Hiatus

Am going on holiday so will be leaving my blog for two weeks at least.

Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone!

I'm Grumpy When I Don't Have Enough Sleep

I honestly love answering questions especially those which are pertinent to examinations as I believe that discussing them strengthens the long term potentiation and all those other nifty processes leading to storage of memories in the brain.

I don't even mind rediscussing the whole syllabus and explaining basic concepts that you did not grasp due to reasons common enough to remain unsaid.

But please respect my different time requirements and do not call me after 9pm as I will be in bed then (as I've already told you several times).

It wouldn't be so bad if you call just to ask questions. But to seek reassurance at 11pm two nights before the exam?!

Sorry if I'm unsympathetic but:
1. As you can hear from my voice and the way my words are slurred, you've just aroused me from a very comfortable slumber.
2. It takes time for me to go back to sleep and I require at least 7 hours of undisturbed rest before being able to function.
3. Early mornings are my optimum time. Hence I need to be able to wake up early to study and to be able to do that, I need to sleep at night.
4. Everyone panics before exams. But to call me and to tell me how you are going to fail coz you cannot finish studying and to keep rehashing the same point in different ways, well, I fail to see how THAT is going to help you in any way. It's not like information of the different time dependent oral dosage forms are going to just be magically imprinted onto your brain by such a conversation. You're better off studying/sleeping and leaving me alone.

In short, how would you like it if I call you at 3am (normally I'm up by then) to bemoan on something like my worries for the exam (which surprisingly, no one ever believes - sigh) or my lack of a social life?

Maybe I should just remember to unplug and silence my phones at night. Or maybe I should learn to apply Gobi's Famous Problem Solving Skills. They seem quite effective to me. LOLZ.


On a separate note: GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! :)

I Love to Crap (An Exam Oriented Post)

Figuratively of course. Not literally.

When I look back in the past, it seems that it's the only thing I'm actually good at.

I've refined this technique over the years, crapping in debates in secondary school when I don't have a script nor any points (since I'm often the third speaker in Parliamentary Debates who's just supposed to rebut everything the opponents say), crapping sometimes when Million asks me super tough questions in A-Levels (I really got to thank her for my strong foundation in Chem though - it's thanks to her relentless whys that I actually got to thinking more than just memorizing all those facts), crapping bout lecture notes when they are actually not self explanatory, crapping during exams when I forgot the facts and so on.

But these are too much:
1. Explain the differences in CNS pharmacokinetic profiles of DepoCyt and conventional cytarabine following intrathecal administration. (8m)
- Depocyt has a longer half life of 87+/- 15 h hence distributes evenly in the CSF compared to conventional cytarabine with a half life of 2-3 h.
- Depocyt is eliminated via biphasic elimination whereas conventional cytarabine follows a first order decrease.
The end.

Seriously, what else is there to write bout these to merit the 8m? Absorption here doesn't play a role since they're administered directly into the CSF, neither will metabolism (via deaminases) since they only want the CNS pharmacokinetic profiles. Sighz.

2. Explain how the stratum corneum prevents water loss from the skin. (10m)
- By acting as a barrier to water loss.
The end.
And really that will be the end of all my marks too :P.

Ok, technically I can talk bout the structure of the skin bla bla bla but that really will not contribute all the other 9m.

Anyways, these are all too boring to talk about for long since they really a sleep-inducing topics. So to make this entry somewhat palatable, I bring some funny Bleach stuff.

Cute rite? Haha. Renji vs Ichigo for Rukia! With Byakuya as the judge in the background too. LOLZ. By Etania.

"Oh, Rukia! Our children have already grown so much!"

"Shut up." Kaien said grumpily from his seat. "Why do you keep that stupid poster up, anyway?"

Rukia sighed, putting dinner on the table. "Idiot."

Like father like son. LOLZ. By TigerShinigami.

Now, that makes life a little more bearable. :)

Fade To Black

Promotional posters and the movie guide for the newest Bleach movie, Fade to Black is already out.

This 3rd movie hopefully will do better than its predecessors in being more than just a shounen filler extragavanza.

Anyways, this movie sounds and looks promising, basically it's about Rukia and the rest of Soul Society losing their memories due to some incident.... hence, it's Ichigo to the rescue again! However, what makes this different compared to the other movies is that KT has some input in this movie - the title of the movie, Fade to Black is his idea as well as the Japanese subtitle - Calling Out Your Name.

Fans of Ichiruki all over the world are also eagerly awaiting this movie as there has been not much development in the Hueco Mundo arc where the focus was mainly on Orihime - so, is this a hint of what to come pairings-wise in Bleach as KT apparently has a say in this movie? Will there be anything concrete occuring? Is this a subtle acknowledgement of Ichiruki? Well, maybe FTB will answer some of this burning queries but IMHO, this is and will remain just a filler. Granted, Byakuya saving Rukia against the Bounto Yoshi and in Memories of Nobody are fillers as well and he really did save her again in the canon arc (i.e. against Zommari). However, it must not be forgotten that fillers are merely fillers - i.e. no further progress on Hitsu/Karin despite the soccer episode, Ashido is about to be forgotten, Cloud, Nova and Ririn are memories of yesterday, to illustrate a few examples. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I think it's better to go with low expectations and to be pleasantly surprised rather than vice versa (despite being a BIG fan of Ichiruki as well).

Enough with all this meaningless chatter, here are some FTB movie goodies:

Kubo: From the 2nd movie the subtitle was brought up by me. From the time when I first heard that the memory of Rukia will be disappearing inside everyone an image came into my mind that Rukia’s memory of Ichigo and the gotei 13 will be disappearing. From there the meaning of “Disappearing into black” became the subtitle “Fade to black”.

After coming up with the English subtitle "Fade to Black” they asked me to come up with the Japanese subtitle (laughs) So after carefully digesting the scenario I searched for some scenes that can be the key word or words that I can use, and found that in the plot, someone calling out someone’s name, especially in this story where Ichigo calling out Rukia’s name was a strong expression that even though no one else remembers you I do, and I found out it had an important meaning behind it. So that’s how I came up with the subtitle “Calling Out Your name”

- An excerpt from an interview with KT about his role in the upcoming movie.

Go here for another tidbit of a translated interview with Ichigo and Rukia's seiyuus as well as links to Bleach TV for a sort of behind the scenes of the movie (too bad it's not subbed though) - credit to Bleachness.

If you're interested to know what happens in the movie, go here for the translated version of the movie (of course it still doesn't beat watching it but we'll make do with what we have).
- credit to all the people on Ichiruki BA.

Here's the movie preview on the current episode's opening and closing credits.

Another trailer for the movie - the background music is the movie's theme song by Porno Graffiti - supposedly a famous band in Japan.

Here's part of the lyrics:
Tonight where does the moon illuminate
With the thick clouds covering the sky
Tonight who will you be embraced by
You wander in the lost road you escape the wind by the thunder cloud
You even start hating your true self
You even pretend you are a traveler
Alone, you let the rain pour on you
If you are going you rather go to a wasteland
Tonight, I wonder if you can you see the moon
Even, tonight if you can't find the place where the moon illuminates I will make sure I'll find you.

Sounds pretty shippy (I like! :P).

Despite trying not to, I can't help but feel quite excited bout this movie.. Looking forward to next September then (when the subbed version will be out). :)

Quarter Life Crisis?

Listening to all those sad music on my blog (Starry Melodies) makes my heart ache.

Ache for what I have no idea.

Lydia would say I sendiri cari pasal, listening to such music all the time. LOLZ.

But it's like a drug - I can't help myself but to listen to these everytime my computer is on.

And there would be a longing... for... something... which I don't know until this very day.

All those unwoven dreams of yesteryears?
The unknown future?
The volatile present?

And that's the reason why I switched the music on my blog to anime songs.

But now... Byakuya's Yozora no Kawa is haunting me... Sigh...

Bleach Parody

When I read this, I was like... OMG ROFLOL!

