Middle of Nowhere

More Giveaways!

2011-09-05T20:42:00.000+08:00

I'm kind of addicted to entering giveaways now. Can't resist the lure of getting books for free :D

First up this time is Cup of Tea Reviews' 100 Followers Giveaway. Winner gets a book up to USD15 from The Book Depository. Contest is ending soon (September 9th) so hurry up and enter!

Next is My Bookish Obsession's 100 Followers Giveaway, ending in 9 days (September 14th). Winner gets to choose one book from the six titles listed. Personally, I've read Blood Magic and Haunting Violet - both are definitely worthwhile to read. In fact, I was thinking about doing a post on Haunting Violet later.

The third and last giveaway for today is Spades High Reads's 800 Followers Giveaway which will end on October 1st. For international folks ie non-US residents, we get the chance to win $10 from Amazon or The Book Depository. US folks have six prize packs to choose from.

Missing London

2011-08-27T20:35:00.000+08:00

Randomly missing London as I stayed up after sahur this morning to finish reading Midnight Riot (a.k.a. Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch. Reason? The book was set in London, with Covent Garden playing a major role. I could just imagine the scenes that took place there since Covent Garden was a short walk from Uni and a good place to while the time away during breaks. Plus, I could do some grocery shopping at the Tesco Metro. It also provided a pleasant shortcut to Chinatown when I was in search of Asian foodstuff. *sigh* I'm missing my student days D:

Back to the book - I love it. I'm the kind of person who loves trivia, especially if it's presented in an interesting manner (hence my love of the TV show QI). This book definitely fills the criteria. Random trivia is thrown at the reader every other page and it's done in a way that does not detract from the story at all. Quite a few pop culture references also popped up all over the book; the ones regarding Dr. Who stood out the most (which is not surprising considering Ben wrote the script for several episodes LOL).

I like that magic and science are closely linked together in this book. The hero, Peter Grant, even tried conducting experiments regarding magic and science with interesting results. Peter is an interesting hero. He's nerdy, which explains the experiments, and cheeky, which makes him endearing. He also has difficulty focusing on 'proper' policing work, which led him to almost being relegated to desk duty in the first place.

While I have the US version (Midnight Riot) since it was released earlier, I prefer the title Rivers of London because I think the rivers were much more prominent in the story than the rioting. Perhaps the title was changed in the US to avoid it sounding like a historical book on London's river.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic. Synopsis & image from Goodreads

This Week's Giveaways

2011-08-25T18:55:00.000+08:00

Stumbled upon three great giveaways this week. The prizes are interesting enough to make me put in the effort to promote them on this blog for extra entries LOL

First up is Missy's 1000 Followers Giveaway, ending August 22nd.

There are going to be FIVE themed prize packs that you can choose from. It's up to you how many you'd like to enter to win, so enter just one... or a few... or all of them! Each one has a specific theme and all the books in the prizes will come brand-spanking-new from Book Depository, which makes each and every one eligible to be INTERNATIONAL.

The other two are giveaways on specific books.

The Fairytale Nerd is giving away a pre-order copy of Julie Kagawa's The Iron Knight. Contest ends October 1st.

Once Upon A Prologue is giving away an ARC of Half-blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Contest ends in 7 days.

Try your luck out with these giveaways. Who knows, you might just win a book (no one can resist free items right? :P)

I So Wanted To Like Them

2011-08-21T04:04:00.003+08:00

Have you ever put a high expectation on a book based on its synopsis and reviews, but in the end be disappointed when you read it? I recently experienced that when reading two books, both I wanted so much to like. The synopses and reviews looked so promising, but in the end, I couldn't finish one and speedread through the other to get to the end. The two titles I'm talking about is Rachel Ward's Numbers and Julie Kagawa's The Iron King.

First, Numbers - the book I couldn't finish reading.

Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die.
Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris
wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode! - cover & synopsis from goodreads

The synopsis held so much potential, right? I mean, it's something you would expect from a manga/anime storyline (remember Death Note?). I was excited to see someone had written something exciting like that in book form.

However, it was a disappointment *sigh*. I can't relate to the main characters - Jem and Spider. Suffice to say, they are both annoyingly stupid. They are the main reason I stopped reading the book. I can only stand stupidity so far... In fact, I couldn't even comment much on the terrorist plot because I stopped reading before I reached the part where the author explained what happened (if she eventually did).

Perhaps I started reading the book with the wrong expectation. I expected the book to be a thriller/mystery about teenagers trying to stop terrorism acts. I obviously did not expect to read pages and pages of teenage angst and rebellion. Totally put me off reading the rest of the series.

Now, the second book that I wanted to like - The Iron King.

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart. - synopsis & cover from goodreads

My problem with this books is actually the same as Numbers - I can't stand the main characters Meghan and Ash. Meghan is depicted as loyal to the point of stupidity I would say. She also can be an idiot most of the time. I can't help but feel that she's the one at fault for her own troubles. Ash meanwhile has the personality of a paper D: Boring~ And can be questionably stupid as well.

However, the story has excellent supporting characters - Puck and Grimalkin. They saved the day with witty comebacks in my opinion (Grimalkin reminds me so much of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland). Kagawa also fared better in expanding upon the central theme of the story - the idea of faery/magic/imagination versus technology/science and how they evolved together to create something new and scary. The world she built is interesting and full of promises.

I would probably try reading the next book in the series - The Iron Daughter - before I decide to drop the series or not. I would love to see how Kagawa expands the story further and see whether Meghan and Ash can turn to be likable characters.

One outstandingly good thing about both books are the covers. In fact, the whole Iron Fey series has beautifully eye-catching covers. I'm tempted to buy them just because they would look nice lining up the shelves LOL.

More Giveaways

2011-08-11T20:36:00.002+08:00

Found two more giveaways that seems interesting. Note though that most of the blogs I follow mostly revolve around young adult (YA) books since those are what I'm interested in at the moment. Plus, they seem to hold giveaways more often than other book blogs LOL

First is the 280+ Followers Giveaway from Talk in A Whisper. Three winners can choose any book from Amazon or Book Depository (no idea up to what value though).

The other giveaway is from The Girl from The Ghetto. 5 winners will receive a book from the blogger (random book though). Check out the titles you could win at her blog.

So if you fancy the chance to get some free books, just enter those giveaways. Really, they are a great way to save money, especially since Syawal is just around the corner eh?

Giveaways

2011-08-10T20:27:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure if anybody noticed, but if you scroll down, you will see on the right hand side there is a section called giveaways where I put buttons of blogs currently hosting giveaways. Entering them are actually a good way to obtain books for free and most of the blogs are very generous.

In fact, one of the most generous giveaways I've seen is currently going on at Gripped Into Books. There are five prize packs to be won and eight winners will be chosen. Check out the prizes here. The best thing is the giveaway is international i.e. Malaysians can enter :D

Books Read in July

2011-08-08T20:43:00.000+08:00

I actually read a lot of books in July, but did not take the time to write the reviews. Kept track of them through Goodreads instead. Anyway, here are some of the titles I read last month:

Hourglass by Myra McEntire
I enjoyed reading this. At first, I thought Emerson's ability to see dead people is in the same vein as The Mediator series. But boy, was I wrong. It's in fact a different power altogether. I love the twists in this story and am definitely looking forward to the sequel. Though I have to say, this book has one of the weirdest cover I've ever seen.

The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld
If you've read the controversy about Tiger Mothers (specifically the book The Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother), you'd probably be surprised that the writer's husband actually wrote this psychological mystery. It's definitely interesting reading about a terrorist act (is it really?) in the early 1920s. There are several subplots going on at the same time that will keep a reader entertained. Though the heroine did annoy me sometimes with her secretiveness, it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

The Iron Druid Chronicles #1 Hounded and #2 Hexed by Kevin Hearne
This series has got to be my favourite read in July. Kevin Hearne has managed to create such a captivating hero. Atticus is a 2000-year-old druid who still looks in his twenties. Throughout the two books, he made friends and enemies with various gods, vampires, werewolves and witches. I have a weakness for witty dialogues, and these books are full of them. Wacky characters are also peppered throughout the book -- his elderly Irish neighbour who accepted Atticus's explanations calmly, his other neighbour who owned a greanade launcher, his ex-barkeeper apprentice... and so much more. The books were definitely difficult to put down once I started reading.

The Vanishing of Katarina Linden by Helen Grant
I love this book and even recommended it as a gift. I love Helen Grant's descriptive writing; she described the town scenery and festivities clearly that it made me feel like I was there. Oh, this book has one of the most arresting opening sentence I've ever read: "My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded."

The Kate Daniels Series

2011-06-29T20:32:00.000+08:00

Synopsis for the first book, Magic Bites:

One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy . . . - goodreads.com

If you're looking for a series with a kick-ass heroine, this is it. Kate Daniels is such an awesome character that you can't help rooting for her. The supporting characters are interesting as well, with a mix of shapeshifters (the standard wolves, lions, tigers (even a vegetarian one LOL), bears? And even hyenas? LOL), vampires (none of that sparkling nonsense here), demons and of course, normal human beings (though they seem to be limited in numbers).

Most of the series focus on Kate battling a huge life-threatening, world-destroying challenges. Save the world before it ends prematurely and all that jazz. But there are also running threads throughout the series e.g. Kate's mysterious father and her relationship with Curran (heh it's hard to write about a series without giving something away :P)

I love the fact that the world Andrews created have magic and technology in an unpredictable relationship. Magic and tech battle for dominance, with magic surges rendering most technology obsolete and when it wanes, most of the spells are useless. The unpredictability lends an additional level of complexity towards the plot and created a more interesting twist to the phrase "urban fantasy".

Ilona Andrews is actually the pseudonym for the husband and wife writing pair, Ilona and Gordon. That's probably the secret behind why even though the story was written from the female POV, it maintains enough badass element to not be considered a "girly" series. In fact, this is probably my second favourite writer pair - the first being David & Leigh Eddings. (My introduction to the fantasy genre was through The Redemption of Althalus by Eddings. And I was hooked from then on LOL.)

I can't wait to see how this series progresses and what will happen when Kate finally meets her father. In the meantime, I am going to check out another series written by Andrews, The Edge.

Contest, Giveaways & Offer

2011-06-23T21:34:00.002+08:00

Head over to Book Galaxo to win a copy of Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals (my review here)

There's also the Midsummer Eve's Giveaway Hop. And various giveaways listed on my sidebar.

And Bookdepository still has the Summer Festival going on.

So just get clicking!

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EDIT:

Latest giveaway just popped up on my reader is from Gripped Into Books who is celebrating the end of exams by giving away USD10/GBP7 worth of book(s) :D

Read-a-thon Update

2011-06-19T02:55:00.001+08:00

So here's the progress of my read-a-thon so far:

Total Books Read: 3 (The Goddess Test, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes)
Total Pages Read: 863
Books Read Since Last Update: 3
Pages Read since last update: 863
Total time read: Roughly 12 hours? Obviously with breaks in-between
How I'm currently feeling: Satisfied

Mini Challenge Q&A

If you had bookshelves FULL of all of your favorite books, how would you organize them?

I organise them by author, and then by series. Stand alone novels are organised by author and height. My favourite genres and authors get 'premium' shelf space i.e. I put them at eye-level.

Garden Spells

2011-06-18T19:47:00.001+08:00

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants--from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys--except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down--along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom or with each other.
- from goodreads

Link to bookdepository.co.uk

I first found out about Sarah Addison Allen when I read the interesting synopsis of The Girl who Chased the Moon in Kinokuniya. I didn't realise I had this book at home since it was under my mother's pile of unread books. Only after I scrolled through the app I use to keep track of my books did I realise one of her books is sitting under my nose all this while LOL.

The first thing I noticed about this book is the cover - it's beautiful! And girly/sparkly LOL. The cover and the swirly designs for some of the pages rounds up the book theme of magic and romance quite nicely. If you've gathered from the previous post, I don't really read a lot of romance books. But once in a while, I do curl up with a good romance sprinkled with a bit of magic (like The Girl with Glass Feet - this one is such a beautiful, heart-breaking story).

I love the atmosphere of the story. It's filled with warmth and the ups and downs of relationships, be it between sisters, mothers and daughters, friends and of course, between lovers. She managed to create a quirky but lovely world in the small town of Bascom. As I read, her characters grew on me, especially the Waverleys - Claire the talented caterer who embraces her Waverly talents fully, Sydney the girl who wanted to ditch her roots and be normal, Evanelle the quirky cousin who can't resist giving people things. Allen also created what could probably one of the most interesting tree of all time - the apple tree in the Waverley's garden which loves throwing apples at people LOL. I would've loved to meet a tree like that.

Since I'm a sucker for happy ending, this book really did it for me. I think almost everyone got a happy ending LOL. I'm in fact looking forward to reading The Girl who Chased the Moon when it arrives soon!

The Goddess Test

2011-06-18T19:27:00.001+08:00

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess. - from goodreads

Buy from Bookdepository.co.uk

The cover and synopsis pulled me to choose this book from a list of titles to be read next. I had high expectations for the book, but somehow the book just didn't meet them. I can't seem to get into the story. The first few chapters in fact reminded me of Twilight, with the "new girl being the talk of the town" scenes.

Kate is likeable enough but I feel the other characters are not really believable. I mean, Ava makes a move extremely fast even for a bitchy cheerleader LOL. But then, the relevation at the end of the story might have played some role. Some characters are developed well like Kate and Calliope, while some others could probably do with more fleshing out e.g. Xander and Theo.

I have to admit the author chose a creative way to weave Greek mythology into the story. And she did manage to keep me guessing what are actually the tests set for Kate. However, I would've enjoyed this more if she had focused more on the mystery regarding all the previous candidates and not on Kate's relationship with Henry. Though I can guess why she did it - to attract the younger generation (OMG I feel so old T_T). So yeah, I love a good mystery more than romance LOL.

I just realised this book is part of a trilogy when I browsed goodreads for its synopsis. Suffice to say, I wouldn't be waiting in line for the next book to come out. A good read, especially if you like Greek mythology, but nothing to shout about.

Read-a-thon

2011-06-17T17:13:00.001+08:00

This post is to announce to the world that I'm participating in the Spring into Summer read-a-thon hosted by Enna Isilee of Squeaky Books!

This read-a-thon is going to be so great! It's two days where you try do NOTHING but read. It's a great chance to get rid of some of those books that have been sitting on your TBR pile forever.

But that's not all! There will also be awesome mini-challenges and a TON of giveaways! In fact, just for signing up you are entered to win a $25 gift card to Amazon! SO GO SIGN UP! And if you say that layen sent you, you'll get 5 extra entries to win that gift card! CLICK HERE to enter to win, and know all there is to know about the read-a-thon.

