The Wedding Girl

 

A group of tourist was staring at Milly as she stood at the registry office steps with a wedding dress on. One or two of them even took pictures and Milly smiled happily with the attentions she is getting.All pretty in her dress Milly looked at her soon to be husband Allan feeling excited. Three week ago, when Milly just graduated from high school and arrived at Oxford. While her friends are spending the summer having fun in Ibiza, traveling Europe she came to Oxford to study a secretarial course.  On her second day there, she saw at the campus grounds two men having a picnic and one of them approached her to ask to borrow a lighter for his cigarette and sure Milly had it and then she was invited to join them. She gladly accepted and spent her whole day in the sun with them and then went to a bar at night. She had a lot of attention from the men there and she loved it. She spend most of her free time with two of them Allan and Rupert. Allan asked for her hand in marriage and shocked in the moment she said yes without asking why. Apparently it was to help Allan stay in the country as he came from the states.

Forward ten years, Milly and her mother is preparing for her wedding to Simon which will happen in a few days time. It's going to be a grand one where her mother Olivia planned it. Simon's father is a well known business man Harry Pinnacle who is the owner of Fruit 'n Smooth. he started with a small juice bar which serves healthy drinks and it became an instant hit. Soon the business multiplied and it had many franchises around the country. Olivia planned the reception dinner with ice swans, beautiful decorations and secretly planned a helicopter for them to leave for honeymoon.  Everyone was excited about the wedding especially Olivia but only one wasn't too much which was her father as he questions her many times that whether she is sure of her decision. Her father James was having bad days where he felt he was too distant from his wife and it was hard to talk to her.

Milly's older sister Isobel was going to fly in for the wedding as she was her maid of honor but sadly she has some bad news herself. She was with child and does not know what her next steps would be. In all the excitement, everything seems too good to be true, the photographer hired (Alexander) says he knew a secret of hers. Alexander was actually one of the spectators during her wedding at Oxford ten year ago and he advised that she should have told Simon which she hasn't. After consulting with Isobel, Milly realized that she might be still married with Allan and she had to find out whether the divorce went through. All Milly could do was track down Rupert which was Allan's partner. Milly went to London as she couldn't get him from the phone and so she had no choice with just three days before the wedding. After tracking down Rupert she found out that he was a married man with a woman and things have changed. she advised him to tell the truth as she should have done it herself. Sadly she couldn't find Allan and her divorce was not finalized and Milly went into a state of panic.

How things went on with the wedding well I won't tell. "The Wedding Girl" by Madeleine Wickam AKA Sophie Kinsella is not like her current books. It wasn't as funny as The Shopaholic series or others. The Twenties girl was by far the funnies one for me. This book is more on things being dramatic and also more realistic about families, the problems some family have and how the children are affected. I did find one similarity in this book with her latest which was Harry Pinnacle's business story with "The Twenties Girl" main character's uncles who successfully opened a chain of coffee shop like Starbucks. Other than that, it was all really new and refresh for me. This book shows that Sophie used to write in a more serious manner regarding relationships and how real people can behave towards gay issues, father issues and spouse issues. It's not a book that I would read again but it was an eye opener to a different type of writing that Sophie used to have.

Donations to Japan

Just a bit of update on what is our country's approach in helping Japan. So far I've seen some organisation collecting donations. Here are some pictures that I've taken:

 Bangsar Village collecting donations for Japan

I find the above activity useless as what Japan needs now are food and resources to rebuild Sendai. I doubt that these 1000 origami cranes will contribute in rebuilding the country. If only everyone just donate RM 1 and I'm sure that is much more useful to them. These cranes will just end up in the dumpster and it's also a waste of paper. Don't tell you'll ship these cranes there, it's a waste of  money on logistics too. If you don't have the ability to donate, pray for them everyday.

Ransom my heart

In the timeline of 1291(13th century) where the monarch was powerful in England and the holy war at Jerusalem was on going, little lady Finnula is aiming at a hawk that terrorizes the henhouse. That hawk belongs to the Sheriff and his visits means she is in trouble again. Secretly Finnula is hunting animals that belong to the earl's cousin where he is taking care on behalf of the new earl. Her sister Christina came up to her room and startled her which cause her to let go of the drawstring and missed the bird. Christina was warning Finnula that the sheriff came to check on Finn about poaching. Finn doesn't seem to care about her actions as she hates the bailiff in charge where they mistreat the serfs. Luckily Robert (Finn's brother) is distracted as he will scold her for her actions as she may be arrested easily, he and his lover have an announcement.

