memory serves it's purpose XP). That one song awakened me to the possibility that Kris was so in the game. And surprise surprise, the guy won.

Heh! XD

I can't say I'm disapointed though. Knowing the brilliancy Adam enunciated throughout the competition, the guy will come to have a decent career in the industry of which he so loves. And heck he's won over tons of fans by just appearing on the show anyway. And while I still stand by the opinion that Mr. Lambert should have won the title, Kris doesn't put shame to having won it either. Gotta face it, I like the guy (in a different way than I like Adam but yeah, definitely like the guy).

Hah! Besides, did you see his face when they called out his name? Lol, classic.

Somehow something tells me Adam might have seen it coming. Surely someone out there's gotta find it even a little bit intriguing that Kris got to stay in the competition while Alison and Danny got the boot? Dude was even the first to make it into the Top 3 spot. I dunno about anyone else but I have my lingering suspicions on why Kris copped away with the title. Still, I don't mind.

Truth is, they're both idols.

Nice season America, hope for more talent next year!! XD

----------

And now, on a slightly separate page (since we're on the topic of singing, idols and such), I definitely still cannot find words strong enough to describe how unbelievably talented and amazing this young girl is.

It's been about a year (I think) since singing-sensation Charice Pempengco first appeared on the Oprah show. And ladies and gents it looks like she and her mom have been doing just fine since then. The girl's career has seriously blossomed!

So, with words out of the question to rely on, I leave you with a Youtube video of Charice's debut single--that's right, her very own song (though if I have my facts straight it was first heard on singer JoJo's second album):

'Note to God'

Disney~

2009-05-11T22:46:00.003+08:00

So I turned on the television during dinner (as per usual) to help keep me entertained through out the meal, and guess what was on the Disney Chanel? Heh, one is free to keep guessing, or simply read on.

Mulan has got to be one of the best animated Disney movies of all time. Of course, this is (as many things are on my blog), MY opinion. Which clearly means the rest of you peeps out there are entitled to your own.

Still, personally, the way I see it is anyone out there who thinks animated Disney movies are for little kids, well, then odds are you're probably some deranged teenager/adult by now with either a definite lack of moral values discernible or are possibly even in possession of none whatsoever. Haha, no offence meant~

I think most animated (some none animated even) Disney movies are really great in helping people learn certain values.

For example, in Mulan, we can learn that sheer determination will get you places. Oh, and perhaps we can also get the message that sometimes the power of the mind is stronger than brute strength. There are other lessons to be learnt too, of course I can't list them all down cause that will probably take like forever, but there's the importance of family, following your heart, not changing who you are to meet the expectations of society, etc.

Then we have some other movies like Pocahontas which kind of makes one think of the true meaning behind the word 'savage'. It also makes you understand that there's more to the world than money; and then there's the whole nature-connection thing about the earth, the trees, you catch my drift.

Nonetheless, these two aren't the only Disney movies worth watching and learning from. One can grasp a couple of other things through movies like The Little Mermaid, Cinderella (that my mom so accuses me of watching endlessly as a little kiddiewink), The Lion King, Tarzan, Brother Bear, gosh I so can't name every animated Disney movie that I've ever watched--memory's still as sucky as ever.

An example of a non-animated one? Maybe try Enchanted. That movie was a load of fun~

Ah, and what I really like about these movies I suppose, is the songs they all come with. Disney songs really have some of the best lyrics out there with equal comedic-genius to match. Totally love a variety of Disney songs. Plus they carry such meaning~

Know what, I'll just leave you people alone to think about all this while listening to the songs below.

This one above is (no doubt one can guess) from Mulan. Pretty much the turning point for her in the movie, more or less. I think it's great and inspiring.
As to the link below, it's the famed 'Colors of the Wind' song from Pocahontas. A really beautiful song, and true in so many ways. The embedded feature was disabled so the linkie it is!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddKhhqlzs3U
Adios!! ^_^

Tsumaranai desu kara, RO o Shimasu!!!

2009-05-08T23:31:00.001+08:00

Yeah, so I've been preoccupied with Jap language classes lately. It's ending soon so I figured it's about time I sprung out the old Pheonix Down on my here bloggy and wing this little post into existence.

I've lots of fond memories of my past RO days--dating way back to the initial times when I first played in the official server, and of course, the times when I sought to expand my reaches to private servers once I grew fed-up of spending all that hard-earned dough (think Cheerleading--a brilliant job for my then 13-year-old self, lolz~ XD).

I've made a number of brillaint RO buddies along the way to. And frankly, what online game would be fun where friends weren't involved? Not a single one--that's the plaint truth y'all! From my first batch of friends from the first guild I ever joined, to my bro's RO junkies and now the addition of several college mates, RO life's been great.

Sure the game isn't as stellar in graphics and customizations as some of the other latest online games out there today but it certainly deserves a fine place with my heart; being the online game I've settled my self in for the longest duration since.

So, as for now, my present RO home remains Blackout RO--a private server that has miraculously been running for a lot longer than the average private server does (thank goodness!!). It it weren't obvious enough, I plan to stay here for a while.

For record's sake, I don't exactly spend the entirety of my days staring at my RO character beating the mana out of a monster. I just retreat there from time to time. It's memories' sake.

To those out there who miss their RO days (if you've ever played it before), perhaps you'd like to re-live them for a while?

Here are some memories:

Raz (bro) and my charie~

My Soul Linker~

From left: Me, Aza and Raz (and his Baby Garm)~

My Sin and Raz's Ninja~

My darn Sin (DELETED!! XP)~

My Dancer and Raz's Rogue~

Goofing about in GH~

A different angle~

Somewhere in Goryun (spelling?)??

Still can't spell it XP

Lalalala~ Am on a flying lily pad~ XP

My Soul Linker in Juno~ (was waitin for Rixie XP)

Soul Linker and Rixie's Priest~

Were we waiting for Sengy or something?

Einbroch Dungeon--my screen went whack!!! XP

Rixie's Taekwon and my (deleted!!!) Hunter~

Abandoned at Ice Dungeon T_T

Thought the ice was pretty XP

Was trying to High Jump down there...

See? The ice IS pretty~~ XD

Sin and Rixie's Soul Linker~

My favorite Poring shot at Lutie~

My Rogue and Kimiko's Sin (at least I think it was a Sin) getting hitched~ XP

Horrible wedding garments meant we got stuck in Prontera Church with out annoying pets (mine: Gryphon, Kimiko's: Desert Wolf) >_<

Wedding garments look surprisingly decent here so we left the church XP

And headed for my favorite spot on Goryun (still can't spell that XP)~

Lol, ambushed by MVP outside Lutie!!! XD

Reunion of friends: Rixie (Priest), Sengy (Crusader) and Me (Soul Linker)~

Discussion!!! XP

Formation triangle!!! XP

The Ninja Gang! From left: Rixie, Me and Sengy~

Jutsu pose!!!

Visiting Jawaii's Heart-shapped Isle~~

While fixing stats XP

Lol, and there you have it folks! RO rocks!!! XD

Cerulean Revelation

2009-04-24T17:28:00.004+08:00

Revelations about what is called a river...

I blame watching Koizora for this. Hiro said he loves the river because, no matter what, a river never ceases to continue flowing forwards.

I'd like to think we as human beings live out our lives like the river--always moving onward to whatever comes next. Think about it--curving around colossal mountains, bending past tight ridges, gushing over rough waterfalls, swerving through massive valleys, all the while picking up soil-clumps of wisdom through and through and (unavoidably, of course), splashing into a couple of other things along the way. Makes some metaphorical sense, no?

And you know what? A river doesn't end. Instead, it junctions outwards into open water, may it be a lake, sea, or the wide blue ocean...where something bigger and better awaits.

You know, maybe the big lesson we're all supposed to take out of our respective, short-sheepish lives is to keep pushing forwards no matter how hard things get? We all have obstacles that block our paths. We all fall off the edge and get sucked under from time to time. And we all have moments when the currant's just too rough for us to wade on by.

Face it, life ain't smooth sailing by a long shot. But, like the river, I'm going to keep flowing forwards--I'll bend my way around any obstacles, swim back up to the surface when I'm under, and heck if a strong current decides to wash me away I'll just swim back eventually when it mellows and carry on.

I've decided.

H'AppY B-DaY Li|`Br0!!!! XD

2009-04-19T14:59:00.002+08:00

Haha, yeah, so today is officially my lil'bro's (Raz's) seventeenth (17th) birthday. So, without further delay...

HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY RAZI-BAZI!!!!! XD

Meh, just felt like doing this on account of being out of stuff to blog about for once; well, more like I just can't think of anything worth blogging in general. I feel like I've said a lot of things already and for once, don't feel like I have anything in particular that I'm willing to share. And so, stems this relatively short post, without pictures, wishing my lil'bro good on his merry seventeen years of living...and of course, congratulations on his extravagant birthday present as courtesy of our ever-loving parents (lol).