Here's my goal:

I plan to participate on: BOTH DAYS
I plan to read: 2 books
I hope to read: Magic Burns & The Goddess Test

Well, have you signed up yet? DO IT NOW!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Hex Hall & Demonglass

2011-06-16T13:44:00.000+08:00

Synopsis for Hex Hall:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
- from goodreads

I've been browsing around book review blogs for the past couple of weeks. Seems that I keep stumbling upon reviews of books for young adults/teens and they were mostly holding very interesting giveaway. Who could resist free books? Not me definitely LOL.

Since I was looking for something light to read after struggling with study materials, these are two of the titles that grabbed my attention. It's a part of a series (probably a trilogy?) with two books already published and another one in the works.

The story is just so-so. I enjoyed it, but it's not something I'd fangirl about (unlike Harry Potter for instance LOL). The first book, Hex Hall, follows Sophie's life as a boarding school student and her relationships with her fellow boarders. Several interesting characters crop up, the most interesting being Jenna, her vampire roommate who is obsessed with the colour pink. The mystery is engaging, though Sophie keeps getting sidetracked with who else but a developing love interest in Archer Cross, the most popular and good looking guy in Hex Hall. By the end of the school year, Sophie not only has solved the mystery, but she has seen a classmate murdered and betrayed by another classmate. She also learns more about herself and her mysterious father.

The second book follows Sophie as she learns more about controlling her power from her father. While both had a mystery thread running through the story, I found the first book more engaging. The second book was more about Sophie waffling between her interest in an ex-classmate and the obvious danger a relationship with him would bring. However, the revelation in Demonglass is indeed a surprise and the ending is a cliffhanger D:

It took me a while to warm up to the heroine as the prologue seems to paint her as a stupidly reckless girl who is so confident in her magical prowess. Thank goodness she seems to realise her lack of control over her magic when she arrived at Hex Hall. What won me over was actually her sarcasm LOL. I do love characters who are sarcastic (e.g. Silk from David Edding's Belgariad series) because I find their lines hilarious LOL.

Overall, I'd give this series 3.5 out of 5 stars. Enjoyable, but not something I'd read over and over again in the future.

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Oh head over to bookdepository as they are holding a 10% off sale (on top of discounts already given). To get the discount, just refer other people to the site and they'll send a discount code to you. I'm contemplating on buying more books, but since I've already splurged on books and skin care for the past couple of weeks, I might have to hold that urge back.

End of (unintended) Hiatus

2011-06-05T22:08:00.000+08:00

Exam's over! I'd rather not think about the end result until I receive the email. Ended up splurging on books on Book Depository since today was the last day of their 10% off. First time ordering, so I hope there won't be glitches.

Anyway, the point of the post is just a heads up that I'll probably start updating again (notice the word probably there?) :P Till then ~

Finally!

2011-02-16T18:40:00.000+08:00

I've been eyeing the Coach Maggie range for quite some time, and now I finally own one! :D Just plain black leather though. None of those animal prints for me.

As usual, here's my experience with another blog shop, this time it's Princess Victoria's Stylo Closet. Apparently this blog has even been featured on local tv. Not that I know, with the minimal amount of time I spent watching tv :P It's on her sidebar.

Now, on to the review:

Order/Payment Process: Ordered via Princess Victoria's Stylo Closet. Filled up the order form and paid the deposit via CIMB/MBB.
Customer Service: A tad slow to reply (2-3 days), could be due to the huge amount of business the shop seems to generate (I wonder, do they pay taxes? LOL) Had to send one email twice since she failed to respond. One thing I dislike is the fact that it's up to the customers to check whether the stuff they ordered have arrived or not. I forgot to check, as a result it took a while before I finally got my bag.
Time Taken to Delivery: Had to wait for shipment to come in since I bought pre-order stuff. And since I did not notice my stuff actually arrived before the owner went on holiday, it took more than a month between ordering and receiving. But actual time taken after full payment has been made was 3 days I think. Seller is based in Sabah, thus RM10 flat rate for domestic shipping.
Packaging: Wrapped in a thin polystyrene layer + plastic. Wrapping looks waterproof to me (unlike one other shop that just send the bag in its dust bag in an envelop without any extra wrapping!! Huh I probably need to review that shop)
Would buy again? 50-50. Her prices are competitive, but slow service is discouraging. If only she could improve on customer service and notification, I'm sure more people would be willing to buy from her site.

Tote Boutique's Giveaway

2011-02-16T18:13:00.000+08:00

Looks like Tote Boutique's also organising a giveaway, and the prizes are quite attractive - a passport sleeve, a coin purse and RM30 Tote Boutique's voucher for four lucky winners.

Giveaway ends 18 February 2011. So anyone who'd like to try their luck, just visit this post!

Mortal Instruments

2011-02-07T20:07:00.001+08:00

City of Bones is the first of three books in Cassandra Clare's young adult urban fantasy trilogy, The Mortal Instruments. City of Bones is about a fifteen-year old girl named Clary Fray, whose search for her missing mother leads her into an alternate New York called Downworld, filled with mysterious faeries, hard-partying warlocks, not-what-they-seem vampires, an army of werewolves, and the demons who want to destroy it all. She also finds herself torn between two boys — her best friend, Simon, for whom she’s developing new feelings, and the mysterious demon hunter, Jace. She becomes a part of the secret world of the demon hunters, or Nephilim, and as she does she discovers that rescuing her mother might mean putting their whole world in jeopardy. City of Bones is followed by the second book, City of Ashes, and the third, City of Glass. - adapted from author's website

The long break over Chinese New Year afforded me some time to make a dent in the pile of books I brought home from the bigbadwolf sale last year. To be honest, I mainly picked up the books because of the covers. They have one of the most interesting covers last year. Plus, I've actually read about Clare in my blog-hopping journey and knew that she is originally a well-known fan fiction writer in the Harry Potter fandom. And definitely you can see some similarities here; the three mortal instruments vs the deathly hallows for one. I can't seem to remember anything else right now LOL.

At first glance, I thought this would be something like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Well, with a word like "Downworld" + New York, who can resist making a connection to London Below? And there the familiarity ends. Readers are thrown into an action-packed world with shadowhunters acting as the world's defender again demons and keeping the other Downworlders (vampires, warlocks, werewolves etc) in line.

Clare has created quite a well-rounded protagonist in Clarissa "Clary" Fray. She's brave, inquisitive and powerful, but still a girl prone to rash actions and can be quite useless in certain situations. Clare has also developed Clary's two love interest quite well - nerdy Simon and sarcastic Jace, two guys with a kind heart and both fighting for Clary's attention. However, it's a shame that Clare has failed to develop Alec and Isabella Lightwood, Jace's closest friends. Alec mostly stays in the background that I sometimes forget he exists while Isabella is so shallowly potrayed. I would've loved it if she had paid more attention to them.

The series is abound with plot twists. One thing can suddenly turn into another and it can sometimes feel like you're watching a Malay telenovella LOL. And some of the plots will raise the eyebrows of more conservative readers e.g. almost incestuous thoughts (which is actually one of the major plot lines of the series - don't worry, there's a happy ending for everyone :P )

I definitely enjoyed reading the series, especially the witty dialogue spouted by the characters (Jace and Simon can be hilarious when arguing) and the many references to pop-culture. Originally a trilogy, Clare has decided to expand the world and a second trilogy will be released starting from this year. Clare has also started a prequel series, The Infernal Devices, with A Clockwork Angel being published last year (I love the cover of this book :D ). Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of them!

Unseen Academicals

2011-02-07T19:26:00.000+08:00

Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork — not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they’re in the mood for trying everything else.

The prospect of a Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt, who no one knows much about. As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed forever.

Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football. - Goodreads

The subject couldn't have been more different than the previous Discworld novel I read, I Shall Wear Midnight. Aside from football, Pratchett actually managed to insert a forbidden love story a la Romeo and Juliet with a young couple - Trev and Juliet - from two opposing teams of football falling in love. The issue of nature vs nurture and perception vs reality has also been woven in as pictured by Nutt's internal conflict about who he really is, what other people think he will do and what he actually does in real life.

Here, Pratchett managed to create another strong heroine in the form of Glenda, a cook who can bake excellent pies and loves reading trashy romance novels in her spare time. Glenda is the kind of girl who will do the things that needs to be done and is not afraid to speak up their mind when some issues catch her attention. Bribing guards in order to storm up to Lord Vetinari - the tyrant of Ankh Morpork - certainly takes guts!

As with most of Pratchett's works, there are sly references to real life/other works of arts. References to football is a must, but the most memorable one for me would be the collectors card that came with cigars - collector cards from chocolate frogs, anyone?

Overall, I've enjoyed reading the book. However, I still prefer I Shall Wear Midnight. Probably because reading about the witches of Disc World are actually more interesting than the wizards LOL.

Library Girl

2011-02-02T14:22:00.000+08:00

Never thought I'd hear someone singing about Dewey decimals!

Win A Free Bag From BabyIbu!!!

2011-01-28T21:59:00.001+08:00

Okay, I just randomly stumbled on this giveaway and since I was thinking of probably getting something from Tote Boutique, why not just try my luck eh?

Since I'm too lazy to translate, here's the details of the giveaway:

Apa?

BabyIbu Giveaway Birthday

Bila?

26 Januari 2011 sehingga 25 Februari 2011

Hadiahnya apa?

Organize Anne yang bernilai RM 52 daripada BabyIbu Shoppe
9 voucher bernilai RM190 daripada Tote Boutique

Syarat-syaratnya?

1. Tampal banner di atas di sidebar blog anda dan link ke entri ini
2. Tambah BabyIbu, BabyIbu Shoppe dan Tote Boutique dalam bloglist anda
3. Membuat review mengenai contest ini dengan tajuk Win A Free Bag From BabyIbu!!! dan link ke entri ini
4. Dah siap semua, tinggalkan link entri anda dan juga email di entri ini
5. Boleh hantar banyak penyertaan - satu entri di kira satu penyertaan. Sekiranya anda hantar 2 entri - maka dikira dua penyertaan.
6. 10 pemenang akan dipilih berdasarkan cabutan bertuah

The giveaway is sponsored by BabyIbu Shoppe and Tote Boutique.

*

I actually bought a sleeve for my e-book reader from Tote Boutique since I couldn't find one that fit nicely with the Hanlin v5 that I bought online (cheaper than what MPH offered if you can bear waiting for it). So, on to the review:

Order/Payment Process: Filled up order form at Tote Boutique. Since I wanted something customized, I gave the measurement for my e-reader. Owner replied promptly and gave a quotation. I paid using m2u.
Customer Service: Prompt reply. Also had auto-reply notifying if the owner was out of town, which is useful and kept the customers in the loop. Very honest because she even returned my balance because she thought that the final product actually costs less to make.
Time Taken to Delivery: Fast! From order to receipt I think took 3-4 days only. I was lucky to catch her before she went on holidays.
Packaging: Hm can't actually remember. I think it was wrapped in plastic before being put in the envelop since the sleeve was made from fabric.

The final product (pictures courtesy of Tote Boutique):

I'm definitely satisfied with the level of service and the quality of the sleeve. There was only a slight problem, the sleeve fit too well i.e. it's a bit tight. Still, I love it and will consider ordering another one if she has a pattern that I like.

Speculation

2011-01-27T18:48:00.000+08:00

You know, if an item suddenly had a 50% jump in price, you will start wondering if the producer of that item is expecting such a huge demand that people wouldn't mind paying extra to obtain the item? Did the producer suddenly became greedy and think, "Hey, I can make more money. Let's just increase the price!" Probably the producer thinks that this item is a luxury item, so an increase in price will increase revenue eh?

Or is there a more rational reason behind it? Did the producer mistakenly price the item lower than expected? Did the producer encounter a sudden increase in the cost of production, e.g. then government suddenly decided to increase the taxes in the commodities used to produce the item? Did the shop make a mistake and put the wrong price in the first place?

Note to self: Businesses are always greedy. Always be suspicious of a good deal.

Ghosts

2010-11-21T21:39:00.001+08:00

This week my readings seem to be all about ghosts. First, there is the Mediator series I picked up from the bigbadwolf sale (RM5 a piece, six books in all). I recall reading the first two books during secondary school, but I couldn't find the rest of the books after that and thus the series was forgotten. Previously, it was published under another pen-name, but after Cabot became famous through The Princess Diaries, I think the publishers saw it fit to republish it under Cabot's name.

If you've watched Ghost Whisperer, then you'd be familiar with the premise of the Mediator series. Susannah "Suze" Simon has been seeing ghosts since she was two years old and has been helping them with their unfinished business most of her life. Her move to California means meeting new friends, new mentors and of course new ghosts. In fact, she shares her bedroom with a hundred-something year old male ghost.

The series goes through different cases, each showing her kick-ass ability as a mediator. There is a main arc through out the series regarding her "roommate" which became a central focus for the last three books. I believe the series are aimed at the young adult category due to the simplicity of the writing and plot. The first two books were probably published when Cabot just started off as a writer as it shows in her writing as I can recall passages from book I repeated in book II. Cabot's writing tend to have a happy ending, and this series also have one. Somehow, the ending of this series reminds me of Casper the movie, albeit it's a happier one.

The other ghost story that I've just finished is The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. It's a ghost story set in 1940s, after the end of World War II. The Hundreds is an estate that has seen better days and now is struggling to make it through the changing times. The struggle seems to take its toll on the Ayres family who owns the estate and begins to break them down one by one.

Waters has chosen such an interesting voice for the narrator. For what's essentially a ghost story, the narrator is a doctor - a man of science who tries hard to rationalise the strange happenings at the Hundreds. It's a battle of science against superstition throughout the novel, with the ending left to the reader to choose which side they stand on.

Though this novel unfolds slowly at first, I can't help feeling a bit creeped out as the action picks up in the last third of the book. Since several of Waters novel have been adapted for TV, perhaps a producer will be willing to pick this up. I think it will make for a haunting movie.

I Shall Wear Midnight

2010-11-07T21:03:00.001+08:00

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before - I love reading Terry Pratchett's works, especially his Discworld books. Oh, and also Good Omens, his collaboration with Neil Gaiman (another author I enjoy reading).

I Shall Wear Midnight is the fourth book in the Tiffany Aching arc in Discworld, which started off with The Wee Free Men. The arc follows Tiffany Aching, a young witch from Chalk and her adventures growing up and learning about being a witch. Tiffany has befriended the Nac Mac Feegles (blue-skinned fairies with a penchant for drinking and stealing), faced the Queen of Elves with a frying pan and kissed Winter, all in her short tenure as a witch-in-training. So what else could Tiffany get into?

In this book, Tiffany is really growing up. She's almost sixteen and the only witch in Chalk, which means facing the trials of being a witches while dealing with the problems that comes with being a teenager. Plus, people are becoming more suspicious of witches (Salem Witch Trials, anyone?). Meeting a man with no eyes and a horrible stench on her journey to Ankh Morpork certainly points to something bad happening. Of course, the Nac Mac Feegles, who has claimed Tiffany as their hag, are around as her protection. But this time, Tiffany has to face the problem on her own.

