A Wanderer Wondering On The Unfathomable Path.

Grumbling

2009-08-23T16:57:00.003+08:00

Studying business and possibly doing business in future, the requirement of constantly doing paperwork will ultimately result in one of the following consequences:

- Staring at the computer screen till I burn a hole through it
- Staring at papers till I burn a hole through it
- My eyes eventually pop out of my sockets due to overworking and roll all over the ground

To think... I posted such an entry after ignoring my blog for such a long time...

-These are just grumbles due to the unfathomable Business Law assignment-

Down memory lane

2008-07-06T02:15:00.003+08:00

This is the first time I made sushi, and my housemate commented it look like rubbish especially after I dumped all those vegetables around it.

Oh ya, why housemate, one might ask. In my last post, I'm still with my family, but now, I've already entered college, and shifted out, thus explains the existence of housemates. The last post was 26 of December 2007... Obviously my ability to procrastinate has improved...

So... 7 months had passed... Some of my wishes in my wish list (points to the left) had been fulfilled, some (to my dismay) had not. I manage to get an apartment to stay with my friends (which means I don't need to stay under the college hostel, which means I save a lot on the rental and most importantly means I don't need to attempt to adapt living with a group of strangers...). I had also switched from the science stream to the arts stream, but there is still English and Maths.

English, to my horror, is one of the most boring subjects, a stark contrast to secondary school English. Everything that we put in ink on paper is tightly regulated, no room for personal opinions (fine, there is, but one risk getting marks deducted if one don't phrase these personal opinions carefully), almost 90% of whatever we wrote must be quoted, paraphrased etc, which makes one seriously consider not writing one's name on the frontpage, after all, what is written is merely other's opinion. But then again, I know this type of dry English is the language we're going to use for the next few years, and the poor teacher's attempt to drill all these 'Harvard referencing' thingy is a kind effort to prepare us for our university years...

I have to stop my piano, and six months later, I found that I'm losing touch with it. And the most frustrating thing: I'm stagnant in grade 6. So much for the effort I put into it over the last 8 years...

Staying out and being a few hundred kilometres away from family has given much freedom, but during the first few months, homesickness is a big problem. Being homesick had pretty much shut down approximately 40% of my senses to whatever that's happening around me. Only recently I'm acting less of a zombie and more of a human.

Freedom, means I am no longer regulated by family rules. I'm allowed to (once in a while) sit on the balcony, come home long after the sun has set, make a mess of the kitchen, and perhaps go nocturnal for the sake of the exams.

And the severe lack of resources during the first few weeks after moving into the apartment made me realize that the rice cooker is actually a multipurpose pot! It's primary purpose is to cook rice, but it can also be used to cook and fry food. In fact, our first steamboat is done by using the rice cooker! That was a fairly interesting experiance, but our steamboat was not exactly healthy, our soup do not have enough stock, so we had to dump in alot of MSG just to get the taste...

The second steamboat, was eaten outside. RM 18.80 per head, and we can take as much food as we want. But we took too much of the seafood and fishballs, and we attempted to put it back (wastage of food warrants a heavy fine). We're caught by the CCTV (yes, to our amazement, there are CCTV) and the waiter sent the food back!!! In the end, we tortured ourselves by finishing the food, because we poor outstation students are too poor to pay the fine... (But to a certain extent we deserved it, because we don't know our limits)

We took train back to our hometown during our March holidays, and it would be an understatement to say that the journey to the station was 'rushing'. We got up kind of late (the train departs around 8) but managed to call a taxi. At the station, while we're crossing the bridge to get to our platform, the train to KL Central (where we're going to catch our train back home) arrived. Imagine our horror, we're scared we cannot catch it, and my housemate's luggage is giving her problems (she kicked the poor bag out of frustration, I think). Luckily we managed to get into the train before the doors closed, although I must say our entrance is a bit noisy, and some passengers were smiling out of amusement (I won't go into so much details regarding our embaressing boarding, leaving space for you people's imagination to roam). We managed to board the train leaving for our hometown and found the journey fairly long, but pleasent. We passed by alot of countryside and are allowed to walk up and down the train. The food sold in the train's cafeteria was not appetizing, and it's ridiculously expensive. Kind of reminds one about food sold on economic airlines, isn't it? The most interesting thing on the train: to cross from one carriage to the next, the middle portion that connects two cabins was very jerky, and one can actually see the stones outside...

But before the March holidays, the college held something called SAM Fiesta, also known as disco night. The girls in college seems to put in alot of effort preparing for it (such as buying new clothes and wearing makeup). I saw some of the makeup tools (if that's what they're called), and it looks scary, especially that eyeliner thingy. Me and my housemates went, and came back with a big headache (my accounts homework didn't balance after that). The lighting was really nice, but the way the music went boom boom boom was a bit too stressful on my nerves. Most of the people there looked high, they enjoyed dancing. But me ideally described as being a big block of wood, can only stand and watch people dance. The most interesting event: when the teachers started dancing. I cannot imagine teachers dancing this well. They really can twist despite er... their much bulkier body shape.

But it seems that I'm not exactly hopeless at dancing, because later part of the year, during an outing with my housemates, they suddenly decided to go to the arcade, and of all games, they played the dancing machine!! I used to play puzzles or that drum or maybe that game that looks like table tennis, but not dancing machine! However, curiosity is the nature of men, so I played it as well, and turned out to be not as lousy as I thought (I thought I might get perhaps 0?)! Quite happy about that!! My coordination is not bad after all!

I shall stop here... I've left out much that has happened over these half year, hopefully I can remember it and post it from time to time? But for the time being, I shall rest (my housemate came in and got a shock that I'm not asleep yet)(Haiz...)

Recollections (I should consider the title Rojak instead)

2007-12-20T21:35:00.000+08:00

I checked my photos in my computer and astonishingly discovered I forgot to put up the photos regarding Midautumn festival (which had long passed...). Therefore, although it is very, very, VERY late, I will still blog about Midautumn Festival, and at the same time, talk about other things. After all, one of the many purpose of a blog is to share experiance, right? (Though, I don't think my experiance is worth much sharing)

Midautumn festival falls on the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calender. Normally, we will just keep the celebration private, that is we celebrate among our family. I remember during my sister's younger days, she had attempted to burn our butts using the lantern. Thank god that time we are celebrating within our own, or else it would be a throughly embaressing experiance. This year (and when I say this year, it is actually a few months back), however, under our persuasion, my mum brought us to the public celebration, you know, the one that involves the whole town...

It is very crowded (of course), but there's lots to see. Very much like the night market held weekly. We saw lots of lantern... there's a lantern competition, I think. And there's the helium balloon which is suppose to be an insect of sorts.

The above are the pictures. By then, my dear reader, you should have realized that my 2 paragraphs worth of ranting is basically an opening to show off these photos. After all, I've tooked it, I can't bear to leave it in the computer rotting itself away, of course I must at least show it to the world...

Fine, I'm overly dramatic... Let's get on to the next paragraph...(that is, if you still have the patience to continue reading and not close this frustrating window...)

During the holidays, I went to Cameron Highlands and KL with my family (fine, this opening sucks, if I attempted an opening like this in my essay during my English exam, I'm so so dead...). We looked forward to the Camerons trip because my auntie and her family was going, so it is going to be quite rowdy. The hotel that we lived in... was quite expensive, but its furnishing is not exactly what I thought. For one, the floor was very cold and sticky. Perhaps it got to do with the weather... It kept raining... It surprises me that we still manage to go to quite a few places...

Then there's the winding road. Camerons perch on top of a hill, or a mountain, or a highland that is cross between these 2, therefore, the road that leads up and down it is naturally a winding road. Going up was not bad, we can still joke, talk and make whatever noise within the small compartment of our car; but going down made all sick, and the worst thing was, when one's sick, it is impossible to sleep (that's how funnily the human body works).

But apart from the hotel, the road and the dreary weather, everything else about Camerons was nice. The cooling weather was a nice change from the hot weather we constantly experiance as lowlanders, and the places we've been were fairly interesting. The charcoal steamboat was the best food up there. For one, we never tried eating food on charcoal before, we've only heard my grandma and my father describing it (they said it tastes better than food cooked over the stove). I'm no food expert (I'm considered the lousiest at tasting (is that how it's said?) among my siblings, everything, as long as it's not poisoned or spoilt, tastes good to me), but the heat from the steamboat is warm enough to make me happy. The food tastes different from the usual 'food cooked over stove', but it is different in a good way.

Than there was lots of shopping. But we don't exactly buy clothes like what we use to do in shopping malls,instead, we bought vegetables and pots of flowers. My sister bought cactus, she said she wanted to 'grow' something. Hopefully the cactus won't die under her hands, she is known to be unintentionally destructive. The flowers are cheap compared to the lowlands, and prettier. Everyone said it is because of the cool weather. Everyone also said the girls who live up here most probably won't give a hoot about guys giving them flower, flowers could pretty much be obtained anywhere here at a low price, and knowing girls, they would most probably want something harder to obtain, and something pricier. (I'm talking as if I'm not a girl myself, haiz.)

The most interesting place up here is the BOH tea plantation. The scenary was very very green, and very very pretty. My father brought us to the factory where they process tea leaves. The air of the factory was heavy with particles from the machines (most probably particles from the tea leaves) and a very strong, geen smell of tea (aka chlorphyll smell). Basically, all those machines do was seperating the tea leaves from the twigs, and drying them by using heat (which is generated by steam, because direct heating will just make the leaves burnt). The leaves can also be seperated manually, and the person will roll up the tea leaves as well, tea leaves processed this way would be sold as the upper class tea. On the other hand, cheaper tea such as tea bags would be made by putting shreds of tea leaves obtained from the machine into teabags. As for the fuel that is used to generate steam, it is basically husk from the palm fruit, and everything else that can burn.

