HELLO, WORLD

Smoking is not cool

2012-02-01T02:43:00.002+08:00

The streets of KL are a terrible place for an asthmatic person to be.

Jalan Tun Sambanthan: Colourful and congested

Exhaust fumes are a given, especially with the heavy traffic some of the time; there's nothing much you can do about that. I mean, streets are where cars are supposed to be, after all. But you know what else causes stinkiness, air pollution, asthma attacks, and general deterioration of health? Something that we can do something about?

Smoking.

Tobacco. Nicotine. Tar. Carcinogens. Who says smoking isn't sexy?

(From Amez Medical Centre)

Today, I was walking around Brickfields quite a bit (to get to college, to get lunch, to go home, etc.) and kept getting stuck behind people who smoked as they walked. The walkway out of the KL Sentral bus terminal is narrow and there were people walking along it in both directions, so it was hard to overtake them. Everyone walking behind them had to trudge along breathing their secondhand smoke till they got out of the walkway.

Waiting at the bus stop was no better. So many people were smoking that you inhaled smoke no matter where you stood. It didn't matter that vehicles whooshed by, creating some wind -- cigarette smoke was everywhere. Predictably, the breathing difficulties kicked in soon enough. Thank goodness the bus didn't take long to get there.

My hero!

(From Brands of the World)

Smokers, I've got a bone to pick with you.

We all know the health risks of smoking. In case you don't, smoking causes or contributes to, among other things, the following (click on the links for pretty pictures):

Lung cancer
Emphysema (a disease that destroys your lung tissues -- what fun!)
Bronchitis
Cardiovascular diseases (eg. strokes and angina)
High blood pressure
Stained nails
Stained teeth
Bad breath, no matter how many breath mints you pop
Stomach ulcers
Mouth cancer

So if we already know all this, why do so many people still smoke? In addition to exposing themselves to the health risks above, they contribute to air pollution with their secondhand smoke, which includes both the smoke from their lit cigarettes and that which they exhale. Something I find grossly unfair is that secondhand smoke contains twice as much tar and nicotine than the smoke inhaled from a cigarette, and three times as much of a carcinogen called benzpyrene. Keep your cancer (and other various diseases) to yourselves!

"Get off my lawn! And take you cigarettes with you!"

(From Clippix ETC)

On the other hand, I did some research earlier and found out that there are actually benefits of smoking; they are few and far between, but they exist. Here are my findings:

Smokers are reportedly at a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease
Something in cigarette smoke apparently increases efficiency of clopidogrel, a clot-busting drug used on patients with coronary diseases (which is nice of it -- since it caused the disease, it might as well help the drug that counters it to work better, right?)
Nicotine is said to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia and side-effects of antipsychotic medication
Nicotine suppresses the appetite and therefore reduces the risk of obesity

Obviously, these don't compare to the numerous risks associated with smoking. Obviously, smoking is a bad thing. Obviously, smoking isn't doing anyone but tobacco companies any good.

So why are people still doing it?!

"Why? Why? WHYYYY, BABYYYY?!"

(From Soul)

Okay, look. Smokers. If y'all want to spend your money on cigarettes, well, it's your money. I think it's a bit selfish of y'all, but it's your money and you can spend it however you want. However, I have a request. Could you possibly refrain from smoking while walking, especially in small, cramped spaces? You trail secondhand smoke, which really isn't fun to deal with for the people walking behind you. This bit of consideration would be nice, seeing as how there are people like myself out there who have problems dealing with smoke.

Also, I have no right to question your life choices, but I'd just like to say that dying from lung cancer really isn't fun. Like, really. I mean, dying from anything wouldn't be fun, but if there are measures you can take against lung cancer, well, why not? The 'it's not gonna happen to me' mentality isn't a good nor safe one to have. Just saying.

Mmhmm.

(From MPT)

So ends my public service announcement of sorts. In a nutshell: Smoking is not cool. Don't do it. And if you insist on smoking, don't blow your smoke in other people's faces.

Thankyou.

P.S. Here are my sources. Doing research for this post took incredibly long; the last thing I want to do here is spread misinformation. Have a look at these!

Health risks of smoking: Netdoctor and Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

Secondhand smoke: University of Minnesota's Division of Periodontology.

Benefits of smoking: LiveScience and War is Crime.

A birthday, a CNY, and eight papers later

2012-01-27T01:21:00.000+08:00

Hello, everyone! I'm back!

Jazz hands fail!

Man, it has been way too long. I have so much to say, but it all feels awkward at the moment 'cause I've sort of lost my touch, I guess. Typing normally right now feels weird, since a normal conversation with me online would consist of numerous acronyms and frantic caps lock bouts, neither of which are suitable in a blog post (in my eyes, anyway). So here I am, a birthday, a Chinese New Year, and eight papers later, blogging again. Woo.

This year is one of those years when my birthday fell on Chinese New Year Eve. Thankyou to friends and family members alike for the wishes, money, and presents! Fun fact about me: I was actually born on Chinese New Year Eve. My mother's gynae is Chinese, and he had to be dragged away from his reunion dinner in order to deliver me. (Causing trouble since the day I was born, that's me!) 1993 was the year of the Rooster, but since I was born on the eve, I'm really a Monkey. Close to no one seems to understand this when I tell them. "No! You're born same year as me, so you're a Rooster!" Pfft.

Chinese New Year was a two day, one night trip to my parents' hometown; really short, because I had a paper two days after. My parents had given me the option of not going, but then one of them would have had to stay with me, and it didn't seem right for me to deprive someone else of whatever fun there is to be had in that small town for my sake. So we all went, collected/gave ang paus, and ate a lot. And that was that.

Our annual cousins shot, missing at least fifteen cousins.

Photo credit: Chooi Lin

The exams...were a mixed bag. Papers ranged from "Oh, that was doable!" to "I honestly don't know how I did..." to "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!". This might be super uncharitable of me, but I hope everyone else did badly as well for the hard papers so the bell curve gets shifted accordingly. We had Chem 4 as our last paper today, and I'd been super nervous about it. Thankfully, God sent down some ten-minutes-to-the-end-of-the-paper epiphanies, leaving me scrambling to write everything down, grateful as heck.

Using the hall as our examination, well, hall, was weird, especially during the night papers. Hall plus nighttime to me add up to the musical -- the numerous night practices we had, and our performance nights. The yellow spotlights shining onstage in the dark had made the hall feel somewhat cozy...but the atmosphere during the exams was far from it! In fact, it seemed impossible that it was the same place we'd had our musical in! It makes me think maybe a building or room really doesn't matter, it's what goes on inside it. That was supposed to sound somewhat philosophical, but it doesn't, because it came out wrong and I'm too tired to think, never mind be eloquent.

Photo taken (with my phone) by Dhama, who was supposed to have been doing her homework.

So that's it. Chem 4 ended at 8pm today. At 8am tomorrow, my class starts a four-hour block of Chemistry classes, separated by half an hour for lunch. MCKL, you're horrible. (I'm kidding. I actually do love MCKL.) It's bedtime for me now. 'Cause it's been a haaard daaay's niiight -- I should be sleepiiing like a looog.

Goodnight!

Hiatus

2012-01-07T16:42:00.000+08:00

Hey, guys. The Edexcel examinations start in two days. I think no further explanation is necessary.

See you all after the 26th of January!

Goodbye, 2011

2011-12-31T23:45:00.003+08:00

I think I can safely say that 2011 has been the best year of my life. I've never felt like this about any other year, and upon no other year will I look back with as much fondness as I do this one. In fact, just doing a mental runthrough of the year in preparation for this post brought a smile to my face quite a few times. 2011 was, quite simply, amazing. The main reason? College.

MCKL -- the best college around.

(From the college website)

MCKL has been nothing but a blessing to me. I know it sounds dumb, and I know it sounds corny, but it's the truth. The people I've met, the things I've gotten to do, the experiences I've had... I don't think any other college could compare. From what I've seen, there aren't any colleges around with kids who have as much college pride as we do; this is, I believe, testament to the fact that MCKL is quite awesome. I can't tell you how glad I am that my mom chanced upon this relatively unknown little college that none of my Samad friends were going to. It's given me the absolute best year ever, and I am extremely grateful. Veritas Vincit Omnia for life!

I made a list of highlights of my year, but a lot of them revolve around, well, college. Oh well, let's go in chronological order, then.

My birthday

Some of the lovely people at the picnic.

Photo credit: Timothy

The wonderful Sze Li planned a birthday picnic for me at KLCC! It was a surprise, actually, and I was surprised in the end. It was so nice to see my Samad friends again, all in one place, with the extra addiction of Jacie, who skipped classes to be there! Also, my dad got me my own domain as a birthday present -- blog.huijan.com! I feel like such a cool blogger, heheh. It was a lovely day filled with lovely people, and I'm pretty sure it was the best birthday ever.

Orientation Ball

The cult sans Yaggy, who wasn't yet one of us.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

OB deserves a mention because it was one of the best nights I've ever had. It was lovely to see everyone all prettied up and suited up, and all the dancing was certainly worth the aching legs the next morning. It was the first prom I'd been to, since I hadn't gone for my secondary school's one; because I spent it with the right people, it went really well. Cult love!

Treasure Hunt

Winning. Literally.

Photo credit: Joshua Teo

Dhama and I paired up for this, and let me tell you, I couldn't have asked for a better partner. We joined forces with Benji and Zheng Yu (getting a taste of Benji's competitive streak for the first time) and refused to let ourselves get sidetracked by the shops in Times Square. (It was hard, though. Really hard. Elianto was having a sale.) This, combined with our careful copying down of the shops' names, led Dhama and me to win an iPod shuffle each. We found this very funny indeed, since we were convinced we were so hopeless that we were actually making jokes about us winning.

JPA scholarships

A Samad era picture that I thought appropriate.

Photo credit: Kent

I'm almost reluctant to write about this, 'cause it's the only negative thing in my lineup, but it was a fairly important part of this year. I applied for the JPA scholarship, and, well, I got it. However, I'd applied for Medicine overseas, but I got offered instead a weird prep course of sorts for Medicine, locally. Then, you know, came the stories of friends' friends who did worse than I but got offered Medicine overseas when they'd actually applied for Law and stupid things like that... Needless to say, I turned the offer down and stayed in MCKL. Thankfully.

World Stage

Hurricane.

Again, one of the best nights I've ever had, which Bob was kind enough to accompany me for. I finally got to see 30 Seconds to Mars live, after a freaking five-year wait! You know how your perspective towards some songs changes after you've heard them live? Yeah, I can no longer listen to Search and Destroy, Kings and Queens, or Vox Populi the same way. Also, Jared's acoustic versions of Hurricane and The Kill were amazing. Especially The Kill. I'd been hoping and praying that he'd do that! He looks absolutely incredible in real life, by the way. Also, Neon Trees! Those guys are so good live, I was super impressed. Couldn't stop listening to their album for weeks after. Best night ever? I think so.

CF Camp

Ying Ying, me, and Shean Yen.

Photo credit: Jimmy

CF camp was incredible. It was intense in the best way possible, and this camp was when I truly experienced God. You know when you have an epiphany, the good kind, your brain just kind of lights up and everything suddenly seems crystal clear? That's a bit like how I felt, just that it felt more like my entire being lit up and I could finally, really see. It's not really something you can put into words, but that was my best shot at it. Besides that, our few, short days at the beach were a very lovely break from the stress of college life and such. I'm really, really glad I went for CF camp.

PAC musical

The cast and crew of Ramu and Chu Lian: A Love Story.

Photo credit: Ying Hui/Ying Ying

Oh my gosh, I don't trust myself to write about this. I can't do a blurb -- I'd do an essay. Just the other day I was in Nichii and Super Bass was playing, and I got all emotional and SMSed Ying Ying. It was crazy, and things were so hard at one point, but it was definitely worth it. An unforgettable experience for sure. Plus, the group of us bonded through trauma, so we're all pretty good friends now!

Another thing worth mentioning is that this year, I met two Internet friends in the flesh! I first met Lydia and Alia on Twitter via a mutual friend, Megan. Then Lydia came to MCKL (woo!) and the four of us (Lydia, Megan, Alia, and myself) went out for a nomfest one day when Alia was on holiday from her college. They're both awesome, and living proof that my father (who insists that every person I meet on the Internet is a forty-year-old trucker) is wrong.

Me, Lydia, Alia, and Megan!

Photo credit: Siri. I mean Alia.

Something else I wanted to do! Some people have listed their top ten albums of 2011, and Id like to do the same. However, I don't have ten favourite albums that came out this year, so I'm just going to list (in random order) albums that I listened to over and over throughout the year as I went through my musical phases.

Habits - Neon Trees
The Masterplan and Stop the Clocks - Oasis
2Cellos' self-titled album
+ - Ed Sheeran
All Things Bright and Beautiful - Owl City
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance

So that's it for my year-end post. 2011 was an absolutely wonderful year, and I am very much thankful. I daren't hope that 2012 will be even better (it seems like pushing it a little), so the most I'll hope for is that 2012 will be just as good. (Probably not, since next year is a year of goodbyes and uni applications, but we can always hope!)

Just bringing this song back for a bit.

Photo credit: Dhama

Happy new year, everyone!

Why is eighteen afraid of nineteen?

2011-12-30T23:07:00.000+08:00

It hit me today that I'll be turning nineteen soon. This scares me somewhat, because it'll be my absolute last year of being a teenager. I don't even remember my transition from child to preteen nor preteen to teen, but I'm rather dreading the big step up to adulthood. It seems like a big step, anyway. It is, isn't it?

Nineteen is young. It's only, like, a little under a quarter of the age I want to live to be (but who am I to decide?). The thing is, it's not the prospect of a foggy future that I find daunting -- I am thankful that I do have some idea of what I want to do in my life. It's just... I don't know. It's like, one minute I'm fourteen and in Form Two, and the next thing I know, I'm about to turn nineteen. What?!

Man. If I'm like this now, imagine how I'll be when I'm about to turn the big 2-0.

Christmas > Edexcel

2011-12-24T18:08:00.000+08:00

Dear Edexcel,

When I first heard that the exams would be going on all throughout the month of January next year, I must say that I was rather put out. Exams in January would mean having to start preparing in December, which would lead to Christmas and New Year's being somewhat less festive than they usually are. Also, this coming January sees me turning nineteen, as well as Chinese New Year, both of which I will be unable to celebrate due to the ongoing exams. Therefore, I am sure you understand my initial frustration at the news.

However, a few weeks ago, something important occurred to me: We can't be the first batch to have gone through this. Surely some of our seniors must have had their Christmases, New Years, birthdays, and Chinese New Years ruined by the exams too. And surely most of them managed to get their As and A*s regardless. If they can do it, I told myself, then so can I.

A problem remained, though. Despite my new outlook on things, I still wasn't happy with the fact that I was letting the Edexcel exams ruin my Christmas. Christmas is a time of joy and peace and love, my absolute favourite time of the year, and I refused to let anything take from me the happiness only Christmas can bring. Therefore, ~~you Grinches~~ Edexcel, I have something to say to you.

You can ruin my New Year's. You can ruin my Chinese New Year. Heck, you can even ruin my birthday. But I am not -- not -- letting you ruin my Christmas. So there.

Merry Christmas to you.

Sincerely,

Hui Jan

When real life is better than the movies

2011-12-23T20:52:00.001+08:00

So I'm kind of a sap, but I wanted to share this video. In it is Timothy Tiah, co-founder of Nuffnang, proposing to his girlfriend, Audrey Ooi (better known in the Malaysian blogosphere as Fourfeetnine). It is adorable, though you have to know your memes to understand it. (Bonus Internet points for you if you know which meme Timothy used wrongly.)

It's ironic that I'm so all over this, because here's something I tweeted just last night:

But, you know, it was a really cute and quirky proposal, so all is forgiven. I don't know if it was the memes or their expressions or the adorableness of everything or just the proposal in general, but I watched it three times in the span of twenty minutes and cried each time. I'd never seen a real life proposal before. This might actually be better than the ones in the movies!

Have a look. Prepare tissues if you're a sap as well.

Look at the way Timothy was smiling! He was so nervous! Aaaah! Also, the sobbing friend during 4:41? That was basically me throughout almost the whole video. It was so cute!

The song used in the video is Christina Perri's A Thousand Years. Ms. Perri herself has watched the video, and here's what she had to say about it:

Aww. Sometimes real life really is better than the movies.

Back to school

2011-12-20T19:03:00.000+08:00

I was in Samad today to collect my SPM cert.

(Funny how boring and uninteresting the reason behind my tidal wave of emotions sounds.)

Fruit of last year's labour: 8A+ and 1A, with a grade A for English Language 1119.

The circumstances under which I walked into school today were very different from the ones throughout my five years of schooling there. A few of them, off the top of my head:
1. I had graduated and was no longer bound by its rules.
2. It's school holidays at the moment, so there were no rules to be bound by, anyway.
3. I'd just driven myself there, from
4. College.
5. I wasn't wearing a uniform, prefects' or otherwise.

These five things were what caused me to merrily tramp up the office stairs, knowing full well that according to the school rules, no one but teachers and staff are supposed to use it. I was in slippers, too. And three-quarter pants. And my hair was untied. And unpinned. And my nails were long. And all that other breaking-the-school-rules stuff.

Collecting my certs was uneventful, aside from getting to say hi to Puan Norfadzilah and Mr. Thanabalan. They asked me how I was and where I'm studying at now, but didn't seem too interested which was fine with me. When I was done, I thanked the admin guy, left the office, and went for a quick solo walk around school.

Samad's a lot bigger than MCKL is, and I've spent a lot more time there than at college, so it's given me a lot more memories than MCKL has. Walking around the old blocks, I always get hit with a ton of memories; they seem from so long ago that I can't say if they're good or bad. Time seems to have painted everything over in sepia tones, such that looking back on anything at all gives me the same, mixed-up feeling inside. I walked around with the strangest smile on my face -- part nostalgia, part amusement, part wow-was-that-really-only-a-few-years-ago.

Given the choice, I'd always prefer to walk around the old blocks than the new. Part of me thinks maybe it's because they remind me of the better times in school, but I think it's mostly because it's where the prefects' room is. Also, I used to enjoy doing my rounds there at recess during my term as D.O. (Discipline Officer). I think, in secondary school especially, it's important to have someplace you feel that you belong, and the prefectorial board gave me that comfort. Looking back on it now, I find it almost ridiculous that I used to have to be so strict about inconsequential things like a student's socks, but I can confidently say that I enjoyed my prefect days.

Photo credit: Bob

Peering into the dark classrooms in Block B, I couldn't help but compare them to the well-lit, air-conditioned classrooms at college. During the time my year occupied that block in Form Three, there were leaks in the ceiling or something, and the fans couldn't be switched on. You try learning anything when it's blazing hot, the air is still and unmoving, and there are visible heat waves outside! About the classrooms themselves, though, I've always liked the grey concrete floors. They seem comfortingly solid beneath your canvas shoes as you pound your way across them back to class after recess.

I wish I could've stayed longer, walked around more. I didn't get to go around the science labs, KH bengkel, and the infamous Block F (which, by the way, isn't actually haunted, guys). Still, a memory surfaced with every place I walked through/past, and I actually just sat down at one of the benches for a bit, staring at nothing. I took a moment to try and put into words how I was feeling, but I couldn't do it. I still can't. The closest I can come to it is this, and to be honest, it doesn't even come close:

Oh, Samad. My final year especially was quite crap, but I'm glad I went there. I got to meet the most awesome teachers and friends, and the experiences and opportunities it gave me were great. In all honesty, I'm loving college life and don't miss it one bit, but, well...

I think Samad's always gonna have a special place in my heart.

Random 3am post

2011-12-20T03:41:00.000+08:00

Reading your own old blog posts (and by 'old', I mean years back) can be a bit disconcerting. I think I prefer Present Me, but Past Me had a much better way with words. I'd love to be able to write the way Past Me could. Going through these old posts is so weird. It really is like reading someone else's words.

I'm reading and reading all this old stuff. Somewhere in between Form Two and Form Three, I grew up a lot -- you can see it in the way I wrote. Things happened; things didn't happen. Ultimately, things changed, some for better and some for worse.

I'm sitting here reading all this, and I'm wondering: What changed? How have I changed? Will I change much more in the future? What will I be like three or four years from now?

3am musings. There you go.