The day passed in delightful simplicity--lunch, present buying, dinner, sleep...(sports day burned him out).

Bro, you probably won't read this but here's a little reminder that you best study hard and ace your darn SPM or risk the loss of your new prime possession of glory. Note, you HAVE been warned!! XP

As to what that present really was, well, those who know Raz in person might get an inkling of it sooner or later. Unless of course he chooses to keep it from the likes of whoever you are. In which case, haha, too bad!~ XD

That's all for now folks so till I find something of interest to post up here again, see ya!! ^_^

PS: Funny thing how I forgot to mention contestant Matt in my last post about American Idol. Oh wells, have a nice day~

American Idol 2009

2009-04-08T21:29:00.003+08:00

Woo!!

Okay peeps, time to switch gears from all that upsetting mumbo-jumbo I had posted previously. Now, after having watched today's episode of American Idol's 8th Season (2009) I honestly couldn't refrain from commenting on it.

I'll admit, I'm not exactly the most devoted Idol fan out there but I do love the show--it's one of the few shows on television I actually make time to watch these days. Of course, since I haven't seen the first two seasons of the show, I can't be a hundred percent positive on what I'm about to say but...well, here goes:

I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN SIMON COWELL GIVE ANYONE A STANDING OVATION IN A COMMENT DURING THE COMPETITION BEFORE!!!!!

Heck, I might be exaggerating a little but, I am feeling particularly certain (let's say about 90%) that I've never seen him give any contestant on any of the past seasons an actual standing ovation during a comment session. Of course, I have seen him give Kelly and Carrie standing ovations during one or two of their reappearances on Idol after they'd won but not while the competition was still underway for them (*note, I can't truthfully speak for Kelly since I never saw the first season of American Idol).

Either way, now that that's out in the open, gotta say:

I *heart* ADAM LAMBERT!!! XD

Haha, yeah. I still like 'pretty boys'.

During the beginning of Season 8, I kind of figured my interest in him was literally because he was a theater performer (huge theater fan here, though money is always an issue). Eventually, I guess that developed into a like for his looks (somewhat) and dress sense. Of course, one can't deny his unbelievable vocals--the guy is a 'wicked' (pun more or less intended) singer.

I don't know about anyone else out there but, as for me, I seriously think Adam is bank. If he doesn't end up winning Idol this season America has got to be out of their minds blur cause the guy definitely deserves it.

Next to him, Allison is fair but it kinda seems like America doesn't like her much compared to some other people.

My opinion on the other remaining contestants:

Danny - He's good, but is he good enough? *inserts big question mark* O.O
Kris - Dude's got a really pure voice and is brilliant with piano ballads, but otherwise, he's in a bit of trouble.
Lil - She's got a good voice but it pales in comparison to others like Mary J. and Fantasia. Plus, she's actually choosing songs that provide little to no benefit for her otherwise killer vocals.
Anoop - The guy who is amazing when it comes to ballads but--as Simon puts it--ghastly when it comes to fast numbers. Dude needs some energy tablets or something.
Scott - I kinda think, this guy has overstayed his time on Idol. I salute him for being as good as he is despite his handicap but other than his impressive performance last week during the Top 9, I really haven't seen many great things from him.

Well, that does it then. NANA out~ ^_^

Dissapointed (Cont.)

2009-04-01T22:39:00.003+08:00

Well peeps, this is a follow-up from the previous post. I'm still a little shaken by the way, but I've had some time to think. I know it's a long-shot expectation of mine but restaurants, clubs, etc. these places in Malaysia tend to hire foreign workers a lot nowadays, don't they?

What if the individuals who started the whole ruckuss weren't Malaysians to begin with?

What if they were really hired workers from neighbouring nations who journeyed to our soil to find jobs? In which case, it is still nothing to be happy about as they are literally damaging our country's (Malaysia's) reputation to non-residents who visit this place.

I can only hope something will be done to right such wrongs.

The link below is courtesy (in my case) of Lynn's blog. Figured I'd post it here on mine with the hope that it will reach more people that way. A shallow thought in certain aspects perhaps - I know there are few who read what I have to say up here, but still, it's always worth a shot.

Do read:

http://www.mmail.com.my/Barroom_assault.aspx

Dissapointed

2009-04-01T06:06:00.002+08:00

The way I am feeling right now, I don't really think there are true words to describe it. At best, it is a complicated mixture of distasteful emotions, to which one is undoubtedly 'anger'.

What I have posted below is not my writing, and to my guess, is not in the Malaysian papers for various (understandable) reasons, but I believe the message scripted in the writing ahead needs to be heard; thus my posting it here. It is a message bearing the truth behind some of our (Malaysia's) people - Malaysians; a truth I have tried desperately to express over the years, and yet, have never been able to find words suitable enough to carry through.

I suppose I am grateful that someone else has done so for me, but at the moment, I am more sorry and upset for the experience he had to go through to do it...

Foreigners Assaulted and Looking for Answers

March 30, 2009

I write today because I was assaulted this weekend by a deadly weapon, watched a female colleague of mine get hit by a man, and I feel as though it is my responsibility to make sure similar events do not take place again.

Living in Malaysia for the past ten months, I have seen a lot of ‘Malaysia boleh’. Most people here are friendly, helpful, and live peacefully. I have met wonderful people from each of Malaysia’s dominant ethnic groups (Malays, Indians, and Chinese) and seen harmony in practice between this country’s main religions (Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism). Lecturing here, I have met many Malaysian students who symbolize this country’s potential for a ‘bright future’.

On the contrary, I have heard many stories of racial tension, hatred and violence. Daily I hear negative things about another race or religion. People from one group will talk about ‘the other’ as the problem, confiding in me like I agree, or think similarly. Everyday people treat me (tall, white, Canadian male) well. I am greeted as ‘sir’ or ‘boss’ with utmost respect, and kindness. However, I sometimes question whether this treatment is ‘superficial’ or ‘fake’. If I were not a tall white Canadian male, would people treat me this well?

This Friday, I sadly became the focus of a ‘group’s’ hatred, jealousy, and racist feelings. I attended a local club at Sunway Pyramid called Bar Celona with three of my colleagues from the college. After we had been there a couple of hours, the shift manager came over and accused us of drinking an extra jug of beer, saying that we needed to pay more money. This was a false accusation, and they would not leave us alone, telling us to pay them more. They started pointing in our faces calling us liars. I asked them if it was a race issue; the only foreigners in the bar being picked on and harassed. One of the bouncers asked me if I wanted to fight, and if I did we could take this outside. I did not want to. We were the only foreigners in the whole bar, and right from the start these workers seemed to want to fight us.

All of a sudden I was hit on the top of my head with a bottle by one of the bouncers. At least five of them had surrounded me and I was bleeding profusely. Another bouncer hit me again in the head with another bottle. Neither bottle shattered as I am guessing they were full. When I opened my eyes, one of the big bouncers punched me in the face. I was afraid for my life and realizing they were trying to kill me, I punched him back. My female colleague was being held back and my other two friends were still in discussion about this petty money issue at another end of the bar. After I threw my first punch the bouncer tried to throw me down the metal escalator. Had I not caught myself on the way down, I surely could have died. Once at the bottom they kept pushing me; ten to fifteen bouncers were following me.

The female colleague of mine tried to hold one of them back, yelling to them to stop. She was met with a punch from the bouncer. This man attempted to punch her in the face. Luckily he only brushed her face and ended up punching her shoulder. He grabbed her and tried to pull her to the ground, knocking her personal belongings out of her bag. They never actually asked us to leave the bar.

I was standing on the street with the bouncers coming up to me, putting their fists in my face, yelling and giving me the finger. At least one hundred pedestrians were watching, passive and surely thinking that I am some tourist looking for a fight, or starting one in the bar. I was covered from head to toe in blood as we got in a taxi. Although I received sixteen stitches for the two giant gashes on my head, and a brain scan to look for glass pieces in the wound and any internal damage, the main thing that has been hurt is my confidence in Malaysia.

I have always been positive and optimistic about this country and the people. I have given 100% to my students and the local community. As a social science teacher I teach a course called ‘Individuals and Families in a Diverse Society’. My job is to promote acceptance, unity and harmony amongst diverse peoples. This event crushed my confidence in Malaysia. If this country is ever going to be truly ‘developed’, the focus cannot be solely on the economy. Acceptance and equality of different genders, races, religions/non-religions, abilities and interests are also important components to ‘development’. Diverse peoples must find a way to get along.

