The Holidays

Listening to: Whisper of Hope - Gothic Storm
Feeling: Normal

My winter break is slowly nearing its end. Got one last week left. I did do quite a lot of stuff though. Finally finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy (courtesy of a present from my dad) and I enjoyed it very much. I'm the type that prefers battles over epic journeys, so I have to say that I like the 2nd and 3rd movie a lot better than the 1st and The Hobbit. Epic journeys are really beautiful, but after a while, they get kind of dull for me. I do better with action. 

Boxing day was a pretty busy day for me though I ended up not buying anything. It was more of accompanying my mom and my sister, who both spend a lot on various stuff. Had lunch at Cafe Crepe. I had a "french toast" crepe which consists of cinnamon, egg and maple syrup.

I did get my sneakers a few days later though. Adidas again. Unfortunately, I didn't like the design of the high tops that were on sale, so I settled for this:

I wonder if they'll look good with pink laces too? I'll probably test that out eventually too. After buying a punch card, my sister and I have been rock climbing a few times during the break and I now know how to properly belay a climber and am certified too. :) It's a lot of fun and I hope I can improve my climbing since I've always enjoyed it.


I saw this in the mall the other day and thought it was very cute, so I took a picture of it to share:

Only a week left and there's still a bunch of stuff to do. I'm swamped with events and get-togethers with friends since everyone seems to have planned to cram in as many as they can get in before school starts. It's going to be a fun but exhausting week.

Merry Christmas!

Listening to: The Awakening - Gothic Storm
Feeling: Happy

The 25th of December is finally here! Merry Christmas! I finally finished the first Lord of the Rings movie and like The Hobbit, it's super long. At least, that's how I feel. I'm really more of a person for action-packed movies rather than epic journey ones. But nevertheless, I'll see if I can finish the other two before school starts. While I was watching the movie, my sister and I couldn't help but point out the similarities between it and Harry Potter. This isn't to say that they're copies, but it's just funny to see characters that fit other series so well.

Here are the ones that we made the connection with:
Frodo - Harry
Sam - Ron
Gandalf - Dumbledore
Aragorn - Sirius
Boromir - Lupin
Pippin and Merry - Fred and George
The Dwarf - a short Hagrid
Orcs - Dementors
Legolas - ????

Some of these characters connections are merely in terms of looks or if we simply had to match them with a Harry Potter character, but no matter how we tried, Legolas didn't have a partner. Neville and Malfoy both didn't quite match unfortunately. Oh well.

Then I googled 'Harry Potter Lord of the Rings' and got this which also sums up my thoughts.

We're still here

Listening to: We Meet in Dreams - Gothic Storm
Feeling: Fan-girly

Well, the 21st of December 2012 has come and gone. And we're still here and can finally stop hearing about it. But one good thing has come out of it though. Richelle Mead (of whom I'm a big fan of) posted the second chapter of The Indigo Spell (February 2013) online and I've been dying to read it ever since the jaw-dropping ending of The Golden Lily. And she did not disappoint with this chapter. It was happily Adrian Ivashkov heavy. And thus the swooning. 

(Nic Wheeler who plays Adrian in the book trailers)

 As I was listening to various instrumentals, I couldn't help but pick out a few that reminded me of him. Especially with their titles about dreams.

Gothic Storm - We Meet in Dreams

Gothic Storm - The Awakening

Gah. Less than two months until the book is released... which happens to be during midterm session... or perhaps reading break. I'm desperately hoping that it's reading break then so I can drop everything and read this amazing book.

EDIT: OMG! It really is released during reading break. WHOOOOHOOO!

Anastasia and The Hobbit

Listening to: Given Up - Linkin Park
Feeling: Tired but happy

Still continuing to follow my Winter Break List, I crossed off Anastasia (1997) and The Hobbit (2012). The first one is always a winter favorite that I have loved ever since I was a kid. With the singing and animation, you'd think that it was a disney movie, but nope, it's by 20th Century Fox. Still very lovely after all these years. Some of my favorite animated tunes are in there too.

Finally saw the latter one today with friends. It started out as a crappy day with delays in buses due to traffic, but it got better after watching the movie. As shocking as it may be, I actually haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies, so I was worried, but it was still easy enough to follow along. It was an enjoyable movie. I don't watch a lot of epic fantasy movies, but it was good. I'll probably spend my winter catching up on LOTR now.

 

Bowling

Listening to: X-Men First Class OST: Main Title - Henry Jackman
Feeling: Happy but tired
Today was a fun day. Now that my winter break is rolling along smoothly, I have to say that it feels amazing not to think much about school. I can sleep in late, watch tv again, and do just about what I'd like. So today, I met up with some uni friends, KL, LL and MF to go bowling.

