Last Day of the year

31 December 2010, last day of the year, some people party, some people ponder, some people don't bother, I would be flipping through  my schedule diary. I like to look at what activities I've done for the year, ponder on my achievements, maybe set some goals, plans and resolution for the coming year.

My 2010 was quite ordinary, many common things happened such as friends getting engaged, getting married, and many of my friends went to Taiwan. It's funny that I have seen more than 10 friends having pictures of their Taiwan trip, it must be the trend now. I myself only traveled to Singapore twice this year to visit my grandparents, my uncle & family, at the same time do some shopping there. I found a good place for cheap stuff, if I'm low on clothes I'll definitely go there again. 

I have also evaluated myself and here is a list of achievements:

• Traveled oversea (just crossing a bridge from Msia to SG)
• Finished Professor Layton game without FAQ/Walkthroughs ( I love testing my sense of logic thinking)
• Finished reading 15 books
• Finished some DS games 
• Learnt makeup online and learnt to take better care of my skin
• Avoided conflicts (talking about pissing ppl off or get pissed at ppl)

I know these achievements are lousy but to me it meant something.

Things that I failed to achieve:

• Still haven't completed Zelda , 365/2 days game
• Still haven't gain any weight
• Failed to learn all the katakana and hiragana words
• Failed to learn simple japanese
• Still have tons of self help books sitting in my cupboard

Overall I think it was a not bad year, it wasn't great but I'm satisfied although there could be more that I should have done, so I'll leave it to next year. So long 2010 and welcome 2011 where I hope that I will do great things and achieve what I didn't this year.

PS: Went to Singapore at 15th December, will update on that once I sort the pictures.

Mid Valley Parking System is crap

The purpose of this post to increase awareness on this horrendous parking system. Firstly the management decided to increase the parking rate yet again, it has become the worst type, the money sucking type as it has no maximum charge at all.It used to be max RM 7 for weekdays and RM 9 for weekends and public holidays. With this new rate if you work there from 9-6 you'll be paying RM 9. We should see changes in maintenance of the parking but it did not improve.It is always so packed and people always park illegally. Below is the picture for the new rate:

I was okay with this parking rate until I was charge unreasonably. It was last Friday when I went for a midnight movie, I arrived at 11:30 ish and left after because the Harry Potter movie was quite long.The receipt is below:

As you can see the timing of in and out is clearly printed. I always know how much to pay for carpark because I do keep track of time, I prepared RM 3 because it was 4 hrs, so RM 2 for 1st 3 hrs and RM 1 for the subsequent hr. I was shocked when the machine asked to pay RM 5 and I could not make any complain as there wasn't anyone personnel working at that hour. I payed and collected my receipt and I found the mistake that made it charge me more. The machine calculated that I was there for 6hrs and 1 minute which was absolutely wrong. If you do the equation it would be

                                                        26:48 (02:48 adding 24hrs system)

                                                      - 23:33

                                                      = 3:16

So I was there for 3 hrs and 16 minutes and rounding the charge would be 4hrs. Last time when I went for midnight movies like this I only pay RM 2 for having been there for 4 hrs and now an extra RM 3. I believe that after they changed the system the programmers screwed up the algorithm in calculation. Another thing that got me angry was tonight when I went there for dinner the machine still make the same mistake in calculation.

If you look at the bottom it calculated 4 hrs but actually it's only 3hrs and 1 min. Even passing 1 minute they charge an extra ringgit. Stupid parking system is just like a blood sucker which can't even fit in a proper algorithm. Can't they not charge people who just exceed 1-5 minutes, since they give people 20 minute grace period to leave. you should also not charge the person extra for exceeding a mere minute. What's so hard to code it?? Just add an extra IF logic to check whether the exceeding minute is > 5 or not then BAM! you got it. I have come across a parking system which is Bangsar Village, once I exceeded by a minute but there was no next hr charged.

Tomorrow I will write an e-mail to their management and make my complaint formally. I hope they will provide me a proper explanation. I hope my friends and readers who visit there take note of the charges, let's not feed these systems blindly as RM 1 a person is a lot in a day for them.

Out of date....

I haven't been blogging for two months, eek so lazy of me. I have been reading but quite slowly, like a book in 2 months time. There are some books that I've completed but I didn't find any time to do it, soon I guess. If you ask me what have I been up to these time? Nothing exciting, just read when I can, play Sims 3 Ambitions (taken a lot of my time) and the thing that I do everyday is watching all those dramas and TV series from USA. Everything just started again since end of September, I have at least one series to catch a day. 

Another thing that I've been obsessing was my skin, I haven't been taking care of it consistently and lately I notice that the laziness is showing. Spend most weekends out with my sister looking at skin care brands. I have yet to find anything that shows me results that I'm satisfied with.  At this century many women depend on make up and I've seen many China girls who look almost like men and with loads of make up they are transformed into someone pretty. I know make up can hide flaws but I feel that I would invest in skin care to retain natural beauty, that way I don't need make up at all.

One month till the last month of the year and I bet many people are planning their holidays, Christmas parties and new year's party, time really flies. As for me I don't have anything planned, but before xmas I'll be visiting Singapore as my grandparents are there. Let's hope it will be a fun trip because my cousins are on holiday we get to do plan some activities then. 