With development and globalization comes ‘foreign peoples’. These people do not and should not expect to be given preferential treatment. Everyone regardless of race, religion or nationality should be respected, treated fairly, and given their basic human rights. This weekend workers employed by the establishment Bar Celona tried to kill me with a weapon and assaulted a female in front of their bar. This is not acceptable behavior and cannot be passed off as part of the ‘Malaysian experience’. Bouncers are in a bar to protect the patrons, not to assault them.

Written by: Colin Shafer
Mr Colin is a lecturer from Taylor's University College.

Dear friends, family, fellow Malaysians...humanity...Taylorians who know Mr. Colin in person such as I, word has been spread to boycott the place; the above incident has proved very disappointing to me.

It is with learning of such incidents that at times make me want to give up on my country, Malaysia. Truth is, we are not so 'Malaysia Boleh' or 'Multiracial' as we are often portrayed to be. And while I know such things cannot be applied to all Malaysians, fact is that it can still be applied.

Sometimes people ask me why I dream of a different reality. I wonder if they really don't know--I want to walk in a world free from the dividing-barriers of race, religion and nationality, and in my dreams, I am free to do so.

To the SICK individuals who caused this man such pain, I believe in higher punishment - you will get what you deserve. To Mr. Colin, I wish a speedy recovery and will say that I respect all that has been written.

PS: Pictures have been removed as I am unable to deal with the sight. Forgive me.

From The Girl Who Writes...

2009-03-28T00:11:00.004+08:00

I honestly admire the ability and effect a string of words (the right words) can have towards people. Perhaps, all in all, why I chose to pick up my own pen so many year ago? I know I'm still not that good. Heck, my lack of confidence denies me the sense that I am even anywhere near good the way I am now. But still, I know I'm not that bad - just not at the level I am hoping to be at yet. Well, hope is my everlasting friend and I shall continue to strive for the absolute perfection (meh...closest to it) that I so crave in my ability to write.

Why the sudden randomness about writing? Let's just say, a memory brought it on.

Final Fantasy 7 fans, do yourselves a favor and give this fanfiction down here *points to link below* a read:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4727698/1/Anchor

The writer of the piece did (in my opinion) an amazing job on it. I possibly think it's the best fanfiction story I've ever read in my entire life. Of course, one should probably have (next to playing the initial game and seeing the movie sequel) played its successors and consider reading the collection of short stories under the novel 'On The Way To A Smile'.

In case anyone's wondering where to find the latter, the link below should suffice. Bear in mind it isn't a direct link but anyone should be able to locate the 'short stories' from there:

http://one.xthost.info/ffwebnovel/

Switching It Up!

2009-03-23T09:21:00.003+08:00

Haha, yes, is guilty of finally changing her blogskin after such a long time (at least it feels long to me) - no doubt there are people who just don't bother to change theirs at all.

So anyways, I went from a sort of white and red color theme to a black, pink and green color theme. Meh, funny how green and pink didn't seem particularly striking to me when I put them side by side before, but after watching 'Wicked' in Melbourne and, being blessed with an awesome-looking pink and green Paris Hilton wallet/purse (whichever you'd prefer to refer to the object), well let's just say I've been tons more fond of the two colors. And so, 'tada' - my latest blogskin choice! XD

As for the girl featured in the picture on the top corner of the blogskin, that's none other than Yuna Ito. For those who don't exactly know her, she's mainly a pretty (ok, know what, let's make this a rather lame 'pun' right here XP) popular J-Pop artist in (obviously) Japan right now.

Yeah. So besides her looks, the girl has way more to her than that, having been a model at some point of time in her life and is the actress behind the character Reira Serizawa from the manga NANA (yep! XP). She has a really nice and powerful voice too. Believe it or not, even Celine Dion was impressed by her and they did a duet together (yes she can sing decently in English, lol). Heh, but don't just let me tell you how good she is - listen instead:

As far as I know this isn't her most popular single to date but I like the fact that she's singing a more up-tempo song for once. Oh well, that's it folks!!

*Salutes Yuna Ito through her blogskin* XD

Realization Dawns

2009-03-18T23:18:00.007+08:00

I'm going to just say that over the past week...I've realized some things:-

The latest ‘Naruto’ chapter is killer!!
The guys seem undoubtedly better in this season’s American Idol, with exception of Allison.
Original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson is still the best Idol of all time by my books.
Roleplaying on Anirealm has slowed down a lot thanks in part to Noxy’s moving and upcoming wedding, not to mention the disappearance of Senka.
Anirealm needs more active members.
I am going to dedicate my self to finishing off a recently-started fanfiction story for the remainder of my holiday till University.
I am starting to like Berryz more and more though Buono! still works best in my opinion.
The freaky Atlantica Online game download Sayeth made me do is taking forever to complete.
I still miss a lot of people.
And finally, Charice Pempengo is officially one of the best singers this world has ever seen…

I don't usually like this song but this particular rendition seems pretty darn decent. Plus her vocals are astounding! You go girl!! XD

And now, I shall be weird and end this post with a quote that has absolutely nothing to do with it, lol~

"Saying sorry is the easy part; it is gaining back the trust of someone you have hurt that is painstakingly hard." --Xandria Ooi

~Berryz~

2009-03-17T01:31:00.003+08:00

Hmm... *ponders*.

Can't say I favor these girls as a whole in comparison to Buono! for some reason. Don't get me wrong, they're cool and all, not forgetting two of Buono!'s members originate from here - namely Momoko (red dress with black vest-thingy) and Miyabi (green shirt with black shorts) - but I guess I like Buono! more because both of them get more solos then and their third member, Airi (who originates from C-ute) has probably the best voice amongst all the Hello! Project Kids.

Nonetheless, Berryz Koubou is good for what they do and I do like a number of their songs - though mostly the ones where Momo and Miya have more lines in (haha, yes, I'm actually bias! XD). Of course it's not like I don't take to the other members; Saki for instance is a pretty good dancer next to Momo and I do think Yurina has a good voice. Concerning Risako...don't know why but I can't seem to see anything particularly outstanding about her so far. Oh well, maybe it's just me and my Buono! bias-ness~ XP

Alas, to whoever actually bothered to read this random post of mine, enjoy Berryz's latest single to date, 'Dakishimete Dakishimete':

Virtual Makeover

2009-03-16T04:15:00.003+08:00

Now I'm really wondering why I never bothered to play around with this thing before. So, to those who know me well enough...you'll freaking know how much I ultimately detest my original hair. I can't stand the insanely frizzly texture and the fact that it almost always looks like I have this big black mop on my head. Of course, thanks to the genius who invented that hair-straitening iron technology...THANK YOU!!!

Well, the straightening iron's provided me with occasionally tamable hair, which makes living so much easier. *sighs in relaxation* And so, since I'm obviously never going to be able to ever wear the hairstyle of my choice (thanks a bunch to my evil mop-like locks), this virtual makeover thingy on Seventeen's site was sure fun to toy around with. At least now I know how I'd look like with a few other styles.

Honestly, some of the styles make me look completely different it's kind of cool. Take the one below for instance:

Yeah, I know my own hair is in the way of the virtual one. Gotta admit it doesn't really look like me. huh? Oh well, in the end it's just nice to know; that settles that.

^_^

----------

[*Edited*]

Here's the link in case any gals out there wanna give the virtual makeover a try. Haha, can't believe I actually forgot to slip it in this post - thanks for the heads up Anu!! XD (there I go nickname-ing people again XP)

http://www.seventeen.com/hair-skin-makeup/salon

M&M: Marley and Me~

2009-03-09T20:03:00.002+08:00

Hey peeps!! Mua/Moi went to see this *points below* movie at Pyramid today~ ^_^

At first, I didn't really know if I wanted to watch the movie - despite (in my opinion) it being overly-commercialized - as I am not exactly a dog-lover (nor am I a dog-hater, to set the record straight). However, seeing as the trailers did make the movie seem more or less worth the watch, and since I am also a decent fan of both Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, you bet I ended up watching it. And dear folks, now that I have, I've gotta say I'm glad I did.

Everyone, the movie doesn't just have to be for dog-lovers; anyone with a soft spot for pets and animals should give it a go.

I personally think it's a beautiful tale. The screenplay was magnificently woven, the story (based after the book by the same title), touching and heartfelt; in other words, Owen has good chemistry with the dog (or dogs - no doubt they trained more than one for Marley's role)~ XP

Anyway, I enjoyed the many comedy antics throughout the movie, though one might comment on them being too dog-based. Of course, the dog is pretty much the 'shining star' of the film so I didn't have any problems with that.

What I especially liked about the movie was the whole family portrayal - Owen and Jennifer really made it seem real, if you know what I mean. It really is a good family movie. I might just choose to watch it again.

Oh well, one last thing...

I really don't get myself: when a person kicks the bucket I barely feel a thing but when a fluffy, four-legged friend does...I find myself choking back sobs/tears.