It's been forever since I last went bowling. Normally, they were birthday parties that I attended, but since we're now too old to host birthday parties at places like this, it's been a long time. We paid for two games and haha, I admit with some embarrassment that my first game didn't go so well. Mainly gutter balls. But I evened out my losing streak by doing much better in the second game. I was even in first place in terms of points for a while because I scored a strike.

Also ate fast food for the first time in ages. Mmmm McD's french fries. So unhealthy, but really good.

Book Review: Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson

Published May 8 2012 by Simon and Schuster Publishing

Goodreads Description

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

Wow. I really loved this book. It's been a really long time since I've read something that moved me really deeply. I first heard of Morgan Matson when I picked up her debut book, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, which I also really liked. So when she published this one, I had to read it.

Like the summary says, Taylor's family isn't the closest. Her older brother, Warren, was the smart child in the family. He knew everything from academics to random trivia stuff such as why and how certain things were invented. Taylor's younger sister, Gelsey, was talented in ballet, and liked to spend her summers at dance camp. As the middle child, Taylor didn't consider herself to be a genius in anything. Maybe except running away. Which she did whenever it got too hard for her to stand it. However, when the family received tragic news regarding 4th stage pancreatic cancer in Taylor's dad, they decide to spend one last summer together at the lake house.

Every summer for as long as Taylor could remember, they had spent their summer in the Pocono Mountains by the lake. However, it all stopped when Taylor was 12. After a whole misunderstanding between her ex-best friend, ex-boyfriend and herself, Taylor refused to return and it seemd like the whole family found excuses not to go back. But there was no stopping them this time around.

In a place where there's no where to run to, Taylor is forced to bear through situations where she would normally run from if she got the chance. This includes seeing her ex-best friend, Lucy, and her ex-boyfriend, Henry. And neither are happy about meeting her again.

Although Taylor's summer started out rockily, it became more and more tolerable as Taylor learns that she needed to stop running away, advice that was given by her father, whom she was closest to in the family. Slowly, friendships mended and her relationships with her family improved as she got to know them better. However, even though Taylor gets a second chance with her friends, family and maybe even love, she's aware of the time that is ticking away, taking away someone who she had never gotten a chance to know until this summer.

Honestly, in the beginning, I was frustrated with Taylor's lack of courage. Running away never solved anything and most of the time, it made it worse for her. But at the same time, it was Taylor's character flaw and it improved as the book progressed. While I liked seeing her relationship mend itself with Henry, Lucy and her family members, it was the time that she spent with her father that really moved me.

Robin Edwards was described as a large, strong man that seemed to always be present in Taylor's life. Whenever she ran away, he was the one who found her and instead of demanding to know why she took off, he would comfort her and wait until she was ready to talk about it. Unfortunately, as time passed, it was evident both to the reader and Taylor, that Robin Edwards was getting progressively weaker as the cancer took its toll. And Taylor knew that her chance to know her father was slipping away. Slowly, the two of them bonded over countless trivial questions (such as their favorite movies, colour etc.) and the time that they spent together. But the good times didn't last.

I started to tear up a little when Robin was bedridden, so weak that he was unable to remain awake for long periods of time. Seeing a get well card during a hospital visit makes Taylor realize that she had not said that she loved her father for many years. It took her some time to finally say it to him during a special moment for both of them. And there it was that I had to put the book down during my bus ride because it was so emotional that it was painful to keep my tears from escaping.

Morgan Matson did an amazing job with this one. I could experience each and every one of Taylor's emotions as though they were my own. Her words were beautifully, yet powerfully written and I found that I couldn't put this book down. It was a serious heartgripper and one that I'll remember when it comes to recommendations.

Source: Borrowed
My rating: 5 coffee cups (Loved it and couldn't put it down)

FREEDOM!

Listening to: Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
Feeling: Relieved

I've been absent for a while now and that's because it's been super busy this time of the year with the semester winding down and exams. But thankfully, after a very stressful week, they're finished! First three went great, the last one? Not as much. But I don't want to think about it now that my winter vacation is finally here!! And I get an awesome 3 weeks! So what's on my list?:

• Clean my room
• Holiday baking
• Read, read, read!
• Fanfiction writing (this has been super delayed and I apologize to everyone who's been waiting!) - Chapters 27 and 28 (hopefully)
• Hang out with friends both from uni and high school
• Colour my anatomy book (when I have nothing better to do)
• Christmas shopping
• Violin/flute playing
• Draw 
• Buy new sneakers

Stuff to watch/Continue watching:

• Tsuritama
• Code:Breaker
• Sukitte Ii Na Yo
• Natsume Yuujinchou
• Big Bang Theory
• TRICK marathon - with friends
• Rise of the Guardians
• Sword Art Online
• Digimon the Movie (Eng Dubbed)
• DBSK concerts 2008 & 2009 
• Heartstrings
• Perks of Being a Wallflower 
• The Hobbit - with friends
• Anastasia 
• A Millionaire's First Love

Rock Climbing

Listening to: If I Were a Boy - Beyonce

Feeling: Sore

For a group event involving people from my program, we went bouldering yesterday evening. Bouldering is basically rock climbing but without the harnesses or anything to prevent you from falling other than your abilities. I've always liked rock climbing, though it's been many years since I've done it (mainly in the forms of birthday parties). It was actually pretty difficult and really straining on the body, so I kept to the first and second level routes. It was so much fun. Jumping down from 18 feet was a little scary, but the super padded mats were really poofy, so no damage done. However, I'm still super sore today, mainly in my arms and my back.