Overwhelmed....

Sometimes I have so much in my head that I don't know how to tell someone, to share and get comforted. In this world that I kinda lost some hope on it, I just choose to keep quiet and ignore. But it's just too overwhelming that at some point I feel like giving up on mankind, on humanity. I guess writing it out like this is considered sharing with the world instead of talking to a person face to face which I sometimes are not that brave to do.

A few weeks ago I was at a point where I felt that this world needed an apocalypse, a major disaster to wake everyone up. Something to shake the world up and let them have a feeling that they themselves are not the world, they are not everything and I hoped that those arrogant people will feel useless and helpless instead of strutting around acting like King. People these days are very selfish and all they think about are themselves, benefits for them and more power. Some even use other people as excuses for doing what they're doing.

That day when I felt that way, a few things happened. I was on my way driving to a place and I needed to pass by a shopping mall area. There was 5 lanes and the furthest 2 right lanes are for other drivers to head to a different location. As usual at a place like this there were minor traffic jams and these are caused by people who drive at the right lanes and cut into the left lanes. I am an ethical driver and I know where I am headed so I always queue from the start before the lanes diverged. There are many who cut in on purpose because they don't want to queue at the long line, if however a person really took the wrong lane in the first place have the courtesy to put a signal light and say thank you or sorry at the driver you squeeze in, but no, nobody did that. That pissed me off because when I cut in because I had no choice I will apologise I don't drive like a ruffian and just squeeze people. This act is just so selfish, what have the world become of. I know I sound naive but since they are doing this kind of act I am sure they have done worse, it just shows what kind of a person you are even though it's just driving.

Another thing that happened on that weekend was my family and I went to dinner at a food court. For a weekend it was packed like hell and so we took quite some time to find a table. After finding a table we had to find a worker to clean the table, and so I courteously ask a person who was pushing a cart, " Please can you  help clean this table". That person just continued to push his cart and nearly hit me with it. What kind of an attitude to portray when you are in this service line, I was mad and I wanted to complain to the manager for his attitude. I wasn't even demanding rudely to have him clean my table. This made me feel that sometimes some people don't deserve gratitude because they don't even serve you with gratitude. I have always say thank you to waiters who serve food, to people who just doing a bit because it's gratitude that I want to give from the bottom of  my heart. I don't say it for the sake of saying it because I meant every word.

I get so piss and tired thinking about this world, figuring people out on their intentions. I agree some people have good intentions but this just seems to be getting less and less. Everyday I see this and I feel overwhelmed because there's nothing I can do about it, people don't act on inspiration or influence anymore, they all act based on selfishness.  If only someone could prove me wrong but we all know this is so what's happening in this world. One day when all hell breaks loose, people will be "Every man for himself" and it's just not I want to see in the future.

Twenties Girl

We are now living in the twentieth century therefore us girls can be called the twenties girl, another person who could be called that way would be someone who was living in the 1920s. That person would be old now with the age of 90 and above. Girls living in the 1920s adore dresses and for this century we adore jeans, shirts, short dresses, short skirts and many more.

Lara Lington quit her job to be a headhunter just like her best friend but she was caught in a bad position as her friend decided to quit and spend her time with another person in a foreign land. Lara herself have no experience in head hunting and was struggling to meet the demands of her clients. Other than that she just broken up with Josh who she can't get over with and thinks that there is still a chance with him. 

There was a funeral for her great aunt Sadie and her family attended along with her uncle and family. Her uncle Bill Lington is a celebrity for he made millions starting with two cents. Bill owns a big chain of coffee shops and made a name for himself. He also published a book on his path to success and gave seminars to teach people that they can do the same as him. Bill and family live a lavish life and his daughter is a spoiled brat. All of them did not give much thought to the funeral and just wanted to get it over with. 

During the funeral, Lara keeps hearing a person talking and it was asking where her necklace could be. Lara was annoyed and answer loudly but there was no one else in the funeral but her family. This girl who was dressed in the 1920s keep yelling at Lara to stop the funeral and find her necklace. Lara couldn't stand it and stopped the funeral by saying she suspected that her great aunt Sadie was murdered. Lara had to go to the police station to report her statement and why she suspected the murder. She was scared that she will be caught in an offense for making a false report but that was the only way to stall the body being buried. The girl ghost who kept haunting Lara was actually Sadie and she wanted her dragonfly necklace buried with her. It was a special gift that was given from Sadie's parents for her 21st birthday.

Day and night Sadie would pester Lara to find her necklace and on the way they met a wonderful chap called Ed. Sadie really liked his type of looks and so she forced Lara to ask him out on a date and soon they became friends. It was odd but somehow Sadie could convince people to do things by yelling at their ears continuously until they give in. Sadie's lost necklace leads to a mystery and a lie being discovered. The past of Sadie was also unraveled eventually.

This book is full of laughs and I dare say it's now my favourite work from Sophie Kinsella. I have never read so much humour in a book that seems like a ghost story but turns out to be funny. The funny parts are what Sadie manage to convince other people to do and also Lara herself. It was also interesting to read on more about how the Lara try to find a necklace that she have not seen before. The relationship between Lara and Ed was odd at first and it turned out to be something good. But the main thing of this story is the relationship that was built between Lara and her ghostly great aunt Sadie, how they found out where the necklace went to.   I really enjoyed this book but I wished the ending could somehow different on how things ended for Sadie an Lara. I recommend to those who wants a good laugh from a chic lit genre.