Music

2011-12-14T01:02:00.002+08:00

I've wasted too much time tonight YouTubing music artistes tonight (that time was supposed to have been spent studying), so for this blog post, I'm gonna be super lazy and just put up videos of random music I like or have just discovered.

Ed Sheeran - Hallelujah

This has to be my favourite cover after Jeff Buckley's. It's beautiful, and -- even better -- it's live. I'd seen Ed Sheeran's name around the Internet before, but only checked him out after I saw the music video of The A Team on TV. I really like that one too, it's an original song. Ying Hui's all excited that I'm YouTubing him, because she positively adores him. She's tagging me in all sorts of his videos on Facebook now. Uh-oh!

2Cellos - With Or Without You

These guys opened for Elton John when he had a show here, and the lady who did the concert review in The Star was raving about them in her article. At the time, I'd been itching for some new music, and went to check them out. Holy carp, they are good. I had no idea cellos were so versatile! One of their more popular covers is Smooth Criminal, which is amazing as well. Look how close they come to the edge of their fretboards!

Damian McGinty - Blue Christmas

In the spirit of Christmas, listen to that voice. Listen to it. I just did, and I'm a puddle of goo on the floor right now. Because, you know, he's in the US, and missing his family and friends and girlfriend in Ireland, and must've imagined spending Christmas without them to pull this off perfectly, which he did. It is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I should stop talking. (Be still, my heart.)

Glee cast - We Are Young

Yeah, another Glee one, but Damian and Glee aren't the same thing in my head, if that makes any sense at all. I love, love, love this number, and the reason why I didn't post the performance vid instead is that it doesn't have Santana's part of the song. The original is here, it's by a band called fun., with the full stop. It has a really weird video.

Macy Maloy - Fireflies

I finally found an acoustic cover of Fireflies that I actually like! I'd heard quite a few over the past year or two, and none of them were to my taste. A little while ago, I stumbled across this gem while checking out Cameron (from The Glee Project) and his girlfriend, Macy, and I'm glad I did. She's got such a lovely voice. Man.

Muse - The Resistance

Muse sometimes comes up with really weird-sounding songs that confuse me, but I love this one. Everything about it is perfect, just so. To be honest, I only happened to listen to it because Joel had it on his phone (everyone knows that 'if you leave your phone on the table, it belongs to everyone sitting at the table' college rule, right?) and I'd heard and loved the 2Cellos cover of it. That one's worth a listen too, for sure.

The idea of having a post with a lot of videos was so that I would just, you know, put them up and be done in under an hour. Unfortunately, I felt the need to say something for each one, and now it's one a.m. and I am kicking myself. Ah well, blogging's now more or less a once a week thing for me, so. Never mind.

Hope y'all like the songs!

P.S. Since we're on the topic of music, is anyone else going for Dashboard Confessional next year? Chris is doing a solo acoustic set here in Malaysia in February, and I am rather excited! February 22nd at KL Live, early bird tix are going at RM91 till the 22nd of January. See you there? :D

Post-production blues

2011-12-05T01:08:00.001+08:00

Things have been pretty slow since the musical. A little over a week ago, there was so much going on and so much to do and so many things to worry about; now, it's like, 'Oh, hey, I should be studying'. Bummer.

This is how dumb I am. I'd rather draw Mr. Men-esque smilies on Paint than study.

In January, I'll be sitting for a total of eight papers. (It sounds like a lot, but the other Science kids who're taking Physics will be sitting for more.) I think I need to wake up and realise that my future depends on these results. I mean, it depends on a lot of other things too, but, you know, that thought might be sufficiently scary to make me really hit the books. These past few days, I've been finding other, more interesting things to do than study -- read, make granola bars (new addiction, hey), eat granola bars (well, this is the new addiction, really), sleep, and religiously visit fuckyeahmedicalstuff almost every day.

For those not in the know, it's a Tumblr thing, 'fuckyeah[what Tumblog is devoted to]'. So, for example, fuckyeahmedicalstuff is chock-full of little snippets and pictures you may find disturbing, while fuckyeahdamianmcginty is full of adorable. That sound about right?

Damo singing Buachaill on Eirne. The lighting matches his eyes exactly!

I'm going through the former again, and, uh, it really isn't for everyone. It's not that it's bloody and gory or whatever, but there're a lot of post-mortem/autopsy pics, as well as diseased body parts. A description of one of the pictures: 'In this case, death was caused by the complete compression of the thorax by a rolling mill, which caused massive hemorrhaging in the face, due to the blood being pushed upwards.' So...yeah. If you think stuff like that will freak you out, don't go there.

I would honestly rather stay on there all night than sleep, though. I think it's my new favourite site.

P.S. Anyone like to read my book review on The Boy In the Striped Pajamas?

Ramu and Chu Lian: The Aftermath

2011-11-28T02:20:00.001+08:00

The lovely cast and crew.

Photo credit: Daniel

There is so much to be said that I don't even know where to start. My thoughts are so all over the place, it's hard to pin them down in writing. I'll start at the beginning, I suppose.

The making of this musical was one heck of a ride. Every production begins with an idea and then a script, and let me tell you, we had three of those. The very first finished script we had, we scrapped. It was completely different from Ramu and Chu Lian, and based off an idea that was really hard to work with. Scrapping it was a big move, though, because poor Yaggy wrote the whole thing himself, and it meant we'd be starting from scratch again. But we did what we had to do, and came up with a new plot and script in the end.

When we presented it to the cast (who had just gotten through our auditions), it was horribly rough. The thing had been cobbled together in mere days, so it wasn't in very good shape just yet. I remember sitting in the tea room with everyone, resignedly taking note of their concrit (constructive criticism), fully aware that they were all right. I particularly remember Kenan speaking very, very slowly and quietly, and all of us wanting to strangle him. Anyway, it took quite a few edits, the script was finished soon after...not including the last-minute additions.

Just one of our last-minute things -- Hot Honey Rag by Benji and Denise.

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

Then came practice. Oh, practice. The same scenes over and over again. The same moving of props. The same lines and punchlines and people on the sidelines. Practices should've been boring, but they weren't -- once we'd gotten the sound and lights people on board, practices were actually pretty fun. If ever things started to get a little too stressful or frustrating, Kevin or the ever-cheerful Amelia would help lighten the mood while Jasmine and Yen Ping would do their thing trying to calm everyone down. Y'know, Saturday practices were usually pretty awesome, and, in my opinion, well worth waking up early for. I was never there for singing or dancing practices, so I can't say anything about those.

Leading up to the musical, practices increased in length and frequency, and everyone was getting visibly tired. Ms. Lucia bought honey for the singers; in addition to drinking honey water, they'd been asked/warned not to eat spicy or fried food. (I'd forgotten, and wondered why Reuben breathed "Sambal!" as I walked past him eating a sambal ikan bilis bun one night practice!) The worst thing was, the cast and crew seemed to be falling sick one by one during the final week. First, it was Mia, then Shean Yen, then me, then Kelvin. We were horrified at the prospect of one of our singers or actors falling sick (there were no replacements nor understudies due to shortage of people), and kept telling everyone to take their vitamins.

Unfortunately, that wasn't our only problem in the week leading up to the thing. Murphy's Law was in full effect, and probably every single technical problem that could've occurred did. I'm not even kidding. Mics, lights, narrator, positionings, miscommunication with the college and AV rental company... All that gathered together at once and took a giant dump on our heads. We were asking friends who were coming if they could find it in themselves to clap even if the musical really sucked, okay. But, praise God, even with the last minute decisions and add-ons to the script, everything somehow worked out in the end.

The audience on the first night was fantastic -- they laughed and aww-ed at just the right moments!

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

We had a prayer circle before the show on both nights. I wasn't there for it on the second night, having gone with Kelvin and Daniel to buy dinner for ourselves and whoever else had placed their orders, but I was for the first night. Honestly, it was just what we needed. There's something about prayer that's so wonderfully comforting, and a shot of that before taking to the stage was perfect. Thinking back on all the problems we had, I think nothing but divine intervention could have solved (or at least settled) them all -- a little prayer really does goes a long way!

The first night was fantastic. I mean, really. The audience was great. When we had night rehearsals, there was no audience, so every joke or cute part was met with silence. This time, though, there were actually people, and they were actually laughing! It was a bit weird to be so afraid of and dependent on what people thought of us, since I try to live my life not caring, but that's how it works here, I guess. I'm going to be honest with you: the first time I heard the audience laughing and "Aww"-ing during the cute parts in the montage, I was so happy I could've cried. All throughout, Yaggy, Dhama, and I (the scriptwriters) were bragging to each other, "See? You said that part wouldn't work, but they laughed!" and things like that. Good times.

And my Samad friends, my gosh, my Samad friends. Sze Li, Timothy, Kent, Iis, Edmund, and Joshua came on the first night, and those jokers pooled money to buy a bouquet of flowers. This was presented to me by Edmund when I came out for my stage hands curtain call. It now stands in a vase of water on the dining table here at home. Thankyou so much, guys! It really did mean a lot to me, and I cannot thank you enough!

In the kitchen after I'd transferred them to the vase.

The second night wasn't quite as awesome as the first, but my dad and grandad said they enjoyed it anyway. To be honest, a number of things went wrong with this show, but they weren't anything major, so I'm okay with it ('okay' meaning more 'not wanting to stab someone' than 'pleased'). Part of me wishes we could've just done one show so that we'd have finished on a massive high, but it seems silly to have worked so hard for months for just one night when it could've been more.

So I have a few (read as: many) people in mind who were amazing and are definitely worth a mention. Sorry about this whole Grammys moment, guys. Bear with me?

Melodramatic? Us?

The reason for the gap was because the wood there gave whenever anyone put any weight on it.

Photo credit: Kash

Benji. Benji. Honestly, this whole musical would've been nothing without him. He was the driving force behind it, yelling at everyone to be serious, unrelentingly holding practices, not even caring that people were beginning to hate him at one point. All that nagging and pressurising was necessary, and -- even better -- fruitful, so I have the utmost respect for him. That boy is a born performer (he doesn't take any lessons at all, okay), and I really hope his parents let him realise his dreams!

Yaggy. Do you know how stressed this poor boy was? The number of things he was juggling at any one point was, to me, overwhelming. Leo, PAC (Performing Arts Club -- that's us), Student Council, Ed Board, twelve hours of Math a week plus Chem and Physics... That's not including the fact that he and his family had been moving house when the musical was only just coming together. Throw in the fact that he watches practically every TV show there is, and I am in eternal awe of his time management skillz. In this musical alone, he co-wrote the script, acted, danced, and helped out backstage. Yaggy is so awesome I can't even understand it. I can't.

Ying Ying. Our very own Emperoah of China who brought her entire empire on the second night (this included her mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, maid, and secondary school friends). Ying was the Head of Drama, and acted, 'sang', and danced as well. She was probably at twice the number of practices I was at, since I never attended the dance ones. At times, I felt she was doing more than I, the co-director, was. When she gets her game mode on, she's super duper responsible and it feels like she can get anything done. Also, that Super Bass thing she did was very last minute, as we needed to buy time for Ram and Amelia's costume change; I think it's safe to say she rose to the occasion magnificently. All hail the emperoah!

Our Head of Drama/drama queen taking her bow.

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

(So according to wordcounttool.com, I've written 1359 words. I'm getting fed up and have homework to catch up on, so I'm going to make the rest of this fairly quick.)

Dhama, for infusing parts of the script with her witty humour and sarcasm. I probably laughed the hardest reading the parts she wrote when I was editing everything. "Who am I supposed to dance with? A pole? Don't even answer that!" Trishi, for being the most amazing dancer and actress. Watching her on stage was an absolute joy, and I was so proud of her it was incredible. Shean Yen, for patiently dealing with people who were hard to work with, and always offering to help whenever anyone's workload seemed to be too heavy for them to shoulder.

Kash, for handling the marketing stuff and somehow managing to find a reason to be there for our second show. Yen Ping and Kevin, for the great song ideas. Yen Ping again for the lovely piano playing. Jasmine, Kenan, Amelia, Ram, Arvin, Ashlyn, and Mia, for playing their roles to a T. Kelvin, for being such a trooper and coming for both nights even though he was sick. Michael, for agreeing to go onstage in drag. Joel, for coming back and helping us with ushering and backstage even though he'd quit PAC for Leo. Martin, for coming in last minute to help us with ushering and the mics. Min Ji, for being the bestest Props Manager ever, never losing an item. Our narrators.

Mics and sound people represent!

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

Fellow stage hands, for making the best of the mad scrambles in the darkness backstage and making smooth transitions from scene to scene. Everyone who was involved in ushering. The dancers, for training so hard and looking incredible doing their thang on stage. The singers, who practised so much their voices were in danger of going, but sounded amazing on both nights. Lydia Tong, for helping our singers. Megan Chng, for helping us with make up.

Ms. Lucia, for the honey and food and the "Chee cheong fun!" suggestion. Ms. Melody, who was unfortunate enough to join our club as one of our teacher advisers when things were in full swing. Mr. Adrian, Mr. Michael, and Mr. Roland who patiently came to or waited at college just so we could collect or return the keys to the hall/Room 2.6. Mr. Adrian again for dealing with a lot of our crap. Mr. Maniam and Mr. Henrikus (I have no idea how to spell his name, I'm sorry) for constantly helping us out in technical matters. Mr. Reuben, for the awesome confetti cannons on the second night. The college, for allowing us to invite outsiders, and paying for our backdrop.

Everyone who came to watch and support us -- friends, family members, lecturers, and ex-lecturers. My parents, for having to deal with a sick, tired, headachey me all the time. My father again for patiently waiting to pick me up from night practices. My Samad friends, for the flowers and prayers. Jacie, for the good luck SMSes on both nights. I feel like I'm missing some people, but I've written more than 1.8k words so far, and I really want to wrap this up.

Woo, confetti!

Photo credit: Ying Hui

Making this musical has been a ride like no other, and all in all, I'm glad we did it. There were times where we were questioning ourselves and many of our decisions, but it all worked out in the end, thank God. Through this musical, I've met and gotten to know some wonderful people, and had experiences I'm not liable to forget. We had a great run; we were very blessed, and I am thankful.

So, hey, next PAC BOD... Another musical next year? (;

Glee S03E06: Mash Off (SPOILERS)

2011-11-17T23:10:00.001+08:00

You know, I always tell myself that I'll take forty-five minutes off from whatever I'm supposed to be doing to watch Glee, but it always ends up being a few hours. What usually happens is I watch the ep, I freak out about the ep, I go on Tumblr for gifs of the ep, I tweet about the ep, and so on and so forth. Then I see something else on the Internet and get distracted and go do that, and then, hey, one new notification on Facebook, then oh, there's a new video from someone I've subscribed to on YouTube, and it's all downhill from there.

Gangway!

(From Clker.com)

But I'm here today to talk about Glee, so let's put all that aside for a while. Today's episode was tragic. Let's go through all the sad things that happened, shall we?

Santana being outed in the worst way possible -- she hadn't even told her parents yet!

A lot of people are mad at Finn for this, and even more are defending him. He definitely shouldn't have used something like that against her in a fight, but come on. When you're fighting, the only thinking you do is finding barbs to throw or ways to defend yourself, not so much about the outcome of either one. Obviously he didn't mean for her to be outed -- he's not a mean person.

But seeing Santana break down like that was scary. We all know she's pretty vicious, but we also know that she's strong. She managed to keep it together throughout the (AWESOME) performance, but just lost it right after, slapping Finn in the face. (It was a real, very hard slap, btw.) Oh man. Cannot wait for the next ep to see how she deals. She'll either fall back on the glee club people for support or turn MEGA vicious, I think.

Rory getting attacked -- attacked -- by the Troubletones at dodgeball and ending up bleeding.

Okay, so since the first ep that Rory was in, I've developed a huge crush on Damian McGinty. I mean, come on. Lovely voice, blue eyes, brown hair, porcelain skin, Irish accent, can't dance to save his life... What's not to like? He plays ~~a leprechaun~~ the Irish exchange student whom no one seems to be able to understand due to his accent. He's skinny and dorky, and gets picked on a lot.

This time was the worst, because it was a bunch of girls relentlessly flinging ball after ball at him, even after he'd fallen to his knees. These girls, some of them had been on New Directions and quit to join the Troubletones; they were completely vicious because Rory was the new kid who had just joined New Directions. He'd ended up with a bloody nose, and seeing him look up dejectedly at the Troubletones after Kurt had stopped them was heartbreaking.

I am perfectly disgusted with Mercedes, Brittany, and Santana. Violence sickens me to no end, and seeing a bunch of girls going all Lima Heights on a poor, defenseless boy even after he hit the ground was awful to watch. For one thing, the fight was over, and for another, even the guys in Fight Club stop once you fall! (Okay, I just checked -- it's 'goes limp'. Still, a high school dodgeball fight shouldn't be reminiscent of freaking Fight Club! It sounds utterly barbaric!)

Rachel putting an end to her run for president and telling everyone to vote for Kurt.

Now, that last one wasn't quite, you know, sad, but it was so incredibly touching. Rachel is super duper ambitious, and her giving that up for Kurt? B'aww. I really hope he wins the campaign; his speech was the best by miles (Rachel's doesn't count anymore), and he is undoubtedly the best suited for the job. Vote for Kurt Hummel!

What got me thinking, though, was whether Rachel would've given it up if she hadn't gotten the lead in the musical. Probably not, I think. Still, this was a big step for Rachel, and it's so nice to see how much she's progressed over the past few seasons, learning to let go of the things she wants for the people she loves.

Kurt/Rachel BFF scenes make me so happy!

On the whole, I'd say Glee really is getting more interesting (especially with last week's First Time). It also most definitely doesn't hurt that they have Damian on board now too. I get really happy every time he's on screen. He's a lot more than just the dorky Irish kid, but it's early days yet; I really, really hope they do something with him! Hopefully his cover of Blue Christmas is an indication of a tearjerker of a Christmas ep.

I just really, really like Damian, okay?

(From Damian's official Facebook page)

(From the Oxygen website)

One last thing before I go. Even if you aren't a fan of Glee, you might like this; it's a brilliant mashup of Adele's Rumour Has It and Someone Like You, performed by the Troubletones. Have a listen!

11/11/11

2011-11-11T23:56:00.000+08:00

(From Postsecret)

This might seem childish, but at 11.11 a.m. today, Dhama and I gave simultaneous excited squeaks and made a wish. It was during a Chemistry lesson that we didn't understand and half the class was skipping anyway -- we figured our lecturer wouldn't have noticed us closing our eyes and looking constipated for a mere minute.

11.11 a.m. on the 11th of November in the year 2011. I'd been looking forward to this date for years. When I first heard about it, it seemed so far away...but now the day is over, and I managed to wish on both 11.11s. They were different wishes, but both were important. The first (the real 11.11 11/11/11) was for many people -- I felt this was only right, it being such an important wish. The second, however, was for me. And of course I can't tell you what either one was, for fear of them not coming true.

Okay, so maybe it is childish. It might not even mean or amount to anything, wishing on 11.11. But that act gave me hope at a time when things were terrible, and something I wished long and hard for really did come true. I don't sit by the clock and count down the seconds like I used to do, but if I happen to catch 11.11, I still do make a wish. It makes my day (or night) a little bit better.

Did you make a wish?

Homosexuality

2011-11-05T00:48:00.001+08:00

I'd like to start off by saying that this post isn't meant to offend any party, so if I do, I'm very sorry. What I'm doing here is sort of rambling to try to get my thoughts in order. I am very, very confused about this whole thing.

Seksualiti Merdeka ('Sexuality Independence') was in the papers today, and it was the first time I'd read about it. (I'd previously seen the #SexualitiMerdeka hashtag on Twitter, but I thought it was just some weird catchphrase someone had come up with.) It's a little weird that I'd never so much as heard of it before, it being a festival and all -- festivals aren't usually low-key, are they? Anyway, it's been banned this year, and people aren't happy. I wasn't either, but then I started thinking about the whole homosexuality thing and now I don't know what to feel.

(From the Seksualiti Merdeka website.)

I'm a Christian, so I probably should believe that homosexuality is wrong, that it is a sin. But, well, I don't. At least, I think I don't. Previously, I was so sure that there was nothing wrong at all with being homosexual (proof being this and this), but that was before I took Christianity with any degree of seriousness at all. Now that I'm actively trying to learn more about God and the religion itself, my view on a lot of things has changed, and this kind of includes homosexuality.

