3rd day of Chinese New Year: what did we do again?

I think my memory’s beginning to fail me.

Oh yes.

Went to the temple in town, somewhere near Central Market. Brought my lomo on impulse, who knows what kind of pictures I might end up with. The weather was bright, sunny and even blistering hot at times. Yeay~ good for a really manual camera like this. I just hope the pictures turn out fine. Snapped my way around town – I’m talking about the camera. =_=

Wandered about Petaling Street, and settled for hawker food for lunch. I wasn’t overly surprised at the raised prices; ‘It’s New year, after all.’ Hmph. But what would added that final touch to lunch was some drunk (who I suspect isn’t all there) laughing a very very fake evil laugh >_> on top of which he was constantly yabbering some rubbish throughout my entire lunch. It could be surprising, especially since I nearly choked after he suddenly burst out laughing, preceding a string of expletives. That’s KL for you, or part of it if you know where to look.

My lomo ran out of film right after we finished strolling Petaling Street. Can’t wait to see what kind of shots I got.

Ti got the most shopping done today. He bought a bag, a watch, and more importantly (haha I know he’s been desperately wanting) a handphone after he lost his quite a while ago. He was pleading dad yesterday, and promises are meant to be kept, especially if dad makes the deal. So off we went to Sungei Wang (aka the lala shopping mall. no offense, but clothes there are a very bad version of what Harajuku street chicks wear.) I think the handphone shopping took the longest since he wanted one that was socially acceptable at a low price…kinda like wishing for the impossible, but hey, if you’re desperate, almost anything works.

Had a little tea break (?) at McDonalds after we were tired of walking around. I think korg and ti were one of those people who never passed up a chance (or rather, were pretty much merciless) when it came to bottomless drinks (who cares if it’s just Coke).

I went with the rest to Lowyat while mom lingered around Sungei Wang. Wow, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen it so empty. It’s even emptier than 1u. Browsed some movies, bought some cables and batteries (finally my camera has better batteries >_>)

And went home. XD No, actually, had nasi kandar for dinner, then proceeded home. =D

2nd day of Chinese New Year: crashing guama’s place~

This is the time everyone gathers at guama’s house for lunch. More lou ak, steamed chicken, curry and steamboat. XDXDXD We trashed guama’s place (as we do every year) but the obvious difference this time was that we helped with the cleaning up =D Cousins all had this classic Chinese tops (tsing’s one really made him look old; he even had the old man act going~) which resulted in added novelty. XP Eat, drink, chat, laugh, eat some more (guama will never let us get away with it) and watch TV until our eyes nearly popped out of our heads. Stayed there for the entire afternoon, which I’m sure guama was especially pleased =D She rarely has us all commune at her place for such long periods of time. Weiwei had special attention too; ‘Every time we come over, guama’s just waiting for the chance to pounce on him,’ or so ah yee says. I see the truth in those words XP My mom too, actually. Must have been that long since she’s held a baby…

Visited Uncle Michael after we left guama’s. This was the only visit for the day, but I felt so tired from jumping at guama’s that I really slept off. XP It’s rude, I know, but the aircond at his place was sooo nice, and the sofas were just tempting us, not to mention that he and dad were talking about something to do with gasohol or some kind of energy production using sugars from plants… which really lulled me and ti to sleep. And in this manner, an hour and a half just flew by like that.

Later, had dinner with Uncle Hoe Sing and family…I still found it kind of awkward to talk to them – what could we possibly talk about? Not referring to the age gap though, it’s not that far; I think Jeremy’s about 22 and Elaine is what…24? I have no idea. *shrugs* And yeah, if anything, Jeremy agrees that National Service in Singapore makes the guys grow up XP There you have it, right from the horse’s mouth. Heheheh.

Chinese New Year!

I remember waking up pretty early, about 900am ...there were the prayers and burning of offerings on top of everything else to do, which is a must. And since mom makes us all go vegetarian for the first day… had fried beehoon for breakfast. I like this part of it; mom’s vegetarian beehoon is quite nice, I especially like the mushrooms which are really sweet XD and there was the tong sui to give me the sugar rush for the day.

After breakfast, I asked dad whether we were going to visit Uncle Robert and Aunt Winnie this year, since we hadn’t seen them for a long time.

Got into my new year gear~ I had bought jeans from Giordano, a pair of jeans shorts from FOS, and 2 tops from BodyGlove (this has its own story XDXDXD –ahemahem–)

As it was the Thursday before CNY I thought I had better go and get my tops, which at that time dad gave me subtle reminders to go get it before mom came breathing down my neck about it. So off I went with guama since she had some shopping to do too~ we walked a full half-hour there since we mutually agreed that we should, and take a cab back. After walking three-quarters of the way, guama told me, ‘Hey, I didn’t expect it to be this far…Next time, we’re taking a cab or asking korg to drive us there.’ XPXPXPXP Sorry guama~

I brought guama to BodyGlove where all the shop assistants just…looked. I can tell guama had heck of a time there as I casually asked her to pick out some for me~ (since she was there, how could I not offer? XD) Well, she has good taste. XD of course, with the ‘help’ of the shop assistants. She had a great time talking to them about everything and anything; and if there’s one thing about her, she has the gift of gab. She went on, and on, until I finally bought the ones I wanted. I promised her I would wear the one she chose when I go to her house on the 2nd day of CNY. (I bought 2; one was light blue, and the other was orange)

Doesn’t guama rock? XD

I thought I saw a familiar car… XD (who knew I was that prophetic?) Uncle Robert and Aunt Winnie came over at about noon, and had lunch with us. Every time they come over, there’s always a lot of catching up to be done. This one was no different; they stayed on until about 2pm. Pure talking all the way – frankly I’m amazed how effectively having a good talk with friends kills time. =D

I used to really shrink back at the prospect of eating vegetarian at home; in fact, I hated it not because it was vegetarian, but because it tasted bad (…somehow I remember it tasting bad… >_>) but this year it was actually nice. Wonder what was different, or was it just me all along…

Soon after Uncle Hoe Sing came over, this time, with Jeremy and Elaine. The last time I saw them was …so … long …ago… Usually when they come down from Singapore, they don’t come to our place, since they’re hanging out with their friends. It was so awkward seeing them - we were literally at a loss of words since we didn’t know what to talk about. Although I do remember we were trying to pin the blame on Uncle Hoe Sing and his rather sadistic habit of flushing fish once he’s bored of them. Apparently he’s only interested in fish that grow, after they stop growing he flushes them away *fish-lovers gape in horror* but most of the time they were catching up (I come to a realization to not expect anything else XP)

As Aunt Winnie heard that there was a Lion Dance happening at 1u at about 530pm, we went at about 5. This is one of the rare times I see 1u with its shops closed (the most recent had to be New Year’s Eve) Somehow, Lion Dances aren’t all that great anymore. Sure, it’s still nice to watch, but the thrill in watching lions jump around poles and act like they’re afraid of heights just doesn’t catch my attention anymore.