House of many ways

Ever gotten lost in a house? You will be if you went to live in a wizard's house that has many ways. Charmain loves to read and hopes to enjoy her summer reading more and more books. She also wrote a letter to the King to offer her help to sort out his library. She was expecting to have a fun summer but her Aunt Sempronia signed her up for a small task which is to look after Great Uncle William's house while he is away. The reason for him being away was he is sick and the elves took him away to heal him up. Great Uncle William is the Royal Wizard Norland and what's special about his house is that it bends space and time. One door can lead to different rooms.

As Charmain got there she wasn't given any instructions and she arrived just to see Uncle William getting carried away by the elves. Luckily the wizard prepared for a stay and there is a voice who answers to her questions such as How to get food, where is the bedroom and such. Uncle William's voice will be there to answer her questions to help guide her around. Certainly when she got lost in the house she would just ask and get the directions. In the house lives a magical dog and which became attached to her and along came a young boy Peter who was suppose to be the apprentice of the Royal Wizard. 

It seems like a disaster where they had many troubles in the house. Charmain also manage to get an offer from the King to help sort out the library. At the same time, the princess of Norland seeks Sophie's help in searching for the missing gold of the royal family. Sorting the documents, letters and books in the library helps the King find a clue in the missing gold. Uncle William also left a bag for Charmain which contains directions and instructions on moving around in the House. 

Somehow or rather Charmain is involved in helping to find the missing gold along with Sophie and family's help. The truth about the gold and the relatives of the Royal family is also revealed. Howl has also transformed himself to hide his true self for the investigation.

House of many ways by Diana Wynne Jones sure has many ways just to get to the bedroom in a small little house. This sequel to Howl's moving castle isn't as exciting as Castle in the Air where there was many roadblocks for Abdullah. This book had more of what happened inside the house and a bit on Sophie's family involving in searching for the missing gold and resulted to an ending that you can quite expect it to be. Throughout the book you read up on Charmain and Peter on how they manage in the house. How they did things and how they discover routes in the house which connects them to certain places. I think this story is just fine in the adventure department because not everything that happens is exciting. But when it comes to the last few chapters it gets a bit more interesting. Definitely not her finest work but good enough for me to finish the book as I wanted to know how Howl and Sophie is involved. I really hoped the writer would have sequel on the couple itself as they both have interesting personalities and also magical abilities. My favourite is still Howl's moving castle.

Castle in the Air

Living at a place where mostly you see is sand, it's hard to avoid dreaming away in the daylight. Abdullah lived in a country where when you walk out of the city it's the desert in front of you. He is just a carpet merchant and considered as a failure from the eyes of his relatives. Abdullah himself is happy with his business which was was some money left from his late father for him. He manage to get a booth at the Bazaar which is quite nicely situated where it is not too far from the rich people's house. Once in a while he manage to buy carpets from young merchants and sells it as his booth earning a little bit of profit. Most of the day Abdullah can happily daydream away where he is a prince and he marries a princess. Sometimes his father's first wife's relatives would come and complain about how he is a failure but that didn't bother him a bit.

One day Abdullah bought a carpet that was claim to be magical. The owner demonstrated that it could fly and needed to sell because he needed money quickly. Abdullah was suspicious but still the carpet was quite good quality. Abdullah was not able to summon the carpet to even float, he was upset and fell asleep trying. His dreams became wonderful where he went to a beautiful garden. At that garden was a beautiful girl and she thought that Abdullah was a girl because of the sleeping robe he was wearing. Everything felt real to him the next morning he woke up and he realised that the carpet had moved him there while he was sleeping.

Determine to see the girl again Abdullah tried all he could to summon the carpet to fly. That night itself Abdullah went to that garden again and the girl said that her father would marry her to a prince but he aged quite old. He decided to show her all kinds of man around in the world and so he bought every picture of different kind of looking man available. The people in the Bazaar thought he has changed his business into art itself. Abdullah carried all the pictures onto the carpet and went to sleep and after he woke up he showed her all the pictures and she was shocked and accepted that he is indeed a man.

The girl told him that she had a prophecy when she was born and that she was to marry the first man she sees excluding her father. That is the reason why she was only let to be out at night. The girl decided that she would marry Abdullah since he was the first other man that she saw, and so they decided to elope the next night.  In preparation Abdullah sold all his carpets to get as much money as he could and he went to buy something nicer to wear. He also got a haircut. Before he left his relative came and told him that they will reveal his prophecy that was given when he was born.

Abdullah went with him and read the prophecy which was he will be raised above others in this land. And so his relatives know that a great future will come to him and tried to set him up to marry one of the relative's cousins. Those two ladies were fat and ugly and he had to politely reject for he was going for the princess. That night he flew there happily and just about he was going land, he saw with his very own eyes that the princess was kidnapped by a djinn. He was powerless and was captured by the Sultan's guards. The sultan demanded to know where his daughter was and after they found they will fulfill the prophecy and kill him afterwards.

