Friday, March 27, 2009

A Good Sleep Makes a Good Day

Look at the title. It is 100%, at least in my context. Being a bear who needs at least 8 hours of sleep every day, I find my time on the bed very important. And, especially after I came to IPBA, my bed was seriously lacking in warmth - A flattened pillow, a thin blanket and a Shakugan no Shana small square pillow were the only things constituting the sparse decorations my bed has. After a while, I imported Mipple (Yes, the name's MIPPLE) from home, and it adds a little cheerfulness. But just a little.

Finally, yesterday, I took the big step - another pillow and a bolster. For those who don't know what bolsters are for, let me list some of the functions:
- slam people
- decorate your bed
- disguise as a sleeping person
- keep your bed warmer

But most importantly, a bolster is for you to hug. Scientists have proved that since infancy, the action of hugging and other physical contact between the mother and the baby is extremely essential. Not to mention that some people are still unwilling to part with the bolsters from their childhood *ahem* =D

And this is precisely why I could sleep better with a bolster, which cost me RM 13.90, while the new fluffy pillow was RM 10. All together, RM 23.90 is worth it for a year and a few months' worth of good sleep. The next day, although I ended up with a sore throat and a fever (probably because of the kfc), my mood remained quite hyper for the whole day.

With this, I rest my case. For those insomniac people, my advice is to get a big, soft, fluffy bolster, and you will find yourself craving for sleep every day =D

*More things in my never-ending to-do list*
- After mysterious circumstances, I find myself the assistant to Yusri, the organiser of the IPBA English Week Concert. It means more work, especially when I already have to run the Evening of Music.
- In that concert, I'm second-in-charge of the whole running, meaning if Yusri got kidnapped by aliens or fall down the stairs while strolling *touchwood*, I'm supposed to handle everything. Besides, I'm also in charge of the last item on the itinerary, which is sing-along sessions with a big group leading the singing on stage.
- I also agreed to be part of the committee for Voice of IPBA, our college's editorial board. Maybe I will just take the job of designing the layout and cover, since I don't think people around me are familiar with computer graphics...especially when the main population in the college studies Teaching English as a Second Language ^_^"

College life is really...fun. Er. Yes, I'm lying.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sumomomo Momomo! <3






*If you are planning to watch this anime, stop reading in case of spoilers*

This anime is superbly crazy, or crazily superb, depends on how you look at it. I mean, just look at the title - how hard it is to pronounce it xD

Well, here's a brief synopsis for starters:
Kuzuryuu Momoko of the Dragon clan is a girl, who trains really hard in martial arts so that she can be the strongest. However, her father told her that because she's a female, she cannot be the strongest martial artist. Then, the father told her to go and search for Inuzuka Koushi of the Dog clan, marry him and produce the strongest offspring together.

Actually, the Koushi and Momoko families are the leaders of the East and West branches of martial artists respectively. The two branches are always at odds with each other, and the fathers hope to solve this by marrying the two. However, there are other families, especially from the West, who oppose this decision, and sought to kill Koushi to prevent peace from prevailing D=

Oh, and I forgot to mention something - Koushi is totally hopeless at martial arts. In fact, he hates violence and wants to become a prosecutor in the future.

So, throw a small-sized but loud martial artist together with a cool, big-mouthed bookworm, then add some boisterous friends *hint: two girls who fell in love with Koushi*, another two guys *hint: who likes Momoko and one of the two girls respectively*, and you get an anime so hilarious that it keeps your jaw moving every minute.

In fact, the first episode was just pure hilarity, when Momoko just butted in between the Inuzuka father and son, and announced, "I am Kuzuryuu Momoko. I'm here to make babies with Koushi-dono.". The expression on his face was priceless.

Still, I personally advise that this anime be watched by older teenagers and above, for the implied ecchiness. Being someone with a single-tracked mind, Momoko won't hesitate to use any means to persuade Koushi to bed her, and that includes wrapping herself with only a towel, taking off her shirt in front of Koushi and other stuff. On the other hand, the other female martial artists are bestowed with a generous chest area, and it's kinda disturbing sometimes to see them shaking around.

Contrary to the impression you might have formed about this anime, it has its serious and touching parts too. The adoration and devotion Momoko has for Koushi (though it beats me why) is very potent, and she is always there to cheer him on even when he fails. Expect some really touching moments towards the last few episodes of the anime, where tears are abundant and words uttered are from the roots of their hearts.