Had dinner at Italiannies XD I love the food there~ kinda sounds strange coming from a person who has been staying away from pasta for most of her life, but hey, people change. Both brothers managed to finish a plate of pasta each (usually one serving is meant for 2) despite having the waiter cautiously warning them that it’s… big. Even the 3 of us (me, mom and dad) barely managed to finish the one plate of pasta, while both korg and ti managed to down it without breaking a sweat. o_o

Chinese New Year’s Eve (also known as the Reunion dinner day)

So I didn’t have a reunion dinner; I had a reunion lunch. Guama came over at about 11-something and brought over her lou ak (duck) and steamed chicken XDXD (It’s a super-treat since it only makes its appearance for New Year) and curry and hai xiang (sea cucumber… no one would believe those tiny things when soaked would balloon into sluggy-looking things 4 times its size o_o) Mom did some steamed codfish (which tastes great XD) but she didn’t do the pork with yam which korg likes… prolly cause she’s too busy with work. Of course, a reunion meal is never really complete without steamboat. =D Everyone practically pigged out, seeing all those empty Tupperware of what was supposed to be pork balls, tofu, mushrooms, prawns, fishballs, yee mee, beehoon…. >_>

Now, the reunion dinner was arranged by ah yee so that it would coincide with weiwei’s full moon. Weiwei is my new cousin XDXDXD It still feels somewhat awkward that I should have a cousin that’s 18 years younger than me... kinda gives me the idea that I’m that old (already?! T__T) so there it was; our family and entire of ee tio’s family. One really really huge gathering at a restaurant at the Equestrian Club of sorts… I’m not even sure what the name of the place is.

My initial shock was seeing longlong; he had this really weird hairstyle, something that looks like one spike sticking out from the center of his head (yes, for a four-year-old, it’s not something you see everyday) but he still looks that cute~ (If I recall, he’s got his own fan club, within the family, of course… headed by his dad who actually sings him praises – especially when he’s drunk) and ah ham XP (well, that’s what I call him, since he’s so freaking perverted. man, kids these days are really catching on too early…)

The first thing ming had to say to me was “What is this…All the girls look like princesses today but you…” Kinda true, since I was the only one wearing a shirt and checkered jacket and jeans while the rest of the female kind actually dressed up (I seriously mean in a proper Oriental-style top and a pretty skirt) and kimkim looked quite pretty ^__^ Including Alicia who, according to ming, ‘acts like a girl of twelve even though she’s only four’. She does strike that thinker pose most of the time, is quiet and obedient which is rare in toddlers, and she observes (a lot, even though it actually is just staring hard/blank at something or the other).

I don’t remember eating much that night, more of talking, and looking at weiwei (it’s quite amazing how he sleeps through the racket at the restaurant), and kacau-ing ah ham and longlong, while wondering since when tsing started to be almost as lame as ti… the cousin effect is like a infectious disease. Since weiwei’s eyebrows are quite fine, it looks as though he doesn’t have any, which gives him this gangster-ish look. Korg joked about this in relation to the Nokia cinema advert where an El Pacino lookalike asks the viewers to ‘toin off dat phone!’ since weiwei really defines that entire line in one look XD Especially if he’s just woken up and looking (if I can even call it looking, his looks are questioning – or should I say questionable XPXPXP)

an outing with an amusing bunch.

Not a bad movie to draw the curtains to. It’s...painful, in a word. The fight sequences were nice to watch; I could practically feel their bones break. A -prakk- sound every few seconds really gets to you after awhile. Jet Li’s moves have this particular sequence – after a series of repeated elbows, then another punch. Or after a few of the same kicks, another fancy hand move. I can’t really describe it, there’s a pattern if you look close enough.

Jet Li looks kinda haggard in this movie. This just goes to show that humans age too~ all the make-up in the world cannot hide that fact. Ai-chan worships him mainly because of those ‘Once Upon A Time In China’ movies (which is actually nice to watch…)

Apparently it’s based on a true story~ I have no idea since I can’t really read Chinese. >_> It’s about the founder of WuShu. A Malay proverb comes to mind; “Setinggi-tinggi tupai lompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga”. Ambition is good, until it turns to greed. Not the entire story, but some part of it I can sum up in these two lines. ^__^ And the other half, is a journey of turning over a new leaf.

Nakamura Shindou is so damn cool XDXDXD He plays a Jap fighter Tanaka Anno with lots and lots of chivalry~ I suppose noone can resist a characteristic like that. Although I still feel that scene where he is talking about tea over tea with Jet Li is pretty ahpo-ish… Being philosophical is good, sure… but the idea just popped in… XP And I don’t care what you think, if you take off his facial hair and tweak abit here and there, Yauchuan definitely bears some resemblance to this guy.

Thank goodness there’s no real active female role in this show… it would have ruined everything.

Went to 1u at about 430pm. Lounged around for abit in the bookstore (I was so tempted to type ‘library’) and there were these Chinese Indons that were just goofing around the bookstore making noise. <_< Then I reminded myself, ‘This isn’t a library anyway…’

Ai-chan went to get her second ear piercing. At first she was waiting for Kailin to arrive, but after…5 minutes, she was going “Aagh~ I just want to get my ears pierced already…Too bad for her XP’ and after another 5 minutes – “It hurts~~~”

While she’s complaining how it hurt her ears or how she could get deaf while gasping every few minutes, “Oh no, what if I’m deaf...” So we went to Guardian for ai-chan to buy some stuff…And I thought, I thought I saw yy… I wasn’t sure..but it looked like her..and I think the other girl was her sister. Or her cousin. Some female relation. Walked abit further, into Plastic and Radioactive…then I saw Andrew at a game shop. Said hi.

Since Kailin didn’t have lunch, we went to have some toast and coffee at…I don’t know where, while chatting about kailin’s favourite topic – yaoi. >_> But it’s strange how we’re talking about it while waiting for Howard and Yeehoong.

Went to pick them up near Parkson where Yeehoong was thinking of buying luggage, since he’s gonna go to US pretty soon. JPA scholars. While Howard was continuously trying to crack lame jokes based on the Cantonese movie ‘Shopaholic’ in one corner, you have ai-chan rejoicing over a set of chem and physics notes~ *whistles* I’m half-wishing I had gotten that ASEAN scholarship too… if this is what it converts me to, it might be a good thing. Oh well, no use thinking about it now~

Had dinner at Yoshinoya. I don’t know what got into Yeehoong, he kept on asking, “What kind of kua (referring to a vegetable) is this?”

Howard:ai kua lahh…(Winter Melon)
Yeehoong: Hah, you sure? I thought it was…
Ai-chan: sai kua, sai kua! (Watermelon) *The girls (including Howard XD) laughing*
Yeehoong: Eh, so what kua is it la.. Looks like a cucumber.
Howard: Ohhh, it’s a sii kua!
Ai-chan: Pat kua! *We’re all laughing again over this idiotic conversation*

A short pause, talking about (gasp, they’re talking about chemistry and making bombs…how educational…is this how Singapore tortures its students’ minds?)

Yeehoong: Eh..so what kua is this? Looks like the other one, but different colour…
Howard: Aiyah, that kua dun need to bother lah..
Ai-chan: So kua, so kua~ (Idiot)

On top of this idiotic happening, the guys really know how to unconsciously act like a couple.. Really Really with a capital R. I cannot describe how this works either- it’s a ‘you have to see to find out for yourself’ thing. This continued until we reached the cinema, by this time we were just laughing at them for everything we could.

Body language tells you a lot.

This had to be the genius move by ai-chan: she handed the cinema tickets to Howard, and said to him, “Okay Howard, you be the leader today. Here are the tickets.”

Number One: He nearly took the escalator upstairs when there’s a sign next to it that clearly says, “Cinema 2 and 3 to the right” Aih, we shouldn’t have laughed till he was on the escalator up. XD

Number Two (which happens to be the silliest thing the guys could have ever done): Howard said he had to use the toilet. I told ai-chan “I bet they’re gonna enter the toilet together, with the food.” Well getting 2 out of 3 wasn’t so bad.