Abdullah manage to run away with the carpet's help and many trial and tribulations came for Abdullah to save the princess. In his journey  he met with interesting characters and met with Sophie and family unexpectedly. Abdullah will find a castle in the air and save his princess for sure.

This book is the sequel to Howl's moving castle (the one that Studio Ghibli made into a major motion picture) written by Diana Wynne Jones. Though Sophie, Howl and their baby only have a few chapters of involvement but it was fun to read how their lives had changed since then. I really like how the author inserted Howl and Sophie as they were from different lands. I really enjoyed this book as there were many trials faced by Abdullah and it was overcame unexpectedly. Although the ending can be easily predicted but how it got there was just interesting and fun. I dare say it's the second best story after Howl's moving castle.

LeSportSac Spring & Summer 2010

As we enter the summer season many fashion industry will introduce their new designs to suite the season. When it comes to summer, it's a season of vibrant colours, thin materials in clothing to suit the hot weather, slippers and shoes that doesn't cover the whole feet.

I'm not a big fan of LeSportSac as the money you pay for those bags can be used to buy a nice leather bag too. But I do like the designs they offer, it's cute, colorful and you don't get those kinds of design patterns printed on leather, it just spoils the leather. Last month while I was browsing around in Kinokuniya I came across the catalog for the Spring & Summer designs. I couldn't browse because it was wrapped up and reason being that it has a free gift if you purchase it. The free gift was a pouch and a strap is given to change it into a small sling bag.

It had a wonderful design therefore I bought it plus there was a 20% discount on it when I purchase another item. It's a win-win for me as I have other books and that magazine with the free gift only cost RM 50++ after discount. After purchasing it, I went to Isetan as they were having a sale and went to look for that pouch. That pouch cost RM 210 and Isetan was giving 50% discount resulting it to RM 105 but still I got mine half of the price after discount. It was one of my best buy that I have ever made. Eventually my sister saw how nice and she bought the magazine too but with a different design pouch. This is the first time that I bought a LeSportSac and at a cheap price too.

It was my good luck day as I flip through the magazine the design pattern that I chose for my pouch is a design that can only be found in Japan. In Malaysia you won't be able to get the design I have unless you fly to Japan and bought it there. What a wonderful day it was.

My pouch design

My sister's pouch design

Pacman 30th anniversary

It's already been 30 years since Pacman came into the gaming world. A classic game that has been played by different ages. Even though it's a simple game but it's challenging as you eat up the dots and avoid your enemy. As you pass one level, the enemy moves faster and many years down the road there are many more new maps created.

I didn't know about the anniversary until I went to Google.com. There you will see a beautiful banner displayed, what's more surprising you'll find an insert coin button. Once you clicked it, the Pacman theme starts and you see the monster moving about. What Google did was to allow users to play the game after you have clicked the insert coin button. Once you have lost it will redirect you to links related to Pacman's anniversary just like clicking any innovative banners they have.

I'm grateful that Google is doing this much to honor Pacman. It takes effort to do this and Google is certainly showing its uniqueness and that it is not merely a company that wants money but a company that wants to make a change in the IT world.

My Trip to Singapore part 2

2/5/2010 (Sunday)

Today I woke up early again because I have an appointment to have lunch with my WoW (World of Warcraft) friends that I've known since 2003. It was a hot day and before meeting up with them in Vivocity, I went to Sim Lim Square aka The Low Yat Plaza of Malaysia. I search for the directions on google maps and drew it on a paper.

My sister and I walked out and took the MRT from Kovan to Little India. Upon reaching we just follwed the map, after 10 minutes of walk and 800 meters I realised we were lost. So  my sister asked a passerby and apparently we went the wrong direction from the station. There were actually two exits at the station and we took the south one which was wrong, and so we continue our walk in the hot hot sun. The 500ml water is already finished before we reach the building since the weather was so hot and dry. Sadly when we reach our destination many of the shops were not opened because of Labour day holiday, what luck I have. After asking around for the item I wanted which was out of stock but they still printed it on the price list, we left and went back to the station.

Upon exiting the building we took the wrong exit and walked around the building until we found the right path, this is definitely a bad day for me. From Little India we took the MRT to HarbourFront and exit to Vivocity, piece of cake since the station was linked to the complex. We were one hour early so we walked around and looked at clothes, shoes and stuffs. It was time for lunch and it was at a Brazilian restaurant called Carnivore. The food was served buffet style, the reason that it's called carnivore because they keep serving meat, grilled beef, lamb, pork, sausages and chicken. The meat was cooked really well, it was so juicy and you didn't need any sauce for the meat. It was an enjoyable lunch meal and it was fun catching up with my friends.

Around 4 something we had to leave because my parents were going back to KL first. My sister and I were staying until Tuesday. We did some shopping before we left, my shoes was hurting my feet from all the walking so I bought a pair of Crocs =P. We went to Novena Square to send my parents off, there we waited for the bus to arrive and then my parents said their goodbyes to my grandparents. After that we went to dinner at a place called Yum Cha. The food was good and tasty, we had Lotus soup, pork, taufoo, and fried Min Sin which was good. Dinner was over and we went back home and called it a night.