I guess animals just have a way of making huge impacts on even the most heartless of humans...

Gosh, I need to hug my cat now. So people of the world, go watch 'Marley & Me'~ ^_^

R.E.A.D. !!!!!

2009-03-06T21:18:00.002+08:00

My dad brought home this little something he (though I'm suspecting it was rather his assistant or secretary) printed from office the other day. And while it's been circulating around nicely so far, I figured I wanted it here on my blog as a reminder...of just how ludicrous...the people running our (Malaysia's) government really are.

Observe: [the italics below are NOT my words]

Can a family man with Salary RM3,000 survive in Malaysia?

Let's do some simple calculations here.

In Malaysia , the average family income is RM3,000 /month
(where father works, mother doesn't).

I understand there are many families whose
monthly income does not reach RM3,000,
but, to make things simple,
let's take RM3,000 as the figure. Ok lah, right?

Okay, let's start rolling with a family which has
Papa, Mama, 1 daughter and 1 son. Ngam-ngam ....

Calculation starts...

Electricity and water bill: RM100
(No air-con, No home theatre, No water heater ... ok?)

Phone bill ( Telekom / Handphone): RM100

Meals for a happy family: RM775
(3 meals on RM25/day, RM25 for 4 persons...?)

Papa makan / teh-tarik during working hrs: RM155
(RM5/day, RM5 .. can eat what?)

Car repayment: RM400
(A proton saga aeroback, 7 yrs repayment)

Petrol (living in city, traffic-jam): RM300
(go to work, bring son to school,
only can afford one car running)

Insurance: RM650
(kids, wife and myself)

House repayment: RM750
(low cost housing repayment for 30 yrs,
retired still have to work to pay!)

Tuition: RM80
(got that cheap meh? i don't think so)

Older children pocket money @ school: RM20
(RM1/day, eat bread?)

School fees: RM30
(enough ah?)

School books and etc: RM100
(always got extra to pay in school)

Younger children milk powder: RM50
(cannot have the DHA, BHA, PHA one, expensive)

Miscellaneous: RM100
(shampoo, rice, sauce, toilet paper)

Oh wait!!! I have to stop here, so...
No Astro,
no movie @ cinema,
no DVD,
no CD,
no online,
cannot KFC,
cannot McDonald,
cannot go Park walk during weekend (petrol expensive),
no chit chat on phone with grandparents, and etc...

Let's use a calculator to total up... WALAO EH! Shit! RM3,610 already...

EPF belum potong, income tax lagi........oledi RM3,610 ....

How to survive lah tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian ???

Our Deputy Prime Minister asked us to change lifestyle?

How to change? Don't eat? Don't work? Don't send children to school and study?

Besides that, I believe in Malaysia population, there are millions of rakyat Malaysia which still don't earn RM3,000/month!!!

What is this? Inilah Malaysia Boleh... Sorry ... it should be Malaysians Boleh , because we're still alive and kicking!!

Our politicians must be mad!!!!

Are we really still on the road to Vision 2020? Cause it's starting to feel like one heck of a long roundabout.

o_O

Another Cousin's Turn

2009-03-02T10:04:00.003+08:00

Well, so I've been trying to update my blog over the past several days, only to have each attempt foiled by Malaysia's annoyingly-unpredictable downpour patterns - now that's one thing I won't miss about this country: the thunderstorms. Either way, with lots and LOTS of luck, people will actually be reading this post and I won't end up having written it for (a big fat) nothing. Nice~ ^_^

So, breezing through the past week, several interesting things have happened - from Actor's Studio, Bangsar closing down to my home kitchen being upgraded to Mimi's kidnapping and to my chance in getting to drive mom's awsomesauce [note: got this word off hyper-button, who probably got it off who-knows-where/who] Toyota Camry.

Yep, as one can see, things have been pretty rollercoaster-ish as of late. Of course, even with all that mambo-jumbo having taken place, the highlight of the week is without a doubt something (grand) else entirely. So, what do you think when you see stuff like these...

Well? Got it yet? What about these...

If you haven't gotten it by now you're REAL slow, lol.

I suppose I just give it to you by this point, huh?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it was another one of my cousin's weddings (the traditional Akad Nikah part - signing of the marriage contract thingy) which was held just two days ago in their house. Let me just say, not much of a journey for me seeing as this cousin happens to be my neighbour. Sweet huh? Well, not all the time really (but we'll leave things at that) XD

Honestly, I tend to look forward to weddings, but lately, it's as if there are just too many of them floating around that it's been getting weird. I mean, come on, what is 2009? Marriage year? Rhetoric, purely rhetoric.

On the good side, it's a fun-joyous occasion where relatives and friends get together, gives people like me the opportunity to wear traditional garments (not to mention dressing up), it's a great time to whip out the camera and snap some of the most gorgeous pictures of intricate wedding decorations (such as the Bunga Telur and the Dowry stuff in the shots up above), and the perfect opportunity for many to fill their already-bulging middle sections with ever-fattening Malay delicacies - haha, you're maybe wondering if this is a good point? Well it is, to the majority of my relatives; sadly not me. To be truthful, I don't hate Malay food, I just hate the fact that I can't eat most of it thanks to all the spicy-ness (I can't do chilli).

What I don't like about weddings though is pretty much because everytime there is one and I attend it, I always get this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that tells me I'm never going to be that 'special girl in white' on the altar. Weird reason, I know. But it's not the easiest thing to shake off. Let's hope my future proves me wrong.

Moving on, let's take a glimpse at more pictures, shall we?

I'm more than certain I've introduced my freaky nephew to most people by now through this blog. The little dude's pretty cheeky, sitting where he's not supposed to and nearly knocking down the Dowry items from their pillowed-trays half the time he was running about.

Still, he makes great entertainment.

Isn't that right, Adam?

Well, I took this picture pretty much because I didn't have a mirror and was trying to fix that troublesome selendang - the darn thing just wouldn't fall right so I gave up and settled for looking weird (if I did).

To those who kept pestering me to see what I looked like with a tudung on? Heh, lap it up cause that picture right there is the closest you'll get for a LONG time XP

So anyways, back to the event. Gotta say, I didn't have much of a clue of what the Kadi (spelling?) was reading/saying, being too far away. I guess Abang WanWan (yes, that is the nickname he has earned himself amongst his fellow cousins) and the witnesses were the only ones who were close enough to really hear anything.

This should give you an idea of how far away I was seated.

My cousin (the groom) is pretty far though I was reasonably close to the bride, Sue King (honestly never got around to spelling her name so this is pretty much a guess), who's new name is Alia (spelling...again! XP)?

As one can see, Adam really can't sit still. And so, I still think I don't want kids.

Presenting the bride with the Mas Kahwin (spelling? gosh!) once the contract was signed.

Then it's time for the rings exchange.

That's my bro, Raz and notorious cousin, Muffin taking the trays as they are, the night's respective Best Man and Maid of Honour.

There we go~

Maybe I should have Photoshop'ed Raz's head out of the picture?

Well, after the rings exchange, it was time for the...eh...blessings...right? I don't know much about weddings and some people do things differently in theirs so it does get kind of confusing sometimes.

There, the parents, aunts and uncles had to bless them with those flower petals and the (I think) scented water.

First come's Abang WanWan's mom, Aunty Aini.

His dad, Uncle Choong (what do I tell ya, I'm mixed-blood people~)

The bride's dad.

Followed by the bride's mom.

Aunt Lucy (Uncle Choong's sister).

Uncle Yusoff (Muffin's dad).

Aunt Nasreen (Muffin's mom).

Uncle Jo (Azreena's dad - another one of my cousins).

Then, Azreena's mom (I really have no clue how to spell her name...makes me wonder why I never asked o_O).

My dad.

My mom.

Abang Nazlee (Abang WanWan's older bro and Adam's dad).

And Adam with his mom, Lily (another nickname, mind you).

Figured I'd take a shot of the rest of the onlooking relatives and friends.

That's my cousin Azreena in the center by the way, who thankfully (though quite unexpectedly) relieved me of Bunga Telur duty for the night, lol - there was no dress rehearsal and no one gave me the darn cue XP

With the main event over and done with, it was face-stuffing time so everyone headed out to dine on the front porch.

Now I wasn't sure what my focus was on when I took this shot: either the food or the people, take your pick.

It was the people in this one - more of my relatives, Uncle Bun, Aunty Pah and Syarafina.

The cool tent which I never got to go under - just kinda forgot, lol XP

And so with bellies stuffed (not really for me since I couldn't eat the loads of the food available), what wedding would be complete without some family pictures? Though most in the hands of the hired photographer. These were all I got:

The bride and groom with their respective parents.

The four cousins (MinMin is unfortunately missing the event since she's off in Perth for varsity life).

