Category: Life’s Little Tidbits

Apparently, life is like Pringles or Coke when I’m happy and Hacks when I’m sad.

Why Can’t You Figure Me Out?

Ever since that day listening to VersaEmerge randomly, I cannot stop listening to it daily and now it has gone from 80+ listens to 200+ listens on my Last.fm page and I take back what I said about Versa’s first album > Fixed At Zero. Both albums are brilliant, and Fixed At Zero is stellar. If you haven’t heard of VersaEmerge before, and still hadn’t tried to listen to their music after reading one of my previous posts, take 3 minutes to watch their official Fixed At Zero album.

(EDIT: Okay the video won’t work on here but click the ‘Watch on Youtube’ link okay? Okay.)

And this is the link to download their album. It’s free and won’t harm your computer, I promise. You won’t regret listening to their music. Plus, Sierra Kusterbeck is absolutely hot.

Whoring out music aside, I’ve been “busy” these few days tracing and cutting and pasting lyrics on my wall. I first got the idea from Savvy and here is a picture of her wall, even though her initial lyrics were from Break Your Little Heart by All Time Low.

Okay so, I spent 2 nights and this evening in my room and these are the results:

Steal my photos and I will slit your throat and feed them to hellhounds.

“OMG the artistic side of Michelle!”

I still don’t know what to do with the other side of my wall, I was thinking of doing the same as the Hufflepuff common room entrance (since I’m a Hufflepuff) but it’s a painting and I don’t paint so I crossed that idea out. And now I’m thinking of going with the plain “Michelle’s room” or I don’t know something witty and clever that my mind has yet to tell me. So if anyone has any free ideas please please tell me.

Alright, signing off.

A Narnian Journey

Or in this case, rather, a Narnian ride.

The day before, Azleea asked me out to go watch Voyage of the Dawn Treader with her, Aina, and a couple of her other friends and I agreed because I’ve been stuck in this bumhole for too long and I have yet to watch this movie even though my anticipation was at it’s highest peak. It was already such a bummer that I couldn’t watch it on the 9th because I was at Tesco.

Coincidentally, I met Chew Jie & Pei Fong who has come to watch the same movie and also at the same time, which is pretty awesome, I must say.

Before going in, I am going to tell you something. I saw the Easy A trailer on the little TV above the counter and below there it wrote “KELUAR DI PAWAGAM PADA 30 DISEMBER” which is pretty weird because I’ve watched it already and it’s been weeks since it came out in US. I am just saying we are pretty outdated.

And the trailer for I Am Number Four came on before the movie started and Alex Pettyfer and Dianna Agron omg omg that is an epic trailer so the movie should be wicked.

Anyway, it’s the Narnian movie I watched.

And the movie didn’t disappoint. Not one bit.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it might even be better than Deathly Hallows (even my anticipation for Voyage was more frenzied than DH for some reason). Maybe it was because I didn’t harbour too high hopes and expectations, and I didn’t sneak some stills from the movie and watch the trailer over and over again, even though I have read the book. It still never failed to pull the elements of surprise at me. And may I just say that almost every actor and actress in that movie is hnng-worthy. Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes (despite excluding Anna Popplewell & William Moseley) all rolled into one movie is just simply A+. And Will Poulter (the actor who plays the horrible Eustace) is a brilliant actor. It was exactly how I pictured him to be. And when Reepicheep sailed towards Aslan’s country and Lucy & Edmund said they weren’t coming back… the tears, oh my goodness. I’ve heard people say it was boring and if you’re having the same opinion as them well dear lord I must say that is a shame. Voyage of the Dawn Treader is possibly the best movie compared to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe & Prince Caspian, even though the book was a tad boring. And for once, I can say that this movie > it’s book, but that’s my opinion. I know the remaining four books won’t be about the Pevensies anymore and this makes me very sad. I’m not ready for them to go yet.

Okay. Remember what I said that Voyage of the Dawn Treader > Deathly Hallows? Forget I said that. Both movies were brilliant, had their own specialties and I’m not going to start comparing soon.

FOR NARNIA! AND FOR ASLAN!

These Soles Could Fight the Ocean Wave

Now playing: What If- Meg & Dia

I’ve been at Mum’s shop the whole day, and I’ve also finished rereading all my Monster Allergy comics. I only have till Issue #21, and I really do need the rest. It’s a good thing the comics end at Issue #29, which means I’m not far off. I’ve asked Aunty Wendy to search for the remaining issues (#22- #29) in Singapore, and I hope she finds them, which would be a fantastic Christmas present.

So what I am still a kid.