I say 'kind of' because I'm still unsure as to where I stand. On one hand, the Bible states on numerous occasions that it's wrong, and how dumb would it be to only follow what the Bible says when it suits you? On the other hand, how is it wrong if it's not hurting anybody? It's obvious to us why stealing and committing adultery are wrong, but homosexuality? I had so many questions and conflicting thoughts on this that I decided to turn to Google. This, unfortunately, only served to confuse me further, providing me with even more points for each side to be debated.

(From Alzheimer's Reading Room)

In CF Camp, I approached Mr. Yoshua with my dilemma of sorts. I told him I didn't know if I could fully commit to a religion that strongly rebuked something I believe in. He never actually said if it was right or wrong, but told me that God loves the homosexuals all the same, maybe even more than the others. He said that it was wrong of Christians to judge and condemn them, which is, you know, very true; let he who is without sin cast the first stone and all, right? Then he told me to focus on what was important first -- building a strong relationship with God. It seemed like a good, if temporary, solution.

Later on, I brought this up with Mr. Tee during one of our Bible study classes. He asked me to turn to the book of Romans, and together, we read Romans 1:26-27.

That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves he penalty they so richly deserved.

From that, he said, it was pretty clear to him that homosexuality is wrong by the Bible. I had to agree. This put me into a quandary, because if I'm going to call myself a Christian, that book is my law, and I kind of have to agree with whatever it says. Now, I'm not 'indulging in sex' with any woman -- or man for that matter -- so that isn't the issue. My problem is that I honestly cannot see why homosexuality is condemned, why it's wrong.

(From EEW Magazine)

Pastor Clement mentioned it briefly at camp (and only because Alex asked). I'm sorry, but 'the parts don't fit!' and the whole 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve' thing don't quite cut it for me. I would like real, solid reasons, please, not half-jokes. I don't buy those. You only throw half-jokes out when you're clutching at straws and want to divert everyone's attention with a bit of humour, so I'm kind of inclined not to believe it.

Ugh, I am still so confused. Homosexuality -- is it wrong or isn't it? If it is wrong, why? Enlighten me, please! I really, really want to understand.

November

2011-11-01T22:04:00.000+08:00

Time moves so fast, but everything is taking so long. Spoken like a true teenager.

In a little under fifteen months, I won't be a teenager anymore. Aaaahhh. I'm both nervous and excited for the future.

I am literally sick and tired. I am also busy. Sorry for the crap post.

500 Days of Summer and me

2011-10-27T03:53:00.000+08:00

(From reface.me)

About two and a half hours ago, I downloaded and rewatched 500 Days of Summer on a whim. (Hooray for Unifi and the trials being over.) I'd first watched it when it came out in '09, so I was sixteen then; I'd thought it the most boring movie I had ever watched and complained that it was way too hyped up. Now, two years later, I watch it again and... Well, I actually enjoyed it.

This brings to mind one question: What changed? Of course, the movie didn't, so I must have; but in what way? How could I suddenly find myself enjoying something I'd previously thought was the driest movie on earth? Doesn't this suggest that whatever changes had happened to me were pretty drastic? Am I going to keep changing like that? Will my tastes and sets of values and everything else be wildly different a few years down the road?

A change is gonna come?

(From The Heart of Innovation)

Also, previously, I'd been in full support of Summer ("There's no such thing as love -- it's a fantasy."). But now, two years later, I watch it again and kind of get where Tom is coming from ("Well, I think you're wrong."). (For those who don't know, Summer is the realist and Tom is the romantic.) I'm not sure where this came from, since my experience in relationships remains at zero. Maybe I'm getting more optimistic about the idea of love, but I'm not sure why that should be, since I still view the whole relationship thing as semi-disastrous and too sticky for anyone's good.

Still, this year has opened my eyes to a lot of things, taking chances being one of them. I know I'm not as much of a stick in the mud as I was last time because I don't want my teenage years passing me by without my having a bit of fun. However, I don't think I'm open to taking chances with love (or 'love'), because, you know. Heartbreak (looks like it) sucks and stuff, and I don't want to have anything to do with any of that. I mean, there's always the danger of ending up like Tom.

Upset Tom is upset.

(From this Tumblr.)

Introspection aside, I liked the movie -- I liked how it wasn't some Disney fairy tale love story, but had a rather sweet, optimistic ending nonetheless. The part where Summer showed up on Tom's doorstep in the middle of the night, bedraggled and sorry, was heartbreakingly endearing. Pretty much anyone who wasn't a robot would've melted. Zooey Deschanel is super duper pretty, but I was more preoccupied with Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- those dimples didn't appear once in Inception!

I liked some of the songs in the movie too and should probably check out The Cure. I remember listening to Just Like Heaven a few years back and not really feeling it, but, you know, my taste in movies has obviously changed, so why not give it another go?

It's really late, and I should be getting to bed. Going to end this post with a mini JGL picspam, just because I can.

(From allmoviephoto.com)

(From joegordonlevitt.com)

(From A Lovely Little World)

Life: College, books, and music

2011-10-22T02:53:00.000+08:00

Hello, everyone! I'm in between papers right now, which has lulled me into a false sense of security, so here's a little bit about my going ons and such.

I think I can safely say that as far as the trials are concerned, the worst is over. Have you ever sat through an entire paper going 'WTF IS THIS'? Yeah, that was me all throughout Chem 3. The stupid thing is, I honestly really did study, but I couldn't do it anyway.

Bone-crushing reality.

(From this album.)

You know how some papers, they take what's in the syllabus, make it a million times harder and more complicated, and then question you on it? Chem 3 in a nutshell. It is technically in the syllabus, but then they do things like throw an extra double bond into an aldehyde, and you don't know the reaction mechanism because there are two double bonds, and you think maybe you just ignore that other double bond, but with that other double bond, is it even still an aldehyde any more?!

Sigh.

In other, college-related news, the AUSMAT people just finished their last week in college. Now, I don't talk to the AUSMAT people much, but one person I really will miss is Kelvin. Because Kelvin is awesome. Everybody likes Kelvin. Everybody who doesn't like Kelvin is nobody. He is our Nyan Kiat.

Mooncake festival at Ying's place! Kelvin, Trishi, me, and Ying Ying.

(Photo credit: Ying Hui)

It took only mere months, but I've come to see Kelvin as a sort of staple of college; as with the cult, I miss him when I don't see him for a while. And now, after the AUSMAT people catch up with their extra Malaysian Studies classes, he'll be...gone. Well, not completely, since we'll be seeing him at rehearsals for the year end musical, but still. Look at me sadfacing here. Big sigh.

It seems this year has just flown by, in a blur of qualifying tests/assessment tests/trials/Edexcel examinations, birthdays, camps (twice a year is unusual for me), new friendships, reunions, trips to Port Dickson (again, twice a year is unusual for me), and other things along the way. I think it's a bit like cupping sand in your hands and then letting it flow out through the gaps between your fingers -- it goes really fast and it feels nice, but towards the end you have to wonder what you're going to do once the sand runs out.

Confession: I picked this picture because I love coral nail polish.

(From rgbstock.com)

On a less depressing note, I've started reading again. Finished Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death From the ER by Pamela Grim, MD a few days ago and just started To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (Ironic how this is supposed to be less depressing yet both books have words like 'death' and 'kill' in their titles, and one is written by someone named Grim.) I really liked the former. It isn't by any means a light-hearted read, but what I like about it is that it's real. Everything in there is Dr. Grim's life experiences, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's to never, ever work in the ER.

My booty from Book Tree. Will start on the Mark Haddon

one once I'm done with To Kill a Mockingbird.

Also, I'm currently checking out Oasis. If you remember, in this post, I said that their song Stay Young was my number one song at the moment. Well, I found out that the album it was from, The Masterplan, is a compilation of B-sides. B-sides are songs that for whatever reason did not make it onto an album (usually because they were deemed not good enough, or because they didn't quite fit in with the other songs on an album). This made me sit up and start looking for a greatest hits album or something of the like.

See, if a B-side from them is so frickin' awesome, imagine their singles! Their songs! Their full-length albums! It got me all excited for sure. Stop the Clocks as well as The Masterplan have just finished downloading; I can't wait to listen to them while doing S1 past year papers.

Stop the Clocks

So that's what's been going on with me as of late. I think I should do more posts like these -- they're easier to write, and almost relaxing besides. What say you?

A short promo before I go. Come visit CoY! We have our own domain now, and everything looks super cool. Also, if you'd like, read my article on the generation gap! I wrote it in the dead of the night, two days before deadline, in between video editing for our Malaysian Studies project. Interested? Of course you are. Have a look at the end result!

Public service announcement

2011-10-17T17:44:00.001+08:00

Trials start tomorrow. I feel wildly unprepared. Will be MIA till further notice.

Photo taken near the hall. Our Student Council is so cute.

Bai!

Water villas

2011-10-09T23:45:00.001+08:00

This weekend's been lovely. The whole family packed up to Port Dickson for my dad's company dinner thing, and we stayed overnight in a water villa. It was amazing. We had our own (four foot-deep) private pool! We never actually went for a dip in it, but I spent the afternoon with my legs dangling in the water, studying Chemistry. (Boo you, trials.)

If I end up rich in the future, I will have my own private pool for sure.

Chemistry somehow didn't seem as bad as usual.

Sitting by a quiet pool on a beautiful day has to be the best way to study. Beats the cold library any day. Cool water lapping at your legs, the gurgling sound of the little frog fountain, lovely weather...

Pretty skies!

I think it's clear that Tumblr has gotten to me.

The dinner had a Hawaiian theme, so we all got leis as souvenirs. I copied the actions of a lady at another table and wore mine around my wrist to keep it from getting into my food. I looked a bit like I'd killed a parrot.

Aloha!

It was a nice break away from everything (kind of), like my last trip to PD was. Beaches are always so relaxing, whether or not you actually go on the beach. I think the cult needs to plan a beach getaway for after our A-levels, hee hee.

Anyway, it's back to real life now. College tomorrow, and a test the day after. Whatever. Life's good.

Yeah, this is a picture post because I don't have the time to do a proper written one. Sorry, guys. Have a Pug picture to sorta make up for it.

With a push of this button...world dominati-- IS THAT A TREAT YOU'RE HOLDING?

Guys: Tsk tsk

2011-10-03T21:30:00.001+08:00

I think I speak for most girls and even some guys when I say that guys can be incredibly clueless. Y'all are unobservant, even dense, to the point where it's a little bit insensitive. Someone's wearing a new dress? You don't notice. Your best friend gets a haircut? You don't notice. Your lab partner isn't here? "Eh, who's my lab partner again ah?"

(From funnyjunk)

Okay, maybe that last one was an exaggeration, but the point is, you guys just don't notice stuff! I'm not sure why your brains are wired as such, but it's both infuriating and hopelessly funny sometimes.

Today, I wore my new glasses to college and got asked by two different guys when I started wearing specs. (Fun fact: I have been wearing specs for eight years now and have done so every day to college save for one day when I thought I'd try contacts.) When we realised they were being serious, the cult and I just stared at them in open-mouthed disbelief.

Part of one conversation:

Joel: What are you-- *pauses* Hey... Is that... Are those new specs?
Shaun: Eh, when did you start wearing specs?
Joel: *falters*
Cult minus Trishi: *stares at Shaun*
Shaun: She didn't wear specs before this, right?
Joel: She didn't meh?
Me: I did. I've worn specs to college every single day.
Shaun: Yeah meh?!

Good grief. Five points to Joel for noticing, but two points for being easily swayed.

So long, purple glasses. You have served me well.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

Even better is the story of my dad, back when I was little. It was approaching Christmas, so my mother, my sister, and I took out the tree and spent the afternoon decorating it. It was supposed to have been a six-foot tree. Keep this in mind: a decorated, six-foot Christmas tree with blinking, multicoloured lights. Okay? Yeah, so my father came home from work, and we all stood in front of him beaming, waiting for him to notice the tree. The decorated, six-foot Christmas tree. With blinking, multicoloured lights.

He somehow sensed the expectancy in the air (bless him), but failed to notice the tree. He looked at my mother standing right in front of the tree, saw her affronted look, and ventured, "New haircut, is it? It's very nice."

WHY.

(From vi.sualize.us)

What about you? If you've got any stories of clueless guys, I'd love to hear them! They pretty much always make me laugh, and I'll be needing some of that, seeing as how the trials are approaching. Eek.

P.S. Guys, you can be clueless and dense and exasperating sometimes, but we girls still love you.

P.P.S. It must be the hormones.

Forever alone?

2011-10-01T17:03:00.001+08:00

A short little raw and unedited piece that I wrote on Friday, after the talk on boy-girl relationships in CF. Your thoughts?

Lol nope don't need that.

(From here.)

The more I learn about relationships and love, the more convinced I am that I will never experience either. I don’t see myself having that kind of bond with anyone, and I’m far too wary to give myself to someone like that. I’ve seen heartbreak too many times to ever want to make myself vulnerable to it, and for a long, long time, I have not believed in ‘forever’. It’s a stupid word, an impossible concept, and a humungous mistake of a promise to make.

I’ve seen how careless people can be in relationships – rebounds, two-week relationships, two-day relationships, I’ve seen them all. At least one side ends up getting hurt, always. I’m convinced that there really isn’t any such thing as an amiable break up. It may look it from the outside, but I’ve had to console miserable friends behind the scenes. Relationships seem to be nothing but a one-way ticket to doom, however much you enjoy the ride.

"WoOoOoO yeahhhhhhhh, bring it on!"

(From About.com)

I guess that’s what some people say, that the ride makes it all worth it. Does it really, though? Could anything really make up for your being absolutely miserable at the end of it for an indefinite amount of time? Would it help with the healing? Remember this: you wouldn’t be feeling that way if you hadn’t gotten into the relationship in the first place. Sure, you gained a lot of stuff along the way, but how valueable are those experiences?

Maybe I’m just saying this because I don’t know what I’m missing. Right now, I think I just want to remain blissfully ignorant for as long as I can. Relationships seem to be an addiction for some people – they crave affection and intimacy, having someone they can hold and call their own. I don’t. You can’t miss what you never had, I guess. The more I learn, the more I think I’ll never have that, and it makes me feel secure and sad at the same time.

What is love, really? Is love in the romantic sense really a neccessity in our lives?

Hmm.

(From Alzheimer's Reading Room)

A/N: Read my other post on relationships here!

Video editing

2011-09-27T20:37:00.001+08:00

I am, and always have been, a bit of ~~perfection~~ a perfectionist. When I really care about something, I will work and work and work on it till everything is exactly right and it is the way I see it in my head, refusing to budge or take a break until I am finished. (This used to be an issue when it came to cleanliness back when I was a kid. My parents began to suspect it was OCD.)

No, we can't start now. Move your rook a little bit more to the left.

(From bollywood.celebden)

You can see how this is a bit of problem for my health. No water, no food, no sleep till I finish whatever it is I'm working on. No going to the toilet. No showering. No fulfilling any sort of basic need, because I am a bad ass workoholic.

Thankfully, this doesn't happen often -- I'd probably collapse or die of exhaustion/thirst/hunger. Last night, though, was the end of a three-day stint of this mania; I'd been working on my group's video for our Malaysian Studies project.

It seems that in my group of friends, I am the unofficial video editor. I did the video for our Moral Studies project too, as well as a short bloopers clip on it. Both were fun -- though incredibly tiring -- to do. (The former was an eight-minute video!)

GPOY.

(From Paranormal Utopia)

I actually like video editing. It's a horribly daunting task at first, going through about an hour of footage to cram into a video only a few minutes long, but once you're through with that it gets a lot more fun. I find it helpful to sort all the raw footage into a few folders to get things organised; the clips that don't belong anywhere, you can delete. Then begins a whole lot of trimming, then arranging all the clips in order. Get your hands on some (unlicensed!) music, put in your subtitles (if necessary), and you're done!

Of course, it's much easier said than done. Timing is super important in trimming, inserting music and/or sound effects, and subtitles. It can take ages to get it right! But, you know, if you work hard enough, the end result will be worth your sleepless nights.

So I'm going to stop rambling and show you our Malaysian Studies video. Sorry in advance for the occasional pixelation -- Windows Movie Maker screwed the video up during publishing. If you think this is bad, you should see the one I have saved on my laptop. Stupid program. But anyway. Enjoy!

Memento mori

2011-09-25T02:10:00.002+08:00

I have got to be the stupidest person ever for doing this at one a.m., but I've been reading and watching videos on post-mortem photography. Daphne posted a link to an article on it on Facebook, and I clicked on it, intrigued. Maybe I really shouldn't have -- it is honestly the creepiest thing I've come across in a long time.

In the Victorian era, photos were crazy expensive (boo hoo, camwhores) and most people couldn't afford them. When a loved one died, people wanted a photo to remember them by -- hence the practice of post-mortem photography. Most of the time, the body was dressed up and made to look as if the person was merely asleep; if they didn't die a horrible death or have disfigurements and stuff, the effect was pretty convincing. It's creepy to look at these old photos of seemingly asleep people and know that what you're looking at are really dead bodies.

What was even more creepy was that sometimes people posed with the dead bodies. I'm not just talking about sitting beside their coffins, either -- they would sit beside the propped-up body, maybe sling an arm around it (0:33 of this video -- mute the freaky music!), stuff like that. Also, keep in mind that photography back then was not like photography today. The exposure time was super long, so you had to sit completely still for at least a few minutes in order to get your photo taken (which is why no one was smiling in photos those days). Imagine having to remain sitting with your arm around your sibling's dead body for five minutes. Brrr. I wonder how they managed to keep from breaking down completely before the camera.

A heartbreaking number of the photos are of children or babies. It makes sense if you think about it -- it was more likely that small, weak children would die of diseases than adults would, and parents would be willing to fork out the money to get photos of their deceased child. Some of the more well-done ones are so convincing that it really is hard to believe you're looking at a dead body.

I'm not having any photos in this post, because they're pretty darn morbid. However, if you think you wouldn't be too freaked out and would like to see them, click here for an article and photos, and here for a slide show.

Boy, am I gonna have fun sleeping tonight. The things you stumble across on the Internet...

Music Monday

2011-09-19T22:59:00.002+08:00

It came to my attention recently how sheltered I am from the current music charts. The only time I listen to the radio is when I'm in my dad's car on weekends (my mom's doesn't count since she pretty much only ever listens to Lite.fm). Whenever I listen to music, I use my iPod to listen to either playlists of my own composition or albums. I don't even watch TV anymore, so updates via MTV or Hitz.tv are out of the question.

Why watch TV when you have the Internet?

(From here.)

Something tells me I'm not missing much, but, hey, let's have a look at the top ten songs of today, according to Billboard.com:

1. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
2. Someone Like You - Adele
3. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
4. Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
5. Lighters - Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars
6. Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine
7. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
8. You and I - Lady Gaga
9. How to Love - Lil Wayne
10. Cheers (Drink to That) - Rihanna

Out of the ten, I've only heard four songs in their entirety. Out of those four songs, I only like two -- Party Rock Anthem (it's catchy!) and You and I. Three of the songs on there, I'd never even so much as heard of, and the seventh song annoys the crap out of me. The number one song, I finally listened to the whole thing the other day and don't see what's so great about it. Almost everyone I know who's heard it loves it, and I'm just like, "But why?"

Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. Then I remember I don't care.

Garfield ftw.

(From in.com.)

What do I listen to, then? Well, my current number one song was introduced to me by one Oliver Phelps on his Twitter. (You may remember my fangirling about him in this post.) I never quite got into Britpop, but this song is pretty dang awesome. I found an acoustic snippet of it too!

Since I'm posting YouTube videos, I might as well mention that I've discovered some original songs on YouTube that I really like. By Chance (You and I) by J.R. Aquino is major cheeseballs fluff, but it's sweet, and his voice is so smooth! There's a cute song by Kina Grannis that I like called Valentine; however, I prefer Victor Kim and Cathy Nguyen's raw-sounding cover of it. Oh, and this silly little Spam freestyle by Victor Kim, Ryan Higa (nigahiga), and Kevin Wu (kevjumba) never fails to make me smile.