He was looking at the signs to the bathroom, and he turned left… and then he let out a yell, covered his face, and ran to the right. We couldn’t stop laughing, as

He went to the ladies’, saw the sign, and wondered, “Hey, isn’t this…” And as realization hit him, we heard an “AaaggghhH~~” as he covered his face and embarrassedly ran towards the men’s, which was on the right. Yeehoong was running after him into the men’s, and after awhile, he ran back out and handed us the food (which he happened to have carried with him) and ran back into the toilet. By this time we were laughing uncontrollably. Nothing beats that expression on Howard’s face.

During the movie there were these two guys in front of us (no, I’m not referring to Howard and Yeehoong) who were getting close… >_> Not usual in guys. The guy who was sitting directly in front of me has quite a laugh, half-maniacal, half-silly. And they were…should I say it…cuddling... almost… <_< which if I didn’t have ai-chan gasping at it I would have regretted not seeing it. XP

After the movie, went to the arcade for abit to watch Howard play BishiBashi (in Korean which was quite a puzzle to me…), but seeing how he’s good at it while we’re cheering him on was quite fun. All this while waiting for the House Of The Dead 3 booth to be free for us to play. Just too bad I didn’t get to stay that long.

Do I miss TCSJ that much?

Why do I keep going back there?

The main purpose of today was to mail off the cny cards me and hua have been working on for the past week. It was a joint project, and I usually don’t have the patience for this, but since we had everything agreed early on, what else was there to do but to finish what we started?

Public transport is almost like heaven in the morning. XD Well I’m saying this without comparing it to other countries, but comparing it to a period of time. (Trust me, you do not want to try your patience with it at anytime from 400pm – 530pm when everyone is trying to get home) And to my amazement, I got from DU to Subang in a record time of 1 hour and 10 minutes (definitely a feat as I usually take 2 hours+). Not to mention my timing was pretty good~ I didn’t have to wait half an hour for the bus to the LRT station, but only 10 minutes. And when I got to Kelana, the bus was already there, all I had to do was hop on it. XD aah~ how sweet the smell, of a glorious victory over the abysmal timing of public transport.

Since it was only about 10am, I went to join ai-chan (she was at the stinky market with great cap fan)… the only thing that makes me abit queasy is that whenever I join them (she was with her classmates) they seem to begin to disperse within 5 minutes of my appearance. Am I that scary? XD Woow~

I lepak-ed at CL2 for abit while waiting for hua (using ai-chan’s login, of course XD mine’s long invalid after 3 months of quitting…cis) and when she did arrive (She walked from the KTM station to college, although there was a bus. Maybe she thought it wasn’t worth 50cents.)…we went to post the letters. I still don’t have huanmiao’s address, and I don’t know when is the soonest convenience I’ll get to see hou. Mrs Chong was genuinely surprised (and happy to boot) to receive the card (I saw later that she actually put ours right on top of the cards that she received and slotted on the blinds XDXDXD) and Mr Yap was glad (needless to say actually, but I thought I might as well say it since I already described Mrs Chong’s reaction just to complete the picture) and I hope that I got the alpha omega thing right. XP Actually, it doesn’t matter, it’d just be nice to get it right.

Boinky kenken sms me to say that he’d only be done by 12. Then he called hua to say that he’d be done by 1. >_> Saw sooguan at about 12pm, so we chatted by the corridor near CL6 and saw mr chong. No guilt on this end for not giving him a card, we ‘conveniently’ ran out of material. XP Then with ai-chan, we went to the E&E lab to see ken. Not to kacau him, I suppose he and jiun were busy with their project. After awhile outside the lab, seeing the “Wow, I am so excited!” coming from a straight faced ai-chan….I let her trot off to the library. The main point of her was to see ken (okay, don’t get any funny ideas, it’s not what you think it is~) and so I can’t blame her for the reaction. XP Not exactly her fault she likes to mug. Or does she? I leave that aside for now.

We continued chatting outside the lab for awhile, and seeing how they weren’t gonna get out anytime soon, we abandoned them and headed for Cabana. When ken and jiun came, an extra surprise greeted us; weehoo. XD Me, being the card distributor was just too happy to unload the remaining cards to their respective owners~ mostly we were making fun of ken and his ‘yellow’ girl over lunch (getting sneaky are we kenken, even having her photos on your phone…I shudder to think of what you do with your phone when you’re alone XD *laughs until stomachache*) and weehoo remarked on how the girl at the next table (who happens to be gay-chai’s neighbour) is a ‘pirated’ version of -ahemahem- (no names, just that the ‘original’ is from Johor, just like weehoo~ XD and she’s a super bubbly fun girl)

Got kenken to drive us to Pyramid to watch a movie XD The only super-letdown was that the only screening of Oliver Twist was at 815pm later tonight, which we couldn’t possibly hope to catch, and so we were down to Fearless, Shopaholics, or Syriana (wahaha I got it right at last!) >_> I’m gonna watch Fearless tomorrow, and the next screening of Syriana was at 435pm, so Shopaholics it was.

Well, this is a cantonese movie, and it was filled with silly lame jokes. About (duh) a shopaholic whose psychiatrist has an ailment that prevents him from deciding on anything. I’d give it 6/10. The lameness was overwhelming in a show, but still entertaining. Another one you can watch at home in your free time, but not exactly worth going to a cinema for. I never saw the fun in buying clothes and apparel until it drags you into destitution, unless..you’re talking about books or something else that piques my interest (some electronic gadgets *hinthint XD* , maybe some really chun figurines, manga, cds, films..the list goes on) An outright silly movie that was probably solely created for the cny season (quote hua).

I thought it was rather ironic to get out of a nice comfy car to take a bus back home. T__T Beggars can’t be choosers after all. I was so hoping to get the car today, but this had to be one of the days where mom leaves super early for work. It was about 5pm when I got to the bus stand.

Sighhh.

Truly, I didn’t get back till 7pm. I happened to board that bus where the aircon happens to suck, but luckily it looked like rain as there were dark clouds, and more importantly, a cooling breeze from the open hatch on the top. And here’s where the timing really begins to suck. T__T Waited almost half an hour for the bus to Kelana. Then at the Taman Bahagia station, another 45mins before the bus came. I was just wondering why so many people were already queuing even though the bus hadn’t come. *shrugs* so what you get is a super-long queue of people stretching all the way to the stalls at the entrance of the station, easily about 40 people. A scary notion gripped me; ‘What if that’s the queue I’m supposed to get into? Would that mean I won’t get to board the bus when it comes? Man my iPod battery is dying, I don’t want it to run out until I’m on the bus, then it wouldn’t be too bad…’ Luckily, all that worry was in vain. XDXD The shorter queue happens to be the for the bus that I was taking XD On the bus, I was wondering, would I see that Jim Carrey-looking guy?

I didn’t. XP

musings on a birthday.

Heey it’s my mom’s birthday again!

Let me recount the events;

Yeehua came over at about 11am, and we hurried on to finish our project… In an astonishing record of 2 hours =D By that time we were pretty hungry already, and so we went off to 1u to go watch a movie (The memoirs of a geisha) and lunch.

Had lunch…at… at…..Chili’s. >_> On most occasions, this is like a super-special place for celebrations and stuff… but… aaghh, after not going for such a long time, I just had to. I had to. So we got full on tostada chips and a freaking huge plate of salad. XP I bet kenken would go, “Yuck….But that’s what most girls do anyway..” or something to that effect.