Today was a pretty good day. My last lecture from one of my classes and I got out early. What was a bonus was a book sale going on at my school and I picked up a really good condition copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!! Not to mention it's a hard cover AND I got it for $2 (normal price: $45 + tax), so really really awesome.

Also did course selection today and next semester doesn't seem very enjoyable. Especially with that ONE tutorial on Tuesday where I could be at home instead of taking a bus up a mountain just for an hour tutorial. But I'll see if I can get that rearranged later on, so I can get my Tuesdays and Thursdays off.

If only I was better at the violin...

Listening to: Why Did I Fall in Love with You violin cover by Daniel Jang - Original artist: DBSK
Feeling: Envious

Sometimes, I wish I was a better musician... or at least that I had the time, commitment and patience to practice more than I do. So, I can only look on in insane jealousy whenever there's a pro or close to a pro playing so well. It looks like it'd be so much fun to be able to play like that. One musician that I've been watching for the past little while is a violinist by the name of Daniel Jang and I absolutely love his covers.

Here are some of my favourites:

Why Did I Fall in Love with You - DBSK

Payphone - Maroon 5

Love Song - Big Bang

Monster - Big Bang

Passing the time

Listening to: Hit the Floor - Linkin Park
Feeling: Bored


Another uneventful weekly. Or at least mostly uneventful. Other than a strike at my school, busses dropping students in random places and having a lab canceled, it's been a quiet week. Ochem midterm part 2 this week. I'm so nervous for it since the material is a lot more difficult this time around. There have been times where I think I prefer calculus over organic chem. But then, I have to be optimistic and remind myself that with my field, this will be the last chem class that I'll ever need to take if everything goes according to plan.

Time goes by so fast. Only another month until finals.... ugh. Not looking forward to that. I used to think that a month takes forever to pass by, but nowadays with trying to survive uni, it's unexpectedly fast. Especially when I realize with resignation that I haven't posted a new chapter for my fanfic for about a month. Only another 3 full chapters to go and I can take my break without needing to worry about updating at all. :)

A break from studying

Listening to: Too Little Too Late - Jojo
Feeling: Lazy

Well, it's another lazy weekend. Though it was a nice change for once because I went over to a friend's house with other mutual friends and we had a girls' board game night. That and a potluck. So I spent my morning making fried rice which consisted of fish balls, beef balls, chicken strips and mixed vegetables. It's not as great as the fried rice that my mom makes, but a decent effort. 

After being picked up from the station by my friend, KL, we drove to her house and met up with the MF and LL. Then the board games began. Two rounds of Clue, a round of Ticket to Ride: Europe edition and several card games filled our evening. It was a lot of fun playing with everyone, including a sausage dog with an ear-fetish and an obese tabby. Dinner was great too. We had roasted chicken, green beans, dumplins, my fried rice and cranberry coffee cake and creme brulee for dessert. Before long, the night was over and we decided that the next hangout would be at my house, so I'll definitely need to clean up haha. 

Ticket to Ride: Europe Board Game

Waiting for the weekend

Listening to: Nothing
Feeling: Bored
October has come and gone. The other day's chemistry class was a pretty awesome treat in terms of science. I guess it was because it was Halloween that our prof decided that we deserved break, not to mention that the stuff we were learning was pretty dry. So he showed off a lot of cool experiments, some that we've seen before and some new ones. Like he did in the first chemistry class of the semester, he lit some balloons on fire, which they exploded. Other ones included dipping some flowers into liquid nitrogen and letting a volunteer crumble them into pieces, making a cannon with methanol and my favorite: showing us how the three main sciences differ by breaking eggs.

With physics, he requested a volunteer that was approximately his height (he's pretty tall) and then he got them to stand on a table. Once given the egg, the volunteer was asking to let go and drop it into the trash can. Of course, the egg missed and everyone laughed.

For biology, our prof made a "nest" consisting of tissues and a rubber duck which sat on the egg. Then he turned on the overhead projector to warm it up.

Lastly, for chemistry, he cut holes into dry ice, filled the holes with magnesium, fired it with torchfires, placed an egg inside and covered it with more dry ice. The effect was pretty great; there was a lot of colour coming from inside the dry ice and there was quite a bit of smoke. It was kind of like watching a very small firework going off. Needless to say, it was a lot better than learning about NMR spectrometry.

