Sunday, June 05, 2005

*Shoots myself dead in the head*

No. No more procrastination. That was what I said last year.. or last month...

Grah...

KEEEEEEL me somebody....

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Saturday, May 28, 2005

Final Update About ESUM

Right, after all that is said and done, the following are the write ups/reviews on the whole thing.

More to winning with words by Choi Tuck Wo
Link: The Star Online

THEY came, they saw and they wanted to conquer. But due to stiff competition, the two Malaysian student representatives at the International Public Speaking Competition 2005 in London didn't quite succeed. They were, however, victorious in other ways.

Suraiya Abdul Munaff and Aw Yong Wai Nyan came away much better persons in life for their experiences in a foreign land recently. Besides forging friendships and exchanging views with about 60 other youths from 37 countries, the duo also gained an insight into the multi-ethnic and multi-religious cultures and ideologies of the world’s communities.

It was a truly enriching experience for Suraiya and Aw Yong, who had won an all-expense paid trip to the British capital for clinching the top two spots in the English Speaking Union of Malaysia’s (Esum) Public Speaking Competition in Kuala Lumpur last month.

During their four-day stay in London, they were taken on a tour of HSBC Holdings’ headquarters in Canary Wharf, visited Shakespeare’s Globe, watched a play The Woman In Black at Fortune Theatre and attended workshops and a mock parliamentary debate.

For Suraiya, she felt great to be able to compete with some of the world’s best speakers. “I’ve no regrets coming to London. It’s such a wonderful experience.

“I have learned a lot from so many friends these few days. I’ll never forget this trip for the rest of my life,” said the 18-year-old A-Level student from HELP University College.

Aw Yong, however, could not hide his disappointment but conceded that the competition was “very stiff.”

“You just have to accept that there is someone better than you. I gave it my best shot and thoroughly enjoyed myself,” said the 20-year-old law student from ATC Kemayan. Aw Yong added that he also learned a lot from the other participants, especially their views and
perspectives towards current issues.

Touching tales

During the preliminary heats, both Suraiya and Aw Yong put up inspiring performances against a relatively strong field of 12 opponents from the Philippines, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan.

As only two speakers from each of the four heats were selected for the finals held on May 12, the Malaysians were edged out by Nonzwakazi Adonisi from South Africa and Julia Fetherston from Australia. Suraiya and Aw Yong did their best to wow the judges with their simple yet touching tales of This Piece of Cloth and Ordinarily Extraordinary respectively.

Using real life stories of heroes and heroines as well as personal experiences, the duo poured out their hearts to the audience relating to the theme Differences and Diversity.
Suraiya spoke of the diverse reactions to her decision to wear the headscarf a few months ago – from the full support of her parents and aunts to surprise and amusement from friends.

“An overseas friend even remarked, ‘It’s so hot in Malaysia. Why do you wrap your head like that? Take it off, you look 10 years older',” she said.

She added she would never forget the amusement of one of her friends, who even asked what had happened to her hair.

“Soon, my friends and I were talking about how my bad hair days are over, only to discover my bad scarf days had just begun,” she said. Suraiya drew laughter from the audience when she related how her friend would step out of an open-top convertible with wind blown hair ala Bridget Jones, while hers would be prim and proper, ala Grace Kelly.

“So, the headscarf may be welcomed by some, tolerated by others or banned by still others. But to me, like the saffron robe of a Buddhist monk, or the habit of a nun, this piece of cloth is simply an expression of my desire to be one with my religion,” she added.

Heroic deeds

Aw Yong (left) and Suraiya together with English Speaking Union director-general Valerie Mitchell.Aw Yong’s tale revolved around the true story of Dr Paul Rusesabigina in the movie Hotel Rwanda, who risked his life to save over 1,000 Hutu and Tutsi refugees in his hotel.

Despite threats of death, he did not give up hope until all the refugees were rescued. “Paul Rusesabigina is an ordinary man who committed himself to doing an extraordinary act, even at gunpoint,” he said.

Using a Malaysian heroine to illustrate his point, Aw Yong said Dr Sybil Kathigasu risked her life treating sick and injured British and Indian soldiers during the Second World War.

“Eventually, she was caught by the Japanese kempetai (secret police) but despite being tortured, she did not reveal vital information.

“They even tortured her seven-year-old daughter Dawn who, despite her excruciating pain, cried ‘Mummy, don’t tell them anything!'“ he said.

Aw Yong said Dr Kathigasu received treatment in Britain after the war and was awarded the George Medal for her heroic acts. She died in 1949.