While the story starts off slow, the early events in the book actually acts as a building block for the main plot. When the bad guy makes an appearance, the early parts of the book indeed makes sense. Pratchett ties up things nicely. His wit is of course why I love reading his books. A memorable quote from the book is this:

"Here was a person whose mere existence had led Tiffany, one evening, to wonder about that whole business of sticking pins into a wax figure. She hadn’t actually done it, because it was something that you shouldn’t do, something that witches greatly frowned on, and because it was cruel and dangerous, and above all because she hadn’t been able to find any pins."

Pratchett has created a lovable heroine in Tiffany. She's proud of being a witch and practical as hell. In fact, that's actually the basis of being a witch in Discworld; it's all about practicality, doing what needs to be done. As a heroine, she's not perfect. There are times when she's too proud, when she's jealous (hey, she's almost sixteen :P), when she makes mistakes. But she's not afraid to admit she's wrong and she's forgiving as well. Plus, she can be invisible and can transfer heat and pain. How cool is that?

Overall, this is a book I'd recommend for someone who's looking for a novel on growing up, with a twist. And for anyone who loves reading something witty from a brilliant author. I'm sad that this might be the final book in the Tiffany Aching arc, but it has been a wonderful ride.

Oh, for anyone who wants to start reading Discworld but not sure where to start (with around 39 books available, it can be a bit overwhelming), here's a reading order guide for you.

Interrobang

2010-11-06T01:10:00.000+08:00

Apparently there exists a punctuation mark called an interrobang i.e. ‽. This is the result of late-night blog hopping after downing two mugs of coffee LOL.

Online Grocery Shopping

2010-11-05T18:13:00.002+08:00

One fine day, our boss's PA noticed that the small cups of mineral water we were supplying some external auditors at the office were finished. As no one wanted to drive to the nearest supermarket/hypermarket, Doorstep came to the rescue. Apparently one company in Malaysia has caught on to the trend of online grocery shopping and set up a website. Not sure about its popularity, but gathering from the logos of corporate customers that they proudly displayed on their site, it must be doing quite well.

Order/Payment Process: Ordered via website. Very convenient, though I think the catalogue needs more work. E.g. in the laundry detergent category, perhaps it could be broken down into types i.e. liquid/powder/softener instead of just broken down into brand name. Nevertheless, that's not really a deterrent for choosing items.
Customer Service: Friendly and even called me up because they were wondering whether I actually was a corporate customer since I wanted the items delivered to the office. Not sure what the difference between household and corporate. Probably the minimum amount needed to get free delivery?
Time Taken to Delivery: As I could choose the delivery slot I wanted, it's useful for time management. Delivery was on time, within the chosen time slot. And delivery is currently free of charge for orders above RM50 :D
Packaging: Small items were put into plastic bag, though it was torn open for checking upon delivery LOL.
Would buy again? Yes, if I don't have the time to go out and do my grocery shopping. But considering that they don't offer fresh food items yet, those occasions might be far and few in between LOL

Feel free to use name me as your referrer if you're opening an account with them, yeah? LOL

*

Oh today is a good day. A morning swim revealed the fact that my gym's pool is shaded from the morning sun (which means I should be going for a swim in the morning during weekends LOL). And apparently today's special offer at the green coffee shop is a Buy 1, Free 1 :D

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Bigbadwolf has posted a picture of their upcoming warehouse sale on their facebook profile. Now I'm wondering whether I should take a leave on Friday just to attend this! So tempting!

Sirah Muzikal

2010-10-10T15:57:00.000+08:00

Watched Sirah Muzikal yesterday at an auditorium in Putrajaya. It was part of an effort to present an alternative, family-friendly edutainment for the public. Though in the end we were quite confused who the target audience actually was :/

The overall content was good but perhaps too ambitious. In trying to slot in a lot of Islamic history, from the period before Islam was born to the fall of the Ottomans, capturing the audience attention was forgotten. Well, having hard facts thrown at you for something like 3+ hours was exhausting. Truthfully, I lost interest by the fourth/final act.

It also doesn't help that no background story was given about which period was being staged. I spent a majority of the third act trying to figure out from which part of history the name King Solomon came front (of course the first thing that came to mind was something about King Solomon's Mine LOL). This is where the confusion about which type of audience they are targeting came in. Maybe they were assuming that since the majority of the people who came were people who are active in Islamic youth movements (and thus have been attending tazkirah sessions that usually come with a bit of Islamic history sprinkled in), the director felt that there was no need to present a clear indication of which historical events they were acting out. Unfortunately for me, being a non-participant in all these extra-curricular activities and the last clear Islamic history lesson I remember learning was from Tamadun Dunia lessons in Form 4, I was lost. I feel that if they want to bring this to the public, they need to account for the fact that the majority of us probably would need some refresher in the events surrounding Islamic history. Even the people I came with (who I know to be active in the usrah circles) were quite lost on which historical events they were referring to in the final act.

Technical glitches were also aplenty. The most glaring was the sound system where
(1) some actors' mics were not functioning, and thus the audience was lost about what's actually happening;
(2) sometimes the background music drowned the actors' voices
Props movement also took a lot of time, even when the props were only like three chairs and several side tables. Perhaps they did not get the opportunity to practise a lot at the official venue?

However, the most annoying aspect of the whole performance was not the theater itself, but the conduct of the audience. The organisers should have warned the audience to refrain from using flash photography during the performance! I know that probably most of the audience have never attended a theatrical performance at Istana Budaya, but didn't they have the common sense to see that using flash in a dark area can be distracting? It's hard to watch the stage with all these flashes going on D: And what's worse was the fact that the official photographers for the events (I'm guessing they were since they were the ones near the stage and all) were guilty of the same conduct!

In an effort not to sound as if I only have negative things to say about this performance, I do applaud the nasyid artistes they invited as part of the musical. Their voices were astounding to hear live. And the actors did a good job ad-libbing, adding much humour to what would otherwise be a quite dry show.

*

On another note, Percy Jackson & The Olympian series has been an interesting read. In fact, I finished all five books last weekend. Though it's not as funny as the Artemis Fowl series, it does have its moments. It was fun trying to figure out which Greek legend was going to materialise next in the series.

I could see why Hollywood chose to adapt these series to the big screen. They have heroes going on quests, gods going to war and all those action stuff that would translate well on the screen. Also, lots of monsters to be rendered by CGI :D

The continuation of the series will be out this month I believe, and I think I will try to get my hands on them.

Room

2010-10-01T22:03:00.001+08:00

I've picked up a bad habit - starting a new book without finishing the one I'm currently reading. But it's so hard to resist taking a peek at the first few pages after having read a compelling review of the book. And once I've started reading, it's quite hard to stop. The book I'm talking about is Room by Emma Donoghue (pronounced don-a-who).

Tell me this synopsis doesn't intrigue you:

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world....

It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack's imagination-the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells, the imaginary world projected through the TV, the coziness of Wardrobe beneath Ma's clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night, in case Old Nick comes.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it's the prison where she's been held since she was nineteen-for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack's curiosity is building alongside her own desperation—and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely....

Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience-and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.

- Official Website for Room

If you think this is fictional and will only happen in books or an episode of Criminal Minds, think again. Only a couple of years ago there was the case of Josef Fritzl from Austria - a man who imprisoned his own daughter in his basement and fathered seven children with her. It's scary isn't it, knowing that there are monsters who appear normal and live happily among us...

Anyway, back to the book. Failing to resist temptation, I've started reading and am currently in the middle of Ma's escape plan from Room. Since the book is written from Jack's point of view, the sentences are mostly short, but sometimes can be confusing. It's easy to get frustrated with Jack for not cooperating with Ma on her escape plan, but who could blame him? He's only five, and his whole world is Room. He thinks everything else is just TV.

Reading this has caused me mixed feelings - frustration at Jack, anger at Old Nick (the villain), and respect for Ma who is trying so hard to raise a son in her condition. Definitely would recommend this book to people who would like to read something different.

Do visit the website, if only to get an idea what Room looks like. There's a trailer for the book (and here I thought trailers are only for movies haha). Oh, there's even a special font for Jack's handwriting. It's definitely not something that anyone would use in minutes of meetings haha.

Muzikal Tun M@hathir

2010-09-26T09:17:00.001+08:00

MTM is freaking looooooong and you feel every minute of it. Our show ended at almost midnight okay? That's too long by my standard. I think they could have shaved of a couple of minutes from the scene changes. And all those cryptic dances. I admit I have no appreciation of 'meaningful' dances, so those scenes were doing nothing for me LOL.

I have no idea how much is their budget, but it does feel a bit cheap. The props and the screen display (though this could be due to the original quality of the video clips they're using and some were old) definitely could use some extra $$. What puzzles me most is that they use a lot of actors/dancers when the money could have gone to all the technical stuff that could've made the show more authentic. Even the English display at the top of the stage has several grammatical errors. Someone should have checked that first!

It is quite funny watching a musical about someone who's still alive, extolling all their positive characteristics. It does feel a bit preachy to me LOL. The show did gloss over the later events (post 1969), probably because it's still fresh and there's too many to fit in. However, I do like how they presented the changes in his deputies through dance and song. Though that does mean that you have to pay attention to what they're singing to get what's happening. Oh, another note regarding singing, I think they were miming throughout the show, as opposed to live singing like Cuc1.

All the main actors did well. I was especially impressed with the kid who got to play TM as a child. He's good. We'll probably be seeing more of him on stage/tv. Err@ is of course so pretty in real life. Though she's tall so had to avoid wearing heels when she's with Ziz@n, or stand hunched when she's wearing one when with Esm@ LOL.

Overall, I'd give this 3/5, mostly for effort and good acting. Definitely minus some points for props and length.

Kau & Aku, You & I

2010-09-24T21:21:00.000+08:00

A friend once posted about this dilemma of finding suitable pronouns to use during conversation. I admit I have this problem as well. Especially with people I've just met and I'm speaking a mix of Malay and English.

It's easy when I'm speaking English. There's only one pronoun - I. Nothing complicated about that.

But when it comes to Malay, there are several variations, depending on the feeling of comfort I have with the person I'm speaking to. When I was young (not that I'm that old, mind you), I used to use kita/awak. I think it changed when I went to secondary school. It's more of aku/kau. That's why I will always use aku/kau with old schoolmates. Starting from college, I had to differentiate according to the people speaking to me. Some I adress using aku/kau, while some get I/you. Not that it's foolproof. Sometimes there are slip ups. Generally, the guys get aku/kau while the girls get a mix of both. With people I've just met, of course I'll generally use I. But that sometimes changes to aku. I'm not sure why haha. And then of course I won't be using aku with older colleagues LOL - it's either I or saya. At home, I'll just use my name. Or sometimes orang/dia. Yes, I use third person pronouns at home LOL.

In writing, it's easier. When I'm not sure what to use, I often omit all pronouns and structure the sentence such that I don't have to use them LOL. Makes for some interesting twisting of words, but I hope I got the point across to the other person.

I'm sure you're wondering what's the point of this entry? I was just wondering how other people select which pronouns to use in their daily life LOL. That's all XD

Selamat Hari Raya

2010-09-07T22:11:00.000+08:00

Since Raya entries have been sprouting everywhere and it's just a couple of days away anyway, I'd like to wish my readers (there are like, only two active readers that I know of LOL) eid mubarak and have a safe journey if you're travelling. If you're like me and will be the office jaga for the holidays, enjoy the time spent as king of the office! LOL some might think it's pathetic/boring/etc, but I really like celebrating in KL. The city is mine LOL.

*

Too early to say anything but I kinda miss feeling like this LOL. But I also hate the uncertainty. Only time will tell though -__-;;

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

2010-08-21T13:04:00.000+08:00

Cloud Atlas was my introduction to David Mitchell and I fell in love with his writing. In fact, I can honestly say that he's one of my favourites, with Cloud Atlas being especially memorable. I wrote a very, very short paragraph about it here. Why is he one of my favourites? Simple - because he can beautifully mix two of my favourite subjects into a fantastic read - fantasy and anything about Japan.

The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the “high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island” that is the Japanese Empire’s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland.

But Jacob’s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city’s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob’s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, “Who ain’t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?”
- Official website

I have to say, the novel has one of the most disturbing-but-engaging opener I've ever read. A very graphic description of a complicated labour taking place - complete with illustration, mind you - is surely very attention grabbing, no?

When I first started reading, this novel reads like a historical fiction. A bit slow, with lots of characters that I sometime lost track of who's who. Eventually the story picks up once it reached Book II and evolved into a suspenseful thriller/mystery. There are lots things happening in this story - kidnapping and rescue attempts, surgeries and even a naval battle. It sure made for an interesting read, especially because Mitchell has built such a richly detailed world.

It has now been long-listed for the Booker Prize. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it's nomination did not come as a surprise.

Welcome Back Drog!

2010-08-21T02:24:00.000+08:00

So Drog's tactic of letting Natte' know about her blog to spread the word around seems to be working. Some late night blog-hopping led me to her latest blog. Pergh ada blog simpan je, sekarang baru nak bagi tau :P

OK that's the short update for today :D I'll probably write on the book I'm reading when I'm done with it.

Selamat berpuasa~

2010-08-10T19:23:00.000+08:00

Hm so what has happened in the 1+ month that I failed to update my blog? Let's see... I got to watch my two favourites battle it out on the field for the World Cup, with Spain finally grabbing the cup. Which reminds me, there's this one clip (translated) on youtube, showing Casillas being interviewed by his girlfriend. He's so sweet. That's all I can say. Try googling it LOL. I think it was shared around on facebook a couple of days after the final.

What else? Finally got a working Wii fit balance board. It's really fun to play! Definitely recommended for people looking for an interactive game.

Company annual dinner was on last Friday. Hmm it was an interesting experience, crawling through the traffic on the way back to Yat's sister's home and going to the hotel. The food was nothing to shout about, the entertainment was a bit old school and the mic was so loud that I couldn't figure out what the mc was saying 90% of the time. The saving grace would be the company of friends for the night.

Oh, I've settled my vacation plans for this year and next year. Hopefully nothing will clash with my plans. I'm used to planning ahead for 2-3 months, but with Air Asia, you've got to plan ahead for like... one year LOL.

Well, time to concentrate on my favourite show on NatGeo, Aircrash Investigation. Hope you readers in KL have the patience to go through traffic during Ramadhan LOL

Psychic octopus? LOL

2010-07-05T18:42:00.001+08:00

So someone came up with the idea of letting an octopus pick which team will win whenever Germany plays, since the octopus is a German one (or owned by a German)... It even has a name, Paul, LOL. Just google the combination of words octopus, world cup, Germany, and you'll get the clips. Quite funny really. I wonder if some scientists will now conduct a research on cognitive/psychic abilities of octopuses LOL. Then people probably will turn from eating takoyaki to worshipping octopuses (if they can predict accurately LOL). *sigh* I miss eating takoyaki...