Besides YouTube stuff, I also really, really like the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The entire album is incredibly epic, and I think it's amazing how a single tune was incorporated into all the songs with different tones and feelings. There are some jarring tracks like The Duel and Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance which aren't suitable for bedtime listening (I've seen the movie so many times I know which parts the tracks come in), but it's a lovely listen overall. My absolute favourite track is The Door In the Air. It starts off beautifully but gets a bit sad at the end, 'cause that's when the Pevensies leave Narnia.

Right after this track comes The Call by Regina Spektor, which is back-breakingly, heart-wrenchingly, wow-I-didn't-know-I-could-cry-this-much-ly sad if you're emotionally invested in the movie like I was/am. Every time I watch the movie, I fall into post-Narnia depression, and this song is what kicks me when I'm down; still, it's the only song I can bring myself to listen to when I'm in that state, because it's so relevant. Narniaaa.

It's a little weird how I associate a person or a memory with every old song I know. Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith makes me think of nursery, where I heard (and memorised) the song for the first time. I even remember watching the video, where this lady touches the screen of a TV on which Aerosmith is shown playing. Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 makes me think of Herman, who sang that at the first and only prefects camp I was a faci for. Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day brings me back to when I was thirteen and starting guitar lessons at Mahogany. Every song is a memory.

Look at all that clutter!

(From Evening Snacks.)

It'd be hard to do the same for new music nowadays, I imagine, since a lot of it sounds the same. I think I'm perfectly happy to stick to my iPod and be completely oblivious to the top 100 charts.

MCKL CF camp 2011: Unplug Intune

2011-09-12T02:23:00.004+08:00

The Mun Yee pose/dance.

(Photo credit: Lye Tong/Jimmy)

To get straight to the point, CF camp was awesome. I'd gone for it with no expectations whatsoever, and came back browner and truly amazed.

During the day, when we weren't having a workshop, we spent quite a lot of time in the sun. Now, if you know me at all, you'll know that I'm probably the least outdoorsy person ever. I'm the kind of teenager who's perfectly content to sit at their laptop all day, moving only to get water or food (I am basically a plant). However, I really enjoyed the station games that the Events team had planned. The games at each station were fun, if a little frustrating at times, and I didn't mind the least bit that we were running around drenched to the skin. Good times, good times.

Not my group, but this was the wettest game of all. Mr. Jared stood serenely off

to one side, hosing us down while singing Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

On the second day, we had time to go down to the sea. It'd been so long since I'd swum in the sea; I'd forgotten how easy it is to float, how the small waves push you back towards the shore, how your knees get little scrapes and scratches when you kneel underwater. I'm no hardcore fan of the ocean, but the beach and the sea are a novelty for a city kid like me.

Oh, we also went banana boating! I was a bit hesitant at first, but others had gone and returned safely, and the life jackets were so buoyant you couldn't sink if you tried, so I figured I'd give it a go. And I'm glad I went! It was a good experience at RM10 per head, and tumbling off the boat into the sea wasn't half as scary as I thought it'd be. In fact, it was probably the best part of the ride.

Shean Yen, Ying Ying, and me on the beach!

Apparently, only I was in the sun.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

On the second night (the last night!), we had a bonfire. And, of course, when you have a bonfire, you gotta have roasted marshmallows. When I said I'd never had them before, Ying Ying just screamed at me to go try them now, which I scrambled to do.

Oh my gosh. They are heaven in your mouth. We had Hershey's chocolate syrup to go with them, and it was the perfect combination, I swear. Forget fluffy -- roasted marshmallows are hard on the outside and a lovely gooey paste on the inside. Om nom nom.

Because there were extra marshmallows, I played Chubby Bunny. (For those who don't know, it's a game where you see how many marshmallows you can stuff into your mouth and still say 'chubby bunny'.) I got up to six. Not bad, if I do say so myself. On the down side, I was on a massive sugar high for the next half an hour or so.

Calvin and me after my sixth marshmallow.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

The rest of the night was spent standing and sitting around, talking and embarrassing Mr. Tee with pick up lines. He got back at us by telling some groan-worthy pau riddles, delivering each punchline in a Hongkee accent. Shean Yen, Joel, and I talked for a while -- an actual, real talk, not our usual, funny, sling-insults-at-one-another talks. Fun as those are, a serious talk every now and then is always nice.

Everything that night was just so nice. Sitting in the sand, watching the moon and the bonfire and the sea, feeling incredibly carefree... It hit me then that CF camp really was like a break from the real world, where I'd be worrying about something or other all the time. (They'd even confiscated our phones to make sure that we'd well and truly left the real world behind.) Even the qualifying tests, though only days away, refused to take seed in my brain and cloud it with anxiety.

That night on the beach, I felt the most peaceful I'd felt in a long time, and I honestly didn't want to leave. We had to, though, at about 1.30 a.m. Ying Ying, Shean Yen, and I stayed inside in the shaded area, talking for a bit (Joel went to bed, the pansy), before finally heading to our room at about 2.00 a.m.

An awesome shot of our bonfire.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

But, of course, CF camp wasn't all about having fun. We had workshops with Pastor Clement during the day and night, and the worship sessions were amazing. Somewhere along the line, it felt like the barrier of my own doubt and misgivings had finally been broken down, and I could actually feel God's presence in the room...and I know I wasn't the only one.

For far too long, I'd been struggling to really believe in God, that He exists; this camp has honestly strengthened my faith in God more than I would've dared hope. Right now, I am absolutely certain that God is real, and that He exists, and I don't care what the non-believers say because they don't know what I felt. There is a God. I believe.

Pastor Clement doing his thing.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

I think the best part of this camp wasn't the beach, nor was it the bonfire or even the fact that I was there with my friends -- it was the touching of the hearts of the non-Christians who were present. In my opinion, the best proof you could ever get in terms of God and the holy spirit is how they make non-believers sit up and pay attention to them.

There were at least three non-Christians at camp who all there for different reasons, but certainly out of their own free will. Take, for example, a friend of mine, who was more excited for camp than I was. She wasn't forced to come at all. She came for camp because she wanted to, not because she was persuaded to do it. She came, she listened to Pastor Clement's sermons, she watched us worship, and, somewhere along the line, she took a genuine interest in the goings-on around her. She wanted to know more, she wanted to understand things. And, even better, she wasn't the only one.

Group shot! Our group was called Love, or Agape in Greek.

(Photo credit: Lye Tong)

From that aspect (as well as most others), I would say that CF camp was a great success. Reaching out to non-Christians is always a really hard thing to do, since Christianity has a pretty bad rep with a few things (homosexuality, anyone?). But there're many understandings and teachings within the religion itself, which is the beauty of it, I guess -- there's bound to be something for everyone. There are so many denominations that I don't come close to knowing them all, what more their beliefs and practices. Still, we all do worship the same God, our uniting factor.

Moving on. I have to say, major kudos to the Events team for organising this whole thing. I know it was a lot of work (I don't think I'd ever seen the perpetually hyper Mun Yee tired!) and planning beforehand, and yet, they were cheerful all throughout. Super awesome job, guys!

Also, thankyou to the lecturers who came: Mr. Yoshua, Ms. Rachel, Mr. Tee, Mr. Jared, and Mr. Denis. Pretty sure MCKL has the best lecturers ever.

Yep. L-R: Ms. Rachel, Mr. Jared, Mr. Yoshua, Mr. Tee.

(Photo credit: Jimmy)

Man, just going through the photos is making me miss camp already. I wonder if I'll be able to go for next year's...

Why I haven't been blogging

2011-09-11T18:30:00.000+08:00

CF camp is over, qualifying tests (QTs) are over, it's the weekend... Technically, I shouldn't have an excuse not to blog, right? Ah, but you see, I do. In fact, I have not one, but two excuses. Here they are:

1. That new Facebook game that everyone is playing.

Farmville is so yesterday; make way for Sims Social! I've always been a fan of Sims (maybe it's because I get to make people do whatever I want them to, whenever I want them to), so when I saw it was a new game on Facebook, I naturally wanted to give it a try. Thankfully, I managed to hold out till after QTs -- this game is stupidly addictive. You could call it mindless (which, yeah, it is), but if you have some sort of game strategy, there're little goals to work towards and you...move up the social ladder in a virtual world. Okay, yeah, fine, it is mindless. But it's fun!

2. DSDJBSJCBDKJVDVNDVDGK!!!

I finally got my welcome email last night and ran around the house just screaming. I basically blitzed through the chapters, up to the part where I bought my wand and got Sorted. Both are these mini personality quiz things, and I was ridiculously nervous for each, though more so for the Sorting. What if I got Slytherin? What if I got Hufflepuff? After seeing countless lectures being reblogged on Tumblr, I'm aware that each house has its own merits, but I wanted Ravenclaw really, really badly. I've always thought it's the best house there is.

I got into Ravenclaw. WOOOOOOO! I swear I was literally dancing in my seat after the Sorting. After sobering up a bit, I headed on over to the Great Hall to check out the stats. It's interesting to note that the houses, in order from highest to lowest number of students, are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. That's close to a million people being put into groups based on the Pottermore Sorting system, their very own personality quiz. Seeing as how the Earth's population consists of more than six billion people, a sample size of almost a million Potterheads is hardly enough to draw conclusions about people in general.

Still, it's interesting to think about. Imagine if you took one whole group of people from one country, got them Sorted, and recorded their houses. What would the results say about the people there? Would a place with nicer citizens have more Hufflepuffs? Would a place with highly ambitious citizens have more Slytherins? (Hey, there, Singapore!) You know. It just makes you wonder.

I doubt the world's population would be evenly divided into

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff quarters.

(From the NSSDC photo gallery.)

So those are the reasons I haven't yet blogged about CF camp. Off I go now to work on it in a new post, because I realised I haven't blogged in a week and I actually do miss it. Stay tuned!

CF Camp!

2011-09-04T00:56:00.000+08:00

In a few hours, I'll be heading to college and then Port Dickson for my first ever CF camp. (I haven't even started packing yet, har har har.) People are usually shocked to hear that Samad's CF never had camps. Are they that common?

Anyway, I'll be gone for three days. No Internet -- just the sun, wind, sand, waves, people, and God. I'm optimistic that it'll be a good experience. I will probably blog about it after qualifying tests, which are right after camp. Doomed to fail? I hope not.

I'll see you guys when I see you. Here's hoping I don't come home sunburnt!

Tumblr and Harry Potter

2011-08-30T03:34:00.002+08:00

While pretty much every Potterhead on Tumblr rejoices, I am still sulkily awaiting my Pottermore email. Sharona was the first of my friends to get in, and she was ecstatic to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Trisher and Megan have been sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively, and I sit and wait and hope, hope, hope I join Sharona in Ravenclaw. People have gotten their wands and started classes and are earning house points, and all I can do is wait, sulk, and seek solace on Tumblr.

Ever since the last HP movie, there's been a steady stream of gifs, photosets, and quotes on the site. A lot of the serious ones are about Snape, who (SPOILER!) was really the good guy all along, and Fred, who (SPOILER AGAIN!) died. However, most of them are humorous, light-hearted, and incredibly funny.

Click on the pictures/gifs for links!

The bottom picture is from another movie Daniel Radcliffe was in.

However, my absolute favourites are the HP/Mean Girls crossover ones. Have you ever watched Mean Girls? No? Are you a teenager? Yes? You need to watch Mean Girls.

I don't want to spam my own blog, so this, this, and this are a few more of my favourites. Harry Potter and Mean Girls ftw.

Another thing that's plastered all over Tumblr are OTPs. OTP stands for 'one true pairing', which is basically the romantic relationship (whether existent or not) between two characters that you're in support of. The two most popular pairings from what I've observed are Dramione (Draco/Hermione) and Drarry (Draco/Harry). Both of them seem canon ('realistic') enough, but I'm not quite in support of either one of them. In fact, I don't agree with Hermione being paired with Ron, either. I see her with one of the twins, Fred or George. Her brilliance and practical mind would sort of tamp down their over-the-top exuberance, and they could convince her to let go a little and have some fun. My OTP is either Fremione or Geomione, then, I guess. Probably Geomione, since Fred is, well, you know... Dead.

On to less depressing things!

Sometimes, I feel like I'm the only person in the world who doesn't find neither Tom Felton or Rupert Grint attractive. I suppose I can understand why people like Tom, but what exactly is appealing about Rupert?

One of the better pics I've seen of him.

He just looks really blur and dopey all the time; the fact that you can't really see his eyebrows nor eyelashes doesn't exactly help matters. I have friends who are all, "Omg, Rupert Grint is so sexy!" and I honestly just don't see it.

You know whom I like seeing, though?

Oliver Phelps.

At one of the premiers for HP 7.2

There was a point in time when people were obsessing over the Phelps twins, but I ignored it; I'd seen the movies, and they looked awful with their orange hair. (This was probably after the fourth film, when they sported those awful long haircuts.) Y'know, now that I think about it, the only movies where they didn't look weird were the last two. Well, anyway, time went on, my hormones went out of wack, I came across pictures of the twins with their natural hair colour... Right now, I am convinced that Oliver has the best smile in the entire world.

Seeing quadruple.
(You want to be looking at
the top left one, though.)

Now, most of you are probably wondering why or how in the world I'm fangirling over one half of a pair of identical twins. See, they're not quite 'identical down to the last freckle' as Fred and George were. Oliver, older by thirteen minutes, has a narrower face than James, and his eyes are less wide-set. They also appear to be slanted downwards more, making him look somewhat older and sadder. (How appropriate, then, that he was cast to play George -- the loss of one's twin would make anyone sad.) He also has two moles on the right side of his neck, which you can just see here:

That's Oliver on the left and James on the right.

I think more people are into James, the 'better-looking twin', but whatever. Oliver all the way for me!

So this was my waiting-for-Pottermore and Oliver Phelps appreciation post. I'm gonna go check my inbox for the millionth time tonight now. In the meantime...

Ineligible to donate blood?

2011-08-20T23:59:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, the Leo Club of MCKL and representatives from University Malaya had a blood donation drive at our college. From days before the event right up to the point where I stood uncertainly outside the hall, this niggling indecision wouldn't leave me alone -- to donate or not to donate?

Yes? No? Maybe?

(From this blog.)

I bet all of you are just going, "Donate lah! What's so hard?" in your heads right now. Well, yeah, that's what I told myself too. But I'd wanted to do it last year at the blood donation drive at my school, and my mother and grandad had freaked out and said no. Being seventeen at the time, I'd needed parental consent and couldn't have gone ahead with it. Now, though, I'm eighteen -- I can legally do anything I want with my body. (Like, say, donate blood. Or get a tattoo. Heh heh.)

Anyway, just to be safe, I called el madre. To summarise the two calls (she'd been driving the first time), it was about five minutes of 'MAKE SURE THEY USE FRESH NEEDLES THEY HAVE TO OPEN IT IN FRONT OF YOU IF THEY DON'T THEN YOU DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR BLOOD' over and over again. Okay, mother. Message received. Got it.

And so, with her (sort of) blessing, I proceeded to fill in the donors' form. Nothing on there was an issue, and I was getting more and more psyched to donate some blood. However, that annoying niggling feeling was back, and it wasn't because I was chickening out.

Wait a sec...

(From ClipartHeaven.com.)

There was a sign outside stating the requirements you had to meet in order to donate blood, and I didn't fulfil all of them. It was just one seemingly insignificant one, one that I didn't think mattered since it wouldn't affect the condition of my blood, but the fact was, I didn't fulfil it; it said that all donors were supposed to have had at least five hours of sleep the night before, and I'd only had four. (Because, you know, I am a vampire.) As petty as it seemed, I felt it best to check with the doctor present before getting myself into some undesirable situation.

Long story short, that one hour of not sleeping caused me to be ineligible to donate blood. From all other aspects, it would've been perfectly fine, but because I hadn't gotten a minimum of five hours of sleep the night before, I wasn't allowed to. This may or may not be a wake up call (har har) of sorts telling me to sleep more.

I am still sadfacing over this, just so you know. Donating blood is something I've wanted to do for quite some time now. The way I see it, it's a good thing to do, and it's not like I'd miss the blood I'd be donating -- all the 'missing' blood is replenished by your body within 48 hours after donation. Besides, the production of new red blood cells to replace the lost ones is supposed to be good for you. And, of course, nothing beats that 'I could be saving a life by doing this' feeling, right?

(From this blog.)

If you plan to donate blood sometime in the future (do it!), here are some of the requirements you'll have to meet, according to Universiti Malaya:

Must be aged 18 and above.
Must weigh more than 48kg.
Must have eaten before donation.
Must have had five hours of sleep the night before. (Sigh.)
Must be healthy.
Cannot be on antibiotics/medication.
For females, cannot be on your period or pregnant.
Cannot be a carrier of any disease.
Cannot have had sex with numerous partners.
For males, cannot have had same-gender sex.
Cannot have undergone surgery in the past six months.
Cannot have an STD.

There were a few others as well, but I can't remember them all. This should be most of it, though.

Five hours of sleep. A minimum of five hours of sleep. (The doctor said it was the absolute minimum; if not, I wouldn't have been able to stand, even, after donating blood.) If they have a blood donation drive at college again, I'll make sure I get freaking seven hours of sleep. Or six. Or five. At least five, anyway.

I feel you, Charlie Brown.

(From Nothing Will Be Alright.)

Sigh. Next time. Next time.

Edexcel results day

2011-08-18T19:29:00.002+08:00

As a Malaysian college student, a product of our country's constantly-changing education system, I've been for my fair share of results days. My first was at age twelve to collect my UPSR results, and that was pretty nerve-wracking. Next came PMR results day at age fifteen, during which I was a complete and utter mess. In March this year, I collected my SPM results; there was far less drama than usual, even though I hadn't gotten the results I'd wanted/expected. Nevertheless, I was happy and occupied with college, and moved on fairly quickly.

Obviously.

Photo credit: Dhama

I'm accustomed to having years-long intervals between results days, but things were different this year -- today was the Edexcel June/July papers results day...a mere five months after that of SPM's. (Today was also Slap Someone Shorter Than You Day, but everyone at college was too preoccupied with their results to slap me black and blue.)

All rumours that the results would be out by 2.00 p.m. were smothered by Ms. Betsy: "We will only entertain you at nine." (Thanks for the heads up, Yaggy!) Unfortunately, we had a two-hour Math class from 8.00 to 10.00 a.m. Now, I know 'math is a wonderful thing' and all that, but I'd much rather skip it to get my results...which we did when Ms. Er gave us a, uh, 'five-minute break' at 9.00 a.m. (Sorry, Ms. Er!)

Math is a wonderful thing:

Waiting in line is never fun, but it borders on agonising when you're waiting for something important. Everyone's collective nerves made the air shiver and vibrate, turning the tips of my fingers cold; it was a while before I realised that it was I who was shivering and vibrating, not the air. One by one, college mates exited the office, some with tentative smiles, some on the verge of tears, some with unreadable expressions.

I started to think back on how awful the Chem paper was, how I messed up one whole question in C2, how I should've studied harder for pretty much everything... Horrible thoughts plague you when you're anxious like that.

Fret fret fret fret fret.

(From this blog.)

Collecting results itself was a relatively quick and painless process, once my part of the long queue reached the glass doors of the office. I located my name on the list, signed, and took my results slip from this lady who was giving me this major stinkeye. The way she was staring at me, I was so sure I'd done super badly and she was displeased with me for bringing shame to the college name or something. With growing dread in my stomach, I took my slip and hightailed it out of there.

Stupid lady. I'd gotten all As.

What was that for, lady?!

(From roadbikereview.com.)

I felt nothing but relief and gratitude. There was no pride, no sense of satisfaction at all. I don't remember what happened directly after it hit me that I hadn't done super badly and hadn't brought shame to the college name after all, but I do remember slumping against the wall and whispering a prayer of thanks. (God is good.) I also remember saying something to Shean Yen and talking to Dom, but I can't for the life of me recall what I said. I was just pretty dazed, I guess. Relieved.

That wasn't the case for one of my friends, though. He'd gotten straight As as well, but really wasn't happy with the marks of one of his papers. The way he looked when we asked him how he did, you'd have thought he'd gotten straight Bs. I guess it's just a reminder about how everything's relative. A 103/120 might make him want to retake the paper, but it could be another candidate's dream mark. Good, bad, okay, straight As, straight Bs -- it's all relative.

It's all relative...like in a bell curve.

(From this blog.)

A college mate posted this on Facebook:
Our results might stop us from where WE WANT to go, BUT, it can never stop where GOD WANTS us to go

Just something to keep in mind, I guess.