Recovering

Listening to: Hellraiser Brigade - Two Steps from Hell
Feeling: Somewhat better, but still sick and unhappy about it

Well, survived another chemistry lab today. They're not so bad; I don't mind doing them, it's the lab report sheets that usually annoy me. That and the long duration that we have to stand for. Worked with making isopentyl acetate (aka "Banana Oil"). Funniest conversation of the day was when I was discussing with my lab partners about our chemistry teacher assistants. Two of them had the same one whereas I had a different person. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Oh, I have Hope for my TA."
EW: "Hope? That's a really pretty name."
Me: "Yeah... Hope's a guy."
RW and EW: O_O "He's a guy?!"
Me: "Yeah. When I first stepped into the room and saw a guy in front, I thought I was in the wrong room until he introduced himself."
 EW: "Hope is also a really pretty name... for a guy."

And with that, we burst into laughter. It's not really that funny I guess, but when you're all uptight with worrying that something will go wrong in your experiment (such as accidentally knocking over 3 hours worth of work or doing something that you shouldn't have), even the simplest things seem funny.

My 26 year old sister wants to go trick or treating tomorrow, but I keep feeling that we're too old. But we do look young for our age, so maybe we can pull it off (my sister has been mistaken as my twin or for a high schooler). Hopefully it won't rain tomorrow because I don't want to get even more sick.

Je suis malade....

Listening to: Love in the Ice Violin Cover by Daniel Jang - Original Artist: DBSK
Feeling: Sick 
Unfortunately, it's that time of the year again: Flu Season! When you're smack in the middle of midterms (I'm done, but not everyone is), stress levels go up and you get sick easier. Or according to my Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), a stimulus is presented which the body responds to it by lowering your resistance. While I've recovered from my stress points, I think I'm sick because everyone else around me is sick, so now I'm sick not just by association. My mom caught it from her workplace, my friends caught it from other friends, the girl that I tutor caught it and now I have to. Sigh. Nothing too bad so far, just sniffles and the inability to concentrate. The sad thing is that I'll be unable to play with my hamster for a while because I don't want to pass it to her. Learned that the hard way last year.

Book Review: Sing Me to Sleep - Angela Morrison

Published March 4 2010 by Razorbill

Goodreads description

THE TRANSFORMATION 
Beth has always been "The Beast",that's what everyone at school calls her because of her awkward height, facial scars, and thick glasses. Beth's only friend is geeky, golden-haired Scott. That is, until she's selected to be her choir's soprano soloist, and receives the makeover that will change her life forever. 
THE LOVE AFFAIR 
When Beth's choir travels to Switzerland, she meets Derek: pale, brooding, totally dreamy. Derek's untethered passion,for music, and for Beth, leaves her breathless. Because in Derek's eyes? She's not The Beast, she's The Beauty. 
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE 
When Beth comes home, Scott, her best friend in the world, makes a confession that leaves her completely torn. Should she stand by sweet, steady Scott or follow the dangerous, intense new feelings she has for Derek? 
THE HEARTBREAK 
The closer Beth gets to Derek, the further away he seems. Then Beth discovers that Derek's been hiding a dark secret from her that could shatter everything.

Well, I read this one about a year ago, but I loved it so much that I wanted to reread it and finally do a review on this one. Although you're not supposed to "judge a book by its cover", I picked this one up in the library and thought that it looked cute, fluffy read, so why not? But wow, it certainly wasn't what I had been expecting.

Starting off, Beth is described as a "beast". Someone who looks so hideous that she is bullied mercilessly by the other students at her school. But one of the good things in her otherwise miserable life is the fact that she finds solace in singing with her emotions. In fact, she has joined an all girls' choir and when an opportunity came, Beth took it and rose as the choir's soloist. However, one of the choir girls' mother cannot allow such an ugly human being represent her daughter's choir in a music festival, so Beth is given a huge makeover. And from there, Beth's life changes.

After a surprising online conversation with the boys' choir from across the border, the two meet up in the same festival as competitors. Despite keeping her guard up after the harm caused by the guys in her life, she finds herself to be unable to turn away from Derek, who seems to be perfection personified. Surrounded in mystery with dark hair, chocolate brown eyes and pale pale skin. One of the best singers in the boys' choir and composer. And the fact that he claims that he fell in love with her voice and that she "sings [him] to sleep".

And just like that, in a matter of a few days, Derek becomes Beth's drug. Once the competition is over, the two of them swore to remain together, vowing to meet on both sides of the border. But what about Beth's geeky best friend, Scott? The one who had loved her before her "transformation" and continues to do so?

Despite her friendship with Scott, Beth still chooses the guy that she met at the festival. But as she gets to know him, there is more to his weird behavior than she initially thinks. And some of what he's hiding may make her regret her decision.