He also spoke of his parents who were not parenting gurus but whose seemingly ordinary contributions to his life and those of his two brothers were extraordinary.

“All of them are clear examples of how ordinary people like you and me can achieve extraordinary deeds despite our differences and diversity,” he added.

The preliminary heats were held at the English Speaking Union (ESU) headquarters in Dartmouth House and the finals at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Threadneedle Street.

China’s Peng Xia won the Best Speaker and Audience’s Choice awards in his powerful rendition of My One Time Destiny, runner-up was Rita Lahlou from Morocco (The World: A Beautiful Mosaic) while Best Non-Native Speaker Award went to Samia Badih of Lebanon (A Curse or a Blessing).

Chief Judge was Patrick Spottiswoode, director of Globe Education, Shakespeare’s Globe while ESU director-general Valerie Mitchell presented prizes to the winners. Organised by ESU to promote global understanding and friendship through English, the local competition in Malaysia was organised by The Star and ESU Malaysia and co-sponsored by HSBC Bank Malaysia.

---

Now, from a slightly different outset.

64 languages, 1 voice by Jackie Fernandez
Link: The Star Online

Can you imagine sitting in a room with 64 accomplished speakers from 37 different nations, all talking at the same time?

This was the scenario recently at the introductory meeting for the participants of the International Public Speaking Competition 2005 convened by the English Speaking Union in London.

As director-general of the ESU Valerie Mitchell said, the competition was not all about winning the coveted “Best Speaker” prize or the chance to be in London again in November to meet the Duke of Edinburgh. It was also a golden opportunity for the speakers to meet their counterparts from all over the world – share their cultures, experiences and form lasting friendships in the process. This rang true not only for the speakers but also for chaperons and other accompanying adults.

Among the group were 10 accompanying adults, including teachers from Lithuania, Serbia, Holland, Morocco, trainers from South Africa, Italy and organisers from Georgia, Lebanon and of course, Malaysia. The teachers from Lithuania and Serbia were somewhat intrigued at our first meeting – they found me a “novelty” as they had never come across an Indian before. So I was invited to be photographed with them and was asked if they could touch my skin!

From the outset, the brief to all the adults was to “just be on the fringe” of all the activities
arranged for the young speakers, and to observe from a distance with allowances being made for the compulsory picture taking of our respective participants. There were those who were a little too obsessed with digitally documenting their speakers’ every move on digicams, digital cameras and camera phones. One, however, was occupied with a pair of knitting needles!

Day Two saw the speakers being assigned allegiances to political parties that made up Parliament in the mythical kingdom of Alocos and these parties were to debate on and pass constitutional amendments on the adoption (or otherwise) of English as an official language in Alocos.

ESU head of the centre for speech and debate James Probert briefed speakers on the general role of Parliament and their respective roles within the mythical Alocosian Parliament. Groups were then separated into different rooms according to their political allegiances, namely Socialist, Nationalist or Liberals.

In their respective rooms, the sound levels (and sometimes tempers) often reached fever pitch as a consensus seemed impossible. The teams were supposed to formulate policies and arguments for the next day’s “parliamentary session”.

Some of the adults flitted in and out of the three rooms to observe the sessions, at the same time consuming vast quantities of delicous Lithuanian chocolate! Consensus seemed elusive at first but soon, the groups managed to appoint leaders, ministers of education and finance to represent them at the parliamentary session.

Day Three saw the convening of the Alcosian Parliament in the Long Drawing Room at Dartmouth House. Self-appointed benevolent, life-long “Speaker of the House”, Probert called Parliament to order and a “point of information” style of debate commenced.

As the speeches were made, there were interruptions, loud cheers and thumping of tables within the 15th century building in central London. Things got so heated that the “Prime Minister”, US representative Brendon Ruiz, resigned his post and “defected” to the Socialist party! His position was assumed by Argentinian speaker, Fernando Racimo, who had for the most part of the day been quiet until he staged a “takeover” of the Prime Minister’s post!

The depth of understanding, the ease with which speakers (mainly non-native English speakers) put their points across in English, impressed everyone. The pros and cons of adopting English as an official language, the possibility of losing one’s own culture and language and the importance of English globally dominated the debate that afternoon.

Proceedings sometimes got a little heated which forced Probert onto his feet calling for order at various points. What came across during the proceedings was how different speakers viewed the importance of language in their respective culture and country – but they all recognised the importance of the need for a global language in today’s borderless world.