To everyone who got the results they wanted: Congratulations! Keep doing your thing for the next round(s) of exams!

To everyone who didn't: Things happen for a reason. Pick yourself up and do better next time, because you can. You can do this sheet.

Real troopers

2011-08-13T18:04:00.003+08:00

Last night, I was a crying mess. My eyes were mere slits, I couldn't breathe through my nose, my sinuses were clogged beyond belief, and my head hurt. There was a little pile of used tissues as well as an entire box of unused ones beside my laptop. I still have weird eyes the day after.

Why, you ask? Why?

In a grandiose manifestation of my stupidity, I subjected myself to four Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones videos, almost back-to-back. Haven't heard of them? Here they are, for your viewing pleasure. Prepare tissues, if you're the crying type. (If you want a recap of everything, watch the fourth. If you want to watch the best one, watch the first.)

I've always had a soft spot for soldiers. (World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles was horrible for me.) For the longest time, I wondered why anyone would voluntarily sign up for a job that required you to:

a) kill other humans,

b) leave your family, friends, pets, and home

c) risk death or injury every single day

among other things. Then, a while back, I heard that some soldiers were recruited against their will. They didn't want to be soldiers and certainly didn't choose to be; but when you're a physically fit man whose country needs him, well, I suppose you're just going to have to serve. And that sucks.

Imagine, please, this scenario:
You are an eighteen-year-old boy, walking the increasingly fine line between teenager and adult. You are (relatively) young and free, with your whole life ahead of you filled with endless possibilities. Your life isn't quite charmed, but you are most certainly blessed in the sense that you have a family, a roof above your head, and enough to eat (which, since you're a boy, is a lot).

Life's good.

(From Super Stock.)

You just got done with your secondary education and are looking forward to either getting a job or going to university. In the midst of making applications, it's announced in the news that your country is somehow getting involved in some sort of war or attack. Troops are needed to be deployed to some faraway land you've maybe never heard of. Every day, you keep your fingers crossed and pray, pray, pray that you won't be called.

You are.

Before you know it, you're somewhere hot and sunny, but not in a good way -- here, everyone is perpetually bathed in sweat, and there are very opportunities to clean yourselves. Life is hard. You have to move around lugging your essentials and a gun, something you never would've thought you'd so much as lay a finger on. Right now, you're more than laying a finger on it -- you're depending on it to save your life.

The bare essentials.

(From Port Wallpaper.)

When faced with an enemy, it's either him or you. You have morals and a conscience, yes, and both of them are screaming at you as you raise your gun, but you think of home and family and friends, and you pull the trigger. Everything happens so lightning-fast, and then, there, you've taken a life. Just like that.

You see the bodies of fallen comrades and mourn. They were friends, maybe; senior ranking officers who were alive and issuing commands mere hours ago. They were living, breathing hard, a vein in their neck prominent with the stress and pressure they were under as they rallied their troops for battle. All that, gone. They had wives, parents, friends, maybe kids. They weren't gone. What was going to happen to them?

Then you think of your own parents and friends and life in general, and how far away everything you ever knew seems to be. Maybe you've left that life and started this new one, this terrible one. Maybe you can never go back to that life. Maybe you'll fall in battle in this life and start yet another life, or go to heaven, or sleep forever. You think of home again, and the backs of your eyes prickle. There is, you realise, a high possibility that you'll never get to return.

Tears.

(From Mocha Dad.)

And that's why those videos get to me so much. There's the unspoken, horrible thought in the minds of the troops and their loved ones that they might not ever come home, so when they do, it's like a dream come true. Especially for the kids, oh man; seeing their joy at having their daddies home again is just incredible. I don't know anyone who's managed to watch the first video up there without crying, even a little.

If you did, you're a heartless prick.

Pronunciation

2011-08-07T15:50:00.003+08:00

Have you ever been in this situation? You're having a conversation with a friend and things are going dandy. You're both chatting and laughing, having a good time. Words flow freely both ways and everything's fine...until your friend pronounces a word weirdly, and you just stop for a moment and tell yourself it's rude to stare.

Wtf?

(From Well Read Hostess.)

I don't even mean mispronouncing a word, because that would imply that they didn't know how the word was pronounced. It's not incorrect, but it's just off somehow. There are a few everyday words that are subjected to this, often by people who aren't even aware that they're saying it weird until someone points it out. And in most cases, so many people say it that way that it's considered normal. Which it most certainly isn't.

Take, for example, the word 'birthday'. You'd think this would be a relatively easy word to pronounce (as compared to, I don't know, 'aqueous'), but, no. If you listen carefully, you'll find that quite a few people pronounce 'birthday' as 'birfday'. Most of the 'culprits' are predominantly Chinese-speaking Chinese, of which MCKL has its fair share; Dhama and I can't help but giggle a bit whenever someone's ~~birf~~ birthday is being celebrated. "HAAA-PPY BIRFFF-DAYYY TOOO YOUUU!"

It looks like a burger...but it's really a cake. CAKE-CEPTION!

(From Supersized Meals.)

Similarly, there are people who pronounce 'earth' as 'earf'. It sounds like a grunt more than a word, really. Some examples: "What on earf are you doing?!" "Where am I? I'm somewhere on this earf." "You're the lamest person on earf!"

Another winner is any word at all beginning with the letter 'v'. You'd be surprised at the number of people who can't make the 'v' sound! It comes out as a 'w' sound instead, so that 'vase' becomes 'wase', 'Vicks' becomes 'Wicks', and 'water vapour' becomes 'water wapour'. No one ever seems to notice this, but it really gets to me. 'Wacuum' in particular.

Wee For Wendetta, anyone?

(From philipcoppens.com.)

And finally, since I told myself I'd go through my Chem notes today, let's include one more: bromine. Pronounced 'bro-meen', it's been subjected to a variety of pronunciations, particularly by people who have trouble with the 'r' sound. I've heard 'bro-main', 'bwo-meen', and even 'bo-meen'. My very own Chem lecturer says 'bloh-min'. It's hard to keep a straight face in class sometimes.

The point of this post isn't to ridicule people who pronounce things weird; it's simply my pointing out something in everyday life that most people don't seem to notice. I most definitely do not intend to offend anyone, not even Joel, who inspired this post. If I did hurt your feelings, though...

I'm wery sorry.

(From Sharenator.)

Edit:

I was on Tumblr and found this amusing pic. Say all three aloud! While you yourself may not pronounce them that way, you're bound to know people who do.

(From here.)

Midsummer Masquerade and Harry Potter 7.2

2011-08-01T00:10:00.001+08:00

It seems I update my blog on a weekly basis nowadays. I shouldn't even be posting now, seeing as how I have two tests to cram for tomorrow and the past week has been birthday celebration after birthday celebration. (Why are there so many July babies?!) Still, an update is in order, so I shall try to provide you with something substantial in as short a time as possible.

Midsummer Masquerade

On Friday night, students and staff of MCKL got dressed up to get down at Midsummer Masquerade. Some of the (mostly rented) costumes were pretty awesome -- we had Barney, V (from V For Vendetta), the Mad Hatter, Mario, Spiderman, the Joker, Roman emperors, a SWAT team guy, and Phua Chu Kang. SWAT team guy (Daniel) and Barney (Shen Wen) won best-dressed male and female respectively. Congrats!

Barney is a dinosaur from our imagination!

Shen Wen and Kelvin doing their thang on stage.

(Photo credit: Hancock's Facebook)

It even has his name on the name tag!

(Photo credit: Hancock's Facebook.)

And in case you wanted to know what I went as, I was supposed to be a gypsy. Unfortunately, the general perception was 'pirate'. Sigh. Oh well. Also, I was one of the few girls not in heels, and I am already one of the shortest when everyone's at normal height. I felt more like a midget than a gypsy, to be honest.

Me, Ying Ying, Trishi, Shean Yen.

(Photo credit: MethodistCollege StudentAlumni's Facebook.)

While nowhere near as good as OB, it was a good night nonetheless. MCKL ftw!

Harry Potter 7.2

I finally watched the last Harry Potter movie yesterday. While a bit rushed, I thought it was good. Something I noticed was that, at times, implications were made in a way such that people who hadn't read the book wouldn't have understood what was going on. This was proven true when my mother and Ying Ying told me they basically wouldn't shut up asking questions throughout the whole movie. (I pity very much the people they watched the movie with.)

It's impossible to continue without spoilers, so click below if you're interested.

The movie was one long sobfest for me. On and off throughout the battle of Hogwarts, pretty much every time Snape appeared, when Fred was shown dead, when Lupin and Tonks were shown dead, during Snape's memories in the Pensieve, when Harry found out he had to die, when he summoned his parents and Sirius and Lupin...I cried. When Nagini attacked Snape, I sobbed.

OH, SNAPE.

(From Collider.)

I watched it with Iis and Timothy. Poor Timothy was sitting uncomfortably between two crying girls, helping us pass tissues back and forth.

"Look... At... Me..."

There were lines I could quote from my head as they were being said onscreen. I am very pleased that they didn't omit Mrs. Weasley's "Not my daughter, you bitch!" However, it was uttered with much less venom than I'd expected. Oh well, at least it was there.

I'm rather miffed that they downplayed Fred's death so much. Plus they cut out Percy's return, which was a major event in the book! Where is the Weasley love?!

Weasley twins appreciation picture!

(From Fanpop.)

Anyway, the movie was good. Rushed, but good. I want to watch it again...with a whole box of tissues this time.

MTV World Stage 2011

2011-07-25T23:06:00.004+08:00

(From last.fm.)

It's going to be hard to put my experience into words, but I'm going to try my very best anyway. (Edit: This entry is crazy long. I put some Mars stuff behind a cut, but there's still a lot on them. If you aren't interested in every single song they played, I suggest you just scroll down and skip all that.) Last night was definitely one of the best of my life, and I absolutely no regrets going despite the initial frustration before the event.

Let me very quickly break it down. World Stage this year was held at i-City in Shah Alam, a faraway, Godforsaken place to a PJ kid like me. Transport was one issue; another one was getting someone to go with me. (I'd won a pair of tickets from the World Stage site by staying up till four a.m. almost every night of the first two weeks of my sem break, clicking and clicking on those damned crates.) It took a lot of asking a lot of people, but finally, Bob agreed to come. Our worries of being stranded at the closed KTM station on the way back were solved by my dear father, who drove all the way there just to pick us up.

Getting a taxi after the concert would've been insane.

Look at that line!

All that had been so frustrating. Coupled with the fact that I'd been a PMS-induced monster, I had given serious thought to just not going for the stupid thing, never mind the fact that I'd been waiting for years to watch Mars live. Thankfully, I didn't let my ~~heart~~ hormones rule my head, and I am so, so very glad.

So, the concert, in order:

Pop Shuvit

Old Skool Rocka.

I've watched them before a few years back; they opened for My Chemical Romance when they came here in '07 (I still refer to that as my Best Day Ever). Pop Shuvit is generally good live. They opened with one of their better-known singles, Old Skool Rocka, and did a pretty good job of getting the crowd hyped up. No one in my vicinity knew the lyrics, though, so we were basically just yelling "OLD SKOOL ROCKA!" every time that part came in.

They played Oh! Sizuka as well. Moots said it was about a girl they met in Japan, and I had to laugh at myself. See, previously, I'd thought it was Oh, Shizuka! and thought it was, you know, a swear word. Whoops!

The stage!

Marabahaya was their closing song, and that's when things started to get messy. It's an awesome song for sure, rocking and catchy, and it sent excitement levels skyrocketing. This bunch of guys started moshing, which was, you know, fine, since it was a rock concert and all. But there were kids there, little kids eager to see BEAST, who were getting crushed by these big guys. At one point, I actually held this girl to me (she said she was fifteen, but looked ten) for fear that she'd lose her balance like she'd been threatening to and get trampled on.

Things got a little insane, and people started getting mad and shoving back and stuff. Very messy. I was glad when the song ended.

I have nothing against moshing, but it's not for me. Moshers should stick to themselves and lay off other people, especially people who look unhappy and are already trying to move away. Might I add that those assholes (sorry, but you should've been there) took advantage of the wide berth they were given to push their way further up front.

BEAST

We had to wait for it to be dark enough for them to come out

so that the pretty lights of their set wouldn't have been wasted.

This is terrible and embarrassing, but I actually thought one of their songs, Shock, was, well, not bad. Catchy. Not something I'd usually listen to, but their set wasn't as agonising as I'd imagined it to be. I think BEAST is one of the less effeminate Korean boybands, which was why the food I'd eaten stayed in my stomach and I found myself nodding along to some of their songs.

They were probably lip-syncing (nobody can dance and sing like that without getting breathless), but it was entertaining nonetheless. I sort of get now why all the K-pop fangirls go on about how hot they are, but they pretty much all look the same to me, the only difference being their hair colour. Listening to Koreans speaking English is always cute, though.

Neon Trees

I was having way too much fun during their set to take pictures.

So here are actual neon trees in i-City.

You probably know by now that I went there solely for Mars. However, I think it was Neon Trees, not them, who put on the best show. Simply put, they were incredible. It came as a surprise to me, them being relatively new to the music scene and all, but they really, really know how to put on a show. Tyler is an amazing frontman, charismatic and energetic; he ran around, danced, told tales, and, of course, sang, hitting pretty much every note.

I only knew two of their songs, but it didn't matter. People were jumping, dancing, doing their thing all throughout, and generally just having fun, they were so good. Nearing the end of their set, the anticipation that had been building up since they'd stepped on stage culminated in us screaming "A-ni-mal! A-ni-mal!" They obliged, closing with the song, and that was just...possibly the most fun song that night. Everybody went crazy, and it was insane in the best way ever. Thankyou, Neon Trees, for an amazing set. I hope you guys go places.

30 Seconds to Mars

The stage, ready and waiting. Darn overhead camera blocked mine.

This was it. The moment I'd been waiting for for five years. Possibly I'm only saying this because I'm such a big fan, but I thought it was amazing.

They took forever to come out, and when they finally did, the place exploded. Without wasting any time, they launched into A Beautiful Lie (which somewhat disappointed me, since I'd been hoping for them to open with Vox Populi, hee.) For the first two songs or so, Jared's voice was not on par. What was worse was whoever was in charge of the sound system must've messed up, because Jared's voice was drowned out by the music for quite a bit of their set. However, he came out to do two acoustic numbers later, and those were lovely.

I was actually pretty surprised at their setlist -- songs with somewhat controversial lyrics that I thought they'd have to avoid were played, with flashing lyrics as their backdrop too. However, the screen went blank for 'Jesus' in Search and Destroy: I'm no Jesus, and neither are you, my friend. That song's been stuck in my head the whole day. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but hearing songs live sometimes changes the song completely for me, and I hear it in a completely new way. It's a little bit incredible.

Jared hyping the crowd up. Can you just spot Shannon?

This is War + 100 Suns and Vox Populi were obviously nothing short of epic. "Tonight, we're gonna jump so high, we're gonna reach the stars." Everyone was singing along, and I honestly don't have the words to describe it. The euphoria, feeling you were invincible, seeing other people who knew and were putting up the believers' hand signs... Some of it's a blur now that I'm entering post-concert depression mode. I hate the feeling of running around trying to catch tiny bits of memories before they slip past; it's like trying to hold water with cupped hands. Sigh.

This next part, I remember, though. Shannon and Tomo left the stage and the tech guys brought out Jared's acoustic guitar. That's when I got excited, because it meant we could actually finally really hear Jared's voice. I'd never heard the acoustic version of Hurricane before, and it was pretty damn awesome. Beautiful, even. It was the first time that night we got to properly hear his voice, and it was incredible. You can imagine the screams everytime he sang "Do you really want? Do you really want me?" (Unfortunately, the next line was 'Do you really want me dead?')

"Do you really want me dead

Or alive to torture for my sins?"

Once he was done, I was hoping with all my heart that he would do The Kill. A few years ago, I fell in love with this video. The Kill acoustic is so, so, so good. I waited patiently while he pulled a couple of people onstage with him for the next song; being so far back, I had no delusions of Jared singling me out in the crowd. Once all that excitement was over, he asked if we had any requests. We were united in our decision: "The Kill! The Kill! The Kill!" The unfortunate thing was, with our collective accent, it sounded like we were screaming "Degil! Degil! Degil!" which is 'stubborn' in Malay. Never mind, Jared wouldn't have understood us.

He said he wanted to do The Kill and Alibi ("Have you heard of a song called The Kill? What about Alibi? No?"), but they were running short on time, or something to that effect. Alibi would've been awesome as well, but we screamed with increased fervour nonetheless. He started playing The Kill, and we erupted. I think he originally intended to do Alibi, because songs from their previous album had been played at the start of the set, and he had to stop once to remember the chords, telling us to sing along as loud as we could. I wish it would've been just him up on stage alone, because it could've been a pretty intense, beautiful moment. It was still really good, though. (I'm watching YouTube videos of it now from people who were closer to the speakers. Oh dear Lord, it was amazing.) I still am having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I got to watch The Kill, acoustic, being performed live. Thankyou, God!

Beautiful.

As Jared handed the acoustic guitar back to the tech guy, he accidentally spoke into his mic: "Closer next?" I freaked. Closer to the Edge is one of my favourite songs off their new album, and a song I have always wanted to see live. It was perfect. Perfect. The crowd got just as frenzied as we did during Neon Trees' Animal, but this was a whole different kind of frenzy. I just went crazy, because I thought it was the last song. Seeing one of your favourite bands live is an almost religious experience, I swear.

They thanked us and left the stage then, but the crowd wasn't happy. "Kings and Queens! Kings and Queens! Kings and Queens!" Nothing happened. Someone had the bright idea of singing the "Whoa-oh-oh" part that precedes the first verse and continues throughout the song, and we all started singing along. It was pretty epic. We continued doing that until they came back out, then we started screaming again.

Kings and Queens.

Jared pulled even more people onstage, a pretty big group, to party with them. Because of all the excitement (not to mention extra space in the zone in front of us), people in our zone started jumping the barrier. Bob and I were on the verge of doing the same thing, until two things happened:

Security showed up.
I realised that, standing the at the barrier of our zone, we had a better view than being at the back of the crowd of the zone in front, because the floor of our zone was slightly elevated.

We stayed where we were, and I'm glad we did. I held on to the barrier for dear life and had the best view of the stage -- I could see everything, and no one was blocking me! I even got a few shots with my crappy phone camera! They played Kings and Queens as their encore performance, ended spectacularly, Shannon tossed the crowd his drumsticks, and they left.

The end.

So ended one of the best nights of my life.

Right now, as I've said earlier, I struggling a little with post-concert depression. YouTube videos are helping with that, bless the souls who managed to smuggle in their cameras. Watching these videos, I realise Mars sounded better than what I could hear with the screaming crowd all around me. I'm so glad I went. I regret nothing. It was an incredible night.

That is all.

For more stuff on Mars:

Hold on, I need to fangirl for a bit.

Tomo, Shannon, and an unwanted visitor.

(From this Tumblr.)

I feel like I need to talk about Shannon and Tomo -- especially Tomo -- before going on forever about Jared. Shannon did a fantastic job that night on the drums, keeping time and pummelling his way through songs effortlessly. There were two drum enthusiasts beside me as the Mars tech were setting up their instruments, and from what I overheard, he had an impressive drum set "with six toms", though I'm not sure how many there're really supposed to be (much fewer, I'm guessing). At the end of their set, he tossed two pairs of drumsticks to the crowd, one by one, and gave us a good-natured wave before heading offstage.

Tomo is easily the most underrated member of the band. Jared gets so much attention because of his (amazingly) good looks and frontman status, Shannon gets attention for his prowess at the drums and for being Jared's brother, and Tomo? Tomo seems to be to most people just that other guy in the band. Did anyone else notice that he played three different instruments last night -- guitar, keyboards, and that little snare drum off to the side? Does anyone else know he'd been trained to be a concert violinist from the age of three till he got introduced to heavy metal at age nineteen? (He still does play the violin. Here's proof. Old proof is still proof.)

30 Seconds to Mars is, right now, the three of them. Three, not one.

(From this Tumblr.)

I'm a Jared fangirl myself, but I'm just saying. To all those people at the concert chanting "Ja-red! Ja-red! Ja-red!": Mars is not a one-man-show. Come on, now.

Okay, real fangirling time.