The writing was very smooth and intriguing to read. If school had not gotten in the way, I probably could have finished it in a sitting or two. I really loved the idea of the plot revolving around music even though I'm not very familiar with that type. It was also refreshing to read about a male singer who wasn't a rock star or anything similar.

The first time I read this book, I was highly skeptical of Derek and his motives for getting close to Beth. Did he like her for just her appearance or was he genuine when he admitted that he loved the beauty that he saw when Beth sang from within. Not to mention how he was surrounded in mystery and pushed her away when Beth came close to picking at the cracks. And his odd "drug" habit that one of his friends had revealed. Was he really a good guy?

However, regardless of Derek's occasional weird behavior, Beth loved him with every inch of her being and it soon became apparent that he returned her feelings. But when it became too much, Beth realizes that something is wrong and discovers the truth.

SPOILERS AHEAD

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There were occasional foreshadowing in the story that I caught in the second time through, but for the first read, Derek's actions were sometimes a little strange, but nothing out of the ordinary. And certainly, I wasn't expecting anything life threatening. So when it was revealed that Derek had been fighting his entire life to live with cystic fibrosis, it was a bit of a shock. For the most part, he had seemed fine when he really wasn't. Even though he suffered, he wanted to meet Beth after listening to her sing online. And he wanted to be someone who wasn't sick and dying because when he was with her, he almost believed it. It made him strong enough to live a little longer.

Admittedly, I bawled a lot in the end. Both the first and the second time. As soon as I realized that she was learning to truth, it got to the point where I stopped reading it on public transit because my eyes were watering when I read about him telling her that he was ready and that she needed to let him go. But the scene where Beth was singing (the song that he wrote for her) to him as he drifted away was tragically beautiful. No matter how much it hurt, Beth never regretted loving him.

Source: Borrowed
My Rating: 4 and a half coffee cups (Loved it)

Tape Job Examination

Listening to: The Heavy Rain Outside
Feeling: Lazy
The last of my first batch of midterms are finished!! Though I have a second part of a midterm in the middle of November, so I have some breathing room. My week has generally been okay. Got through my ankle tape job with a pretty good score. Funniest part of the exam was that we only got 10 minutes to do the tape job and there's this material called Pro-Wrap, which is not used on the field to tape athletes, but can be used in practice. It's not really tape, but more like saran wrap. It is used to protect leg hair when you take off the tape. But since we have a limited time, most ended up getting the agreement from their partners to not use pro-wrap to save time. Luckily, I was paired with a girl, so not much of an issue there. After the exam was done, watching some of the guys peel off the tape was pretty damn hilarious amusing. Especially since about 80% of my classmates are jocks and they're used to injuries, so it was a little unexpected to hear them complain about minor hair removal.

 

Stressful week

Listening to: Love Song Cover by Daniel Jang - Original Artist: Big Bang
Feeling; Like I'm running on coffee fumes

Well, this week has been another crazy one. Two midterms this week both on kin and I'm glad to say that those ones are finally over. Goodbye stressful points of my week. Also had a stupid point of the week too... which was my fault. 

You see, in one of my kin classes, it's a active health and rehabilitation class where you learn to diagnose common injuries found in athletics and you learn to bandage sprains in the lab portion. And being me... well, I forgot that I had that class the day where I decided to abandon my casual athletic attire aka the I-don't-feel-like-looking-very-presentable-today-because-it's-the-middle-of-midterms... ie. sweat pants and hoodie. So yes, I went to school in skinny jeans and cursed myself a hundred kinds of stupid when I realized that I left my sweats at home and that my lab requires the ability to roll up your pants so your partner can work with your lower limbs. Which you can't really do with skinny jeans. However, I was extremely lucky to have a 3 hour break that day (due to having another kin lab class every other week on Wednesdays), so I dashed to the nearest mall, which is about half an hour away at the most, and bought a pair of decent sweats. The best thing? They fit quite well in length as well, which was why I chose sweats rather than yoga pants because I'm vertically challenged. 

Tape job midterm next week as well as my last kin class (which should be a breeze considering it's a first year class and I've learned most, if not all, of the material before in my other kin classes).

RIP Chubby

Listening to: 不能說的秘密 (A Secret I Cannot Tell) - Jay Chou
Feeling: a little heartbroken
Today, my russian hamster, Chubby, has passed away. Their life expectancy is about 2 years and she has lived with me for a year and 7 months. Although I knew that she wouldn't live too much longer, I had hoped that she would. Lately, there have been some signs that her life was almost at its ends. One of her forelegs was swollen and there was some sort of tumor at the base of her mouth too. But even then, she was still strong and active until the last few days, where she wasn't as active and ready to greet me when I call her. She ate a lot less too, losing quite a lot of weight in the past few weeks.