Towards the end of my working day, something happened that possibly made my night a million times better. ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith came on the mall radio, and as I sang along to the song, a vague memory drifted into my head, and I remembered singing this song along with Lailati in school. Why the sudden oldies interest, you ask. It was American Idol fever around that month, and since Laiyy (and most of my classmates) were infatuated with 16-year-old teenage heartthrob Aaron Kelly (he performed Aerosmith that week), Laiyy brought lyrics to ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ to school everyday and we would belt into song when the teacher wasn’t it class. I don’t really know why but that memory was really comforting, and made me feel warm inside. Westlife came on afterwards and it was truly an Oldies Appreciation Moment.

Right, my dog is now licking my face. He is such a spoilt dog.

By the way, I had my middle finger on my left hand slammed by the shutter gate at my mum’s shop and it hurts terribly. Now I have a reason to stick up my middle finger at all times.

NO, no I’m just joking don’t take me seriously.

Today is the 9th and I haven’t watched the Voyage of the Dawn Treader yet, which sucks. Maybe when Caitlin comes over we could watch it together.

Right, and now to explain who Caitlin is, if you don’t already know. Caitlin is my cousin from Singapore, and she’s coming on the 19th to celebrate Christmas with us! And to make things better, Chieny (surely you know her oh dear God) is coming tomorrow! She used to stay at my house a lot, and her mum worked at my mum’s shop, but they moved to KL around last year, I think, and even though I was pretty much a bully to her, I miss her oh so much. I am so glad she’s coming tomorrow. She would be jumping with joy at the sight of Heart, I am sure.

Chieny & I.
This was so long ago oh my God.
Me, Ian, & Caitlin from when we were mere toddlers.
Ian, Caitlin, Por Por & I. So much love for this photo.

Last year’s Christmas was absolutely quiet. I think this year will definitely be better.

PS. I will get back to the remaining Open Topics, worry not.

Tell The Sun Don’t Fall

Now playing: Past Praying For- VersaEmerge

I’m deciding to take a break from all those Open Topics which I usually stay up until three in the morning to write. I reckon all of you are already sick of seeing me write posts where I attempt to sound witty and clever, because I’m already sick of them myself.

It’s my first time listening to VersaEmerge after 437593847593257320453 years and I kind of feel guilty for that. I guess I was caught up in the Paramore frenzy because of the concert, plus I’ve been listening to a lot of Ellie Goulding and Florence + the Machine lately. I only remembered how great VersaEmerge is after Theatrics came on shuffle. (My OCD pretty much forced me to listen to The Hider right after Theatrics. I couldn’t possibly miss that.) This is just a personal opinion, but I think their first album is better than Fixed At Zero. Or maybe I’ve gone rusty and need to listen to Fixed At Zero again.

Oh whatever, consider this post ‘Open Topic #4’ in response to:

Oh, I’d like to see more of what you do on a regular basis, since, well, you’re just that cool. 🙂

You are wrong. I am not cool.

This morning I went to my mum’s shop in Tesco to “help out”. I ended up dozing off in the store room for three hours, and had dreams of buying Lord of the Rings books for only ten dollars in this hidden bookstore somewhere in Tesco where I’ve never set foot in. I guess you can say I did “help out” a little after lunch, in between breaks of rereading my Monster Allergy comics.

I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone about my obsession with Monster Allergy. This obsession started when I was thirteen, and I went on a frenzy, buying the comics in threes since Popular had discounts. I think I stopped until Issue #22, because it wore off. Recently, there’s this hype where people are changing their Facebook/Tumblr profile pictures to a cartoon they love and I remembered my MA obsession, and I’ve begun rereading it and everything I used to love is coming back, together with the regrets of stopping halfway and not continuing until the very last issue. I still love them a lot, and it’s pretty much like reliving my childhood once again. Or tween years, since I was thirteen.

Still a child at heart.

I am also aware I haven’t told Careful Confessions about my new puppy. This is Heart: Behind the Scenes.

Because of Heart, my daily routine pretty much goes like this: wake up in the morning, check my room for pee puddles and poo piles, pick them up, flush them down the toilet, mop the area. I do that when I wake up in the morning, which is around 11am, which, by then, my dad has already carried him downstairs and locked him in his cage before going to work. Then I go down and take him out and entertain him the whole day, feed him and make sure he does his toilet business outside the house, then bring him in, then we entertain him and vice versa and then he sleeps in his basket in my room. And then the whole cycle starts again.