It was indeed an eye-opener for all concerned and a worthwhile experience for all of us. Where would one find a teacher from Serbia, another from Lithuania, a South African trainer and a Malaysian marketing services executive exchanging ideas and thoughts with others from Holland, Georgia, Morroco and Italy! The camaraderie fostered by the speakers rubbed off onto us chaperons.

The English Speaking Union has to be commended for its efforts in bringing together the biggest group of speakers yet for this year’s competition. The sheer number of participants from non-native speaking countries stands testament to the truly global nature and reach of the language.

---

More info in Wai Nyan's Blog: Life's Legalities. Just scroll down a little or something. It's the post dated 21 May 2005.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Until next year, I suppose. Am a bit upset/regretful that I most probably will not be able to compete next year. Not that I'm terrifically good or in the league of winners, it's just that it is a truly enriching experience.

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Sunday, May 22, 2005

Because Andrew Scolded Me....

... for not updating about the ESUM competition.

First, to give you all n00bs a little background info on the post, go read The Star Article: Duo vows to do nation proud.

Sad to say, we didn't make it. Apparently, Malaysia didn't make it past the heats. Nevertheless, I'm sure Wai Nyan and Suraiya did a lovely job presenting Malaysia to the world.

Winner is the speaker from China, and from Wai Nyan's post, he did hell of a job.

Now, for more info, I must provide you links because I MUST rush back to work. Am kinda slackey to the max.

Wai Nyan's blog with many recent posts on the competitio and his time in London. Sounds like he had a jolly good time, too. Makes me look forward to going to UK.

But first, I must work on my Tort paper and various assignments. And a cruel reminder to all my classmates who does read my blog: 18 days away from June 10th.

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And So I'm Back

Ok... I just got bombarded with a lot of msges, blog posts and what not. And sorry Andrew, I haven't even touched a newspaper for the last 4 days while I was in Sabah. No newspapers, no net... OMG.

In short, what happened to me while I was in Sabah.

1. I stayed in a really nice hotel, Nexus Karambunai. Beautiful rooms, grounds and everything. I really had fun.
2. I tried snorkeling and got bitten by a fish.
3. On our way back from island hopping, the boat ran out of petrol. I learnt the meaning of 'so near yet so far then' as I could see the ferry terminal, and probably can WALK there... but I didn't.
4. I went to Mt. Kinabalu and had lunch there.
5. Shot an arrow from a bow.

Well... that's about it. Off to check out all my stuff.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Fandom Ships... ALL SAILS AHOY... (Did I get that right?)

Gacked from Berrygold's LJ.

Naruto

"One True Pairing" Ship: Naruto/Hinata
"Canon" Ship: Sasuke/Sakura
"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship: Naruto/Sakura
"You are one sick bastard" Ship: Neji/Hinata
"I dabble a little" 'Ship: Jiraiya/Tsunade
"It's like a car crash" 'Ship: Shikamaru/Temari
"Tickles my fancy but not sold quite yet" 'Ship: Kakashi/Rin
"Makes no canon sense but why the hell not" 'Ship: Ino/Gaara or Sakura/Gaara
"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" 'Ship: Naruto/Sakura
"When all is said and done" 'Ship: Naruto/Hinata

Bleach

"One True Pairing" Ship: Hitsugaya/Hinamori and Ichigo/Rukia
"Canon" Ship: Shunsui/Nanao
"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship: Aizen/Hinamori (not much of a chance now)
"You are one sick bastard" Ship: Shunsui/Ukitake/Genryuusei
"I dabble a little" 'Ship: Ichigo/Rukia and Matsumoto/Gin
"It's like a car crash" 'Ship: Matsumoto/Gin (Angst Ahoy~!)
"Tickles my fancy but not sold quite yet" 'Ship: Ishida/Orihime
"Makes no canon sense but why the hell not" 'Ship: Yumichika/Ganjyuu or Aizen/Uohana if you must have a het pairing)
"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" 'Ship: Ichigo/Orihime
"When all is said and done" 'Ship: Shunsui/Nanao

Harry Potter: Draco Trilogy

"One True Pairing" Ship: Draco/Ginny
"Canon" Ship: Harry/Hermione
"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship: Neville/Hermione
"You are one sick bastard" Ship: Snape/Dumbledoor/Giant Squid
"I dabble a little" 'Ship: Ron/Rhysenn
"It's like a car crash" 'Ship: By Draco Veritas, all pairings. really. But if one must be specific, Ron/Pansy
"Tickles my fancy but not sold quite yet" 'Ship: Viktor Krum/Fleur
"Makes no canon sense but why the hell not" 'Ship: Blaise/Seamus
"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" 'Ship: Draco/Hermione
"When all is said and done" 'Ship: Draco/Ginny

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Monday, May 02, 2005

Just for the heck of it.