Finn went downstairs from her room to receive the good news where Robert will be marrying Rosamund (mayor's daughter) after many years of dating. It was very good news as most of Finn's sisters were already married except for herself and Mellana. While everyone is rejoicing, Mellana is crying alone in the kitchen and Finn noticed and questions her sister. It seems her sister is with child and the guy is a troubadour that has no money. Mellana herself is also withouth gold as she used those made from selling beer in buying trinkets and new dresses for other sisters' weddings. Finnula felt sad for her sister and was angry at her mistake at the same time for simply spending gold. Mellana begged for help and Finn felt pity for the sister and agreed to help her to earn gold. The sister had a plan which is to kidnap men and ask for ransom from the family. It was dangerous but Finn have already agreed to help so she had no choice.

As a female, Finnula is unique or some would say un-ladylike wearing leather braies and a white lawn shirt instead of dresses like most maids in the land. She doesn't know how to cook, wash or do any other female chores and she is only good with a bow where she never misses a shot. 

Hugo Fitzstephen is the earl of Stephensgate and was on his way home from London. He wasn't really a man who is "holy" even though he spent a decade fighting in the Holy Land. Hugo fled to the Crusades as his father wanted him to join the monastery. He however enjoyed seeking oneness with women and found many of them in Jerusalem. He was back from the war where he was held captive in Acre by the Muslim army and the ransom was paid by the crown. He left London as he "dallied" with someone's wife and was demanded gold for compensation of his broken heart. 

After travelling for sometime, his squire where he hired from London was complaining of being tired and so they stopped by an inn for food and drink. Not long after he was there he saw a female walked in which was dressed not what common ladies do as it was immodest to wear a pair of leather chausses. Her hair was tied in a messy braid but she had a nice figure which caught his attention for a long time. Hugo ask who she was and the innkeeper mentioned it was the miller's daughter. It was time to leave and as they were leaving the inn his squire was taken by some hooligans and they demanded a price and they started a fight where the lady butt in and beat the guys where they ran out of the inn. 

Finnula slowly trailed Hugo as she went to the inn to scout for prey. She enjoyed stalking the prey and capturing it the most but if necessary she would have to kill but it wasn't to her liking . She noticed the gentleman knew the countryside well which made him a difficult prey but it excited Finn as it was a challenge and it made her heart thumped happily.  Hugo stopped at a place where it reminded his childhood where he and his brother used to swim in this spring. while he was filling his flask with the water from the waterfall at the spring, he noticed the girl he met at the inn. She was naked and went into the spring for a dip, Hugo felt ashamed for spying and so he turned his head away and suddenly he was attacked by her and with a dagger at his throat they walked back to where his squire was. 

The story continues with the squire escaping from his binds and he jumped on Finn and knocked her unconscious. Hugo was attracted to the lady and was angry at how the squire attacked her. So he asked the squire to go back to the manor to wait for him while he played being captive and enjoyed her company at the same time. When she woke up, Hugo looked at her wound which was on her ribs which was bruised, he offered her ale to make it hurt less and wrapped her ribs with cloth. So they went on a journey back to Stephensgate where Finn thinks she would make a lot of gold and Hugo was just fascinated in her and had thought on other things. He also tricked her that he was a knight with the name Hugh Fitzwilliam returning to Caterbury

Hugo constantly irritates her and Finn nearly gives up on having him captive. He kisses her where they were camping for the night and it made her body felt burning hot. It was a new feeling for Finnula and at the same time she wanted more but it was important to get her job done instead for Mellana's sake. It took a few days to travel and the relationship and tension between them heightens through out. 

Ransom my heart by Princess of Genovia - Mia Thermopolis with help from Meg Cabot is a story about a girl who wants not to fall in love and a man who wants to posses her body and soul.The thing I love about this book is the timeline as it was at 13th century instead of this current century. I'm often fascinated by those timeline where man court women with utmost enthusiasm. The clothing that was worn during that time is so classy and grand where I enjoy imagining it.  The language spoken is so polite and proper, it was a time where men and women are definitely not equal and their responsibilities are distinct. The ranking in society plays a big part during those times when monarchy was active in England. 