I appreciate his presence a lot, probably more than anyone else, because it seems like he’s the only living creature who can stand being near me all the time, and he doesn’t judge ergo I’m not self-conscious. It’s nice feeling genuinely appreciated and liked for once. On the downside, his salivating, whining and high-on-sugar-hyper-activeness are pains in the arse. I swear, Heart is the most hyperactive dog I have ever met. There is no possible way to catch him once he takes off.

So yeah, that’s about it. I doubt anyone still reads this blog, everything I write is so pointless these days. If you want to read proper posts, you should check out Effie’s blog. She is an amazing writer, and she’s a year younger than me. Effie, if you’re reading this, I just want to say you are absolutely amazing. I honestly thought you were older than me, you seem so much matured than I ever will be.

Tell the sun don't fall, so we'll never forget
Heaven forbid, well aware of your sins
In the wake I'll be just like the rest
Past praying for

Open Topic #3

Third request:

how do u become so brilliant n always be one of the top students in school?

I am brilliant because I got a Hogwarts acceptance letter on my birthday when I was eleven and has been secretly attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry without anyone’s knowledge and now I’m a fifth-year witch, and that automatically makes me brilliant and far more superior than all you Muggles. I also found Narnia in my old closet in the guest room and guess what I saw Aslan and satyrs and centaurs and met the High King Peter in Cair Paravel. I won the two hundred and fifty-ninth Hunger Games, and I rented a rocketship to Pigfarts which is on Mars and I met the headmaster Rumbleroar which is a lion, that can talk.

Yeah, I am brilliant.

Fantasies aside, this kind of question is exactly what I am afraid of.

I am not brilliant. I am a mess. I have terrible habits I try really hard (maybe too hard, sometimes) to hide from the prying and constantly judging eyes of the people around me. Brilliant, is what you call someone who has a neat schedule and gets everything done quickly without fuss, or someone who stands out among others because they show true potential, be it socially or academically. I am neither. I get by barely scraping the top by luck, hard luck. Again, modesty aside, I admit I have a good and adhesive memory, and quick understanding skills. I have my moments when I feel motivated to work, and I proceed to do it, but most of the time I just end up giving up halfway, as it is with almost everything I do. I am telling the truth here. Consistency is something a “brilliant” individual must have, and it is probably the key trait of that individual’s characteristics. And consistency is something I really lack, something I try very hard to obtain, but mostly fail.

So yes, the ugly truth is, I get by with this memory of mine and those supposedly “great understanding skills”. And a snarky attitude to remind myself I have to act like I’m always on the top, top, top, so that my self-esteem doesn’t crash onto the ground all of a sudden, especially not in school. I am being truthful when I say I’d rather be like anyone of you, an average student than someone who almost everyone has their eyes on, to watch carefully in case she makes a wrong step, which, apparently, is some kind of a big deal if you are constantly top in the class. People watch your every move like a freaking Dementor. And when you fail, the incredulity and disappointment pop up like two giant black bubbles to smother and ridicule me. Yes, being known gives you moments of glory, but it is not worth having people semi-controlling your life.

Anyway. Um. To summarize my answer to your question directly, how I am always top in the school, I am just like this giant sponge, you know? I absorb things left, right and center, and then I have my common sense process it so I can actually accept it, like my brain giving me the green light. I guess yeah, I am smart in a way. I think a lot, sometimes too much. But yeah, that’s my answer. I’m sorry if you were looking for a response something along the lines of “hard work, revising every day for 35787584643965486439 hours, taking notes on every single sheet of paper I can lay my hands on, buy tonnes of workbooks to work with etc” but I don’t do that because I have a lazy arse. I have proof if you want to look through my whole stack of untouched workbooks since Form One.

So yeah, I should be the last person you come to for advice. I am hopeless, myself.

…but at least I’m not just a baboon brandishing a stick.

Open Topic #2

Second request:

hey michelle, just to give u ideas here. you know your blog posts in the past, you say were a better person, before u became rebellious. how were u better than, not that i’m saying ur bad now. I just want to know what was it then that made u felt like a better person than you are currently.

aifa

This would be the perfect moment for a trip down the memory lane. I think I’ll just show you what I mean by linking blog posts, since this blog pretty much sustains my life.

I created this blog in around mid-July 2008, when I was thirteen. You really must understand I was a tween with absolutely no worries then, except maybe my fears of being alone in a new school. But still, I got over that quick enough. I was thirteen, and happy. I wrote about anything and everything, even though it was a new blog and barely got any views. Still, I wrote. I wrote about issues that I don’t think I even know and fully understand back then, probably just to sound more matured and experienced than I really am. I wrote about daily activities in a carefree and casually manner, at least, that’s what I think. I learned to appreciate everything around me, and looked at everything positively. Even one of my most terrible experiences ended with a happy note (and was actually written in a positive manner too).

