Contemporary Music

I went to the International Composer Pyramid Finals at St Gregory's Centre in CCCU today (it was a competition to showcase the compositions of 12 young composers)

but frankly,

I can't understand it at all.

To me, it sounds as though all the composers had the same teacher as the style of the music is almost the same -- firstly and obviously, the melody does not follow the normal classical music structure, the notes and harmony are randomly organised (yeah, oxymoron intended) and there are loads and loads and loads of harmonics, high notes and running notes and all those stuff that is (sorry) quite unpleasant to the ear. To add to that, out of nowhere comes strange noises which make you feel as though you are in a metal jungle. The rhythm is also extremely inconsistent. In fact, I feel like it's just a whole bunch of notes with no time bars and you just play it whenever you should. There's no melodious sense at all - everything is just a bombardment of notes and sounds united by the conductor.

To be fair, I have not studied composition, and I know nil about contemporary music other than it is the product of this century (compared to Baroque and Classical and Romantic), so I probably can't tell the difference between songs No.1 and No.2. Besides, I haven't played any myself too, and that's probably why I can't appreciate it. To use an analogy by Philip, my partner in orchestra, it's like listening to a beautiful poem in a totally foreign language. It only shows its full beauty to the people who understand the language.

Not all is lost this night though. The 8th song I've heard had a very creative touch where rock drums were incorporated at the very end, which came as a pleasant surprise to everybody. Besides, this was the first time I've seen sounds and noises made on the violin in so many places.

However, if I, a music player feels this way about contemporary music, I would imagine that the public will feel about the same way too. And I don't get why contemporary music insists on being different. Once you insist too much, it becomes a priority, and it is different mainly for the sake of being different. To me, that spoils the whole essence of music really, as music should be a pattern of sounds instead of a jumble of noise and sounds and goodness knows what. I can even relax listening to Rachmaninoff, but after listening to contemporary music, all my muscles just tense up, and I feel like I'm going to have a nightmare tonight ;/

But then, I digress. Contemporary music might be just one elite culture that I can't ever get.

100th Post!

And My Heart Will Go On



and on, and on... :D

I Talk Too Much

Or rather, Malaysians talk too much.

When we first arrived in England, our lecturers told us, 'Go ahead and make friends with the locals. Don't be discouraged if you find that they're not as friendly as you hope, because British people are generally reserved and take some time to open up.'

That's true in some cases.

However, the lecturers forgot to mention that compared to British people, Malaysians talk a lot. In fact, I think we talk too much. And maybe it scares them a little. Or a lot.

In my case, since I'm a Gemini (yeah well, blame it on the horoscope), my mind works a little bit differently and in a conversation, I veer off in many different crazy directions that I forget what the conversation was originally about. And sometimes, I get so engrossed in talking I just go blabbering on and on and on and on and on and on. I once recounted one of my conversations to my friend, and she said 'If I were the person, I'd have punched you in the face for talking too much.' {=_=}

Still, there are people whom I enjoy talking to and who enjoy talking to me. And those conversations have a tendency to be punctuated with lots of laughter, which is good. I still have to remember though, about 85% of conversations in England, or at least in Canterbury, start off with 'Hey, you all right?'

In general, maybe I should learn to control the amount of things I say (well, people's minds work differently, and most of the time they can't catch up, or can't see the link).

On the other hand, this is actually good practice, as I'm going to be a teacher, and I need to talk a lot anyway. ;)

Ciao!

~Culture Shock in the UK~

It might seem a bit late for me to write about experiencing culture shock in the United Kingdoms now, since I've already been here for more than a month. However, it also means that I've already had enough time to settle down and observe the things here in Canterbury that's so different from what I'm used to in Malaysia.

1) Dry Toilets
All the toilets here are well-furnished with toilet papers and a good flushing system, but no WATER TAPS/HOSES!!! For us Malaysians who are *ahem* used to cleaning ourselves using our hands rather than the toilet paper, we had to take some time getting used to using the toilet paper (and slowly killing Mother Nature) instead.

2) Traffic and Rules
When the light flashes red in Canterbury, the drivers actually STOP. No, they don't see the yellow light and ram on their gas pedal to speed towards their destination. They slow down, and they stop for pedestrians to cross. Also, drivers give way at any zebra crossings if they see people waiting to cross the road. That's how courteous they are. In Malaysia, you are already risking your life by crossing even when the light is red, just because there will always be one or two motorists who can't wait for one single minute for their turn to move.

3) Recycling
The government, or rather the city council here places a lot of emphasis on recycling. All food packaging are labelled clearly whether they could be recycled, and the council sends workers to pick up recycled stuff once a fortnight. You can argue with me that Malaysia has the 3-coloured bins for recycling too, but frankly, we are still a long, long way behind.

4) Greetings
Somehow, I find the locals here a little 'on the surface'. Sure, they are friendly and everything, but somehow it doesn't go deeper than the surface. For example, when you meet them, they smile at you and say 'Hey, you all right?', but they do not actually wait for an answer. Somehow, I'm baffled as I always tend to answer the question. However, a little more than a month is too short of a time to gauge how friendly British people are, and things might change :D

5) Lack of Bolsters
Bolsters. Hugging pillows. Whatever you call them. No, I can't seem to find any in Canterbury. I miss having something long and soft to hug at night. Oh well, when I get a little richer, I'll try to get one from Ebay.

6) University Culture
Here, people address their lecturers by name, regardless of their position and qualifications. The lecturers treat us as mature adults, and there are not so many restrictions on whatever activities the students want to carry out. No paperwork, no invitation cards, none of the jiggly-wabbly-wasteoftimeandpaper-thingy all students have to go through when trying to organise anything in Malaysia. Now, this is what I call true democracy, and true support for learning.

Anyway, there's more, but these are the few main ones I can think of right now. Ciao!