I often laughed at how Finnula would react to some things that Hugo says and also his actions. It was enjoyable for a book for adults but not too explicit on the sexual details so it's still mild.It made me wish I was born during those time and have an epic romance. This story is the kind of romance that Mia Thermopolis dreamt of and she spent time researching and writing it with Meg Cabot's help. It's definitely a good book on historical romance as it has been long since Meg Cabot wrote stories on a different timeline. I would read it again in two to three years time.

Tragedy strucks, but people still....

We all know last friday Japan was struck by earthquake and then a terrible tsunami hit Sendai. It was horrific looking at the videos, the way the sea easily washes buildings, cars, boats and other objects away. The damage from the tsunami was worse than the earthquake. Many Japanese who witnessed and lived through the tsunami are still traumatized by what happened. It had damaged the country so badly that they now have power crisis. They will have to do rotation in blackouts because the lack of power due to damage to their nuclear plants.

As a person who lived far away I feel helpless and the only thing we can do right now is keep praying for them and donate money. But during this crisis there are still people who have many opinions and say things that are bad. It sounds as though they have no compassion for the people there. Here are some links:

• http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-571969
• http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-570978
• http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/03/15/green-rosmah-hit-by-twitter-tsunami/
• http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/tokyo-governor-apologizes-for-calling-quake-divine-retribution/

These are just a few that happened but there was many more. This is how Google is helping Japan. http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html.  Please have a heart 10USD is not a lot just donate if you have more donate more. 

This Charming Man

Paddy de Courcy is getting married and 4 women found that this news was too shocking. Lola who is his girlfriend is shocked because he didn't propose to her and apparently that woman who is going to marry him is not her. Grace who is a reporter wants to find out what is happening and thinks that Lola have all the details. Marnie who is Grace sister and also Paddy's first love is hurt because she occasionally still thinks of him. Lastly, Alicia who is the woman he is going to marry was not even asked.

Lola is so devastated by the news that it has affected her work. She screwed up with the clothes she needed to bring to her client. She screwed up with a photo shooting and keep thinking about Paddy. When she couldn't take it, she took her friend's advice to take a trip to heal. So she drove to Bridie's Uncle's place in Knockavoy and stayed at his house. When she was there, she had many thoughts down memory lane. She thought of the time where she 1st met him at a graveyard. She simply stood in front of a woman's grave and imagined talking to her mother and there was Paddy visiting his mother's grave too. He asked her for a cup of hot chocolate and found out that he shares the same fate like her where their mothers passed away when they were 15, the void of not having a mother. She also thought of their first date where she was picked up by his driver and she expecting to go for dinner instead they went shopping in a sex shop where they sold kinky underwear, accessories and toys. She was shocked as he wanted to watch her try on some inner garments but she was excited at the same time because it was a first time.

While being in Knockavoy there wasn't many things to do as it was a small town. She ate at a pub, went to a DVD shop to rent movies to watch and took walks along the beach. Life was boring but she had a weird encounter where she found a pretty girl in a wedding dress at the next door place. She was beautiful and looked happy, she assumed there was going to be a wedding. But then the next day, there was a guy burning the wedding dress as if everything was over. Soon her life there became interesting and she met new friends.

Grace is the reporter who wants the inside story from Lola but still couldn't get it. She is also linked to Paddy where she 1st met him in a restaurant and she decided to work there. She was a friend to him and when he met her sister Marnie they started dating and were like soulmates. Secretly when she was young Grace had a crush on Paddy but she let her sister have him since he didn't look like he was interested in Grace. Somehow something happened which made Grace not like him. At the same time, Grace's car was stolen and then found to be burnt. Someone has a grudge on her but she don't know who.

Marnie is very unhappy and she doesn't know what is wrong. She has a wonderful husband and two wonderful girls but she still can't find happiness and have turn drinking into a way of running from the world. She drank during the day, drank after work and once found herself all hurt. Her drinking problem was really bad but she would not admit she is alcoholic.