Memoirs of a geisha was a pretty good movie (I’m sorry yy, I wasn’t as disappointed as you were).

Chiyo was cute. I don’t mean zhang ziyi, but the younger chiyo, chibi-chiyo. So I understand, ken, it’s not just your pedophilic nature. XP It’s true, the little girl’s really cute~ naturally, after having watched azumanga, I was thinking of chiyo and the penguin suit. Don’t look at me like that XP

Specially for you, ken: the kid actress who played chibi-chiyo, ogo suzuka.

I found it really silly that people practically never aged in the show… For instance, watanabe ken. Few years ago, his first meeting with chiyo when she was 9, then a few years later, (I’m guessing about 17 or 18) he still looks the same. Hey, wouldn’t you think almost 10 years would change someone, somehow?! That was just unreal.

Having watanabe ken as a love interest..er…umm…kinda reflects on Japanese nature where men definitely prefer…much…much...younger women, in a sense. I’m not kidding, there are lolikons everywhere.

Gong li, who plays hatsumomo was actually pretty good. I meant good-looking and bitchy at the same time. XD I was happy for that. But her hatred towards chiyo seemed forced… not really convincing.

Michelle yeoh was… the ‘great’ mameha. I disagree with how she gets to walk around without makeup whereas hatsumomo still has to put on all the powder and makeup. I’m sorry to say, she didn’t look great. But her character as a Samaritan was also a really lucky strike for chiyo. Too good to be true; but that’s how stories are made, someone just has to get lucky. *hint* If you even call it luck, that is.

Which reminds me; how the heck can a geisha name herself Pumpkin!? It sounds quite offensive in english. It doesn’t make sense to me. O_o

I still think it should have been in Japanese…having English scripts take away its appeal, to some extent. But it’s more important to have the audience understand what they’re saying… so I guess this couldn’t be helped. But every scrap of Japanese in it…was quite easy to understand (I’m happy I guess; I’m getting a biiiit better XD) the voiceovers were reasonably acceptable.

It’s a pretty artsy movie, I love the sceneries, the feel of Japan before the war, it was so much simpler. And the kimonos were very beautiful, like a painting. Colours were bright as they can be harsh. Rain and snow, they were quite well defined. (For some reason though, chiyo never looks too drenched when she’s in the rain.)

Despite this though, there were some parts where I’m saying to myself, “Oh damn, this is actually boring, can we make a move please….” The movie was abit too long, they could have done without some parts. Which ones, I forgot.

Not to mention that there were 2 girls next to me continuously laughing at the word ‘danna’, which either means lord, husband, or (in this movie) benefactor. But the word was pronounced rather weirdly. And there was this idiot who kept kicking my chair. **** Keep your blardy body parts to yourself why don’t you!

After that, yeehua sent me home (thanks a lot! XD) and I proceeded to bake a cake. (sigh, don’t expect miracles.) ai-chan’s suggestion, which sounded pretty good at the time (where I was stuck trying to figure out what good present to give). Needless to say, it didn’t turn out all that great. Still, my mom was pleasantly surprised.

Silly thing was I had to lose my temper…I don’t know what got into me. Although I did make a quick reconciliation, the damage had been done. Minor, but enough to get mom’s temper off. >~<

After the regular candle-blowing, cake-cutting and eating and photos… there was an unexpected surprise. There were fireworks at the general direction of 1u, which, I’m proud to say, I have a good view from my room… wonder what the cause of ‘celebration’ was. My dad was jokingly suggesting that we should camp out at my room to watch the new year fireworks. >_>

I love this.

Hey, silliness thrives here too! Found this while I was eating nasi kandar for dinner one of those nights. If you don't get the joke, don't worry too much about it. ^__^

acar!!

Today, I helped guama make her famous acar which is a family favourite. XD After doing this, it makes me wonder why I didn't stay in the kitchen more. It's trade secrets here, so if you can piece together what's happening, all well and good. =D

*aaahhhh* XD the smell of crushed sesame seeds are really nice..especially after frying them.


well, okay, so not completely crushed. The smell is still nice though, can't wait to eat it -with- the masterpiece itself.


And here's guama sifting out the peanut shells =D she can't stand them, and coincidentally, neither does my dad. But the way she does it is waaay more systematic. The shells are at least neatly gathered in the sink XP Might show you what I mean by this later XD


These...I don't know what's in it. Looks like...hmm..onions, garlic, ginger, and I still don't know what the orange things are. And no, they're not carrots.


Asam water. Looks like tomato sauce.


The vegs *before* they're cooked.


I got to crush them XD It's peanuts~ and I was thinking of eating mua chi while I was doing this. Swweet~


Whee~ here's where the fun part starts. It's alot of chilli paste and asam water, which makes it....what it is.


Now here's the carrots and cucumbers. Essential in acar, at least this one if not any other.


The vegs *after* cooking. They look really really shrunken. I prefer the fresh ones though. XD


Dunking! Start off with the carrots..


More aimless stirring ensues.. Not really aimless since this is what cooking is all about anyway XD


A sudden wave of green drowns the carrots.. Poor carrots. But yet more life, evolving it into acar! XD Fiesta! XD


In the making (I remember, while she's cooking, she kind of reminds me of a fencer, especially the left hand... I don't have a pic though)


Can you smell it? XD I want to eat it. Maybe when it's cooler, since this one is still in the wok.


Sprinkly winkly nuts go in.


Finally *drumroll* The masterpiece by a genius cook XD The pot isn't shallow either...

And so guama's acar is revealed to the world. Pretty lousy for a photo log involving cooking, but I've got to start somewhere.

defending

Today at dinner my parents just had to bring up that issue that had been bugging all me for quite awhile, about ti joining the librarian board.

What I don’t understand is why they simply insist that he has to, and from what I can see, he’s not even interested. What is the bloody point of forcing someone to do something they don’t want to do? I cannot understand why you must push something that holds no meaning for him, and by doing so you only make him resent you guys even more.

Don’t be an ass and push him to do it just because I was one in the past; It’s meaningless, and it hurts me to know that all this is a façade just to convince yourselves that he isn’t trash. As much as ti is an ass, he’s got good stuff in him. Just that it’s not in the mechanical everyday things that the average adult likes to do, or would like their kids to do. I don’t understand why you won’t let him discover himself. He’s at the ‘I’m an idiot who survives on online gaming and I don’t give a **** to what you say cause I don’t like it’ stage, which also pisses me off. But what is worse than the shit he gives me is the kind of shit you dish out at me just because he’s like that (or vice versa – either way, it never sat well with me).

And then you have dad attacking me from the “Would it kill you to do it?” point of view. In retaliation to that, if you want your blatant one-word answer, it’s no. So to appease you, and prove you wrong on that point, I will do it. But bear in mind that it doesn’t feel right to me simply because you are insulting what I like by forcing it unto others despite the very very VERY obvious fact that he holds no interest nor would he benefit the board in any positive way by being forced in against his will. He might as well not join if he intends to be kicked out.

In plain English, don’t freaking insult the librarian board. I was a part of it, I know what it’s like to be one, and I loved it. I joined it not for the points, but as I was just interested to be one. Initial curiosity drove me;

“Wonder what these guys do – they look like they’ve got lots of free time (which I learned later that you do *not* always get) and sitting at the counter as a librarian gives you some sense of superiority. It’s kind of an unwritten rule, where the plastic chairs with the armrests at the counters are a librarian’s –special rights– which was kind of fun.”