~Happy Re-Birth Day, Me. 07.11.2010~

It started off as a practical joke...I changed my birthday on Facebook to the 7th of November just to see how many people will go 'Happy Birthday' on my wall XD

Not surprisingly, I received a lot of birthday wishes, some even from the people who've wished me on my real birthday - 3rd of June. That's really funny, and it shows how much people depend on Facebook these days to remember their friends' birthdays...but there were some who remembered though <3 And I can't really blame those who just added me recently either, since they probably don't pay attention to or won't remember birthdays :P

However, after the joke progressed and I read through all the birthday wishes, I felt as though it was really my birthday. Firstly it's because I didn't do much on my real birthday as I was in a camp (BTN) and there were no cakes or stuff. Secondly, it seems like a long time since I've been in Canterbury, and lots of things have happened. Next, birthdays are fun =)

At the same time, I've finally sorted out my feelings and thoughts. It didn't happen gradually - it was more like a flash since I discovered the way out. Before this, I would be dwelling over trivial things, such as other people's selfishness, bad ways, stupidity and such. Those things range from irritating me to making me angry to making me stew in solitude or disturb my emotions in general. Also, I tend to get obsessed over things that I cannot have, at least, not in the near future.

However, now, I've figured out (at least I hope I have) a way to work around these negative emotions. The principles are:

-Smile (and everything will be all right)
-Don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself
-When someone does bad things to you, it's not necessary that you should act the same way back
-Go with the flow
-When you can't get/do something, you can always get/do something else to replace it
-Loss of things, as long as they are not lives and your loved ones, are replaceable
-Money hoarded is not happiness
-Remember that not everyone is born with the same strengths and weaknesses as yours
-Don't be jealous of other people, as they might envy some things you have that they don't too
-Forgive and don't hold grudges
-Help people as much as possible without expecting anything in return

So, the 7th of November, 2010 is going to be marked as my REBIRTH DAY.

Let me gain the strength to close the chapter of the old, calculative, sensitive, lazy me, and begin a new chapter of an optimistic, happy, helpful and better me.

Keep on Going~

It doesn't matter if people do not like your music.


It doesn't matter if people do not like your wallpapers.


It doesn't matter if people do not like the things you write.
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/863421/

It doesn't matter if people do not like the things you say.


It doesn't matter if your first few attempts are rejected.

Coz' the important thing is -- you loved doing all those things. You feel happy. You're satisfied with what you've done. That's all that matters.

Ha. Hi. Hu. He. Ho. Manual.

Haha. Hihi. Huhu. Hehe. Hoho. Ahaha. Ehehe. Ohoho.

In case you haven't guessed, these are the 'words' most of us young adults, teenagers and kids use very frequently while typing in chats, texts, messages and stuff. Of course, there are more evolved types of unvoiced laughter such as 'kahkahkah', 'kuikuikui', 'muahaha', and the list goes on and on. However, this post shall only focus on silent laughter that has the letter 'h' as the first or second alphabet. Besides, I will endeavour to classify the emotions of the speaker while using any kind of laughter and also name the people who usually use that kind of laughter.

Now, this is my attempt to decipher what another person means when he/she is laughing on a chat box. Feel free to feel differently, as this is just a result of my perception + my experience of the words.

I shall start off with laughter that begins with 'h'.


Haha - the most conventional laughter. Most people sound like that when they are laughing (which means if you want to be unique, don't use this one). Use it to show happiness, joy and a little surprise. Since it's the most conventional one, it does not belong to a specific group of people.


Hehe - More often people say 'hehe' to show a sense of pride and self-satisfaction. Of course, you can also use it to hint 'serves you right', 'yeah, I'm awesome', 'smirk' and similar things. 'E' is a common vowel across many languages, so it's not strange to find people of all origins using 'hehehehe' too.


Hoho - Most commonly associated with the white-bearded, red-cap-wearing old man, or else known as Santa Claus. As the 'ho' sound needs relatively more air and energy to emit, usually people use 'hoho' when they want to show that their mouths are in an 'O' shape. If not, stick to 'haha' and 'hehe'.

interesting image, isn't it?

Hihi - The mouth stretches wide into a 'eee' position and the teeth is more clearly seen with this laugh. Usually used by cute people, cutesy people and people who try to be cute or cutesy. If you think you fall into any of the categories above, go for 'hihihihihi' and add a wink ;) or a smiley :D


Huhu - Used to show embarrassment or uncertainty. However, it's most common among Malays, Indonesians and the sort. Use it on people from other parts of the world and they will think you are going 'huh?' instead.

******
Then, there are types where you start with the vowel instead of 'h', such as...

Ahahaha - To portray 'Ah, I see + laughter'. Used to show comprehension. More commonly used by Italians (I noticed).

Ehehehe - To show a little bit of embarrassment and shyness. More commonly used by Japanese and Italians.

Ohohoho - Try saying it. Yes. Ohohoho. That's just plain evil, foxy laughter. Use this to show that you are scheming something (but if you are really scheming something, why show it? :o)

******

THE END

P.S: All images (c) their owners.

More on BadaBimBumBand

I can't start to explain why I like this band so much. Maybe it's because of the amazing choreography, maybe it's because of the creative way they strut their stuff, maybe it's the way they coordinate and cooperate to perform, maybe it's the way they arrange their music to be so vibrant and spirited, maybe it's the way they interact with the audience despite being able to speak little English, maybe it's the way they're all men in unitards dancing around in the streets...

:D

Anyway, I've found more videos in my camera on BadaBimBumBand (easier said than typed), so here goes -- just to share with my readers ~

P.S: All of them are around the Canterbury city centre, since I'm relatively new in Canterbury and only managed to figure out where 'Dane Johns Garden', the castle area and castles grounds after the whole affair xD

1.



2. Jumping and galloping around?



3. Marching through the town (I was stalking behind :P)



And lastly, a group photo I snapped ~



This is my new favourite band :D so I'm gonna keep an eye out for them whenever they have street shows in the future....for those interested, here's their facebook group page link:

BadaBimBumBand

Something Exciting in Canterbury (BadaBIMBUMBand?)

I've been in Canterbury for so long, and yet I haven't found something really exciting to post in my blog about -- I mean, you wouldn't be interested to see photos of my room, my kitchen and the substandard food I've been cooking for myself...if you'd understand what I mean :D

Anyway...I've finally encountered something that was quite out of the ordinary while taking a seemingly eventless walk to town to set up an appointment with HSBC.

So it happens that it was the Eurofair in Canterbury from the 24th to the 26th of September (for more details about the Eurofair click here)

While walking around town in the afternoon, my friends and I did not notice the hubbub in town as something unusual since it was a Friday. I bought some strawberries, tried on some trench coats and boots and made an appointment with HSBC to set up a bank account.