"This Charming Man" by Marian Keyes is a story about 4 women, how they are link with Paddy de Courcy. It also tells how he affected their life in the past and the present. It slowly reveals the type person he is and the story climaxes how 3 of the women did something to change his influence on them. I like her writing where it is realistic in a way where some romance leaves a scar in people, it's hard to handle and to heal. It gives one point of view how people react to abuse and how afraid they are to confront them. No doubt there are some parts that are funny which I love and it's really something unexpected. It's different from what I read from Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot, something new and fresh to me. I like the ending where life is as real as it gets.

It's the day where the Lunar calendar starts anew again

I know the title is long :P but I kinda like that instead 1st day of CNY. This is a day where you'll definitely wake up with a good mood, happy for sure. The Chinese believe that if you want to have a pleasant year you should start this day positively therefore no arguments, no breaking things and also no sweeping (that's because we believe you'll sweep away your good luck). Every year I wake up, get dress, snap photos with my parents giving the red packet/'ang pau' to my sister and I. After that we head over to my grandmother's place. This year we wake up, get dress and go downstairs and everyone is there.

Although this year my sister and I woke up later than usual, overslept because of sleeping late the previous night. My grandparents have already given out ang paus to my cousins and I'm late. But still we followed our tradition of taking pictures of the ceremony by reacting the part of giving ang paus. All the elders "gave" the youngsters (people who are single) their blessing in a red packet and snap snap.

After that we just spend time playing with my cute baby cousin brother, he is born on the year of the Ox which was 2009, and I'm 2 Ox cycles before him, that's a big gap >.<". He is so cute and adorable and after lunch he normally takes a nap so this is the time to play with him and bond a bit. For a baby he's already quite smart as he knows how to eject DVDs from the player and insert what he wants to watch. Other than that, he also knows how to play a bit on the Ipad. He knows how to get out of an app and return to the main screen. He even used my finger to press it for him, so so intelligent.

After lunch, some visitors came and it was my grandmother's sisters. My grandaunts have been staying in SG for a long time and occasionally during CNY they will travel back to KL visit all their sisters which includes my grandmother. So this year they need not travel to KL to visit my grandmother but of course they still will to visit other sisters. The elders all chit chatted and the so called youngsters all spend their time playing Monopoly. It was kinda a messy game as all transactions involved a credit card. It's not a real card, just  a plastic card that has dots at different spots to identify the players. Basically there is a machine that keeps track all the credit you have in the card, so you insert the card to deduct/add credits and the memory in the gadget will be updated. It's messy because all the children want to take turns clicking the thing.

After our guest leave, I manage to nap awhile before we head out to Sentosa Resort World for dinner and a circus show. When we reached our destination there was so many people queuing up to take the bus or taxi to leave the place. It was really crowded since there's a casino and I guess most go and try their luck. We had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and the pricing if not converted it's cheaper than Msia's I think. The food price range from 20+ to 30+. The sodas are all refillable but only the mocktails and cocktails cost more. I find that it's reasonable because in Chili's those type of drinks normally cost a lot anyway.

As for the circus show, the act was called "Voyage de la vie" which is a production done by Sentosa resort world. It consists many circus acts chained into a story. It was funny, exciting, and scary at the same time. In every circus act you'll normally have the "clown" which is the magician for this show. He is the funny man that makes people laugh. Then there are other acts such as the acrobatics up in the air, rope and cloud swing acts, I was worried for the performers themselves as they were so high up in the air without any netting at the bottom. It was a 1 and 1/2 hour show and we all went home happy and tired. Everyone went to sleep after a long day and looking forward to the next.

Below are some photos of my "adventurous" day  =P.

I was absent because.....

I noticed I didn't blog anything this month, it looks like I've been lazy and not keeping my promise of one post a week. The reason was it's the festive season, New Lunar Year or some may say Chinese New Year. Being Chinese this festive is very important to me and my family. Every year I would spend the eve and the first day with my grandma and then travel back to my mom's hometown from the second onwards. What we do is we visit my mom's brothers,uncles and aunties. What the youngsters do is we collect "Ang Paus" (red envelopes with blessings/money) and eat lots of cookies :P.