Jared Leto. He came onstage in sunglasses and a sort of shroud (someone said he looked like a Jedi, haha!), both of which he shed after the first song or so. I was the first person in my area to start screaming when he removed him sunglasses. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, he has the most beautiful eyes ever, I swear! All those photos of him, they aren't Photoshopped or anything -- his eyes really are that blue! He's almost forty, but dear Lord, he doesn't look it.

Not my favourite picture of him, but look at his eyes!

Another one from last night here.

(Both pictures from tianchad.com.)

I can now say he is the most beautiful man I have ever laid eyes on. Augh.

Sorry to end the post on a somewhat bimbotic note, but I couldn't seem to fit that in anywhere else. Just so you know, I started listening to Mars before I knew what any of them looked like. So there.

Blogs and words

2011-07-24T02:58:00.000+08:00

I love reading people's blogs. Real blogs, I mean -- blogs with actual content and thoughts and writing, not those picture-filled ones that take forever to load. It's nice to see what goes on in people's heads and read about how they feel about certain things, because it sort of gives you an idea of what they're like, even if you've never met them before.

Connection

(From 65° North.)

That's why celebrity blogs are so popular, I guess. Everybody wants to get up close and personal with their favourite celebs, right? There was a period of time where I religiously followed the Fall Out Boy blog, because Pete Wentz has this wonderful way with words (aliteration, tee hee). Sometimes he'd post song lyrics of unreleased songs, and those were the best. Fall Out Boy had some of the best lyrics ever. An example, off the top of my head, from What a Catch, Donnie (one of my favourite songs from them) : They say the captain goes down with the ship | So when the world ends, will God go down with it?

You know who else has a wonderful way with words? Adam Young, aka Owl City. I used to follow his blog religiously as well, but now I only drop by every now and then (which is possibly a good thing, since there's more to read every time I'm there). Be it lyrics or prose, Adam just writes amazingly well; to be able to write like him would be a gift. I don't get it, you know. His posts are full of flowing sentences that don't sound awkward despite the considerable length of each one. He doesn't use overly-bombastic words but manages to sound bombastic all the same. Each post must take forever to write, yet he updates pretty darn frequently.

He's really kind of amazing.

(From Roxwel.)

Maybe he just writes a lot faster and has more to say than I do.

Another blog I love belongs to Khairie. If you watched The Amazing Race Asia last year, you'll remember him as one half of the male Malaysian team. The short(er) guy. Even if you didn't watch the show or had no idea there even was an Asian version of The Amazing Race (shame!), check out his blog anyway. I really do enjoy his stuff. Some of his posts are raw and personal, and you have to give the guy props for putting himself out there like that. The sacrifice, I would say, is worth it, because most of the time, the best posts are the ones where you just sit down, let everything out, and publish it. Some of his posts have struck a chord with me, and some just make a crappy day/night a little bit less crappy.

Khairie appreciation picture!

(From Khairie's Blogger profile.)

I guess that was the point of this post. It's half past two in the morning, and I'm just sitting and typing whatever comes to mind. I've missed doing this, you know? Structured rambling, sort of. I'm not even thinking of what I'm going to say or anything, which is a refreshing change. Sometimes I wish I'd let myself blog more...lazily. Unrestrainedly. Some word along those lines. But when I blog, I'm highly aware that anyone anywhere in the world could read it, and therefore do not want to get too personal or anything. Besides, my mom reads my blog!

Oh, I'm on Twitter right now, and people are saying that Amy Winehouse is dead, presumably from drugs. RIP, Ms. Winehouse.

Rest in peace.

(From blogposttoday.com.)

I've been wanting to blog about this book I read a little while back, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff. Maybe the time is ripe. Stay tuned.

Google+

2011-07-18T18:44:00.001+08:00

I got an invite to Google+ from the lovely Timothy Khoo and created an account at once. I was then faced with this:

Then I switched tabs and looked at this:

And I wondered why anyone would ever feel the need to use Google+, aka The Revenge of Google Buzz.

Bersih 2.0

2011-07-11T21:08:00.002+08:00

(From here.)

I wanted to sit here and type out a long entry on Bersih, but decided against it for two reasons:

1. It isn't my place to run around spouting opinions when I probably don't even know the whole story. Indeed, I never even gave the whole thing much thought until I read tweets from @staronline and retweets of friends of friends who had gone for the rally.

2. What I have to say is probably what every other pro-Bersih person out there is saying.

So, no, no lengthy post. Instead, I will pose some questions.

(From Building Blocks.)

For example, why would anyone at all be opposed to the idea of clean and fair elections unless they had something to hide? We're a democratic country; you'd have thought fair elections were a given and not something we'd have to fight for. If things were fair, Bersih wouldn't even have had to be started in the first place, would it?

How did a demonstration for fair and clean elections end with tear gas and water cannons? Why was freaking tear gas sprayed into a hospital?! Why were innocent people who were doing nothing but march for a cause they believed in getting sprayed and beaten up and arrested? Friends of friends who are my age got arrested and hurt by the tear gas. Alright, so it was an 'illegal gathering', but why should an organisation that stands for the things that Bersih does have any trouble at all getting a permit?

And why is Bersih being accused of being anti-government? Bersih is, to my knowledge, anti-corruption, so what exactly are these accusers suggesting? Also, why are so many idiots blaming Bersih for the road blocks?! It's the police who set them up, under instruction of the government! Open your eyes, you self-absorbed idiots, and forget about not being able to go shopping for a bit!

(From thechrismack.com.)

I couldn't think of how to end this post, so I shall conclude with a picspam and some videos. Enjoy...or not.

(From here.)

Amazing lady. She reportedly took a bus from Setapak alone to attend the rally. Four tear gas attacks and one water cannon attack later, here she is still standing. There is a Facebook page in her honour.

(From here.)

Tienanmen Square, anyone?

(From here.)

It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration...

P.S. A life was lost that day. Rest in peace, Mr. Baharuddin Ahmad. You must have been a brave soul.

P.P.S. Please watch this. Photos and footage of the hospital being tear gassed and sprayed with water cannons, even though they claimed that it didn't happen. Look at the inefficiency and unnecessary brutality of our police force.

"There was no actual physical contact with demonstrators whatsoever." Really, Mr. Najib? Really? Then why the footage of police beating up civilians? Why the comment from someone being arrested and led away, ""Kita orang dipukul walaupun tak lawan"? Why?

Ugh.

EDIT:
I got a long PM on Facebook from my friend Far, who seems really well-versed in the political world. It helped shine some light on the whole topic for me, as did last week's Malaysian Studies class. Needless to say, my view on the rally has changed a little due to the new information I got. I have to say, though, actually getting valid info is hard -- people have started boycotting the mainstream news media because of their bias towards the government, and it's hard to say whether the media sources in support of Bersih are entirely impartial as well. However, there is something I have learned from this: Unless I get a whole lot smarter in the future, no more posting on hot topics I don't know squat about.

Iris

2011-07-04T23:29:00.001+08:00

You know what freaks me out? These:

Yes, that's Xiaxue.

(From her blog.)

No, not Asian Barbie wannabes. Coloured contacts! Especially those with colours that are so far removed from one's original eye colour that it's not even funny. Everywhere you go here in Malaysia, you see girls (and sometimes guys!) peering at you with startlingly bright blue or green or amber eyes, irises that are undoubtedly, well, eye-catching. And if you're anything like me, you get way uncomfortable, avoid their gaze, and hope they never turn their coloured contact-covered eyes on you again.

The exaggeration here is only very slight, I promise. I'm not lying when I say I have trouble looking people wearing coloured contacts in the eye. It just looks so unnatural, and it's so hard to even carry a normal conversation with them because you have to look into their eyes as you speak. I can't, so I usually end up avoiding these people.

"Is she gone?!"

(From inventnow.org.)

Even the browns are freaky-looking; the word that comes to mind is 'unnatural'. I have a friend in college who started out the first semester with brown contacts. You'd have thought brown was a safe colour, but no, they still looked weird. I think I only started really talking to her after she reverted to glasses (thus negating the intimidating wide-eyed factor). One day, I confessed that I used to be slightly afraid of talking to her because of her contacts. She in turn confessed to me that she didn't really like them, but had to wear them since she'd already bought a whole box.

Don't think brown's an okay colour to go with, guys.

Not too bad, but I couldn't find one that was midway

between shockingly hazel and non-visible.

They still look a little weird, though.

(From here.)

And now they have these eye-widening lenses or whatever that basically make your irises look bigger. I've seen guys and girls alike using these, and to be honest, some of them aren't bad-looking. But, you know, people usually overdo things and want super huge irises that block out the whites of their eyes. Perfect if you're aiming to look like ~~an alien~~ Lady Gaga in her Bad Romance video.

You don't want to be friends? Fine with me!

I was talking to the best friend about this one day. She'd been on a student exchange trip to Japan (before the earthquake and tsunami) and therefore had been exposed to all sorts of weird fashion trends. She put it in an interesting way: "If people can change the colour of their hair, why can't they change the colour of their eyes? After all, you got people dyeing their hair all sorts of unnatural colours too, right?" Fingering my hair (which then had unnatural red highlights in it), I pointed out that you don't have to look at people's hair when you talk to them. Still, I did see her point.

I don't know. I still don't think wearing coloured contacts is the same thing as dyeing your hair. Sure, it's definitely a whole lot more temporary, but they're just...freaky. Does anyone else feel the same way about them? Because among all the people I've discussed this with, it's just me.

Forever alone, trololol.

(From this Tumblr.)

P.S. Looking for pictures for this post might actually give me nightmares tonight.

P.P.S. I was on Xiaxue's blog for an embarrassingly long time. It's almost grotesquely fascinating, all that cutesyness. You'd expect someone like that to have this really annoying, affected, high-pitched voice, but instead, Xiaxue sounds like this. Wait for it to load. Her voice is worth it.

Sem 2: Bittergourd

2011-07-02T15:06:00.001+08:00

College has started again, with dire warnings from all our lecturers that 'things aren't going to be so easy anymore'. (Our reaction: "That was easy?!" The Chemistry paper in particular was super hard!) Perhaps the most memorable warning came from Miss Lydia: "Your honeymoon is over. No more honeydew. From now on, I will give you only bittergourd!"

The horror, the horror!

(From Coffeestops 2.0)

Oh, Miss Lydia. I'm happy to report I've retained all my previous sem's lecturers except for Chem -- we have Mr. Vijaiyan now, for which I am eternally grateful. Self-studying Chem, while probably easier than self-studying Bio, is no fun. No fun at all. Math isn't very fun at the moment, either (M1, GUYS!), but I like my lecturer, Ms. Er, so it's tolerable, I guess.

Today's the first time in days I've so much as touched my laptop. Right now, I have Math homework, Chem questions, and a Bio assignment preying on my mind. Also, I am sick. Again. My immune system is the best thing ever.

(From here.)

Time to get started on that Bio assignment. I heard CIMP and MUFY people got a week more of holidays than the A-levels people did, so you guys will be starting college again on Monday. I am jealous, but har har to you all over your end-of-sembreak depression.

P.S. Care to read an article I wrote on bullying?

Funstuff at IMU's open day

2011-06-26T17:06:00.000+08:00

(From here.)

My mom and I went for IMU's open day today. The highlight of it was easily their medical museum -- there were so many awesome things there, from cross-sections of real organs to a plasticised cadaver. A girl there showed us around the exhibits, naming them and pointing out the differences between the healthy and diseased organs.

We got to see what liver cirrhosis and a few types of cancer look like on the inside, and I got to hold a plasticised (but real) lung. There was also a preserved foetus on display; those always make me a little sad, because you can't help but think about the life the miscarried baby might have had. (I am pro-choice, though. Contradictory, I know.)

This probably sounds ridiculously morbid, but I was excited to see the cadaver. However, it had been plasticised, and hardly looked very human at all. In IMU, students work with dummies and plastic models, and don't actually use cadavers. The plasticised one on display, though, a student told us, had been dissected by one of the lecturers there. It couldn't have been fun sawing through the femurs and stuff!

This actually looks a lot more human than the one we saw.

(From the Missouri News Horizon.)

Things I learned today:

The number of folds on a person's brain is directly proportional to their level of intelligence.
There are five types of bacteria that cause malaria.
The liver, once it is drained of blood, is actually quite pale.
Third-degree burn victims feel no pain because their pain receptors have been destroyed.
The intestines of a foetus are formed outside its body.

I feel like the biggest nerd ever right now, but I really, really enjoyed our (short!) time at the medical museum. There were things in there that would've made my more squeamish friends high-tail it out of there, things that I found incredibly fascinating. Our bodies really are amazing, if you think about it; who wouldn't want to learn more about them?

Things like these make me so darn excited to start learning Medicine.

Books for sale!

2011-06-21T22:26:00.001+08:00

As some of you may know, my sister and I are pretty big readers. The occasional book fair splurge that our dear father indulges us in (what better thing for a parent to spoil their kids with than books, right?) have amassed quite a collection. This right here is our shared bookshelf...after spending hours going through books to give away and recycle.

The mini Eiffel Tower beside it is actually a CD rack.

If you think that's a lot, well, the number of books we didn't want anymore should bowl you over as well. Some of them, we outgrew. Most of them were bought by our father who thought we'd like them; unfortunately, we didn't.

Insanity.

My having lost RM150 recently, I decided to be a little bit enterprising. I went through the large pile to see if there were any books we could sell instead of give away. My criteria was that they had to be fairly well-known titles that were in at least okay condition, and in the end, came up with five books.

Ignore that last bottom one; I found a hole in the back of the book.

(It wasn't me, I swear.)

Book #1

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern.

It's a hardcover book, pretty much in perfect condition. The only drawback is I lost the red ribbon that came tied around it as decoration, but then again, you can't read a ribbon. Going for RM 20.

Book #2

PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern.

One of those books that makes even guys cry. Paperback, in perfect condition as well. However, the pages are yellowing because we got this some time ago (before the movie came out). Going for RM 10.

~~Book #3~~ SOLD

Thanks For the Memories by Cecelia Ahern.

Another paperback in mint condition, save for the yellowing pages. I don't know why I used to be so into Ms. Ahern. Going for RM 10.

Book #4

Holes by Louis Sachar.

In all honesty, this book isn't in prime condition, but I loved it a lot. It's pretty old, and the pages are yellow, but it's still a darn good book. Fun fact: It was the novel they used for English Literature in the SPM last year. Going for RM 5.

~~Book #5~~ SOLD

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer.

Artemis Fowl is a great series. They're children's books, but the dialogue is really clever and witty, full of dry humour. The edges of this are a little bent, and the pages are slightly yellow, but it's in pretty good condition otherwise. Going for RM 7.

Prospective buyers, please leave a comment or email me at huijanfactorial@hotmail.com! It'd be awesome if you were a collegemate, 'cause then I'd be able to pass it to you next week when the next sem starts. If you aren't, never fear -- pick-ups at any LRT or monorail station can be arranged. (I've never sent a parcel in my life and don't trust myself with that.)

Oh, and please tell all your friends! If you know of any bookworms who are always on the prowl for cheap books, be sure to direct them here. My room is small enough without an extra five books lying around!

Money, money, money, money!

2011-06-14T02:09:00.001+08:00

If you've never watched an episode of The Apprentice, you wouldn't get the title of this post. But that's okay, because in addition to being a reference to the show's theme song, it gives you a clear idea of what this post is going to be on: moolah.

(From Money for Surveys.)

Money doesn't grow on trees. We all know this; we've all been lectured by our parents about this at some point in our lives. So I don't get why people throw theirs around like they do. They spend so much cash on material things they think they need -- the latest gadgets (when theirs are working fine), new shoes (when they have pairs they haven't even worn yet), and whatever else catches their fancy.

At this point, you're probably wondering who I am to be sticking my nose into other people's spending habits. If they have the money, they should be able to do whatever they want with it, right? Well. When people spend money like crazy and complain (brag?) to me about it, they're practically shoving it in my nose, and I will most certainly form an opinion on it and express it if necessary.

(From Can Stock Photo.)

My mom keeps lamenting that 'kids these days don't understand the value of money'...and I'm afraid she's right. When I go out with my friends, I notice that most of them, when they see something that strikes their fancy, they pull out their purses or wallets immediately. There's no deliberation, no stopping to think before making their purchase; that's instant gratification right there. (Something that may become a serious problem in my generation, but let's not go into that right now.)

I always wondered why they did that. Then I realised: they didn't have to stop to think beforehand because, as far as they were concerned, there would be no consequences to their actions -- that was their parents' money they were spending.

This attitude still scares me. 'Oh, I can spend however much I want because it's not my money.' What's even scarier is that I know some people who have free access to their parents' wallets. They don't have an allowance; instead, they help themselves to their parents' wallets as and when they like. When they go shopping, it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet that's not costing them a cent.

(From Bid or Buy.)

Come on, parents. Teenagers are impulsive creatures. You really don't want to be fuelling that.

I used to think it crazily unfair that my friends' parents gave them money for outings, my friends' parents bought them their phones, my friends' parents paid for their (phone) credits. Of course, I reminded my own parents of my friends' parents' generosity every half a chance I got. Now, though, I'm almost glad my parents (my mother in particular) were so mean to me. I think I can safely say that my sister and I really do understand the value of money.

During the holidays between Form Four and Form Five, I worked as a waitress in a Thai restaurant for about a month. The salary I got was added to my savings to buy a much-needed new phone (the one I'd been putting up with had a dying keypad which was awful to SMS with). It was quite painful -- all that money I'd saved over the course of a few years plus my salary, all that was gone in a matter of minutes. At least I had a sexy new phone to console myself.

(From 2day Blog.)

I have to say, I don't believe in retail therapy; I think it's horrible and foolhardy. However, I know people who swear by it, so good for them. Me, when I'm feeling low, I listen to music or watch YouTube videos...because I'm a hermit like that.

What about you? What's your view on money and spendthrifts and all that stuff? Did your parents ever set any rules or limits regarding money? If you're a parent, do you do that for your kids? Leave me comments, please. That might shoo the weird 'blogwalking' people in my cbox away.

All the Shingle Ladies!

2011-06-07T18:58:00.000+08:00

The word 'shingles' has two meanings -- one is an object, and the other, a disease.

Roof shingles.

(From Ask the Builder.)

Scary shingles.

(From thirdeyehealth.com.)

I'm here today to talk about the shingles you don't want -- scary shingles. Because, you know, I'm a bit of a nerd and an aspiring doctor and I myself am trying to ignore the pain of the skin blisters of shingles right now.

Another name for shingles is 'herpes zoster'. No, not the STD -- that would be herpes simplex. The viruses that cause both diseases belong to the same viral subfamily, though. (I don't know what that's supposed to signify. Oops.) Anyway, interestingly enough, you know what else the shingles virus causes? Chickenpox.

Here's what happens: After you get chickenpox (unless you're one of those weird people who got vaccinated), the virus doesn't completely leave your body -- it hides out in your nerves. I guess if your nerves are a really boring place, the virus decides to become active again and infect your nerve cells. From the nerves, the virus goes on the infect the skin 'supplied' by a spinal nerve, which results in those delightfully attractive blisters.

Eww.

(From Cure Talk. Click the link for a great informative article on shingles.)

Shingles is not an 'old person's disease'; people of any age can get shingles, though the aged and the immunosuppressed are more susceptible to it. Seeing as how I am neither, well... According to Wikipedia, 'Throughout the world the incidence rate of herpes zoster every year ranges from 1.2 to 3.4 cases per 1,000 healthy individuals'. Don't I feel special.

Before you guys start avoiding me like the plague (though I'll be staying home and willing myself to recover soon so my sem break isn't completely wasted), shingles itself isn't contagious. However, if you haven't had chickenpox or are due for a booster shot of the vaccination, you don't want to be giving me hugs. It's a bit odd -- if you come into contact with the fluid oozing from the blisters of someone with shingles, you get chickenpox. Then again, they are caused by the same virus, so it makes sense.

I had a really bad case of chickenpox when I was little.

I was miserable. Why the heck is this kid so happy?!

(From here.)