Suddenly, I got drawn to music playing somewhere around the center of the city, and my friends and I made our way towards it. I was then surprised to see about a dozen men, all dressed in white jackets and pants and shades playing some brass instruments.

Upon close inspection, I noticed that they were all saxophonists with the exception of two guys on the drums. The music was indeed great - harmonious and clear, but what made it even more awesome was the fact that they were dancing while playing, and the arrangement was so nearly flawless that I could only hear a few blowing mistakes here and there.

They had a good way of interacting with the audience too. In one particularly mischievous song which was the one before the last, they spread out and tried to intimidate the audience by going as close as possible to them. Of course, ladies squealed and men chuckled as they tried to avoid being in the way of this marching street band. After deciding that they have scared the onlookers enough, they made their way back into a straight line and composed themselves for the next song. Amazing choereography and idea, I must say.

Anyway, after their show I had the luck to get a photo with a few of the band members before it started to rain. Here's the photo...

and the video...

Cheers!


P.S: I might write more about my daily life in Canterbury and the differences between it and M'sia if I suddenly decide that it's not too boring to read :D

Just a short post about dickless bastards.

Image from Kenwooi.com

...about the inconsideration and selfishness of some individuals.

Place: KTM Kuala Lumpur Station
Date: 22nd August 2010
Time: Approximately 5pm

The KTM train recently launched a new system - they turned the middle coach into females-only coach.

So one fine day, after getting down from the bus, I went to the station to take the train back to KL Sentral so that I can go back to my college.

However, the first train that arrived was so crowded and many passengers were already waiting to board i.

Of course, there was a big scramble to get on the train first (imagine all the people in a Mega Sale with 80% off Burberry). I, being a female, made my way to the coach that says 'females only'.

The coach was tooooooooooooooo full to make way for my two bags. Okay, I can understand that. But, inside the coach, there were a few guys staring innocently outside, probably feeling an odd sense of satisfaction for being to get into the coach on time instead of having to wait for the next train. They even had the gall to smile indulgently at me when I had to hop out of the train to avoid being turned into minced meat by the sliding doors.

I just want to say...

Female-only coaches are FEMALE-ONLY coaches. Unless you suddenly sprouted a pair of boobs or got castrated or really had to hurry to take the expressway to hell or you are a lady disguised as a man...

You. Men. Are. Not. Supposed. To. Get. On. Female. Only. Coaches. You. Dickless. Bastards.

What does it mean to love your country?

A story about a mouse, a cat, a dog

and not forgetting...

the bird? o.o

Disclaimer: This story is not original, I merely adapted, translated and renovated it from a Chinese article I read on Sin Chew's Daily today (>_<)

Once upon a time, there was an old, old lady who lived alone in a cottage on top of the mountain. She was a kind, gentle soul who always feeds half of her meals to the animals around her. Besides, she showered the animals with compassion and love, and hence, the animals came to love her in return.

Among the animals closest to her were Bow the dog, Mew the cat, Chit the bird and Tippy the mouse. Every day without fail, Bow, Mew and Chit would flock around the old lady, waiting for her to feed them. And when she did so, they would express their gratitude - Bow by wagging his tail energetically, Mew by rubbing itself against the old lady's legs and Chit by fluttering and twittering around her. However, Tippy did not accept food from the old lady. Instead, it burrowed into the ground, found some plants or grubs or whatever and fed itself. Only after it is full, it will curl up silently by the old lady, waiting for time to pass.

Days passed, and the animals found out that the old lady's birthday was almost approaching. Of course, the most excited among all the animals were none other than the four. Enthusiastically, they went into the forest and started collecting flowers. Bow found some blue bluebells, Mew found some yellow daffodils while Chit found some red hibiscuses. The only odd one out was Tippy, who was burrowing for his food as usual.

"What an ungrateful soul you are, Tippy!" Bow growled at the mouse. "Yeah, we are here, all busy preparing a birthday present for our lovely old lady, but you're just being selfish and minding your own business!" Chit chirped angrily. "I really feel sorry for her...how would she feel if she knew that you don't appreciate what she did for you all this while," Mew purred, smiling nastily at Tippy.

Tippy heard the insults from the three animals, and it paused in its process of food gathering.

"Well, I am different from all of you. Although now I am not preparing a birthday gift for her, that doesn't mean that I'm ungrateful and selfish. Think of yourselves...every day she has to sacrifice half of her meals to feed you, and hence she goes hungry most of the time. On the other hand, I don't depend on her for my food, instead I hunt for them myself. To me, that is the best way to repay her kindness instead of fully depending on her, and showing your gratitude once a year with a flashy, lavish birthday present."

~-~-~

So guys and girls, loving our country doesn't just mean waving or hanging enormous national flags, singing patriotic songs, etc. Sometimes, being independent and resourceful and self-sufficient is the best you can do for your country, as opposed to taking it for granted and just using all the advantages available here.

But of course, contributing to your country will be an added bonus :D just like negative, neutral and positive, get what I mean?

The rollercoaster journey to UK Visa

So it happens that I'm going to CCCU soon, and so it happens that if I want to study in the UK for more than 6 months, I have to get a visa. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Then, I found out a visa is not just a visa - it's made up of various documents, forms, some trivial and not-so-trivial stuff to be collected, photocopied, filled in and whatnot.

Lemme describe the excruciating process of getting a visa together with the rest of Da Demotivated Retards (Alicia, Daniel, Yuges, Banu and yours truly)...

1st step: Forms, forms and more forms
One would have thought that in order to get a visa, you have to fill in just the visa application form.

WRONG!

There are a total of 4 forms for visa alone, and another form for the supporting documents...
- Visa online application form (VAF9)
- PBS Tier 4 Appendix 8 for General Students
- CAS (a checklist for all the documents)
- Student survey

Before doing our visa, we have to get a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so that's another form.

And we did the MAS Grads Card (which enables us to bring an extra 10kg luggage) too, making another form

2nd Step: Wasting paper, killing trees and destroying the environment
The forms are printed out. For all three applications, supporting documents are needed. Innocent papers are used to photocopy the originals and backup forms. That's all.

3rd Step: Journey around Kuala Lumpur
This was the most fun part. On the first day, we went to get our Grads Card and bank draft done. It was quite an easy process as we just needed to bring along RM 976 in cash to CIMB and some documents to the Enrich Centre. The whole process took about 3 hours and didn't cause any headaches at all.