We did not see people picking tea leaves as it was drizzling. But we did climb a small little hill just for the fun of it. There was nothing on top of the hill, and it is too misty to see what lay before it. But we did saw a giant milipede. It is a wonder that a milipede can grow to be so big. However, the milipede life was ending, because someone who's making their way up the hill had accidentally stepped on it (that someone might just be me). Quite sad for that big milipede.

Giant milipede

Scenary of Camerons, it was very cloudy partially due to the rainy weather.

Surprisingly, the farmers of Camerons also grow pitcher plant. I attempted to make the plant close by disturbing it with a twig, but it wouldn't budge. Perhaps a juicy fly would do the job...? Hehehe...

There's a Convent at Camerons, and their Convent was so pretty, it was like some old ancient English building, unlike ours which now looks pink. Pity I couldn't take a picture of it, because our car is moving a bit too fast (or should I say we were so busy gaping at it that we totally forgot to take its picture).

Than we went to KL, and when I say KL, it isn't any town located at the edge of KL, we are actually living right in the middle of KL, completed with its hectic city life and boisterous traffic. My father, somehow or rather, tend to get extremely grumpy in KL and barks alot, so we tend to stay slightly further away from him. (Oh please please please don't let him sumble upon this blog and see my sinful criticism of him.) We shopped alot in KL, and we see lots of funny people. There were gothics, and I seldom see real life gothics. I must say, they looked funny (no offence to the gothics out there, seriously).

And there's the Border bookstore in Times Square, it is really really huge, and I would really really hope to spend the day there exploring it rather than buying clothes, but I can't, as clothing is no doubt an important aspect in our life, while the pleasure of picking a perfect book was time consuming and we don't have lots of time. Hence, I left the bookstore, thinking that someday I will come back again. *Sob sob*

We went to Pavilion, supposingly the latest mall in KL. It was big, and very elegantly furnished, but we just stopped there for dinner, took some pictures of that very big Christmas tree, and went back to the hotel.

The giant Christmas tree that sits in Pavilion. It changes colour, but whatever colour it is, it still looks serene.

That's not all to my holiday, but due to time constraints (actually it's just the cold of my air conditioner that is getting to me), I will just stop for now. (Once again, a lousy ending. But no matter, a lousy beginning should deserve a lousy ending to make a perfect couple.)

It all revolves around the white ball... ^o^

2007-12-14T21:12:00.000+08:00

I must say, after the SPM (our major government exam) it has been extremely and ridiculously boring...

I've stopped my piano lessons, temporarily, because next year, I'm moving to another town to further my studies... hence, I can no longer attend the piano lessons under my current teacher. I must say, it is quite a complex feeling to leave something that I've been stuck with for so long. Piano, is something that I like (not love) and hate. The pressure to excel at the yearly ABRSM exams at times seems pointless, it totally defies the belief that music soothes one's soul; but then again, at times the sense of achievement after mastering a piece makes one feel that all the hard work that went into it is throughly worth it. My mum has been telling me to continue my piano lessons next year, but the possibility of me going along her wishes is apporximately 0.5, which means, I might just give up on piano, stopping at the miserable Grade 6.

Next year, seems interesting (perhaps scary) enough, as I will finally move out. But moving out does not mean total freedom. I am still financially dependent on my parents and must report home at regular intervals. The disadvantages seems to be more than the advantages, but still... one would never know... For one, I'll be free from my grandmother's constant nagging... He he he...

Few days before the exam officailly ends (or perhaps the very last day of the exam), my friends were talking about snooker. During my holiday trip, I unexpectedly get to learn how to play snooker from my uncle! It is unexpected, because for one, snooker is believed to be a game for... *ahem* the bad girls (if I'm not mistaken). It is quite fun, actually. there's red balls, yellow balls, 1 dark blue ball and one white ball. I had to choose one colour, either red or yellow, than we take turns to hit the balls of our colour into the holes. There is where the white balls comes in, because we could only hit the white ball, using the white ball, we hit (or for my case: guide) the balls of my colour into the holes. It is quite tough... my aiming is not exactly good (it has never been good), but still, it is fun, and quite an experiance.

Hence the title it 'all revolves around the white ball'. *points upwards*

* There's another way to play snooker, which involves multicoloured balls with numbers, but that's for experts.

Daemon

2007-11-29T20:30:00.000+08:00

You know The Golden Compass? That movie that's coming soon with animals (known as Daemon) following people all over the place? It so happens I visited their official site, and I checked on my Daemon, guess what it is... *grumble*

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Have you all seen my Daemon?

I'm not very happy about it... It was a ladybird (but perhaps its something else now...). I expected it to be something solid, a mammal or a reptile... not an insect which doesn't even have a backbone to boot.

And yup, it's so easy to crash it, not at all useful for fighting or protecting...

But then... one can't always have everything their way... so I accepted it... I guess...

And it wouldn't be so bad when my sister's Daemon is a butterfly, also another insect... that look of total disagreement on her face... Ha ha ha...

A long, long string of events

2007-09-27T14:25:00.000+08:00

Such a long time since I last sat down and type a post properly... blame it on procrastination, or perhaps sheer laziness.

Anyway, as usual, over such a long period of time, things are bound to happen (although half of my days are pretty boring). I'm going to post some photos,and with the help of these photos, I'll once again demonstrate my lousy story telling. ^^

* * *
The Tanjung Piai trip

These are mangrove trees, and yes, Tanjung Piai is a mangrove swamp. I took part in a study trip to Tanjung Piai along with my friends. I used to think mangrove swamps are dirty, smelly and dusgusting, but it isn't so. It seems oddly tranquil.

Tanjung Piai is the southern most tip of mainland Asia. It's location is already in the Singapore region, that's why phones without roaming service couldn't function.

Tanjung Piai is one of Malaysia's wetland reserve and also serve as a agrotourism site (is it translated like that? Cause I learnt this term in Malay, not English) During some months of the year, there would be migratory birds coming here, therefore, Tanjung Piai is also a hotspot for bird watching.

A mangrove swamp wouldn't be a mangrove swamp without mudskippers. The mudskippers here are huge (giant mudskippers), but I don't think people will consider catching them for lunch or dinner. I manage to take a photo of a mudskipper, but it isn't very clear (than again, that mangrove picture up there is not clear either... my photography skills sucks), so I didn't post it. :p

There's a monkey in this picture, if you see close enough. It is really hard to capture a picture of a monkey, because they move quite fast. And the rainy weather is not helping either. I must say, at times animals are more clever than humans. While all of them had gone for shelter, we are still holding our cameras and following the guide in the drizzle. Everyone was drenched.

I like this phrase, I think some Portugese traveler used it. Anyway, Tanjung Piai faces the Malacca Straits (if I didn't remember wrongly), and it is one of the busiest straits, with lots of ships passing by everyday. This is, no doubt, a good sign in trading, but the strong waves created by the passing ships tend to erode the shores, therefore, barriers are built.

This is my favorite photo! It shows which direction the wind is blowing.

After the Tanjung Piai trip, we intend to go to a nearby island (which I forgot its name) with motor boat. But it was cancelled because of the lousy weather. We then visited a couple of 'museums' to watch all the cultural exhibit. Sorry to say, I'm quite bored about it. =0= Maybe because they are similar to all those pictures we have in our history textbooks.

This is one of the exhibit, a bottle collection. Not interesting, but I should salute to that person who makes an effort to preserve our culture (though I can't help to stop yawning).

My friend dressed up in one of the cultural costumes(is it the Bugis costume, I can't remember). She is supposingly dressed up as a groom. Looks quite funny. I promised that I won't post her photo as a groom on my blog (anyway, I didn't get my hands on it), but I can still mention it, isn't it (and it is not as if I'm telling it in detailed)?

We also stopped by a pineapple museum. I'm hoping for free canned pinapples (after all, Johor is one of the states that produce lots of pineapples, isn't it?), but there isn't. There's only pictures of various pineapple species, with the word 'baka' all over the place. 'Baka' in Malay means 'a kind of tree', but in Japanese, it means 'stupid', so my friends are laughing their heads off.

So the trip ends, it is not one of the most memorable ones, but it is the last school trip I'm having in secondary, so yeah, I'll just register in my mind and see how long it takes to fade away.

* * *

This is a pig my father got from China. When you throw it really hard on the floor, it will go 'splat' and become a puddle of...er... greenish something. Reminds me of Flubber. Anyway, this thing is now spoil, the green substance is leaking out, so it is now just for display.

* * *

This is a giant spider I see in my house. It is not the size of a tarantula, but it is huge compared to innocent house spiders that occasionally made their way to the house. My father killed it with a insect spray after I took this photo, but I heard from my sister it isn't dead...

Anyway, that time, my cousins from Cananda are around. They are... very different. Their thinking is quite open. For example, my cousin sister once said: 'this is a free country, I can say anything I want'. But in Malaysia is not exactly a free country. We are a democratic country, but we talk with certain boundaries. And of course, we blog with certain boundaries too. For and instance, I'm not suppose to blog about sensitive issues, and with that reason alone, I shall stop elaborating on this topic.

We (with my Canandian cousins) went to a kelong for fishing. It is quite interesting to see some fishes which can be caught without even using a bait, and some fishes which eat up the bait, but are not caught. I caught four fishes during my first attempt, than I caught none during the rest of the day.

Night, some are catching squid. Squid are milky white in the market, but transparent when they are just caught. And they do put up a struggle to survive, or at least make an attempt to dirty the catcher with their ink. Squids don't die immediately when they are out of the water, they die a slow death. Quite pitiful, actually.

And I should draw the structure of the Kelong, because now when I'm attempting to draw a city built on water, I can't, cause I don't know the structure. (Grumble grumble)

Some of the wood used to build the kelong is rotting, and my Canandian relatives (especially the females) are worried about the sturcture. I couldn't care less.