It is superbly humourous! Think Tite Kubo @ Uryu Kubo as a fashion designer (instead of a mangaka) who's famous, with well known faces as his models: Kurosaki Ichigo, the main front face of his line, Inoue Orihime, with her generous bust, Chad, as his favourite foreigner who enhances Orihime's pics, Abarai Renji, a world renown model, Kuchiki Rukia, the antithesis of Orihime and the delicious Kuchiki Byakuya.

Not to be forgotten too are the fans of his fashion line (not going to mention coz don't wanna spoil the fun). LOL.

Really well written, and the pics - gosh, the way they're interpreted are just priceless.

Nice.

River of the Night Sky

I'm going back to Bleach fandom! Episode 197 is just full of Byakuya's charisma, that I couldn't help but start to re-fangirl him again.

In my quest to find out everything about Byakuya, I found Yozora no Kawa or River of The Night Sky, a Byakuya character song from Bleach Beat Collection Season 4 - Byakuya and Rukia. I find the tune haunting and sad, yet calm and stoic, resigned to fate much like the Captain of the Sixth himself. Byakuya's seiyuu sang the song, and although he wouldn't win any singing awards any time soon, his deep melancholic voice fits it perfectly. The translation is also poignant, but is rather ambiguous on whether he is singing to Rukia or Hisana. Here, have a listen.

Here are the lyrics and translation:

Kanashimi no iro o oshiete iru you na
Shizuka na yozora ni
As though teaching me the colour of sadness
In the peaceful night sky

Kizukanu to shitara
Kizukasete hoshii
Shirubeki subete o
If you don't understand
I want to make you understand
Everything that you ought to know

Tooku ni mieru nuguenu namida
Mamorikirenai kotoba ga hibiku
From far away I can see your unwiped tears
The words that I can't hold on to are ringing out

Sekai ga owaru nara
Sono toki ni wa wakaru darou ka
Kotae o shiranu mama hitotsu mune o tojita
If the world should end
Surely in that moment you'd understand
That without knowing the answer, my solitary heart closed

Kanashimi no oto ga kikoenai you na
Sewashii sekai ga
The hectic world goes on
as though the sound of sadness can't be heard

Mukiau koto o toozakeru nara
Sukoshi kobameru odayaka na hibi
If meeting face to face is still a distant thought
Then I'll reject just a little this peaceful daily life

Subete o tsuranuite
Tsuyoku arou kokoro midasazu
Saigo no negai sae kanaerarenu yoru ni
Penetrating through everything
A heart with strong resolve won't be swayed
Even on a night when a last wish can't be granted

Yozora ni azukete wa
Tojita mama no kokoro no kawa wa
Dare ni mo shirarezuni shizuka ni kagayaite
Relying on the night sky
The river of my closed heart
Silently shimmered without anyone knowing

Sekai ga owaru nara
Sono toki ni wa ieru darou ka
Afureru omoide o nazoru you ni tsugeyou
Hitomi ga kasanatte hitotsu mune ni saita
If the world should end
In that moment, surely, I'd be able to say it
Like tracing the overflowing memories, I'll tell you that
Reflected in your eyes was the bloom of a solitary heart

I guess I just have a soft spot for all these stoic, powerful characters. LOLZ.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Every once in awhile, I'll go crazy and do something really stupid like taking a traipse down memory lane.

Maybe it's the effect of sitting alone in Starbucks with a mug of hot chocolate alone on a cold winter day, watching teenagers hang out with their friends which reminded me of my own teenage years (which wasn't too long ago :P).

Anyway, after such episodes of reminiscence, I always have to go back and reread e-mails/icq chats/messages from that period of time. I know I know, sendiri cari pasal, and I've even let the past go already actually. LOL.

But rereading (and reliving) those past memories are great. Who can forget:
- chatting with Stefanie online, offline, and for hours long on the telephone before AND after school (I went to afternoon school at that time)
- Juston who always called me Kodok. RIP my dear friend.
- my enmity with Chin, Sam and Young. Oh my. That was during the stage when I was teased with them, Young coz I sat next to him in class (and they said I looked like him - PLEASE), Chin coz my dad and his dad were colleagues, and Sam? I can't remember the reason. Anyways, at the end of the day, Sam and Chin are now quite close buddies of mine but I still haven't conversed with Young until now. LOLZ. No great loss though. :P
- how I used to icq chat with Mysterious Girl and yumcha as Rogue. Also became acquainted with Calvin Loh, my junior, at that time. Then my online friendship circle increased to include people from Ketari, Katholik etc. I also grew kind of fond to the nickname Starfire and it stuck until this very day. Oh yeah, must not also forget that my friendship with green^finger also begun later.
- the tasteless fried rice we made in ERT.
- the class newspaper (gossip paper?) we set up which met an untimely demise.
- English week where we sapu all the prizes. LOL.
- Ken Yu who I thought was kinda obnoxious. LOLZ.
- the teacher I couldn't stand. Was immature at that time though. No further comment.
- how I loved Geography classes with Pn. Rohayati. However, if you ask me anything bout Geography now the only thing you'll get from me is a blank look. :P
- Miss Lee's science experiments. Especially the tiub visking one which looked like a dugong LOLZ. And even better since I had Theepa the funny guy as a bench mate. :)
- Mrs. Lim's English classes. They're fun! Although sometimes I get a feeling that she thinks... ah well, forget that thought.
- Our Form 3 class motto! Resillience In The Face Of Adversity! I thought it up and Seng Aun fixed it up.
- The evileness of Dinosaur Lady. No hard feelings now though. :P
- How I cheated for my KH project (I sent the stuff to the tailor to do la coz I can't sew to save my life).
- How we would skip recess to work on our (failing) woodwork. :P
- How my pateri always seem to suck and my electrical circuits always fail.
- Interdistrict English debate in Temerloh! How we trashed some small-fry school before falling to SM Clifford.
- Editorial board for the school mag. We had a dream and we achieved that dream.
- A crush on someone. LOLZ. Gosh, that was embarassing. :P
- Prefectship. And being a part of the AJKT, among my dad's students.
- How much I hated Add Math. Especially the chapter on logarithms. And how I had to do sums each day to "practice".
- Accounts and Physics tuition where I got to know other students better.
- How I loathe Ujian Tara each year. And Sports Day too. And how I tried to get out by being a PBSM member - it worked in Form 5 finally! :)
- My great big fall out with Stef and gang. Eventually was resolved though. Thank God. :) Life's too short to spend it being angry with others.
- My recess-time adventures when all I wanted was a friend and everyone thought otherwise. LOLZ.
- Prefect's camp! As the evil facilitator who threw eggs, flour and water balloons at poor newbie prefects (and some old ones too).
- Kuiz Sains Negara. We represented Pahang but got last in the state eliminations (in Kuantan too! paiseh).
- how I was one of the few who always attended Mr. Chin's classes (together with Chin who couldn't run away LOLZ).
- how I used to borrow Sudeep's past years from different states.
- Chemistry classes with Pn. Wong. They're never boring.
- not sleeping before exams. Coz cannot finish studying. Even Biology for SPM. Shh..
- Form 6 orientation. And form 6 combined classes in the great hall.
- attempting to take Physics as an extra subject. I must be crazy.
- prefectship once again and the struggle for power. And once I got the post of Head Girl I had to leave. What a waste.

And then I had to leave for INTEC. Which is a different story altogether.

I also remember that in Form 1/2, Stef wrote a story on us being grown up. How different we ended up - which showed how we've changed over the years. Let's see:

I was supposed to be a computer engineer as I was interested in computers then (I must be crazy) - I'm now a pharmacist to be)

Jo-Anne was supposed to be headmistress of SMK Sulaiman - she's now in the media industry.

Grace was supposed to be Mrs. Nick Carter and live in the US - she's now in the US doing music psychology and everyone has forgotten who's Nick Carter already.

Can't really remember bout the rest. Anyone care to refresh my memory?