It was a whole different story on the 2nd day. The schedule was to get a stamp and signature from a commissioner of oaths, then go to the MOFA to get our Cert. of Good Conduct. The commissioner was located in Damansara while MOFA was in Putrajaya. So, what did we do?

First, we woke up late, and gathered at 10am. Then, we took a taxi to Damansara and got our forms stamped. Had lunch at KFC while waiting for the uber-famous 'government lunch time' to pass and made a move to KL Sentral. From there, we took the ERL to Putrajaya Sentral and hopped on a bus towards MOFA. The whole trip took about 1 hour and when we arrived, we still had to wait for the doors to open at 2pm. The application process took another hour, and then we took the bus back to Putrajaya Sentral, and another bus back to KL Sentral. Except that we missed the stop and ended up in Pasar Seni, making an extra LRT station x) By the time we got back in IPBA, we were all so tired we could just curl up and sleep on the floor.

On the third day, we finally went to Ampang Park by LRT to submit our application at the UK visa centre at Wisma MCA. It wasn't so tiring as much as unnerving, as there were three security guards at the entrance, and we had to go through body scans and stuff. Comparatively, it was a simple process though, and took just a little more than an hour~

Step 4: Free for All
Yeah, after submitting the visa application, we are basically free to do anything we please. So then, see ya =)

False Alarm O-o (and I'm a No0B)

My trustworthy Dell laptop (Inspiron 1420) has so far given me minimal problems after two years of using it. The only beefs I have about it is that it's too heavy, not fast-performing enough and the Window Explorer problem.

Today, I switched on the laptop as usual and left it on the table while I went and tinkered some on my piano <3>"Interactive logon process initialization has failed. Please consult the event log for more details."

The first thing that came into my head was 'How the heck am I supposed to consult the event log when YOU won't even let me look at my FRICKING desktop!' (Of course, I didn't say this out loud ^^)

Then I started to panic. I've heard things like this happening to other people, but never me. I think my laptop is clean enough (at least I've never had to send it for repair before) and I use an antivirus, don't surf suspicious websites and all those, so I don't think there would be any major problems with it.

Anyway, my initial reaction was to shut down the laptop forcibly (i.e. by switching off the power source and pulling out the battery). Now that I think about it, that was incredibly stupid. It's just like showering halfway and having no water while shampoo and soap bubbles are still all over you, or watching a movie and having a power outage just before your favourite scene, or...well, you get the idea xD My point is, this is an idiotic, thoughtless thing to do, even to a lifeless laptop.

So, I turned on the wireless Internet in my house and surfed the Internet using my phone (bless the Nokia Xpress music 5800) for any tips to solve this problem. First thing I saw, I wasn't the only one who experienced this on my laptop. So, I went and dug out all the manuals and backup discs that came with my laptop just in case they could be in handy.

I read through what the other users did - restored the system, ran the computer on the DVD, reboot, whatever, blah blah...and I went O_O Someone help me ! I'm absolutely clueless on how to do all these x_X

Still, I mustered all my courage to gave it a try. I rebooted my laptop, missed the time where I was supposed to press 'F12' to go into a system, and was brought to the screen where it asked me whether I wanted to start Windows normally or in Safe Mode (prolly because I shut down the laptop forcibly xD).

To be safe, I chose the safe mode :P

Miraculously, I saw my desktop materialise on the screen with the title 'windows in safe mode', without a wallpaper and with extremely ugly graphics. I was so happy I could have kissed the laptop. So then, I ran System Restore and reverted all the updates back to the last point I updated the laptop.

Hopefully this will solve all the problems --> coz' now my laptop is functioning normally, but I don't have the foggiest idea how it would turn out the next time I power it on again.

Till then, adieu~ >_<"

P.S: I know I'm being a little over-dramatic, but my laptop is my love :D

Hypocrites...

-are those who say one thing and do another

-are those who say one thing and mean another

-are those who dresses like nuns yet behaves like prostitutes

-are those who preach religion yet commits heinous acts of sins

-are those who say 'never mind' yet indulge in back-stabbing their friends

-are those who say 'I'm sorry' and don't mean it

-are those who say 'Beauty is only skin deep' and spend hours on makeup

-are those who say their religion are the only true religion and their God the ultimate supreme whatever

-are those who say they believe in religion yet take part in all kinds of superstitions

-are those who pray only to absolve their sins

-are those who criticise others over things they secretly do themselves

-are those who advocate feminism yet gets offended when they're asked to do things guys do

-are those who advocate male chauvinism yet say 'ladies first' when confronted with things guys don't want to do

-are those attention-seekers who do things just to attract people's attention

-are those who wear headscarves yet do not cover their body parts they're supposed to

-are those who blindly imitate what their friends do just to 'fit in'

-are those who labels people with terms like 'nerd', 'geek', 'dumb blond' and so on

-are those who don't swear openly but curse non-stop in their mind for the sake of appearing 'civilised'

-are those who smile while plotting something evil

-are those who discriminate homosexuals just because they aren't one themselves

*and the list goes on forever So, I guess almost everyone is a hypocrite =)

And it's Canaan Online FTW!

Recently, I started playing Canaan Online.

How did I know about the game?
Through an MMORPG site - I was searching for a browser-based game, which means that I don't need to download heavy clients with high requirements that takes up space in my laptop.

A brief overview
Canaan Online is a RPG (role-playing game) in which you assume a character and do quests, have pets, form teams, join guilds and go on adventures. There are four classes - priest (I'm one), ranger, warrior and mage to choose from, each with their advantages. Frankly speaking, I had doubts about the game when I first started playing, as compared to some other games, this one comes across as being pretty easy.

However, once you reach level 30, things start getting complicated. One interesting, but hard thing about this game is that you can forge your own equipment, and depending on the quality of the materials you use, the equipment will be stronger or weaker. Besides, mages and priests share the same type of materials, while warriors and rangers use another type, so it's always good to make friends and exchange materials. Also, the quests start to become harder and harder, so friends are important to help you finish them easier and quicker.

Besides, there are also pets, not to play with, but to help you in battles. Depending on your character class, different pets can either heal you, fight along your side, increase your stats or add to your hp. The pets variety is huge too - almost all the monsters you fight in this game can be captured as pets. Like equipments, pets are divided into classes too, from normal, smart, genius, supreme to ultimate (need I say which is the best?)