The condition at the kelong is not exactly first class. I think it's worst than the cheapest hotel, but it's a good experiance. There's no air-con, limited amount of fresh water, and everyone sleep in a place without dividers (no privacy), but it is very airy, although I'm sticky all over the place due to the sea breeze. Not a good destination for long holidays (the only thing we can do here is fishing) but a nice spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city (for those who are trying to get away from irritating calls from bosses, this is a good place - the line is not very good).

And of course, a haven for cats, there is lots of fish.

* * *

I think this page will take a frustratingly long time to load in, due to the large amount of photos. ^0^ I wanted to type about Mid-autumn festival, but this will make the post even longer.

Hence, I hereby take my leave as a long winded story teller. Good day to all.

New layout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-19T22:06:00.000+08:00

Just dropping by to say: I finally have a blogskin!!!!

It was partly due to procrastination that causes me to have a proper looking blog at such a late time, when all my fellow friends had already done up their blogs properly.

Miss Sour Milk would be proud of me, I suppose, considering that she had been nagging at me about my plain looking blog last year...

Quite a number of things are lost... I have to trace them back... that is, if I have the energy to do so...

This blogskin... is kinda dark...But never mind, as long as I like it... Ha ha ha... (Crap, I'm going all hyper)

That's all... Ja ne!

Brr... It's been a cold cold day.

2007-05-31T22:31:00.001+08:00

Yeah! It's the truth, it has been a cold day.

Early morning, me, S, Nicolet and Ms Sour Milk went to Singapore (to have fun, of course). Our first destination was Snow City. It was alright, the trip to Snow City, the only thing that wasn't alright was we bought tickets for 2 hours, not 1 hour. And than, as expected, we're freezing off our butts (which is quite true, considering the only interesting thing in that measly little Snow City is the slide, and we've been playing on it, so 'snow' stuck onto our butts).

The temperature in Snow City was -6.9 degree celcius. At the beginning, it wasn't so bad, the cold was still bearable. After an hour, we had to come out for 30 minutes to defrost, and of course, our gloves were soaked by the time we put it on again. So during the 2nd hour, we're pretty much shivering, on top of that, we have frozen, pain fingers. We had another round on that slide, and we're off, never mind the wasted money. T_T We should not have gone for petty gains, we seriously thought the 2 hours ticket is worth it, but in the end, we actually spent a little more money to torture ourselves with that accursed cold.

Than we're out under the sun, but there's not much of a sun to speak of, the sky is dark, and it is going to rain. We attempted to make our way to Bugis for some shopping, but we boarded the wrong bus. It was rather amusing, if I hadn't been in that situation: us 4 little clueless girls sitting in the bus not knowing where it will take us to, only hoping it will just stop at the MRT station (which is something it should do some time or another). The only ups I can see in such a situation is we're safe from the rain outside while we're inside the bus.

We miraculously made it to Bugis (via the extra long route), and we had to satisfy our rebelling stomach before we do some shopping. I must say, Bugis had a lot of interesting stuff to see. It reminds me of Hatyai's market, but the stuff sold at Bugis is much much more 'in' compared to Hatyai. And for one thing, the people in Hatyai kept forcing us to buy their things, but the people in Bugis are reasonable enough to not do that. So yeah, I enjoyed myself at Bugis by looking at all the stuff (not shopping, I'm not exactly used to buying too much stuff, Nicolet said that's 'thrifty'). I bought a new belt and a bubble tea ice cream (I find it very nice, but Nicolet and S gave me this weird expression after they tasted it). Actually, I am rather interested in this octopus balls that are sold opposite this ice cream stall, but Johor also sell stuff like that, so I'll buy it in Johor someday. (Octopus balls reminds me of the Kraken from Pirates of the Carribean, but than again, I don't think the Kraken is suitable for making octopus balls, its meat might be too hard/elastic.)

Than, finally, we made our way home to Johor, which is currently experiancing some kind of massive jam in the city area. My sister is also back from her camp. Both are punctured, but we had fun, and that's what matters.

That's the sign to Snow City, and it's found at Science Centre, 'cause Snow City is actually just beside the Science Centre.

That's how the Bugis Shopping Complex looks like, but all the bargains can't be found here, it's actually found at Bugis Street, a street/building cramped with people and stall. I even saw a shop selling sex toys there! But I forgot to take a picture of it. (And thinking of it, I don't think taking a picture in a place with that many people will turn out nice.)

And this, is my beloved new belt. So happy! I got a new belt!

Picture, I copied from The Thief Lord ^^

2007-05-15T22:31:00.000+08:00

The above picture was copied from the book- The Thief Lord.

Actually, I drew another picture, but somehow or rather, it just wouldn't appear...

Recently, I have somekind of obsession over Venice, possibly I'm influrenced by Thief Lord, but it is also partly because my father went to Venice before and he can actually tell me how are things there, like the windows of Venice's building are so big because they use cranes to lift the furniture in. I've been bugging him to tell me so much about Venice that he got rather irritated. Recently, he told me sternly: "You don't need to imagine so much..."

Me and my friends walked downtown every Friday, to catch a bus to our tuition centre. When we skirt about the many buildings, old and new, I can't help but to think of us as dwarfs journeying across the concreted jungle, you know, like in Lord Of The Rings, the fellowship have to journey across vast lands just to throw that accursed ring into the volcano. The image I had in mind is almost like that, only the background consist not of trees, but of man-made stone and sand structures. As for why I chose the species dwarf, maybe because I'm short and stout, with legs that are strong enough to keep up with my friends, though I'm always walking behind...

The exams are not over yet, but they are going to be over soon. I've so much to write about, but it is rather obvious that my body is craving for sleep, and furthermore, I've not done my piano homework. Oh, the bitter fate of us pitiful souls...

Book review- The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (is that how the author's name is spelt?)

2007-04-14T23:22:00.000+08:00

Ah... my back hurts, because I sprained it... It's torturing, you know, to type when you have to sit straight all the time and suffer the rebel of my back whenever I bent, even if it's only a little slouch.

Anyway (oh dear, I'm getting extremely fond of this word), this blog is not going to be about my back (spraining a back at such a young age is rather humiliating to me, this shows how...er... weak my skeletal systems are), it is about this children book called The Thief Lord.

I'll just touch a little about the story line (it'll take the magic out of this story if I talk too much about the story, isn't it?). It's about these brothers, called Prosper and Boniface who land themselves in Venice, cold and hungry until they are taken in by this mysterious Thief Lord. On their trail is the bungling detective- Victor Getz, sent to take them back to their aunt. And among all these flurry of activities, a treasure is thrown in. So it is rather appropriate to say it's a story of Hide and seek and Treasure Hunt mixed together.

I love the name Prosper and Bo (short form for Boniface), I like Bo's antics, and I like the detective as well (he is rather kind-hearted). But most of all, I like the setting- Venice. The way the author talk about the canals and gondolas, the alleys and the Italian that floats in the very air, it is beautiful. Suddenly, I wanted to go to Venice myself. (But I've no time nor no money for such an expensive holiday)

I drew pictures of Venice from the books, I'll post it next time, I'm lazy to scan it into the computer now (and don't forget about my poor back).

The story has no romance, only the innocence that could only be possesed by a story written for children. If anyone out there got hold of this book, and wouldn't mind experiancing once more the delights of reading your first book, than start flipping through the pages and allow the words to sweep you to the nooks and cranies of Venice. Happy reading!

Thoughts

2007-04-05T18:53:00.000+08:00

Today, Miss Sour Milk mentioned my blog is kind of boring... Which is something that I don't exactly blame her, it is not exactly good, after all, I'm just blogging for fun, not to enter some writing competition...

Than once again, I wonder what am I blogging for? I could not possibly totally let my dark side out anymore, considering that my fellow friends are actually reading it. Humans tend to be slightly artificial, we cannot possibly be true to others, in fact, I don't think we can be true to ourselves either. We tend to change under people's influence, change to fit in. Perhaps our true selves had been lost after going throught one after another metamorphosis.

So while I blog, I tend to keep things hidden, to hide my weakness, or to hide some of my ugly thoughts. Secrets, what define this word? Perhaps it merely stands for unspoken thoughts?

But then again (there's always a voice behind my mind that contradicts my every thought and action), what we youngsters know about? What rights do I, a yougnster have to sound like a philosopher? There goes a chinese saying: "What does a youngster know about suffering? They are merely pitying themselves/making up all these suffering to fill in the lines of poetry."

But then again, this is a democratic country. Although I am a youngling who knows nothing about true pain/suffer, I still have the rights to express my opinions/thoughts. These thoughts are like what people say: a passing thought. They just pass by, and it is gone within the endless swirl of other thoughts.

So, my dear guest, just brush these thoughts aside as the ramblings of another bored teenager, and go on with whatever you are doing. They are really nothing to be bothered about. ^_^

On the day of Cheng Beng, rain would fall... How true it is~

2007-04-01T21:14:00.000+08:00

清明时节雨纷纷, 路上行人欲断魂.

This is a chinese proverb (or is it poem) describing Cheng Beng, the day where chinese have to go clean up the tomb and pray their ancestors, it's a day of remebrance, and at the same time, to make sure our forefather's resting place is well maintained.

Translation for the poem: Rain falls on the day of Cheng Beng, the passers-by hope their souls would be gone. (Yada yada... I know it is a very lousy translation, and it sounds so much more nicer in Chinese, but hey, I gotta do some kind of explaination for those who can't read chinese, right?) The meaning is basically like: on the day of Cheng Beng, those who are left behind (by the deceased) are so sad that they hope their soul would 'break', and even the gods are crying. (Sometimes, Chinese are so dramatic, but then again, everyone tend to be dramatic one time or another)

The last few years on Cheng Beng, the rain did not fall, it was actually hot like hell. This year, it not only rained, there was actually a downpour, and I'm wet. Shortly after, I got an headache, because I got the rain, and our buns and cakes (the offerings) were also wet, so we can't eat it, and I did not have breakfast in the morning. *Grumble grumble* I hope this would not happen again... Although my grandma said 'rain' is actually a symbol of blessing, but I still don't like the rain, and with all the pollution going on, I have a feeling that the rain that fall on us might be acid rain. But then again, my hometown is not exactly that polluted, so the rain might not be extremely acidic after all.