Those times were indeed golden. Did I miss out anything? Looks like it's imperative that I jot this all down before my memory fails me (as it is, I already see large gaps in the story). Those days in SMK Sulaiman were indeed quite nice (though at that time all we wanted to do was to grow up as soon as possible). But it is indeed interesting to see where we all are now. We might be spread all across the world, but the bonds we have, the past we shared will always link us forevermore. :)

Ok, back to the present. Got lab tomorrow so will go and sleep now. Hopefully my tissue is fine tomorrow (crosses fingers).

Ok, I know that I'm a final year pharmacy student who's going to start practicing next year.

And since I'm "supposed" to be intellectual (note the word supposed), people actually expect me to blog on pharmacy-related issues, i.e. how Malaysia should start following the latest research on therapeutics and not some study done don't-know-how-many-donkey-years-ago and improve the health of the citizens and health economics to boot (healthy people = more working people = more tax = rich nation; but must make people healthy in a cheap a way as possible).

Or maybe make some witty comments on the slow acceptance of doctors towards pharmacists who can dispense (since we actually are trained for that) and all that.

But somehow... I feel disengaged from the profession (at least the clinical and hospital side of it) at the moment. Maybe it's because I haven't been on much clinical placements (aside from that 1 week in Seremban Hospital and 1 week rotting in the dispensary in Hospital Bentong) or haven't really been exposed to the working environment much?

It doesn't really help either that my research project is more focused on cardiovascular pharmacology, which like most of the other projects here in Scotland is more towards research i.e. I can't really see the relation between it and being a pharmacist. It's very unlikely for a doctor or a patient to suddenly ask me to explain the mechanics of calcium signalling in the heart and how it leads to them suffering a heart failure right? But don't get me wrong, I like my research project and I hope to see myself furthering my studies someday (hope being the key word - lol).

The only thing which reminds of the role of a hospital pharmacist now is all those pharm care presentations we have every week which are interesting in their own right, especially those of the home students as it is cool to note the different health care systems.

And yet I seem more interested in inconsequential stuff like anime or which European country to visit next etc. I know I need to set my priorities - the 6 years in government service is calling out to me. LOLZ.

That's why I'm thankful for blogs like Dispensing with Sanity, Malaysian Pharmacist, Pharmland (not really a blog, just somewhere for me to search for more pharm-related blogs) to keep me grounded (see my sidebar for the links).

Without these blogs, I will tend to lose perspective and be just another non-thinking professional (when I start working) whose role in life is to work, go home, work, go home etc merely to earn a living.

Thanks for highlighting all the issues that pharmacists will face, thanks for fighting for all our rights even as some of us (seem to) remain apathetic to the progress (but rest assured we're, ok, at least I am, rooting for you guys although I don't seem to show it), thanks for reminding us that we're all humans, we're working with humans and we're serving humans - all of which are prone to error and will hence face problems - but we're never alone on this as illustrated by these blogs - since others will also face similar problems.

And mostly thanks for bringing us all down to reality. Life as a pharmacist is not easy; we just need to remember why we're set on becoming one - that's all.

On a side note, I can just imagine all my idealism getting squashed to the ground on the first day of work - but at least I'll be prepared. LOLZ.

I Miss U, IMU

So sue me. It's been less than half a year, I've yet to see snow fall and already I want to go home.

Can't believe I actually even miss IMU. Coz whenever previously anyone asked where I am from I'll tell them I'm (was) studying in the uni which looks remarkably like a refurbished shopping centre.

But at least there's a burger stall and lots of food options near that place, right, unlike here.

And that lecturers there are not so condescending and patronizing, unlike a certain person here (who-shall-remain-unnamed-but-I'm-sure-everyone-knows-who-she-is). I mean seriously, if you guys don't want us here, then why sign the agreement to have twinning students come over in the first place? Then you don't need to exert effort to make them feel so unwanted right?

Gosh, I miss Mr. David, with his dry sense of humour, Prof Yeoh who's like a kindly grandmother, Mr. Benny, with his warped sense of humour, Mr. Mudassir, who'll always say hi whenever we meet him out of class, Dr. Tan who's always ready with a smile, Prof Peter, though we only see him once a sem (if lucky) and many others. Sigh.

Of course this rant doesn't apply to all. Some are very nice, like Ian Towle (who actually remembers our names!) and Sandy Gray (who frequently acknowledges us in his classes).

Or maybe I'm just too used to being a teacher's pet. LOLZ.

Bleach Colour Spread

Wow, is Bleach changing its color scheme from blue to green?

But nvm that, look at Ukitake! Don't you think he looks absolutely fabulous here? Didn't realise his eyes were so greeeeeeeeeeeeen.

*goes into fangirling mode*

Akatsuki Fic Recs

Yeah, I like the Akatsuki too despite them being the villains of the series.

Despite their horrendous choice of robes (seriously, black with red clouds?) and the fact that they paint their nails back (despite being majority men).

I think they're interesting and it's cool to see their back-story.

And they're a real diverse bunch of people too. Where else would you get a shark-nin, a religious zealot, some weird two-faced guy and a guy who enjoys transient beauty all at once?

It doesn't hurt that hot Itachi is also one of them.

So, in the spirit of Akatsuki-ness, here's some fic recs for you all! Note that they're mainly of the humour genre. Adds to the fun IMHO.

1. Piano Man and Church Boy
Hidan and Itachi have to work together to assassinate their target, and due to circumstaces beyond their control, have to crash a wedding to do so.

2. Paying a Compliment
It was a fact of life Kakuzu had come to accept. When you were as good looking as Hidan, people tended to treat you like a god. Funnily enough, Kakuzu couldn't recall ever getting the same treatment.

3. Inamorato
Nobody told Tobi that out of all the calendar holidays, Valentine’s Day was the last one to be passionately celebrated in the company of seven homicidal men. Crackfic.

Malay Song Recs

Am listening to some Malay songs currently. I actually quite like those angst-tinged songs, despite the fact that many Chinese (at least those that I know) don't. But then again, one man's meat is another's poison, and although I enjoy certain Chinese songs too (Jay Chou, Michael), with Malay songs at least I know what they're singing about as sad to say, I'm a banana (though most of the time the lyrics are not *that* profound).

Among my favourite songs include:
1. Kau Ilhamku by Man Bai
One of the very first Malay songs introduced to me, a rather mushy (jiwang) song about someone being the inspiration of another.

2. Belaian Jiwa by Innuendo
This song is so famous in Malaysia that it is a staple in singing competitions and karaokes. A rather soothing song, methinks.

3. Mungkin Nanti by Peter Pan
One of my favourites. An angsty song on the probability of reunion and the pleading of one not to relive the past.

4. Hidupku Kan Damaikan Hatimu by Caffein
The newest song on my playlist. No idea who or what Caffein is but the song is in a similar vein to the previous ones, so...

5. Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta by Francisca Peter & Roy
An oldie oft heard on Lite FM. On how to love someone without knowing that person.

Ok, back to my intro. Sighz.

Ino Fanfic Recs

Well, I KNOW I should be actually writing out the introduction to my (boring) research paper and not go off and read fanfics, but.... the temptation was just impossible for me to resist. So, looks like I gotta get up early tomorrow to compensate for today's laxness. But before I go off to bed, here's what caught my attention these past few hours... INO FANFICS!

Who's Ino, you may ask. Well, she's Sakura's on-again-off-again friend/rival for Sasuke's affection. She appears to be very superficial in the anime, but could actually be more than what she appears to be as her character isn't developed very much. She's pretty (prettier than Sakura!) and has the potential to go much further as she possesses the Yamanaka bloodline limit of infiltrating others' mind.

So, anyway, as her character intrigues me, I went off searching for Ino-centred fanfics and unearthed some nice ones. Here they are:

1. Little Blonde Girl
Of all the people Uchiha Itachi could be jealous of, it had to be his little brother And over a little blonde girl, no less.
A humourous one-shot on Sasuke's asexuality... and why Itachi should have just killed him off. LOLZ.