Mad. Studying Locke is like chasing someone around a really really big column; you never see the end of it.

Gacked from Mel's LJ. 11 and 12 added by yours truly just for the heck of it

12 shows you've been following recently

1. Bleach
2. Naruto
3. Samurai Champloo
4. Prince of Tennis
5. Full Moon wo Sagashite
6. Full Metal Panic
7. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
8. Gundam Seed Destiny
9. Gakuen Alice
10. Full Metal Alchemist
11. Shaman King
12. Samurai 7

11 OTP off the top of my head

1. Naruhina (Naruto)
2. SasuSaku (Naruto)
3. IchiRuki (Bleach)
4. ShunsuiNanao (Bleach)
5. HitsuHina (Bleach)
6. GinMatsu (Bleach)
7. SouKana (Full Metal Panic)
8. Royai (Full Metal Alchemist)
9. AthrunCagalli (Gundam Seed/Destiny)
10. ShikaTema (Naruto)
11. DracoGinny (Harry Potter)

10 random things about me

1. I can't sing
2. My favorite subject to date in my degree program is Tort
3. I compulsively watched the new Bleach OP 8 times in a row...
4. ... followed by 7 times of the new Bleach ED
5. I broke the scapel that I was using to multilate a frog back in form five
6. I never liked Aizen (from Bleach) because he was entirely too smily
7. I love chocolate
8. I'm afraid of injections, piercings and the like
9. ...And that's why I've never got a piercing done
10. My favorite food is actually the Durian

9 places I've visited

1. New Zealand
2. Langkawi
3. Damai Laut
4. Palace of Justice (Putrajaya)
5. Sungai Buloh Prison
6. The Parliament
7. Genting Highlands
8. KL Tower
9. Fangirl Land

8 things I want to do before I die

1. Learn to drive
2. Buy a car
3. Write a book
4. Get that book publish
5. Tour the world
6. Get hitched
7. Participate in the process of procreation
8. Terrorise a fandom with a Mary Sue!self insert fic. (Hey, I'm going to die anyway...)

7 ways to win my heart

1. Love me very much
2. Love my OTPs
3. Even if you don't love my OTPs, you must pretend you do
4. Never try to understand me completely
5. But just pretend you do, too
6. Keep quiet when I squee over how much I love [insert random bishie's name]
7. Always be there to catch me when I fall... never mind that you'll be squashed flat in the process.

6 things that annoy you

1. People that disses other people's likings with poor arguments
2. Barging into my room without permission
3. Stroppy-ness
4. Waiting
5. Zits/Pimples
6. Getting sick

5 things that scares me

1. Injections
2. Deadlines
3. Homework
4. Exams
5. Manganime being banned for some weird reason

4 favorite things in my bedroom

1. Bed
2. Blanket
3. Laptop
4. Air Conditioning Unit

3 things I do everyday

1. Go online
2. Read something/anything
3. Fangirl

2 things I want to now

1. Kick someone's ass
2. Finish up my English Presentation on Locke

1 person I want to see right now

Someone who knows hell a lot about bloody Locke.

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Sunday, May 01, 2005

I could blog about many things...

...like moot court (Thursday) or the Class Potluck (Friday)....

But I'm just too lazy. :P I'll just write about what an lazy ass I am and how much I really hate that jurisprudential project. And John Locke. u__u

... or how much that zit on my forehead hurts.

ouch.

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Sunday, April 24, 2005

The Kind of American English I Speak:

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

25% Yankee

20% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

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Saturday, April 23, 2005

The Man I am Going to Marry...

"Sometimes, it's like you expect me to fangirl with you." - Xero-kun

Dear Mum, this is the man who is going to become your future son-in-law.

Beware: Hot Stuff

Serious, it is so hot it melted me into a pile of useless fangirling goo.

My DA comment on the pic:

"So faving this. So setting this as desktop wallpaper. So going to blow this up and paste it all around the room so i can wake up to kisuke-sama in the morning. Wait - who needs sleep when she can stare at the bishie all night long, memorizing the every hair in his eternal overnight stubble? Certainly not me."

And it further spawned the following insane MSN convo with Xero-kun.