So, I've finished grumbling about my very wet Cheng Beng, and I would like to type more other things that happened earlier, but my dear sister wants the computer to do her coursework, so I would have to surrender this valuable device to her.

Oh ya, for Malaysians out there who are interested in comics, and have a talent for drawing, there is a comic drawing competition coming up, hosted by Gempakstarz. Further information can be found at the website: www.gempakstarz.com

The first 15 days of the new lunar year

2007-03-04T20:34:00.000+08:00

I'm going to type about the first 15 days of the new lunar year, ie 15 days of the Chinese New Year. Why 15 days? Because today is Chap Goh Meh, the last day of Chinese New Year, the 15th of the first lunar month. (The real reason I'm typing this post on this particular day is: I have time now =_=)

It is said in China, their Chinese New Year holiday is as long as 15 days, it is mainly because of the winter, it would be troublesome to attend school in the blizzard, but still... I would like 15 days of holiday instead of the normal 9 days (or less). Greedy greedy...

We finished our first test just before Chinese New Year start, and on the last day of school, everyone was giving out New Year cards. I'm surprised, I thought people would just make do with an e-mail. I received some, so it's only proper that I send a card in return... (But I didn't manage to send a New Year Card to S, feeling guilty about it...)

And than, it was New Year, I went back to my hometown, ie Malacca. This year, it's extra special, because my dear Singapore cousin is coming down with us! So many years had passed since we last celebrated Chinese New Year together! On top of it, we are staying at old house, the first house my father bought! That house has sentimental value, my grandparents stayed in that house before we (the grandchildren) are born, and my grandfather actually planted a durian tree there! The durian tree was chopped off before I'm born, my grandparents fear that the durians would one day drop on our heads. During my earlier years, we would stay there whenever we return to our hometown, the days down there... were boring. Because most of the time when we are staying in Old House, my parents are not with us (outstation), so we are trapped there. My cousin only stay here during her younger days, Chinese New Year. I remember one day, so long ago, someone knocked me(or I knocked myself), and I'm crying because it's pain (I'm very small that time), than my cousin and my sister made some funny antics, and I started laughing between my tears, that joke is remembered till today (At the expense of my pride...).

Today, the old house stay empty for the whole year, maybe visited occasionally by the cleaner to do the annual cleaning. Wild grasses (and even trees) sprouted among the cracks of the concrete outside. Furnitures were covered with flowery cloths, cobwebs cling to every corner, the only hint that this house was ever lived in was the photos hung on the wall, black and white ones which made my father's youth stay eternal, and the more recent coloured ones which told of the proud graduation of our generation. I once told my parents that I shall hang graduation photo alongside with my cousin's one, and I shall name the wall 'The pride of A-gong' (A-gong=grandfather). The old tv still stood there, I wonder is it still functional. My younger brother's attention was temporarily captured by this greyish looking tv, he played with the buttons lined on the side of the machine.

When we stepped into the Old House, we found out there is no electricity. Horrors of horrors! How are we going to survive? Luckily we manage to contact the Tenaga (those in charge of electricity) and electricity is here, once more.

We go visiting, and this year, we visited lots of people, which means more Ang-pow and more cookies. On the third day, I got too heaty, and my head is so pain that it is going to split.

I suddenly have a few more aunties, they are actually my mother's half siblings, and they started contacting each other, after all these years. Although we are related by blood, but I couldn't help feeling they are strangers. My mother think so too.

And than there is Auntie M, my mother's dear friend who calls me 'teapot', because during my innocent younger days, I danced and sing 'I'm A Little Teapot', so I stay a little teapot, even though now I'm already 16 (Logic tells me I should be upgraded to 'big teapot').

Another of my mother's friend said I look very young, like I'm only 14,and they thought my second sister (14) is older than me... I wonder should I be happy about it, or grumpy.

After a week of New Year, it is time to go back to my hectic schedule, with tuition and all...

Sports day is approaching, and that means the marching season is here. Marching practise is not exactly too bad (fine, maybe the response is bad...), but the weather... is very bad. We marched in the mud, our shoes went from white to brown. My socks are damp. Five years of marching, and this is the first time I marched in the mud. When I told my father about it, he said it is good practise, like it's meant to discipline us. What discipline is he talking about when we are half squealing when our feet sank into that semi-liquid substance?!

And while we are fooling around during the breaks in between marching practise, we chatted. Once, Nicolet told Scorpteen about a new manga she read, and while she reached the climax, Scorpteen held my hand, and shook it, vigorously. I hope to draw it out and post it here, but I've given my word to Scorpteen not to do it. Still (hehehe), I can type about it.

And today, Chap Goh Meh, is officially the last day of Chinese New Year. We had tangyuan, but the tangyuan soup taste a bit odd, my grandmother said it's because of the gula melaka of lousy quality, we should have stick to brown sugar... And we also had popiah, I didn't help in all the shredding of the popiah, though, I'm too busy moping around (morning gloominess) and banging on my piano.

I made dadih, it's Malay pudding. My aunt is the one who taught me that, and it turns out a bit...er... watery. But the taste is good, at least it's not too sweet. But still... my father is a bit sarcastic about it, although I know his comments is meant for me to improve.

I still have some of those dadih ingredients, and I'm going to make dadih once more, and this time, it's not going to be watery...

Lastly, the biggest surprise I received within this 15 days is my article is actually published in the newspaper! It is kind of scary... I think... because I never thought it would get published. My mother was very excited about it, she said she wanted to laminate it for me. My father said everything but not a word of encouragement, so typical of him, but still, I'm happy. Father is always provoking me by saying I'm a student journalist, I have the power to write lots of things, I can be a critique (I don't think that's allowed, the slightly sensitive part of my article was edited), and my uncle also wrote to the newspaper, his articles got published lots of time, so much so that he was approached to publish a book! Some day, I'm going to prove to my father that I can also do something like that (maybe I would not publish a book, buy hey, I'm a student journalist, I can write some more stories to the newspaper).

So, that is all that happened within this 15 days (or more, considering that I also wrote about stuff that happened few days before Chinese New Year).

Short passage (it is not even a story sob sob)

2007-02-23T11:11:00.000+08:00

Lan sat before the black wooden piece called piano, her fingers dance on the alternating white and black keys, and finally, she stopped.

She had finally manage to create the accompaniement for the melody, and although it was not as dramatic nor as emotional as those of the pianists, it still manage to give her a certain amount of satisfaction. For once, she does not think the piece was mundane, uninteresting. Maybe the joy of playing the piano lies not in how much you have achieved, nor how extraodinary your piece is from the others, but in the enjoyment of the process.

As she place her dainty fingers on the piano, the melody is played once more. And that, my dear, is better than any of those pianist whom perform on stage.

A/N OK... Fine, it is not exactly good... it is after all just a fleeting image (or passage... whatever). Anyway, who wants to continue it may do so by posting in as a comment... And yea, this question is pretty much directed at Nicolet and Juzblue... I don't think this passage will make any sense to the others, it doesn't even make sense to me... T-T

Of little imps and devils

2007-01-20T22:17:00.000+08:00

Children, what do you think of them? Are they angels? Are they devils in disguise?

My brother just started his primary education, and other than making sure he can fit in properly, we also saw (or stumble upon) the various incidents created by those little children that really challenge the teacher’s limit of patience.

A young boy was punished to stand outside the classroom for whatever mischief he committed, the teacher was scolding him, and he has that type of expression which says: “I’m not bothered by you.” Obviously, rebels are not just limited to teenagers, little children are also huge rebels! I remember when I am in primary six, our teacher also made a boy stand outside the classroom, and when he did so (wearing a very glum expression), my teacher got mad all over again. Reason: she expect him to resist standing outside, because it is something very humiliating for someone at the age of 12. I’m pretty much thinking that the teacher is being very unreasonable, the typical traditional Chinese education trains us to obey without questions, but now she expect that boy to defy her orders?

During the first day of school, parents will normally keep their children company in school. However, if work calls, they would of course have to leave for a short while, and the child will have to stay put in school. This is what happened to the mother of a boy in my brother’s class, but the boy didn’t stay in school like any normal kid would (remember, school had not ended yet). He promptly packed all his stuff and followed behind his mother. His classmates reported it to the teacher; the teacher dashed out after that boy, and caught him back by pulling his ear. The boy was of mad about it, and he start hitting the table. I don’t know what the teacher did after that, she might ignore the boy’s antics. After all, do you still have the stamina to shut a rebelling child up after chasing after him earlier?

Little girls are equally mischievous. The school bell had ring, it is time to go home. Two little girls took off their shoes and socks (for what reason I don’t know), the teacher ordered them to put them back on, they showed their teachers their stinky socks.

And last but not least, children love making noise. I fetched my brother back from school one day instead of letting him take the school bus. I have to inform the bus driver so that he wouldn’t think he lost one of the little ducklings, but I couldn’t find him. I asked the little children on the bus about the driver’s whereabouts, they are very helpful, they start calling the driver: “Uncle! Uncle!” But they have no idea where the driver is. Still, they continued calling, as if they call long enough, the driver will hear their shouts and appear. I asked my brother to ask his friends to inform the uncle about his absence instead, but the little children are too busy with their shouting, so they didn’t hear him. I’m pretty much laughing silently at their antics, especially when my brother is yelling his lungs out to attract his friends attention, and his friends were yelling their lungs out to call for a absent bus driver.

Considering how I write about these little children, people would probably start thinking do I have a grudge against these brats. It is quite true that at times I am grinding my teeth about their mischief (I have two very young brother and sister), but at the end of the day when they start displaying their innocence, you can’t help but just smile and forgive them. We are also children once, after all.

