买东西吃东西拉二胡

NTUCO HK trip 22Dec - 30 Dec

Whenever I think I'm gona quit CO after so and so concert, after xxx trip etc, after the event, I think I can't ever quit CO for good because it's so fun whenever there's trip or concerts! Of course it's not just that, I enjoy playing on the stage even though I often get out of tune. Hearing the sound made from your erhu and others' in harmony is a good feeling. I had a lot of fun eating and shopping this trip, just as the commercial goes: 买东西吃东西. But the best part of all's that I made new friends!

全体照！

We had 2 performances, 1 on Christmas Eve and the other one on the 27th, involving us NTU, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology! The HK side played 羽调! And I always get so high when I hear them play it.

黄老师与玄乐

The HK people's turn playing~


This is Chris, who plays dizi, the main logistic guy guiding us where to eat, what's next: " 大家, come follow me!"

I like her expression when she plays the yangqin. She's one of the soloists! And that's Chris behind.

The girl in white's Yelda, whom I remembered smiled at me when I turned my head [she was sitting behind me]


Now there's a little story behind this photo!
Before the trip, XZ sent me some of her photos taken when SPCO went to HK 4 years ago. I didn't even think I'd ever see anyone in the photos. After all it's been 4 years, 4 long years! Then during the first performance I suddenly find this guy looking very familiar, then I refered to the photo in my hp and to my utter surprise, it really does look like him!! It took me some time to think whether to go clarify with him :3 and I finally found a chance and he said YES it's him! :D


4 years ago~

He's not the only person I recognise that was around in XZ's pictures. I guess in CO, it's really hard to quit when you've been playing some time and got committed. As for me, I've been playing for about 7 years? It's been a long while... Will I still be playing after 4 years?

Although I kinda miss the summer weather in S'pore while I was there, for the initial 2 days maybe, it was really cold and I was trying to adapt to the weather. My skin was dry, my lips cracked. After a few days, I started to enjoy wearing long sleeves and putting on my jacket all the time. Seeing people wearing boots, scarves and trenchcoats was really cool! But now that I'm back, oh man S'pore is reallllly reallly hot. I miss the cool air con weather in Hong Kong.


Brr.. the cold wind is blowing~



The erhu section again~

Pretty sunset view of the beach

We spent most of the days shopping whenever there's no practice. Shopping for clothes, bags, earrings, necklaces and even books! We went to Mong Kok 女人街 about 4 times? The things sold at the market there were quite expensive actually until me and Qiuling decided to explore the malls then and to our horror surprise, it's like Bugis in HK!! And the things sold in the mall are even cheaper than those in the market, and even cheaper than after I've slashed prices at the market. But I've already spent half my money when I discovered this. =.=
It's the shining signboard caught my eye when we were about to leave 女人街, and luckily we went in! I bought 3 pairs of necklaces, 3 pairs of earrings, 4 clothes, 1 leggings, 2 pairs of socks, 1 earring rack and 3 bags in there, which I think still isn't enough! There are 4 levels and one of the days we spent like 2-3 hours walking the same level over and over, we visited the same earring shop at least 3 times in a day!

The streets of HK~

The traffic light in HK~


One of the lockers in the BaptistU, I want a Nodame Postcard!

The food there is good, especially the dim sum!

My first meal in Hong Kong. The food there were served in really big portions! The people there sure have big appetites!

窝心暖粒粒, what a nice name for a dessert! Delicious dessert too! The sogo seeds or whatever you called it were so soft and crispy at the same time it pops in your mouth when you try to chew it! I'm getting hungry as I'm typing this.

I ordered watermelon juice at the dim sum restaurant and guess what. It's pure watermelon juice! No added water! NO ICE!


Our table of dim sum! We ate here twice!

And this is the best chee cheong fun I've ever eaten in my entire life. There's shrimps inside!


Does this look like we're in some place in Europe? ^^


Yummy fishballs from 7 Eleven. I like how the colours of the picture turned out.

We were given alot of freedom in this trip, so we can go anywhere we wanted to go. So it's good if we had a little research on the places of interest in HK. The MTR [train] there's very convenient and HK being bigger than Spore, surprisingly the trains there travel faster? or perhaps there are so many colour lines, you don't have to take very long to travel from one end of the stop to the other.

At Mei Foo, while waiting for the train.


In the train, I realised there isn't much people listening to MP3 unlike in S'pore. There was one trip I couldn't find any at all! Oh ya and during festive holidays like Christmas Eve, the trains and buses operate 24 hours! During wee hours in the night you still can see people walking around! The HK people are so on!

Hong Kong's a nice place, for massive shopping sprees and dim sum eating! Everything is quite similar to Singapore so there isn't much of a culture shock. As for the language, most people can speak Chinese and English too. Actually I think they speak better in English than in Chinese sometimes. haha. I don't mind going there again! :D

And this'll be my last post for 2008?

Ah..

I'm flying off to Hong Kong in less than 4 hours time.
It's 2.15am now and I'm still packing =.= .. but almost done.
Cyah in 8 days =D!