Last but not least, there are many small but interesting details in the game, such as dressing up the characters, joining guilds and going into mazes, and marriage (which brings along lots of benefits ^^). Also, I believe that furniture, mounts (vehicles) and houses are becoming available soon.

Plus points
+ Canaan Online is free to play
+ It runs in a browser
+ The controls are easy
+ The graphics...while I won't say dazzling, but they are above average
+ You can level up your character by paying (in-game coins) and leaving your browser open

Minus points
- Sometimes it takes a long while to load the game
- System gifts cannot be traded
- Moving around is slow (but fast with mounts)

So yeah, I have been playing Canaan Online with every spare time I have. My name-in-game is Reicorleone and I'm married to Justinn (which explains my strange status update in Facebook) XD

~C'est moire~

A Period of Mourning

On 15th June 2010, Tuesday, 12.45 a.m., my grandmother from my father's side passed away because of intestinal cancer.

According to Chinese/Buddhist/Taoist (probably a mixture of all three) tradition, when an old person passes away, we have to mourn for either 5 or 7 days. During the period of mourning, all the close relatives are expected to wear white shirts and black pants, and pin on small pieces of cloth and/or burlap on their right arm as well as tie a white ribbon around the right wrist to indicate that they are mourning for the passing of someone in their family.

Usually, a funeral is supposed to be a sad affair, but in this case, I didn't feel too much sorrow, as my grandmother was already 88 years old, and she passed away peacefully and with minimal pain.

As a matter of fact, this funeral gave the whole family a chance for reunion, as most members of the family came back from all over Malaysia, and some even from China to pay their final respects to my grandmother at my uncle's house in Kuala Muda.

Alright, let's proceed with a brief description of the ritual process...

The body of the deceased is placed in a coffin, with the cover revealing the face through a glass. A wreath of white flowers are placed at the feet area, while joss sticks are burnt for the whole period and the children of the deceased stay up all night to ensure the main long one is never burnt out (i.e. replaced when it gets too short).

Day 1 to Day 4: The main family members just stay in the house and sometimes chant prayers from morning to afternoon. At night, a few monks will come and lead the chanting of some more complicated prayers from different 'sutras' which we follow. On the 4th night, the family members will burn offerings to the deceased, including a huge house made of paper for him/her to use in the afterlife.

Day 5 is the day for the body to be buried or cremated (in my grandmother's case, cremated). The family members arrive early in the morning and there are also other friends and distant family who came for the final farewell. Then, the coffin is brought out of the house and into the van where it is sent to the cremation site. The whole process is quite complicated as a series of 'rules' have to be followed, and what I did was just to follow what everyone else did.

One good thing that came out of these 5 days was that I realised that I actually have a number of cute kids under me -- my cousins, nephews and nieces.

My cousin ... i call her Chloe but actually it's just her Chinese name that sounds like it xD My youngest uncle's daughter

A moth or butterfly that hung around the house until unfortunately, it got stepped on and died by my eldest aunt's husband o_O

flowers from various people

the 'house' which was burnt as an offering

my nephew, the son of my cousin, Zi Yao. He kinda looks like Edison Chan, no? xD

and his sister

Joelle Chin, the youngest present during the funeral (2 years old). My cousin's only daughter

Qian Hui, another one of my nieces. Has a smart mouth, sometimes good, sometimes bad xD

As I probably mentioned before, I'm not a devote Buddhist. In fact, I don't believe in religion (note: that doesn't mean that I totally reject the existence of a god, but that would come later). To me, I follow all the rituals and do what I'm told as a sign of respect for my grandmother and elders who are there, that's all. Still, attending this funeral let me witness the power of religion and how it brings everyone together. That is something to be respected, and also feared when abused.

Personally, I still think that it's more important to take care of the living rather than lavishing rituals, riches and whatnot on the dead.

I also got some 'souvenirs' from this incident - a whole load of mosquito bites on my feet and legs =.=" I can actually see constellations on my left foot.

Warning: Chinese Wedding Dinners Might Cause Deafness

NOPE, I'm kidding. The above is just a photo of a traditional Chinese wedding function. Just a note - until now I haven't been to any weddings in which couples dress that way :D


Going to any Chinese wedding dinners has always been an ordeal for me - never mind if the groom/bride is my closest relative or a stranger. The pattern is almost always the same: the amplifiers will blast the emcee's voice, music and stuff at full volume, while the guests do not dare to complain for fear of offending the newly-weds or their parents.

Last Saturday (22 May), I went to the wedding dinner of the daughter of a seafood restaurant's owner, who was a close friend of my father's family. I don't know the father or the daughter personally, but to 'bagi muka', I had to go too =.="

Anyway, when I reached there, I was appalled to see that the restaurant was crammed with people like sardine in cans, and a lot of guests actually had to sit OUTSIDE the restaurant. Then I started wondering:

1) What's the point of inviting so many friends and family over if the place you chose cannot accommodate all of them?
2) What's the point of sitting outside if you see what's happening on stage?

The food was just tolerable, some cooked to the point where I pity the animals who were slaughtered to produce the dish, which was just edible.

...

Back to the title of the post, that Chinese wedding dinners might cause deafness, the reasons are as follows. If you've gone to such a dinner before, whether it's at a hotel or restaurant, you might find that you've had similar experience.

1) The speakers and amplifiers are turned on at full volume.
2) The emcee, knowing that, cannot stop talking for fear that his salary might be cut.
3) He keeps on talking and talking and talking nonsense.
4) When he stops talking, the noise is replaced by music, still at full volume.
5) When he doesn't talk, he sings.
6) When he doesn't sing, he invites other guests to go up the stage and sing.
7) Most, if not all of the guests are not professional singers - they either sing out of tune or out of rhythm. This time, I was lucky that the singers did not screech or shout. I'm counting my blessings.
8) The amplifiers were only lowered during the 'yam seng' (cheers) session, where everyone lifts their glasses and toast the newly-weds at the top of their lungs. It's equally bad, by the way.

With all this, I'm thankful that both my ears are still functioning. Sometimes, I wonder why everything has to be so...loud. Probably, the point is to make it hard for guests to talk to each other so that they will focus their attention on the newly-weds instead of themselves.