Rai: So Hot.
Xero: Oh God... I can see why you're fanspazzing.
Rai: I KNOW! WAAAAHHH! It's awesome ain't it?
Xero: -__-...
Xero: sometimes... it's like... you expect me to fangirl with you...
Rai: You mean I'm not suppose to?
//insert more fangirling//
Rai: KISUKE-SAMA! I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!
Rai: I don't care what my mum says...
Rai: Or what your mum says...
Rai: I WANT TO HAVE MAD HOT PASSIONATE SMEX WITH YOU, KISUKE-SAMA!
Xero: Ok.. Raiya.. I think you've gone retarded
Xero: You've hit Omi-like level of fangirlness
Rai: But. But. But. SO HOT! //dies over and over again//
Xero: I'm ignoring you now
Rai: Why?
Rai: I mean... he's so hot... that even YOU'RE suppose to want to make HOT LOVE with him right now!
Xero: I refrain from fanboying to you...
//insert random chat//
Rai: ((chortles))
Rai: I'm blogging this down
Xero: Why?
Rai: Because I need to record everything about this fangirl moment
Rai: The day I finally make up my mind who I want to marry
---------------

THen.... Tofu-nii made a promised to me!

---------------
Tofu: Cheer up. Life is beautiful.
Rai: When I see pictures like this (gives link), how can I not cheer up?
Rai: Just look at that hot bod!
Tofu: Yes yes... I know I don't have something like that..
Rai: Yes.
Rai: If you do look like that guy in the pic, I won't care whether you liked me or not; I'm going to kidnap you and drag you down the altar and say "I do".
Tofu: Haha
Tofu: I'll find someone like that for you..
Tofu: I'll paint his body so he looks like [the pic]
Rai: -u__u- Am I suppose to be thanking you or something right now?
Tofu: Nah~
Tofu: Wait till I find that person...
-----------------

So you hear that, Real-Life-Kisuke-sama look-alike? My Tofu-nii has promised to seek you out for me to dastardly things to you after I bishie-nap you from wherever you are and drag you down the altar.

Hah. Who says a girl can't fangirl? ;)

//Reads back her post//

OK. I apologise for my insane post. A little too late? Ok... I'll write a warning sign up there now. //winks//

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Congratulations!

Hearty congratulations to the DJ team in the Taylor's Cup debate this year. You guys rock, and I'll come to watch the finals in May!

For those who are going, "huh", they won the semifinals in the Taylor's Cup Debate today! :) Cheers!

Huzzah!

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005

My muse has ran away

So I'm pretty upset. Can't seem to write anything decent nowadays. I need inspiration! Wahhh...

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Sunday, April 17, 2005

I want to die.....

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The Dummy-Boyfriend's How to Score Guide...

a.k.a. the "How not to get kicked out of the bedroom" guide.

Just joking. I'm not expecting any of you guys to be sleeping with your girls, or you girls sleeping with your guys. And even if you guys were sleeping together... I really don't want to know.

But just a little something (gacked from Vin's blog, who got it from Tjia Wen's) to help my dear friends of the XY chromosome:

---------
In the world of romance, one single rule applies to the men: Make the woman happy.

Do something she likes, and you get points.
Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES
You make the bed (+1)
You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
In the rain (+8)
But return with Beer (-5)

You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
You check out a suspicious noise and it issomething (+5)
You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
It's her pet (-10)

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
You stay by her side the entire party (0)
You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy (-2)
Named Tina (-4)
Tina is a dancer (-6)
Tina has silicon implants (-80)

HER BIRTHDAY
You take her out to dinner (0)
You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
And it's all-you-can-eat night (-3)
It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, andyour face is painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)

A NIGHT OUT
You take her to a movie (+2)
You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
You take her to a movie you like (-2)
It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)

YOUR PHYSIQUE
You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort tobaggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (-30)
You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (-8000)

ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5)[Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]
You hesitate in responding (-10)
You reply, "Where?" (-35)
Any other response (-20)

COMMUNICATION
When she wants to talk about a problem, you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression (0)
You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
She realizes this is because you have fallenasleep (-10000)

---------------------------------

There you have it. ;)

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Kyaaaaa!!!

They're setting up a Borders store right here in Malaysia! It means I'll have a better chance of getting Claire's City Trilogy once it's published!

In other news, University Malaya is holding a Law Seminar next Saturday in conjunction with their centennial celebrations. I want to go, but that would mean I'll have to skip my Contract Law class in the morning.