Hey, I was only 14 back then. I’ve always dreamed of working in a library or a bookstore at one point of time or the other. There’s a wonder about books that you either have or don’t, but luckily enough it can be honed with the right company and the right type of books. Naturally, you figure out for yourself what genre it is you really like.

Once I got in though, the feeling was great. Having joined with ai-chan and another pair of close friends (though I’m sad to admit we’re not so close as we were) we were some of the few who actually paid attention to what’s happening, and how to process books and neat little things like that. For one, it taught me how to wrap books neater than all the shoddy stuff I’ve even called wrapping. It also earned me a handful of acquaintances that were very fun to hang out with. As I never really clicked with the ‘in’ group in high school the library was a sanctuary to me. (Yeah, yeah, I can hear the DU-rians going “And so do the hordes of lepak-ers, couples and study nerds, you know~”)

Note: I still don’t remember the Dewey Decimal system. XP Not even the most general categories.

The library primarily is a place to read. And you’d never notice from the first glance that there are some hidden gems among the haystack. It was here that I read Macbeth, was introduced to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, had this idea that some (not all mind you) of Dickens’s books were a real bore and never tired of finding multiple copies of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ (simply because sarcasm is all over his works, something I find rare).

The other (more widely known) functions (among students) include:

• escaping from class when there’s a free period


• escape teachers when you don’t like the subject


• escaping for the heck of it


• a hangout for people during break (for me and a few others, at least)


• a neat hidey-hole from society (which was what I treasured about this place)


• finishing up last-minute homework, assignments and projects


• hold chat sessions (which probably led to spreading of rumors)


• as a discussion room for school debaters


• for couples to whisper sweet nothings to each other (believe me, look behind the shelves, or maybe at the back of the library)


• for revising before and during exams

I can’t get angry over something for too long. The mood of the post seems better now, which pretty much reflects how I feel. ^__^ Now that the bout of stubborn defiance is over, I kind of feel relieved. But I know it’s never going to end. It will continue on, and on, until we live far enough to appreciate them for what they were trying to do for us.

If only.

tag, I'm it.

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Eragon: a *super* partial spoiler part two

Now that I’ve finished Eragon, I can’t wait to get my hands on Eldest. It cuts off at a crucial point where you definitely know there’s going to be a continuation, and you’re dying to know what happens next, until you realize you need the next book. It makes your throat parched with thirst for more, only to know that the next oasis is still another day away.

Note: for the UMPTEENTH time, SUPER SPOILER UP AHEAD. And a big part of it is the storyline.

Actually I wasn’t too far off from the ending already. So correction: at the time of the first super spoiler post, it was about 80% already. At this point, after entering the Varden, trouble brews up pretty quickly. The Twins are definitely bitches, seeing how they sulk just because Eragon wouldn’t join their little club of magic users. Saphira gets to know the werecat Solembum, and there’s more politics here since you have the elven kind, the dwarven kind as well as humans here in the Varden. But I suppose with complicated beings come complicated ties.

Hehehehe *eevil snickers* I guessed right. Murtagh has the Forsworn’s blood. He’s actually the son of Morzac, the first Forsworn who betrayed the riders to fight for Galbatroix. But through no fault of his though; his mother must have been whack when she saw something in Morzac. And not like Morzac was ever a good father, I mean heck, he even abused his own son just because he was drunk. I really pity Murtagh for having such a hard life. But that is what makes him level headed and with this he and Eragon survived. Unfortunately, the Varden had to imprison him because he refused to have his mind read. I don’t hold it against him though, since he has been through a lot of harsh circumstances where the choices were either killed or be killed. While he was in captivity he was actually quite content with sitting in the jail, although having been treated properly and given plenty of reading material.

Arya strikes me as a very calm, collected elf with proficiency in both the sword and spells. As Eragon and Murtagh saved her from the Shade, Durza, the three of them had some real problems shaking off the Urgals (or the power-upped versions called Kulls) and for some strange reason, Eragon keeps thinking of how beautiful Arya is. No surprise there, she’s supposed to be hot. I mean to the extent where Saphira would get jealous? No wonder Eragon was laughing.

The testing was a good one. The magic test was purposely made impossibly difficult by the Twins, I suppose this was how they were planning to get back at him. And the swordfight (as the swordsmanship test) was conducted by Arya, so I expect a splendid array of moves and maneuvers. When the movie is out, that is.

Voucher day!

As per title, today’s voucher day! =D Well as is the Malaysian’s nature, every one must be spent before the deadline passes, otherwise it would be wasted. I actually have quite a number of them, all expiring either today or tomorrow. And since mom’s been nagging for ‘us’ to use, I thought, “Okay, I’ll use it today.”

Mission: Use up all vouchers. And have a good time. XD

Items:
2 KFC vouchers
2 GSC vouchers
4 Popular vouchers with total value of RM35

When we set out for 1u, it was still pretty early (1230pm) so first place we headed to was GSC to get tickets.

Used: 2 GSC vouchers (Expiry date: 16 Jan): Bought tickets to watch the movie “A Chinese Tall Story”.

Saw chiayee and her brother khengxiong, so we chatted for abit. He got Mr Yap as his chem teacher (lucky at least in that sense: he’s got a ruthless math teacher and the rest he claims are just so-so) so at least he’s guaranteed an A there. XD Apparently they were getting tickets to watch KingKong.

Wandered into Popular, just to scout out what I want to use the vouchers for… I saw the book Eldest, the sequel to Eragon. I was sooo tempted to buy it, since I just finished reading Eragon just today at about 130am. XD More on the Eragon spoilers in another post, allow me to finish. I also saw a number of interesting books, including a selection from Neil Gaiman; Stardust, Mirrors and Smoke, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Everwhere. @___@ I was quite spoilt for choice, as I didn’t know what to buy. I thought, maybe I’ll decide and buy before I leave. And I was just looking to see if they have ‘The Memoirs of a Geisha’ which doesn’t feature Zhang Ziyi’s face as the cover, but I don’t think it’s possible now since the movie’s been getting its desired attention. Took the chance to also check out CDRama, where I surprisingly found some pretty recent (original mind you, not the Taiwanese ciplak-ed versions) Japanese albums like Chemistry – f(ou)r, L’Arc~en~Ciel – Awake and ORANGE RANGE – Natural. I wasn’t expecting this, maybe I’ll keep it in mind next time I go hunting. Sadly, still a very limited selection, but there’s one worth taking note of. I might want to buy the ORANGE RANGE album in near future, since their songs are pretty good.

Met up with ti for lunch, and I thought I’d never live to see the day where KFC is crowded with people until we had difficulty finding seats. Well that’s the main reason we avoid the outlet at 1u, but today was an exception; with the mission in mind, we bravely ventured in.

Used: 2 KFC vouchers (Expiry date: 15 Feb): 2 X-Meals, drinks, and an extra Fish Burger for ti. Never underestimate the appetite of this kid.

By this time, it was bout 3pm that we had ‘lunch’. It was raining heavily outside, which made me feel thankful that I’m in a sheltered place eating warm food. We ate slowly, so by the time we were done, it should be time to enter the cinema.

OMG: I saw this dude that looks so much like Vincent when I was passing this clothing store; I forgot which one. For a moment I thought I wanted to snap a pic and post it here, but ti was already walking off, so too bad Vincent. Just be proud that someone looks like you okay? Just that…he’s abit thinner XD but your hair looks better than his.