All looking to the stage for the grand toast

My mom and I...yeah, we

a blurry shot taken with my phone of the bride and groom. The bride is the one in the purple dress...duh XD

~Happy Teacher's Day~

THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER

The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."

"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?"

TEACHER:

…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
... must run on coffee, coke and leftovers,
... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
... must have more time for others than for herself/himself
... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
... must have 6 pair of hands.

"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible"
"Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"

The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"

The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you",
without so much as saying a word to the child."

"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think
you should work on it tomorrow".

"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."

The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
"It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.

"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary".

"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.

"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."

The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger
over the teacher's cheek.

"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model.
You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."

The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek.
It shone and glistened in the light.

"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."

"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"

The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students
and get ready to welcome a new class."

"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"
The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."

*copied from http://www.songs4teachers.com/inspiration.htm*

~A very Happy Teacher's Day to educators all over the world~

Milkshake's Videos Up~ *Finally*

Although it's not our best performance yet; in fact, it's our FIRST performance, I don't see any wrong in uploading the videos to Youtube. Comment, praise and criticise all you like :D That will help us improve =D

Milkshake - Intro of Canon in D Rock *simplified* and Seize the Day by Avenged Sevenfold



Milkshake - Silly Lily by Bunkface

Milkshake FTW!

Yee ha! In my last post, I mentioned that my band, Milkshake will take part in the Rhythm of the Champions in my college, ne? So, here I am with updates of the results and details of the competition~ (It's kinda late, I know)

Anyway, the competition was held on the 29th of April 2010 at IPG KBA's auditorium, from 2.30pm to 5.00pm. Apart from joining the competition, I was also the organiser of the competition -- multitasking is my middle name.

Well, to cut the story short, Milkshake came in 3rd place in the competition. Some might laugh at the results, as there were only 5 bands in total competing, but still, it was a pleasant surprise to all 5 of us.

The 2 songs we played were 'Seize the Day' by Avenged Sevenfold and 'Silly Lily' by Bunkface. As for the intro, we extracted a small part from Canon in D Rock. As we were all beginners at the instruments we were playing except for Alif, who has been playing the guitar for quite some time, everyone said that we were taking a huge risk by playing all difficult songs. Especially me, the lead guitar, who has to play the solo for all 3 songs. And let me tell you this, it's not easy...

Anyway, all of us were quite nervous as we were the last band to perform on stage on that day. I myself was so unfocused that I forgot to adjust my guitar strap properly, resulting in me having problems playing the high notes on the guitar (LOL). For all 3 songs, our tempo was faster than how we usually played during practice, and that made it harder for me to play my solo xD Also, during 'Seize the Day', our vocalist Alif wasn't in his best condition, and he hit the high notes EVEN higher =.="

Silly Lily was a good performance though. Although we went a little too fast too, but we were very active on stage, moving and jumping, and the vocalist for this song, Akmal, did a great job too. Besides, the audience loved the song and was well entertained~

Anyway, for our performance, I would say...
'Better aim high and miss, than aim low and hit'

Our song choices might be difficult, but we pulled it off pretty well.

This is US. Not Susu Kocak, but MILKSHAKE (our tagline xD)

From top left:
Abang Long Safwan (Bassist)
Yukina-Rei (Lead)
Akmal Hazimin (Rhythm/Vocal)

Bottom left:
Alif Aguero Alias (Vocal/Rhythm)
Syed Adiey (Drummer)

P/S: I will upload the video soon, once I get my hands on it :P

Heaven and Hell Against You?

For simplicity and to reduce annoyance, all references to people will be 'he' instead of 'he/she' or 'one' or so on. No gender specification - 'he' refers to humans in general =)

Self Pity - probably one of the most destructive emotions one could ever have.

According to the Collins Cobuild Dictionary 2006, self-pity is defined as a feeling of unhappiness that you have about yourself and your problems, especially when this is unnecessary or greatly exaggerated.

People come across problems all of the time. From kings to vagabonds, geniuses to dumb people, everyone encounters some obstacles at some point in their life. That is not a cause to whine and complain and expect sympathy from everyone else. This might sound selfish, but YOU are supposed to at least try to solve your problems before asking for help. That is why it's called YOUR problem, not MY problem or HIS problem or HER problem or THEIR problem.

Sure, acting like a damsel (or a male equivalent of that) in distress might seem cute initially. Still, after a while, most people get irritated and annoyed when you put on a sad, emo face and seek for comfort from them all the time. Do remember that some people will have their own problems, and they might not have the same tolerance other kind souls might show to you.

I'm sure everyone has their favourite activities and pastimes (hobbies, okay). So, compared to brooding and stewing and whining which get you nowhere, why not go indulge in something more beneficial for everyone?

Also, humans are individuals. Obviously, the choice of giving you sympathy and taking care of you is up to them - it is NEVER an obligation.

In brief- Do I look like I care, when I'm already burdened with so much of my own?

***

On a side note, my newly formed band Milkshake is going to enter a band competition at my college. I'm the *coughs* lead guitarist (who has been playing the guitar for only 3 months) o_O

Wow?

Buying A Violin...

Buying a violin is like getting married.

First, you have to pick out your possible partner, i.e. the violin. You scout for it at certain shops. Then, you wait for one that shouts 'love at first sight'.

Once you've got an eye for the violin you want, you start to consider the possibilities for you to be together. The most pressing matter to consider is whether you can afford the violin and its maintenance, parallel to whether you can afford to lavish your money on your newly found 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend'.

In the process, you try out your compatibility with your violin - how can it adapt to you, how good you feel being with it, how you 'click' together and how you pair together to produce beautiful music.

After everything's done and you have decided on your violin (the financial factor plays a great part too), you can propose to your violin, get married and bring it back home.

However, that is not the end of the story.

After marriage, you have more maintenance to do. Buying accessories for it (like the bow, casing, rosin, shoulder-rest and stuff), change some of its' 'clothes' (bridge, strings, knobs, chin-rest...) and taking good care of it (wiping it after use, polishing it and more). If you don't do all that, your violin will get angry with you after a while, and it won't serve you any more.

Also, if you decide to 'play three sticks' with it and place your attention on another violin instead, chances are, if you ignore your violin for too long, it will get spoilt after a while too.

