31 January 2011

velleity

^new word that I learned today. It means "an urge or desire that is not strong enough to lead to action". Pretty much describes my current feelings XD

Cold cold day today. Minus 25 with windchill.
So how do I survive this ugsome (another new word, similar to horrid) cold? Distract myself of course.

Exhibit 1:
Patrick Chan <3



Isn't that beautiful (both the skate and him) ;D

Exhibit 2:
Likely shopping list for the spring season.

via polyvore.

Shopping date anyone? ;D

30 January 2011

brunch: make shift pasta

Very productive today ;D
Made brunch, wrote chem notes, finished email to impact, and will do lab~

Anyways, improvised pasta that turned out...interesting. The photos turned out nicely, so lightbox it please~




Was gonna make the pantry pasta from New York Times, but turns out my garlic was moldy ._."

First change: garlic -> onion.
Attempted to faster caramelize it (via the Food Lab @ Serious Eats), didn't turn out so well. Was paying more attention to the carrots and the onions ended up a little burnt. Wasn't so bad though.

Second change: carrots.
I actually thought this was a smart addition. The sweetness matches with the onion but the texture would contrast. Didn't turn out as well as I excepted, but it wasn't bad either.

Third: proportions.
Too much pasta, too little egg. The yolk was suppose to be the sauce, except well...too much pasta.
Too much carrot, too little onions. Easily fixed as I just chopped up the other half of it. Onions were also spouting e_e"
Too much salt <-accident.

Despite this all, at least the dish looks nice. Ribbons of carrots weaved throughout the pasta~ Wish I had some purple ones, would contrast the yellow pasta so well *u* Also wish I had some parsley, but green onions did the trick. Black sesame = works on annnnything.

29 January 2011

P.S. I Love You



All her costumes look so put together *u*



Couldn't find an image of the lavender field that Gerry (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank) first met, but this will do.
Oh, the way they met was adoraaaable! Especially the dog scene *u*

I liked the movie o_o
Don't really know how I feel in more detail. Reflection has yet to catch up with me.

Oh it was sad. Normal sad though...few tears at the end.
But a few minutes after I finished the movie, I started to cry uncontrollably lol. Guess it also takes some time for feelings to catch up too. Think Grace freaked out a little when I called her about it right after, I apologize XD

good movieeee. your thoughhhts?

27 January 2011

伴随着点点滴滴痛击我心里

Want to watch the drama soooo badly ;_;
and actually, the only dramas that I watch are the martial arts ones that's either based off books or a game (in this case).



一场雨把我困在这里 你冷漠的表情会让我伤心
六月的雨就是无情的你 伴随着点点滴滴痛击我心里

oh~我不相信你不是故意的 却为何把我丢弃在风雨里
oh~我不忍心也不想背叛你 惟有默默等你回心转意

我没有放弃也不会离你而去 哪怕要分开我依然等你
我全心全意 等你的消息 终会有一天你会相信我我爱你

一场雨把我困在这里 你冷漠的表情会让我伤心
六月的雨就是无情的你 伴随着点点滴滴痛击我心里

oh~我不相信你不是故意的 却为何把我丢弃在风雨里
oh~我不忍心也不想背叛你 惟有默默等你回心转意

我没有放弃也不会离你而去 哪怕要分开我依然等你
我全心全意等你的消息 终会有一天你会相信我我爱你

(一场雨想念你在我的心中都不可比拟 你走后什么都已经消失在风雨里)

25 January 2011

go go forward

I will start doing my work

nooooo.....



.....oooowwwwww....

now?






maybe now...

bit longer.




how about now?




now.


So tired today. Made the same mistake 5 times in excel before realizing that it was a mistake.
Was planning to sleep through lunch, except people started talking about anime.
oh yeah. I'm tired cause I squeezed Darker Than Black into my timeslot for sleep. mehh. Hei is awesome.

Not looking forward to tomorrow either.
No sleeping in because of co-op.
No getting home early because of eng club.
No proper dinner because of work.
No sleeping early because of work.

blahhhh.

24 January 2011

brunch: banana bread muffins

Haven't had a brunch post for sooooo long.

I didn't plan for these to become muffins, last minute improvisation when I found out that my loaf pan was missing.



Recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, one of my faaaavourite food blogs.
I have 100% trust in them, everything I've tried from their turned out fantasticccc.

To add to the atmosphere, open up this link and this link in separate tabs :]
(via reddit via my twitter feed)

23 January 2011

The Social Network

double post!



(spoilers below)

Contrary to how Rui felt about Mark Zuckerberg's character in the movie, I don't think he's a friend betraying asshole.
He had this own vision about how facebook should turn out and stuck to it, which I think is quite admirable. His co-founder Eduardo Saverin, obviously had different priorities for the site, as he is the the cfo. Both did what they believe is the best for their company's development and it's unfortunate (well plus communication problems) that their visions didn't quite match up.
Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake) is just manipulative, gotta be impressed at how he completely charmed Zuckerberg.