This morning, I was still able to coax her out to feed her some sunflower seeds, however, with her declining strength, she dropped most of them. But she gladly took the peanut that I offered. However, after I came home today, I called her and when I didn't see any response, I lifted her house to see that she had passed away with a barely-eaten peanut in hand. And so, I said my goodbyes as I buried her in garden and watered it with some tears.

She was a good pet. Although she disliked coming out of her cage to exercise, she was an active little hamster with impressive climbing skills. Chubby never refused a peanut or sunflower seed, but she was never greedy. She worked hard in keeping her house clean and supplied with tissues right away after I cleaned it. I hope she had a good life with me and that her suffering ended. 

Long weekend is well deserved

Listening to: Emily Not, Not Gone - Cemetery Sighs
Feeling: Relieved

Another long week gone. Thank god. 3 stress points are done and over with. Ochem midterm, kin lab report and kin health paper. I've learned the lesson of procrastination over and over, but sadly, it never sinks in. Maybe it will this time. Two midterms next week; both kin classes. But oh well, at the very least, I have the long weekend to recover and study.

Made two cellphone charms this week. One was a request from a friend and I got paid for it too. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it. But I did take a picture of the second charm, which is a small gift for a friend's birthday.

Was doing a bit of studying for my kin quiz today when the raccoons returned. Seems like the same parent and child pair as I saw not too long ago. I originally named her Dimitri until I realized that she had a baby raccoon with her, so I'll rename her Trini. Like all the other times, I was once again distracted from what I was doing to watch the two of them perform like stars. To my surprise, they climbed up the tree and jumped onto the glass ceiling above me, so I could see them quite clearly. However, my delight faded a little when Trini picked up a dead bird in her mouth and then shared her meal with her little one. And then what was once a bird turned into a pile of bones and feathers.

S.A.D again

Listening to: Happy Together - The Turtles
Feeling: Eh

Well, my weekend so far has been the least productive one since the beginning of the school term. Did absolutely nothing. I guess, nothing isn't quite right, but at least "nothing" to do with school anyway.

My week other than a few practices for me to reign my anger in and pretend to be the sweet tempered person that most people know me as went pretty well. I learned how to bandage a sprained ankle and both my partner and I had lots of fun with that. One memorable event from that lab that will make me laugh for years to come has something to do with kin guys wear shorts and tape on skin. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

Spent the past few nights watching chick flicks, which I've always enjoyed much to the disbelief of my friends who know that I strongly dislike chick lit. There's a difference between seeing things on the screen and reading about what's going on in the heroine's head. So I went with the few romantic comedies that got decent ratings.

First up was The Proposal (2009) which stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Before yesterday, I have never seen it, and with the recommendation and company of my sister, I watched it after seeing the trailer, which is absolutely awesome.

I loved every minute of it. The duration of the film is about 3 days, which a romance seems rather unlikely, but I enjoyed it all the same with all the hilariously awkward moments in the movie. (And I absolutely LOVE that dog... not in the trailer, but in the next video below. AHHHH cuteness overload!)

The movie I watched today was a movie I saw for the first time when I was about 10-11 years old and I've always loved it. I think the reason I watched it was because of the title, which promised hilarious scenes: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) which stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.

Yup, the trailer doesn't show everything she does to drive him insane, which is too bad, but the movie was still as great as I remembered it. 

Well, hopefully, I'll get something done tomorrow (actually today now..).

Lazy Sunday

Listening to: Kyoudai - Fullmetal Alchemist OST
Feeling: Bored
Didn't do much today. Woke up earlier than usual (9am) and made breakfast for my dad and sis to their delight, cleaned hamster cage, wrote a page for my fanfic (it went pretty great) and spent about an hour just now paraphrasing my textbook for notes. So I'm taking a break until my right hand stops protesting. Not much to record today, but I made shaved ice! It's normally a summer dessert, but we didn't get the individual ingredients until the other day where my sister needed them for a party, so I'm eating the leftovers. Still good though.

I guess with this picture, it doesn't look very appetizing, but I assure you that it is. The ingredients that I used were: ice (from the ice shaving machine), corn, grass jelly, canned lychee, pineapples, evaporated milk and sugar cane water, which makes it sweet as the name implies. Normally for a full on south-east asian shaved ice (called ABC in my hometown), we'd add some coconut bits, mixed jello, red bean and other stuff. I can't wait until next year when I'll be going back for a brief visit and eat yummy stuff again.

Summer weather...

Listening to: Fukai Mori - Do As Infinity
Feeling: Sleepy and irritable

Ah, it's so hot despite it being the fall. I wish it was colder so I wouldn't have to keep putting on layers of clothing only to have to peel them off by the afternoon. Tired too. Waiting for the weekend...

Chemistry...