Minor Ramblings, some photos holiday memories#2

2007-01-14T16:49:00.000+08:00

So much had happened around me recently (the key word: around me and not to me). And I am in no mood and have no rights to write them down. So, I will post my China photos as promised, and write about my Singapore trip during the November Holidays.

*** *** ***

Few weeks after I returned from Yunnan, me and my sister went to Singapore to spend some time with our Singapore cousin (She was the one who made me promise to write about the Singapore trip in my Blog).

And so, without the grown-ups around to nag at us (basically my family are the ones who nag, they are extremely protective) and the excellent transport system (Singapore’s MRT is damn convenient, unlike the public bus system in Malaysia, they are never on time), we venture out to have fun.

Finally, I have the chance to visit the Science Centre! However, it was not what I thought, not everything are interesting, most of them are just educational with lots of explanations. One of the thing that I remember and is interesting is the chamber which is able to capture our shadows, another is the harp without any strings (it work on sensor, I think), all the special appliances that is used to measure our heart beat (they are in the form of a drum or a thingy which is able to produce music, my heartbeat is the fastest among we three), and a robot which plays the electronic guitar when someone walk past (my brother would be so excited if he saw that). Other than that, I can’t remember anything much. The fact that my cousin and my sister are walking so fast didn’t help, I don’t even get to properly take a look at the exhibits. My cousin told me that somewhere within the Science Centre, there is a place where we could play X-Box (I think so) but she doesn’t know the place. I have a sneaking feeling that she don’t know all the fun stuff are, but still, her efforts of acting as the tour guide was much appreciated.

Then I kept pestering my cousin to bring us to Orchard road, because it is the place of happening (at least in Singapore). But my main purpose was to visit the bookstore, I could never remember its name, maybe it is Kunokoniya. They sell loads of comics down there, and the interior design of the bookstore is something I like very much. While most bookstores only consist of rows and rows of shelves with tones of books, this bookstore have some accessories on display. The last time I visited the bookstore, a set of tarot cards were displayed, and man, they are so beautiful! ^0^ This time though, I didn’t have the chance to properly look around, my cousin and my sister kept asking me to leave. It seems I am the only one who know the joys of being in such a nice bookstore... *sob sob*

The next day, we went to Jurong Bird Park. Since it is a bird park, of course, we saw lots of birds, and I still like the eagle the most! There is a lane where lots of eagles perch on the stands, they are not in a cage, but their claws are tied to the stands, so there is no danger. One of the eagle attempted to fly when it saw us, but it couldn’t. Thank god... Although eagles are one of my favorite types of bird, but I would definitely hate being eaten by one...

Then we watched the bird show. My expression throughout the show was like this: =_=
My cousin and my sister were quite thrilled about it, but still, they noticed my bored expression. I told them I enjoyed the show, but I don’t exactly need to show my enjoyment on my face, right? Furthermore, the show is predictable. Not boring, just predictable...
Then I pester them to go to the house of night birds, but we just couldn’t find the place within the bird park. I was walking very fast, but my cousin and my sister were tired and walking very slow. My cousin was commenting that I look so dead in the show, but now I’m actually so hyper.

We manage to locate the house of night birds, and it was well worth it, not because of the owls in it, but because there is air-conditioning! Nothing else is better than a cold surrounding when one is hot and bothered.

Than I start pestering my cousin again to buy ice-cream, because I have a craving for it. We got a tub of ice-cream from the grocery store, and tones of stuff needed for cooking dinner.

I think my cousin would be satisfied now that I typed out this blog entry... but then again, she might kill me because I grumbled a bit up there... Whatever it is, my promise to her is now fulfilled.

*** *** ***

China Photos

2007 Ramblings...and holiday memories

2007-01-09T18:20:00.000+08:00

I'm sure Nicolet and Ms Sour Milk will be very happy when they see this post... they kept asking me both in school and online, when am I going to write about my China Trip. Well... I will... but first let me ramble about year 2007, after all, I am a noisy teenager...

It is the second week of year 2007, and also the 2nd week of the new school semester. Within this two weeks, we had homework, sat for exams, and I got rain while going home from school. On top of it, my artistic friend, Piglet was placed in a different class from me. Everyone is not very used to the quiet atmosphere, she is, after all, the major source of laughter and nuttiness. Oh well, I suppose we should let her go and spread her cheeriness elsewhere, and just adapt to this new environment without the shouts of that little Piglet.

My new sitting this year is not too bad, at least I'm still with my friends. Everyday, I watch Ms Sour Milk fool around with Nicolet, watch Nicolet fighting/wrestling with S and watch Fishy's unmoving back (I am sitting behind her).

My dear cousin who is 2 months younger than me is now actually in Junior College, because she is taking the express stream in Singapore, so she only need to study for 4 years, while I have to study 5 years... Should I envy her?

And the most pampered friend I ever have is now living in a hostel. I wonder how she is now? The next time I see her, I must ask her about her hostel life, after all, there is a probability that I might need to stay in a hostel one day.

As for me, I'm sitting for my government exam this year, and after that, we will leave school, go seperate ways, and most probably bump into each other as strangers in future... What a sad thought, but that is the cruel reality of life.

Mother kept reminding me to keep a look out on colleges, universities, prospect courses... That is another phase of growing up.

I hope to take up fine arts in future, that is my interest. I once imagine, one day in the distant future, when I am a working in an advertising studio, and I the client I am meeting is one of my old classmate, what will our reaction be? Will we point, gasp, and get all speechless? Or will we just shove our feelings aside, and put on our best professional looking mask, shake hands, and reintroduce ourselves all over again? Will we one day meet each other as fellow rivals? Will we be at each other's necks than? Or will we keep the competition friendly? People change, but to what extent? The future is a mystery indeed...

Maybe Miss Sour Milk will be a nurse, although she kept insisting that with her bad temper and rough mannerism, it is quite impossible. Maybe Nicolet will be a writer, and maybe when she is going to publish her 'The Elm Tree', she will think about me, the one who is taking so long with colouring the picture of her characters?

Ok, enough ramblings... Now I will put down what happened in China, or to be more precise, Yunnan.

*** *** ***

This is an introduction about Yunan, China. If any of you happens to decide to go there, brace yourselves for the mountains, rivers, and ah... unpredictable weather. (miehehehe)

Our first stop: Kunming. Capital of Yunan with a temperature of around 16 ºc, not enough to turn one into ice, but still, warm clothing is needed. But anyway, you wouldn’t want me to rant on and on about those...how should I put it... trivial matters. So, now we will get straight to Kunming’s most scenic spots.

Stone forest, like what it name suggests, is actually a land with multitudes of stone formations, and no, they are not stalagmites and stalactites which form in caves. These stone formations actually belong to the sea, but when the crusts move and the sea part so many years ago, the stone forest is formed. Evidence includes a fossil of a deep sea creature on one of the stones.

Another attraction at Kunming is Jiu Xiang. This is where all the stalactites and stalagmites are. With some imagination, you can see the fairy banquet, fairies bathing in the pond (pervert~) and Tripitaka with his three disciples (Monkey King, Pig and Sand monk). And then, there is this most amazing formation which consists of lots of semicircle rocks which hold water, and there are more than ten of them, stacking above one another, and the water flowing down as if it’s flowing on steps. Pity, the dark surrounding in the caves cause the photos to turn out an eternity of inky black...

The second stop: Shangri-La. This is the place where all of our brains lack of oxygen and we ended having some kind of head-splitting headache. Reason: Shangri-La is more than 3000m above sea level, so it’s a no wonder everyone are lacking of oxygen. The temperature of 0 ºc didn’t help (I’m using the scarf to cover my nose instead of my neck, mother was chiding me about it, but I am not going to bother her). Still, that didn’t stop us from having fun. We went to Songzanglin Monastery. There, we have to climb 150 steps up the monastery, and we must climb slowly, because of the thin atmosphere, our hearts have to work harder to obtain oxygen, haste will only make things worst. When we are up there, we saw monks, 2 very faithful devotee praying and pigs. Yes, pigs! And the pigs are so cute, they don’t even smell, and they move fast. It is told that monks also have stages of learning, the highest rank is Zhen Fo, which is something like high priest (but direct translation from Mandarin means true Buddha). This is something unbelievable, one of the Zhen Fo who passed away is now reincarnated, and the reincarnation is now 17 years old, also a monk. I wonder: how do they know that this particular boy is that Zhen Fo’s reincarnation? And there are...err... graffiti on one of the wall, writing stuff like: Yeah! I passed my form 5 exams! I wonder who wrote it. The younger monks? And the monks are wearing only a single layer of clothing, and they are sitting on the roof! Aren’t they cold? And aren’t they scared of falling off? Anyway, I suppose the mentality of those enlightened (monks) might be slightly different from us commoners.

And I rode a pony!!! It was such a good experience! I rode a horse once when I’m small, but that time I’m so scared that I might fall off anytime, but this time, the ride was fun. Although there is nothing much to see, only dry grass and horse dung, but to feel the gentle bumping was interesting. Though, I must say, when I attempted to mount the pony, I used too much forced, frightening the creature. It starts galloping, with the pitiful me on its back like a sack of rice. The man in charge calmed it down, and I am able to sit on it properly. In the beginning of the ride, I am pretty much praying: don’t throw me off your back...don’t throw me off your back, but later I got used to it (haha).

Third stop: Lijiang. Lijiang do not have an altitude as high as Shangri-la, so all the headaches stopped. Lijiang’s ancient city is shopping haven for tourists. Rows and rows of shops selling jade, silver, handicrafts, accessories, dolls... the list goes on and on. There is also a row of pub, but I don’t like it, it’s noisy and crowded. Besides, I would not want to be pick-pocketed.