And for you comp sci people (and nerds in general), the scene where Zuckerberg is testing the interns is quite funny.

...
...
...

In other news, got new glasses!

Sorta looks like those korean-y nerd glasses, not as extreme though.
My degrees changed (left actually went down!), so wearing them makes me feel dizzy @_@" Will take a while to get use to.

The Joy of Statistics

The 4 minute teaser video on youtube:


>>link to full, 1 hour version on Gapminder<<

A very very good use of 1 hour. It makes me look forward to stats class in univeristy haha. Or in the case of not getting into Shad, summer schooling Data Management (anyone else potentially doing this?)

At some point in the video, I was reminded of the giant tower in The Place Promised in Our Early Days. By the time I'm typing this, I already forgot when and why, so please remind me if you see a correlation XD (speaking of Shinka, his new movie will be out soon! *u* Can't waaaaaait)

Near the end of the video, it mentions a really cool site: wefeelfine.org
I can see myself spending hours reading the different feeling on there haha. The way the site displays the information is ridiculously awesome. Makes me want to be a data visualizer (well, if engineering doesn't work out haha) XD

22 January 2011

spa day at lyndon's

Fun fun day haha.
photos are over on facebook. Not sure if I have the men's permission to upload them here.

disclaimer: the mask idea was 100% justin's. I just help cultivate it...and persuade other people to join haha. Power of peer pressure.

Half day at school was overall alright, the up (fun puzzles in physics) cancels out the down (terrible math test).
Headed to Lyndon's afterwards, Mel, James, Jason, Ryan and I went on a quick detour to Loblaws for some cucumbers (for the cliche spa look). The others walked and grabbed lunch without us D<
Afternoon was pretty much spent playing around with the masks and video games. Mel is a beast at Dance Central XD

Stay got cut short cause of work. Why'd I have to get a box shift ;__;
Money in, money out.

20 January 2011

8D

Look what awesomeness Melody and I got today!


(sorry for the unrotated image)

The lady at The Amore was reeeeally nice and gave us so much samples haha. Very good marketing :]

After arriving at Jason's (much thanks for getting me ultima haha), we managed to convince Justin to try the multiberry peeling mask (pink package at the bottom) . He was initially skeptical, but his skin is now beautifully smooth :]
Later we had afternoon tea with biscuits lol. Ryan's water took a reeeeally long time to boil and he used some complicated tea making thingy. Also convinced Jason to bake us some awesome cake ;D
Best game of the day is the Naruto Storm! It's hilaaaaarious to watch people play it. Button mashed my way to winning haha, hand was so sore afterwards XD

Tomorrow will be dance central at Lyndon's~

19 January 2011

updates on updating

Later update: blog makeover! Felt the need for brighter colours to carry me through the winter. Stuck with the structure, though the width has been increased to accommodate youtube vids.


Started on Darker than Black (be very proud of me Kenn & Sean).
finally.
4 episodes in and I must say Hei is awesome when he is pretending to be a normal human. I would totally fall for him like that haha. His landlady is awesome too, especially when the cat came by.

Finished Evangelion 1.01 (or whatever numbering you are (not) alone is).
finally.
Loveeee the ending theme!


[It's only love]

If one of my wishes were to come true
Let me sleep by your side
Any place will do
[Beautiful world]
Without wavering, I gaze at you
[beautiful boy]
You've yet to realize your own beauty

[It's only love]

Sleeping and waking to comics
I hated myself in that dream filled with images

What is it I want? I'm not even sure
Nevertheless, I want it
Lukewarm tears running down my cheeks

There's nothing I have to say to you
I just want to meet you one more time

Unable to express what I want to say
Maybe I'm a coward
But it's all right

If one of my wishes were to come true
Let me sleep by your side
Any place will do
[Beautiful world]
Without wavering, I gaze at you
[Beautiful boy]
You've yet to realize your own beauty

[It's only love]

Trying anything
It seems like a loss... besides gaining a little more experience

I don't need newspapers
The important things aren't mentioned

How have you been lately?
If you are well, I'll be fine

If we can meet before my world disappears
Let me sleep by your side
Any place will do
[Beautiful world]
Amidst the fleeting days that pass us by
[Beautiful boy]
This uneasy feeling is inevitable, isn't it

If one of my wishes were to come true
Let me sleep by your side

18 January 2011

earl grey latte

would be absolutely perfect for this week.

Quite a relaxing 5 days of school. No need to subway down to co-op, no projects or tests, late start tomorrow followed by 2 half-days (to be spent at jasons and lyndon's), bliiiissssssss~

Planning on catching up on some anime (maybe, depends, so much trouble), books and magazines (definitely) and have some nice cups of tea.


