I'm sick again. For the second time of the year. Arggh! Fortunately, I'm feeling better today.. my 4th day I think? Last Saturday, I felt a bit hard to breathe.. it was like gasping for air after going for a run. I never had that before but yes, my nose was runny and stuffy since Friday, so I think it's not that weird. I probably slept in a bad posture the night before. Hmm. Anyway.. that was enough to remind me again of the bad cold/flu thing I had last year and scared me enough not to get out of the house again. I did go out several times since the time we were allowed to but I really don't want to go out too much. It's.. dangerous out there. 

I should be teaching piano this month but I cancelled it because I don't think it's the wise thing to do after seeing what's happening recently.

I didn't mention it here and it was really done in a spur of the moment.. but... I tried doing Watercolour Month and it was interesting! It forced me (in a good way) to paint something everyday in July. Of course, my knowledge of using paint only consists of the poster colours I did in school...

BTW aren't Posca Pens basically Poster Colour Pens? ポスターカラー Posuta Kara - > PosuKa -> Posca?.. Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy poster colour paint set (of course.. I'm aware that there are some that are expensive)? 

Okay back to the topic... I didn't really do anything big or grand.. most of them are small!.. it's just something like an art diary thing. And I experimented a lot because I just jumped in blind and tried something I'm not that familiar with. It was fun nonetheless!

I... don't have much to say for today's post.

Probably going to spend the moment the clock and date turns 12am, January 1st 2020 doing nothing special.

Not really looking forward to year 2020... But I might attempt to list what I want to do for the whole year. Nothing big. The main important thing is to take small steps towards them.

Lately I've been using the phrase "If I can do it now, I'll do it NOW" more (it was from this post). It's a surprisingly fun way to make me do things...? Try it!


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With this post, I have reached the end of my NaBloPoMo adventure for December 2019.

I did it! 33 posts in 31 days, [at least] a post a day for the whole month!

I've posted:
♛ somewhat controversial things about myself
♛ some filler posts that aren't readworthy.. *laughs awkwardly*
♛ posts that showed my jumbled up state of mind...
♛ random posts about my old books and foods (the horror lol... but it might be nice to blog about some of them in the future though)
♛ about random photos (from my photo stories label)
♛ photos of my chibi self (HAHA)
♛ some posts with negative vibes (can't help it, it's part of my current state of mind)

Whatever it is that I posted, I am glad that I made through the end. For me, it's more about committing to doing something everyday which I had lost confidence in doing some time ago.

I hope you'll have a great New Year tomorrow!
I know I won't but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the first day of 2020.

Go! Have fun with whatever you're doing for New Year Day!

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Don't go printing out my posts in colour and bring it up on a meeting as an attempt to shame me. -Me, 2019

I'm teaching?

I'm healing?

I'm revamping?

Some tumblr post for the day:



More blogthings!

Did these in an old post before. I was curious what the answers will be now...

#1 Inside the Room of Your Soul
Whoa.. a bit different.. The 1st and 3rd probably suit the current me.



#2 How Sarcastic Are You?
Oh My Gosh. This is so true I can't even deny it.
Got a lot of practice at work v(￣∇￣ ).
Sharp tongue, huh.


#3 What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?
Sigh.

#4 What Are The Keys To Your Heart?
Hmmm...


--EXTRA--

#5 Do You Have a Type A Personality?
That was kind of surprising.
Unrelated: I used to... hmm.. I guess I'm still a bit of a perfectionist. I still try toning that side down because I get really frustrated whenever I could not get something done perfectly. I learn to appreciate and accept imperfection (which can be beautiful and appropriate in its own way). But I will totally reach for perfection if it's within my reach XD... if not, I don't want to think much about it and just keep doing what I want to do.


#6 How Daring Are You?
"Calculated risks"


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P/s: I finally did it last month! Perfect combo!

P/s2: Take it however you like: I had my love for UtaPri re-ignited last month. I think it was 2013 or 2014 that I got into the UtaPri fandom (through the anime). My crushes included Tokiya, Ren, Masato, Ranmaru & Camus. Some stuff happened in February and it led to me confirming my love for Ren (voice!!!) & Tokiya (voice, again!!!).. yup totally in that order lol. Surprisingly, Masato remains as my crush but I got like a crush on his seiyuu too (his talking voice is just my type). I did it in my Tumblr & Twitter accounts but..: Have I ever mention here that I have a voice fetish ♡?? I have a few seiyuus I'm crushing on but Konishi Katsuyuki is totally on the top at this moment ♡♡♡

Both singles were great but at first listening, I love Breathless more than Calling.

Piano songbooks: Onitsuka Chihiro's songs (old ones but most are my favourites) & Arashi's "My Girl" single ("Tokei Jikake no Umbrella" piano solo included!).

*I miss this place so much…* Wow, my last “at random” post was in May 2010!