So what do you do if you have shingles? A visit to the doctor is required, because you need antiviral pills. (Antibiotics won't do squat, because those combat bacteria, not viruses.) I also got painkillers, vitamin B for my nerves, and a cream for the blisters. According to the doctor, the dosage of antivirals is the same whether you're eight, eighteen, or eighty -- 800 mg every four hours. Which is, as you can imagine, a bit of a pain in the butt. But, well, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

I hope you found this post informative and weren't too grossed out by the icky pictures. I actually had fun researching shingles and writing about it. (Nerd alert!) Maybe I'll pick a random disease and blog about it every now and then, we'll see. (NERD ALERT!) But for now...

Where my shingle ladies at?!

Royal divorce?

2011-06-03T02:53:00.000+08:00

So there have been people running around and freaking out over this article that says the newly-wed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (ie. Will and Kate) are getting a divorce.

(From Mummy Smiles.)

Guys. The Onion doesn't report real news. Its tagline is 'America's Finest News Source', but it isn't legit news at all. It churns out 'satirical' news, which I don't see the point of, since all it does is twist around real news and reel in the gullible -- hook, line, and sinker.

Speaking of gullible, you don't even have to scrutinise the thing to realise it's fake. Things like 'I'm just relieved it's over, frankly. And I'm glad I'll never have to see that awful woman again.' are hardly likely to have been told to the press by the Duke himself. Come on.

Lesson of the day: Things on the Internet aren't always true.

Getting a replacement P license

2011-05-29T03:45:00.002+08:00

A little while back, I was on Google, frantically trying to find out how to go about obtaining a new P license. My wallet had been lost/stolen, as some of you might already know -- everything in it (ie. driving license, ATM card, membership card, coins, guitar picks, money I was going to buy my dad's birthday present with) was gone. The ATM card, I had frozen, so the most pressing issue had been taken care of. Now I just needed my stupid license.

(Originally from this blog.)

It came as a surprise to me to find absolutely nothing on what to do if your P license gets stolen/goes missing; all the results Google provided me with were about changing your P license to a CDC (Competent Driver's License). Surely I'm not the only idiot who lost their P license before it expired! The closest thing I got was this, which wasn't really much help at all. (It seems like a good blog, though. Anyone with questions on driving tests and the like in Malaysia should go have a look.)

Before all this, though, I'd called my driving school. The lady told me to go to the JPJ branch in Taman Jaya, bringing just my IC, a passport-sized photo, and money. However, when I went to the police to report my missing/stolen wallet, they told me I'd need a copy of the report in order to get a new P license, and printed one out for me. It was this conflict of info that got me worried and Googling it.

Anyway, I ended up going to JPJ with my IC, money, passport-sized photo, and the police report.

You know how everyone always points to the large building called Bangunan Persekutuan on Jalan Sultan, and is all like, "Oh, that's where JPJ is"? That place you go to when you're twelve, brimming with self-importance and the anticipation of making your first IC? Next to that Bangunan Jabatan Kimia Malaysia?

(From this blog.)

Well, here's the thing: IT'S NOT.

To get there, you actually drive further down the road, pass the bus stop, and take the first left. You drive all the way up, and you'll get to a car park on your left. Park your car there and ignore the snazzy-looking orange-and-white building -- it's the ramshackle, blue, surely-this-thing-is-a-warehouse-of-some-sort-and-not-the-JPJ-branch building you want, right next to the Taman Jaya LRT station.

Alright, so here's what you really have to do to get a replacement P license:

1. Make your way to the JPJ branch nearest to you. Bring along your IC and RM20. If you have a passport-sized photo, bring that too. (But it can't be on cheap thin photo paper, because the good people at JPJ are photo snobs.)

2. If you brought a passport-sized photo, skip to step 3. If you haven't, and are at the Taman Jaya branch, enter the door on your left (assuming you entered the compound from the car park like I did) to get your photo taken.

3. If you're at the Taman Jaya branch, enter the door on your right (assuming you entered the compound from the car park like I did). Take a number and wait for it to be called.

4. Explain to the man/lady that your 'lesen P hilang'. Hand over your IC, photo, and RM20. Wait five minutes while they prepare your duplicate license right in front of you.

5. Receive your license and receipt, thank them, and leave, relieved at how utterly quick and painless it was.

6. Don't lose your license again. RM20 is still RM20.

(Originally from this blog.)

Hopefully this helps other careless, Google-reliant souls such as myself in the future. God knows I could've used something like this a few days back. And anyway, this kind of stuff is good to know (if you're Malaysian), so I've just educated all of you. Kind of.

You're welcome!

Edit: For some reason, I previously couldn't log in to Blogger with Google Chrome. I couldn't bring myself to use the atrocity that is Internet Explorer, so here's my little update a few days later than planned.

YouTube and that Asian guy

2011-05-22T02:54:00.003+08:00

First things first, there's something you have to understand: It's not often I go around professing my love for an Asian guy. I suffer from a form of anglophilia, except it's not just limited to English people; the minute my friends and family spot someone with fair skin and brown/blonde hair, they starting nudging me and telling me to look. Pretty much everyone who knows me knows about this. It's pretty bad.

It does, however, make waiting for the LRT or monorail a lot less boring. KL Sentral is pretty much Mat Salleh Sentral.

(From Wikipedia.)

However!

A month or so ago, I discovered the joys of YouTube. I stumbled across one of Luanlegacy's videos one day and ended up watching all his videos and loving them. (My personal favourites are the hallway one and the illiteracy one. Be warned, though -- Luan has a pretty potty mouth.) Luan is the sassiest, most pissed-off gay guy ever...and obviously therefore can't be the Asian guy I'm currently mildly obsessed with.

(From here.)

Then I moved on to Nigahiga, who's supposed to be the most subscribed person on YouTube. This guy is pretty damn awesome! Most of his videos are well-thought out sketches, and he even has these little series on his channel. My favourite is Skitzo, where he plays four different people. Shooting must be a bit of a pain for those vids, I bet. Oh, watch his video on Rebecca Black's Friday here -- it doesn't have almost 6.7 million views for nothing! And this one, if you've ever had to deal with a pissy GPS. Ryan Higa -- that's his real name -- is Japanese-American. However, he isn't the one I would like to profess my love for, either.

Ryan with some of his fans.

(From we♥it.)

Alright, I'll cut to the chase. The Asian boy who is currently the unknowing recipient of my love/admiration/adoration is kevjumba. Whoo. Or rather, 'Wu'...Kevin Wu.

(From kevjumba.com.)

I could go on forever about things to like about him, but since I'm pressed for time, a list will have to do.

Reasons why I love Kevjumba (in no particular order)

1. He started JumbaFund and has donated tens of thousands of dollars to various charities.
From the JumbaFund channel page:
As a Youtube partner channel, JumbaFund earns ad revenue every time someone watches a video from this channel. Every two months JumbaFund donates all the revenue earned from Youtube to charity. Just by watching the videos on JumbaFund, you are raising money for the charity of the month!

2. He went to Kenya recently for activist work to teach a bunch of kids.
There hasn't been a video on that yet, but it looked like it went well!
Edit: One video here, but he wasn't exactly teaching...

3. He was on The Amazing Race with his dad.
He was very sweet (on camera, at least) to his dad who couldn't take the physical demands of the race.

4. He doesn't have a Chinese nose.

5. He has a nice voice.
Nigahiga fans, you gotta admit this much: Ryan may look better, but he doesn't sound better than Kevin.

6. He plays Words With Friends!

7. He's tall. For an Asian, at least. Almost six feet!

8. His smile. That's him acting as a gay dancer, too.

By all accounts, he's a really nice person too. Like I said, I could go on forever, but I should stop. Edmund says I like him because 'he speaks like a Caucasian', with his American accent and all, but that should fall under number five. Eight reasons is enough!

One more thing: Go to Google and type in 'is' followed by a space. See the first option on the list?

(From kevjumba.com.)

Kevjumba, the heterosexual bear wrestler. Subscribe, or hear him roar.

JPA update -- for real this time

2011-05-18T23:38:00.002+08:00

People keep asking me about this, so let's cut to the chase.

(From Admacs.)

HUI JAN'S JPA FAQ!

1. Did you get it?

Yes, I got the JPA scholarship.

2. What course did you get?

I got Medicine.

3. So you're taking it?

No, I am not.

4. Why not?

[See answers to numbers 5 and 6.]

5. Where did you get Medic for?

AUCMS.

6. Where?!

Exactly.

The proper answer to number 6: AUCMS stands for Allianze University College of Medical Sciences. It's in Kepala Batas in Penang, and no one I know except my mother had ever heard of it before I asked them. (Everyone I asked Googled it. C'mon, guys, it's fine to admit you don't know something!)

The funny thing is, the site said I'd gotten Program Ijazah Satu Tahun. If I'd accepted it, what would've happened is I would've had to do a Certificate of Pre-Medical Studies in AUCMS for a year. Then, using those results, I would've had to apply to AUCMS for Medicine. If I got in, JPA would continue funding my education and daily expenses; if I didn't, I'd be completely screwed, because which other uni would accept a Certificate of Pre-Medical Studies as a valid pre-u certification?

(From the AUCMS website.)

So, no, I'm not accepting it. In any case, I am very happy doing my (widely accepted!) A-levels in MCKL, and I'm glad I won't be leaving yet. I'm not complaining, either -- this other guy who got the same SPM results as I did (8A+ 1A) got the JPA scholarship for Diploma in Science. Sucks for him.

If I did want to complain, though, there would be much to complain about. I've heard a lot of complaining and am so fed-up with the way things are that I've stopped complaining myself.

However, I have to say it's disheartening to know that sometimes, merit alone isn't enough.

The anti-gay bill

2011-05-14T17:20:00.001+08:00

What in the world is up with Uganda?

(From Radio Netherlands Worldwide.)

If you haven't heard (shame on you too!) the Parliament of Uganda was discussing whether or not to pass a law whereby homosexuals over there would receive the death penalty. Gays would be killed -- not because they stole or raped or murdered, but merely because they were 'HIV positive, “repeat offenders” or engaged in sexual activity with a disabled partner (regardless of consent)'.

Shame on Uganda indeed.

It's no secret that the gays get a lot of flack from people worldwide -- they are bullied, shunned, made fun of, and even kicked out of their own households. A friend of mine once asked their mother what she'd do if she found out they were gay. Their mother's reply? "I would beat it out of you and drag you to church."

(From Lifehack.)

I realise religion plays an important factor in this, especially Christianity. In the Bible, Leviticus 18:22 states: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." which was basically God telling Moses that man sleeping with another man as he would a woman was wrong. The thing is, there are other practices in Leviticus that we no longer follow, aren't there? Who decides what stays and what goes?

Please keep in mind that my knowledge of the Bible and indeed Christianity in general is pretty shallow, so it would be pointless to expect me to discuss it with you (or even argue with you!) in the comments. Minimal though my knowledge is, I don't believe God would order his followers to judge and condemn a whole group of people who can't help how they are. Killing people for being gay is awfully similar to killing people for being Jewish, isn't it?

(From The Sydney Morning Herald.)

This law is so ridiculous that even this gay-hating pastor is against it. If you are too, you can do your bit to help stop it! Sign the petition here! The goal has been reached, but more names certainly wouldn't hurt. In fact, the more the better -- the clause in the anti-gay bill concerning the death sentence has apparently been removed, but the fact that there'd be an anti-gay bill is sickening to me. Sign, sign, sign!

One last thing before I end this post. Every time I speak up about gay rights, especially among my friends, I get asked the same question in the same accusatory tone: "Are you gay?"

Using your logic, if standing up for gay rights makes me gay, standing up for animal rights would make one an animal.

Edit: The bill has been shelved! We've won...for now!

JPA update

2011-05-07T11:58:00.000+08:00

For those of you who don't yet know, students who scored 8A+ and above in last year's SPM will be getting JPA scholarships. I am one of these people. Results will be out on Monday, and I am, suffice to say, nervous -- the results of my scholarship application may well change my life!

It looks like I'll be getting a scholarship for sure, but the big question is for what course. Medicine is the hardest and most expensive course there is, but a hugely popular choice despite these. Since Form Four, I've been told over and over again that getting the JPA scholarship for Medicine would be akin to striking the lottery, and who wouldn't want that? It'd be great to be studying under a scholarship -- my parents wouldn't have to save and scrimp like crazy, and the possibility of losing my scholarship would be a serious motivational boost to study if I needed one.

Medicine is the only thing I want to do, and have ever wanted to do. (That extremely brief period of time during which I wanted to be a dolphin trainer -- I was like four! -- is negligible.) You can call me picky all you like, but if I get a scholarship for Pharmacy or Biochemistry or whatever else, I'm not going to take it. It can go to other people out there who actually want to do those courses.

So yeah, this is just a quick post, maybe to vent a little. I'm nervous, okay! Fingers crossed till Monday, 5.00 p.m. See you guys.

Videos

2011-05-01T20:43:00.001+08:00

Since I wasn't able to do all twelve hours of our Moral project community service, I was assigned the task of making a video to document the project. The project (and therefore video) accounts for half our grade, so it wasn't something to be taken lightly. I was a bit nervous at first, since I'd only ever made one video before, and that was mostly a picture slide sort of thing.

However, I took a deep breath and, trembling, opened Windows Movie Maker for the second time ever. After countless days and nights of editing, I present to you...

Also, I made a bloopers video!

Comments? Critique? Words of adoration (which would be greatly appreciated)? Leave a comment on the post or in the cbox!

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T16:58:00.002+08:00

(From People.)

I don't get it.

People sat in front of their TVs and/or computers (the event was being streamed live on YouTube) waiting for hours to watch the wedding. There were bursts of excitement everytime some distinguished or influential guest showed up, and even when a glimpse of the wedding dress could be seen when the bride waved through a car window. I was on Twitter at the time, and my timeline consisted of these topics and these topics only:

Kate Middleton's dress
Kate Middleton's makeup
Prince William's bald spot
How hot Prince Harry was
Hats
Wedding guests
Princess Beatrice and her show-stopper of a...head piece.

(From Now.)

I really don't get what the big deal was about...besides so much of the taxpayers' money being blown like that. Maybe these sentiments will change when I get older or something, but it was a wedding of two people almost all of us don't personally know. I don't know about other weddings, but Chinese weddings can sometimes be drag; guests attend out of obligation and/or for the food. What about all those people crowded outside Westminster Abbey? They had neither!

(From A Breaking News.)

Also, I just don't get all the scrutiny. Most of the people I know who watched (granted, they were teenage girls) were pretty much holding their collective breath to see the soon-to-be Duchess' wedding dress and makeup. Poor Kate Middleton -- imagine all that pressure, the eyes of the whole world on you, just waiting to see you emerge from the car. Thank God everyone loved her dress; I actually felt a bit relieved for her.

Everyone -- everyone -- was going on and on about Prince William's bald spot. Look: it's his head. If he feels comfortable enough to take off his hat and display his lack of hair to the world, good on him. If it really, for whatever reason, matters to you so much or somehow even offends you, look away. The amount of hair on his head matters nothing to you. As long as Kate Middleton is okay with it, it's all good.

I have to say, though, I was surprised to see the pictures of Prince William in the papers. In my head, he will always look this good:

(From Kentura.)

I was pretty confused when people on Twitter said Prince Harry was looking good at the wedding, since I always remembered Prince William as the better-looking prince. And then I saw the photos...

(Both are from Tumblr, click for links.)

...and I asked myself when that happened.

Moving on, what is with all the royal wedding merchandise? It's... It's just crass! There're key chains and tea bags and food and mugs and dishes and sick bags and toilet paper, and it's just insane! Why would people buy those things? They're horrible moneymaking schemes!

I do hope this is fake.

(From Gizmodo.)

So that's my take on the royal wedding that I did not watch. The hype was near ridiculous, but congratulations to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a) for getting through their wedding day alive and b) on their marriage. May it last longer than Prince Charles' and Princess Diana's did.

P.S. Gotta love Nigahiga!

Boot camp for effeminate boys

2011-04-24T21:58:00.002+08:00

Quite frankly, I think it is crap.

(From examiner.com.)

The things I've been reading make me sick. Being an effeminate boy is not an 'issue'. The only issue is them getting all sorts of crap for being who they are, and this boot camp certainly won't be helping their situation. Maybe it's because I'm from the younger generation, but I'm a firm believer of letting people be who they want to be. I think deviating from the norm isn't necessarily a bad thing; in fact, I actually admire people with the guts to do that. So if these boys have worked up the courage to be themselves before the judgemental eyes of society, who are we to stop them?

(From Vogons.)

Another thing I can't stand is how these boys are having a label slapped on them just like that. Every single one of them who went for the camp will now probably be known as 'the guy who went for the orang lembut (softy) boot camp'. And honestly, who would want that? There are so many other aspects and qualities to these boys, but this is the one thing that will stand out in people's minds. That's just unfair. (Don't you give me that stuff about life in general being unfair -- I will punch you in the face.)

I have quite a few effeminate guy friends, and I think every one of them is awesome. They're funny, snarky, entertaining, and just the right amount of bitchy; also, they're way more sensitive than other guys and give some of the best advice ever. I think every girl out there should have a BGF (best gay friend), because they're some of the best people you will ever meet. There really is nothing wrong with being an effeminate guy. In fact, effeminate guys are actually pretty damn awesome.

'Feminine traits which could hamper their future? I'd say

Adam Lambert's doing pretty well. Wouldn't you?

If, in your eyes, being an effeminate boy is bad, trust me, there's a lot 'worse'. There are transsexuals and gays/lesbians and bisexuals and, hell, genderqueer people. I myself am trying to wrap my head around the concept of being genderqueer, but realised some time ago that the simplest thing to do is to accept people for who they are and not question them if they're sure.

It's not our place to judge, and it certainly isn't our place to make them conform. If that's how they are, that's just how they are. Don't be hatin' on the effeminate boys -- they're human, just like the other 6.9 billion of us.

(From solstation.com.)

P.S. Ironically, it looks like the boot camp failed. The boys who went enjoyed making friends with like-minded peers and were taught to be 'more confident'. That's the spirit!

P.P.S. Also, read this. It's Bob's take on the whole boot camp thing, and I do believe it's well worth your time.

PIKOM PC Fair

2011-04-20T00:53:00.001+08:00

I've been a terrible blogger as of late, and I'm sorry. Life has been packed, even after trials...though I admit I took a day off from the Internet once my papers were over to read Jodi Picoult's House Rules. Since my last post, I have gone for my JPA interview (not as bad as I thought it'd be), dyed my hair 'red' (only noticeable in bright light; being a brunette has its drawbacks), and gone for my very first PC Fair. Since it's the most recent, it's that last one I'm going to blog about.

The PC Fair is weird. I knew a few people who were geeking out about it, so I guess I should've expected the predominantly male and geeky-looking hoard of people waiting to be allowed into the halls. (I don't mean this in a bad way, the geeky thing; geek is supposed to be cool, after all. But it was a little like being the only non-fan at a Bieber concert.) The scary thing was, these people weren't waiting outside the halls. No, the long, snaking queue began at...the escalators.

Look at the weird look that lady was giving me. The things I go through for my blog!

Once we were actually inside, it really was like being the only non-fan at a concert; we were packed so tightly together that I couldn't help but be reminded of my MCR show in '07. Slowly, the crowd thinned out as people stopped at booths of interest to them.

Some booths had female models handing out flyers or holding up signs and gadgets. All they seemed to be attracting were shutterbugs (male, of course) who didn't even bother asking before standing right in front of them and snapping away. Maybe it was part of their job, but the models gamely posed and smiled for the cameras. I wonder if they got paid extra for their self-restraint -- I would've wanted to ram those huge ass lenses into the faces of their owners so I could go back to doing my job. (It is also possible, however, that the models simply enjoyed having their photo taken.)

The highlight of the PC Fair? My getting my first laptop!

It's a HP Pavilion G4-1009TX, and it is mine!

I now have Skype (since there's a webcam and mic) and a functional Windows Movie Maker. It's Windows 7, so the new version of everything is taking some getting used to. Still. I'm pretty psyched.

PIKOM PC Fair ftw!

Round 1

2011-04-08T19:54:00.001+08:00

I'm a little nervous. Interviews will be conducted in Malay, and, if you didn't already know, my Malay is terrible; I've never been interviewed before (Adrian 'interviewing' me for my waitressing stint doesn't count); and the interview clashes with my Chemistry assessment test, which I can't skip in order to keep my scholarship at MCKL. In fact, I'm not only nervous -- I'm worried.

The interview's on Tuesday; wish me luck. Prayers would be appreciated. Argh.