The only thing that makes violins better than a husband/wife is that if you change your mind and want to divorce your violin for another, you can easily do so without much complications. Beware of your finances though - a new violin will suck your money faster~

*all these came to mind when I found out that, in order to replace my violin strings with the same brand, I need to fish out RM198. It's like buying a new guitar =.="*

New Gadget in my Blog, New Things in My Life

Well, if you look to the right, you can see advertisements by Nuffnang on the gadgets bar. I didn't really place it there to earn money, just for decoration, but if you feel like clicking on it and help me earn some extra pocket money...well, I wouldn't say no ^^

Some brief updates in my life:

1) My sister's boyfriend - Eddie's eldest brother just passed away recently. Although I haven't met him before, I still felt sad for him and his family, especially for Eddie, who suddenly has to take on the responsibility of being the eldest son in the family. (This is particularly important in Chinese traditional families). May his brother's soul rest in peace, and may his family be strong enough to accept his fate.

2) I started to become addicted to Neopets once again. This, too, will come in another post - - note the word 'brief'.

This is my pet Wocky, with the funny name 'Foxy 211999'. Oh well, I adopted it when I was 13 years old ^_^"

3) I met my cousin Teng Hock last Wednesday afternoon. He treated me to Vietnamese food all the way in One Utama. I had the chance to sit in his white Honda Civic R-class, which he named 'Super White Rabbit' (LOL, you will know what I mean if you translate it to Chinese). To think of it, this was the first time I've met him in many months - I didn't even see him during Chinese New Year. However, it was quite a pleasant outing with him - it got me thinking, having relatives isn't so bad as I thought.

4) This is an effect from number 3 - I think it's time to get more acquainted with my relatives, especially those in my generation. At least, when we are grown up, we won't become estranged like what we see in family dramas.

***

By the way, a Polish plane to Russia crashed, bringing down the lives of Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and other senior political figures. Whether it's a pure accident or it's a conspiracy (from what I've read from BBC, Kaczynski is rather well-known for his right-wing governance) is yet to be known. Add to that the fact that the plane crashed in Russia, where they were going to visit a World War II memorial place. I was just wondering though, talking about placing all your eggs in a single basket, why would they travel together on the same plane in the first place? It's kinda...dangerous. However, Poland has to be strong (yet again - it's always these few words when dealing with deaths) and refrain from creating chaos even though they lost *I don't know how many percent* of their government in that plane crash.

Oh well, these days, nobody is too young to deal with death. So, everyone might as well accept the fact that people are going to die, anytime, anywhere, anyhow. The deal is to live your lives as happily as possible ^^

There's No Way to Fully Please a Woman...

A group of girlfriends is on vacation when they see a 5-story hotel with a sign that reads: "For Women Only." Since they are without their boyfriends and husbands, they decide to go in.

The bouncer, a very attractive guy, explains to them how it works. "We have 5 floors. Go up floor by floor, and once you find what you are looking for, you can stay there. It's easy to decide since each floor has a sign telling you what's inside."

So they start going up and on the first floor the sign reads: "All the men on this floor are short and plain." The friends laugh and without hesitation move on to the next floor.

The sign on the second floor reads: "All the men here are short and handsome." Still, this isn't good enough, so the friends continue on up.

They reach the third floor and the sign reads: "All the men here are tall and plain."

They still want to do better, and so, knowing there are still two floors left, they continued on up.

On the fourth floor, the sign is perfect: "All the men here are tall and handsome." The women get all excited and are going in when they realize that there is still one floor left. Wondering what they are missing, they head on up to the fifth floor.

There they find a sign that reads: "There are no men here. This floor was built only to prove that there is no way to please a woman."

I wonder how many of us womenfolk would walk up to the fifth floor? I know I would, just to satisfy my curiosity of whether it's the extreme handsome or extreme ugly waiting there :D

And yeah, there's no way to completely please a woman...that's what makes us women~

From http://www.helium.com/items/693485-jokes-blonde-jokes?page=4

Shocked. Seriously.

It's not my style to post the everyday stuff I see or hear in my life, but this was really shocking. Probably to some of you, it's something normal (I'm not going into a long post about culture, communication and more) but in Malaysia, especially in a teacher's training college, I did not expect such language to be used in public, and what's even worse - it's not just spoken, but shouted at someone else.

The first thing to remember is that being a senior does not automatically grant you the right to do anything you like. In fact, the more senior you are, the more matured you should be, and I assume that being so old, one would know that it is extremely rude and inappropriate to call another person a bitch, especially when she has done nothing wrong.

The story goes like this: (M is the nickname of the senior)
At the block 4 common room, three groups of people were having their discussions. Two came from the PPISMP TESL group who were probably talking about their choral speaking and activities during their English Camp, which will be held next week. For my group, I was involved in the story telling during English week, which will be held the week after. Of course, having so many people in a small, closed space, we could hardly hear ourselves talking. Still, it's possible to move closer to each other in order to hear them speak.

Suddenly, in the midst of chastising us for being late (yeah, it's our fault for being late, but that's not the main point), M suddenly yelled 'Can all of you SHUT UP and do your discussion quietly?' Someone from the choral speaking group spoke up, albeit less loudly, 'You shut up too.'

Then M lost control and started shouting, 'You SHUT UP, BITCH!' That was the most shocking part of the whole incident. I mean, if you want to argue, fine, but if you start to degrade other people by calling names, you are just showing how low you are. I guess the rest of the juniors were just as equally surprised, as they kept quiet and whispered among them after that.

M then continued, 'I'm very angry now...so you all better keep quiet, blah blah' (the rest of my memory is blurred). And then I start to wonder.

1. The common room is a place for everyone to use, and unless you have officially booked it, everyone should be allowed to make noise or do whatever in it.

2. If you really require somewhere more conducive for a meeting, the logical thing to do would be for the smallest group to move somewhere else (we were the smallest group there) since it would be easier for us to find a place.

3. The junior was not wrong to ask you to shut up, since you started the rudeness, and she just gave an eye for an eye.

4. (As posted in my FB) 'bitch' not only means a woman who behaves in a very unpleasant way, but it also means 'female dog'. In this case, I think M fulfilled the criteria better, judging by the way she acted.

5. What's the point of the sentence 'I'm very angry...' Should other people even care that you are angry when you behave this way? And I place this statement under childishness, if one thinks that other people should comply with them just because they are angry. Besides, being angry does not give you the right to let someone else be the brunt of your anger.