Anyway, I'm happy that two of my favourites made it this far into the tournament. My favourite outcome will of course be a Holland vs Spain final. It doesn't really matter which of the two lift the cup. Germany will be a tough opponent and Spain does need to buck up. I haven't seen how Uruguay plays, but I hope Holland makes it through. Nothing is certain and upsets have been aplenty (but I think that's what people say every World Cup LOL), so hopefully there's no upset for that match eh?

Panjang umur? LOL

2010-06-30T20:05:00.000+08:00

Baru sebut-sebut pasal HP, dah keluar pun trailer movie untuk DH :DD

Really can't wait to watch this. Good thing the gap between the first part and the second part is not that long.... though I might change my mind about that if the first part ends in a cliffhanger ^^;;

My Misadventures with Gadgets

2010-06-28T20:41:00.001+08:00

For the past couple of days, I've had my hands on a couple of gadgets, namely a Wii and a bebook. And what misadventures I've had with them!

First, the bebook won't switch on. After several attempts at pressing the power button, I decided to just reset the whole thing and voila~! Switched on perfectly. Have already finished one novella on it, and I've got to say I like it. I don't have to lug around bulky and heavy books anymore :D Holding it took a bit of time to get used to, and "flipping" the pages also took a while as I was expecting it to be faster... It's kind of like waiting for a page to load on your browser. Nonetheless, I'm happy with my purchase and now have to find a cover for the reader. Hmm I wonder if there are shops selling soft covers like the ones for laptops... Or maybe I have to make do with any type of cover?
-__-;;

My second acquisition is the Wii! My main purpose of getting one was supposedly to play Wii Fit, unfortunately, that's the game that has been giving me a headache! Seems like the console doesn't like my balance board and would not recognise its presence D: Have to bring it back to the shop this weekend. Which means now I'm left with the Harry Potter game D: That's the only game that I've faithfully played since the series came out LOLL. I realise it's much more interesting playing with wii than ps2 because my movements have to mimic the wand and potion making movements LOL. One thing I dislike is that there's no way to fast forward past all the dialogues in the game. I have to watch the clunky graphics interact with each other *sigh* Oh well, I can always laugh at their cardboard hair.

The Angel's Game

2010-06-13T21:09:00.000+08:00

This is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind (and you thought only movies have all these prequel/sequel stuff eh? :P). Prequel in the sense that for those who have read TSTW, we met with several familiar characters earlier in their life and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books made an appearance again. I have to admit though I can only remember bits and pieces from TSTW and can't remember whether the characters in here made an appearance in TSTW.

The story is about David Martin, a talented young novelist who had suffered a setback in his work and love life. When his life seemed so bleak and about to end, he was offered a deal by a publisher - 100,000 franc to write a novel as per the publisher's specification.

The Angel's Game started off slow and only picked up pace during the second half of the book as Martin started to question whether his boss had a sinister motive and what happened to the previous occupier of his house. Martin believed the mysterious death of the previous occupier might be related to his current publisher and the task he was requested to do.

As far as characters go, I hold no love for Martin as I think he's a bit pathetic. I like Isabella, the witty and fiery aspiring novelist who worked as Martin's assistant/maid. In fact, I would've preferred to read more about Isabella than Cristina, Martin's love interest who seemed so insipid and weak.

While TSTW was more grounded in reality, TAG has a more mystical element. Kind of like 'oops... I think I made a deal with the devil', complete with debates on religion between Martin and his publisher. I don't particularly like reading the debates as it's quite long-winded.

*

I was in Langkawi for a five-day course on Islamic Finance. Definitely an informative course and very useful for those of us with no background in IF as the essential contracts underlying all transactions in IF were explained.

What I want to comment on was not the course itself, but the Oriental Village in Langkawi. I think it was supposed to be modelled after the outlet villages in Europe, like Cheshire Oaks in the UK or the one near Disneyland Paris. The quaint blocks of shops with metal signs were really similar. I remember there wasn't that much choice of brands while I was there during its early years. Now, the outlet shops have been replaced by tacky souvenir shops competing with each other for customers. I think 90% of the shops were selling the same things. I guess the shopping outlet model failed and was replaced with the much more popular tourists' favourites.

But really, who's to blame? Because I don't think people go to Langkawi to shop (except for chocolates and dining wares haha). Won't it be better to build a shopping outlet somewhere near a big city, where the urban population can easily reach it? I mean, Cheshire Oaks was within easy reach of Manchester and Liverpool, while Langkawi only has what? Alor Setar? Kangar? Both cities/towns with populations much smaller than the Klang Valley. How I wish one was built near Klang Valley. I guess we have to be content with the myriad of warehouse sales poppping up like mushrooms nowadays eh?

*

Of course, obligatory mentions of World Cup is a must since it started a couple of days ago. My favourites? Spain and Holland. Hahah I remember watching Spain play in Euro '08 during the exam period. Watched the matches on my laptop with notes strewn all over my bed/desk. Such was the life of a busy student :p

Cuak!

2010-06-03T02:04:00.001+08:00

Only a few days till the exam, and of course I haven't finished revising my stuff. Definitely a queen of procrastination eh? Really hope I can pass this so that I won't have to resit in December. Passing means I can focus on other stuff as well :D

Oh right after the exam I have to rush to the airport. Hopefully the traffic will not be so bad D: It'd be a nightmare to miss the last flight.

*

I'm not sure when I developed a penchant for the colour orange. Influenced by my "deskmate" in school I guess haha. I don't own that many orange stuff though. The obvious one would be my car :P

Since my purse has been with me for ages (this one I think was from my school days as well), a fortunate event i.e. stumbling upon an orange purse on sale at Nek Rock's Boutique meant splurging on a new purse that arrived today :DD A tad bigger than my current one, but I can live with that.

Order/Payment Process: Ordered via email and paid via m2u. Simple and fast.
Customer Service: Friendly and kept me up-to-date on the progress of the order, especially when customs decided to hold the parcel for clearance. FYI, Nek ships to her helpers in Malaysia who will then post using POSlaju to the customers. Oh, there's even a token of appreciation as well. Excellent customer service ;D
Time Taken to Delivery: Around two weeks, but then Nek explained it's due to customs' interference.
Packaging: Apparently item had to be re-wrapped because of the nosy officers taking a peek at everything. Received it safe and sound with double layer of plastic, I guess to protect from any unfortunate contact with water.
Would buy again? Yes, if anything catches my fancy and I have the moolah. However, items on her blog usually sells like hot cakes so if you see something you want, you have to grab it!

*

So Maxis finally launched HTC Desire, the only provider with it for a month. I was interested in this phone since I read a top 20 list of best mobiles and this one beat iPhone. But I've taken a look at Maxis data packages and they seem expensive. Of course, cheapest one for now is Digi. But then, I'm not sure how wide their coverage is. I know the area around my office (Golden Triangle) has crappy coverage. I guess I'll wait for Digi to see if they have any offer, especially since their HTC Legend's offer is actually quite attractive.

KudoKan :D

2010-05-20T22:28:00.003+08:00

TOKIO's Tomoya Nagase (31) is once again teaming up with screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (39) for a new drama series this summer. This will be their third one together, after "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" (2000) and "Tiger & Dragon" (2005).

Titled "Unubore Deka" ("Conceited Detective"), the show is an original comedy about an unusual detective (Nagase) who has a habit of falling in love with every female suspect, and his conceit leads him to believe that they are also in love with him. When he finds evidence of their crimes, he confronts them with an arrest warrant and a marriage proposal at the same time, giving them a choice between the two. Although his actual name will apparently not be mentioned during the show, he is known to everyone as "Unubore" for his conceit.
- Tokyograph

THIS! Definitely made my day :D I've been a fan of Kudo Kankuro since watching Tiger & Dragon (this is actually one of my favourites, along with another KudoKan drama, Kisarazu Cats Eye). His work is just... wacky. His brand of humour might not be for everyone, but it's definitely funny to me. T&D is especially good because it brings rakugo (traditional Japanese art of telling comedic stories while sitting - sit-down comedy I guess? :P) to the public. I mean, I wouldn't have heard of rakugo if not for T&D. This does prove that the right medium can ensure our tradition is kept alive, no?

Anddd I'm flailing because it's Nagase! LOL I love his acting in T&D, and he's done well in comedy so far. Who can forget the bumbling yakuza heir turned high school student in My Boss My Hero? And the cool singer who's actually a dork in real life in Mukodono/Mukodono2 - this was such a hit while in college if I remember correctly haha.

Hmm the story seems similar to Kimi Hannin Janai Yo Ne, starring Kaname Jun. What's even more weird is Kaname is going to be in this drama as well LOL. Toma's fans must be dancing with joy as well since he's part of the cast, together with Nakashima Mika(that weird lady in Ryusei no Kizuna). Oh well, I guess I have to just wait and see this coming season then. At least, something new to look forward to after the exams :DD

500 Days of Summer

2010-05-14T19:19:00.000+08:00

The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.

Best disclaimer ever LOL. Admit it, this would surely grab your attention as the movie starts, right? :P

Remember the cute guy from 3rd Rock From The Sun? Well, he's all grown up now. Still cute though. He fits the main character so well. We're so used to watching rom-com from the POV of a woman right? Well, this movie presents something different - rom-com from a guy's POV.

The movie's a non-linear view of Tom Hansen's relationship with Summer Finn. An architect turned greeting cards writer, Tom has an idealistic view of love - the whole fate/destiny/soulmate/miracles thing. He is convinced that Summer, a new co-worker, is his true love. Summer is actually the opposite of Tom and doesn't believe in all these fate/destiny/soulmate/miracles thing. And so the story starts, bringing two people with opposing view of love and how their relationship changes their view. But keep in mind, as the narrator sums it up nicely in the opening,

This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.

As it is non-linear, I think it starts somewhere in the middle. But don't worry, at least the movie watchers are informed of which day the story is currently showing - not like some Japanese movies, Ju-On in particular :P

I like the lines. Some are totally memorable, like the opening line. It kind of reminds me of Juno at times. Especially with the sage little sister advising her much older and very idealistic brother in matters of love. Such patience LOL.

Oh there are other familiar faces from TV shows in the movie apart from the main actor. Reed from Criminal Minds appear as one of Tom's best friends and the female prosecutor from Bones is one of Tom's co-worker. Reed (or... actually I have no idea his character's name in this movie), is still so "Reed"-like in his earnest-nerdy kind of speaking LOL.

Definitely enjoyed this movie during lunch today. Plus, the soundtrack is kind of nice.

Shopping Again :D

2010-05-11T20:26:00.002+08:00

My order from acmamall.com finally arrived today. Hmm not bad. Took about a week since I ordered. Could've been faster. Not sure whether the difficulty in getting the order through to them was due to the internet or their system. To sum it up:

Order/Payment Process: Huge variety of products on their website plus some interesting offers. Ordering was easy, but paying was a hassle. Like I said, not sure whether it's caused by the connection or their system. But they do have a several ways to make a payment. I wanted to use my credit card, but ended up using CIMB Clicks instead.
Customer Service: Okay. Contacted them twice, and they answered the next day.
Time Taken to Delivery: 8 days. Posted from Hong Kong apparently, and using registered air mail.
Packaging: The product was not in its original box. However, it was wrapped tightly in bubblewrap and put in a box filled with styrofoam shaped like the number 3. Even had a white ribbon on top LOL.

On another note, bought a pair of coloured lenses from an online seller for a bargain - RM45 instead of I think RM80 as sold in Ampang Park. Supposed to be one of the long-lasting Korean ones - can last up to a year. Plus, it's supposed to make your eyes appear larger. Instead, I think they made my eyes look manga-ish since my pupils became so huge LOL. Haven't worn coloured lenses in a while and I forgot how drying they can be. Also, I felt like I had smudges at the corner of my vision especially in the first few minutes of wearing. I think the coloured portion of the lens intruded on my field of vision. It was annoying at times. On the other hand, the large size and the more "plasticky" material meant that I could take it out easily compared to my normal lenses. I have a feeling I'm going to fork out some money to buy my usual brand of lenses -___-

Eat, Watch and Spend~

2010-05-03T21:10:00.000+08:00

Well, been meaning to write this entry last weekend but got sidetracked into other things.

Eat: Dinner at Santini KLCC on Thursday with Yat. Been wanting to try it out since I read a food review. It's a bit "out of the way" i.e. not in our usual paths when shopping in KLCC because it's located outside KLCC. With a view of the fountain and KL skyline at dusk, it was actually quite nice. Even had a view of the office building :P However, since it's outside, the atmosphere was a bit noisy and made conversation difficult (or it could just be me with my hearing troubles :P). Portion-wise, it's a tad smaller than Delicious. Price is about the same. I had the Capellini Salmone - smoked salmon with capellini (kind of like angel hair spaghetti) and zucchini. The sauce was really creamy ~~gosh the calories!~~. Thank goodness I was actually hungry at that time. If not, it'd be such a waste. I think Yat had fettuccine with chicken and mushroom in creamy tomato sauce. Service was actually faster than Delicious, except when asking for the bill. They took ages to process my payment... Currently, CIMB/Direct Access cardholders are getting 10% off on food. Not sure when the promotion is ending though.

Watch: Iron Man2, or in Syafiq's wordy status - Ferus Homo Sapiens :P I love the witty dialogue and Robert Downey, Jr. pulled off the arrogant Tony Stark quite well. And Scarlett Johanssen was awesome as his PA/secret agent. Oh I didn't know that the director was actually the bumbling driver haha. But I was a bit disappointed with the actual showdown between Iron Man, his side kick and the villain. Too short and anti-climatic. The Easter Egg i.e. extra bits of trailer at the end after the credits were interesting. Definitely made me curious about the movie Avengers.

Spend: Metrojaya's warehouse sale in Shah Alam - large selection of bedsheets but limited selection of ladies' apparel, perfumes and makeups. I was hoping to bag some East India's skirts/kebaya tops like Nun's, but alas, not my luck. Only managed to get a compact powder and some tops. Plus a soft laptop cover in turqoise. All in all, a disappointment.

Twelve

2010-04-25T01:00:00.003+08:00

This book written by Jasper Kent has only one similarity with the much hyped about Twilight series - it's about vampires. That's as far as it goes because while Twilight focuses on the "forbidden love" between vampire!boy and human!girl, Twelve is about a human soldier hunting vampires.

I haven't read a lot of books set in Russia. In fact this would be my second one (the first was Night Watch). In both books, I found Russia painted to be very bleak, with especially harsh winters. But then, this is supposed to be Russia in 1812, a country at war with Napoleon. It wouldn't be right to paint Moscow as an idyllic summer retreat.

The story was divided into two parts and I think it flows well. The first part held me in suspense as the main character, Captain Aleksei, tries to discover the truth behind a band of soldiers the Russians have hired to help defeat the French. The second part is more about Aleksei becoming a vampire hunter, trying to destroy the threat against humanity.