This is different, my grandparents moved to Singapore with my uncle and family, therefore my family spent our first CNY there. My aunt and my cousin brother also went together, we took a plane there instead of a bus this time to avoid traffic congestion on the highways. Unfortunately we didn't visit my mom's home so I didn't see that side of the family this year. I heard spending CNY in SG is much more quiet than KL and it was quite true. We touchdown in SG on the eve of CNY, ate lunch and my uncle took the day off and brought us to Ion Orchard and 80% of the food courts are closed.

We just walked around and enjoy the breeze as there weren't many people around unlike when my sis and I came nearing Xmas. We went home and got ready for dinner. CNY eve dinner is very important as it's called the reunion dinner. In the olden days children of a family often work elsewhere and didn't visit their family often, the reunion dinner is where all the children come back and sit together for dinner. It's a good tradition to me for eating together with family is fun. 

In KL when it was nearing 12am, you can hear fireworks and in SG there wasn't any, and that I missed. I'll continue my story for the next day on a new post. Below are some pictures taken on the eve of CNY.

The Magicians

 

Quentin, James and Julia walked together in the cold. James and Julia held hands and it has always been this way. As Quentin felt sorry for himself James asked what's his strategy for his interview to Princeton to change the mood. As they near the destination of interview, Julia says goodbye and good luck to the boys.  Quentin rang the bell of the old building and they waited, 5 minutes later he knocked and pushed lightly and the door opened with a crack. The house was dark and he slowly made his way to the den. He looked around and saw a big cabinet with lots of liquor and then he saw a dead body lying on the floor.

15 minutes later the paramedics came and a woman confirm he was dead. She slipped him an envelope and after they have left the scene, James went to meet up with Julia leaving Quentin all alone. While walking he opened it, there was a notebook inside and on the first page handwritten in red ink: The Magicians - Book six of Fillory and Further. As far as Quentin knows he has not heard of this book at all in the series. He turned the page and there a piece a white notepaper and the paper slipped off with the wind. He chased after the paper and ended up in a place where the green lawn is perfectly leveled. The sky was blinding blue  and in the distance stood a house. Fifty feet away there a thin teenager leaning on a tree smoking and Quentin called out to him. He asked whether is he in Fillory and the young man answered no, it was upstate new york.

And so the journey of magic begins for Quentin, he was tested whether he was qualified to enter Brakebills College to learn magic and stay there. Of course he passed and got in. He asked to stay there until the new semester started and spend most of his days hanging with Eliot the boy he met at the tree. In his journey he met interesting people, had a dangerous experience in class where a monster showed up. He also joined a certain specialty on his third year there where there is a clubhouse located for them. It doesn't end just in college, it carried on till he graduated where his friends and he found out a secret which leads them to the most dangerous journey they have taken.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a combination of Harry Potter and Narnia but in a much more darker side where magic is very dangerous. The "Harry Potter" part of the book is during Quentin's college days but not much details in term of schooling as in Harry Potter books is one book per school year. Everything is cramped up and sped through. Of course it's hard to compare the two where Harry Potter purposely written in a way where the whole school year is detailed. The Magicians is a book more concerned on the main character's interaction with his friends in school. What kind of people his friends are. There are some interesting parts in the middle of the book and towards the end. Towards the end of the book, it is more related to the dark side of Narnia where he is not as pleasant as Narnia was and the world was more damaged and corrupted.

I picked up this book  because of the title and the reviews that were printed on the book. Surprisingly it's not what you expect but sadly not that exited to me. I merely sped through when there was not much conversations and it was all descriptions. When it was interesting it was really interesting and when it's bland it was boring. In my opinion it's not a well balanced book kinda like a movie having climaxes all of a sudden and then when it's subtle it bores you. It's a good exposure for me because I usually stick to certain authors when it comes to fantasy books and this is a different type for me. It's the kind of fantasy that incorporates reality at the same time and powerful magic is not always rainbows and it comes with consequences. The way magic is done in this book is definitely different where a lot more studying is required and a lot of logical thinking.

Overall I rate the book as a one time read book, not something that I would pick of the shelf in 2-3 years time to read again. It's just interesting to explore the darker side of Narnia and magic but not interesting enough to get me hooked on for long.