So here's an almost-complete picture of Muffin's family (minus MinMin).

Note: (from left to right) Muffin, Aunt Nasreen, Uncle Yusoff, and Yaya.

And last but not least, me and my family (minus Cessy) XP

Congratulations to the happy couple!!~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HYPER-BUTTON!!!!! XD

2009-02-18T08:19:00.002+08:00

*Note: Shall proceed to rant~ XD
----------

So, exactly four (4) days past Valentine's Day, a certain little lady apparently celebrated her special day - her freaking Birthday, that is (before anyone starts thinking something else, for all I know XP). Personal summery? Well, it was pretty short-lived, haha! The plan was to meet dear Rixie over at Pizza Hut, Sunway Pyramid around 12pm. I managed getting there around 15 minutes late, though little did I know at the time, I wouldn't be the latest of invitees attending hyper-button's apparent get-together. One of her peeps' mobile phone it seemed actually selected that day of all days to blackout on him (lolz), leaving us with no means of contacting the dude. As one can expect, he didn't turn up in the end~ XP

Anyway, after at least a half hour wait, us girls (Rixie, Pam and I) finally gave up waiting for the guys and ordered the food. Honestly, we had to since Rixie was VERY near dying point, heh! XD Funny thing was that when she finally decided on what to order her bestie shows up! Nice timing~ Rixie introduced him to Pam and I by his supposed nickname - Nasi Goreng (which I shall now use to address the guy should I ever run into him ever again, haha!).

While waiting for the food (pizza) to arrive, being the freaking FF Freaks we are, the conversation naturally strayed over to the topic of Final Fantasy. That's right, from FF X-2 to chocobos to Cloud Strife in character to Crisis Core (which Rixie was still playing on my PSP during the time to ease her boredom - you gotta thank me for that girl!! XP) and all the way to Dissidia. Of course, a few other topics managed to squeeze themselves in at random intervals of the conversation - Pam brought up Mr. Ben (whom I have not seen since leaving Taylor's) and Nasi Goreng (NG) brought up The One Academy (his college/Uni).

With lunch over, I guess one can pretty much say the celebration was more or less over too, lol. Shortly after reaching the arcade area, Pam left the group to catch up with her boyfriend. And so, I ended up playing spectator to Rixie's and NG's gaming (dancing an shooting) till NG had to go on account of classes.

Left with little option available with only two people in the party (Rixie and my self), we somehow ended up in Pyramid's bowling facility and ended up playing a game together. While enjoyable, the game was (in my personal opinion) really REALLY weird, heh! It was like Lady Luck plain couldn't decided who she was going to cast her massive pile of luck down upon - one moment Rixie's leading me by a point and the next thing I know I'm ahead of her by the same amount. Freaky, isn't it?

And then, just when I thought luck had finally chosen Rixie's side (seeing as she kept hitting pins down each turn while I ended up with a string of nothings), the luck makes one final switch as I ended up with two (2) spares in a row and several very convincing hits after - you can guess, Rixie's luck dwindled after my spares. Like I said, seriously weird game. As a result, I ended up victorious by a little over 20 points, thanks to the spares and Rixie's lost luck~ XD It's all luck people, I'm honestly terrible at bowling.

Seeing that we still had time before either of us had to leave after the game was over, Rixie decided she needed something 'cold' so obviously, Baskin Robins (which just so happened to be right ahead at the time) was our next destination. Ice creams in tow, how did we waste our remaining time together? Simple - whip out my handy PSP again. Figured I'd let Rixie have a go at the oh-so-addictive FF Dissidia~ She completed the whole Prologue part of the game just in time to head down to the main entrance and catch a....bus? Cab? Train? Ah well, whatever.

Happy Birthday Hyper-Button!! XD~

Freaky Valentine

2009-02-16T10:29:00.003+08:00

Author's Note: Hehe [insert manic chuckle], I know it's two (2) days over but what the heck, my internet connection's been a real pain lately so there.

All I've got to say about my experiences on 'the day' it self this year is...that it was seriously weird.

Oh, and I'm not kidding. And here are just three (3) of the weird stuff that happened:

I had a dream about the first guy I ever had a crush on. Honestly, how weird is it to have a dream like that on the very morning of Valentine's Day? I haven't even seen the freaking dude in over a year. Strange no? Lol.
Next, I met two people I thought I wouldn't end up seeing again for like...the rest of my life? Not that it was bad running into them though...just totally unexpected...and weird...especially since they looked like they were together.
The first thing I saw when I turned on the TV was a movie I hadn't watched in like a decade - Titanic (you know, Kate Winslet and Leornado DiCaprio). The movie touched my heart as it did all those years back (come on it's such a sad story you'd be alien if you don't cry) and has now found it's way into my list of 'Top 10 Best Movies Of All Time'.

[Note: As to why No. 3's weird, let's just say of all days to watch a sad movie like that, it had to be Valentine's Day. At least, I find it weird.]

Enough said, freaky as the day was in it self, it' probably one of the few Valentine's days I'll actually remember. Though mainly for the fact that I didn't end up hating being reminded of how non-existent my love-life is. Hmm...maybe that should be No.4? Oh well.

The Infamous Cloud Song

2009-02-05T22:41:00.002+08:00

Yeah, you know it, I know it, I couldn't resist. And heck, I got bored, again. My fascination with Cloud shall never end. At least, that's what I think. This song's just too cute. And so, it's staying on here, haha!!! XD

Ladies and gentlemen, The Cloud Song~ ^_^

Surfacing Several Minutes Of Random Thoughts

2009-02-02T21:18:00.004+08:00

Random Thought #1:
Haha, alas I am bored. It's been nearly two weeks since I've last posted an RP post on Anirealm and I guess it's having a fun time eating away at me. I've contemplated busying myself with roleplays on a different RP forum temporarily but it's not exactly the easiest thing in the world to find one that catches my eye. Even if I were so lucky as to do so anyway, the question of activity then rears its ugly head. Figures. Hopefully someone picks up the pace again soon. I know Noxy's busy and all so I really wish the site had more people to accommodate that - we need more darn RP-ers. Seriously, before I lose my calm.

Random Thought #2:
One of the greatest non-academic achievements I feel I've obtained during the pass year of college is the completion of learning to solve the old-school Rubik Cube, (note) entirely by my self. The cube I own is pretty dysfunctional though, if Ii do say so my self. As such, I guess there isn't much I can do to improve my time past four and a half minutes. Nevertheless, it somehow feels really fulfilling to be able to solve it on my own and I have several people to thank for teaching me some of the solving techniques. So to those people - you know who you are - "Thanks!"

Random Thought #3:
People are starting to move on and go their separate ways. Of course I was anticipating this, it is after all the natural order of things. Already have I lost two friends to their impending futures, designed to unfold itself in foreign land. In due time, so will mine. It is a bittersweet feeling. I feel very surprisingly close to the friends I've made in my short college year; very brief, but to me people were nicer in college and more open and friendly. My high school friends? Well, very few have kept in touch.

Random Thought #4:
I've finally considered a possible fact that could determine why I'm so fascinated with Cloud Strife of the Final Fantasy 7: Playstation 1 game as well as the series' recurring yellow-feathered friends - come on, you've got to know what I'm talking about here. I don't know why but it just hit me that Cloud's hair is abolutely chocobo-ish (I know, silly how I missed it all this while XP). Perhaps Tetsuya Nomura was so fascinated by chocobos himself that he decided to create at least one lead character with the bird's notorious spiky up-do? Heh, cracks me up.

Random Thought #5:
The whole situation with my old cheer squad has been bugging me as of late. Apparently things have gotten rather critical. Perhaps it is no longer in my place to say but I have very little faith in the present board leading the team. I can't say I know some of the new faces well enough but from what I could see during my last visit, things were going an equivalent of nowhere. Something the squad's president said then saddened me. In my opinion, the squad seems to have lost its sense of unity somewhere along the line. I remember when those of my time would always introduce ourselves as a co-ed squad. A time when it was never 'all-girls' or 'all-guys'. It was honestly way more fun that way. I partially blame the annual cheer competitions for that. I hope VLC's new generation can buck-up somehow, though I think a miracle and no less will be needed for that.

Inspired By

2009-01-29T15:57:00.004+08:00

Reflections…

“No one can live alone.”

I’ve always asked myself why the people around me bothered with human relationships so much. As a child I remember never having many close bonds with anyone, perhaps, though, me being me – the antisocial.