In the middle of Lijiang’s ancient city sits the Mu palace. Famed as the forbidden city of Lijiang, it is the residential of Lijiang’s Mu emperor, the head of Lijiang and of NaXi minority (oh ya, have I mentioned that in Yunan, they have lots of tribes which they call minority or nationality). This Mu emperor wanted so much to overthrow the Chinese emperor, but do not have the power to do so. Hence, he furnished his palace with a dragon carving (which in actual fact could only be used by Chinese emperor) with the lame excuse that having a water dragon could prevent fires. Somehow or rather, the excuse was accepted (but then again, this whole thing is an odd case). The palace was like what it is supposed to be, a palace. Although there is no furniture and the building is actually rebuilt based on the old palace (the original one was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and an earthquake) with not much of an historical value, but it is still quite interesting to walk around it, seeing the structure and listening to the introduction.

The best experience of all was visiting the Glacier Park of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. There is nothing else except snow and more snow, but snow is something that is not common in Malaysia, so the experience was very rewarding. And if you have the stamina to climb further up, you can see snow flakes, if you look hard enough. Standing there, hearing one’s heart beating with all the white snow and silence around you, one will find that moment very special.

Dongba God Garden reminds me of animism. There is a path, called the path of hell which leads to another path known as the path of heaven. And on the left of the path of hell are statues of ghosts and on the right side of the path of heaven are statues of gods. And along the paths are wind chimes. It is believed that if you wrote your wish on one of those colourful wind chimes and hang it there, when the wind blows and the chimes tinkle, your wish is told to the gods.

Fourth stop: Dali. Four characters are used to represent Dali: feng, hua, xue, yue. These characters respectively means: wind, flower, snow and moon. Dali is surrounded by mountains, so there is very strong wind here due to the limited space for the air to move. Lots of flowers are grown in Dali because their major minority here: the Bai people like to grow flowers. The mountains of Dali are known as CangShan and on top on the mountains are snows. As for the moon, it is reflected on the surface of a very famous lake of Dali: Er Hai.

Now, in Dali, we learnt lots about the Bai people. We visited their mansion, which is mainly white in colour with poetry everywhere, watched their cultural show and tasted their tea (one of them is sweet). Our tour guide is a Bai people and she herself introduced lots about Bai people. If I talk too much about these, it might get boring.

And, so ends the introduction to Yunan, China. But not before I express some personal opinions. The landscape is good, it is not all green in colour like Malaysia, but there are brown, yellow and red. When you look at the landscape, and you use some imagination, you can almost see a pair of horseman staring far into the horizon. Another thing is: China have lots of historical stuff, but lots are destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It is quite obvious that Chinese have a rather crude way of doing things, it is quite close to destructive.

This is the end of the entry. If you are a nature or historical person, have the stamina and would not end up panting and dragging yourself up the mountains, China is the place for you. Good day to everyone. *Curtains close*

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The photos in China will be in the next post, because they take too long to upload, I don't have the patience.

A quote/ a verse from a chinese poem: The mind of silent man is a mystery.

Wall painting

2006-12-23T14:25:00.000+08:00

This is a sketch I did when I have nothing to do (actually I am just too lazy to do my school work). Oh ya, I will post the entry about my China Trip soon...

Death Note

2006-11-10T20:32:00.000+08:00

The Sour Milk learnt how to hold a pair of chopsticks properly in class today, it's quite interesting to see her twiddling two pens and grumbling all the time about how tough it is...hahaha!

And after school, we went shopping... and of course, we catch a movie (actually, that's the whole point of going out in the first place).

Therefore, I will now solemnly decalre that I have watched the movie: Death Note.

And warning: spoilers ahead.

I couldn't exactly talk abot the movie with amusement nor humour, becuase it is too... I don't know, cold? Especially how the male leading role, Raito manipulate his victims and killing them off...it's kind of cruel, and he said he is doing it in the name of justice... I don't know, it's rather ridiculous...

True, the law is not perfect, most of the times the criminals get away scot-free, but still, he shouldn't take law into his own hands and just kill them off! What happens if there's more than it meets the eye, what happens if the criminal is doing all these crimes out of some reason? I'm aware about the fact that I might be too naive to think like that, because the newspaper reports news about some kind of heinous crime every single day. Evidence shows that the rate of crimes commited everyday is not dropping, it is rising, and yet, I still insist that these criminals have some unspoken bitterness?

If I look from Raito Yagami's point of view, I will think that killing criminal is the right thing. Imagine, you hacked into the national security system, you manage to get hold of the criminal's records, yet, you found out that many excape unschthed from the long arms of justice. Why? You will ask. The law that you believe in is not as perfect as you think, why don't you just punish the criminal yourself?

But I do believe that what goes round will come back. Even if there's no such thing such as God, there will still be something known as the conscious. The criminal rejoice over their victory, laughing in the face of law, but what will happen in the future? What will happen like 40 to 50 years down the road? What will the aged criminal think about the offences that they have commited when they are young? As you near the end of your life, will you fear what will happen as you pass on? Will your conscious whisper in your ears: that you are going to hell? Human's greatest weapon/advantage is thier intelligence, their imagination, but these will turn upon human too...

The scientific way of looking at life is your mind will stop functioning and your heart will stop beating, you enter an eternal sleep and your body got decomposed by those microorganisms to return the nutrients to the soil. But what will the human mind think? Our imagination is so fantastic that we think there will be such a place called hell and heaven, we imagine that there is the death god, crimminals commit crime only to fear of what lays beyond the unknown...

But what happens if the crimes those criminals do are also in the name of god? What if the murderer of a certain person did so to avenge someone he loved? Than is it right that Raito Yagami kill him?

At the end of the show, Raito got desperate 'cause the police are hot on his heels, and he killed whoever that stood in his way... I must say, he is immune to all the killings he done. A mind so brilliant, yet so twisted... Even the death god has more feelings than him... the killer...

This is not exactly a extremely good movie (there are parts which are boring), and although it is fantasy, it shows reality in full splendour, everything heartless and dirty. It reminds me of the Chinese classic 'Liao Zai', whereby evil beings are depicted as all the ghost and demons. What about Death Note? Is the whole thing about the heartless society shown in this movie? Is it a story that shows the darkest side of human beings?

Yes, I must say, it is not the best movie I've seen, but it is the one which provokes me the most...

Books...and a bookstore

2006-11-08T17:17:00.000+08:00

The school expects us to record every single book that we read and hand it to teacher for marking, like a homework. I never like that task, I like reading, but I don't like the idea of recording all the books I read in a stupid, little book. I'm aware this is an effort by the government to encourage reading (yea, no kidding, Malaysians seldom read), but to me, it's quite pointless... In the end, I merely borrowed my friend's record book and copied all her 'book reviews'.

However, this time, I'm going to type out a book review... I wanted to write about the Inheritance series, but considering the fact that the movie is going to be released at the end of this year, and everyone is pretty excited about it, I decided I wouldn't write about it. Instead, I want to write about Memoirs of a Geisha.

Yes, yes, I'm aware that Memoirs of a Geisha was shown in the cinemas like...er...6 months ago? But I didn't watch the movie (I think even if I were to watch the movie, they wouldn't even sell me the ticket -underage, I think). When my friend borrowed me the book, I was not having very expectations of it. I'm quite used to reading books of the Fantasy Genre and switching to something more serious might not be to my liking...but glad to say, I was proven wrong.

The book depicted how the geisha lived, their pride and their sorrow. I must say, the geisha doesn't seem to have any honour, they flirt and they give their bodies to their clients... But still, they are not stupid. Lose their pride, yes; stupid, definately not. They way they plan, how to get the richest man in town to fancy them, how to fleece money off their clients, how to revenge... They are pretty much as cunning as a fox (no offence).

But they are humans too, they also have emotions. They could not show it when they are forced to be with a man they hate. They couldn't have a proper relationship with men (everything is based on how rich that man is, status and power). They can only stay in a corner and watch the man they love, and all the while entertaining another they utterly dislike. They are not treated as human (or to put it in another way: they lost their rights as a human), they are treated as sex toys, and I'm disgusted.

The Japanese culture is written very well in this book, at least I learnt stuff about Japan without getting bored with all the facts.

When I told Father that I'm reading Memoirs of a Geisha, he told me solemnly: "You are reading the Japanese's yellow culture..." I don't know what my father thinks, but next we launched into a mild discussion about Geishas...though, I forget the details about it... Still, I wonder, what my Father thinks about me reading something like that? Will he be thinking "My eldest daughter is more destructive than I thought..." or "She better keep an opened mind...".

Anyway, I'm contented with the ending. The female leading character (the geisha) finally has the chance to be with the man of her dreams and everything goes happily ever after like a typical fairy tale (a yellow fairy tale which is not suitable for children).

Talking about children, I accompanied my younger brother(only 6 years old) to attend a 'Story Reading Session' held by his kindergarten in MPH (Malaysia Publishing House) bookstore last Saturday (4/11). I heard MPH invited my brother's kindergarten to tell stories there to promote their 'Junior Readers Club' among the kindergarten kids, and the kindergarten, on the other hand, accepted it because it can also attract parents to send their kids to this kindergarten. There's nothing bad about it, everyone benefits, it's only I marvel at their strategy (I don't know does this qualify as a a marketing strategy) although it is seriously flawed (because this particular shopping centre that MPH is situated in, it's frequented by teenagers and NOT families with little children).

Having nothing to do, I wonder around the bookstore for anything that might catch my interest. There, I heard a mother enquiring about how to get her daughter's book published. This is not something I hear everyday. I hovered around the mother and the sales girl, but they keep moving further. In the end I give up (and I'm fully aware that eavesdropping is very impolite, still...), but I manage to hear things like the sales girl saying she could recommend publishers to the mother and stuff like that.

To publish a book... many would like a chance like that... I would also jump at such an opportunity... but to publish a graphic novel... would be a dream...

I saw books like 'Peter Pan in Scarlet', it's very interesting but too expensive. I saw a book regarding the making of Eragon, and I'm extremely interested in how they presented that graphic dragon... I saw various sketches of the dragon, the changes done to the imaginary dragon (eg. the snout was altered, they gave the dragon something that looked like a goatee, but it is not a goatee), the computer graphic of the baby dragon just out from its egg... Fascinating, but the book is also expensive.