The art is good too. The girls are cute, especially Momoko <3 *coughsDaddyWarrioractuallylikesIrohabetter* D= Koushi is handsome too, in a typical bishie sort of way. And the auras of the martial artists are just amazingly real. I love it the most when Momoko turns into super-deformed mode and hangs around Koushi ^_^

*End of review*

Just to add on to my list of things-to-do,
-Observe 3 days of NO SWEARING (although I broke the pledge once, thanks to a certain pangsAIpuri)
-Take care of the event "An Evening of Music: Reaching for the Stars".

Somehow, I'm still stuck as the organiser of the whole thing...I thought after the Student Council was disbanded and there was going to be another election, I won't be handling this project any more. However, the idiot who rallied so greatly for the reelection did not contest for the posts available, neither did his friends. So, until now, only 4 students contested for around 20 places. Oh well.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

End of my glorious holidays =(

I was going to post something in my blog during the holidays, but I was having too much fun to actually bother. Not that I did something spectacular like bungee jumping or murder someone - I was just being me, lazing around in pyjamas until afternoon and sleeping at any time of the day.

I miss my home. Really. Who wouldn't? Just compare life in IPBA and life in your house. First thing, the food in IPBA sucks full time (I'm sure the seniors who just came back from overseas will totally agree). I come from PENANG - the heaven for people who live to eat, the hell trap for dieters, the oriental pearl...and many other names people think of for it. To me though, Penang is just home sweet home. The home-cooked food, my sweet, cozy bed, my darling fluffy bolster, my dear piano and of course, my lovely parents ^_^ I miss them all...

Well, I should stop feeling sorry for myself, and stop wondering why I took this course. Even if I did that, it's not going to change the fact that I'm stuck in this TESL course, stuck in this college which does nothing but force us to do everything we don't want to, and stay in a hostel meant for prisoners.

Anyway, I'm here just to update my blog and keep a record of what I've been doing, and what I will do, for anyone who's interested to see =D

Things I have to do:
-My Social Studies assignment on environmental issues like soil erosion, river pollution, toxic landfills and deforestation
-My Moral assignment on social ills
-Another English Studies assignment - a fun portfolio <3
-Prepare for the mock UN conference (I'm representing Egypt)
-Finish another wallpaper for AP's VampirePrincessYuuki's birthday (Chris, to be exact)
-Think up a couple of characters for the Role Playing group in AP, together with their past, characteristics, powers, appearances and stuff
-Buy a bolster so that I can sleep better in the hotel, I mean, the hostel
-...

Oh yea, and Sumomomo Momomo rocks, full time! I finished the anime in, like, 3 days, which was a record break for me =D Everyone I've talked to know how slow I take to finish a series, but this 22 episodes is just a breeze for me. In fact, I hoped that they had made it longer, but oh well ^_^

Next time might be the review on this anime ^^

Thursday, March 19, 2009

My 10 Wishes...etc

Tagged by Bo-chan ^_^

1. Marry Rutherford at once
2. Migrate to Ireland
3. Publish some novels
4. Be a professional musician
5. Slim down as quick and as much as possible
6. Buy all the art books I've been drooling over
7. Buy all products related to Spiral and Record of a Fallen Vampire
8. Kill Mdm R. or at least force her retirement xD
9. Own a glossy, black grand piano
10. Go on a tour to Japan

^_^ So, that concludes my 10 wishes for now. I couldn't think of more if I wanted to - maybe that's a sign that I'm quite satisfied with my life right now? =D

On a side note, I'm enjoying my holidays to the max, so much that I'm ignoring my assignments. I know I will be sorry after a while ^_^"

And happy birthday to my online adopted daddy and mommy - Warrior and Angel-voice @ animepaper.net~ Their birthdays are wonders, really close together < 3

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Breaking Conformity

According to the Collins Cobuild Dictionary 2006, conformity means behaving in the same way as most other people. In some ways, it is good. Like how you might help a child who fell down, help your friend to carry some stuff if you think it's too heavy, queue up at the cashier while paying, etc etc.

However, in most cases that involve thinking, conformity is really dangerous. Imagine if all the people who lived before us conformed their minds to a certain set of rules. Galileo, for instance. If he did not dare to challenge the notion that the Earth was the centre of the universe, we will still be believing that until now. What about all the scientists who invented all those gadgets we are taking for granted today? From electric lamps to PDA phones, all of them are the brainchild of scientists who dared to challenge conformity, to think out of the box and ultimately, to come up with something new, different, useful and innovative.