I knew so little about friendship, I don’t think I even felt love or compassion for anyone or thing then; not genuinely, anyway. Of course, I also remembered I truly didn’t care. To the past me, friends were a waste of time. As if those superb grades under my belt didn’t support my beliefs. I cared none if anyone wanted to attach themselves to me in that buddy-buddy manner – hey, if they wanted to be friends then I was willing to let them assume me one, and if they just plain didn’t bother with me, well, likewise. Perhaps they were after my smarts, hoping some of it’d rub off on them. Looking back on my deranged childhood I sometimes wonder how or why I held such non-cordial feelings towards those around me. It wasn’t as if everyone was that way. I especially wondered if I even cared for those who shared the same blood – mother, father, brother, sister…

Did they even matter?

Everyone seemed so close-knit then, gathering so very often, no, too often it was honestly tiresome. If they left me would I cry? If they hated me would I be sad? It scares me sometimes when I think back to those days. The days when nothing in this world was truly significant to me and I just wanted to lay down in the quiet of some unknown sanctuary and disappear – spirited away to some foreign land in my dreams where I lived the kind of life I wanted as my reality. Was I even human?

Then the world around me started to change; people changed and went away. It was then when I realized I could feel at least one thing – I could feel loneliness. It was all just too fast.

As the growing trail of modernization seeped into society, views and perspectives so alien before were brought before us – before me. I was no longer the epitome of perfection people wanted; I was merely a mindless puppet that willed to serve and be told what to do. Is it normal for people to want to be told what to do? To be told how to live their lives?

With modernization came change, and those around me grasped it with open arms, leaping joyfully at its arrival and welcomed its eternal stay – the ability to express individuality. Human relationships became fundamental for survival in the new world. People opened up to different ideas; uniqueness instead of uniformity and looked pass the similar but embraced the rarities.

But what happens when you don’t know who you are?

What if you’ve molded yourself into society’s ‘perfect’ puppet before its change and can’t move on? Where do you go from there?

“Darkness lives in every heart.”

Today…

The darkness from that past still looms, smaller and behind an irremovable mask of false optimism but still it looms, lurks in the depths of one’s being. Now I cannot be sure of myself - of my feelings. I still wonder if what I feel for those around me is heartfelt or not – do I really hate someone when I say I do? Do I really love someone when I say I do? Expressing the emotions I feel frankly to others will, in my case, be a lifelong challenge. There are times when I wonder if I even feel the emotion of which I am trying to convey and if I am even conveying it. Knowing I have yet to have a true best-friend in all my 18 years I’ve learnt to doubt the affirmative side to that possibility.

To those I know will remain in my life for as long as they breathe, I ask again and again if one of them were to stop if I would feel sad enough to tear. To me, the answer remains unchanged, but it’s not like I’ve had any real-life experience to test it with. Then again, maybe it’s best not knowing – not knowing how inhuman I might be.

“I can’t even imagine coming to school everyday if it weren’t for friends.”

It's funny how these quotes have carved themselves into my silly recollections; it is perhaps funnier that I never had to imagine that, having lived it as my reality. I know these words have scarred me; the profundity of their initial-inflicted wounds, perhaps terminal. These are not angst or hurt or regrets. These are simply observations of a lonely girl’s past.

Proud To Be MALAYSIAN - Happy CNY!! ^_^

2009-01-27T22:59:00.005+08:00

I am going to begin this by saying a very, simple, possibly non-agreeable (to some others) thing:

I love Malaysia!~ ^_^

There, said. Surprise surprise?

Well believe it or not this country is pretty darn cool by me. And I've done some decent travelling around here and there to know this much. Malaysia may not be the most ideal place to live for some people (most likely the non-bumiputras) but in my opinion it is a great place with ample potential. I mean come on, we have all that lovely tropical greenery while America has barren dessert soil - not that America isn't beautiful in its own stature.

I honestly just think that we (Malaysians - most of, anyway) seem to take the beauty our young country bears for granted, as is the power behind the Western influence. Sure there is a lot of corruption and less-than-favorable happenings going on in our place but there are the good stuff too - Malaysians, you know what they are. Downright evident, our people need to improve - get their heads in the game - if we're ever to be fully recognized as a developed nation come 2020.

It being Chinese New Year here at present, one thing I love about this country that comes to mind has definitely got to be the festive celebrations. Living here as a citizen, no matter who you are or what race, religion, color, etc. you get to join in with the festivities just out of the fact that you ARE Malaysian.

Isn't that great?

Being mix-blood, I'm very content with the knowledge that I am half-half (Malay-Chinese, that is). And while I am a Muslim and considered a Malay, fact that I am part Chinese makes me feel almost right at home with them pures as well.

It is honestly fun, and an astounding honour to me - being able to celebrate not only Hari Raya but Chinese New Year as well with full fervour; heck, let's chuck Deepavali and other festive holidays in there as well. It's really great being Malaysian - life is colorful.

We are a unique people, whether we choose to accept that or not. And there is absolutely nothing negative about it.

-----

It is highly likely that this will be my last Chinese New Year here for a while, what with my eventual (and temporary) relocation to Melbourne to continue with tertiary studies.

Drinking in the sights, I know I shall sorely miss many things about this world of which I am so fond of, though perhaps refrained from expressing so. But as always, there are the few things I shall not miss and feel quite liberated to be away from - isn't that how everyone feels when they leave a place called home?

My parents coaxed me into a light shopping trip to Pavilion today of all things. It was nice though, they got me a really sleek Paris Hilton purse as a CNY gift - a whole-hearted 'thank you' goes out to them both for that. Also managed to solve the issue of choosing a farewell gift for one of my dear cousins heading off to Perth next week - sure hope she likes it.

Dinner was the highlight of my CNY, as always, I cannot get enough of Yee-Sang - I surprisingly love it (have been waiting ever impatiently for CNY since after last year's just to eat it again). I can still remember Kimiko comparing me to the dish at some point. The reason? Unfortunately escapes me.

Here we are before the mix.

And there we go, looks more vibrant now doesn't it?

A splendid individual Four Seasons course. I shall dearly miss halal Chinese food.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR everyone!!!

The Girl With The Voice

2009-01-21T17:56:00.005+08:00

Yeah, so I've had a lot of free time on my hands since ICPU ended recently. University is more or less settled, though accommodation is still going to be a nutcase for me till who knows when.

Side-tracking for a second, if anyone is going to be studying in Melbourne, presumably somewhere around the City Center area over the next three (3) years, well, share a room? Heh~ XP I'll probably be living alone till I find a roommate. Oh well, it's like that in foreign places, right? That is if you just happen to be unlucky enough to not get the campus lodges.

Back to the main title, I've seen and heard this girl 'belt it' twice already. Once on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and another time on Oprah's. For some reason though I've only managed to catch her name recently while watching her jaw-dropping duet with Celine. If you haven't seen or heard of her before, for goodness sakes GO NOW!!! Why? Because she's flipping amazing!!!

Forget Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, despite them being her early inspirations, at sweet sixteen this year (2009) she's a singing sensation and is unbelievably deserving of the title she has earned herself (kindly refer to post title, thanks ^_^).

So people, she's famous enough as it is and heck she's as good as the best of them out there. I'd give more on her background but Oprah's got that pretty much covered. Take a look for yourself and bask in her amazing talent.

Lastly, a warning, prepare some tissues in case you tear and ensure no cameras are sticking about anywhere near you because your jaw is going to drop the moment this girl opens her mouth during a song.

And without further delay, Charice~ XD

2008 (15 years old here)

What sparked her discovery by the West
Smashing, isn't she? XD

A First

2009-01-18T16:39:00.006+08:00

Guess what, I just got my VERY FIRST CREDIT CARD!!!! XD

Well, there's two actually - a Mastercard (the one in the picture above) and a Visa. What had me laughing was the fact they were both Platinums~ XP Since when do little 18-year-old girls like me get Platinum credit cards? I haven't even done anything yet! Haha!! XD

Anyway, as you can see I tested them out once activating them. The Mastercard was used to pay dinner at Sri Ayutthaya (spelling? o_O) the other night and the Visa one was just used to pay lunch today at Sheraton Subang - Yee Sang people, Happy (upcoming) Chinese New Year!

-----

Going off topic now...

Days have been passing pretty simple as of late. Glad to say I've finally taken care of Final Fantasy 8. My opinion? Decent storyline though it's not the greatest FF game to ever grace my path.

What I mainly love about it is the game's setting, with students as SeeDs trained to fight off the evil sorceress' - definitely worthwhile RP material.

The characters are memorable enough though I didn't really like anyone in particular.

I've discovered however that I share one too many similarities with the game's lead, Squall Leonhart. It's his loner nature that I can easily relate to; basically because I feel the same way. So wanna know my inner personality? Well, observe him for the first half of the game and that's me for you (or close enough XP).

I must admit though, the game had one heck of a wacky ending (and I mean wacky as in 'weird' - the whole 'time compression' thing). Not that it isn't great though, cause it is; as is with almost all the Final Fantasy games I've played. I mean, it is a nice conclusion to things, how Squall is finally able to depend on other people and not be alone anymore - the dude actually smiles!!! I have seen better endings though.