Listening to: Nothing
Feeling: Exasperated

Well, I had my first organic chemistry lab today and I gotta say, it was a long one. To be truthful, there isn't a whole lot to do, but it mainly focused on a lot of waiting. Waiting for something to reflux, waiting for something to dry etc. And they weren't 10 minute waits either. More like 45 and 30 minutes. Took me about 3 hours and a half to finish everything. It was also rather stressful too because I was worried about each step and wondering if I'd mess it up. Then I'd look at how chill everyone else is and it makes me feel worse. Yup, chemistry and I are no longer buds, if that wasn't clear enough from Fall semester last year. I don't know where that relationship went, but it left me sputtering and in shock. Oh well... at least it's the only chemistry class I'll ever have to take (if I decide to continue with my major). Booyah~ Kin is the cop-out of the sciences! 

(Methyl Salicylate)

 

Suffering from S.A.D

Listening to: Change the World - V6 (Spent about a decade without knowing the artist)
Feeling: Bored

Well, it's the weekend and I should probably get stuff done, but like the title says, S.A.D or "Study Avoidance Disease" is hard to get over. As my professor said, "There is no cleaner room than a room around exam time", to which I agree... on my behalf anyway. To put off my textbook readings, I've cleaned my room, cleaned my hamster cage, chilled at the library and doing just about anything else that isn't studying. I even made this:

It's a chain bracelet. I got the idea from seeing something similar to it at a stall in a market and wanted to make one for myself. The problem with having a small wrist is that bracelets generally don't fit you. But making one yourself can get rid of that issue. The small charm dangling there says "home sweet home" with a small key attached.

Sigh... I need to go back to studying.

Back to normal again

Listening to: Protectors of the Earth - Two Steps from Hell
Feeling: Exhausted
Well, if you've been keeping up with the past few posts, then you know that recently, my aunt came to visit from Australia. And yesterday was the last day of her stay. While I enjoyed getting the time to finally meet/know her, I'm also massively relieved that everything is back to normal. It's the hosts' duty to keep their guests entertained and such, so I haven't really gotten anything done for school, which is nagging at me constantly. I also can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't want to eat out for at least a month with the way we've been eating for the past little while.

School's the same as it's always been. Though it was a little saddening when I couldn't rip the medical tape and had to get help from the teacher twice. But at least I wasn't the only one. So tired...

Eventful yesterday

Listening to: Fukai Mori - Do As Infinity
Feeling: Happy

Well, yesterday was certainly a long day. Got up early to go have our annual BBQ at a local lake. Usually, we'll go during summer, but with our visiting aunt, we decided to postpone it until now. Since it's September and that we're back into the school year, the lake was a lot emptier than it normally was, but I guess that's good for us since it meant that it was a lot quieter. I went on a hike with my sister on the trail nearby and it went pretty good. I've been dying for some sort of exercise since my aunt came over and we've eaten out at least once a day... sometimes for multiple meals. Not looking forward to going up on that scale... 

A few hours later, with a diet consisting of roasted beef, chicken wings, salad and noodles, we ate more food at a korean restaurant that we've never been to and wow.. um, it was different. I'm positive that it's the reason that I'm not used to korean food (other than the basics that I've always eaten), but hilariously enough, there didn't seem to be any flavour in the soup and it made it nearly impossible to go down. I think I was about to cry at one point until my parents said that I didn't have to finish everything.

So we headed home to prep for going to the local amusement park when my mom decided to check on my hamsters to see how they're doing. After calling them for a few moments, one of them, Skinny, responded by coming out and asking for food. But the other, Chubby, didn't reply at all. I knocked on her house and still, no reply, which was rather odd. But what was weirder was the scratching I kept hearing. It sounded like a hamster scratching against cardboard or something. And it wasn't coming from the hamster cage but rather underneath the table that supported my hamster cage. So, I bent down and moved the cardboard box (that contained my hamster bedding) and the scratching stopped, as though startled. To my growing horror, I realized that something was wrong and quickly took out the box before bending down. And there Chubby was... on the floor looking really surprised while surrounded by a lot of poop. Oh my god. Without a second thought, I scooped her up and returned her to her cage, where she drank water like no tomorrow. My poor hamster somehow squeezed herself out of one of the wider gaps in the cage (I probably accidentally widened it when I was cleaning it out the other day) and fell a few feet. After checking her to the best of my ability and when my heart rate slowed down, I was extremely grateful for three things:

1) that she didn't fall to her death

2) that she wasn't so dehydrated that she died (I saw some hamster food particles down there where I found her, so I'm assuming that she had food in her cheeks when she went on her adventure)

3) that she didn't wander off from the hamster table and was never to be found again inside the house

Once making sure she was okay, we went to the amusement park, where to my great dismay, it rained harder and harder as time passed. After meeting my friends, we went on several rides several times, but the one good thing about it raining is that there was barely any lineup. The whole park was rented out to my mom's company for the evening, so it was nice to go on hard-to-get rides, such as the famous coaster. Went on that one three times in a row. For one of the rides, the pirate ship, since there was barely a lineup (ie. the ship wasn't even a third full), we just remained on board without having to get off and luckily, the ride operator let us. We were all pretty soaked through. Seeing how it seemed like it was going to rain, I brought my spring water proof jacket and an umbrella, but I wished I had water proof pants as well because by the end of the night, I couldn't feel my legs or feet. My friends were worse off though. But we celebrated the moment of how drenched we were with a photo. 