3/5/2010 (Monday)

We woke up around 10 something and my sister helped my cousin sister with her homework. After that off we go to Orchard Road, as usual we took the MRT and there were many people as it was a public holiday for the Singaporeans. After we exit the station we found ourselves inside a shopping complex (Ion Orchard) and we have no idea where we were. So we just walked around and we found many expensive brands in this place. We went out to Orchard Road to find that the building had a very unique design and figured this was a new complex as I don't remember it 10 years ago.

On the walking street itself there were many display items for people to take pictures, we wondered around taking pictures and headed for Takashimaya for lunch. The place was just like I remember and there were many Japanese food there for sale. We bought takoyaki, Korean pancake, yakitori and some drinks and looked for a seat at the food court area. The food was good and we left to find Forever 21 in a different shopping complex as we decided to come back here for tea on the dessert later.

The Forever 21 store that we were looking for has 4 floors as described by my sister and so we walked and walked and followed a direction where many ladies was holding the bag. Somehow we got lost again and we asked a young man but he seemed lost too. Then a lady overheard and pointed us to the right direction of 313@somerset. The moment we walked in, the atmosphere was different, it was another new shopping complex and was nicely built. Everything inside was new and we could see that the brands there were also more expensive. The Forever 21 store had 4 floors and was crowded with many ladies, even the dressing room had a long queue. My sister and I looked around and had a few pieces of clothing to try on. I think we spent about 30 minutes or more there and I bought a tunic type shirt.

We went back to have tea in Takashimaya and went to Kinokuniya. We spent some time exploring the book store but didn't buy anything as the books in KL were cheaper after the exchange rate was applied. We continued walking around and waited to meet with my sister's friend for dinner. Since we were so tired we decided to eat at Ion Mall food court because it was next to the MRT station. We tried the Singapore laksa there and it was delicious wished I could eat another bowl but maybe next time. There was also Japanese food for sale at the same floor the food court was located and we bought Hokkaido steam cakes to bring home and share with everyone. We went home and tried the cakes and it was delicious, I'm definitely trying other flavours the next time I came back. It was a fun day walking and shopping at Orchard Road, too bad it wasn't the sale season as things will be cheaper. And so the night was over and we packed a bit before we went to bed.

Ion Mall

4/5/2010 (Tuesday)

 We woke up feeling sad as it was the day to go home. My cousin sisters were in school and my uncle and aunty were at work. I spent some time chit chatting with my grandmother asking her whether she had gotten used to this new home. We talked about my aunts who were living in Belgium and Paris and that they were coming to visit my grandmother this summer.  My grandmother asked my sister and I to go out and buy McDonald's which was nearby. We had lunch together and I went upstairs to finish up my packing. While half way packing my grandmother suddenly went "EH??" and I went downstairs to check what's up. Apparently my cousin sisters convinced the bus driver to send them home first because they wanted to say their goodbyes to us, so adorable. We took some pictures before we left and took the MRT to Novena Square. We felt sad that we were leaving and my grandfather said the next time we visit, we should visit longer. This ends the journey of our visit and we reached KL at 9:30pm.

 For more pictures visit: Singapore Trip

My Trip to Singapore part 1

The last time I went to Singapore I was 15 years old, so now after ten years has passed I went there again. This time it was to visit my grandparents who have moved there. It was a four day, four nights stay and to me it wasn't enough. 

30/4/2010 (Friday)

6:30 p.m. was the time the bus was leaving and at 6pm my family and I have yet to get a taxi to where the bus departs. My parents drove out to the streets to find a taxi, luckily by 6:15 we got one. Once we were there we just rushed onto the bus and then my dad's phone rang, First Coach was asking my dad to register first. It was funny because this is the first time we took a bus to Singapore and we didn't know what needed to be done. Our 1st trip to Singapore as a family started with anticipation and excitement. The journey on the bus took more than 5 hours, my sister was watching the movies provided by the bus, my mom was recalling her time in Singapore when she was younger and I was sleeping as I couldn't watch any show from my seat.

We reached the Singapore customs after 11:30 and went into Singapore, it took about 30 minutes to reach the drop off point for the bus. My aunt and uncle also came at the same time to pick us up where the bus drops us, Novena Square. My grandmother was inside the car waiting for us, it's so good to see her, missed her so much. My grandmother insisted to look for food for us as we have been on the bus without dinner. We passed by a place selling chicken rice and so decided to pack it back to eat.

At home we all shared the food and it was good and tasty. The packaging was really clean and neat, the chili was in a sealed plastic bag. In Malaysia the rice and chicken are packed in polyester packs and in Singapore it's inside nice plastic box.  We were all tired and so we went to bed in the third floor.

1/5/2010 (Saturday)

Early in the morning I could hear my cousin brother crying, but I continued to sleep until 9 something my sister and I woke up. We got ready to go to the nearby market for breakfast, one thing good about Singapore's area structure, every housing area have a market, food court and a train station that is walking distance. It took less than 10 minutes and less than 1 km to reach the place, my aunt, cousin sisters, my mom, sister and I walked there, it was fun. We had beef ball noodles and my aunt showed us more of their new home and the area. There was a small shopping mall and the MRT was very near too. We walked home to rest as lunch time we were heading to Resort World Sentosa.