2. Akatsuki Over Flowers
AU Meteor Garden Naruto style! Ino is an ordinary girl with a strong personality. But when she enters Iwa College,she faces the wrath of the most popular bullies, the Akatsuki 4. Will she survive? ItaIno SasoIno ItaInoSaso.
A monstrous epic mirroring Meteor Garden. Very nicely written, funny, and intriguing. Too bad the author does not intend to continue her work.. :(

3. Point of Tangency
The mission was simple. All she had to do was to make Uchiha Sasuke fall in love with her… and then stab him in the back. That is, until a certain Hyuuga Neji came and screwed things up. SasuInoNeji.
Another upcoming and promosing AU fanfic. It involves Ino, Sasuke and Neji; the three hot stuff of Naruto. What more can you want?

4. In My Imagination
Sakura is the new girlfriend. Ino is the old friend. She at first feels threatened, but now she just wants to know what had happened two years ago... SakuSasuIno ItaIno SakuNaru
Yet another AU. A nice piece where the author weaves in the dynamics of the Uchiha family
troubles convincingly.

Pharmacist Rocks!

Haha, found a great blog by a Malaysian pharmacist working a hospital somewhere in Malaysia. It's very informative especially for pharmacy students who are going to enter the workforce soon. It's also VERY eye-opening (especially on the kerenah of the doctors LOLZ). Wow, would you look at all the pharm care issues presented? No wonder people have no faith in Malaysian healthcare system.

Without further ado, I present everyone with Dispensing With Sanity. It's one of the best opinion filled blogs I've ever read. You rock, Mark!

I need:
Patience.
Humility.
Peace.
Forgiveness.

I have to be aware of:
Pride.
Anger.
Irritation.
Envy.

AAAAAAAAAAAARGH..... Everything seems to be going wrong. My word programme is typing in Mandarin.. Every time I switch the font back to Calibri, the next letter would be in Mandarin. WTH?? Every little thing sets me off now. People stepping on my bed, people messing with my stuff... Gah. Maybe I should go to bed. Or turn to my faithful Bleach and Naruto fandom. Surely they won't let me down too.... will they?

Thought Provoking

A meaningful post by Mustaqim (one of the few meaningful ones on his blog :P) on the role of a health care provider (actually he was talking about the role of doctors but I feel that it is applicable to all health care providers). What he posted was true, too often we, as health care providers only provide medical service and tend to see the patient as a disease state rather than a living, talking being with feelings. Too often we fall into the trap of failing to treat them emotionally as well. Let's just hope that we all realize this failing and try to stop ourselves from falling into such a trap.

Love Thyself

It is important to realize our self worth - something sorely lacking in Asian (Malaysian?) societies. We must first love ourselves before we can extend our love to others. It is worth remembering self love is not this:but a feeling of happiness and content with oneself, imperfections and all. :)

And I shall ignore what Kelvin and Alfred said today. :P :P As well as what Slimy!Sheldy constantly tells me.. LOL.

Bonfire Night

Bleach Pic Recs

Nice pic rite? It's cool that it's done with the theme of Zombies Ate My Neighbours (loved that game). And the placement of Aaroniero/Kaien as a zombie is simply hilarious. But what cinches it all is the goodie at the back - Orihime being chased by an evile zombie! LOLZ.

This was done by a brilliant artist by the name of Gogeta-gal-159. Go visit her profile at deviant art for more pics.. :)

Growing Pains

Looking at the choice of music I listen to, I can only conclude that...

I'm growing old.

When I was 16-17, I listen to Mix.fm. My favourite artistes then being Westlife, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton and other similar songs.

When I was 18-19, I balanced my time between Mix.fm and Hitz.fm. That's when I was (and still am) crazy over all those emo-rock songs. Dashboard Confessional, 3 Doors Down, Trapt, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox 20, you name it.

When I entered IMU, besides all those emo-rock to put me into an angst-y mood, I began to listen to (gasp) Light & Easy. Occasionally Fly.fm as well, but you get my point.

Light & Easy is the station my parents tune in to. They play old songs by Elvis Presley (which I don't like), Elvis Costello (the song "She" sounds nice), REO Speedwagon, Cliff Richards and the like.

People often wonder why I listen to such a mellow (to put it nicely) station... Well, mostly because it brings back memories but also because... I like the songs (I'm an old soul).

And probably because I'm getting on in age.

Today, as I turn 23, I realize that I've progressed to another milestone in music age. I've began to like listening to instrumental music.

Granted I console myself that most of the instrumental music I like are from anime (and Slimy!Sheldon my lil bro listens to them too!) but still..

Looks like by the time I turn 30 I'll be listening to Mozart and friends. LOL.

Thanks for everything - the wishes, the effort... You've all made my day (and year ). :)

To the guy who's never ever forgotten my birthday (and who'd better not, coz he doesn't have an excuse)...

Thanks for the birthday wish!

Thanks for always being there, thanks for the memories and most of all, thanks for being who you are!

Missed hanging out with you (and your wacky obsessions with planes LOL). Take care, stay safe and see you (in person) next year alrite?

PS. It's great chatting with you again... ;) Sorry the line was so bad - but perhaps you could really read my mind. LOL.

She has always been told that the harder she held onto the fistful of sand (friendship? love?), the faster it will trickle out of her hands.

She never listens, as she held (clutched) harder and harder, trying to salvage as many of the tiny grains as possible.

Yet, as time passes by, the sands (bonds broken? past forgotten?) keep trickling out - as she stood helpless... helpless to stop the inevitable.

It was never hers to begin with.

Facebook & Me

Facebook doesn't like me.

I removed my relationship bar (coz I wanted a change - not because I wanted to hide anything!) and Facebook advertised to all and sundry that I'm no longer single.

WTH!

And you should see the amount of comments that generated.

Haven't been so popular before. LOLZ.

A lovely surprise!

Was planning to go to Naomi's today for dinner and a catch-up session with the Uni of Glasgow people. It was supposed to be a potluck with us pharmacy-ians in charge of making coleslaw.

Chopped the cabbage and carrots with Lydia in the afternoon and watched Jeannie, Jacinta et al baking Carolyn's birthday cake - some sort of Japanese cheesecake. Thought to myself how nice they are, and then how that won't happen to me, since I made it clear to Lydia that all I wanted for my birthday was cold hard cash. LOL. But still, it would be nice to have lotsa people putting in a lot of effort.

Then I went back to my room to catch up on my One Tree Hill. Yi Lyn and Karen came back and started to bake a cake. And I was like "why are you baking a cake?" Apparently it was for Hui Yen's halloween party that night. Hmm... wouldn't they want to go out and celebrate Halloween instead? And why would they want a cake? I was suspicious, but then again, dismissed the suspicion, since we were supposed to go over to Naomi's that night. And that my birthday was supposed to be on Monday.

Continued to watch my anime and read my fanfiction and heard a lot of ruckus from the kitchen. Was amazed that both Karen and Yi Lyn (and occasionally Lydia too) would spend so long in the kitchen. They were now frying fried rice. Wah, so semangat la they all.

Went to mix up the coleslaw at 6.30pm. Was supposed to leave at 7. Went outside to wait for Shu Yin and Kelvin since we were walking together.

Waited and waited and waited..... and waited. And still Kelvin and Shu Yin did not arrive. Lydia began talking about inconsequential stuff like the stars or the windows in the opposite block or the drunk people wandering around. While I was wondering where is Kelvin and Shu Yin and suggested to wait inside... I was getting cold.

Then suddenly Shu Yin rang... Lydia sounded quite... pissed off. Then she told me why. Apparently Alfred canceled at the last minute. I was suitably ready to call him and was planning his horrific demise. But Lydia told me to go in first. So I went in. She went to the bathroom. Apparently she was quite desperate to use the toilet. She told me to put the coleslaw (what were we supposed to do with such a huge container of coleslaw?) into the fridge. I was wondering if we could join Hui Yen's party since eating coleslaw alone for dinner would be quite a sad affair.

I went into my room and turned on my computer. Well, at least there's one good thing - I get to spend more time with my beloved com. And then remembered about the coleslaw. Ah well.

Took it to the kitchen. Saw Karen's door was opened but she was not in. Hmm.. The kitchen was dark. I switched on the light and went towards the fridge. Passed some sad looking pancakes on the way and was laughing at them when suddenly...