Bullet-points

2011-04-02T22:06:00.001+08:00

I'm aware I haven't been blogging as often as I usually do, and I'm sorry. Things have been reeeaaalllllly busy lately, so I shall have to make this an uncharacteristic bullet-point post.

My dad's getting me a laptop for my SPM results! We're looking at HP and Acer currently -- HP because of its good track record with practically everyone, and Acer because of this new model that has specs my dad keeps raving about. Any recs, anyone?
I finished writing and sent off my IMPAC Dublin Literary Award submission at 2.30 a.m. on the day of the deadline. I was a wreck at college the next morning.
I just bought this today at the branded goods sale at SS2 Mall, and I'm scared to try it. It's listed as 'Red'. I have dark hair (with highlights). My hair is supposed to turn a nice chestnut brown with red undertones. If my hair somehow turns light brown, I will cry or something. (It was only RM 17. I couldn't resist!)

Assessment tests are coming up, and I am drowning in Math homework and Chemistry that I don't understand. Wish me luck, guys.

Treasure Hunt!

2011-03-28T00:53:00.002+08:00

Saturday was MCKL's 8th annual Treasure Hunt, and boy, did I have a blast!

Benji, Zheng Yu, me, and Dhama: We were practically one team instead of two separate ones.

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

It felt way too early to be up on a Saturday morning, but Dhama and I were too pumped to want to return to slumber once we got to college. The place was swamped with about 700 participants (secondary school kids were participating as well), facilitators, and lecturers, all wearing the white Treasure Hunt T-shirt. It really was a sight to behold, especially since we don't have uniforms in college.

During the briefing at the basketball court.

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

It's past midnight right now, so I'll skip right to the Treasure Hunt. (There were performances before.) We were given a booklet of clues, and the idea was to find names of places around KL that fit the clues. Some were really clever ('Here, we are revived!' was Renaissance Hotel), some were cute ('Something Jamie Oliver can't tell you.' was Secret Recipe), and some were just...hard ('There was a British Resident here many years ago teaching Chinese.').

The clues were pretty diverse as well -- I remember using an arithmetic progression to solve one, ha. The important thing was to keep your eyes open and think out of the box. Dhama must be good at that, because there was one point on the way to Bukit Nanas where she was really on a roll, getting clue after clue. You go, partner!

My clue book, which was in a pretty sorry state by the time we were done.

When I said 'around KL', I really do mean around KL. We walked, took the LRT, took the Monorail, and walked some more. The KL Monorail and Putra LRT were some of the sponsors of the event -- each of us got a ticket for the LRT and a card for the Monorail, for that day only. We pretty much clogged up the LRT and Monorail when we took them, and because we were all in a hurry, we squeezed as many of us onto the LRT/Monorail as possible. Must've sucked to be one of the other passengers.

I, with my lousy sense of direction, was a bit worried about getting lost, but luckily, my worries were unfounded -- there were so many of us that all you had to do was follow the crowd. Besides, there were facilitators (lecturers and students who had volunteered) dressed in bright green vests to show us the way.

Mr. Yoshua with his signature scrunched-up face.

Photo credit: Mr. Reuben

This was our route for the Treasure Hunt:
MCKL (start)
KL Sentral
Ampang Park
Bukit Nanas
Bukit Bintang
Berjaya Times Square
Hang Tuah
MCKL (end)

All over KL all right.

Me, Dhama, Benji, and a partially-blocked Zheng Yu somewhere at Hang Tuah.

We got back to college tired and heaving and sweaty, but happy. The Treasure Hunt really had been fun, and we were glad we'd gotten up early for it.

When prize-giving time came, Dhama and I sat there, being all, "Yeah, let's get this over with so we can go home." Honestly, we didn't expect to win anything. But, well, as you've probably already heard or guessed, we did. I didn't hear what place we got because we were laughing too hard.

Us shyly holding our prizes.

Photo credit: Joshua

We won an iPod Shuffle each. Since Dhama, Benji, Zheng Yu, and I were practically a team, Dhama and I decided to sell the iPod Shuffles and split the money between the four of us. Because we're awesome like that.

Photo credit: Dhama

The Treasure Hunt was half a day of awesome. I came home tanner, tired, and still laughing from Team Aurum's (that was our team name) victory. We're definitely doing it again next year...right, Dhama?

P.S. I think the Student Council deserves a mention. I remember as we were running around KL Sentral and Berjaya Times Square, we kept saying, "I wonder how long the Student Council took to plan all this." Everything ran smoothly and was very well planned indeed; we never ran into any problems and we didn't hear of any other team that did. The seniors never fail to impress me -- first with Orientation Camp, and now this. Granted, Orientation Camp was carried out by the old board, but if the Treasure Hunt was any indication, the current board is going to be just as awesome.

SPM results

2011-03-24T00:00:00.000+08:00

So. Today was the big day. Compared to when I collected my PMR results, things were super anticlimactic this time round.

(From talking philosophy.)

For starters, I didn't actually feel very nervous. I knew I'd done all I could even though I'd been sick during the SPM -- there'd been a nighttime visit to the clinic the day before Sejarah, and the day before Physics was spent in the hospital, waiting for my blood test results. Not fun. So yeah, I walked into school feeling fine and almost eager to finally get my results (SPM, not blood test).

It was nice to be in school again (in 'normal' clothes, with nailpolish on and fringe not pinned up). I was practically bouncing around, beaming at the junior prefects on duty at the time. Got to see most of my Form Five teachers again, as well as my former schoolmates. I swear, all the guys had longish hair except for, well, Khairul -- 'cause he's Khairul like that.

Photo credit: Madeleine

Teachers strolled into the hall shortly after 10 a.m., and we were allowed in a little later. We stood around, chatting, catching up, sneaking glances at the teachers sneaking glances at our results slips. There was a sudden mad dash when it was announced that we could get our results, but I was the first in my class to get them, since people in front of me chickened out. (Why is everyone so skittish about being the first? Is it a superstition of some sort?) Anyway, I looked down past the grinning Mr. Elvin at my slip and went, "Oh."

Oh. Oh indeed.

I'd been expecting (and worked for!) straight A-pluses. I guess you could say I was...confident, although to a lesser degree. So when I saw that A for Moral messing up the line of A-pluses, mocking me, I didn't know what to do except move out of the line and blink. Except, I didn't really have time for the latter because Krystal said she had to interview me as I was one of the top scorers. I can't remember what I said. I hope it wasn't anything stupid. Then there were photoshoots and a meeting with the Headmistress, and somewhere along the line, I got over myself and the A-plus that was missing its plus. Hee hee.

There's still that nagging, niggling, argh-just-one-more feeling at the back of my mind, but it's slowly going away. If there was ever a subject I wouldn't mind not doing well for, it'd be Moral, because it's a pointless, pointless subject. This isn't even sour grapes -- ask any Moral student!

I want to do well in college-level Moral, though. Mr. Yoshua makes it pretty awesome.

A little philosophy

2011-03-15T23:44:00.000+08:00

A little while ago, I was reading through my Moral Studies notes (they're really powerpoint slides that my lecturer uploaded to his blog and linked us to on Facebook -- ah, the wonders of the Internet!) and trying to wrap my head around everything. Googling phrases I didn't quite get told me that there was some philosophy involved, something I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.

Questions regarding philosophy are always so open-ended; in answering, it feels like you're discussing rather than answering, though you do have to have a conclusion. That is precisely why I am in the Science stream. Here, there is usually only one answer, though there may be more than one way to arrive at said answer, which makes things interesting. You absorb facts, and then use them to help you solve problems; you have to know how to put things together in your head. There's no long, lengthy, hmm-haw discussion involved -- just a straight, to-the-point answer. Bam.

I don't get Arts. I probably have never gotten Arts. Maybe the mathematical subjects, yeah, but not stuff like Religious Studies and Philosophy and Literature. Forgive me for saying this, but I don't see their point; science is useful and applicable in daily life, but when are you ever going to use philosophy? I do understand that people take to different subjects -- I would flounder and die in Arts while an Arts student might flounder and die in Science -- and I do admire the Literature students' ability to dissect and intelligently discuss an author's work. But the niggling question no one I've asked seems to be able to satisfactorily answer is: What do you do once you get a degree in something like Philosophy?

(From the Career and Education Blog.)

According to my mother, you can be a Philosophy lecturer. It makes sense, but doesn't at the same time. If the only thing you can do with a degree in Philosophy is lecture, is Philosophy just a cycle, gaining knowledge then passing it down, gaining knowledge then passing it down? Can't that knowledge be applied elsewhere? What can you do with it?

Please note that I'm not looking down at Arts students. Further Math is an Arts subject, and it sounds like the scariest subject ever. I have friends in Arts, and while I hate them for being so disgustingly free (no lab!), I think they're awesome, intelligent people.

I'd kind of like an answer, though. What do you do with a degree in something like Philosophy?

BRATs Penang 2010

2011-03-13T22:08:00.000+08:00

It's been exactly a year since we Penang BRATs first met, and I'm going to commemorate that by a picspam. (Links to my posts on the four-day workshop: day one, day two, day three, day four.)

The sign outside our ballroom in Cititel. Our ballroom.

Getting to know each other on the first day.

Kelvinder Singh, Sean Sing, and Himmat Singh -- the three Sing(h)s.

Beautiful carvings on the walls of a temple.

Crazy cheap food in Penang!

The St. Xavier's Institution marching band. ("Take it away, Saints!")

Karate kids: Sean, Greg, Andrian, and Choong Hou.

Me semi-squatting/Greg being a bully.

Awesome (though sleepy) seniors, Andrian and Greg.

In video-editing mode (Sean, Ken, Pau-Ling, and Keesh) while Ben plays the guitar.

Group picture featuring Sharm!

Things some might have forgotten:

"Grandma likes doors, but not windows."
"Aiyo ping pong piang, [RANDOM NUMBER]!!!"
"OPEN, banana, OPEN, OPEN banana!"
Red balls.
The wasabi-eating contest in which Tasha pwned everyone.
Tumblring on the laptop.
Pink prawn-flavoured Pringles.
Being continually called lembab/bodoh mampus.
THE ALGORITHM MARCH.

The original Algorithm March:

Our own spontaneous algorithm march on the last day of our workshop:

Oh, the memories.

Today, a few of us met up at Sunway Pyramid. Racist/'yo momma' jokes were told, many a gutterball was thrown, strikes were thrown as well, and fun was had.

Me, Leanne, James, Alex, Angelyn, and Jon.

Claire left early for dance class, but the rest met up with her again after I left. Part of me regrets missing out on the ride in the Emomobile, but oh well. Next time. I like how we met up exactly a year after we first met. Coincidence or not? I have to ask Alex.

BRATs Penang 2010 -- we are awesome.

Boxes

2011-03-09T23:48:00.000+08:00

It's so easy to put someone in a box before even getting to know them. I was horribly guilty of this when college started. In my mind, private school kids were obnoxious brats, Chinese school kids were super smart nerds, PJ school kids were friendlier than the rest, and KL school kids were the scary unknown (I didn't know anyone from any of the KL schools). It was stupid and unfair and awfully close-minded of me, but that was how I viewed my fellow cohort mates.

(From Design Crack.)

Of course, as time passed, we all got to know each other, and that mentality I'd subscribed to proved to be as wrong as wrong can be. I met some Chinese school kids who are some of the friendliest, most extroverted people I know, and some really nice people who just so happened to have been from private schools. KL school kids are just like PJ school kids, except they don't get as freaked out about the scary roads of KL as we do.

Of course, there are those who do fit perfectly in the boxes I'd put them in in my mind. One private school kid started teasing and laughing at someone who'd worn white canvas school shoes to college. If that wasn't bad enough, they tried to get the whole class to laugh at the unfortunate soul with them. But, you know, I don't quite believe in that Malay saying, kerana nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga ('because of a single drop of blue dye, the whole pot of milk is spoilt'), so. I'm trying to look on the bright side of people.

(From iStockphoto.)

Also, I'm doing my utmost best not to judge anyone. Realising how close-minded I'd been was a bit of a wake up call for me, because that's one of the last things I want to be. No more judging, no more stereotyping, no more unfairness. I'll try really hard. And that's a promise.

Boy-girl relationships

2011-03-05T02:07:00.000+08:00

(From MSN Malaysia.)

Today in CF, Mr. Reuben talked about boy-girl relationships, sharing some past experiences of his at the same time. What I liked was that it wasn't preachy in the least -- it was more of a suggestion of how to look at things and what to (and not to) do.These are some points I brought back from the talk (not all of which I agree with) :

Dating around is a building ground for divorce. (The reason for this being that if someone can so easily 'let go' of so many relationships, they could well do the same in a marriage.)
Dating someone of a different religion gets sticky.
Keep yourself pure for your future partner.
Aim to make lifelong commitments. (At least, I think that was his point.)
Put God before potential girlfriends/boyfriends.

It always bugs me when people tell me to 'keep myself pure for my future husband'. What if you'd worked all your life to do just that, only to find that the person you were about to marry hadn't bothered? Wouldn't you be left feeling like you'd gotten a pretty raw deal? Also, in this day and age, what does it really mean to be pure? Virginal, certainly, but then you hear about people who had never been kissed till they got married and you start to wonder. At least, I start to wonder.

(From salhazain.com.)

In my opinion (though I speak from no experience at all), it's kind of necessary to date around. Marrying the first person you date would probably be a mistake, since you don't know what else is out there. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm in support of 'playboys' and 'playgirls' who change girlfriends/boyfriends more often than they change their clothes -- I'm just saying I think most people don't actually date and then marry only one person. And at this age, who really thinks about making lifelong commitments? That's scary stuff, probably for people way beyond our age!

I agree with the rest of Mr. Reuben's points, though. His talk certainly gave me food for thought; I've been mulling things over in my head for a good few hours now. Also, I think I'm a bit more sure of where I stand in regards to this whole relationship thing.

What about you? What do you think?

We had a Ball!

2011-02-27T04:24:00.000+08:00

Orientation Ball (OB) was lovely. It was certainly worth all the attire/hair/transport aggro, although I say that about that last one because we were stuck in a jam for only two hours; for Christal, it was about three. Boo you, KL traffic, especially on a rainy day.

When Trishi, Dhama, Shean Yen, Ying Ying, and I finally arrived at the Intercontinental (courtesy of Trishi's dad), I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice everyone looked. Of course, we looked nice as well. Really nice. But looking nice doesn't usually come without preparation.

Getting ready in Trishi's room.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

Anyway, Ali hustled us in, hissing, "You're half an hour late!" We tried to explain about the traffic jam, but being hustled in heels is no mean feat...for people like me, anyway. As it turned out, most people were stuck in the same jam we'd just got out of (poor Trishi's dad), so the doors weren't closed at 6.45 p.m. as they'd told us they would be. Since nothing was going on yet, camwhoring commenced.

Kah Wai was Zorro for the night, and no one knew why.

(Photo credit: Kah Wai)

The cult even had a formation of sorts. See the pattern?

Dhama, Shean Yen (Egyptian goddess), Ying Ying, Trishi (Greek goddess), and me (China doll).

We were intercontinental at the Intercontinental!
(Photo credit: Ying Ying)

The guys at our table, minus Benji: Li Sheng, Daniel, Chris Nge, and Zheng Yu.

This is adorable. They don't usually look so dapper (and awkward).

Photo credit: Dhama

The event started late, so everything was late; by the time dinner was served, Ying Ying sounded like she could've eaten the little vase of flowers that was the centrepiece of our table. Unfortunately for the Student Council, soup was served (and attacked) during the handing over ceremony, so they didn't get the applause they deserved. Pity.

The performances were mostly really good. One of the first few was a lone guy with a guitar, nervously explaining that the girl he was dueting with was stuck in a jam, so he'd have to sing solo. Poor guy! I have no idea why they didn't just swap his place with another performance. His voice wasn't exactly the best, but you gotta admit, the guy has guts. Midway through one of the songs, a bunch of his friends went onstage with him to wave and sing along, which was sweet of them.

The guy who did the no-longer-duet (I think).

Photo credit: Jimmy

Other noteworthy performances were Shaun²(both singer and guitarist are named Shaun Thomas, and Shaun Thomas Koshy's in my class), Denise, and Mannequins. Shaun²did a medley of songs that included ~~Breaking~~ Bleeding Love, Let's Just Fall In Love Again, and You and I Both. They sounded incredible (Shaun's falsetto is awesome!) but I thought the tempo for You and I Both was a little too fast. Denise sang Think of Me, and as Dhama put it: "She looks and sounds like a Disney princess!" It was beautiful, and I swear I got goosebumps. Mannequins were a troupe of dancers who were so, so good. I don't know nuts about dancing, so I am unable to elaborate.

There was also the crowning of OB King and Queen, Freshie King and Queen, and Best-Dressed Male and Female. Mini interviews were conducted onstage with the nominees, which is always amusing. One OB King nominee got asked "What would you do if you were a girl for a day?". He took some time to think of a reply (or maybe I was just impatient for some food), so I went, "Menstruate." My voice must be louder than I think it is, because even people from the next table turned and laughed. Oops.

I need to learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes.

Photo credit: Ai Peng

All embarrassment aside, the best part of the night was definitely the dancing. There was an obligatory first slow song for the couples (adorable!), and then dance music came on and everyone went nuts. It was dark, colourful lights were pulsing, people were everywhere, and it was wonderfully insane. Definitely worth the aching feet and calves the next day. Sometime on the dance floor, my hair came out of its lovely updo, but I was having too much fun to care to fix it. Thank goodness Dhama and Ying Ying snapped pictures of it before we left Trishi's house. Look at my hair!

Photo credit: Ying Ying

Photo credit: Dhama

I'll end this post with a few photos because I don't have the words to convey how wonderful OB was. It was a beautiful night with beautiful people, and I am so, so glad we went.

The cult and Ali!

Photo credit: Ying Ying

Teddy/Lady Gaga/Taylor Swift/Megan Fox and me.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

The cult with CA! We prank called him while stuck in the jam. It was hilarious.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

S1101β: Because we're beta than you.

Photo credit: Kah Wai

Obligatory bathroom mirror shot of the cult and Mun Yee.

Photo credit: Ying Ying

The cult. We're pretty damn awesome. ♥

Rapid transition

2011-02-21T22:46:00.000+08:00

Here's something you may not know about me: Before I started college, I never took public transport. I was either being driven by my obliging parents, nervously driving myself with a reluctant parent riding shotgun, or hitching rides from friends or their parents. Public transport, I reasoned, was for people who didn't have these privileges; since I did, I never bothered with it.

(From kiat.net.)

Then college started. To get from my house to college, I use four modes of transport:
1. I'm driven to the LRT station.
2. I take the LRT.
3. I walk.
4. I take the monorail.
Whew. All that takes about forty minutes, assuming the LRT doesn't keep stopping midway between stations like it sometimes does ('congestion', they tell us over the PA system).

At first I thought I might have trouble adapting to the whole thing -- school used to be a mere ten to fifteen minute drive away. This wasn't a problem, though. I found I enjoyed the freedom of, well, movement, and being able to come and go as I liked (relatively, anyway).

(From Splashing Colours.)

MCKL's location may have something to do with it, though. The Tun Sambanthan monorail station is right beside it, and it's a walkable distance from KL Sentral. If any of us wanted to go to Berjaya Times Square after college (or in between lectures), we'd simply take the monorail to Imbi. If our destination was KLCC, all we'd have to do is get on the Putra LRT line and take the LRT there. If it was Mid Valley we wanted to go to, we'd just take the KTM from KL Sentral.

Recently, we booked an entire cinema theater at GSC Pavilion to watch No Strings Attached. (Those who stayed back in college took the monorail to Bukit Bintang and walked the remainder of the way.) It was pretty awesome. No transport worries too.

(Photo credit: Kai Shin)

Today, after OB (Orientation Ball) shopping with Trishi at Mid Valley, I hopped onto a random Rapid KL bus to get home. I felt for all the world like an adventurer heading into the unknown. On a solo voyage surrounded by strangers. Throwing all caution to the wind, armed with only my trusty RapidPass Pelajar card. (Oh, the drama!) I got home okay. In fact, the bus took me pretty close to my place, which was a pleasant surprise.

I guess the whole point of this post is to tell everyone that I've discovered the joys of public transport. If you, like me, aren't a big fan of driving (especially in KL!), it really is the way to go. Public transport ftw!