At 11:45am, my uncle drove all of us to Resort World Sentosa, my aunt's new work place. My aunt treated us lunch there at a VIP restaurant, the food was good and special. After that, we walked around the hotels and took some pictures, in our next trip we decide to visit Universal Studios, for there were many people as it was a public holiday in Singapore. It was a hot afternoon, we also went in the casino. The casino was so crowded, many gamblers at roulette table, blackjack table and poker table. Even the slot machines were full of people sitting there and gambling. My grandmother gave my sister 10sgd to try her virgin luck, she won back the 10sgd and then lost it to the classic slot machine. It was a confusing game as we don't understand how we got points. We went home tired and took a nap until dinner.

For dinner we went into the city to a restaurant that had the same reading sound as my grandmother's name. The food that was served was Hainan style, the pork chop was very good. After that my uncle drove us around town awhile and we passed by Little India, there were many people there and mostly are Indians, it's like looking at Brickfields, KL that is 5 times bigger and more crowded. My parents went to visit my grandaunt who lived nearby after that and all the children and my grandfather went to bed. 

Trip to the market

Resort World Sentosa

Queen of Babble - Gets Hitched

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched is the last book of the series for Lizzie Nichols. The previous story ended with Lizzie waking up at her apartment to find Chaz next to her but dressed and Luke at her door looking for her. Luke was suppose to be in France but he came back because he wanted to propose to Lizzie. Lizzie temporary avoided a conflict between the two friends by asking Luke to get her coffee and then she shoos Chaz out of the house. Chaz is pretty pissed as he feels there is something between them and does not agree to Lizzie getting back with Luke.

Luke proposes and Lizzie accepted it and she is on her way of becoming a bride.Lizzie is busy planning her dream wedding but many problem arises where the best man (Chaz) and maid of honor (Shari) does not support the marriage. Lizzie's wedding will be in south of France but her family wants in at their backyard. At the mean time, Luke's family is influencing him to quit studying medicine and going back into investment banking. While Lizzie is busy planning her wedding she also is busy with her career where she needs to design a wedding gown for a celebrity. The celebrity is a troublesome person, wanting this and that, behaving not what a bride-to-be is suppose to.

In all these problems, Lizzie starts having doubts about her wedding and whether Luke is the one for her. Chaz is simply mad at her and thinks that he is the one for her instead. Lizzie doesn't want to be a bad girl and be with Chaz and dump Luke.

What you'll find in this book is the development of Chaz and Lizzie's relationship, her career development and more family involvement. Meg Cabot inserted special parts just like the previous two books, which are "A History of Weddings" and "Tip to avoid a Wedding Day Disaster", not to forget quotes but this time not on gossip but on soul mates and union of two souls. I really enjoyed reading those small small things that is in the book, it really widens my knowledge on history on weddings. Drama and funny are the key essence of this series and this book still gives plenty of it. You would read keep reading to find out how the drama ends and will Lizzie end up with Luke or Chaz or neither? I'm really happy with the ending and I find that this series is much better than Heather Well's which I will blog about later.

Queen of Babble - In the Big City

Lizzie Nichols has graduated and is out to find a job but she isn't lucky as she couldn't find the perfect job. Her best friend's boyfriend (Chaz) helped her and so she is working as a receptionist at Chaz's father's law firm. There she start her gossiping again and has many job troubles. In the mean time, she is volunteering to work in a wedding gown shop. She really loves it and wants to be a certified wedding gown specialist.

Lizzie's love life seems to have a good start where Luke from the previous book has ask her to live with him and she agrees. Then she manages to bring up the M word at Luke and soon finds herself no place to stay. Other than that, Lizzie is meddling with a famous person's wedding and soon find herself needing to design and refine the wedding dress of this person. Many troubles occurs as Lizzie does not manage to shut her mouth up at important hours.

What I like about this second book is the humour is ongoing and I'm curious at how things will end for Lizzie be it her relationship or her career. In this book, Meg Cabot has a topic before each new chapter and it is Lizzie's wedding gown guide. I learnt a lot from the guide on wedding gowns, it is really interesting. Also when a new chapter starts, there will be quotes regarding gossip from famous people just like the first book.

This books builds more on Luke and Chaz's characters where we find out more about those two gentlemen who are best friends. We get to see more of Lizzie becoming more mature and responsible and how her friend developed too.The second book definitely had more drama than the first one, I enjoyed this book more than the first where you don't know what to expect from Lizzie and the people around her. The ending of the book is sort of suspended which indicates that there will be another book coming. This is a must read to follow up on Lizzie Nichol's messy, dramatic but yet funny life.

Queen of Babble

With no place to go and no money to leave London, Lizzie Nichols is in big trouble, and also the money to visit her boyfriend in London is her college graduation money. When she reached London she was only filled with disappointment, she couldn't recognise Andrew and thought he was a stalker. She then went to live with Andrew and the family in a small flat which was kinda disastrous for she thought they would be alone. Lizzie was further disappointed when she found that that her boyfriend wasn't honest at all and was trying to cheat some money out of her, so then she gets away from him and calls her best friend Shari for help.