And we all know what a tough decision that would be, right? ;)

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Thursday, April 14, 2005

In Which I Procrastinate and Write About Fandom Life

[EDIT=10 mins later]I never got to gush my gratitude to the lovely designer who gave me this bright and cheerful layout! MINNA-SAN! Behold the lauvley ESRA! You can visit her equally awesome blog by scrolling down to the credits section and clicking on her name.[/EDIT]

As you can see, my connection is back, and I'm ever so happy for it. :P

So, just taking a short break, before a short shower and a LONG mugging session. To my classmates: Care to join me online and keep each other company net-spiritually as we talk about consideration, good faith and fraudulent misrepresentation?

I suppose not.

Whee... was reading Epicyclical/C.Claire's blog and there was a discussion about finding LJs belonging to people whom you know in real life, or finding LJs belonging to people you didn't know had LJ (or able to make an internet connection in the first place).

Very entertaining. So far, I've read accounts of people fearing their mum finding their stash of H/D slash fics, or finding that their mum has a secret stash of H/D slash fics. There's a pastor who writes slash (oxymoronic) and another girl finding out that her boyfriend was two timing her before their break up.

I think CC should change her name to Oprah. :P Just joking. My personal experience on the subject is limited to making friends in RL, who later turns out to be one of my close online pal's former colleague's cousin. Unless you count me tracking down my friend's doujin group and stalking one of the members on DA. I think it's her doujin group anyway. I'm not sure. -______-;;

Or stretching the topic a little further, linking "Suraya" from Andrew's blog thinking it was "Suraiya" and getting shocked that the blogeress likes anime and manga and ish squeeing over two boys shagging each other. A bit of a shock for me and I'm glad to later find out that it was a case of mistaken identities - that "Suraya" and "Suraiya" were two different people. I know! I'm terrible.

Digressing a bit from the discussion on CC's LJ, I gonna write a bit about my fandom life and how my real life friends take it.

Hmm, for those who don't know me that well, I write fanfictions for a few fandoms and they are mostly anime. Given that most of my friends don't even watch anime, I suppose it's difficult to force them into reading my fanfics. So, just how many friends of mine actually read my stuff in Real Life?

There's Mystical... one my first readers from real life. Classmates and close buddies for quite a while and I'm responsible for her bad grades - I introduced her to fanfiction. Also, I owe her like err... 2 fanfics.

Then Mystical dragged Mel/Artemis Obscure into the fanfic phase. now, Arty writes for a few Book fandoms and ish my classmate in law school. I am quite hooked to her HMC fic, Reality Check. I owe her... a lot of GaiLees. (shudder)

More recently, Maven has been reading fanfics. Wait - living off fanfics is more likely. She prefers Harry Potter fanfics and I so far only managed to write one Draco Ginny. Don't think she really fancies that pairing anyway.

Another classmate of mine read a bit of my Bleach stuff.

That' makes what? My real life readers a grand total of four.

Anyway, four or forty - I'm glad minna reads. Domo arigato gozaimashite!

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In Which It Was All About Bricks.

Discussed contract fact pattern with a few classmates today. It seems to be going round and round the issue of bricks. Does it really matter what bricks were used? The quality? The color? Yada yada. I tell you: it's all about the bricks.

Internet connection at home is down. I am infinitely sad because whenever I lose my link to the millions of pulsing machines over the phone line, I feel like I've lost part of my existence. Crappy. I know.

Wheeeeeeeee.... exams tomorrow. I aint so happy about it. Not so dead scared over Tort. Am so prepared to flunk Contract. Hurrah. Am dead.

Bleach rocked this week. It really did. Hurrah. IchiRuki is now possible without going through necrophilliac channels. ;)

I just realise my post is really really incohesive. Forgive me.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

In which I try to remember what happened the past week...

Saturday, 9 April 2005

Attended the ESUM Public Speaking Finals! It rocked! All the speakers were awesome and it's a pity that only two can go to London A tad sad that I can't participate in 2006 though, although Douglas Lim did write that in his autography for me (I got a real celebrity's autograph! Addressed to yours truly!). All the speakers were awesome, but of course I was rooting for Suraiya on behalf of all the DJ-ians, and she won! We'll be cheering for you all the way, Suraiya! Show them the Malaysia Boleh spirit.

For the benefit of all those curious, Suraiya gave a speech titled, Brides and Headscarves which talked about how different people have different views on the simple cloth covering a woman's head. I'm particularly touched the line, "it's a form of expression of one woman's devotion to her religion." Or something to that effect.