SURPRISE!

Wow! Apparently it was all a ruse and that they planned this right from the start. And I didn't even suspect a thing!

It was a great dinner - with curry fried rice, kampung fried rice, chicken, eggs, fries, coleslaw and chocolate pancakes. Wow! (And the pancakes are deceiving, they may not be aesthetically pleasing but they sure taste nice). I was very touched at all the effort they put in. Indeed, they are really great pals - look at Yi Lyn and Karen, spending their whole afternoon cooking in the kitchen. Jeannie, Jacinta, Shu Yin and Pui Leng, cooking the chicken, Kelvin and Chris for being there and of course Lydia, for being such a good actress. LOL.

And then, as we were hanging out, my phone rang. I went out of the kitchen to answer it but there was no one on the line. Weird. Went to comment on this strange occurence to Lydia (who was still in the living room) and suddenly the lights went out.

The strains of Happy Birthday rang through the living room as the rest emerged with my cake (a lovely homemade cheesecake) with a candle.

Duped twice (I'm so gullible)!

Really, I salute all those who put in so much effort to make this my night. I'm so very touched. You guys are the best!

Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU! :)

Bleach At The Beach

I'm on a Bleach-y roll here!

Here's another rec from me - an omake chapter of Bleach at the Beach.

It's funny, it's hilarious, it's filled with all the characters we love, and it's wonderfully Bleach-y.

Also love the sibling love between Byakuya and Rukia. LOLZ.

The ending is also cool - with a cameo by everyone's favourite Hitsugaya!

It's just something to brighten up my day. :)

Hitsugaya Toushiro's Roots

Hehe. I found out that Bleach Wikia actually exists! Cool rite? The info there is also pretty accurate except the fact that they said that Senna was more popular than Rukia. WTH. Riiiiiite. Then, pray tell why Senna only merits a page in fanfiction.net whereas Rukia has 142 pages?

But I digress. In reading about Hitsugaya, I found something super cool. I found a chapter (by Tite Kubo himself) on Shiro-chan's roots, i.e. how he found his sword, why he became a Shinigami even though he told Hinamori that he's not interested (in the flashback episodes when she first joined the Academy), the first time he met Matsumoto...

Read bout it here.

It's pretty nice and well done (though the movie kinda suck - see my short review on Diamond Dust Rebellion here). Should be a treat to all those Hitsugaya fans.

And here's something I didn't know bout Hitsugaya (courtesy of Bleach Wiki)

Back in his childhood in West Rukongai, he was so skilled with spinning tops that he became the local undefeated champion. He works very hard, but his motive seems to be that if he finishes quickly, he can return to his afternoon nap. He believes in the saying "a child who sleeps will grow up", and hopes to grow quickly, a wish shared by his subordinates. Naturally, they do not voice this fact in front of him.

LOL. He likes sleeping??! Hard to believe that, as he's always chastising Matsumoto for sleeping on the job. And the part where he wants to grow up quickly, that's just too funny for words.

Now, I'm crossing my fingers on a nice piece on Rukia in anticipation of Fade to Black. LOLZ.

Naruto Sites

Here's a list of where I watch Naruto episodes, both Naruto and Shippuuden.

I recommend DigNaruto, the quality is fine and it loads relatively quickly.

However, there are several episodes which cannot load, so here's an alternative. Eatlime.com. Quite similar to DigNaruto, just found it coz there's an error in DigNaruto's episode 60 (Byakugan vs Shadow Clone Jutsu).

So.... enjoy. Hehe. This is what I do when I don't have class.

Another Post on Perpaduan

Here's another something from Afiq Says It As It Is. (I recommend his blog, it's interesting and occasionally hilarious as he is not afraid to showcase his opinions - even on subjects considered taboo by many. Definitely a breath of fresh air)

Another heartwarming, Petronas advert-like piece on unity.

This truly illustrates the fact that children are indeed the best, they do not discriminate, they have no inborn prejudice, they are truly the innocents in the world.

Too bad now we don't see that so often due to "brainwashing" at earlier and earlier ages.

But anyway, just enjoy the piece.

And happy deepavali to everyone. :)

AstraZeneca and Me

Hehe. Just found out that I am nominated for the AstraZeneca prize for FMT2 last semester. Yong Pei is nominated for FMT1.

What's the prize? A 50 pound book voucher.

Smiles.

Thank you God.

Calcium Is Driving Me Nuts

They say that calcium is good for your bones, important in cell functions etc etc..

One thing they forgot to mention, it's VERY BAD for your sanity and well being, especially when it's part of your Final Year Project.

Gosh, I hate HATE HATE calcium especially calcium-ATPase proteins in the sarcoplastic reticulum.

Why does it have to be so complicated?

BST & GMT

Forgot to set back my clock an hour earlier.

Weird, but my computer does that automatically.

Went by my computer clock until it was almost time to go to church (according to the watch which was not set back an hour earlier).

So nearly had a heart attack about being late to church today.

This almost tops the time when I forgot to get my scroll from the Chancellor during IMU graduation.

And people ask me what's my secret in seeming to be always "in control". If only they knew.

Just another normal occurence to happen in the life of The Person With The Wandering Brain (coz sometimes I wonder where it wanders off to).

Edge of Love

Finally watched Edge of Love online after hankering to watch it for a month or two.

"First love's alright as far as it goes, but last love, that's what I'm interested in."
-William Killick

Nicely put.

Other than that, the movie fell rather flat. No strong characters to pull at your heartstrings or have you sympathize with, not much of a plot, and definitely incomparable to last year's Atonement.

Too bad, coz Keira Knightly is my favourite actress too. And Cillian Murphy is quite easy on the eyes (when he's not looking deranged) and his voice is just angst-y and tormented enough. LOL.
Cillian Murphy is definitely waaaaay handsomer than Matthew Rhys... Why should Keira's character even like Matthew's is a question I can't answer.

It saddens me sometimes that you have such little faith in our character.

What are we? I thought we were always more than mere sunshine pals.

Sigh.

Halloween

Hmm... What to be for the coming Halloween? Initially I wanted to cosplay as Kuchiki Rukia from Bleach, but scrapped the idea when it became too complicated to procure a black shikakusho here in Glasgow. There's also the matter of constructing Sode no Shirayuki so... the idea was scrapped. Then I thought about cosplaying as Tenten from Naruto as her outfit seems simple enough. Cheongsam top, hair in two buns (I'll look like a moron but for art's sake...) and a large scroll. However, most people won't even know who I am dressing up as (I don't care if they think I'm trying to be Chun-Li from Street Fighter, as long as they don't think all Chinese dress like this), I don't want to look too China-ish and there's also the matter of racialism in Glasgow. Heard that some areas are not very 'welcoming' to China Chinese, and dressing like that is liable to get me beaten up. Sigh. Guess cosplay is out of the picture then. Maybe I'll go as Grim Reaper (black robes, a white mask and a long scythe). Or something that would be good for a laugh. Any suggestions? And no, Mustaqim, I'm not going as a witch. Too bad. LOL.

First Love

First love is innocence, naivety and often leads to heartbreak.

That was what Ps Mike preached today, and I can't help but marvel at the truth in such a statement.

Indeed, who has never closed their eyes (and minds) to reason when they were in love? (especially as they were only youths burning with idealistic passion that the world could end but everything would right itself as long as the two people in love had each other).

How wrong they are to put their hope into each other, men, who are infallible, fallen and prone to disappoint?

How wrong I was to put all my idealism, my heart and soul into the one person whom I will never ever in this life time end up with?

But yet, before anyone accuses me of becoming jaded or cynical or anything, know that I will never ever regret it.

All the messages that used to enchant me before I sleep.
All the affection poured out enough to make my knees weak like jelly.
The fact that I know that there's always this someone for me.
The calls that I look forward to all the time.

Do I miss those? Well, I used to but as I grow older, this things, once capable of making me almost hyperventilate with joy, now seems more like a teenage phenomenon.

Give me a love that starts slowly, grows steadily and proves itself with time.

"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
1st Corinthians 13:4-7.