Squeamish readers have to take note - there are several torture scenes described in great detail. One memorable scene in particular described how the vampires tortured their victim and deriving huge pleasure in it. Actually, I have no trouble in visualising this book as a horror movie with how descriptive the author was being.

On the whole, I find this a captivating read as it managed to keep me in suspense most of the time. The twist at the end also served to make it even more memorable in my mind.

Hello Again :P

2010-04-24T19:25:00.002+08:00

Why, hello there! I'm surprised if anyone is still reading this blog as I haven't updated since forever :P Lack of motivation to write I suppose. Plus, there's nothing interesting going on.

So under a fit of boredom, I decided to update my layout. It's back to blue, the same colour theme as my first layout. Tinkering with the layout did take a while, thus I'm leaving the header as it is. Kind of boring, I know but searching for a new header would definitely take a longer time.

I'm now wondering what will be the contents in the future. Should I stick to random ramblings again, with a dash of reviews here and there? Guess that depends on what will catch my fancy when I want to update :P Ah well, let's see how long it'll be till the next post yeah?

Anyway, yesterday I came back and was greeted with a parcel on the table. Eh? I definitely haven't shopped online lately - more like having my sister shop for me nowadays haha. So what a pleasant surprise it was when I discovered I've received two books by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games and its sequel which I can't remember right now. Have forgotten that I entered a contest in The Star about the two books LOL. Oh well, I've read positive reviews about the book and can't wait to start on them. Plus, I've recently bought Battle Royale (the novel). If I remember correctly, the two seems to have the same theme i.e. unlucky teenagers thrown into a contest for survival. I'd like to see the similarities and differences between the two.

Scotland

2008-04-14T09:22:00.002+08:00

Some pictures of Scotland.

Our first stop, Edinburgh -- Edinburgh Castle during the day.

Next, Stirling Castle, at dusk. I like the pictures because of the colours. The castle itself is nothing special.

One of the many stops during our drive to Inverness. We were actually cursing the engineers/planners of the road because all the stops before this had no clear view of the beautiful scenery LOL

Look, hairy cows! Highland cows, to be exact :D

The ruins of Urquhart Castle, overlooking Loch Ness. Shame the monster didn't come out :D

Another stop, this time on the way back from Inverness, on a different road. I think there's supposed to be Ben Navis in the picture - the tallest mountain in the UK.

I really like this picture!

A view from Aonach Mor. We took a mountain gondola up there. Lots of kids going up to ski and snowboard.

A waterfall beside the highway. One family even climbed down to play in the water LOL

We were lucky to have 2 DSLR cameras with us during the trip, Nikon D40 and Canon (which I don't remember the model). Those two are the main reason the pictures turn out great :D

2008-04-05T05:16:00.002+08:00

Oh, March has ended. So Alifah, how did I fare with the emo entries challenge? :P

Finally back in London. Guh I think my travelling bug is somehow still there. I'm itching to travel somewhere else. I don't know, maybe it's the daunting prospect of sitting alone in my room for the next 3-4 weeks? I don't have the mood to hit the books, even though I really should. I have no idea what I've been learning for the past two semesters D:

First, Scotland. Beautiful. Truly beautiful. I think I'd like to go to the Highlands again, if I have the chance. The natural scenery there was so breath-taking. The pictures we took turned up great because we had two amateur photographers with us. I really enjoyed the trip. My travelmates even had their own favourite theme for taking photos:

Arfah - jumping pictures (a couple turned up really great, bug her if you guys want to see)
Azrin - pictures of her taking pictures at almost every place we stopped!
Izi - Emo pics, suitable for those Salam Perantau sections haha

Me? Of course I had none LOL. I'm just happy ~~and too lazy to move~~ to just stand there and smile hahaha.

We were relatively lucky, because we had sunny days when we actually went sightseeing/cruising. It did rain though, but it only affected our tour of Glasgow.

Then, Prague. Another beautiful city. Actually, if I were to list down the top 3 beautiful places I recommend people to visit, they would be:

1. Salzburg
2. Prague
3. Scottish Highlands

Prague is a small town, but full of historic buildings. I guess that's the plus side of not being bombed during the two World Wars.

Berlin on the other hand, did not have that luxury. Most of their buildings were bombed during WWII. So most buildings are relatively new, except for a few. If you're going there, I recommend going for the free walking tour. It was really informative.

The weather in Prague and Berlin was really wacky. It alternated between sun, snow and rain in Prague, while it hailed in Berlin. Such a shock to us both (Ufah & I) because we thought it was normal rain when in fact, it was hail the size of marbles LOL.

Enough about my vacation. I don't think I'll be posting up pictures here unless people really want to see ~~which I don't think so~~. To those who know me, you know I rarely watch Malay movies/dramas except for ghost stories, right? Well, finally I did watch a Malay drama hahaha. In fact, I watched 7 episodes back to back while in Azrin's room. Unsurprisingly, the title of the series is Ghost LOL. Hey, what did you expect? I won't start watching Sindarela or Spa Q or whatever series that people are watching nowadays. The story is interesting (not that original, the idea has been seen before) but it's done with a Malaysian flavour. In fact, I love the fact that the actors switched between BM/BI so naturally throughout the drama. It's something that I can relate to. Also, like Arfah said, all the dialogues were 'selamba' LOL. The style leans toward Japanese dramas, with only 10 episodes; the earlier episodes were funny and it got darker and more serious as it progressed. Actually, I can't wait to watch the finale next week LOL.

Heh I should stop here. I think this is the first time in a long while since I wrote quite a long entry.

2008-03-13T04:26:00.003+08:00

手にした物は少なくない
のに　　いつも何かが足りない

The things I have in my hands are not few
But somehow, it's always not enough

These lines sum up humans nicely, don't you think?

I envy people who can express themselves eloquently, whether on paper or while talking. Especially while talking. I could never bring myself to talk a lot, except on certain things that really caught my interest. As a result, I think people have called me snobbish, or are scared of me haha. Even in writing, I find it hard to express my thoughts so that it flows well.

In conclusion, I fail at communication :P

Iryu: Team Medical Dragon

2008-02-23T06:52:00.005+08:00

Status: Seasons 1-2, both 11 episodes each, complete & subbed

Synopsis: This is a medical drama about a genius surgeon in cardiology, Asada Ryutaro and his quest to complete a team for performing outstanding surgeries. The first season revolves around Asada's return to Meishin Hospital and creating Team Dragon to perform a Batista surgery. The second season saw Asada being transferred to another hospital and his team broken up. He needed to create a new team almost from scratch, with the final goal being a heart transplant surgery. This drama is adapted from the manga, Team Medical Dragon which I believe is currently translated into Malay as well? Both dramas enjoyed high ratings and a few awards.

Eye-candies: Sakaguchi Kenji as Asada Ryutaro (not the usual 'pretty boy' type, if you know what I mean), Koike Teppei as his assistant, Ijyuuin Noboru, and Uchida Yuki as Kataoka Kazumi. Kanata Hongo and Yamamoto Yusuke also appeared as guests in Season 2.

Why you should watch: Here I'm primarily talking about Season 2. I've watched Season 1 a long time ago and can't recall that much haha. The story is brilliantly engaging, and the surgeries performed in this series were so dramatic, I guess to emphasize on the genius ability of Asada and his team. Among the surgeries done was one on an elderly patient during a total blackout where the surgeon had to perform under flashlights and the medical technician had to pump the heart and lung machine manually. Another one was on a patient with a very rare blood disease and there wasn't enough blood for transfusion. This time around, there were even diagrams and explanation for the surgeries, making it easier for people with non-medical background like me to understand the action.

Each new character was also pretty well-developed, getting enough background story to explain their characteristics and reluctance to join the team. Even Noguchi the antagonist's background was explained and he was made to appear as a human who buried his conscience a long time ago in his quest to rise to the top.

To sum it up, I like this drama because of the story and the casts. If you have a liking for medical dramas, then this certainly should be on your to-watch list.

I just realized 2008 is a leap year...

2008-02-02T08:13:00.000+08:00

So I'm a month late, but still, happy new year, everyone! This picture was our failed attempt (touched up by PS CS2 :P) during New Year. One of the best New Year I've ever had. Hmm I don't think people still visit this blog? Or do they? I've kinda lost the motivation to post here, mainly concentrating on lj. Even that is also sporadic haha.

Oh well, so what have I been up to for the past few months? Sat for exams, graduated, came back as a student again, stuck without net for 2 months... basically that's about it. Pretty much nothing interesting I guess. I didn't even go anywhere for the winter holidays, holing up at home, with my laptop and the internet as company. Pathetic ain't it? Shows how much of a mouse potato I am haha. Don't worry though, I have my Easter break planned out, plus a lot of extra time to spare as well.

I watched 2 interesting movies recently. One is Sweeney Todd, and the other is Juno. First up, Sweeney Todd. I love this movie to bits. Tim Burton managed to capture the greyness and grime that is London. Johnny Depp is wonderful as Sweeney Todd. I was surprised that he could sing quite well. Helena Bonham Carter was good too. One thing that had me laughing was not a scene from the movie though. It's the fact that Snape and Wormtail was in the movie, and they sang ahaha.

Now, Juno. This movie has some of the wittiest lines ever. Seriously. I haven't had such fun watching a teen movie. Even the soundtrack fits the movie so well. So quirky! The opening song keeps playing in my head. Juno actually manage to treat a heavy topic like teenage pregnancy and adoption lightly (not lightly lightly, but lightly funny? Ah, whatever...)

Darn, I think I haven't been writing for so long that I lost my skills at writing a decent entry. Not that I had that much to begin with...

Exams...

2007-05-11T23:01:00.000+08:00

15 MAY 2007 ST302 Stochastic Processes
17 MAY 2007 ST306 Actuarial Mathematics - General
22 MAY 2007 ST304 Time Series & Forecasting
24 MAY 2007 ST300 Regression & Generalised Linear Models
29 MAY 2007 ST330 Stochastic & Actuarial Methods in Finance
05 JUN 2007 ST305 Actuarial Mathematics - Life

Aaahh banyaknya papers!

1LoT SP

2007-04-07T06:17:00.000+08:00

Hmm time for another random update of the month. Just for fun:

Asou-kun being emo

Is now replaced by Asou-sensei being emo

Ooops... can't really see the white doctor's coat ^^;;

Anyway, just so that you guys know Asou-kun is not that gloomy all the time

That is if you can see him amidst all those colours LOL

Only 2 weeks left for the holiday. Not really productive in terms of studying. But quite productive in terms of reading novels. I finally managed to finish a couple of books I've been reading. Borrowed some from Aida & housemates, bought new ones from Amazon. Let's see how long this reading stretch can last...

Another litre of tears?

2007-03-09T07:11:00.000+08:00

Hm I know some people would be happy to read this piece of news. A special one episode drama (something like a made-for-tv movie) of 1 Litre of Tears will be shown this 5th April. This time, Asou-kun is already a neurosurgeon and he recounts Aya's story to one of his patient. Haa sambung la menangis lagi satu liter kan :P

Exams. Coursework. Meeting.

Daikirai desu.

Kawaii~

2007-03-02T06:36:00.000+08:00

Kawaii deshou?

Girl? Boy? You decide haha.

Book meme

2007-02-14T03:03:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I got an extra day of holiday. Other universities closed down due to heavy snow,
but mine closed down due to a blackout haha. I was a bit pissed off because I had to queue
for my travel card. If I had known there would be no class, I'd have slept in.

Anyway, my point for this post is a book meme. Just for my own personal record. Here it is:

~~Bold the ones you've read~~ (Since I don't think the bold function would show up well in this blog, I'm going to put # instead), italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won't touch with a 10 foot pole, underline the ones on your book shelf, and *asterisk the ones you've never heard of*.

#1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)#
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
#5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)#
#6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)#
#7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)#
#8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)#
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)*
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)*
#11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)#
#12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)#
#13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)#
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
#16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)#
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)*
~~18. The Stand (Stephen King)~~
#19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)#
#20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)#
#21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)#
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
#23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)#
#24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)#
#25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)#
26. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
#27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)#
#28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)#
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
#30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)#
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)*
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)*
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) *
#40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)#
#41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) #
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
#43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)#
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
#47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)#
#48. Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)#
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She's Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)*
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)*
#57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)#
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)*
59. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) *
#60. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)#
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
#64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)#
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)*
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brahares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
#70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)#
71. Bridget Jones' Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)*
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
#75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)#
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)*
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)*
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence) *
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)*
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
#84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)#
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)*
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)*
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)*
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)*
#90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)#
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)*
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
#95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)#
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)*
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)*
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)*
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Nodame Cantabile

2007-01-09T01:45:00.000+08:00

Status: 11 episodes (completed)

Synopsis: Chiaki is a talented musician in Momogaoka College of Music. He is a pianist, but in reality, he wants to be a conductor. However, a fear of flying has prevented him from pursuing his desire to be with his mentor, a famous conductor in Prague. His neighbour is Noda Megumi, a talented but lazy pianist who actually wants to become a kindergarten teacher.
One day, Chiaki blew up at his teacher and as a result, he had to change and share a teacher with Nodame. So a romantic comedy begins...

Eye-candies: Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi, Eita as Mine Ryutarou, Ueno Juri as Noda Megumi(Nodame)

Why you should watch: This drama is absolutely hilarious. It's special effects are truly "manga-like", especially Nodame's "Gyabo~". Another thing that had me laughing hard was Chiaki's facial expressions. He can really come up with outrageous faces hahah... Nodame's love rival(s) were equally hilarious. There's Masami with his Afro-hair (yes, Chiaki attracted male admirers hahah) & a new guy who I can't remember his name. Their attempts to gain Chiaki's attention are so funny haha...

Apart from that, the setting is pretty interesting. This is the first time I've watched something so 'musical'. They had an orchestra and the actors were also playing instruments e.g. piano (Chiaki & Nodame), violin (Mine & Kiyora), timpani etc.

Chiaki was played very well by Tamaki. He looked totally different from his previous roles. Cool, proud and very controlled. He's talented, can cook and can clean the house. Though a bit conceited, he actually cares about the people around him. I think Chiaki would make a perfect boyfriend haha... Ueno also pulled it off quite well. The strange accent and klutzy character made Nodame much more interesting to watch.

And if you really enjoyed this drama, don't forget to watch Tamaki and Ueno as guests on Bistro SMAP, where they had to judge food cooked by members of SMAP (which includes Kimura Takuya haha -- download if you wanna see Takuya cooking :P). Tamaki's reaction was hilarious! And Ueno, she sometimes talked like her character, Nodame hahaha...

Sidenote: HYD2 has started! F4 certainly has become much better after a year haha. *coughruiandsoujiroucough* And Toma/Junpei was great! 15 episodes for this season, I wonder if I have enough space --;;

Answers

2007-01-05T00:20:00.000+08:00

I'm testing a new Opera widget. Hmm seems to come in handy.

