snooze

The key to not feeling miserable in the morning when you've clearly not had enough sleep is to not having any free time to idle and feel miserable (y)

Pack bag at night.
Wake up last possible moment.
Autopilot until breakfast.
Slowly wake up during the meal.
Minimize makeup routine.
All set to go.

Slaughterhouse-Five

I confess, I really do not understand this book.

From Amazon:

Slaughterhous-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

I don't see how it's an antiwar book aside from that it describes the terrors that happened. I also didn't figure out what the meaning in what we're afraid to know... It's like I'm eating the rind of a watermelon instead of the flesh underneath. Thus, I feel inadequately prepared to write a post about it. Someone please read it and explain to me "orz

There are two cool quotations that I noted though:

And i asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what i cannot fear.
I learn by going where i have to go.

chives

First taste of the balcony garden *u*

Was bugging my mom to grow vegetables on our balcony for the longest time. Since I have barely anything to do this summer, thought this would be the perfect opportunity. So far there's one pepper and 3 tomatoes, but a whole lot of chives:

Fine I lied, there's not a lot. In fact there's only enough for one egg haha "orz

On nom.

fall 13 warbrobe planning

Haven't wanted to buy clothing in a while, but is probably going to an outlet this weekend so here's some preparation :D

First item is a nice cocktail dress that's conference/presentation appropriate. Prepping for the WISE conference, in which last year every exec wore a dress *u*

left (would also get in navy) / right (cheaper ver via f21)

I have a hunch that a large portion of my first paycheck would be spent at Artizia "orz

Will purchase for fall:

• Khaki trench coat
• Black, plain, leather loafers 
• Grey crewneck sweater, perhaps cashmere (but that's so high maintenance..)

Nice to have/if they go on sale:

• Flat ankle boots
• Nude pumps
• Stripped top
• Pencil skirt with some interesting feature
• Shawl collar cardigan 
• Pretty much everything on my etsy wishlist ahahaa ;_;

Nineteen Eighty Four

I'm surprised that this book wasn't part of my highschool English curriculum.

Should have totally read this earlier, the themes of past/present/future is really my type haha. This is evident in that 4/6 quotations that I collected are all about that:

Either the future would resemble the present, in which case it would not listen to him: or it would be different from it, and his predicament would be meaningless.

Nothing exists except an endless present.

Past events, it is argued, to have no objective existence. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon.

Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.

The 3rd one is like a paraphrase of "You don't remember what happened, what you remember becomes what happened", which I believe is the quotation I left as my grad comment haha.

The other one being:

It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that you carried on the human heritage.

This is so apparent in the ending of the novel, which surprised me at first, but then again there's no way Winston could have prevailed.

Lastly, this passage about doublethink (which would be amazing to use) really reminds me of Hamlet's "To be or not to be":

To know and not to know,
to be conscious of complete truthfulness
while telling carefully constructed lies,
to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out,
knowing them to be contradictory
and believing in both of them,
to use logic against logic,
to repudiate morality while laying claim to it,
to believe that democracy was impossible
and that the Party was the guardian of democracy,
to forget, whatever it was necessary to forget,
then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed,
and then promptly to forget it again,
and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself –
that was the ultimate subtlety;
consciously to induce unconsciousness,
and then, once again,
to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed.

 Well maybe it's similar to just the first part of the soliloquy haha.

tomatox

Hurray tomatoes are fruiting too!

Having plants on the balcony is nice~ I always seem to find something new whenever I check them out.

Ni No Kuni

Finished the main storyline! Such a fantastic game *u*
minor spoilers below

all images via. Too many awesome fanart to choose from. Scrolled through the entire archive and squealed whenever a toko image came up xD They're the most adorable bundles on exp ever. Like 3x the final boss' and even more than the optional final boss.

Plot: tbh I found the ending weak compared to the beginning/middle. They told the backstory of the main bad guys too late for me to feel much emotion for them. But Swaine and Marcassion's story, omg, so touching. And also little Alicia with Lucien, adorable. To tie in with characters, Drippy is fantastic. His accent (which is Welsh from the forums that I've read) is hilarious, and is always doing silly things especially when a serious cutscene happens.