Before entering, we bought some Choco Babies (XD really good chocs and the perfect companion if you don’t like popcorn) and ti insisted on having a huge Coke, despite having drunk a regular one back at KFC. To no matter. On entering the cinema, we didn’t have to agonize too long either since the movie started 5 minutes after. =D Talk about good timing.

A short review: A Chinese Tall Story
Note: Don’t worry; I’m trying very very hard to be spoiler-free, so no disclaimers needed.

Don’t be fooled by the title. It is a literal representation of the movie; it is a VERY tall story to pull off. XD It’s in Cantonese, with irritating subtitles at the bottom, but useful enough for someone like me who doesn’t know Cantonese like I do the back of my hand.

The first thing that caught my attention: The music producer is no other than Joe Hisaishi, the very same who did all the music of all the Studio Ghibli feature films:

Fact bite:
Here are some examples of the feature films by Studio Ghibli out of the multitude of titles that I remember the kanji:
千と千尋の神隠し(sen to chihiro no kamikakushi = spirited away)
猫の恩返し (neko no ongaeshi = the cat returns)
もののけ姫 (mononoke hime=literally meaning barbarian princess)
となりのトトロ (tonari no totoro = my neighbour totoro)

I consider this a BIG plus point because it is pretty pointless to have a movie with lousy music. Moving on, the story is based on the story of the Journey to the West. The twist is that once they reach the final city where the sutras are supposed to be, a clan of big bugs attack the city and kidnaps his 3 disciples, but not before he manages to be transported to a safer place. So the main point is to save his 3 disciples and finish the job. Of course, to make the movie last, the journey of rescuing them is quite another as he meets an imp Meiyan, who in my opinion is the rather cute irritating type. But still, interesting.

The main 4 characters of the Journey to the West:
玄奘 is played by Nicholas Tse, and his character is rather…idiotic (this is the first word I can think of) since he practically (and literally) talks people to death which I feel is probably what every other skeptic would think of a monk trying to be holy. So he’s a pretty funny dude.

孫悟空 is played by Chen Bo-lin, he sure is super-yeng. His fighting skills are pretty out-of-this-world, but still amusing to watch. He sure has a good sense of humor And his troop of monkeys are so so so cute! XD They’re all little kids, and little kids having a war cry is like the ultimatum to drive parents up the wall =D

沙悟淨 is played by Steven Chung, and he’s next to the monkey in terms of yengness factor. He doesn’t even look fat, and he fights well to boot. He doesn’t appear much in the story though, but he sounds like the most level-headed one. And if you’re asking, I think the monk is hardly thinking.

豬八戒 is played by Kenny Kwan, his character being an apathetic one. Quote the monk: “You’re stupid, and you can’t fight…so by running off you’re better off dead.”

Followed by the female protagonist:
Meiyan played by Charlene Choi, who is a butt-ugly imp (well not really, in my opinion…because she has this cute look attached to her…and knowing most shows, she’ll probably turn pretty or something later) She is supposed to have the inability to have emotion, but she sure has her funny moments. Especially the way she brutally (but honestly) chides the monk and the way she speaks is like a child.

I’d probably give this show an 8/10 because the action somehow reminded me of sakuratetsu taiwahen (if you don’t know what this is, go check it out) but still good. And the cg for the show is pretty good, seeing how they made the bugs look like something out of Starcraft (like the Zurg clan) and of course all those pretty fireworks. Who can resist a movie with pretty fireworks~

The movie’s quite short though, after 90 minutes we were free to go.

So I went back to Popular to muse over the choice of books. Soon after, dad called to say that they were coming back real late, so we’d better get home on our own. Tried calling reeis for a recommendation, but she didn’t pick up. I suppose she was sleeping or doing something else. Took a deep breath, closed my eyes and picked one of the Neil Gaiman books; ended up with Smoke and Mirrors. Will read it later before I go to bed, but seeing how Eragon has kept me up for 3 nights… XD I hope this one will be just as good if not better.

Used: Popular vouchers with a total value of RM35 (Expiry date: 16 Jan): Needless to say, my possession of it was guaranteed.

While I was paying, the blur cashier forgot to add my mechanical pencil (buying one cause I gave mine to ti as he had no working one) to the list. And since the system does not comply with refunds if the total purchase is less, he was sort of confused. The pencil solved the problem. XD

Log: Mission accomplished.

Eragon: a *super* partial spoiler part one

I can’t keep my mind off Eragon. Even as I type this I’m thinking of the book, sitting patiently by my bedside and willing me back to it...

Before you proceed, it is all well that I should say that below are spoilers. Spoilers, do you understand? So for your own sake, please go get the book and read it. By the way, I’m not done with the book either. I plan to read it to the end in 2 days or less, as I’ve about reached half the book, not in storyline, but in relative number of pages. With regards to the storyline, I would have finished about 55 to 60%.

If there’s one thing amiss, Eragon is, well, too ideal. Despite his somewhat childish ways and uncanny tendency to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, he can fight very well using bow and arrow, not to mention the ability of being ambidextrous with the sword. On top of that, he can use magic and has a lot of potential (according to Brom anyway), seeing how he killed an Urgal (the equivalent of an orc, I suppose, just that it speaks the human tongue) on his first try at casting magic. Also, having fairly strong mind control and being able to mindspeak (mentally communicating) with Saphira, his dragon is a big plus, since it’s something only Riders can do. Oh, not to mention the fact that Eragon was the name of the first Rider in Algaesian history, and Saphira happened to be the name of Brom’s deceased dragon. It’s too perfect… I’m expecting something in him or Saphira to turn awry, or to have Murtagh be a traitor, whatever… and maybe (hopefully) he’ll turn evil for abit. At least it’ll spice things up.

But there are ideas that I’ve seen before in other books, for example, the concept where each thing, animate or not, has a ‘true’ name, one that enables the user who does know the ‘true’ name to control the object or being to its will and whim. First time I came across it was in A Wizard of Earthsea when SparrowHawk was taught by Ogion at Gont. I love that book. X3 Comparing this to Eragon, SparrowHawk was a lot more mature, and in the least sense, more real for his age. But then again, if you think about it, not a lot of 16-year-old guys are mature.

Brom was (I use the word ‘was’ for a reason) very much a Gandalf-like character; a mentor to Eragon which was well-versed in many things and had his fair share of secrets. He settled in Carvahall as a storyteller until Eragon’s uncle, Garrow was murdered by Ra’zacs (compared to the Urgals, these are more intelligent and cunning) and the timing was so perfect that Brom had to help Eragon out and be a partner in his travels. In fact, he was the one that taught Eragon a lot on life, I think even more than Garrow did. Although Garrow brought up Eragon, the one who changed his life was Brom. So in that aspect, I respect Brom.

There’s one thing that strikes me as strange; do adults give some pocket money to kids, and let them wander around the city freely until sunset, or time for dinner, or whatever it is? I didn’t think farmers or travelers would be that loaded to throw their money around for kids to spend. It seems rather ironic as in those times, people were hard-pressed under a tyrannical king and needed to practically slave just to scrape by.

tidbits here and there

Another outing to college today; what is it that makes me want to go back to college, even though I’m not a part of it anymore? I think I miss my oh-so-comfortable shell of S9-ers too much, even more than I realize. Just a short while ago, there wasn’t a care in the world, almost. Everyday was like an outing, everyone had fun, and everyone was at ease with each other.