I guess it's time for the answers. Hahah I'm really not in the mood to keep my blog updated, but I guess I owe everyone answers to the meme right?

So, the wrong 'facts' are:
2. I enjoy watching Survivor.
No. The only reality show I watch is The Amazing Race.

6. Pink is my favourite colour.
It's blue.

13. I don't drink coffee.
I do. Only not that often. Usually when I have classes at 9 a.m.

15. I listen to music when I work.
Nope. I usually work in silence.

16. I know how to bake cookies.
Obviously not :P

Hmm I guess that's it. I'll make another post about Nodame later. Anyway, I'm getting excited about HYD2 which begins tomorrow. And I heard it's going to be a 2-hour opening episode? \(^^)/

Meme

2006-11-17T06:02:00.000+08:00

Got tagged on LJ, but since I haven't updated here in quite a while, I'll post this up here too.

1. Think of 15 short statements of interesting stuff about yourself. And they have to be true.
2. Come up with 5 false statements regarding yourself, but for fun's sake keep them in the threshold of believability.
3. Jumble them all up together and list them in any order.
4. Post them and let people guess which the five false ones are!
5. Get 5 others to do the same.

THE 2O FACTS MEME

1. I used to play gamelan
2. I enjoy watching Survivor
3. I adore Akanishi Jin
4. I love sour tasting ice cream
5. I've never been to Thailand
6. Pink is my favourite colour
7. Green is definitely not my favourite colour
8. I try to be punctual most of the time
9. CSI is on my must-watch tv series list
10. I don't like curry
11. People laugh when I tell them what my name means
12. Maybe I sleep too much
13. I don't drink coffee
14. I know some Japanese & French
15. I listen to music when I work
16. I know how to bake cookies
17. I like horror movies
18. I think Terry Pratchett is awesome
19. Addicted to chocolate
20. I used to be good in art

OK, time to guess!

I'm tagging my housemates, Arfah, Alifah, Yatie & anyone else who wants to do this...

--------------------------------

Anyone here watches Dexter? Strange & a bit disturbing...

Thursdays

2006-10-13T12:39:00.000+08:00

Argh I hate Thursdays. Not only because of my packed timetable (10-7 hishh)... but it seems bad things also like to happen on Thursdays? Hahaha...

Putting that aside, I seem to have a renewed interest in anime. I'm currently in the progress of watching several animes -

1. Perfect Girl Evolution a.k.a. Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge - 4 guys try to makeover a girl in exchange for free rent. THe girl in question is very strange & loves dark places+horrific things e.g. skeletons, animals in jars etc. The manga was very funny but the anime's a bit disappointing. Drawings are not as good as Ouran.

2. Kanon - Very beautiful drawings. This is a remake, but I haven't watched the original so I don't really know what the story's about. Something about a boy with amnesia? Originally watched this because my favourite seiyuu - Tomokazu Sugita - is in it.

3. Negima?! - Another remake. This time about a 10-year-old boy with magical abilities who became a teacher. This time around, the drawings + storyline are better. More serious than the original one.

4. Saiunkoku Monogatari a.k.a. Tale of the Land of Many Coloured Clouds - Bishounens abound in this tale about a girl trying to tutor a young emperor. Definitely addictive (I swear it's not just about the bishies hahaha).

5. Death Note - Actually haven't started watching this, but I'm planning to because I want to see what's the hype all about.

6. Pumpkin Scissors - Strange title indeed. Even stranger when I find out that it's a name for a military unit formed to handle complaints after a ceasefire was attained (kinda like military police I guess?). Main character is mysterious enough to make me want to watch the rest just to find out more about him.

7. Honey & Clover - Still in Season 1. Season 2 finished not too long ago. Another anime with beautiful drawings & interesting characters. Revolves around the lives of several university students staying in an old apartment complex.

Hmm I think that's about it. Then there're the usual tv series that I've been following - CSI, CSI:NY, Grey's Anatomy, Numb3rs, Supernatural, Medium, The Amazing Race... I've decided to drop Lost (still haven't finished season 2), Prison Break (stuck in Season 1) & Desperate Housewives (stopped early last season). Waah byknye mender aku layan haha. And this doesn't include upcoming jdoramas... Need to find time to actually study! Hahaha...

MyBoss, MyHero

2006-08-29T04:07:00.000+08:00

Status: Currently airing (7 out of probably 11 episodes)

Synopsis: Sakaki Makio is the 27-year-old son of a Yakuza boss. He's strong, fights really well and always lucky in gambling. However, he's extremely stupid. I say extremely because he doesn't even know how to write his own name and whether 25+5+5>27 which resulted in a huge loss to the group. His father decided to send him back to school by threatening that if he doesn't graduate from school, he'll never be the boss. So begins his life as a 17-year-old kid in a private (and a tad wacky) high school called St. Agnes.

Eye-candies: Nagase Tomoya as Sakaki Makio, Tegoshi Yuya as Sakurakoji Jun, Aragaki Yui as Umemura Hikari

Why you should watch: This drama is absolutely hilarious! Lawak cam hape je haha. If you're looking for something to cheer you up, this is it. The story's a bit outrageous and the scenes are sometimes over the top, but as long as it makes me laugh, I don't care. One scene has Makio dressed as a 'power ranger' and inhaling laughing gas to change his voice. Another has him flying across buildings just for the sake of pudding (The whole school is totally obsessed with pudding).

Aside from humour, this story does has some lessons for the viewers (like any other J-doramas). Each episode shows how Makky learns new things, rediscovers his youth etc. So it's not totally pointless.

Nagase plays his role quite well. The various outrageous facial expressions he came up with hahah... Another plus point - Nagase himself sang the ending song, Sorafune. I'm currently addicted to this song hhaha...

Oh, this drama is actually based on a Korean movie with the same title. I don't know how well this drama corresponds to the movie since I haven't watched it, but most probably only the base storyline is the same.

Lady In The Water

2006-08-03T21:42:00.000+08:00

Time for my sporadic update haha..

I like this movie! Definitely enjoyed this more than Superman Returns. But then, people say I have strange taste in movies haha. It's a bedtime story with a twist. And it's not a bedtime story I've heard before. Oh well, in this movie, the only person who knew the bedtime story was a Korean haha.

Revolves around Story, a narf (water fairy?), and the caretaker of a flat, Mr. Heep. Story needs to find someone & awaken him/her... Err I don't really know how to explain this LOL. Basically she's on a quest, and Heep decides to help her. When her quest succeeded, she wants to go back, but a rogue scrunt (ugly wolf-like beast) decides to attack her and she fails to return home. So Heep decides to help her out by enlisting help from various tenants. Come to think of it, it's like the usual fantasy story with a hero setting out on a quest and receives help from various people along the way. It's just that this takes place in our normal, everyday world instead of some ancient world with elves and hobbits in it.

There were scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat - whenever the scrunt appears. And there were scenes that had me ROFL. I mean, a translator who reads signs on cereal boxes? How funny is that?

Interestingly, the director also acted in this movie, instead of just doing cameos like in his previous movies... Betulla ape aku cakap alifah..tu director die haha

Tiger & Dragon

2006-06-18T01:09:00.000+08:00

Status: 11 Episodes (complete & subbed) + 1 special episode(subbed)

Synopsis: This award winning drama series tells the story of a yakuza[Japanese mafia] member Toraji, whose job was collecting debts. He encountered Ryu, a clothing store owner who's also the estranged son of a rakugo story teller[rakugo is the art of telling Japanese comedy stories while sitting down i.e. sit-down comedy]. He decided to quit yakuza and learn rakugo. However, there's one problem. He looked so scary that people were afraid to laugh at him. Plus, his jokes were always lame. Finding the rakugo stories 'old' and incomprehensible[well, he's a bit of a baka haha], he decided to tell rakugo using his own style. He modified the stories to fit in with modern times & events that happened around him.

Eye-candies: Nagase Tomoya as Toraji [He's the bumbling guy masquearading as a cool singer in Mukodono], Okada Junichi as Ryu...

Why you should watch: This is a unique drama. Who would expect that it actually contains elements of traditional Japanese culture? I certainly enjoyed watching how the writer managed to modify the traditional rakugo stories to fit in with modern times. Each episode is about one rakugo story intertwined with events happening in Toraji's life. Basically, you get two version of the story. The traditional one, and the modern yakuza-flavoured version as told by Toraji. It does help that the events are usually hilarious and the dialogues are funny.

I think this drama is not everyone's cup of tea. But give it a try. When have you ever watched something that is educational yet funny at the same time? heh this was one of the few dramas that I managed to watch twice. [An incredible feat considering I've only finished 50% of the drama series that I started..]

@ Arfah - Ader rumours Tiger & Dragon 2!

Soccer?

2006-06-16T12:14:00.000+08:00

Surprised? Suddenly I have the urge to write updates. We'll see how long I can keep this up.

Well, since World Cup is going on right now, this is the obligatory post regarding the tournament.. Forgive my limited knowledge of football, but this matter seems to be stuck in my head since yesterday.

Soccer - only the Americans would call this game as soccer. They use football for a game where they don't even play with their feet? Hahah.. Somebody tell me why they are ranked 5th?[Only knew about this yesterday..] Ahead of teams like Spain, Germany, Italy and even England?

Read HERE and be amused. Go read the comments for more insights into American's view on soccer. Hahaha I have to admire their sense of patriotism[Or is it a case of being too full of themselves? Or showing their blatant ignorance of the game?]. I don't think Malaysians would be thinking like that IF we made it to the World Cup. Well, this was before they were beaten 3-0 by the Czechs.

And read HERE for a more hilarious take into watching World Cup in the US.

Random trivia - Did you know FIFA has more members than the United Nations? Kohfi Annan even wished that the UN would be more like the World Cup [from an article in NST..can't remember when..].

Termites attack...

2006-06-15T22:15:00.000+08:00

AAaaaaaarghh... Termites attacked my books!!! I hate termites! Luckily, those books were not the latest ones. Mainly a bunch of kiddies stuff..but still, I love my books. And a LOT of them were eaten/destroyed. It's like an entire wall of books..Those who have seen them would know how many books there were. Urgh...now I have to rebuild my collection again...

Home~

2006-06-14T23:37:00.000+08:00

Home at last... No jetlag this time around. Could be because my sleeping pattern was already screwed up even before I stepped on that plane... Talking about planes, I really enjoyed flying with SIA. Their in-flight entertainment was superb. The first thing I did when I got to my seat was to grab the in-flight magazine..60+ movies? Heh I wish I had slept the night before. I think I managed to watch 5 movies? Fell asleep thru a couple of them. Ouh and SIA kept serving us food & drinks. Sandwiches, apples, TimeOut bars...Journey back was delayed a couple of hours due to a missed connection. But hey, every cloud has a silver lining right? And the silver lining this time turns out to be a breakfast voucher worth SGD8.50. Might not sound like much, but we did have a hard time trying to use it up hahah..

Among the movies I watched were

Pink Panther - Good for laughs. Think 'Senario'. That's the kind of comedy I think this movie delivers.

Summertime Machine Blues [or something like that] - Japanese flick about high school kids who found a time machine in their clubhouse. Interesting? Maybe.

Ultraviolet - Sci-fi flick about mutants i.e. humans with homophages disease, turning them into some kind of vampire. Not that interesting, but the fight scenes did keep me awake.

The Professor and His Beloved Equation - My favourite out of the 5. About a maths professor with a memory of only 80 minutes. Told from the viewpoint of his housekeeper's son. The professor fueled his love for maths. I found out lots of interesting maths facts from the movie. [haha I sound like a geek :P].

Hoodwinked - Spoof animation on Red Riding Hood. Funny. Gave a twist to the classic fairy tale we used to read as children. Red Riding Hood is a cookies delivery girl, the grandmother is an extreme sport freak, the wolf is an investigative journalist, and the woodcutter is a wannabee advertisement actor..

And I watched X-MEN The Last Stand today with my sister. So-so. Previous installments were better. I wanna see Gambit! Angel is a bit funny/weird? Urgh they made us stay 10 minutes for the credits to end, and the extra scene was like 1 minute? heh...

To my housemates, THANK YOU!! So sweet of you guys to give me early birthday presents!

Yay! Spain won 4-0!

Finals and Finales...

2006-06-02T04:54:00.000+08:00

Yeay! I'm done with my exams! What a relief. Now I can go back to my daily activities i.e. watching stuff on my laptop without any guilt haha
The papers were tough..Urgh I don't even want to think about it..

Finale season is here. I think all the series I've been following had their season finales during my exams. Hish..

Amazing Race - They DID go to Japan at last! Hahah Yat and I have been wondering whether they'd go to Japan or not, and voila~ Final leg was in Japan! I'm glad the hippies managed to win this season. We were rooting for them from the start. The frat boys were annoying at times. What's up with their mission to sleep with girls? I doubt it was successful.

Medium[I doubt anyone else is watching this] - Hmm nice finale. Kind of a 'what might have been' episode. It's like an alternate universe altogether where Allison ignored her powers and me a successful lawyer. What intrigued me most in this story is, even though she followed a different path, she still ended up with Joe[her husband in the series]..Hmmm are the writers trying to say that if he/she is your soulmate, you'll find him/her no matter what?

CSI - Huh? <-- that was my expression when I finished watching the finale. Since when? Hahah it was quite a surprise. No, this has nothing to do with any of the cases they were working on. They showed the personal side of Grissom. I bet you guys would be surprised. On second thought, I should have seen it coming. It was not a secret after all about somebody's attraction to him hahah...

CSI:NY - Hummm can't remember much about the finale. Something about a schizophrenic bomber in NY? I prefer the episode where they showed what happened to Aidan. An apt ending for a character I guess.

Grey's Anatomy - One of my favourite finale. I hate it at the same time because this just made me impatient for the next season. To gamble her career and internship for her love... and for her chance at happiness to slip out of her grasp when it was so close... that was so cruel... And Meredith still can't make up her mind? Come on!

Lost, Prison Break, Supernatural & Numb3rs are still on my laptop waiting to be watched..Those would probably be in my future entries, if I can be bothered to write about them hahah..

Hmm I'm currently watching a concert. Nice touch when they played old videos of the singer and he sang along to the videos. Kinda like he was singing with himself? Haha I'm bad at description...If anyone's wondering, it's the actor who played Asou-kun haha..

Exams~

2006-05-14T21:42:00.000+08:00

Looks like everyone's putting up their timetable on the web...This should suffice as an update until the end of my exams..

16 May - AC100(accounting) & MA201(algebra) : Crazy! They want us to do 2 papers in a day? There's only 1 hour gap between these 2. Aihhh giler2..

18 May - MA200 (calculus)

25 May - ST227(survival models) : Uhh note the long gap with the previous paper..

31 May - ST202 (probability distribution & inference)

1 June - ST226 (actuarial investigation) : Heh 2 days in a row....But who cares? It's the final one!

Sooo....Good luck everyone!