And that is the love I want. I may never achieve it this lifetime, but I can always hope. :)

Gosh, I sound so jiwang I don't actually sound like myself anymore. :P

As an aside, J asked me today, "Do you like boys? Please say yes."
LOL.
That was after I said I wish I was born a guy. Maybe he thought I was lesbian?
:P

Oh Gosh!

Looks like I got myself a leech.

Someone who keeps sticking to me (or trying to) all the time.

Oh woe is me!

HELP!!!!

It doesn't help that that someone also looks (and acts) demented occasionally...

Why do I keep attracting guys like that?

Sigh.

Denial

I'm not.

I'm not.

I'M NOT.

Am I?

Oh gosh, I need a new brain. Stop.... stop.... thinking....

Tagged... Again.. LOLZ

Hmm... Am tagged again... This time by my sis.. And since I'm such a nice sis, I'll complete this tag (this time around). Seems a pretty simple tag too. 8 random facts about myself eh?

1. I also do not like jeans (coz mine are too tight for me). LOLZ. The only time I wear them is when I'm delusionally convinced that I look good in them, otherwise, it's not my preferred form of clothing. It's slacks for me all the way! (That's why I'm related to Chris, our similarities are astounding.)

2. I am a stalker. Enough said.

3. I like Neji (Nejiten, Nejisaku, or just plain Team Gai love) and Rukia (Ichiruki, Byakuruki, Kairuki). It'd be fun to see a good Naruto Bleach crossover. Or even a Naruto/Bleach and Harry Potter crossover.

4. I am the messiest person on earth. There's always a pile of clothes on my bed, and my table becomes messy very very fast. The only time I'm neat is before cell group, or when I'm inspired to start studying (once I start studying, however, I'm messy again).

5. I like cooking. And having my own way when I cook. And I'd like to say that I'm quite a good cook. :)

6. I can only study if I wake up early enough. Once a certain time has passed, nothing I read will go in, and the only thing I can do is sleep. That's why I sleep ridiculously early (i.e. 8pm) and wake up early (i.e. 2 am) when I need to study for exams.

7. I like hot drinks. They help me concentrate when I'm studying. That's why I have lots of instant coffee, black tea, fruit tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate in my room. All I need is my own electric kettle and I'm set.

8. I'm antisocial most of the time. But with people I'm close to I can be more pleasant (was going to use the word affectionate, but that makes me sound like a cat, lol). And unlike my sister Chris, I do not go around hugging anything that moves. LOLZ.

Anyone who wants to do this tag. I am not pushy. Really.

Trepidations Of A New Semester

Yup, a new semester has befallen us (and I still have not completed the Italy trip commentary thingy yet).

Am actually quite nervous (who me? nervous?).

New people, new subjects, what's there not to be nervous about?

And 5 more things to aim for.... I should at least aim for one only right? Then disappointment won't be so bad?

I hate asking rhetoric questions of which there are no answers to.

Me time

I'm not apologetic for being me.

My idea of a perfect evening?

Listening to these songs:
Naruto Shippuuden OST Track 13 (Loneliness), Track 19 (Despair) and Track 22 (Tragic)

Reading Naruto and Bleach fanfiction.

Munching on chocolate chip cookies from Aldi.

Watching episodes of Shippuuden and Bleach.

Now, that's the life. :)

Sometimes I think I'm weird though. Maybe I need to work more on being a social person? But I'm happy being me...

Neji Fanfic Recs

Browsing through fanfiction.net, I came across some nice Neji pieces.

Yup, I like (loooooooooove) Neji. A lot. Heh.

Anyway, here they are:

Twenty Matters Of Pride To Hyuuga Neji
Hyuugas are known for their pride, but Neji isn't quite like the rest in what he's proud of.
It's well written, it's believable, it's as if the author knows Neji like the back of his/her hand. Although some facts may be off though to new info from the manga (this was written a year or so ago), it still can pass off as authentic. All characters are IC, and the depiction of Guy as the father figure for his team, it is reminiscent of all those episodes with the Guy-Lee theme, only now it applies to Neji as well.

Singing Sirens
Oneshot, NejiTen] [AU] Everything about this says that it’s not going to work. But Tenten has always specialised in disasters, and nothing in their world is a coincidence.
You can see that NejiTen is one of my favourite pairings in Narutoverse. This is a sweet story - funny, heartwarming with a tinge of romance.

Rock Idols
A storm is brewing and the natives are restless. Lee is mistaken for a God, Tenten can't catch a break and Neji... well it's amazing he doesn't have any gray hairs yet. A comedy with a bit of NejiTen on the side.
Not so much an introspective Neji piece, rather it is one filled with Team Gai loooooove. Funny, cute, cool. Not to be missed.

Music Boy And China Girl
[NejiTen] [AU] It's their little ritual, so they sit under the sun and listen. [Why do you have all this weird music? ...Hn.]
Very very AU. Yet I like. The flow, the characterizations... They're all mighty neat. :)

Coda In D Minor
She doesn't look like her father. /And children can't recognize grief./ /future!fic, sort of Team Gai/
Not really Neji centric (no mention of Neji at all except at the end) yet, the hint of Neji prevails throughout the fic. Neat enough to keep you guessing, sadly poignant and very well written.

The Konoha Love Story
Once upon a time... the village fell in love with a lie.
It's angsty, it's love, it's death. It hurts yet it keeps you reading and wanting for more.

The Gates Of Konoha
The return home from a mission is never redundant for Team Gai.
A friendship fic. Exudes the warmth and cheeriness that is common to team Gai.

Misunderstandings And The Importance Of Being Understood.

Yesterday CS asked me, "Do you like me?" While gesturing to himself.

Intelligently I replied, "Huh?" Perasan betul this guy.

And he repeated his question, "Do you like me?"

"... HUH?"

"I said, do you like mee... as in noodles?"

Sweat. Dude, next time if you are referring to food, please la state that in a more obvious manner. How la do I know that you are not talking of yourself? Since we weren't talking about food or noodles or anything remotely similar to that previously.

Imagine my horror at trying to answer such a question in a diplomatic enough manner.

When I finally regained enough composure to tell him I was trying to tell him no in a polite way, he looked slightly miffed that I do not even like him as a friend. Oops. But sorry, even friendship (to me) takes time to develop.

And WC was busy laughing at the expressions on my face.


On a separate note, I passed Sem 6.

Thank you God.

The Beauty of Friendship... And Unity

Was browsing through a total stranger's blog when I came across this entry and was touched by it. It's a beautiful post, made even more poignant by the innocence of the two friends at that time. How I wish that we are more like that today, blurring the lines of race and religion to make a better Malaysia. But nooo... we live and abide by our stereotyping and prejudiced mind though we've learnt better to mask it. Sigh. Poor Malaysia. Somehow without unity, I think you're doomed.

Italy

I'm too lazy to rewrite all bout our Italy trip - heh, and I see that Lydia has done a very good job of recapping it already so no point for me to rehash it again, lolz. Read bout Lydia's recap here.

Instead I'll just pinpoint the memorable moments in our trip:

Sleeping on the floor of the Bergamo airport! Imagine our horror when our flight landed and there was no where for us to sit/sleep that we had to sleep on the floor. Hygiene be damned, we're too tired to care! After that NO MORE! I promised myself that die die also every night must at least have a bed/chair to sleep in!

Florence where I made 2 new friends! Scarlet (a student from China travelling on her lonesome) and Pierro (the old man in the pic). We've to thank Pierro for amazing stories about Florence, Pinocchio, the castle where Galileo used to live when he was studying stars, Michaelangelo's architectures, folk songs et al! He's such a sprightly dear old man! :D (And it's obvious from the pic that he likes me very much - only on retrospect did I realize that how dangerous that could be - oh well, it seems that I'm an "uncle killer" lol).

and

Hehe. A cute fen-fen. Of course there're a lot of other stuff to marvel about in Italy, but like I said to write it all out is a bit tedious. :P (I'm pretty sure I'll kick myself when I can't remember where I've been in a year or two!) :P.

Back!