Thank to Shari, Lizzie managed to get a job by helping Shari cater at a wedding in south of France. She then takes a train to south of France to reach the Chateau Mirac. It's an exciting summer  where Lizzie's meets someone special on the train and found out that he (Luke) is the bribe's cousin.  She also messes up a lot because of her big mouth and the things she says. She still manages to fix the problems in the end and gets hooked up with the handsome Luke.

This book is filled with lots of laughter, interesting love story and great character development. I really enjoyed this book by Meg Cabot and you could see a lot of research must have been done for in every new chapter there is a quote that is related to gossiping for Lizzie loves to do that. Other than that, the writer also inserts Lizzie's final year thesis before every chapter which is some small parts of the thesis. The thesis is about history of fashion which I don't know anything myself so it was a good read. This is one of those Meg Cabot books that are hard to put down because you keep wanting to know who Lizzie will end up with, how she solves her problems and tries to learn to shut her mouth. I give this book a rating of 5/5, it's one of those chic lit that aren't normal because Meg fills it with humour and drama easily, I would definitely read it again in the future. A small note to all, this Queen of Babble is an adult series not like Princess Diaries who are meant for young adult and even children.

Blood+ - 3 - Boy meets Girl

Around the world they travel and this time Saya and Red Shield have gone to Paris, France. Saya is busy training to toughen herself and Riku had become a Chevalier which puts Kai in the outs as Riku and Saya shares the same blood. Riku is happy but Kai feels left out and helpless. So he wanders off in Paris walking around aimlessly and suddenly he bumped into the enemy, "The Schiff". "The Schiff" are after Saya's blood as they think it's the only way to save their lives that are crumbling downwards. They are manmade chiropterans from a research lab in Kilbed which is funded by the enemy. Kai only saw one of the gang walking around alone, she was amazed by Paris and seemed harmless, therefore he followed her.

A gang of man tried to harm her and Kai thought she would fight back but she couldn't do anything. Kai jumped into the rescue and escaped with her and decided to help her. He brought Aurelien back to the hideout and everyone had their guard up for fear it was a trap. The Schiff followed Aurelien's scent to the hideout and tried to save her which cause a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of fighting.Aurelien and Kai tried to clear the misunderstanding and managed to convince Saya to save The Schiff by givng her blood willingly instead of forcefully taking it. Since Aurelien was dying, Saya gave her blood but it did not work. The Schiff are greatly saddened as they lost one of their sisters and lost hope that they can save themselves. They decided that Diva could be their only hope now.

Kai is saddened too by the situation and also distanced himself from the family. He went to the Eiffel Tower to commemorate Aurelien's death and found that Saya was there too. They talked it out and their bond became stronger.After that Saya decides to read Joel's diary and find out her past and how she came to be. The story reached it's climax when the leader of the chevaliers found a mole in Red Shield and plans an attack in a month's time. Diva and Karl decided to have some fun and went to the ship where Red Shield's headquarters are after the mole told the location. Everyone was caught in a fight and many were hurt. Saya lost someone dear to her and after the incident she disappears for a year along with Hagi. The story continues in London where Saya meets her only family member left again. Diva is up to no good as she took over the body of Saya's family. Saya defeats two of the five chevaliers of Diva's.The book ends where Saya have to travel to USA to continue chasing after Diva and to put a stop to whatever sinister plan that the enemy have.

This novel is separated into two sections which is Paris and London which indicates the location where Saya is in. It's kinda hard to imagine a sword fight and even a war zone for me which in this case the third book has much to offer. I liked the part where the writer gives Saya and the Schiff a good relationship this time where they help each other to one common goal. The whole story stresses on family bonds and relationship many times where we read about The Schiff's, Saya's and also Diva's chevaliers. All of them have tight bonds and care greatly about each other, the devotion and loyalty is wonderful where we often question ourselves it is the same for us. Despite being family members, some people are willing to abuse them at will, to manipulate the bonds and trusts to gain what they want. This is just wrong. It is awful to hear but you can't deny the fact that it's happening right now in every part of the world.

The writer did give the readers some fun where good versus evil isn't hopeless. Sadly there aren't always happy endings where one good character dies but two bad people dies. I'm looking forward to how the last book will end the story. I would give this book a 3/5, it has good action but I feel some parts are quite draggy and some parts lacks some explanation. Overall the writer did a good job on the important parts.

Enchanted Glass

We all live ordinary lives, have ordinary jobs and ordinary friends. Things changed when Andrew's grandfather(Jocelyn Brandon) passed, he is given an important duty which is to care for his grandfather's field of care. When he was young he spent many of his summers with his grandfather at his home in a village. He loved spending time with his grandfather but he has forgotten most of it. Andrew quit his job as a Professor in a university to write a book. He moved into the house his grandfather left for him, he also kept the servants that his grandfather had.

The cleaner and the gardener have never been in good terms but they work fine with Andrew's grand father. Mrs Stock likes to moves things when Andrew rearranges the furniture and Mr Stock grows huge vegetables in the garden. Whenever Mrs Stock was mad at Andrew she will cook cauliflower cheese to make him angry. Both Mr Stock and Mrs Stock had think that Andrew was weird in a way and wanted to set him straight, thus they both offered their relatives as help to Andrew. So Andrew hired Mr Stock's niece(Stashe) and Mrs Stock's nephew(Shaun) in order not to make the two elderly angry.