New Layout

2006-04-18T22:09:00.000+08:00

Fixed some broken links. So I think everything should be OK.

What do you think of the new layout? Hahaha the result of a boring afternoon and trying to postpone my studying. Darn. I did manage to open my stats exercise, but I couldn't even answer the first question. That should motivate me to study right? Hahah instead it send me back to the laptop. Adoi..Memang QoP lah kan..

Anyone wants to see Ryo a.k.a. Asou-kun doing archery?

Birthday Wishes

2006-04-16T21:14:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to these 2 gals

Alifah - Hahah my current partner in crime :P

Kodok - My old deskmate. Miss your sharp tongue [but you can't beat me :P]

------

Hmmm I seem to be procrastinating too much. I could be crowned the Queen of Procrastination haha. Haven't started any revision. I could even procrastinate watching drama episodes ok :P

10 Strange Things We Did in Austria

2006-04-04T20:15:00.000+08:00

WARNING: Seriously long post with lots of pics..Pity to those on dial up haha..

1. Visited the Vienna Zoo
Seriously..We did visit the zoo. It's because it was situated in the Schonbrunn Palace grounds. The weather was nice, the sun glaring brightly. Luckily I brought my sunglasses along, so I was the only one not squinting hahah..

Layen & lion

New species found at the zoo!

To those who watched Hana Yori Dango..Remember the date at the zoo?

Arfa trying to kiss the frog prince

2. Rode a rollercoaster
Yes, we did!

3. Rode the rollercoaster in the rain
Hahah this is one of the crazy things we did on this trip. The rain was pelting our face and it was painful. Yat: Can't even scream because the water would then get in the mouth.. But it was fun. Aida, you missed out on this experience!

4. Climbed a 500+m hill when there was a funicular[cable car?] available
Yes, we are crazy. But the view from the top of the hill was worth it. We came down by funicular though..

That's the fortress on top of the hill in Salzburg

View from the fortress

5. Climbed the same hill again during the rain and at dusk
To enjoy the scenery again heheh..I think we did lots of climbing on this trip haha..Good exercise indeed..

Salzburg at night

6. Ate lots of new and strange Austrian food. Some were delicious, some were not hahah
Austria has lots of cafes. And they seem to have lots of chocolates and deserts[is this the correct one heheh]

At the cafe named Aida[yes, Aida has her own chain of cafes there :P] with Julia

Apfelstrudel with hot vanilla sauce *yum*

Sachertorte - Rich chocolate cake *yum*

Knudel or something - Dumpling shaped ice cream with something in the middle and coated with nuts..mine is chocolate with vanilla inside..

The famous kasnockerl hahahah - smells like old socks..Really! Even the hostel receptionist warned us about the smell. The secret to eating this is putting lots of pepper on top hahaha..

7. Found a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow
Here's the rainbow

And here's the leprechaun

8. Went drinking at the pub
Hey, it's free..and you know we Malaysians can't resist free stuff right? :P

And this is our drinks

Don't worry..it's just orange soda..

9. Worked behind a bar to pay for our board
Coz we ran out of money...Austria is so darn expensive..

NOT! heheh We're making Maggi..the bartender told us to get the hot water ourselves :P

10. Searched and found durians at the Vienese market
Hahah of all the places to search for durians, we did it in Vienna. Luckily we did find one. But no one remembered to take a picture! It was sold at 10euros per kg. We didn't do it for fun. Julia[the girl in one of the pics above] wanted us to show her which one is the durian fruit and she planned to buy it later..

So that's the end of the entry. Maybe I'll post some more scenery pics. Or maybe I won't [My laziness is well known kan..hahaha]

happyhappyhappy..

2006-03-22T00:41:00.000+08:00

Finally..22.3 is here...I like Butterfly haha..

Prison Break continues...

Please ignore this entry..hahah..

Uncertainty

2006-03-09T05:42:00.000+08:00

Ish..what the hell is an uncertainty matrix? I don't understand a thing +_+

Yeay! One more week to go before the holidays! 2 more weeks to go before 22.3! 3 more weeks before Austria! And oh how many weeks actually before Alton Towers?

Since I don't have any idea for another survey, anyone interested in a random clip? This is not as interesting as the last one though..but the music is better. And some of you might actually recognise someone in this hahah..Oh hmm maybe I could put that up as a survey question..

Do you recognise anyone in this clip?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/w39wn0

*I'm addicted to Sayaendou..and the song's about peas hahaha*

Results..

2006-03-02T07:53:00.000+08:00

Not about any exam results k.. this is about the previous survey I did [refer to previous post la]

Haha nothing surprising about the result. Obviously most of you think they were gay [around 80%]. My opinion? They were doing what I'd call 'fanservice'. From what I've read around, apparently this is not an unusual thing. Especially in Japan. This means my answer would probably be no.2 [but I did not vote in that poll ok :P].
They are entertainers and that's what they do. They entertain the audience, and if the audience like to see that kind of act, they'll put it up for show.

Kasihan uchi hahahhaha....

random survey..please comment

2006-02-20T06:34:00.000+08:00

Ok..here's a clip. Download, watch and comment. What do you think? I really want to know

Mysterious Clip

Must comment when you've watched it!

Added: Oh you can just answer this poll if you're too lazy to comment..but I really want to know the reason for your answer..so if possible, comment please..

-survey closed-

Happy birthday!

2006-02-14T21:13:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday Arfah!

Lucky for you, it's the easiest date to remember haha..

Urmm updates? Too lazy to write about..

Watch Grey's Anatomy 17+18!!

Happy New Year

2006-01-30T02:52:00.000+08:00

A happy new year to all chinese & muslim friends.

I got a piece of good news today.. wahah just a great start to a new year..

Goong [Palace]

2006-01-27T06:27:00.000+08:00

Status: 16-20? episodes, still airing..latest episode is no.6

Synopsis: How would you feel when you overhear a guy's marriage proposal being turned down, and then finding out that that's your future husband? You'd probably freak out.. That's what happened to Chaegyung. She overheard Shin, the crown prince of Korea, proposing to Hyorin, his secret girlfriend. A few days later, she was told that due a promise between her grandfather and the old king of Korea, she has to marry the crown prince. Initially reluctant, both of them agreed to the proposal with different motivations. Life as a 'Cinderella' begins for Chaegyung, but can she have the same happy ending?

Eye-candies: YUL! haha :P Shin, Hyorin

Why you should watch this: Totally different from 1Litre, this drama is light hearted and fun to watch. Sometimes it reminds me of Hana Yori Dango because the heroine is a feisty, middle-class girl thrown in to mix with the upper-class of society. CG's actions are so fun to watch [sometimes bordering on stupidity - 'could you believe that girl is the crown princess' acts]. Throw in some conspiracy from the family of the ex-future king[he died in an accident-so his wife and son lost lots of things] to gain their rights, you get a mix of comedy, romance and intrigue. Plus, you get to see them wearing Korean traditional costumes most of the time [the headpieces looks uncomfortable..] and learn a bit about the royal traditions. Since Korea is now a republic, I'm not sure how accurate this would be, but I guess the writer would have researched this before writing the manhwa. [yep..this drama is again an adaptation. This time from a famous Korean manhwa with the same title]

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha

2006-01-10T09:01:00.000+08:00

mm watched Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 2 just now. What a way to celebrate raya :p . The story's a bit confusing. Have to concentrate when watching to get what's actually happening. Funny bits here and there. Especially liked the scene with Aznil haha..

Finished reading Ring by Koji Suzuki a couple of days ago. Not bad. The phrases are a bit .. I dunno how to say this.. plain? The beginning's a bit slow, but the pace picked up after the main character watched the video. I'd say the movie creeps me out more. Still haven't finished watching the tv drama version. But from what I've seen, the drama stays a bit more true to the book [as in the main character is a male reporter named Asakawa]. I've only watched 2 episodes, so the comments have to be reserved until I finish watching the rest of the drama. Planning to read the sequel to the book - Spiral, soon.

Maybe I'll update on my winter vacation in Italy when I have the time and the will to write the entry. Tried uploading the pics to my fotopages, but the upload speed was terribly slow. So I abandoned the idea.

Anyway, a happy new year to all~

1 Rittoru no Namida

2005-12-13T08:38:00.000+08:00

1 Litre of Tears
Status: 11? episodes, still airing.

Synopsis: This is the story of 15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya who was diagnosed with Spinocerebellar Atrophy[did I spell that correctly? hmmm...] and her struggle to continue her life as normal as possible. The disease causes her to lose control of her body, leading to difficulty in walking, talking and even swallowing. This is based on a true story, published in a book under the same title, It was written by a girl who suffered from the same disease and died at the age of 25. At the end of each episodes, there would be pictures of the writer with her friends and family during various stages of her life. The series is also peppered with quotes from the book.

Eye candy: Ikeuchi Aya[Sawajiri Erika], Asou Haruto[Nishikido Ryo], Dr. Mizuno[Fujiki Naohito]

Why you should watch: If you like tearjerker stories, this one is for you. It's touching and heart-wrenching at the same time when you see how hard Aya tries to lead a normal life... How she continues to go to a normal high school eventhough she had to use a wheelchair... How she had to give up a lot of things because of the disease...And she faced it all with a smile on her face. I think Sawajiri Erika did a good job in potraying Aya. And this is her first drama if I'm not mistaken. If you do decide to watch this drama, prepare a box of tissues nearby. It'll come in handy :P

Happy Birthday Rog!

2005-12-07T08:14:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the 21st year of your life!

Ouch..

2005-11-27T09:38:00.000+08:00

Ergh my feet hurts..All because of playing dance mat for how long? 3 hours? wahah and I am still the worst student of Cikgu Dina..What a great way to exercise :p

Thanks Dina, Aida, Baby & Mimi for the fun afternoon!

Hooked on TV

2005-11-17T07:39:00.000+08:00

I won't update about the raya celebrations. It's been done by everyone. Plus I haven't got any pictures to share..
I'd rather update on the current shows I'm watching. Hishh..got hooked on a couple of new shows..Well, almost the whole flat is currently glued to the screen every evening after dinner :p

1. Prison Break
A new show in the US about Michael, who purposely got himself into prison for the purpose of breaking his brother out of the prison. He believes his brother, who is on the death row for killing the Vice President's brother, to be innocent. This guy's one brilliant strategist and he has planned their escape well. But no plan is ever perfect. There're bound to be hitches sometime. Nonetheless, he's pretty confident of his plan because he helped design the prison hahah...This show stars Wentworth Miller[the younger brother in Dinotopia] as Michael. isk..that's the only name I could remember..heheh..Pretty interesting because we know he's a good guy who had to mix with the bad guys to get things done. There's conspiracy working in the background as well to keep you wondering who really killed the VP's brother..

2. Supernatural
Another show about brothers. This time Dean[Jensen Ackles] and Sam[Dean in Gilmore Girls] are brothers trying to find their missing father and their mother's killer. At the same time, they work as 'ghostbusters', killing evil and help protect other innocent people. People who don't know that they should be afraid of the dark because there are real monsters. One line said by Sam goes something like "When I said to Dad there's a monster in my closet, he gave me a 9mm." So far, I've watched 2 episodes and each one's like watching a short horror movie. The 1st was the scaries so far, maybe because it reminded me of one of the ghost stories we often hear back home...The show got me hooked because I want to find out what thing killed their mother, and what other ghost stories that the director can come up with..It also helped that the 2 brothers are kakkoi :p

3. Amazing Race 8
This one's the family edition. 10 teams of 4 compete against each other for $1M. It's supposed to be a race around the world, but so far they're still racing in the US. Which is pretty boring because one of the main reason I watch this show is because of the participants visit to other foreign countries. But I'd still watch to see whether they do get out of the US. Plus, they have some cameos by past seasons' participants...

4. Hana Yori Dango
Well, looks like I got the whole flat hooked on this series..Now all of us would be waiting impatiently for the next episodes..and the subtitles as well.. Arfa pon dah terpengaruh..haha..

Hmm..that's 4...and then there's the usual staple of CSI, CSI:NY and Desperate Housewives episodes to watch..And I'm still mulling over watching Medium. I watched the 1st season, and I'd like to see what happens in the 2nd one..but it looks like I've got a lot on my plate for now..

Selamat Hari Raya!

2005-11-02T12:25:00.000+08:00

Wishing all muslims a happy eid this Thursday[or whatever day you're celebrating..]

Maaf zahir batin..

Nak kuih raya...duit raya..ketupat..rendang..lemang.. haha...

Hana Yori Dango

2005-10-23T11:43:00.000+08:00

Ever heard of the Taiwanese series Meteor Garden? It was quite famous a couple of years back. Did you know it was based on a Japanese manga called Hana Yori Dango? Well, it looks like there's now a Japanese version of the drama as well. Currently airing in Japan, this drama stars Matsumoto Jun, Mao Inoue, Oguri Shun etc. [Those are the only names that I could remember hahah]

I've read the manga, but I haven't watched MG. So I can only make the comparison with the manga. So far so good. The story sticks to the manga. The actors & actresses seems to potray the character as depicted in the manga. And it has quite a good theme song as well.. the christmassy Wish sung by Arashi.

What's this story about? Well, to summarise, it's actually the love story between Makino Tsukushi and Domyouji Tsukasa. Tsukasa's the leader of F4, the rulers[or more accurately, the flowers- Flower4] of Eitoku Gakuen. Tsukushi hates her school and went up against Tsukasa when he tried to bully her friend. As a result, Tsukushi's high school life turned to hell as she was 'red-tagged' by F4. Unexpectedly, the bratty and baka Tsukasa began to fall in love in with Tsukushi, while Tsukushi has a secret crush on Hanazawa Rui[the cool member of F4].

This manga is funny because of the ways Tsukasa tried to win Tsukushi's heart. But it also has some endearing and heartwarming moments. Not to forget the fact that it has some moral lessons as well. The heroine is also not some brainless bimbo, but a strong willed and determined girl. I think that's what make it different from other shoujo mangas. The art in this story gets better at the end. You can actually see the difference quite clearly. Compare the drawings in the first volume and the last. Heh..it's totally different.

Back to the drama, Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui is totally cool hahah.. Inoue played Tsukushi quite well. And Matsujun..haha I can only laugh at his hairstyle..but his acting is not bad. The settings and costumes in this drama is also good. They really dressed the students up in branded goods[Omega watches, Chanel handbags etc] and have them drive expensive cars. Must have got lots of companies to sponsor them heh..Oh and I love the scene where Tsukushi punched Tsukasa..ahaha..

hmm?

2005-10-22T08:57:00.000+08:00

You Are 60% Boyish and 40% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch.
Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes.
You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them.
You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

apeni?? hahaha...

Finally able to log in to my blog account..got this test from yatie's blog. Did a lot of other tests, but the results are not as interesting as this one..haha..

Oh yea, I noticed I've been tagged by Dina..