On the topic of being chill, I came up with some pretty good reasons to not get angry at someone in the service industry.

1. It stresses you out. If a situation is already not going the way you expect it to (emphasis on the way you expected it to), why stress yourself out more?

2. The person serving you doesn't want trouble either. Personally when I'm working, if anyone comes up to me with a problem, I really just want to solve it asap and move on. If you are yelling and bitching at the person serving you, s/he will be less willing to solve the problem for you. Also 99% of the time it isn't his/her fault. Happy server = better problem solving=happier you.

3. If you make a scene and hold up the line, the person serving you will be distracted by the other needy patrons and therefore devote less attention to solving your problem. However, if you have an ounce of patience and just wait for a little bit on the side, the person serving you will be able to give you his/her full attention. Also it gives you time to calm down.

But if you do rage, it'll give the workers something to make jokes about later on ;D

17 January 2011

Mahou Shojo Madoka Magika

Darker than your usual magic girl anime.

From a purely artisitic point of view, the "collapsed space" of the witches in Madoka is aweeeeesome.
Strongly reminds me of The Count of Monte Cristo's unique texture overlays. (think I blogged about that before, will try to find it, nevermind, didn't. A google image search will bring out beautiful pictures though :]).

Behold:







(for David, if he will ever read this. Your dream combination of girl + big ass gun).

Found an interesting analysis of the usage of space over at Behind The Nihon. (it's quite lengthy)
Some images credits to that and others just off google. Should be unlazy and take my own screencaps though.

Anyways, this is one of the two winter animes that I will be following, greeeaaaat potential in this haha. Kenn put up an impressive staff list working on this, you should watch it based on that alone.

16 January 2011

雨点从两旁划过 割开两种精神的我

Not thrilled at the time I have to wake up for co-op's career fair.
Kinda excited about something else.

I should really specify what the something else is for when I read back on this. But nahhhh. I can be confused later on.
harharhar.

Anyways, jay chouuuuuu <3



周杰伦-分裂

坐着我的摩托车 载你缓缓的离开
考不上好的学校 可以不微笑就走
把手慢慢交给我 放下心中的困惑
雨点从两旁划过 割开两种精神的我

经过老伯的家 篮框变得好高
爬过的那棵树 又何时变得渺小

这样也好 开始没人注意到我
等雨变强之前 我们将会分化软弱

趁时间没发觉 让我带着你离开
没有了证明 没有了空虚
基于两种立场 我会罩着你

趁时间没发觉 让我带着你离开
这不是顽固 这不是逃避
没人帮着你走才快乐

坐着我的摩托车 载你缓缓的离开
考不上好的学校 可以不微笑就走
把手慢慢交给我 放下心中的困惑
雨点从两旁划过 割开两种精神的我

经过老伯的家 篮框变得好高
爬过的那棵树 又何时变得渺小

这样也好 开始没人注意到你我
等雨变强之前 我们将会分化软弱

趁时间没发觉 让我带着你离开
没有了证明 没有了空虚
基于两种立场 我会罩着你

趁时间没发觉 让我带着你离开
没有了证明 这不是逃避
没人帮着你走才快乐

14 January 2011

Green Hornet

JAY CHOU.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOTTTT (especially in that suit *u*)

He is what makes the movie worth it.

The villain is hilarious too, but if you actually analyze his actions, they are really creepy. He kills people in really gruesome ways e_e


<3

13 January 2011

braces...OFF!

After how many years of having metal pieces on my teeth, my braces are finally being removed!

February 18th (the PA day).

:D

12 January 2011

[...]

A tad busy so excuse to lack of original content.

However, here are two blogs that I'm loving atm.

1. [this is glamorous]
THE perfect inspirational blog for me (had to use 2 kinds of emphasis in that). Loving everything that she's posting up. Her favourite place is versailles too! I think this is the feeling you get when you meet your match, except on the internet and in the form of a blog.
Very glamorous ;D

2. I Wrote This For You
I need you to understand something. I wrote this for you. I wrote this for you and only you. Everyone else who reads it, doesn’t get it. They may think they get it, but they don’t. This is the sign you’ve been looking for. You were meant to read these words.
I don't quite get it, so it must not be meant for me haha. Very unique blog though, everything is up to the interpretation of the reader :]
Though as Gekko says in Wall Street: speculation is the root of all evil. (quite true for gossips in highschool)

09 January 2011

brunch: blueberry soup

Haven't had a brunch post in a looooong while eh?
I blame general laziness and sunday morning shifts. Work is tiring "orz

Anyways, blueberries aren't usually associated with soup right? My mom felt strongly about this and was very very skeptical about trying it.
Turns out she loved it, success!