We played some games and I got both basketball shots in, getting myself and a friend some prizes. Played some more with the tickets we were given and I ended up getting all my shots with the dart toss. The trick is to not throw the dart as hard as you can, so that it goes in a straight line, because there's always a chance that you'd miss the balloon. Rather, I figured out that it was better to throw a semi-weak shot so that your dart arches and when it has hit its highest point, it'll be brought down my gravity. Once it heads down, the shot of bursting a balloon were definitely higher as it's bound to hit something and earn you a prize. I traded in some small prizes and got a bigger prize, the Keroppi. My dad did well in the basketball game too and gave me a Hello Kitty.

All in all, it was a pretty good day, though I have to say that a hot shower once I got home felt amazing beyond words.

First Week of School is done

Listening to: To Glory - Two Steps from Hell
Feeling: Tired

Well, I've been back from my four day road trip with my family and visiting aunt. I think I'm going to reassess my thoughts about liking road trips since before this one, I haven't had any for the past few years, so I didn't remember what they were like. I'll do a post about my trip later, when I'm not too lazy to put up some picture collages.

First week back is almost refreshing. I'm a second year now and it's kind of nostalgic seeing all the first years mingle around, trying to find their way on campus. I'm delighted to know that I have at least one friend in each of the four classes that I'm taking. Out of them all, the most would be in my organic chemistry class. The majority of them are friends from the first two semesters and a few are from last semester. I was surprised to find a guy (that was in my orientation group last year and haven't seen since) who remembered me, since I was at a different campus and it was just strange, but it was good since we're in the same major. 

Today's morning started out pretty good. Met a friend from last semester (who is also in my organic chemistry) on the train ride to school. Then because I was an hour early to my lecture (better early than late, right?), I decided to chill in my favorite study area and I saw not one, but two raccoons! One of them was the usual raccoon, that I have named Dimitri/Dimka but I starting to think that perhaps Dimka is actually female, so another name is needed and what seemed to be a younger raccoon with light brown fur that nearly looked white in the sun. Perhaps they are mother and cub? Or adult male and female? They were really cute swimming in the fish-free pond and wrestling with each other. This totally made my day. :)

So much to do this weekend. I should really crack open those textbooks and get reading as it'd prepare me better for my classes. I'll do that tomorrow rather than go out with my family and aunt to tourist attractions in the mainland. Then on Sunday, I'll be going to a lake with my family and aunt in the morning/day while the evening will be spent on a local amusement park with family again as well as some high school friends. Looking forward to it!

First World Problems

Listening to: Burn It to the Ground - Nickelback
Feeling: Exasperated

Some of my problems seem pretty insignificant to many others out there, but sometimes it's nice to let out some steam or in my case, a big sigh of disappointment, so I'll let out my issues here.

1) I saw these really cool Converse Two-Folds the other day at Foot Locker. They come in blue or red with various coverings. They were only $80 and there was a promotion going on, which included buy one, get second half off. And it just happens that my sister was also looking for a pair of shoes. So technically, I could get my Converses for $60+tax. So today, when I dragged my family into the store, my dad said he'd get them for me if I liked them, since I've been thinking of getting new shoes for a while now. The problem? When I tried them on, they were harder than I thought. I'm used to my super comfy Adidas (I swear, every pair of Adidas shoes that I've ever tried on are super comfy), so my feet protested at the discomfort of the Converses. WHY OH WHY? So, unfortunately, they had to go back onto the shelf.

 (They look kinda like this)

2) Today was the release day of two books that I've been waiting for. The problem? Even after nearly a day of impatient waiting, I go online to search for the titles to realize that Chapters doesn't have them in store!!! POURQUOI?! I need to know what happens to Varen Nethers! AGH. -lets out frustrated scream- I had been wanting to buy it (even as a hardcover) to read on my road trip. Because what else is there to do? The other book is an anthology with a  short story regarding the Vampire Academy world with Rose and Dimitri going to Russia. It's feels like forever since we've had anything with the two of them. Sighhhhhh. 

(The pink princess and the guy who reads Edgar Allan Poe)

3) My never-seen-before aunt is over visiting from Australia. The problem? I can't get out to see my friends. And unfortunately, school starts next week.

(I understand how you feel, Calvin. I do indeed)

4) With visiting family, it's eating out every day... sometimes for multiple meals, like today. The problem? I'm gonna go up a few pounds after this is all over... X_X Time to hit the gym!

I coulda sworn there were more stuff to complain about, but I guess that's it for this post.