7 things I plan to do before I die
1. bertaubat - seriously..what else would you do..
2. be a millionaire - don't think this is possible tho with my current spending habits
3. travel around the world - visit places that I've never been to
4. have a satisfying job
5. have a happy family
6. meet up with long-lost friends
7. watch all these things I've downloaded [actually ran out of idea here hahah..]

7 things I cannot do
1. Ride a bike/motorcycle
2. Eat lots of veggies
3. Not fall asleep in lectures
4. Fly
5. Sew a dress
6. Cooking complicated recipes
7. Running - I'm so not healthy :P

7 things I can do
1. sleep..a lot..
2. read a novel non stop from cover to cover
3. watch loads of movies
4. shopping - when I'm in the mood..
5. downloading lots of things til my laptop runs out of space
6. sleep...again.. - see how much I love sleeping?
7. eat lots of chocolates

7 celebrity crushes
1. Akanishi Jin
2. Orlando Bloom
3. Dohmoto Koichi
4. Ueda Tatsuya
5. Takizawa Hideaki
6. Nagase Tomoya
7. Ninomiya Kazunari

haha..I bet most of you would not recognise these names..shows where my current taste in music/movies is at..

Alifah: buah hati ko tader a dalam list hahaha

7 often-repeated words at the moment
1. Sejuknyeeee...
2. Isk...
3. -lah..
4. alaaa..
5. haha <--when typing only
6. hmmm
7. oohh..

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. eyes
2. teeth
3. face
4. personality
5. hands..the fingers especially
6. sense of dressing
7. intelligence

7 tags to go
1. Arfa
2. Yatie
3. Alifah
4. Adilla
5. Asma'
6. Baby
7. Azmir

another update?

2005-10-15T07:41:00.000+08:00

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy.
You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts.
People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused.
But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Some people are bugging me[in the tagboard] for an update..so here's one after a month of silence haha..

I'm back in the gloomy city of London. I've adjusted to the new home..but still hate the central heating..which doesn't seem to work at all. Anyone who wants to freeze themselves are welcomed ;P...thank goodness we still can get hot water..and the net keeps disappearing on me & my housemates..kalah biskut chipsmore..

Hurm..what else is there to write about? Fasting has started more than a week ago..I'm officially the house alarm clock..When I wasn't around, no one woke up for sahur..hahah..Ermm..tomorrow's the pic-taking day for Raya pics to be sent to newspaper..Baju mane yer nak pakai..hahah..

Ergghh..why can't I use torrent? It makes things so difficult..Clubbox is only good for certain types of files..Plus, it's hard to read Korean when you haven't learnt it at all.. haha..

This is more like a collection of ramblings haha..So Dilla, is this a good enough update?

Oh, a happy Ramadhan to all~

Random songs

2005-09-16T03:53:00.000+08:00

Well...after more than a month of neglect, I'm back[not sure for how long :p]
Since I've uploaded this song for some friends, I'll post the links here too so that it's not wasted. Don't blame me though if it's already expired. It's valid for a week or 25 downloads, whichever comes first. I wonder if someone could actually guess whose songs is this :p

Kamen
One Day, One Dream - This is a song from Inuyasha, I think...
True Heart
Negai
Ikanaide - My favourite...
Serenade

Crazy about chocolate

2005-08-08T23:41:00.000+08:00

Everything in this room is *eat*able. Even I'm *eat*able. But that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact *frowned* upon in most societies.
- Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I know I promised to watch this movie with several people, but the temptation was too great. Sorry, you guys...

Suicide by a plane? [spoilers for Stealth]

2005-08-04T19:34:00.000+08:00

Watched the movie Stealth yesterday. Exceptional special effects. That's the most memorable thing about the movie. Beside the fact that the AI plane committed suicide. Why ah? The plane could actually just shoot down the helicopter. No need to ram into it. If the 'machine gun' [dunno exact name of weapon] on the plane can be used to shoot down fighter jets, why not use it on a helicopter? Ish ish...

translation..

2005-08-04T19:29:00.000+08:00

Setelah penat mencari, terjumpe jugak akhirnye translation lagu kat bawah ni..ntah btol ntah tidak orang tu translate..sbb aku x tau bahse jepon, anggap jela betol

Bond[tibe2 teringat James Bond le pulak ;P]

Even if I think about the future as much as I can
It's impossible for a person to see the real future
Something gets stuck in the gap of my heart
I just keep on making errors

It's okay if it's one step at a time, just don't let go of my hand
The steps that we took together, you are going to keep on living
Even if I keep on withdrawing until I crumble,
The bond of that time, that place, will never disappear

Inside the flowing time, I try not to lose anything
The real thoughts that collide when we pass by
Her feelings that soaked in her heart
Our encounter was the miracle that I seek

The pain that refuses to stand still
The light that's seen inside is always connected
It's okay if you lie, You can let your tears flow
The bond of that time, that place, will never disappear

It's okay if it's one step at a time, just don't let go of my hand
The steps that we took together, you are going to keep on living
Even if I keep on withdrawing until I crumble,
The bond of that time, that place, will never disappear

Kizuna

2005-07-27T03:29:00.000+08:00

By Kamenashi Kazuya[copyrighted to him/his record label?Certainly not mine]

Saki no koto dore hodo ni kan gaete itemo
hontou no koto nante dare ni mo mienai
ku-haku kokoro ni nanika ga tsumatte
ayamachi bakari kuri kaeshiteta

ippo zutsu de iisa kono te wo hanasazuni
tomo ni ayunda kimi ga iki tsuzuketeru kara
boroboro ni narumade hikisakarete itemo
ano toki no ano basho kienai kono kizuna

nagare yuku toki no naka ushina wanu youni
su re chigai butsu katta hontou no kimochi
kokoro ni shimiteku aitsu no omoi ni
deaeta koto ga motometa kiseki

tachi domaru koto sae dekinai kurushisa no
naka ni mieta hikari tsunagatte iru kara
usotsui tatte iisa namida nagashite iikara
ano toki no ano basho kienai kono kizuna

ippo zutsu de iisa kono te wo hanasazuni
tomo ni ayunda kimi ga iki tsuzuketeru kara
boroboro ni narumade hikisakarete itemo
ano toki no ano basho kienai kono kizuna

-Dunno what it means. I just like this song. Does anyone knows what it means? I'd like to put the song up, but the one mp3 I have contains lots of screaming fans. I don't think other people would like to hear that ;P

What ghost?

2005-07-26T02:31:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Rima, I can now watch Gokusen 2.. Alifah jangan jeles ye!

One ghost story I'd tell all of you guys to miss is The Ghost Inside. Not scary. Pretty slow. Even the ghost is not scary at all. Oh ok this might be due to my 'high tolerance' for ghost stories ;P . Heck, the subtitles are scarier. I can't imagine what level of malay language did the translator have. Same goes for Gokusen 2. My malay might not be up to sastera standard, but I do know that the phrase 'leave it to me' does not mean 'hantar kepada saya'. I feel like whacking him/her in the head. Aih..even the fansubbers who did the translation jobs for free pay more attention to their language than these paid workers. Hish maybe I should spend my summer working part-time as translators for movies? Anybody know where I can sign up?

Ringgit unpegged

2005-07-23T11:52:00.000+08:00

As of Thursday, Bank Negara has decided to remove the ringgit peg to US dollar after China decided to do so. Some say it's a timely move which should have been done a long time ago[reason:RM is undervalued]. For me, it's good news and bad news rolled into one. Although value of RM would probably remain at the present level in the short term, it'll probably rise in the long term. Good news - sterling would be cheaper to buy. Bad news - converting sterling to RM would give less RM than before. Probably those with sterlings are rushing to convert them to RM now before the rate falls further. I know one lady did. My mom saw her exchanging lots of sterling the other day. Good move? Probably. If what they say about RM being undervalued is true. But then, reading today's paper showed that RM actually fell against sterling? haha..Looks like we have to wait and see. To Asma' - RM rose against Euro. So what are you going to do?

Request granted ;P

2005-07-21T19:23:00.000+08:00

See..an update already..nice of me to grant Dilla's request ;P

It's been quite a while since I wrote about what I was watching/reading. Did a movie marathon yesterday with Baby. Managed to catch Fantastic 4 [not bad] and Amityville Horror[boring..was yawning thru out the movie. Baby too..]. Watched Initial D last week with the usual people..I like the racing scenes. Found it a bit strange to see Japanese names written in the subtitles when the names spoken is totally different. Takumi -> Ah hoi? or something like that hahah..And the credits were also very detailed. They named every character on the screen I think. Eventhough their names were never mentioned at all during the movie. So rajin..

Been on a Japanese drama-watching binge for the last few days. Gokusen was fun. A bit like GTO, only this time it's a female teacher, Yamaguchi Kumiko @ Yankumi. Some[or is it a lot?] corny jokes. Very fake fighting scenes, especially when it's Yankumi who was doing the fighting. The fact that Sawada Shin is cute helped a lot ;P . Now watching Kimi wa Petto, promoted by Alifah. Very cute story hahah.

Finally got my hands on Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy - Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. Even read Creature in the Case, the sequel. Riveting read. Kept me awake til morning [though for those who know me, it's not something strange :P]. I like the fact that magic and technology could exist in one world, albeit magic only works well in the Old Kingdom. I think he managed to describe a teenager's feeling quite accurately. All those emotions muddling up the thought process..the search to find a place to belong in the world..

Then there was Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Intriguing read. It's like a story within a story within a story... There were 6 stories, connected to each other. It progressed from the past[19th century] to the future. Each story was cut abruptly when it was getting interesting, until the final one, where it then continued with the one before it. Amazing how the author managed to create different atmosphere for each chapter. Found the final chapter the hardest to read. Might be caused by the strange way the dialogues were written...

Uh hmm time to continue watching Kimi wa petto ;P

Steamy shows?

2005-07-09T09:17:00.000+08:00

NST today carried an article about censorship of steamy shows on Astro. I can't find the article on the online version of NST but The Star did carry one online. It's here. But the quote I wanted to highlight is not there. So you have to go and read the hard copy version of NST.

What's so interesting? I'm sure most people already know that our country does have some ridiculous laws on censorship, which make watching a movie here soo interesting. But this one annoys me because the minister categorised The Amazing Race under steamy shows. Wahaha makes me wonder what kind of shows he watched everyday. Other shows mentioned are Fear Factor (ok this one does sometimes have very scantily clad participants but not always..), and The Apprentice (but I thought this one's already being aired on national TV??) Aih..very strange. I do wonder on what basis his statement was made. Maybe because the participants always wear 'sexy' clothing?

Censorship..makes me thankful for p2p programs ;P

London in chaos

2005-07-07T18:23:00.000+08:00

Whew..I'm back in Malaysia. The first thing that anyone coming back from UK would notice would be the temperature. It's so hot and humid. Somehow I think sweat evaporates quicker in London :P

Uh I'm actually writing this after I read the news about blasts at major tube stations this morning in London. The whole underground, or more fondly known as the tube system, was shut down. King's Cross, Edgware Road and Russel Square were among the stations affected by the blasts. Speculations ran from power failure, trains colliding and of course, the eternal favourite of terrorist attack. BBC reported there were several fatalities. How many? It still hasn't been confirmed. Scotland Yard also confirmed one bus were blown up. I just can't imagine being stuck in London when all major public transportations were shut down. Luckily, I'm safe and sound here in KL. I guess this would mean a bit of an extra revenue for cab drivers?
I just hope that this would not result in more strict procedures when I'm returning to the UK at the end of September.

All this happened after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, beating France in the final round of voting. Hmm would London still win the bid if these incidents happen before the voting process?

finally updated

2005-06-26T17:27:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. My laptop crashed and now I have to rely on the school's comp lab to do my surfing. Haih no more downloading movies for me. Luckily I'll be back in Malaysia this thursday. Can't wait to go home. Miss all the food. Not the weather tho because London itself was very hot this past couple of days. Even Paris was hot. And most of the places here and there lack air conditioning!!!

Eh why Paris again? Because my parents and my youngest bro came for a week's holiday here. So it's a must to visit Disneyland! Now I got the chance to ride all the rollercoasters that I missed last time. Space Mountain 2 and Rock n' Rollercoaster were really cool. (but of course, they cannot beat all the coasters in Universal Mediterranea ;p). The weather was very hot, it's like I was back in Malaysia. Thank goodness they have air conditioning in most of the shops and restaurants. Bile panas je masok kedai la jawabnye heheh...And as a result of the hot weather, there was a storm on the last day we were in Paris, which caused a power failure. We were stuck in the Eurostar train for almost 2 hours! But as a compensation, they offered us all a free single journey or a half price return ticket. So sape nak pegi naek eurostar ajak la ye hehe

London's on sale again! Yea!! Summer sale has begun for most of the shops. Now I can and I will go shopping for souvenirs (and for myself ;P)..

oh yea, thanks for all the birthday wishes..but where are the presents? ahahaha

Tagged by Alifah

2005-06-05T20:15:00.000+08:00

Total volume of music files on my computer:
751mb only. Not much..

Last CD I bought:
Can't remember. Must have been one of those stupid cheap stuff a.k.a cetak rompak haha

Song playing right now:
None. I seldom play any music. Prefer to keep the peace and quietness. Haha as if. Especially with a stupid neighbour like mine...

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

1. Melissa by Porno Grafitti - Fullmetal Alchemist first OP.
2. Mockingbird by Eminem
3. It's Only The Fairytale by Miyamura Yuuko - Mai-HIME soundtrack.I like the lyrics and the haunting music
4. Work by Jimmy Eat World
5. 12:51 by The Strokes

Five people to whom i'm passing the baton:
1. Drog
2. Asma'
3. Baby
4. Dina
5. Arfa

-isk esok ade paper pon sempat lg buat mende nih-

wasting time..

2005-05-14T22:25:00.000+08:00

Your Birthdate: June 26

Your birth on the 26th day of the month (8 energy) modifies your life by increasing your capability to function and succeed in the business world.

In this environment you have the skills to work very well with others thanks to the 2 and 6 energies combining in this date.

There is a marked increase in organizational, managerial, and administrative abilities.

You are efficient and handle money very well.

You're ambitious and energetic, while generally remaining cooperative and adaptable.

You are conscientious and not afraid of responsibility.

Generally sociable and diplomatic, you tend to use persuasion rather than force.

You have a wonderful combination of being good at both the broad strokes and the fine detail; good at starting and continuing. This birthday is practical and realistic, often seeking material satisfaction.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

often seeking material satisfaction - wahahaha part ni yang paling tepat sekali..

Exams!!!

2005-05-09T19:50:00.000+08:00

So this is my timetable for the upcoming exams, less than 2weeks to go

19 May - EC102:Econs
23 May - MA100:Mathematical methods
26 May - MA103:Introduction to Abstract Maths
6 June - ST102:Statistics

Wish me luck for the exams...UUhh ohh.. panic mode setting in..Haven't done enough revision yet