Today I saw ken, jiun, denny, ss and weehoo. I saw denny’s Celica parked @ Asia, and it just made me wonder if I was seeing things. Jiun calls the car “his trademark car”. It *is* true. I think almost all the girls in class had the pleasure of sitting in it. What with the numerous get-togethers, it isn’t altogether surprising. Not forgetting the trademark numbers, 7878. =D Then on the way out of Asia, I saw weehoo and his new classmates. On the way to college, I saw ss wave at me. XP My reaction: “Oh shit… XD” It was so nice to see them again. And all at Asia, or near it.

For the most part, I just agreed to meet ai-chan since she’s taking A-Levels there now. Her 2nd day of class today, and for lack of better things to do, I thought I’d drop by. Her classmates are…hehe. She says they’re all goody-two-shoes, so it might turn out to be a good thing. She was so freaked of being an outcast or whatever it is, but I hope that the feeling is dissipating within her. Man, it works wonders not to think so negatively sometimes, you know? She even had another haircut, while I haven’t. Not for the last 6 months I haven’t. XP Must be a partial phobia after I got a really bad one once.

I’m reading Eragon, which also happens to be korg’s Christmas present from Aunt Margaret. It’s not bad actually. The setting reminds me of LoTR, but colder and harsher winter winds blow there. Eragon, although boy in character, has a pretty mature frame of mind. Saphira should be much more elegant, not like the art on the cover. Still, it’s quite a nice book. The movie’s going to be out end of this year, so I thought I’d check the book out first. =D Talk about reading up.

run for your life.

I have a gut feeling my dreams of running away are trying to tell me something. Maybe, maybe, I should face the music. But I do wonder, isn’t that what I’ve been trying to do all this while? You mean, it isn’t enough? I just wonder, because it seems to be occurring often enough. Not always the same scenario, but the most vivid action that I could recall was running. Away. I think it was 2 nights ago.

Running along corridors of a glass-windowed building somewhere in London, my pursuer chasing after me, and somehow, I was in a university building, but it was in an office block. I don’t even know why they’re chasing after me, but heck, no one likes getting caught. I was guilty though, or at least I felt guilty, but for what, I don’t know. I remember using a lot of fire escapes, emergency exits and lifts which only allowed access after a retina scan. So I looked up. Funnily enough, I got through. I really thought I would be cornered (like a rat. I wonder if there are other things that are cornered…) The lift went up, to my surprise. I thought the fastest way would be down and out, maybe I was thinking of playing around. *shrugs* I remember running past a library, a study room, some classrooms (each on a different floor) and running down a lot of very wide staircases. Looking outside, I could see the perimeter of the campus; “I could probably break free if I sprinted for it….” I ran down another floor, and seeing the door, instinctively, I knew it was the exit. I pushed the door open.

“Damn. That’s a damn long way to run.”

I have no idea what happened after that. My trail of thought suddenly just disconnected. So I never knew if I got out or not, or if I was caught, or if there was any help, any ridiculously lucky streak. Nothing.

wolfwood

Damn, damn, damn, damn, I knew it was going to happen soon, but how I wish it didn't have to be so. He's gone. He's really gone. A man carrying a burden he knew he would die with.

Why did Wolfwood have to go?

I can't help it... He is after all, one of my many favourite characters I've come across. Idiotic but still damn cool. XD *amen?*

Who asked me to read Trigun Maximum..I simply had to do *something* while waiting for my backup to finish. *Love and Peace! X3*

Most of my day was spent running around (or rather, having korg drive me around) running errands. Pay fees, pay for books, buy lunch, sell textbooks. *counts with fingers* All done by 1240pm. XD

Got lost while trying to exit the Sunway cafeteria. @__@ I felt so silly seeing the exit was just right in front of me and I didn't see it. So much so that I had to ask for directions. The girl who answered me was probably from some Turkish part of the world;"Ze exit is just zere, to the right.." which I found rather amusing to hear.

There were alot of korean kids at the KFC at Atria. I wonder what they're doing there, seeing it's not really -the- place to be (unless they're on some kind of field trip or something, but still..?) and man they're really noisy. It was also rather obvious that they were having some sort of communication problem (veery little speech, more to pointing and gestures) which I suppose is normal for kids whose first language isn't english. I think. They were at a moment of panic cause they were short 16 cents. Seeing how the cashier was getting tired of waiting and they're still scrambling for change, I helped them out. XP A little deed of the day I guess. XD The boy was so cute, as he was saying "Thank you" he bowed (no idea if its custom or anything, it just was cute XD and not forgetting the funny accent that came along with it)

Now my system has been attacked by some virus...I have no idea how it got there. It shouldn't be me though. I suspect it's ti's DoTA-ing habits that incurred the "Blue Screen of Death" not once, but twice already (this being the 2nd time, the first time I removed it all right). The big difference with this time and the previous one is that it's making my system hang just when I'm opening a file (pick a file, any file at random at a random time too which is damn pissing) or doing anything with my computer.

So I spent my entire day backing up my stuff. With thumbdrives. How much more idiotic can an IT student get... do take note that I have no dvd drive (read or write), no external hd, no pc-link with the house computer which is sitting next to me and the obvious fact that with the gradual passing of time, my patience was waning as well. Alas, what an idiot I could have saved myself from being. It wasn't till 10pm or so when ai-chan sent me an sms: "I can lend u my ipod lorr..." when I felt like jumping off the cliff. (*&^#)%^$)%^*&*%@ All this time I could have used *my* ipod sitting in my room. Feel free to sit back and laugh. Loga (one of my punching bags) did it already, so what difference does another make?

going to college.

Whoa. Today must be the first time I used public transport in awhile.. And I also must have another few circuits fried, for having gone to college 3 days in a row. @__@ I wonder if I miss college that much...

Anyway, I went to college yesterday since houhou ajak-ed me. Saw some people still selling books, most of them using that as an excuse to get together~ but it was great to see everyone again.Helped seow hui and her friend sell off the remnants of their textbooks, I think it was mostly specialist math and physics. Out of sheer coincidence, we saw Mrs. Angelene with her new mentees and decided to gatecrash their ice-breaking session. Doubtless to say, she was pleased to meet us after such a long hiatus. And the rest took the chance to sell off their books to the class. Weird subjects they're taking though, humanities with specialist math? I hope she has as much fun with them like she did with us. I don't wanna say 'and more' cause I know S9 of '05 rocked XD

Then went down to Monash for awhile for seowhui to apply for her course; Degree in Commerce I think. Why is everyone doing it?! Lessee, choryeow, evie, hou, kim, and now seowhui. Quite a number as is. On the way out, saw cynthia, chris wong and yvonne. They're in Sunway so no doubt we'll be crossing paths quite a bit this year.

That was practically the end; after that me and hou sent seowhui back to college before going back. Memo to self: traffic at college at 3pm suxors because there are the SriKL students as well as the Taylor's students going home. Dropped by 7-11 to buy Slurpee. XD It's nice, especially when the weather's soo freaking hot. Saw howhuey while we were stuck @ college area trying to get out of it; khengxiong (chiayee's bro) who's also a SAM student (ciplakkkkk~~~ why didn't I know of it earlierrr, then can sell him something.-piffety-) The most pathetic thing had to be that we finished the Slurpee even before exiting Subang. That's...so....sad.

And and and!