In the end, I saw a series that I read when I'm still very young (like my brother's age) and we (the elder sisters) excitedly bought one for him. I don't know what the series is called, but it composed of very cute, round figures called Mr. or Mrs. 'something' . Each have their unique character, like: Mr. Impossible can do impossible things like walking up a tree. Still, till now I didn't see my brother reading that book... *sigh*

So, that's pretty much all I want to type about. To round up this post, I present L from Deathnote (yea, everyone-including me are crazy over it) and a picture from Final Fantasy (but I don't know which game of Final Fantasy...the picture is given by a friend).

Festivals... and a huge, innocent lie.

2006-11-05T20:32:00.000+08:00

Pop philosophy
The thing is, I sit behind a piano. Years ago, I hated it. I wanted to leap around and be a singer and I was stuck behind a piece of wood. That's why I used to jump up and down on it; I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix. Nowadays, I'm 47, I'm glad I'm stuck behind a piano.
-The pre-knighthood Elton John on growing old gracefully from an interview in the week that he was honoured by the BRITS in 1995.

That's a nice quote, isn't it? People tend to think piano as an classical instrument, but he actually made it sound like something more than a classical instrument. He gave it a soul, and it's not the kind of soul that Beethoven or Mozart gave to their pieces, it's the soul of pop...

Anyway, I'm not going to talk about piano (I am not an advent music student in the first place :P ). I am going to talk about Deepavali- the festival of light.

This year, I attended my first Deepavali celebration. My father's staff invited us to his house, and I thought it was only a visit with cookies and fizzy drinks. It was only moments later than I realize that we are also having dinner there, and I've my dinner at home! Being too polite to refuse the offer, I forced down the rice and the dishes. (I'm sure I'm gonna gain extra weight... I'm fat enough already. T_T )

Ok... despite all the grumbles about gaining weight, I must admit their cookies are rather special, especailly a wierd cookie (or cake?) which is round and orange in colour... Me and my younger brother find it interesting, we each ate one; but my two younger sisters find it too sweet, and were giving me hints and signals that they can't force it down their throat. When the host is out of sight, I took that orange cookie from them and gave it to my brother (he still wants it).

And the homes of Indians have a rather particular flower smell... The smell is very strong and I'm not very used to it... Thank god that the mechanisms of our senses works in such a way that after smelling something for a long time, the smell will go off.(To put it precisely, our receptors stop sending messages to our brain, but I'm not going to talk about Biology...)

And few days after Deepavali, my father's staff gave lots of Indian cookies, so I'm pretty much eating them during tea time every afternoon.

Man... I'm going to get really fat...

Another festival I would like to touch about is Christmas.

No kidding, it's Christmas. 3rd of November, our school (a convent school) held the annual Christmas concert. The reason for holding it so early: the whole of December is our school holidays.

Watching people I know acting on stage, I couldn't help but to feel amused about it. J, who is a girl of fickle temper and silly, hilarious antic is actually acting as an angel! An angel is always someone who is patient and gentle, but she, she as an angel!?

The scene below would give whoever that is reading this a better idea of how that 'angel' turned out...

The girl pinched the angel to ascertain that she is real, and the angel replied: "Ow, that's pain! Your are so dead, man!"

All of us anonymously agreed that J should act as the devil instead...

And Crapy was santa claus! A girl, acting as santa claus, and she is not wearing that cute red skirt where girls normally wear! She is wearing the white beard and pop belly! It was hilarious! She would no doubt stay in my memories for the next 10,20 years to come. Hahahaha!

That day, when I'm in the car with my younger brother with his friend, I asked: "Do you all believe in Santa Claus?"

My brother initially answered no, because it's actually a man wearing costume. His friend answered yes, cause Santa visited her to give her presents, and he entered her house by using magic. (That's a no wonder... Santa couldn't possibly use the chimney cause we don't have one, and Santa couldn't possibly enter through the door cause the burglar alarm will go off.)

And I start asking the small girl, what she did to make Santa come to her house. This is the list of things:

1. A glass of milk
2. A plate of oreo cookies/chocolate
3. Socks
4. Be a good boy/ girl
5. Do not shout
6. Do not cry

Than finally I asked my brother once again: "Do you believe in Santa Claus?" And this time, he answered yes. We gleefully wrote down all the requirements to attract Santa to our house this Christmas, and of course, this means that I would have to play Santa this year... No problem, it's a small effort to ignite the proper childhood imagination in my brother... ^0^

'I die your death, you live my life...' quoted by the priest/father that preached about Christmas on our Christmas concert.

I am feeling drunk...

2006-10-27T21:29:00.000+08:00

Honestly, I am feeling dazed and drunk right now... in fact, I've been feeling this way since my trip back from my hometown... god knows why...

So since I'm feeling drunk, this post will no doubt... *blurp*... have a drunken feeling to it...

I did something wierd... I really did something very wierd... I told my friends the address to my blog, odd, isn't it. Now, whatever I type down here, they will be able to see it... and so long ago, I'm actually saying I will only give them the address only after we leave school...

Does that mean that I cannot rant and grumble as usual? Does that mean that I have to stay hidden behind that pathetic mask of mine?

... I'm not going to continue on this topic, my friends will no doubt one day read about it... and god knows what they are going to think...

Not so long ago, I played for the Kiwanis Farewell Party. That, was an experiance. I'm a school pianist. The first time I played a patriotic song without any wrong notes during one of the minor assembly, I was feeling great. But the next few times, I slowly realized I'm not improving, and I'm getting bored of those songs, it became a chore, but I still hold on to it, for that few extra marks in my co-curriculum results. But that day when I played in the Kiwanis Farewell Party, I was actually excited, and happy about it. No doubt, when my friend called on the night before the party, and told me that she needs me to play, I was cold, nervous. She asked me to play soothing music before the party starts, and I don't know what songs to play. Normally when I play the piano in school, I only play the National song, the state song, and a couple of patriotic songs. Where the hell am I going to get soothing music?

Luckily after frantically flipping through pages of my music books, I finally found a few nice ones, and after hammering on the keys of my piano, I'm satisfied with the performance of my fingers. I've calmed down considerably, but I'm still moaning: "What am I gonna do, tomorrow I have to play that freaking piano~"

The second day, I played under the spotlight (it's very hot), nothing went wrong. A teacher even applauded! For that fleeting moment, I felt like a proper pianist, not one that struggles and gets no where!

But whatever it is, 'pianist' is a title to strong... The word 'performer' would be more suitable... hehe~

Another event I would like to write about is the karaoke outing after exams. As usual, my friends go nuts down there, I lose my voice half way and decided not to sing... But something went slightly wrong... songs that we did not choose start appearing on the list, and one of the song title that appeared lots of time was a song name "Afraid". We asked each other had we chosen those songs and none of us did it... Next, a singer singing on the screen was suppose to be a female, but the sound that came out was a male's voice~ My friends acted dumb, she laughed and continued singing...

Next day, they gathered around and start saying something spooky was in there... It's no surprising, there are rumours that such enclosed karaoke rooms are haunted. But I didn't feel the chill in the room, I think the atmosphere was fairly ok. Is it because I'm too blur, or are my friends over-reacting? I don't know, but when the guy's song sang that female song (as mentioned above), I find it very amusing.

Few years back, during the last year of my primary education, we attended an excursion. Night, when all of us were in the hotel room fooling around, the door rattled. We thought that the boys wanted to scare us, so one of the girls tried to look through the gap under the door. The door rattled again, and she didn't see feets or shadows or anything that indicates that someone was outside. The girls start getting scared. We tried to assure ourselves that it was the wind (I was sure it was the wind). Finally, one of them cried and we had to get the teacher... Honestly, I didn't feel scared that time. One of my room mate even find it shocking that I could laugh at a spooky time like that... I really couldn't feel the chill or anything odd about the atmosphere, I don't understand why they are saying something is not right...

But I'm scared of horror... A good horror story can make me scared throughout the night.

I suppose I should end this post... I remember that my cousin was grumbling about the fact that why she wasn't mentioned in my blog... I promised her that I will mention her the next time I post another new post. However, I don't really know what to write about her... I'm preety sure the next time she read my blog, her comment would be something like: "Go to hell, turtle!!!!!!!!!"

...
...
...

Oh ya, did I mention that the virtual pet was a gift from a friend of mine, and my dear cousin was attempting to feed it till it die? ^_^

This is my virtual pet

2006-10-26T16:19:00.000+08:00

adopt your own virtual pet!

Ramblings

2006-10-16T20:48:00.000+08:00

I visited a website on a local comic (graphic novel/manga) magazine, and I'm cursing about why don't they have an English site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And of all languages, they have to present the sinopsis of various graphic novels in a language I'm not particularly fond of... GO TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pfftt... forget it....

This blog is slowly becoming my personal diary... Considering the fact that my classmates wouldn't have the time to dig it out (but then again, I don't think they have the luck to find it...hehehe).

Exams are almost over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I know this is a very cliche thing for a student to say, but still...) Next, I will be waiting for my ultimate damnation personally woven by my teachers...(I mean receiving my results) =_=

Yup, I'm crapping away... And this load of crap doesn't make sense...

I met a German exchange student! She's so pretty, like a doll with all her acessories, and she is so very very tall, and so very very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met her through my English teacher. On that fateful day, me and four of my other friends went out with our teacher to celebrate our small success in the Campaign 4 Rewards competition (a competition that I will elaborate later...) And my teacher brought that German student out to celebrate with us! Whoo Hoo! We talked and we had pizza and ice cream together! She told us that in German, they don't wear school uniforms (over here, we wear a light blue pinaform) and there is no dress code... What fascinates me the most is they can actually just wear bikini to school, and there are people who have done that! Oh man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The story goes that some school in German wanted their student going to school despite the fact that it is snowing and the heater is spoiled, so the students protested by wearing bikini to school! They are so brave man! I salute to them.