It's alright

Is it alright to not work hard
Is it alright to ignore the world
Is it alright to not do what people tell you to do
Is it alright to fail
Is it alright to keep quiet

Work soft
The world ignores you
You tell people what to do
What goes down will eventually land
Keep and use it well

Edit: J brought up another 2 good lines.

Is it alright to want a simple and unsuccessful life?
Is it alright to not want to succeed in life?

It'd be difficult if you want to be successful.
Don't fail then.

What's your answer? :)

Where I've been

I haven't been updating much about outings recently so here goes!
I've been:

to eat


Last week celebrated Vic's birthday eating at Waraku.
And there's Mer smile until so 灿烂, showing his braces with pride. But of course we all are.. smiling. But Vic should be the happiest =D

to share

Our annual Christmas exchange, this year held at Jia's house. As always, Amy's present's the most sought after!! Look at that attractive pink packaging with a red ribbon!


Photo with presents pose.
So this year:
Amy got mine, I got Qiu's which is yet another long pencil case for my collection, just what I need for school =D Nico got Pang's, Pang got Nico's, Qiu got Jia's and Jia got Amy's!!! haha.

to see

I went to the JML with my uni mates, as above^

Smile SK!

We couldn't take pictures inside so we only took outside. A little disappointed because it's not as big as I expected but there's a Nodame section! Some displays of the manga, and other mangas as well. Contemporary art, animations and some interactive installations that were quite interesting. Personally like the one using particles to form dynamic movement best. No picture to show it's beauty :/

Yes, smile :)

If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through
For you

Jump!

Skip Beat may be the next big bandwagon I'm gona jump on big time fangirling about since Nana.
I am so soso sosososososososososososo tempted to just read the manga now. But knowing myself I won't hesitate to read all 100+ chapters in one day once I begin, which I think isn't the best way to appreciate something this good. Then I'd need to wait 1 month for each new chapter. That is worse.

But the 1 week wait per episode is already killing me xp
Another thing is Skip Beat is airing on Spore TV: Okto concurrently with Tokyo TV, 5 days lag from what aired in Japan, subbed. Unbelievable isn't it?

Yes, Anime, on Spore TV, subbed and only 5 days[not a few years] behind Japan broadcast.
The world is changingggggg.

RGB

A typical holiday-day in summary

To ensure a day is spent wisely and that all areas of my interests are covered I would need to spend:

30 mins practising erhu
30 mins practising japanese
30 mins reading the books I borrowed from the library

at least, everyday because in the end I might spend:

More than 1 hour watching a drama
More than 30 mins watching an anime
Sometimes even watching a movie of 2 hours
1 hour reading forum discussion threads on particular interested drama/anime/movie
Another 1 hour reading reviews, hunting icons, seiyuu, song, information
In the meantime distracted on the Msn which'll takes maybe 1 hour of my life per day [depending]. And not to mention facebook, blog-hopping and visiting livejournal communities..

In the meantime feeling tired of all the reading hence takes a nap for about an hour.
1 hour or more eating.. while watching something on the net.
Feels inspired and continue reading, and not doing anything or writing anything myself about it.
Feel bored and picks up a new title to watch : Skip Beat, Bloody Monday

The rest of the time: tv, go out with friends and last but not least, creating something related to art, design, media.

=.=

Girl from the woods

今日はなにをしましたか？

What did you do today?


Watering plant をしました。


本をよんでいます。I read a book.


しゅくだいをしました。
I did homework.

パソコンをつかいました。
I used the computer.


せんしゅうに友だちと会いました。
Met friends last week.

Actually I'm not sure whether I used the kanji correctly ^^""
Today isn't a very productive day, I ought to be doing something more related to adm.

Who is Huiling

Had consultation with MT today, to evaluate how I did this semester for 4D.

"So Huiling why are you in Vis Comm?
What made you choose Vis comm?
What do you like about Vis comm?
Is it the illustrations, the motion graphics?
What do you like to do?
I don't see Huiling in your works, Huiling where are you?
You need to talk more, learn how to ask questions. You're too quiet.
You need to play more.
Who is Huiling?"

I was quite stun for a moment when he asked me why I chose Vis Comm. Deep down I wasn't sure whether I like "Vis Comm" so much that I wanted a place here and I don't wana say I have passion for design passion for art blahblahblah.

Why I chose Vis Comm initially's because I thought it's the easier way out. I replied. GASP.

Now I know I'm very wrong because it's not an easy way at all! But of course I do like design, graphical art, illustrations and whatnots. Actually I think I like to watch films, dramas, animes, movies, basically listening to stories MORE, now what's that gotta do with viscomm. [I didn't choose animation or filmaking because I find it so so hard to create anything good.] Hmm but movies, drama, anime is still visual communication isn't it, communicating with images, be it moving, still or abstract. Though my initial impression of "Vis Comm" is graphical design, this is only part of Vis Comm. Now I must learn how to CREATE this "story", this form that radiates my heart and soul that is Huiling. How is that easy.

I definitely never think this much when I do my assignments in poly.

As for the quiet part, I can only say I need more brains for words of value and guts for penetrating invisible walls.