Okay, I'm not claiming to be a scientist here, and I do not know how to invent things...yet. I just want to share with you some of the things I have done to break conformity - of course, nobody was harmed during this *ahem* production xD

#1: Holding the door open for other people.
Somehow, it has been a common practice for the man to hold the door open for a lady (although sadly the habit is not practised much in IPBA), but there's rarely, if not never, a case of a lady holding the door open for a man.

What I did: When I walked out of the library with a bunch of people, I held the door open for the guy behind me.

Result: Well, I was expecting a 'thank you', but it didn't come. And the guy behind him gave me a baffled look and asked, "Why did you hold the door for him? He's a guy!"

#2: Offers from others - sincere or not?
You know how when people offer you food, they expect you to say no instead of taking it. That's why I played this small joke, more for the sake of observing the reaction than having the food ^_^

What I did: I was at a meeting with one MPP guy named Rahman, and one of his pals was also there. He took out a packet of pickled mandarin orange skin, and offered it to me. I actually saw him draw his hand back a little when I stretched my hand out =D That shows that my hypothesis was true. Then, I took a small piece of the pickle, nibbled on it and watched the expression on his face, which changed from startled, perplexed to slightly amused.

Result: The guy said to me, "Orang Cina memang suka makan benda cam ni ya?" (Translation: You Chinese love to eat food like this, right?). Speechless, I just nodded.

#3: Relationship with lecturers
Well, there's also such a perception that lecturers must look strict all the time, the students must show deference and respect to the lecturers, etc which cannot really be applied to the world we are living in right now. With all the new technology for communication and stuff, I daresay that all our status are slowly becoming equal. Personally, I prefer lecturers who can joke around with us, care about our lives and such instead of a wooden block of a lecturer who just comes into the class, teach, and go away.

What I did: I joked around with most of the lecturers, except for those whose faces hang as long as water dripping out of a bucket. Well, some of the jokes are just normal ones, like at the lift, one French lecturer ask me where I was going, and I answered, "Somewhere~" He appreciated the joke, and asked, "Somewhere over the rainbow?" That's just one of many examples. Mostly I do it during class, when the lecturers ask some questions and I just give random answers, which are literally correct but does not answer the question =D Provided that I see that they are in a good mood, of course ^_^

Result: The lecturers are less reserved, at least, they seem to be so ^^ And classes are so much more fun >3

Some other less unconventional things include saying hi to the people I don't know, talking to some of them (the responsive ones), greeting the canteen 'pakcik' and stuff like that xDD I have to say, it's been a very satisfying change for me, and I'm gonna continue breaking the conformity of my life.

Of course, there are more serious types of conformity than all those mentioned above, but they are sensitive issues, and well, should not be discussed by someone under a government scholarship =D

Sunday, March 1, 2009

I'm 84% Happy =D

I have been tagged by Misao-chan >3

Rules:
1- Ask for it, at least you have been tagged.
2- No Tag-backs
3- Tag at least one person
4- Put an X on each one that you do.

Let's Begin!

[ ] You have a boyfriend/girlfriend.
[x] You have your own room.
[x] you have a cellphone.
[x] you own you own iPod, Mp3, Mp4, etc...
[x] Your parents are married.
[X] You have more than 2 best friends.
[ ] You have a pool.
T 0 T A L: 5

[x] You dress like your own style.
[x] You go out with your friends at least once a week.
[x] You have a computer in your room.
[ ] You've never been hurt
[x] You never cry more than two times a week.
[x] Your parents let you hear the music you like.
[ ] Your room is as big as you want, or more.
[ ] People don't use you.
[X] You have been to a concert.
T 0 T A L: 6

[x] You have at least 50 friends in Facebook/MySpace/Messenger
[x] Your parents let you use Facebook/MySpace/Messenger
[x] You collect something "Normal"
[x] You go/went to school
[x] You don't wanna be someone else
[ ] You are a little cocky
[ ] You are a Volleyball/Football/Golf, etc player.
[x] You do something out of school/college/work
T 0 T A L: 6

[ ] You own a car
[x] You don't use to fight with your family
[ ] You think you are cute/beautiful.
[x] You have friends
[x] You feel loved
T 0 T A L: 3

[x] You know about current events.
[x] You love many people
[x] You are happy with your life.
[x] You know more than one language
[x] You have a screen name.
[ ] You have a pet.
[x] You know the lyrics of at least 5 songs.
[x] You have enemies.
[x] You are a nice person.
TOTAL: 8

TOTAL: 28

28 x 3 = 84%

The score's quite accurate, although I don't see how having enemies make you a happy person =D And I'm not really anxious to own a car until I start working ^_^

I tag Banumon!