Thinking about it, both 7 and 8 really didn't have much of a happily-ever-after-ish feel to their endings, huh. Which is probably why till this day, 9 steals my heart for overall memorability of its characters (*Note: I still love Cloud XP).

-----

Truth be told, I guess in the long run I'll never be able to compare all the FF games that I've played and say - confidently - which one is my absolute fav BECAUSE IT'S OUTRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE!!! XD

In their own separate ways each one is amazing and so worth the play. They all tell their own splendid story and I'm in love with every last one of them (maybe minus FF12 where story is concerned XP).

Guess it's time I returned the game. So long, FF8~~ XD

1 Litre of Tears

2009-01-12T02:02:00.004+08:00

I’m anticipating that the lot of you people have already heard of this particular TV series, especially if you’re an avid screener of Japanese Dramas off Youtube. For the record, there are two other forms of media adaption focusing on this same storyline; namely an actual film and the novel-diary itself (you’ll understand this considering if you know the story or not). Anyways, no matter which adaption captured your attention. I seriously doubt anyone who’s seen it could possibly not have shed a litre of tears themselves; I know I did. And that is another ‘defying gravity’ moment for me if I do say so myself – the story is ‘that’ touching.

After already having said that much, my reasons for dedicating an entire post to this series should be beyond evident.

To those who are ignorant: So what is ‘1 Litre of Tears’ really about?

Well for starters, it is based on a real life story. The drama (as well as the film and – obviously – the novel) chronicles the life-struggle of a teenage girl, Aya Ikeuchi (sir name Kito in reality), who was diagnosed with a terminal disease known as ‘Spinocerebellar Ataxia’ (a disease that causes one to eventually lose physical control of one’s body) at the tender age of 15. The illness is said to be genetic and degenerative, growing worse as time passes by. What is worse is the fact that there is no known cure for it, even till today. To cope with the progression of her disease, Aya keeps a diary, recording the challenges she faces and hardships she must endure. She ceased her writing a full decade later when she could no longer wield a pen, finally succumbing to the disease at the age of 25.

Yes, it is a sad story. But just watching the way she lived her life gave a lot of people hope – me being one of those people. It's been a good whole year since I first watched this series and I'm starting to feel as if my life's slowly taking a turn for the better.

So if you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favor and search for it over on Youtube; that includes those of you who aren’t Japanese Drama fans. You’ll find every episode there (11 in total) with English subtitles.

And so, this blog post is my little tribute to the girl who told everyone to “live on forever.”

Pass her beliefs on.

Defying Gravity

2009-01-08T18:13:00.002+08:00

As the title so implies, that *points strictly to post title* is exactly what I feel I've managed to do - defy gravity (namely, do the impossible). Facts are, ladies and gentlemen, I am still rather utterly stoked after this morning's phone call from Taylor's Placement Center.

*Newsflash: I GOT FREAKING ACCEPTED INTO RMIT BABY!!!!!! XD

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

*fishes out some party spray cans, firecrackers, yummalicious snacks and anything else that goes "boom" out of ... and hosts her self a blast!*

In all honesty I can solemnly say I was nowhere near expecting an acceptance. I mean, yeah sure, heck I applied, and yes I really did think it would be great if I got in but everywhere I went people kept saying how hard it was to get a spot there, especially when it came to the popular courses, one of which so happens to be my course of choice. People!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!

CAUSE I'M STILL NOT SO SURE I CAN!!!

IT'S SIMPLY A MIRACLE!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I am so freakingly-unbelievably-outofthisworld HAPPY!!! Gosh, I want to thank everyone I've ever known! (Well, I wish I could but there just wouldn't be enough space here now would there)

Oh chocobos, I have to go do something crazy now to celebrate; I JUST HAVE TO!!! OMG OMG OMG ZOMG!!! XD

I LOVE EVERYONE, PEACE!!!

PS: I know this is so entirely OOC for me - me being me - but hey, I have a right to be expressive every now and then right? RIGHT? Gosh I love my life!!

*runs off screaming in bliss*

Officially High

2009-01-07T18:56:00.003+08:00

I guess one can say I've returned to one of my Final Fantasy crazes all over again. I mean come on people, you knew it was only going to be a matter of time before I did. So if you guessed right, congratulations - I am officially FF insane (I know I need a life but you know what, I don't freaking care! XP) and it's going to take either an actual living chocobo on my doorstep or a real life Cloud Strife to knock me out of it...NOT!! ^_^

Can you imagine, the day I said I really wanted to play Dissidia and the next day, what do you know, I GET TO!! *Hint hint* Guess 'The Secret' really does work. Well, what are you waiting for people? Start wanting things real bad and act as if you're really going to get it and then sit back and watch the Universe do the rest; I'm only kidding about the last part of course.

Versus 13 looks absolutely amazing, graphic-wise, one can tell. As to gameplay, considering its mostly developed by the cast behind Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, I'm sure it'll be brilliant and provide exquisitely for my favorite activity - bashing things up real good!! XP

I'm honestly fascinated about a lot of things, especially how H-O-T the lead male looks in a suit, but hey, Cloud's still my number one FF hero and no way on heaven or earth is Noctis taking that title away from him.

Cheerios my peeps, catch ya'll later~

Dissidia

2009-01-05T04:36:00.003+08:00

For the record, no, I have not gotten the chance to play this game despite having heard about it a little while back. *Sighs* And it seems so cool too. Decided to post its ending here for memory sakes - that is, to play it someday. Anyway, fellow Final Fantasy fans (freaks XP), you'll probably agree this game brings back a lot of memories, maybe. I sadly know very little about the earlier set of games before Number 7, but hey, there's always Wikipedia to enlighten me on certain aspects; which pretty much brought me to somewhat understand the beauty behind this ending.

I don't know how many people really realized it but the first thing I registered when I watched this was the sequence in which the characters returned to their home worlds - FFX following a descending order all the way back to FFI. Pretty cool no? I had to read the comments under the Youtube video to understand the conversation though; as well as note those really simple, yet oh-so-significant symbols slash details that appear when each character dissapears, solidifying their place in Final Fantasy history. Well, what I mean behind that is, for example of the Final Fantasies I know well enough:

Tidus - water (Blitzball)
Zidane - trees (Lifa tree or 'Life' for that matter)
Squall - feather (Rinoa's I suppose)
Cloud - the field of flowers (think Aerith/Aeris)

It was just...so cool~

This game looks so worth the playing.

~Wicked~

2009-01-01T18:44:00.008+08:00

So, if you haven't guessed it by now, know one thing - I AM A HUGE SUCKER FOR MUSICALS!! Obviously including this one, which, now that I've watched, has effortlessly found itself a solid place in my list of 'Top Musicals To Ever Grace Mother Earth'; it's definitely made my personal Top 5, I'll tell you that. It is good, there's no denying that particular fact. Perhaps, not as good as Phantom of the Opera which I saw in London more than half a decade ago but I'd say it comes pretty darn close. But of course, quite personal opinion here. Also note I'm a sucker for the world of fantasy, which is another reason why this one is so near the top of my charts.

Just what is 'Wicked' about? Well, I'll tell you, but first...

How many people out there have never seen or even heard of the movie 'The Wizard of Oz'? I'm betting...no one. Chances are everyone knows about that movie. After all, weren't the songs just literally beaten into our heads and engraved there for centuries and centuries to come? Surely we all remember 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', and Dorothy's (Judy Garland's) 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'.

Whatever it is, if you remember that movie, you'll remember the story was unbelievably simple and almost to the point of being stupid. Not this musical though, especially since it fills in a lot of the missing pieces to make the story work. Of course I wouldn't say the story really worked entirely with the original movie; I mean, there are some points that would make no sense if you take the perspective in the Wicked musical.

So finally, what is it about? It chiefly centers around the two main witches of Oz, namely Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. It tells of both their pasts and leads all the way up to the point where Dorothy comes into the picture and once she leaves back to Kansas; including also the aftermath-conclusion of her visit on the two witches and how their tales turn out.

To put it simply, if you take this point of view regarding things, then the Wicked Witch of the West - who's real name is revealed to be Elphaba - truly wasn't exactly wicked at all. She was more along the lines of misunderstood, as is put, she was born with green skin. Glinda on the other hand, seems to fit naturally with her initial role in the original movie, though she appears more of a ditsy, perkish dumb blonde in this adaption. The two therefore come from deeply contrasting backgrounds and so, miraculously become friends through celebrating their differences. They become closer throughout the whole musical and in the end regard each other as best friends.