Details: this is where the game really stands out to me, well other than the amazing design by Ghibli. So much care has been placed even in the tiniest of things, for example:

• Reflections and shadows sync with your movement perfectly
• Characters look miserably cold when you first step onto Winter Ilse, and is soon given a proper set of clothing
• Footprints appear in the snow when you're walking around, water splashes when you across streams

Gameplay: lots of good and some bad

• AI: gosh this was frustrating. The ai does not do a good job of controlling party members. They spam too much skills, and not even the useful ones either. "Hey this monster is weak to storm but lets use a light spell that cost 30mp!" MP is preeeecious.
• Traveling: tengri the dragon is like chocobos but so much better. It was annoying having to walk between locations, which was always far away from each other, in early game. But once you get the travel spell and the dragon, moving around becomes a breeze. Thankfully, because most of the late to postgame quests involve a lot of different locations.
• Familiar system: aka gotta catch 'em all. Having 3 familiars per character allows greater flexibility when party building. For someone who's slightly obsessed with planning, this resulted in spending a week worth of evenings reading up on the "best" combinations. But choosing the best doens't really matter since you can just as easily beat the game using the ones that you like (aka look pretty). It was frustrating at times trying to catch the more elusive familiars, but on the plus side I didn't have to do much additional grinding.
• Quests: hurray for the sidequests! Think Ni no Kuni pulled this off really well. In addition to the usual hunt-this or gather-these, there's the give-and-take-hearts and other elaborate quests (mostly postgame). All of the dialog are interesting to read (oh the puns, so much puns in the text), and most importantly, the random spells that you get are actually put to use in the quests. 

Art and Music: it's studio ghibli, enough said haha. Disappointed at the lack of cell shaded cutscenes though :( There's only like 5 in the entire game boohoo. However you are treated to their gorgeous watercolour stills near endgame and in the credits.

Apparently the watercolours were included in the LE wizard's edition, which I so regret not buying. Would have loved a physical Wizard's Companion ;__; Now they're going for like $200 on ebay wahhh.

Debating whether to platinum this or not. Completing alchemy and taming 250 familiars is a giant pain "orz

Oh and here's my main familiar, a pirate kitty! :D

Quite OP with radiant blade (heals % of damage dealt) and restoration cloak (heals % damage received).

jajaja

Hey look it's a pepper! :D

Mother Night

Vonnegut's books are always so good. Can't seem to pick a favourite out of the ones I've read, I'm always biased towards the one I've most recently read. In this case, it's Mother Night.

Synopsis from Amazon:

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

That is pretty much spot on, how Campbell views his "crimes" is with acknowledgement that he has done wrong, but doesn't feel guilty about committing them.

For example, his feelings on countries fighting each other:

Its impossible for me to get emotional about it, because real estate doesn't interest me. Its no doubt a great flaw in my personality, but i cant think in terms of boundaries. Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies. I cant believe that they mark the end or the beginning of anything of real concern to a human soul. Virtues and vices, pleasure and pain cross boundaries at will.

which leads him to say:

Oh, God - the lives people try to lead.
Oh God, - what a world they try to lead them in!

His neighbour, a doctor, says to him when he complains of a headache:

It isnt broken and its filled with a heartbreakingly clear understanding of the self and the world.

Not sure how to tie this in with the other quotations, but:

Espionage offers each spy an opportunity to go crazy in a way he finds irresistible 

Highly suggest you all to read something by Vonnegut :D It's such good humor, good dark humor. C'mon, any book that opens like this in the introduction is bound to be good:

We are what we pretend yo be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be

Oh and the ending, on one hand you see it coming, but then again, you don't expect it either. Like I knew it couldn't end any other way, but how it actually happens. I finished reading it on the subway, and just giggled in my seat.

Wild

Housing is almost settled "orz
Exchange also almost settled "orz

Regardless, Wild is a such an awesome book.

Review via Amazon:

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Picked this up after reading her collection of advice Tiny Beautiful Things, it's just as good and honest and touching and great at tugging at your heart. Reading the book seems like the author is the voice in your head speaking directly to you, and you experience the all of the raw emotions that she did on the trail.

For some reason I've only ever read fiction in a haste (hurray for finishing the book on the day it was due back at the library), so I rarely take down any quotations myself. That's where google comes in (y)

The thing about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, the thing that was so profound to me that summer—and yet also, like most things, so very simple—was how few choices I had and how often I had to do the thing I least wanted to do. How there was no escape or denial. No numbing it down with a martini or covering it up with a roll in the hay. As I clung to the chaparral that day, attempting to patch up my bleeding finger, terrified by every sound that the bull was coming back, I considered my options. There were only two and they were essentially the same. I could go back in the direction I had come from, or I could go forward in the direction I intended to go

God is not a granter of wishes. God is a ruthless bitch.

The universe, I'd learned, was never, ever kidding. It would take whatever it wanted and it would never give it back.

I giggled. This was her response to losing one of her hiking boots down the slope of the mountain.