Oh.

I’m kind of glad listing my resolutions like how they did in “Arashi no Shukudai-kun”… they become more reachable & doable. I ACTUALLY make the efforts to identify any problems I have and ACTUALLY thinking of how to solve them. Better yet, I ACTUALLY do most of the solutions I’ve thought of. Though, honestly, I’m not satisfied yet…but this is a good start, isn’t it?

Recent life is “frequently” Arashified. Like having blue as my new favourite colour. Like having that interest in learning japanese return once again. Okay, this one is quite serious. I’ve lost complete interest in studying French language. For this semester (the 4th semester), I’m taking the final class (3rd level) of French… & I am not as excited as before. It’s more like “Let’s get this done quickly so that I can go home” every time I go to language class. No enthusiasm at all. But… partly might be because I have to attend the class at night… hmm. Maybe not that. Anyway..continue – Like stop watching TV. Ah~ This Arashi effect surprised me. I used to like to watch TV (even listed it as one of my hobbies), but now… I don’t bother much ‘cos… I have plenty of Arashi TV shows and Ohno doramas to watch. I don’t know if it’s for the better or worse, but that’s just how it is now. (Sabishii sou da ne… What a lonely life I have.. haha).

New semester ka? I didn’t blog much about the previous semester. Honestly, it was horrible. Man… I say that for every semester but the 3rd one was really, truly horrible…especially the ending (results). And here comes another Arashi effect. Like having Ohno-san’s kind of patience and my-pace-iness. This is obvious, I think. I’ve always struggle with these thoughts :

I try to assure myself that everyone is unique thus they have their own unique ways of teaching themselves. Instead, most of the time, I try to comfort myself that I am me, their unique ways don’t work for me & I don’t have to worry if I learn from a different route. And it’s not easy. It’s still hard now because I keep seeing how my methods don’t give out results as good as those “gifted-in-memorising” students. (Oct 15th, 2010 post)

Ohno Satoshi is a living proof of my method [assumed]. So I shouldn’t give up on it. *starts to stare into space* ---

Erm. Next one. Like having blind confidence. This one is quite insane. Watching Arashi in “VS Arashi” (where they compete with guests in several sport-ish games. Hah. Sorry to bother you with this fangirl fact) made me realise that ‘blind confidence’ is quite useful (though I think most of them are feints really). I called this insane because I can’t really explain why and how it helps to have blind confidence. Anyway…

Have to let this out here. I have a coursemate (a close friend) that I think is still angry with me because of my irresponsibility (arguable) in the previous semester. We are still friends, still talk and exchange a few jokes with each other… but there exists an unspoken distance between us. I am quite relieved actually (which is bad, I guess?)  because she often got on my nerves last semester (didn’t happen much in my first year). I did reflect on that mistake (which wasn’t entirely my fault) but at the same time I welcome this “distance”. Why do I sound so evil in this paragraph…? Oh, well. Whatever. *attempts an evil smile but eventually fails*

I’m glad I purchased this last month. It’s now “…temporarily not for sale” on YesAsia. Sigh. The power of first press edition/limited edition~

Boring day.

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TV
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"War of In-Laws" - I can't remember what TVB drama I last watched... last year? Hmm. Anyway. I saw the 1st season of this on TV2 so.. of course, I wouldn't miss watching its sequel. I love the chemistry between Myolie Wu & Bosco Wong's characters in both series. The 2nd season ended yesterday on 8TV. The ending's a bit rushed I think but still good - at least for the main characters. Oh well.

"Glee" - Just saw a newer episode on Star World few hours ago.... This is one of few TV shows that I don't really love but I keep watching. I get it that some people are obsessed with Glee but I'm pretty sure I'm not one of them. I do love some characters (Mr Shue!) but I really, really, really hate Rachel. Worse, I think it's the actress that plays her that annoys me and not the character alone. I mean... one can easily hate Sue (the show's antagonist character) but I don't : I like her. Rachel is... well, whiny.

I love the latest developments on "House" and "Monk". It's the final season of Monk, so that's inevitable, I guess. But House... Dr House is getting better. Maybe it's too early to say that, but that's what I see now. I love seeing his friendship with Dr Wilson. As regard to Huddy.. hmm. I was a Huddy fan once. I changed my mind since I saw S4's "Frozen" episode, where Mira Sorvino played the 'patient of the week'. Though seem impossible, I would love seeing them together.

I miss watching Dr Sweets in "Bones".

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Haha... More blogthings!
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You Have an Extremely Active Imagination

Your mind is vivid, lively, and colorful. There is a lot going on in your head. You have the ability to make pictures and movies in your mind. You are extremely visual. Your creativity knows no bounds. You don't put restrictions or limits on your thoughts. You have a gift that other people wish they had. So exercise that imagination as much as you want!