Am back from La Bella Italia. Quite a nice place, full of touristy places and things to do and I'm just waiting for Lydia to post up on her blog about our trip there, then I'll link it here (coz I'm too lazy to do it myself lolz). But no worries, I'll post up something of our trip there here sooner or later coz it's definitely a memory that I wouldn't want to forget. But first things first, I was tagged, and under threats of death and eternal torture, here I am to fulfill the rules of the tag. Sigh. Italy has to wait.

Starting time: 20.37
Name: Mayc (no point giving my first name when officially no one here uses it).
Sisters: 2
Brothers: 2
Shoe size: 5-7 (my sports shoes are 5, my formal shoes and sandals 6 and my slippers 7, hence the range)
Height: 160cm approximately...
Where do you live: Currently JBC
Favourite drinks: Preferably flavoured
Favourite breakfast: Roti canai (I miss Malaysian food)

Have you ever
Been on a plane: Yes.
Swam in the ocean: Don't think wading counts right?
Fallen asleep at school: Once in uni. Heh.
Broken someone's heart: He broke mine, I broke his. Long story.
Fell off your chair: Yup.
Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: More like put my hp beside my pillow and went to sleep.
Saved e-mails: Yes.

What is/was
Your room like: Super messy.
Right beside you: My dead hp, Mustaq's postcard, some coins.
The last thing you ate: Sandwich.

Ever had
Chicken pox: Yes.
Sore throat: Yup.
Stitches: Yep.
Broken nose: So far no. Touch wood.

Do you
Believe in love at first sight: Nope. It takes time to develop.
Like picnics: In UK yeah. Not in M'sia.

Who was the last person
You danced with: I have two left feet (I don't dance)
Who made you smile: Lydia.
You last yelled at: Haven't raised my voice lately. Now when I'm mad, I get sarcastic.

Today did you
Talk to someone you like: Define like. If like in a friendly manner, then yeah. If like in a romantic manner, then no.
Kiss anyone: No one has stolen my first kiss yet... LOLZ.
Get sick: Feeling tired but otherwise am perfectly fine.
Talk to an ex: Not today at least.
Miss someone: Nah, with fanfic and anime to occupy my time, who can miss anybody?
Eat: DUH!

Best feeling in the world
Do you sleep with stuffed animals: No.
What's under your bed: A drawer stuffed with winter clothes.
Who do you really hate: Not anyone at the moment. The closest I have is a friendship-rivalry feeling with two someones. And it's basically one sided on my part. Sigh.
What time is it now: 22.47

Random
Is there a person who is on your mind now: Not really.
Do you have any siblings: See above.
Do you want children: Not sure.
Do you smile often: Quite often. Too bad sometimes those are phony.
Do you like your handwriting: Definitely. Have you seen it before? LOLZ.
Are your toenails painted: Nah. Not that girly.
Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: None. Mine rocks.
What colour shirt are you wearing now: Black.
What were you doing at 7:00 p.m. yesterday: Alighting from the plane.
Are you a friendly person: Not really.
Do you have any pets: Nope.
Where is the person you have feelings for right now: More like persons. :P They're in Bleach and Naruto! LOLZ.
Did you hold hands with the person who means anything to you now: LOL. If I can get my hand through the computer screen.
Do you sleep with the TV on: Nope. Who needs a tv when you have a laptop with uber fast Internet connection?
What are you doing right now: Doing this, watching Naruto and reading fanfic. Yup, I multitask.
Have you ever crawled through a window: Can't fit. LOLZ.
Can you handle the truth: Not really.
Are you too forgiving: Definitely no. Need some progress there.
Are you closer to your mother or father: Father I think. But quite close to mom too.
Who was the last person you cried in front of: My imaginary friend.
How many people can you say you've really loved(This doesn’t count friends and family.) : One. But since he's a friend now, then zero.
Do you eat healthy: Haha. Occasionally.
Do you still have pictures of you & your ex: Hung his pic on my cupboard for dart practice! LOLZ. j/k. We're on friendly terms.
Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you: Hmmm... No?
If you're having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to: Family and friends.
Are you loud or quiet most of the time: Quiet.
Are you confident: Sometimes.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Entered secondary school.
2. Discovered the wonderful world of Internet.
3. Discovered the wonderfulness of afternoon school (more late nights, more computer games!)
4. Had a relatively care-free life.
5. Tried to act older than I was.

5 things on my to-do list today
1. Housekeeping.
2. Sort out travel stuff.
3. Rest and relax.
4. Graduate from uni.
5. Ooh, and ponder on the meaning of life.

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Gelato.
2. Chocolate.
3. Keropok.
4. Preserved stuff.
5. Any other junk food.

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Go on a luxurious holiday (no more backpacking - YAY!)
2. Get assets such as house, car etc.
3. Help family.
4. Charity.
5. Invest and increase amount of money!

5 of my bad habits
1. Procrastination.
2. Short temper.
3. Impatience.
4. Inability to accept other's opinions.
5. Fear of asking questions coz afraid of appearing stupid.

5 places I have lived in
1. My hometown
2. Kolej Akasia, INTEC.
3. Vista C, Bukit Jalil.
4. Rottenrow East, Glasgow.
5. Other transient places which are too numerous to count.

5 jobs I've had (including part time)
1. Part time teacher.
2. Other than that, nope.

5 people I tag
1. Anyone who reads this and or feel like doing it. :P

Naruto Recs

I can't just rec Bleach fics without rec-ing some Naruto fics as well right? Here are some nice (in my opinion Naruto fics that might be just worth a second rereading (hence that's why they're here - otherwise it might be just too troublesome to find them again as the fanbase for Naruto is HUGE). Note that I'm not really into yaoi or yuri... I find them kinda gross, but that's just my opinion - everyone's entitled to their own, really.

So here are my recs.

1. Genius' At Everything Except Love by Ecrire
Itachi is a genius, Sakura is a genuis They make an odd friendship at school, but trouble really starts when Sasuke arrives.
This is really the reason why I started watching Naruto. This story kinda sparked my interest - although I had to wikipedia up different characters to see who they were in the Naruto-verse and how they look like. However, no knowledge on Naruto-verse is necessary to understand this fic. Basically well-written with an interesting plot line and hot ItaSaku pairing (with subtle undertones of SakuSasu - ooh how I love the misunderstood Sasuke too). Give it a try.

2. Death And The Non-Believer by IrisEclipsed
Neji's life is getting complicated: School is becoming chaotic, Death is on his case, and he might just be falling for his best friend.
A cute NejiTen fic. It's really rather sweet and the characters are IC too - Neji being his usual stoic self, Tenten as the sweet bestfriend and supported by a credible IC cast too. Quite interesting and the romance is not too mushy or anything. I like.

3. Who Died And Made You Lolita by Quillslinger
Uchiha Shisui Stars In: Who Died and Made You Lolita? Genfic.
A view on a totally undeveloped character. It's funny, it has little!Sasuke, cool!Itachi and misunderstood! Shisui in it. A total win.

Some Bleach Recs

Since I've been shamefully neglecting my Bleach fandom for some time now (partly due to the lousy filler arc, the disappointing movie and the fact that very few of my favourite fanfics are updated currently), here are some recs to bring back the Bleach (and Ichiruki) love. Enjoy.

1. Counting Stars by Hakuren
You seriously can't expect me not to rec a fic without stars in any part of the fic right? :P Anyway, this is a very lovely angst-y fic about Ichigo on New Year's Day. The tone of reminiscence, Ichigo's utter pain, the flashbacks which are portrayed so smoothly, the really in-depth characterisation of lonely!Ichigo... This indeed sets the standard for all angst pieces. This one-shot really leaves you wanting for more coz it's so good that it actually hurts.

2. Circles by Jaina
After walking a straight line your whole life, what do you do when there's nowhere left to go?
In my opinion, Jaina is a very talented author. This piece is a future-fic taking in the possibility that Rukia is banished to the real world. The slight bitterness on Ichigo's part, Rukia's acceptance on her fate, Kurosaki family dynamics... They all mesh together well enough to give this wonderful fic.