What if I forgave myself? I thought. What if I forgave myself even though I'd done something I shouldn't have? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there was no excuse for what I'd done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do? What if I was sorry, but if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done? What if I'd actually wanted to fuck every one of those men? What if heroin taught me something? What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if what made me do all those things everyone thought I shouldn't have done was what also had got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?” 

which can be summarized in

Maybe that was okay.

...
...
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Time to move forward with the reading list:

mixing

At the very least, I'll live on fried rice and cake next year. Cooking takes such a long time "orz

Sorry for the terrible white balance "orz Lemon cake via.

summerland

Rainy days are not nice, rainy nights are fantastic though.

The warm glow of the street lamps so nicely contrasts with the otherwise moody scene. I tried very hard to come up with a colour to describe the rest of the scene, something like a deep, almost black blue decreasing in saturation as you move upwards. I tried.
And the sound of the rain hitting the window pane is like a lullaby.

...
...
...

In other news, vegetables are flowering!

Pepper on the left, and tomato on the right. I'm very surprised, thought the plants would grow bigger before flowering. Eagerly awaiting the bounty :D

Everlane Silk Blouse

After much waiting, my silk blouse finally arrived in the mail! Mine is a small rounded collar in blush/black, which is all sold out at the moment.

 

It's really wrinkled from the mail haha. I actually expected better packaging, but to their credit packing is pain in larger volumes (I know from helping out at Loose Button haha) and shipping takes  a toll.

Anyhow, the blouse is 100% silk and definitely feels like it. Very soft and comfortable to wear. The fit is loose in the body, so I prefer to tuck it into bottoms so it's more structured. I'm ~166cm and the length and shoulder is perfect. Unfortunately it is slightly sheer, but nothing a nude bra can't solve. Lastly really loving the rounded collar and the contrast, black placket, it's the details that make it stand out against other silk shirts.

Poor quality photo, but likely more helpful than the entire previous paragraph.

todokotoko

I found tokos!
I caught toko! The fifth one too, such amazing luck. I forgive all the frustration I had with napcaps.

Aren't they adorable? :D

Ni no kuni is goooood.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Another book I've picked up because of it's interesting title. I'm a good example of someone who judges a book by its cover xD

Synopsis from Amazon:

By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans.
Emigrées to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.
Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

It's a cool story haha, I can see it being a good book to analysis in English. There's multiple symbols and themes, two of which being empathy as a uniquely human trait and to a lesser extent the slavery of androids. Then there's the electric animals, which I think closely relates to fake designer goods in our world.

The cover touts this book as "a kind of pulp-fiction, kafka, a prophet", which I don't really get. Then again I don't get why Pulp Fiction is so great nor have I read Kafka. This book is the source material for Blade Runner, which I haven't watched. Perhaps watching the movie beforehand would have increased my appreciation of the book.

Ontario Royal Bontanical Gardens

Haven't been dragged on a family trip for so long, but glad I went along to this one.

Warning, lots of photos.

They have an extensive lilac collection, which smelled divine.

But my favourite part was definitely the peonies. There were sooo many colours and varieties!

showings

The iOS7 UI is absolutely gorgeous, so in love with the colour palette. I'm going to start using stock apps again. You should all watch the keynote *u*

Also anticipating Sony's E3 keynote this evening. Today's a good day.
My gosh, versus....finally.

FINALLY.

Gameplay trailer:


Those weapons...that warping, and the environment art. Just take my money already, buying a ps4 just for this.

honey saffron

Awesome birthday dinner for rui at Supermarket~
and even more awesome girl bonding afterwards haha

 This is actually from Orange Alert, which unfortunately doens't have my favourite orange tea anymore D: This was really refreshing too though. And they let me sit in the cafe for hours :D

Shared 3 dishs with Rui, the third being jerk pork which I forgot to take a photo of.

 Thai green mango salad

 Crispy calamari

Friendly service too, although they're not the most attentive. Food was delish though, so would go back.

JOLT Demo Day

Had a long day, first went to safety workshop for outbound exchange students and then headed to volunteer for JOLT's Demo Day. It's basically an event where start-ups under Jolt's program pitch their business to investors.



Perks of volunteering!

Cookie arranging and food truck food munching (y)

quick grow

Been recently into gardening as well. The image of picking succulent fruits and vegetables off your balcony and making a quick salad from them is so tempting.

So I talked my mom out of planting flowers and went to pick up two tomato and a pepper plant. Gonna try grow some chives as well, they're awesome for making dumpling and scrambled eggs :]

Unfortunately my balcony doesn't receive a full day of direct sunlight, so the growth of these will probably be stunted. Hopefully they still produce fruit though @_@"

Also sprouting mung bean sprouts in the kitchen, gonna add them into cold noodles, aka the perfect summer dish.