That figures.

Disliking History Says You Are Unpredictable

You are unpredictable, unusual, and challenging. For you, history is too irrelevant and set in stone. You rather look toward the future. You don't like to commit to anything. You're a dynamic person who is always growing and changing. You are very interested in new ideas and technology. You like to keep up with the latest trends.

Love this part : "You are unpredictable, unusual, and challenging." :)

Mundane Updates...
My final exam for Semester 2 officially ended yesterday.

While I think over what useful activities - that would benefit me next semester - that I could do during semester break, I'm reading blogs and watching stuff on YouTube again without feeling guilty (for not studying for exam)...

Some very important issues are being discussed in my family these few days & I'm getting headaches (but that might be because of my bad sleeping routine). But seriously. I never expected to think about STPM and MUET again. The reference books. The syllabuses. The discouraging phase & system. Reminded me of discouraging and evil teachers.

Arrgh. Form 6 memories. The not-good ones.

===

Maybe...

As I have to control myself from buying any books whenever I visit bookstores (See #6), I'm re-reading books I have in collection and maybe finally read that purchased-years-ago-but-haven't-read books. Few weeks ago it was Russell Lee's "True Singapore Ghost Stories"... in which one of them perished in the washing machine (didn't finish reading that one!). At the same time, I'm reading Jane Austen's "Emma".

Mr Knightley remains as my favourite character in the book. Emma? Hmmm. I'm kind of surprised that I want to re-read this now. I still think that the story's slow in the beginning... but it's always fun to read Emma's thoughts.

I love the way Austen described the people in her books. Realistic and simple. But the only way to enjoy that is to read her unabridged version books. Abridged and simplified ones sometimes kill my interest in reading (& maybe prevents me from loving the book). That's what happened to me during Form 5. I read an abridged version of "Pride and Prejudice" that I borrowed from the school library. The story felt flat to me. I was kinda disappointed. Then I gave the book another chance two years ago - I borrowed the unabridged version from the public library - and... fell in love with the story (& Mr Darcy). It was amazing.


Anyway. Back to "Emma". I've always love BFFs->Lovers stories (That's a spoiler BTW). I think that's why I chose this book.

(I would really want to recommend this book to you, Mel-chan... but the slowness of the story may scare you away. What's interesting? The resemblance of the characteristic of certain characters to real life people around us. Oh. And there's also certain events that...)

Dead link removed.

(Eve, YUI's new song "to Mother"!)
I have never seen YUI playing the piano before. But I love the MV.

..also removed.

"Can't Back Down" is really catchy. It's stuck in my head now.

My sister returned home last Thursday... but tomorrow her holidays will end - she'll be back in Semenyih's PLKN camp in the morning.

Wow... Time travels so fast these days. I'm not feeling sad, just empty. It's the same good, old feeling again - loss of a familiar thing around you. *sigh*

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Last Saturday, I went to Suria Sabah's Times bookstore again... and bought two expensive books again. Arggghhh. Please keep me away from bookstores in the future!!!! Books, books and books again! Impulsive purchase! Grghghg. The temptation is so hard to resist!

Oh, yeah. I learnt something too that day.
I must remember to throw away the 1-cent coins in my wallet.
(Apparently I didn't read the "whole" article back then in 2008. Duh.)
Was laughed at by the cashier and my own father (seriously, dad!). I hate being the one outside "the know".

===

Have you heard about the new buzz, Google Buzz?

I had it turned off in my Gmail but I know it's powerful. I have no idea how they know how to find the people "suggested" for me to follow. They seemed to be based on my interests... maybe even from the feeds I've been subscribing on Google Reader. I mean... they suggested me to follow Selena Gomez's buzz. The only thing that's related to Miss Gomez in my GReader is her Twitter's rss. Does that mean the person suggested on Buzz is her real gmail address? Don't you think that's scary? The fact that Google knows who you are and is exposing you to strangers? If my assumptions is true, I hope those celebrities will take notice and manage their Google Buzz statuses properly.

Anyway... I haven't started using the new feature yet actually but it sounds cool & fun to be among those early users. It even looked like something I'll use more often than Google Wave (which I think is more suitable for group meetings and other serious, business-ish things)... it might appeal more to young users (teens, young adults). I like taking random photos of things so it could be a perfect place I can post my photos. But wait... wasn't that the reason I joined Tumblr in the first place? (or Flickr for that matter)

Hmmm... Buzzing, huh? I will have to start by experimenting first (like I did with Twitter) ... & only after I understand how to manage its privacy settings.

===

My latest favourite Chrome extension is this. Google Dictionary!

I always use answers.com to look up for words when I'm typing my blog posts or reading online. But with this extension, I just have to double-click that word and the meaning will pop-out.

In short, it saves time and energy.