Douglas Lim was a riot (Did I tell you I got his autograph? Yes I have...:P)! He was so amazingly funny with all his witty jokes linking to the speakers' speeches. Witty without being mean. Now, that's talent talking there!

Au Yong Wai Ngan (Gosh, did I spell his name right?) is a law student as well. He wants to fight for justice with his legal knowledge. During the break, I went up to him and confessed that although we are both law students, I don't have such noble aspirations. :P He got 1st runner up, by the way.

Oh, met Suraiya's family there. They're so nice. Chatted with a lot of people and all. Definitely worth the money. ^^

Monday, 11 April 2005

Ahh... got back my criminal law results today. Flunked oh-so-royally.

Tuesday, 12 April 2005

Nothing interesting happened. Am starting to freak out for Fri's exam. GAWD HELP ME.

Wednesday, 13 April 2005

I think I'm starting to annoy the people around me with my perpetual bad mood swings. I apologise. Gomen ne, minna-san. I think I'll get over it by Tues or so. At least I hope so.

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Thursday, April 07, 2005

In which I'm sleepy...

Many things happened the last few days. I suppose minna would be curious about that ESUM public speaking competition. Well, I made it into semifinals, but got kicked out in the finals. I suppose it's to be expected, considering that I really put in minimal amount of effort (as in memorising my speeches <24 hours before the competition) and there were many top notch speakers. DJians should be really proud! 4 out of 6 ex-DJians made it into the semi-finals and Suraiya got into the finals! I'm going to go and watch her speak in finals on saturday.

The group I got was really good, very friendly and nice. I met Latt again. It was a pleasure to see him and a few guys I met last year from the competition. Met loads of nice people. So it was really worth going even though I didn't get into the competition

Of course, it did hurt knowing I couldn't get into the finals, but I could fully understand why I didn't get in. The speakers who got chosen were so good! My friends is trying to console me that at least I got into semifinals. I suppose so, but frankly: it really sucks to be good but not good enough.

Oh well, thank you to everyone who helped and supported me. I'm sorry if I disappointed you and I'll try harder in all my future endeavors. Until then...

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!

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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

In Which My Heart Shatters...

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Saturday, March 26, 2005

In Which I Watched 2 Movies...

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Friday, March 25, 2005

In Which a Lot of Things Happened But I Cannot Remember Half of Them...

"He's a slitherer-outer... Well, he's fickle, careless, selfish and hysterical. Half the time I think he doesn't care what happens to anyone as long as he's alright - but then I find out how awfully kind he's been to someone. The I think he's kind just when it suits him - only then I find out he undercharges poor people... He's a mess."

- D.W. Jones, Howl's Moving Castle

As Ching has astutely pointed out, I've gone into one of those lapses where I just forget to update my blog. And then again, there's one of those lapses that I update twice or thrice a day. Ah well. Loads happened but details are sketchy as my memories are murked up with non-sensical things, like how utterly cute and adorable Howl-sama is, despite possessing such undesireable qualities. Refer to the quote above to get a vague idea about him. For further information, read Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

Monday.21 Mac

I can't remember anything interesting happening today.

Tuesday.22 Mac

Visited the Sungai Buloh Prison. Very boring. I don't think we learnt anything but somehow, I managed to write a 900+ word essay for english on the visit later, as if I learnt something. Utterly rubbishy.

Wednesday.23 Mac

I managed to persuade Mel to part with her HMC VCD and book for a bit. And then I fell in love. I squeed. I swooned. I laughed. I cried. I fangirled. At the end of it, I was a certified rabid fangirl.

The characterization of Howl and Sophie in the book was much, much more entertaining. Movie fell a little short as I just cannot fix Book!Howl with Movie!Howl. In the book, Howl's character reminded me of the sun; vibrant, energetic and blinding, whereas in the movie, it reminded me rather of the moon with a soft melancholic feel and quiet charm in the character. You have to read and watch to understand what I'm talking about, really.

Oh. Gama-chan (my computer-sama) died on me. I was comforted in my grief by my new found love for Howl-sama.

Thursday.24 Mac

Mum spent an entire day with Gama-chan in ICU for comps while I was worried sick all through Criminal Law class. Something got messed up with the firewalls.

Bribed Mel with more GaiLee goodies in exchange for Castle in the Air, the sequel to HMC.

Also realised that my tort homework and english essay was due today. Got down hacking at it with Mel till 12:30 a.m. Fri morning.