Fishy is shy... I know that only on the second day (WW told me). But fishy is also very excited, she kept asking about the exchange programme. 'Tis quite apparent that young little fishy wanted so much to study overseas...

Blum (German exchange student) asked me would I want to study overseas, and I replied it depends on my financial status. I think I sound a bit on the...er...cold side? Dunno, but on the second day, fishy told me I should be aware of how people feel and how I treat people... How bad I felt now... But then again, all these happened like a month ago.

I only remember after Fishy told me I don't know how to read people's feelings, I'm like asking her (or shouting): "Why?"
And she is sayng I'm too direct, and I'm like:"We have limited time to talk, of course I can't go round the bush!".
Then fishy said: "Still you shouldn't be so direct!" and I'm like: "What's wrong with being direct!"
And fishy was all: "You don't get my point!"
Next I cut through saying: "I know what you are saying, you are asking me to be aware of how people feel!"
Fishy said: "Precisely!"
"But being direct is how I deal with people."
"And being subtle is essential in socializing!"

And the arguement goes on and on till we reach our respective parent's car and we bid each other good bye. (Note: the disagreement happened when we are walking to the place our parents wait for us, after school)

And I'm silent all the way home, thinking about things like "Is fishy right?", "Am I that direct?". I couldn't take it anymore, I'm having a headache because I think too much. So I asked my mother and she is all cheery about it: "Yes, you are direct!" I felt amused and er... slumpy? I don't know, but my mum's reaction is so odd, so positive. I discussed this topic with my mother and I learnt that fishy is right and continued thinking like: how can I possibly change this particular characteristic of mine? But after talking to mother, I felt much better (at least my head don't crack open).

I made that whole incident sound like somekind of heated arguement between me and fishy... Pfftt... Anyway, when I met fishy again, I'm smiling and telling that it's very nice of her to tell me my shortcomings... Actually, I kinda felt guilty about our disagreement, and I did that to ease my guilt...

But thinking of it, our arguement is nothing, really. That's because both of us are so damn good natured, and that arguement is more like a discussion than anything else... Though, I'm rather amused that fishy actually raised her voice...whoa.

And fishy actually declared that she has some personal vengence with me (this has nothing to do with our friendly arguement). My other friend (who is not so familiar with fishy) was kinda surprised about it. I find it an achievement, imagine, being enemies with the fishy with the mildest nature. Mwahahahaha...

Campaign 4 Rewards, it is a competition held by the local newspaper which requires us to prepare 1 to 3 posters and a campaign portfolio. It is an interesting experiance working with my friends, two of them are crazy and they kept drifting off. The team leader is responsible, very good leadership qualities and is able to keep the two crazy ones planted firmly on the ground. Fishy is the rational one, she thinks that we should split up the work and focus on individual responsibilities, though, we did nothing like that (work was all jumbled up). I'm in charge of posters, but the crazy ones help me out. >0< We got the merit award ('tis like consolation prize) and lots of pizzas...

Ok, let me rant about exams. My teacher actually hinted me that I did one of the questions wrong during exams!!!!!!!!!!! I found out that it is quite normal of the teachers to do that, but somehow or rather, I felt my pride trampled on.

Two more exam papers to go... And both are my mother tongue, so I'm not too nervous about it...

Since I'm not nervous about my exams (in fact, I'm very relaxed), I want to rant about the magazine I bought. It is a comic magazine, on local comic/graphic novel. One of the work was very good, the others were medicore. The title of that work is 'Le. Gardenia', 'tis a love story. I'm not particularly an advent fan of love stories, but the artwork was good, very very unique. I know the artist of 'Le. Gardenia' is called Ben, a chinese, and he has other works, mostly love stories, but one of them- 'Fatal Chaos' is an action one. I want to read that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I checked up on the sinopsis of 'Fatal Chaos', but as I have mentioned, it is in a language I'm not very good at...

Music is a fleeting opening, writing is my interest, but drawing... is my ultimate passion.

Pity, I have my feet planted so firmly on the ground that I dare not spread my wings and fly. Arts as a profession is not very common in this industries, but I have fallen heads over heels in love with it. I want to draw, but my skills are medicore.

Do I dare to take up the bet? Do I dare to step onto this unknown path?

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I...
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Will I be telling this with a sigh someday in the unknown future?

A Jar Of Thoughts

2006-08-21T23:32:00.000+08:00

Ah well... what an excellent blogger I am, I actually couldn't gain access into my account for the last 10, 20 minutes. Hahahaha... imagine, a frustrated young girl glaring at the computer screen, hitting on the keyboard.

Oh well, it's in my nature to laugh at myself, or else, I might die of suffocation someday... Suffocated by my own feelings.

Lots had happened over this period of time. School stuff, exams, pranks... That is why this post is named a Jar of Thougts. *Points upwards*

I mentioned I wouldn't want my friends reading my blog, but still, I told a certain young little fishy about it. Though, I didn't give her the address, I told her she could jolly well go and look for it herself. Her reaction was highly amusing, she's wailing about the fact the there's hundreds and thousands of people who have the same username as us. Than I added another statement: I will give her my address only after we leave secondary school, because this blog is suppose to be where my dark side comes out, and I don't want my friends too close to me knowing about my dark side. Young little fishy's response was: than I must look for your blog. Ahh... whatever she wants to do with her free time...

Few days ago, two of my friends were talking about unjusts they encounter in school. I merely probe a little (I'm curious, see), and they said that it's quite pointless to tell me stuff like that, I'm quite indifferent. Am I? Maybe yes, maybe no. After all, I'm not use to letting my feelings show in front of my friends. If there's anyone I don't like, I will mark them. I don't have the energy to hate them nor talk nonsense behind there backs. But mark them I will. School nowadays doesn't seems as innocent as our parent's days. There is such things known as school politics, whereby however naive you are, you must know who to befriend, who to stay away, how to carry yourself and how to earn your place. It's pathetic... I don't know is it just because I'm too sensitive or I'm too guarded. I don't open up easily. I open up, but not completely. It's like a slightly ajar door with some light streaming through the opening. And I remember things, I remember who backstabbed me, who chucked me away, who is nice at times and not so nice at times. Is it a torture to remember so many things? I don't know. And I don't feel like discussing this orally with anyone. Writing and typing is the best, things come out in words, you fathom the writer's expressions through the lines he/she wrote. You don't know how the writer is feeling at the moment these words flow out. Maybe that's why my friend said I'm indifferent towards school issues, but if I were to write, I have tonnes of opinions.

Young little fishy is the best. She is untainted. I use to be like her, silent, occupied with my own things. But I feel lonely, so I started mixing with people. I'm considered rather normal in the eyes of others now. At least I'm not eerily quiet. But socialising, somehow or rather, made me have the feeling that I have lost myself. My very roots. Perhaps I'm easily influenced (which is not a good thing). Little fishy is silent, but she is stubborn, like a stone. I once asked her why don't she mix around, she merely stated that she's satisfied with her current state. How I envy her.

And that particular fishy, I'm constantly comparing myself to her. Because she is almost similar to my character in those days when I'm quiet. But after some time, I realised little fishy is still quite different from me. We may look like we have similar characters, but still we are different. As in what sense we are different, maybe I'll type it out some other day.

After the exams, me and a gang of friends went singing (karaoke). We initially booked one room and wrecked havoc down there. Piglet was laughing that wicked laugh of her at the microphone (Miehehehehe...) and she chose lots of songs sang by this chinese band called 183. And they are squealing at television (when 183's song was up) and shouting stuff like 'I luv 183' and 'Ming Dao's so cool'. *For further information, Ming Dao is one of the member of 183* And I'm giggling like hell because of their amusing antics. But later we were seperated into two rooms. Still, this didn't stop my friends from flshing their highly 'admirable' talent of making noise. Piglet was shouting 'SYX is a pig' and the other room was also shouting something. Me, on the other hand was going 'Ahh'. Another of my dear beloved friend was yelling at the microphone going: "viola1990 is a tortoise and CXT is a pig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" At that point, I'm also going 'ahh...' After all, these are merely some harmless teasing.

And at the end of the day, the bill sum up to be something quite flashy as well... (expensive...-_- ) and I have to look for my lunch because that out-of-tune-but-very-amusing-singing session doesn't include lunch. Hahahahaha~

So, these are the things that happened over this period of time... I've no quotes nor wise words to sum up this post, but considering the fact that the percentage of any homo sapiens will read this blog is preety much next to zero, I'll just give this spectacular display of crap a not so very spectacular way of ending. Adioz!

Starting a blog... I must be nuts...

2006-07-23T00:40:00.000+08:00

What a blog means?

Some say it's an online journal, some say it's somewhere just to vent your frustrations, to voice out your opinions.

Me? Why would I want to create a blog?

Honestly speaking, I don't know. And I must be nuts to create a blog, I couldn't even sort my time well. And I've only seen one of my friend's blog, I have totally no inkling on how people present their blogs.

Another wierd thing: I don't feel like letting my friends know I have a blog. Maybe I'm feeling insecure, maybe because I could forseen my dark side is going to appear in my blog and I don't want them to see it. Oh well, the artificiality of human nature...

Am I feeling dark now? I don't think so. I felt kind of calm, maybe because it is in the middle of the night, whereby everything is silent and asleep. And alone I am, the only soul in the house, staring at the computer screen, starting a private world of mine.

I must be too self centered...

But no matter, it is my blog, I could write anything I want and I could be odd, dark, nuts etc.

Will anyone read this blog? I don't know. But will I update this blog often? No, definately not. Since it's my blog, a place where all my faults and whinings come out, I will definately display my total lack of responsibility and punctuality to post a proper blog at regualar intervals. I may ignore it for a few months, than come down fast and furious on it... It is my freedom.

So, why I want to create a blog? Perhaps it's to release myself. ^_^