3. If I Had Never by Maiden-Chan
Can there be love without memories? IchiRuki, AU.
Another lovely angst-y piece about Rukia losing her memories. What's with me and angst today? :P

Diamond Dust Rebellion

Doesn't really live up to my expectations I'm afraid.

It's the typical shounen filler movie extragavanza... Hero with a brooding past and guilt haunting him, fighting within ranks, order for execution, realisation by main hero of the brooding hero's suffering, fighting with villains and losing, main hero to the rescue with some canny advice, gasp-the-world-as-we-know-it-is-going-to-end scene, fighting with main hero giving brooding hero a chance to avenge his past and let go, brooding hero finding peace withing himself and letting go, all is well again, end.

Seriously, what I've just detailed is a brief summary of Diamond Dust Rebellion (why the name? There's no diamond dust anywhere..), but after the ham that was Memories of Nobody, I should have known better. Guess I thought that since there's the deliciously icy Hitsugaya as one of the main characters in it that it should be better. *Shivers*. Hope Fade to Black does not suffer the same horrible fate as Diamond Dust Rebellion. It has Rukia as one of the main characters in it, but somehow I feel that the fate of being a shounen filler movie is going to befall it as well.

Man, I hate fillers. Why doesn't KT take time off to devise the plot of the movie this time?

Why I Watch Naruto

Why I watch Naruto even though I do not really like Naruto himself per se (I find him annoying)?

Haha. These are the reasons why (excuse me if I seem superficial... lol)

1. Hyuuga Neji
He's the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, despite being of only the Branch and not the Main House - a major cause of his resentment in the earlier part of the series. Yet, despite having a cursed seal on him and no one to teach him the clan's famed fighting styles, Neji learnt it all on his own only by watching, and hence becoming even more powerful than the heirs to the clan, Hyuuga Hinata and Hanabi. So much so that I feel he mirrors Uchiha Itachi in that respect. Powerful yet resentful of his own clan. However, after his defeat by Naruto and finding out that his father voluntarily sacrificed himself in order to protect the clan, Neji and reconciled with his clan and has become closer with the Main branch, even training with his Uncle. His demeanor, as mentioned before resembles that of Kuchiki Byakuya of Bleach, and his Jyuuken is definitely one of the most powerful (and graceful) tajijutsu. The fact that he's pleasing to the eye (especially in Shippuden) also helps a lot. =)

2. Uchiha Sasuke
He's the handsome, cool, brooding, angsty, only surviving member of the Uchiha clan, a prestigious noble clan with impressive ninja skills that was massacred by his older brother Itachi. He's so handsome and cool that during his academy years all girls in his year (and not of his year too, for example, Temari) were crazy over him. Sakura and Ino had also ended their friendship in order to better compete for his heart, however, the young Uchiha has shown no interest in any girl. When younger, Sasuke used to look up to and constantly felt inferior to his genius of a brother. However, after the massacre, he made it his life duty to hunt out and eliminate Itachi. Having only that as a goal, Sasuke is willing to go to any lengths to kill his brother, even to seek out the evil Orochimaru in order to gain more skills. He is at the moment one of the most powerful shinobi with his impressive set of skills including Mangekyo Sharingan, chidori, kirin, various summoning techniques and such. In a nutshell, Sasuke is the typical antihero of Naruto, who, after the death of his brother, vowed to restore the Uchiha clan to its glory and to defeat Konoha. What I'm predicting is a typical showdown between Naruto (who's going to be the Hokage) and Sasuke at the end of the series, leading to Sasuke's death (the series is called Naruto for a reason) and him repenting his past evil deeds. Not really looking forward to it though so I'm just going to try to enjoy Sasuke for as long as possible until then.

3. Uchiha Itachi
The cool older brother of Sasuke who murdered his whole clan for the good of Konoha. He is ultimately, the misunderstood hero who's willing to take the post of a villain for the good of everyone and who truly loves his younger brother. He is also the genius of the clan, graduating the academy in a year, becoming a chuunin when he was 10 and captain of the ANBU when he was 13. However, as quoted by him, being a genius does have it's downside and that's of being alone, misunderstood, used and feared. His is a story of sacrifice and ultimately tragedy. Sigh.

There you have it, the three reasons why I watch Naruto. Hehe.

And here's the first ending theme of Naruto Shippuden.. I find it kinda cute. It's called Shooting Star (Nagareboshi). The lyrics are kinda cool too.. Rather suitable for my site (except the forgot the swimming trunks and stark naked part lolz).

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite

Koko wa itsumo no kouen
Yakei ga mieru suberidai no ue
Mukashi kara boku no tokutouseki
Nayami ga areba koko ni kurun desu

Ano koro no mama yume no tochuu de
Imada kanaerarezu ni irun desu
Moshikashite koko ga mou shuuten
Nante yowane wo haite
Shimaisou na hi mo aru

Demo sono tanbi ni omoi dasu
Nagareboshi wo sagashite ano hoshizora
Chiisana koro no negaigoto wa ima
Mukashi mo kawaranai mama

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite

Yoru no kousha nakama to shinobi komi
Koe wo hisome kanaami yojinobori
Hiruma to chigau kao no guraundo wo sei ni
Mezashi ta basho wa "puuru" to iu na no umi

Mizugi nante mon wa nai kara minna suppadaka
Dareka ga kisei wo hasshite tobikonda
Yoru no tobari ni hibiku mizushibuki
Ato ni tsuzuke to bakari ni mina issei ni haite

Sora miage pukapuka ukanda
Meno mae ni aru hoshi wo nagame
Ooku no yume katari atte
Sagashita ne ano nagareboshi

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite*

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite*

Miageta sora ni musou no hoshi
Ima mo mukashi mo kawaranaishi
Yume wa hateshinaku kuruoshikute
Ano hoshi no you ni sugoku mabushii

Miageta sora ni musou no hoshi
Ima mo mukashi mo kawaranaishi
Yume wa hateshinaku kuruoshikute
Ano hoshi no you ni sugoku mabushii

Hey! sonna ni utsumuite bakari icha
Mieru mono mo mienaku naru kara
Sora miagete keep your head up!!
Hey! "miageta sora ni ima, nani wo omou?"
Itsuka kirameku ano hoshi no youni ...
I wanna shine

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite*

Sora wo mi agereba
Hoshitachi ga hora matataiteru
Kono hoshi no hitotachi mitai ni
Samazama na hikari wo hanatte

Sono naka de boku mo
Hitoki wa kagayaiteitainda
Me wo tojite kokoro ni chikau
Nagareboshi ni yume wo takushite

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star

I'm in my usual park
I can see the night scenery
On the slide
That's been my special seat for years

Whenever I'm worried about something, I come here
Just like then, I'm on my way to my dreams
But unable to fulfil them
"Maybe this is the end of the line"
There are days when I say weak things like that

But every time, I remember
That starry sky where I looked for a shooting star
The wish I made when I was little
Hasn't changed even now

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star

Hiding out in the schoolyard at night with my mates
We climbed the wire netting
The field seemed to have a different face than during the day

We headed for our sea called the pool
We didn't have swimming trunks, so we were all stark naked
Someone jumped in with a strange yell
The splash echoed through the night

"After him!" Everyone else piled in
We floated gently, looking up at the sky
Looked at the stars in front of us, and talked about heaps of dreams
And looked for that shooting star

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star

Looking up at the sky, there are countless stars
The same number now that there was years ago
My dreams are endless and crazy
Incredibly bright, like that star

Looking up at the sky, there are countless stars
The same number now that there was years ago
My dreams are endless and crazy
Incredibly bright, like that star

Hey! If you keep hanging your head like that
You won't even be able to see the things you can see
Look up at the sky, keep your head up!!
Hey! "What do you think of the sky you see?"
Someday, like that shining star...
I wanna shine

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star

When I look up at the sky
The stars, see, are sparkling
Each giving off its own light
Like the people on this planet

Yeah, so I, too
Want to shine particularly bright
I close my eyes and make a vow in my heart
And entrust my dreams to that shooting star