Friday.25 Mac

My week had to go out with a bang. After rushing to finish everything, I miraculously managed to misplace my Contract Law lecture handouts somewhere in the college along with my sketches of Ninja!Raiya among other things. Am hoping it will turn out somewhere next week. Pray with me people.

Did an impromptu, informal, watered-down debate in English class today. I was the rebuttal/2nd speaker for the negative team on the motion: "Retribution is better than rehabilitation." To my immense horror, I kept pronouncing retribution restitution. Contract's been addling my brains. Or whatever that's left of it after swooning over various bishielicious characters anyway.

Bri and I were on the opposing while Jin and Alicia were on the government. They had funny team (but commendable, apparently) team dynamics: Jin and Alicia speaks but the one providing the points was Ashley. My team's strategy was simple but I suppose fairly effective given the circumstances (we only had 15 minutes to prepare for the whole kaboosh): Bri made a brilliant and eloquent opening argument for the team while I did the usual whack-hack-hack routine on the government team's argument. The high point came when I quoted Jin on the statistics, "According to Canadian statistics..." Her expression was priceless. I felt rather sorry I teased her publicly that way. Not that anyone else knew I was teasing.

We won. XD. I don't every think I'll get over the rush of adrenaline and exhiliration whenever I speak in public. Speaking of speaking in public, my ESUM letter came. Ergh.

Was talking to PaoPao. I'm thinking of getting "slitherer-outers.net" as my domain name soon. Yes, I know I'm obsessed and pretty nutty as my nick would suggest.

I did a quick listing on upcoming events in my supposedly uneventful life. In the month of April, I have: Public Speaking Comp, Debate, English Presentation and of course, Mock Examinations.

I am so doomed.

P/S: I spent 30 friggin minutes getting the formatting of this post right. ergh.

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Friday, March 11, 2005

Roller Coaster of Hell

Kirihara made a face. "Does your leg secretly enjoy its love affair with him?"
"Yes. Yes it does." Tezuka managed to say that with a completely straight face

- Paved with Good Intentions by Aishuu

Yes, my week has been exactly that (points to title). From favorite anime characters dying and quite alarming tsunami impact personal announcements... My life is in shambles. I wouldn't be surprised if I get an epiphany next... or Tofu-nii standing on one hand, laughing and juggling a few balls and typing replies on his cell phone (when the balls are in the air and his hands are free, I suppose) to entertain me.

Wait, he claims he has already done that.

Well, the good news I guess is that I've finished 9 chapters of PwGI. It is good...

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Thursday, March 10, 2005

Happy Birthday

to me mum, tofu-nii (tf) and Jason. Belated greetings to Sophie and Zeiyin.

me: I had cake today; choco cake. Very yummy.
tf: Unfair! I didn't have cake?
me: (ignores) and then I smeared cream on the birthday boy's right dimple just as the camera went snap!
tf: Err... I don't have any dimples.
me: Who ever said you are the only birthday boy today?

I don't usually pimp my writing journal here, but Esra made a beautiful layout for me. Check it out: Fine Print

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Wednesday, March 09, 2005

The Best Sedative...

is probably your General Principles of Law textbook. There is something strangely calming about reading about how people argue over simple meanings to words like 'family' and discussions about how many ways you can interpret one damn sentence.

But of course, nothing beats chocolate.

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Of Witty(?) Conversations

"You're like a pillow; you need constant puffing up to stay comfortable." - Xero in reference to me.

Nyahaa.... I was feeling a bit down, depressed and worried and Xero (X) decided to give me (M) a little "boost".

--- Start ---
X: You've obviously got smarts to be able to script the webpages and design stuff like you do.
M: Most people can do that.
X: Then I guess I'm not like most people, I only know the basics. Then there is your writing style. Yeah, you don't churn out chapters as fast as some, but you take the time to make sure each is finely sculpted before you release.
M: You're laying on the flattery really thick. Not that I can resist. Flattery is like chocolate; very yummy.
X: You're like a pillow.
M: >.6 Pillow?
X: You need constant puffing up in order to stay comfortable.
M: Gawd.
--- Misc. Chatter ---
M: I'm recording this in my blog.
X: Why?
M: 'Cos it's funny and witty, and I have hardly any funny and witty stuff to post on ordinary days.
X: Meanie
--- End ---

I've sent in my ESUM form (secretly, I hope I don't get accepted) and decided that I will take my IELTS later in April. Still haven't finish reading the fic and studying.

I tripped around college in a pair of heels today and I've just got to say I'm hanging up my heels for my normal flaties. It's just too troublesome. -___-;;;;

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