Adventures began when a young boy Aidan Cain came to seek help from Andrew's grandfather but did not know he had passed. Weird people were after Aidan and many of them are unable to pronounce his name which was a relief as they would be able to command him to them. Thus Andrew begin his adventures with Aidan where they find out how big is Jocelyn's field of care. The story goes on how they came to realize the power of the enchanted glass. Along with the many people who are associated with Andrew they fight the evil who is after Aidan.

Dianne Wynne Jones have not cease to amaze me, from the first time I picked up Howl's Moving Castle I have been in love with her writing. Her fantasy stories are not the typical ones where there are swordsman, magicians, thieves and priest. The stories are unique in a way where magic are just in our current world, where it is living parallel with us. Her stories are often about family, about love that just happens without you knowing, you'll never know what you get from reading her books. Though her target of readers are either children or young adults but I still love the type of fantasy stories because it always fresh and new.

Julie & Julia

This story has really inspired me to blog more. Based on two true stories,the two main characters are both living in different times.One in the 1940's and another in 2002. Julie in year 202 was somewhat lost in her life, not finishing things she had started. Influenced by Julia Child, Julie started a project. This project is attempting to cook everything in Julia's french cookbook in a year's time. Julie blogs about her project on the internet and it's an everyday thing. 524 recipes and 365 days, she would have to cook at least one recipe per day and she blogs about her journey everyday.

Having something to do everyday and to blog about is a good thing, because you have something to do at least once a day. I believe blogging improves your writing skills as well and expressing your thoughts and experiences at the same time. Julie was going to be a writer but she only finished half a novel, not enough to be a writer. After work and feeling sad she will do the one thing she loves to do and that is cooking which helps her to relax and makes her happy.

Julia on the other hand has a story of her own and it's about her journey in french cooking, how her cookbook came to be. She moved to Paris with her husband and she absolutely loves eating french food. As a housewife she has nothing to do at home but feeling bored and so she takes lessons in making hats and then playing bridge but it's not exciting enough for her. Therefore she searches for french cookbooks to learn french cooking and found there isn't one in English, all of it are in french which she is not familiar with.

Julia with determination in learning went to a cooking school. She started with basics but it was just too basic such as how to boil an egg. She then joins a more advanced class where she is the only woman in there. She was the last in class but with her determination she practices at home and soon she is top of her class. After graduating from the cooking school she teaches US housewives french cooking with two more ladies who are french. These two ladies were writing a cookbook in English but did not succeed in publishing it and asked Julia to join. Therefore Julia Child's cookbook was in the making.

This story inspired me to be more determined in pursuing a dream or even small things that you like to do, be it cooking, sewing, drawing and many more. Having something to do everyday, something you love to do, it makes life more fulfilling. This is because you have something to look forward everyday, you put your heart into it and you enjoy your outcome. I will be on the lookout on what projects that I can tackle and blog about everyday and hopefully it improves my writing which brings me closer to be a writer. Hopefully one day I will be a writer and have a few books of my own, I also like the idea of becoming an editor :P.

Planner of 2010

365 days of 2009 had passed by and it's time for a new planner. You can find many of these planners for sale in bookstores during the month of December itself. There are many shape and sizes, some people will buy those planner that they can keep changing and refill the paper once a year. Those planners for a start cost a lot depending on what your preferences is, leather cover ones are expensive but they can last longer. There are also simple planners that you change every year, calendar, notes and space for noting your everyday plans of every month. These are the ones you chuck every year or keep it for reminder so every year it will cost you some money for these planners.

I used to have those that just change the refills, but I stopped using it because I couldn't find stores for the refills anymore so I swap to those that you change yearly. I browsed some at Kinokuniya and those are absolutely beautiful, there are many shape and sizes and the paper inside have wonderful designs, kinda heart pain to write on it and ruin the picture. So I didn't buy those because they cost a lot too, about 50-100 ringgit, which is a lot.

Fortunately at the December 2006 a wonderful friend of mine gave me a wonderful gift, a planner for 2007 from Starbucks. The design is very nice, plenty of space to write down your plans, put in extra notes and of course public holidays noted in the calendar. Here's some pictures:



After having this wonderful planner,I've decided to get one from Starbucks the following year and further on. The 2008 one required me to drink 18 drinks before I can get it free, with the help of family and friends I got it, I can't possibly drink 18 frappuccinos within a month. Pictures of 2008 Starbucks Planner:

As you can see the 2007 one has more space for writing daily plans where one page has two days and this planner above try to cram 7 days into two pages. I also got the one for 2009 by drinking frappuccinos again :P. Pictures are as below:



This planner has a leather cover, the design is okay but sadly this planner has no ready drawn daily spaces for you to use. Only note pages are found, so I divided the lines and drew my own. I still preferred the 2007 one. This year the cover of the planner is hard and solid which can last very long. It has a standard 6 pin holes maybe I am able to find refills for next year. Pictures:


Thankfully this year's planner has the daily space drawn out again, no need to do it myself but still a bit cramped compared to 2007. Too bad they want to save cost and print it that way because the 2007 planner is the thickest of all 4 I have. Well time to fill the planner up with 2010 plans which so far I don't have any yet. Hopefully I will have lots of activities and not many blank pages like last year :(.