There were a pack of 6 postmen (yea, the guys in blue uniforms with a big box-like thing to store the mailbag on the side) racing down the road...and then one of them did a wheelie! OMG. *stares* truly a rare sight to behold. First time in my entire life. @___@ I think what was so amazing was that....they were....postmen! XD

Today I went to college again, this time to sell off my graphic calculator. On the way up to D25 to Mary's class (she's the girl I sold the calculator to), I spotted jiun, ken and sooguan on the way down the staircase (they finish class at 12...the joy)

So not wanting to pass up the chance, I hung about them for abit. Chatted for abit before going to the SAM office to settle some graphic calculator problems that crept up after ken and jiun sold off the calculator to some girl whose teacher (Mrs Kee) insisted that she's not gonna teach using the TI-83 Plus model, “and so please contact the person you bought it from to return it to” which is absolute rot. I mean, there's not much difference between the two models, TI-83 and TI-83 Plus. Apart from colour, memory and processing speed. In doing so we saw Mrs. Chong again, who said she's gonna discuss the matter with the other math teachers. Wahahaha, I bet the this Mrs. Kee is gonna get major screwing.

These year's SAM students are so stressed out even before the real classes begin. Man, who places such importance in getting original copies when the xerox copies just work as well? Not like the teachers are going to bat an eyelid as long as you know your stuff and study right and pay attention in class. And what is this crap about not wanting to buy the older model graphic calculator when both models are useable, even for the final exams?! It's really beyond me.

Ooh, today's Extra for the headlines:

On the way back (I took the bus – again, I could have gotten a lift from chia yuin and hui juine if I had just waited like 20 mins more... T_T) I saw something amazing on the SriKL poster...It looked like...yaufei's face.... Seriously! Go drive by the road passing SriKL on the way to Subang Parade. I am serious. It's either yaufei, or a guy that seriously looks like him. I felt like laughing out loud in the bus, but the last thing I wanna do is to attract weird stares.

I hate smokers. Stewpit people were smoking like a bunch of chimneys, and the worst thing that the wind was blowing in my direction, so I got all the freaking smoke. (*&$^%(%^Z)%^ Turds. Now my headaches have been running for 3 days straight...@___@ Stupid smokers, wake up and realize you're killing us all faster than you're killing yourselves.

Selling second-hand textbooks...

are a real pain in the ass.

Number one: I arrived late at the scene. No, I'm not blaming anyone (I think if I seriously ever do, that would be the ultimatum), it just happened to be that mom had an early call. There goes my effort in waking up @ 730am.Hey, for a sleep-in person like me, it takes real effort to wake up early. I shudder to think how I'm going to survive uni without an alarm clock. Ok, so we set off at about 930am, and returned home at 10am cause korg wanted to have a bath. I thought it'd be no big deal since we're already late as is.

When I reached college at bout 11am, first people I recognized were a part of the K3 gang. As for the first person I thought safe to steal some booth space from, it had to be sumei. Sold off my math and specialist math books pretty early off since it's common knowledge that those are the books most used by students, at half price. Mann...I suppose I was just that bit desperate for getting rid of my books. So now I'm still stuck with my physics textbooks and no buyers. Trying my luck again tomorrow.

Number two: There have been a worryingly increasing number of cases of new students being poisoned/brainwashed/intoxicated with the idea that xerox copies of books are banned from use. *rolls eyes* Hello, we wouldn't be able to be selling these off if that ruling had been seriously adhered to. Anyway, you'll find a lot of highlighting and useful notes at the side, all made possible by the joys of normal writeable paper, compared to the glossy stuff you get with an original. You can't even write anything with a pencil (force of habit), and highlighting tends to smear. I suppose that gives us the right to sell originals off at a higher price, at least.

Number three: Are you guys trying to kill us?! Hey, this just doesn't go out to parents, students too. If there's one thing, the parents are even more kiamsiap. And they insist on ridiculously cheap originals. @__@ I mean, we don't offer super-unreasonable prices. Half price is really a steep cut to begin with. I suppose if I were buying, I would want as big a cut as possible,but...*sighs* I guess I don't argue my way through as hard as others. Selling isn't really my thing. I don't like the idea of convincing people, (see how the word 'con' originates from this) in that sense anyway. Which is why I abhor business dealings, but if I have to, I have to. *thinks back on how parents constantly remind me of all the shit they have to go through*

Oh, today also happens to be ken's 2^nd day at uni!! Well, he's still at Taylor's Subang so no change of venue, or places to eat..not that he minds it, I guess. If cabana exists, he'll live. hhehehe~ He and jiun are classmates, so no worries of being alienated. Yet. But seeing them, they'll fit in fine.

Met quite abit of people I haven't seen in awhile; rowe, ken, hou, jiun, sooguan, denny, weehoo, chinyuan, liyen, minchiee, anna, eley, tzemeng, karen, sumei, kendrick... the list goes on. Helped rowe lug packs of notes, textbooks and revision stuff for her to sell off since they're freaking heavy. Must be lack of running around, after all, I have been sitting around at home, be it reading some book or online-ing.

Well, there are the cases where people were trying to sell me their textbooks while I'm trying to sell my own. XP Quite amusing actually.

I left at bout 12-something, seeing that the greenhorns (I have been wanting to use this phrase XD) were sitting through their orientation until they're orientated to the fact that the lecturers are really pushing the goodness of Taylor's like selling a health product. That's what was running through my mind at the time anyway.

make resolutions you can keep!

first off, welcome 2006.

At about 930pm I set off for ai-chan's, where we spent an hour playing ff9 (relishing the scandalous moment of steiner and beatrix getting together, somewhat) before reeis called to meet @ mcd, 1u.

ai-can glomped reeis while I choked her, as is the customary greeting among us. First thing we agreed on was to get some acohol. Now if you're wondering why 18-year-olds enjoy doing this, it's because they can! bought 2 bottles of kampai (its nice cause its sweet, I can't stand the ones that are too bitter.. I know, I know, kid's tastebuds) and a can of asahi (which is pretty good actually~)

Aimlessly walked around to kill time as the only thing happening at the moment was a rave party @ rainforst (if you consider people packed up like canned sardines jumping on the spot dancing, be my guest)

Saw peng shaun - the guy had been back for 3 weeks! o_o never knew. *shrugs* Chatted for abit while his hangout friends thought it was a novel idea to snap pictures of him with a bunch of girls. *rolls eyes* talk about brainless.

I think I had the bigger swig, cause ai-chan was red by the time we finished the 2nd bottle of kampai (we agreed to keep the asahi for last as we didn't bring a bottle opener - poofety) and reeis was getting abit pinkish. In between intervals we were all senselessly crapping (I have never heard of meaningful crap), laughing, cursing , laughing some more and drinking. I suppose the alcohol tolerance comes from my gran (dad's side) cause he says she kinda downed it like water XD But I do know that after awhile when I do get hit by it, I'll just be out cold. I think.

Trudged up to the third floor where it was more or less packed with people counting down. When the fireworks began, it was like magic! A full five-minute wonder of stars raining down on us in beautiful patterns and....the effects are breathtaking. Yes, I like fireworks.

like the fireworks which on raining down the spark changes colour from regular yellow to red and green.

and the ones which burst a regular yellow and a blue ring within it.

and the ones which swirl upwards, and burst into a big flower and rained down.

X3 there were so many I couldn't have had a favourite~ I loved them all! Although I do remember suffering from a slight neckache after.

We shared that last can between the 3 of us~ Since both of them didn't want any more, I suppose I took the pleasure of finishing it. And and I could still walk in a straight line, speak insanely while they were singing auld lang syne and christmas songs. o_o some lady had the audacity to accuse us of drinking carlsberg *imaginary spit landing on ground* che- (guu-style)
happy new year, 2006 beckons us!