6. It wouldn't have sounded so harsh if you spoke to her in a common tone. Did you really have to shout something so rude? I wouldn't have qualms using these words in a joking tone too.

Probably the words 'shut up' and 'bitch' are very commonly used overseas, and this M picked up the habit of using them. However, to cite a Malay idiom 'masuk kandang lembu menglembu, masuk kandang kambing mengembek' (it means one should learn to adapt to the culture wherever they go). If you want to behave so outspokenly and straightforward in a culture that accepts it, fine. But once you come back to Malaysia, it would do you well to remember 'budi bahasa budaya kita', that we want to encourage and nurture good manners and etiquette among the people we are teaching. No use being a hypocrite, acting all cute and good in front of the children; and throwing it all to the wind behind them.

And here, we are not talking about a positive culture such as a foreign accent, cleanliness, free thinking and stuff, we are talking about something offensive, which would be considered rude in a Malaysian context. Even on internet forums where nobody actually sees or hears you, I've been trained not to 'talk' that way. If that is what one brings back from overseas, then what is the point of going overseas?

I've ranted too much in this post. I just hope that this post will be a reminder for me to stay true to my roots and remember how to absorb good values and stay away from bad ones, since I will be going overseas in a few months time.

Till then, adios!

P.S: This post is not meant to be offensive to any party. I'm just recounting the events that happened and stating my point of view on them.

^_^

Just a Random Update

ULTIMATE LAG!!!

This post is more for the sake of my friends at Animepaper, although I doubt if anyone from there reads my blog except for Misao-chan and Bo-chan, lol.

Anyway, upon logging in to AP, the first thing I noticed was that my last wallpaper was 6 months and 2 weeks ago ^_^" Actually, I still have a whole folder of WIPs (wallpapers in progress) which I work on...occasionally.

Then, I went to the main page and saw that my AP friends uploaded a load of awesome wallpapers, and also some of which scans are the same as those in my WIP folder. To be exact, my most recent 'Thumbelina' wallpaper was the only one I've made since I was promoted to the senior member status on AP...I should be demoted to community waller =.=" Of course, I tried to set deadlines and wanted to make wallpapers for Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day and the Chinese Valentine Day, which failed miserably xDD

To tell the truth, my life is not that busy to the extent that I don't have time to make wallpapers. Rather, I fill my free time doing other stuff now than sitting in front of my laptop with my tablet xD My newly found favorite activity is badminton, and when I'm in college, I usually go to the court on weekdays from 5pm, and 'lepak' there until around 8pm. After that, with a shower and dinner, it would already be around 9.30 pm. Sometimes, MUSICA has drum, guitar or piano classes at night from 9-10pm, and there goes another hour of my time. As for weekends, I'm usually busy trying to complete assignments at the last minute, so there you go. If not, I usually sleep and wake up late, either lurking around the Net or playing games on my laptop~


Anyway, this is one of my most recent WIPs which I managed to gather the energy to 'try to complete' this holidays. Everything is painted except for the girl who is vectored, and I will edit some parts of the ocean to make it look, well, more like an ocean. I will try to submit this in time for a friend's birthday on AP ^^

Any comments, anyone? And any ideas on how to motivate myself in completing more wallpapers from that junk of a folder I named WIP?

=p

What is a Blog?

It's just something random that popped up in my mind.

Some people use their blogs as a place to rant, rave and express all their negative emotions (i.e. ke-tidakpuashati-an)...

Some people use their blogs as a diary, making known to the virtual world what they've done in the past few days.

Some people use their blogs to write about interesting stuff they have come across, and usually these posts are peppered with a lot of photos (either self-taken or copied from another website)

Also, there are 'otakus' (the term here is non-derogatory, in fact it's more of an admiring tone) who post reviews of anime, songs, movies, games and more so that people can read them and decide whether to get the CD/DVD they have been eyeing for some time~

Well, I don't have a tracking device that counts how many visitors who have visited my blog, nor do I know where my readers come from ^_^ The only way I can find out is when they leave a comment on my post or shout in my chatbox. Still, I try to keep my blog as non-offensive as possible, and I also try to make sure that it can be understood by people from all around the world --> it means using standardised English or providing translation for local slang we commonly use.

And if anyone has noticed one of my status updates in Facebook, it says:

It's 'DO you agree', not 'ARE you agree'. And it's 'MU might LOSE the match tonight ', not 'MU might LOOSE the match tonight'. 'YOU'RE sexy', not 'YOUR sexy'. =.="

Those are just some of the common errors in English that bug me ^^ That, and spelling errors too.

P.S: I'm currently reading 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown. It's an addictive read, and I can't help but be fascinated by all the symbols, myths and legends contained in the story. For one, it proves that the writer respects his readers and makes the effort to research deep and seriously into what he's writing =)

P.S. 2: My blog would be a combination of those mentioned above, no?

Logo Making, Card Design and other Graphic Design Service Available

As the title suggests, I'm currently offering my services for graphic design - if you need someone to create logos, wallpapers, photo frames, name cards, invitation cards, posters and such, you might wanna get in touch with me =) *actually, I'm just bored and don't know what to do with my spare time*

Some examples of my work:

Logos

PISMP Cohort 3 Logo Sample 1 (Done on request)

PISMP Cohort 3 Logo Sample 2 (This was chosen as the majority favourite)

PISMP Cohort 3 Logo Sample 3 (My personal favourite, but it's too complicated)

IPBA Futsal Club logo (Done on request, incorporated into name cards)

The 3 Missed Calls band logo (incorporated into name cards too)

Bookmarks

Bookmark for C2C3's The Merchant of Venice play fund raising

Bookmark for C2C3's The Merchant of Venice play fund raising

Couple bookmarks - can be separated or kept as one whole piece =)

Couple bookmarks - can be separated or kept as one whole piece

Simple floral-themed bookmark

Name Cards

MUSICA's official name card

IPBA FC name card

3 Missed Calls name card (Just for fun)

Photo frames and calendars

2010 Calendar (pocket size)

2010 Calendar (4R size)

Photo frame *integrated into photo* (just a random photo snapped after our performance)

The above are not all of my works yet. If you are interested, get into contact with me and I will show you the rest of my completed works or incomplete projects ^_^

By the way, if you are interested in my anime/manga graphic works (which uses images from copyrighted anime/manga - visit my Animepaper account at http://yukina-rei.animepaper.net