What made this musical so brilliant to me was first and foremost the incredibly touching storyline. It felt really good, seeing a different side to the citizens of Oz. Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack who play Elphaba and Glinda respectively in the Melbourne version (the version I got to watch) had amazing chemistry in their acting together; they were both also very profound vocalists - Amanda for her stunningly strong, impressive belts and Lucy for being able to voice Glinda-ism perfectly through her exquisite soprano singing.

The sarcasm and comedy antics were key-on in my opinion and totally worth the watch as it is. These two stirred up emotions within their audiences as if it were nothing. For goodness sakes even I was near tears at various points of the musical. And while they were the stars of the show, the other two male leads - characters Fiyero and Boq - were also splendid singers. It was honestly magical. Also, one cannot forget the great musical scores that brought this whole musical home. Songs such as 'Popular', and the one song that blew me away like mad, 'Defying Gravity' were beyond memorable. I really REALLY liked this.

Now I have no plans to reveal any part of the actual stage performance for those itching to see it themselves. I am however, going to stick a few of the songs from the musical up here just to let anyone reading this have a feel of how the songs were really like. Sadly, I couldn't find a 'Defying Gravity' sung by Amanda that was satisfactory on Youtube so I decided to leave that out. It's truly an amazing song nonetheless, and Amanda sang it beautifully. Of course, that doesn't in the least bit put to shame the other scores of the musical.

Here's the first one, called 'The Wizard and I'. It's the first song of the musical that involves Elphaba (Amanda), and yes, it is Elphaba's debut solo of the musical.

Regrettably, the embed feature on the two following videos were removed, and so, all I could do was provide the URL addresses if any one's interested. They really are worth the watch - 'Popular' for the fun of it and 'For Good' for the song's touching sense regarding true friendship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXRPTDuLtQc (Popular)

This song, for any one's information, was when the two witches started to become friends. The first act of the musical pretty much took place in a school atmosphere and this was in their shared dorm room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OETd-dKkp0 (For Good)

For Good is the last duet these two sing together in the entire musical. It's staged right before the play's bittersweet ending. I won't be giving that away though.

So peeps, this one here is definitely worth the watch. The Wizard of Oz is a classic as it is, so this one here...this will go down in Broadway history.

Watch it!

Aussie Pictures Part 2

2009-01-01T17:39:00.004+08:00

The continuation of pictures from Australia. Here we go:

This was just funny~

Yeah, I took this on purpose~

This guy here's labelled the most dangerous bird in the world. He started picking fights with the wallabies in the pen after I took this too

Yeah, too bad Wombats are nocturnal...it's so FAT

Here are the Wallabies~ *Ahem* P. Sherman 42, Wallaby Way, Sydney~ XP

A (and I so don't know how to spell this) Cuccoobara...?

A mama Koala~

Just thought it'd be fun to know XD

Everyday there I learn something new. Like here, I learnt Seagulls DRINK!!! o_O

Those are some of the Australian Aboriginies

That's the famous Harbour Bridge in the background~

Well, it was Christmas. Some aviator dude did that

Yeah, if you don't know what this is...*fill in the blank*

This was the interior of that restaurant, 'Mamak'

The Nasi Lemak was heaven~

In case anyone wants to lookout for the sign next time

See the crowd? That place was never empty, with the exception of when it was closed

Heh, another one just for laughs. Might not wanna go in there XP

The halal meat~

And here come the videos:

I know it starts with the butterflies but I honestly think the jerking crocodile was more worth watching XP

Doesn't it just remind you of Happy Feet? I wish there were baby penguins in there but no, they were all grown up

Just some of the yummy looking treats Melbourne has in store for its people. Now people know I ain't usually a fan of sweet stuff but gosh were those cookies I bought good. Oh, and I so got addicted to milk while I was there

Kinda took this cause I wanted to show the water was flowing

One of the really cool student lodges my parents and I found. Raz went about on his own that day to look for souvenirs
Well folks I've got one last post to pitch here about Melbourne. And yeah, I really do seem like I have a lot to say, don't I?
^_^

Aussie Pictures Part 1

2009-01-01T17:33:00.004+08:00

I've decided to slash down the number of pictures to post up here, obviously because there's a lot of'em. This post here has about forty and I'm estimating another twenty to thirty more in the next one just to give a clearer picture of what I saw and experienced over the vacation trip. Of course, there will be some videos attached as well, just for the heck of it. Enjoy the scenery peeps!!~

This was taken in the shopping district of Melbourne. Do note the people handing over raindeer headgears XP

A shot of the fresh groceries available at a Coles outlet.

Aww, check out this little cutie. He's called a Scottish Fold, mainly for his folded ears.

He's sooooo cute~ We called him Foldover~

Here's his neighbour, an almost equally cute Ragdoll

horse carriage gallore~

Now here we have one of two the theaters in Melbourne (Regent Theater), which also happens to be where I watched 'Wicked' - the other one's called Princess Theater.

This was a small part of the inside of RMIT

Another shot on a different area of RMIT - it was a Sunday, so no people about

My bro and I saw this lady with this awfully adorable puppy at the train station, he was so cute, following her around~

Market hours for the Victoria Market, rather confusing really

Oh yeah, there were more than one cheese stall there, and boy was I loving it~

Check out all the fresh leafy greens~

And those amazing plum fruits~~~

Here's mom checking out the souvenirs

Just a stamp on the fact I was at the QV market

And this is the outside of the RMIT building

Here on the other hand, is Monash. It's not in the city in case anyone wondered, that's why there's all this greenery around it

More Monash

And more Monash~

Ah, believe it or not I ate lots of chips while I was there. There food's just spectacular. This was probably my favorite snack there~

The Sydney train station~

This was near the harbour side

And here's the harbour. It was getting dark there when I took this by the way.

So how fresh was the food? Check out this salad and tell me yourself~

The amazing Seafood Platter my family and I shared~

Now this was a little funny. There were so many seagulls about the harbour and I was talking to Raz about hoping to find a one-legged one, haha! You guessed it, we found one!! XP

The loads of gulls!~

The lit-up Christmas tree at the Sydney Harbour

Yep, the Harbour's called Darling Harbour

See those crabs right there, they were moving - talk about fresh~

Amazing fresh fish display~ (EL!!! SALMON IS SO CHEAP!!! XD)

Just thought this picture looked real cool, what with the water works~

Ah, the zoo animals. Props if you can find the snake's head

Mom and a frill lizard monument

Here's the real frill lizard...un-frilled

This little guys just looked hilarious to me. It honestly took several minutes to figure out which end was the head~ XP

Raz stroked one of these, he commented touching it felt like toothbrush bristles

A goana. Ever watched The Rescuers Downunder? Yep~

And an Australian animal icon, the Kangaroo~

The DIVA

Shameless Advertising (ver. Okie)

Shameless Advertising (ver. Okie)

S.A.D.

"Fate's Hand"

"The Place I'll Return to Someday"

Dead Fantasy Idols

Misc Dubbing Ventures

Another HWEE! moment

VOCALOID-IE

More Dumping

Recording Notions

I So Knew It

Web 2.0

*Pokes* No Response

Blown Away

Linking Myself to...Myself

The Optus Whale Song

Byaooo Intermission

The Appearance of "HWEE✿BANG"

"Romeo and Cinderella"

Walks...Walks...Walks...

Pyramid - Charice Pempengco

Murderers, We All Are

Home Sick?

I See You

Spring is Here!!

The Terminal...

Because I Decided

P-A-T-I~~~ XD

S-A-M-U-I-!!!

'Spicy' Things

The Real Deal

Moments

*Shoots Self For Randomness* XP

When Boredom Strikes

Tashika Ni, Optimism

LALALA~

Manifest!!

Tamagoyaki!!! XD

Shitsumon...

The Director of Doors

Taking It (Somewhat) Easy

Addiction

The Start Of Something New?

Troubling Notions

Boom clap, boom de clap de clap

Hilarity

Buono! Frenzy Fest!! XD

Da*n T_T

Upsets Upsets

Disney~

Tsumaranai desu kara, RO o Shimasu!!!

Cerulean Revelation

H'AppY B-DaY Li|`Br0!!!! XD

American Idol 2009

Dissapointed (Cont.)

Dissapointed

From The Girl Who Writes...

Switching It Up!

Realization Dawns

~Berryz~

Virtual Makeover

M&M: Marley and Me~

R.E.A.D. !!!!!

Another Cousin's Turn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HYPER-BUTTON!!!!! XD

Freaky Valentine

The Infamous Cloud Song

Surfacing Several Minutes Of Random Thoughts

Inspired By

Proud To Be MALAYSIAN - Happy CNY!! ^_^

The Girl With The Voice

A First

1 Litre of Tears

Defying Gravity

Officially High

Dissidia

~Wicked~

Aussie Pictures Part 2

Pokes No Response

Shoots Self For Randomness XP