Wireless internet connection in my home... Sweet. Now I don't have to wait for my turn to use the internet! I can even go online in my room upstairs. Love it!


I must confess, last week was a pretty lazy week for me. Didn't do much... Still had some cancelled classes that wasted most of my resting time. Bad weather in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - rained for days. So cold.

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The latest season of American Idol started last week. No, I don't really watch that show but I always enjoy watching the auditions. They are hilarious! Haha! And Joe Jonas is guest judging in this season! How can I miss that? (He'd started tweeting too... @joejonas!)

One of the funny auditions I'd seen was this (which had became viral on the net) :



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Have you seen my 2000th tweet?

Oh yes. I will always blog about it. It's an accomplishment - to be able to stay on Twitter and tweeted that lot - without pushing updates from facebook (though I'm guilty for pushing my Blog & Tumblr updates to Twitter... & I'm NOT on facebook!)

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Today a potential personal favourite lecturer lost his "potential". Smokers are never in my good book. It's a pity really. (Take this from someone who's very prejudice towards smoke and smokers)

"Ethnic Relations" is history (again). Sadly enjoyable. Then why couldn't I enjoy "Islam and Asian Civilization" last semester? Hmmm. Lecturer factor? Or is it because the course is anthropologish? (My other course "Language and Communication" is anthropologish too). Hmmm. Maybe because of both.

===

I rather have classes all day than have classes everyday. Tiring but at least I have class-free days!

Today one my classes was cancelled so I ended up going to the other class that clashes with the cancelled class. “Statistical Package Programming” class! It’s the same lecturer that taught us Stats last semester. Oh, yeah.. Speaking of that Stats course.. I think I’m going to repeat that next semester! Only that course (& actually that’s the only course I’m allowed to repeat), so that I can get better CGPA marks! [Note to self : Study early. Super early.]

Okay, back to the class. Seems fun…the lecturer said it’s easy to get A but I won’t hold on to her words too much though. It all depends on me. My effort & motivation.

For “Ethnic Relations” class… Phew. I managed to find a group with someone I know in it. I’m kinda nervous with these groupy things now… I had a really bad experience with one of group last semester. I saw some of them (those who obviously dislike me) in the same classes I’m taking now. Sometimes I can force a smile when I meet them but I try to avoid eye contact if possible. I am NOT embarrassed to see them. I’m thinking something like.. “You don’t like me so let’s not be hypocrites and stay away from each other.” There’s only a couple of them that I can still be friends with… anyway. I don’t wish being in another group with them again. At least, not now.

===

Not much blogsurfing done recently… but I found out how cool 8tv CEO’s blog is! I love the way he blog. If you have time, try reading some of his posts. One thing I thought is funny… there’s some recent posts with unrelated comments. Like this post : “I stared around nervously.” Look at the “Boys Over Flowers” related comments… LOL. I can accept one or two random (unrelated) comments but that much just for BOF?

===

If you’re using Google Chrome… : Have you seen the browser themes available for Chrome? I think the original one is enough but sometimes I experiment with some really nice ones. I was using this before I switched to this one last week. Love the new look. I guess it depends on my current mood.. (I don’t always choose pinkish things). ^_^

A christmas edition of "at random" post!

I'm mostly in foul mood during Christmas. (There, I said it.)




2005-2008 Decembers
I finished my SPM examination on the first half of December. My grandpa died on Dec 11. I received my first cell phone.

No blog posts in year 2006 & 2007.

My family and I were in KL last year's December. See this post & this. I had a 2008 Appreciation Post. Expect a 2009 post soon.

Awesome Christmas present ever!
Duh. I dunno what's the problem with the university's system lately but it gave me a second chance to register! I get to register for Japanese language class!!! (Not yet at this moment, still 'battling' online). I missed it again!!! Arghh! Anyway, I chose French language (my 2nd choice after Japanese language) this time.

I think my brother's PMR result is his awesome Christmas present. It's amazing he got that result considering how very 'last minute' his revisions were...

Perfect Christmas
The perfect Christmas I always have in mind (which doesn’t happen often or at all) is this :
- Christmas sermon. Only.
- Small gathering consisting of family, relatives & close friends (really, really close ones only.)
- Christmas movies with heavy christmas spirit themes.
- Playing Christmas songs on the piano/guitar... singing Christmas songs among family, relatives & close friends.
- Good food. With me involved in the cooking [the food] process. Barbeque.

All that. Without people I don't recognize. Without people who only attend the church on Christmas day. Without repeating the same thing you said yesterday today.

For once, I want to have this kind of Christmas.



Lastly, I installed a widget for images from here. I've always wanted this but can't find a way to use it with blogger. If you want to see the effect, click these photos... (wait till the page finish loading)
Edited 04-02-2019 - Removed widget but I'll leave the photos here :D

A sight of a village near Kg. Pahu