Feel really lucky to be taught by him this semester.

Time waits for no one

The Girl who leapt through time. 時をかける少女

This movie left me with so much pleasantness, such warm fuzzy feeling and positivity about life, the last anime movie that made me feel this way's probably from Ghibli. But no this isn't Ghibli's this is animated by Madhouse directed by Mamoru Hosoda.


I like the simplicity in the character design, the background set, pretty classrooms and sceneries. I appreciate the details in the science lab - the messy test tubes on the table, the books on the shelves all drawn nicely. The set was beautifully drawn.

The theme "Time waits for no one" resonates rhetorically throughout the movie. Ah who wouldn't remember the time you tried to change the topic whe one's about to ask you out, wished you'd turn back time when you received your poor results, feel lonelier if your best friend's attached, wished we'll all be good friends forever have each other's company forever, I can totally see myself in Makoto. But these feelings can't be replayed in time again, can't change what's happened and avoiding isn't the best solution. It's these little feelings about life that we humans must have some point in life that makes this film so .. touching.

There's much depth for thought for a seeming simple movie. Going back time's never simple anyway, there's much to explain about the concept, the being of existence, how the others revolve around, the you who's in that time. There's isn't much explaination to this sci-fi element of the film but nevertheless, the thought is there - the consequences of changing events. How you can change certain things that you don't want to happen, or things you want to happen. Then in the end still regreting you changed the outcome. Ah.. I suck at writing this.

Tonikaku, it's unbelievable I'm watching this very recent work aired on my local tv. They're even gona show Code Geass soon and Gundam 00's and Skip Beat's already on tv. This is GREAT!

Rokuta

My favourite kirin! [Taiki too]
This's my first time colouring a sketch in photoshop =D
The scanner's not very good so I'm not too happy with the pencil lines which were darkened alot to make it more obvious. But yay! I tried something new today! Now only if I can draw without reference...

Anyway I ransacked my drawer to look for my old drawings so to see whether I've improved drawing. Then I saw this:


This is probably done in my secondary school days, clothes inspired by FF. Spot the Rikku, Aeris wanabe! haha. There was a period of time I wanted to be a character designer, I'd draw alot of girls like this and think of all the funky clothes design [inspired from video games] then have a little story in my head. And why are they all females? Because I fail drawing males' clothes, it always end up being tshirts and pants. haha.

Oh and I realise I never like using pencils to draw in the past so I always use black pen but now.. I'm afraid to use pen for fear of drawing wrongly =.=

Wanton

The devil C.T made us wanton! Well we helped made most of them, I helped a litttttle too. Surprisingly it tasted quite good.

The process...

Vladimir and Estragon *coughwaitingforgodotcough*
Reminds me of Wang Sa Ye Fong too.. oh or even Bert and Ernie! But it's really just 2 Mr Beans~ [Too lazy to edit that glaring light]

Most of the busts are either moldy or cracked already and so is my Kimutaku
His poor poor neck. Looks more like my Dad actually now to look at it.
Yes looking at this picture my inner voice is ranting how he doesn't look like youknowwho but I will ignore this for now. After all I made this with my very bare hands beginning with zero experience, 1% knowledge [paint the wood, screw it tight], I tried my best, I should be proud of it! So hopefully my 2nd attempt with objectwithlight will make up for it.

Playing with Daiso's bamboo blinds for a few hours and you'll get this.


Most heartwarming of all, he gave us these little plants and not saying what it'll grow up into. Perhaps in a way saying we're like these little seedlings, still growing. There's still much to learn.

I think this is the most meaningful present a teacher can ever give a student, I like it alot. Can't wait for it to grow! So by the time I graduate from here it should have bloomed. :)


The devil unmasked! And his family! [gf behind, tsk tsk how can like this]
But well he's not that entirely nasty after all :)
---

どうすればがいい。
何をしたい、何がほしい、今しらない。

Afternoons with Kuala

Onward with classmates for our long-awaited post exams buffet dinner!

2 days of holidays so far I did:

• Watched red cliff. Was really awed by the visuals. I like the battle scenes. I like how every character had his little own screen time to show off his abilities. Most importantly I like the 2 main leads.
  
  
• Love for "Coffee Prince" rekindles due to repeat telecast at 6pm!
  I think I enjoyed watching this better the second time than the first. I like the mood of the environment, the green and the earthy tiles. Able to appreciate it better this time and the music too. Watching it once a day feels better than watching it all at once sometimes.
  
  
• I spent my 1st day of holiday [Friday] at home with "Kuala" having our little own random afternoon chat on the msn. While talking about Persona, we moved on to Ingmar Bergman and read all about his life on the internet, something I should have done BEFORE and not AFTER the exams. Having biscuits for lunch became selling celebrity/harry potter cookies to earn a luxurious screening room so we can invite people to come over and watch movies all day. Yes see you next afternoon! haha.
  
  
• A 4 months break from studying Japanese has made my brain rust.
  Anyway the lesson was alright though I had a hard time trying to catch what sensei said and remembering what we learnt before. I like Takagi sensei's cheery energy.

Now how do I end this post...