The pictures however, are not. None of them turned out focused ._."
Also recovering from a rather depressing manga (Immortal Rain, will review someday as well), so no effort was put into editting them.

Anyways,



This is with some yogurt stirred in.

recipe by, and I quote, "an Alaskan mom, no, not that Alaskan mom".

06 January 2011

fleeting

Typical evening: I was tired and was reading manga, and so I begin to think.

Is there something, doesn't have to be realistic, ANYTHING in the world that would, guaranteed, make you the happiest person alive if you obtain it?

For me, kindaaa. Will explain:
A person on mousehunt forums posted a question:
Aside from change, what else is permanent in this world?
I think I will pretty darn happy if I find the answer to that question. (Becker argues the reasons in his book The Denial Of Death, which I will share my thoughts on some other time)

05 January 2011

The Making of Tron Legacy

Good amount of movie footages in this, but do watch the full movie :]
(my mini spazz about the graphics)




On a different note, I think I got over my sense of doom regarding the english essay and is gaining motivation to work extremely hard on it.
Sure hope efforts turn into results.

02 January 2011

Running the Bavaro

(anyone has the code for a 'read more' option?)

Aside from the various activities in the resort, my family chose to go on a tour of the Punta Cana countryside. The tour, Bavaro Runners, took us to a local elementary school, a sugar cane/tobacco planation, and a local organic farm.


Our bus! It was quite something riding on that, especially on the bumpy mountain roads. Our guide, Rene, joked that the tour came with a complimentary mechanical massage XD


Short video of us exiting a small town.


First stop: local elementary school


Didn't see much of it, just sat on the bus and listened to our guide explain the education system. They get free university education! ;_;


Moving on the roads


View of the distant Oriental mountain range (I think...) So dramatic that the peak is shrouded in clouds.


Royal palms, a main building material in Dominica. One can differentiate them from coconut trees from the pointed stem at the top of the tree.


Coconuts, yuuuuum. These belong to a plantation.


Second stop: sugar cane and tobacco plantation.


om nom nom. Use to eat a lot of fresh sugar cane back in China, they taste soooo goood.


Our driver skillfully skinning a sugar cane with a machete.


and on a larger scale, mechanically juicing the sugar cane.


Fermented tobacco leaf.

We got the best cigar roller on the plantation to give us a demonstration of how they're made.



Bottle of mamajuana, Dominica's national drink. A bunch of roots and leaves (each family has their own blend) soaked in rum, red wine, and honey. A very very strong drink, you take shots of it like vodka ;D
Our guide also explained the process of transforming sugar cane juice into molasses and rum.


Third stop: Maria's farm.


Her colourful kitchen. It smelled absolutely divine when we stepped in.


Rene holding a vanilla vine. I was very disappointed that I didn't find any beans sold in bulk ._. Nor rum cakes "orz


Did you know that a banana tree can only fruit once? After it's picked, it will be cut down.


I like the pop of bright blue roofing ;D


A fruit of some kind, didn't catch the name. It's used to make bowls and containers of other sorts.


Cacao beans! Interesting fact about them is that they grow from the trunk or branches of the tree.


My favourite picture of the trip. Tis a rippened coffee bean.


Roasting in the sunlight~


And then smashed to remove the husk.
(my first thought after typing that was how in ragnarok frontier the beetle husks in Umbala got nerfed cause everyone was making millions off it. A friend of mine had a few thousand in storage and was majorly pissed off.)

Next up is cacao!

Looks pretty gross right out of the pod. The beans will be dried under the sun and then roasted.


Our guide working the grinder ;D


and out comes cacao nibs, intensely delicious.

The farm gave us quite a few samples:

Fresh coffee, black.


Hot chocolate, beats the commercial kind any day.


Ended up buying 2 jars of cacao, 1 jar of sugar, and a bottle of coconut oil (in hopes of making my hair nicer).

Last stop: lunch.


Our lunch place as beside a zip line ground.


Close up of a different tower.

Didn't bother taking pictures of the food, though it was quite delicious. After lunch we were dropped off at our resort to continue with the rest of our vacation~

01 January 2011

a look back

Not feeling an in-depth analysis of how the year went. Saving those for long sleepless nights xD

I think the most important lesson I have learned is just be straightforward.

Guessing game are not fun for very long times, annoyance and frustration usually ensues.
I endeavor to just speak what's on my mind in almost every situation.
Here's two interesting links on the subject: one & two
(later edit: I feel a little more writing would do this point well, but I'm halfway into my zoneout mood)

Also learned to just speak up and ask for whatever you want. No amount of secretly praying to whatever deity you believe in is gonna work as well as going up to ask. It's always harder to refuse someone, and so what if they said no.
This has worked pretty well for me: got free cake, few half marks on tests, chairs to sit on during lunch, etc etc. So I will endeavor to keep this up and see how far I can get~