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write like that again. In fact, my weird obsessions (with Disney, truthfully) made me want to stay away from the 2008 archive, forever.

In 2009, I was still a very contented and happy person, although I started having horrible moments. Even then, just like one of the ’08 posts, the ending was optimistic. I still looked at things through a positive point of view. I realised life was still awesome and everything was going well for me, and I didn’t have many reasons to be unhappy. I enjoyed everything I did, every trip I went, and even horrid days couldn’t really bring me down. I was still running well on my self-fueled optimism. I thought less of what people think of me and did whatever I wanted to, even though it might seem silly sometimes. I guess I felt a little pressured during the end of the year (forget who that post was directed to, I was just pretty much indicating the style of writing), but still, December 2009 ended on a rather happy note too.

Something must have happened between Dec ’09 and the start of 2010, because January 2010 was full of pressured posts. Not too surprisingly, I guess, since it’s the year of PMR. But  I still had optimism. I wanted to show the world I was still the same person I was before, only a tad bit wiser. These two posts show how much I’ve changed in my writing style since last year. I enjoyed myself thoroughly by writing long posts like this, and somehow also by writing pointless posts like this.

My first truly “down” post was in April, and carried on until May. Something must have happened to me, because sometime around the middle of the year, I started to have break downs, be moody wherever I go, and worry too much. Maybe it’s because of the pressure of the looming date of PMR, or maybe something snapped in me and I lost my optimism completely. People change, I changed, the people around me changed, and I think puberty also had something to do with this. June, July and August were some of the worst months, for some inexplicable reason. I just remembered feeling snarky and moody all the time, feeling so alone and really, really self-conscious. I started to become a pessimist. I saw everything differently, in a darker way. I got sad and disappointed easily, and I was scared of facing people. I hardly even posted on here, scared of what people might think of me, until I thought, bother, writing was probably one of the few things keeping me sane, and I started to pour everything out.

September, I got better. I realised I had friends and family who were always there for me. I got back some of my optimism. This October post proved it. As PMR ended, I felt a huge burden lifted from my shoulders, and I couldn’t possibly feel sad anymore, could I? I knew I couldn’t possibly be the happy, optimistic little pixie I was back then either, but maybe that’s how growing up is supposed to be. Shedding our old skin, our old habits, and even our old memories, and accepting what the future throws at you. Modesty aside, I feel as if I’ve become more matured. To be honest, I believe the old me, the one who could even write a post like this, would never have believed me even if I myself told her how I was going to turn out. How I would actually feel so down most of the time. And it’s also safe to say the current me, the person who is currently sitting behind this laptop typing this post, will never remember how the old me thinks, what was going on in her mind, how innocent and happy-go-lucky I used to be.  I guess that is part of growing up. And it’s a shame. It’s like leaving a really, really good friend behind, because you have to, because it’s the only way you yourself can move on and grow up and learn.

I don’t know if this post answers your question, Aifa. You wanted to know why I think the old me was a better person than I am right now. Innocence and naivety always makes someone a better person, albeit inexperienced and childish, in my opinion. I was a better person back then because I knew how to be happy and enjoy myself as who I am. But I’m learning how the world is really like, and that’s what makes growing up much more intriguing, instead of being stuck in my own little happy universe.

I think I’m starting to contradict myself. Staying up does that to you. Anyway, I don’t expect anyone to go through all those links, but if you do, thank you. You probably know more about me right now than you’ve ever had, and that’s quite a comforting thought.

PS. Perhaps you’ve already noticed the snow and glitter text! Festivity is in the air!

Open Topic #1

I do apologise for not updating this blog page for so long. I haven’t had the mood to write lately, but I’ve finally decided to drag my lazy arse here to write something to entertain you people. So here goes.

First request:

What would you do if you were stranded on an island with nothing but your Harry Potter books and zombies with book destroying weapons are coming to destroy them ?

Dear lord, you took my example seriously, didn’t you?

Okay since I’m not too sure how to write this out, I’ll just write it as some kind of crazy fiction story.

(If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, click here.)

Michelle Teoh and the Island of Books-Eating Zombies

Copyright (c) 2009/2010 by Michelle Teoh Zi Yan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding
or cover and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.

I was on an island. How I got there doesn’t matter because it’s the kind of detail you just don’t ask, just like how you don’t ask why Voldemort doesn’t have a nose and exactly when and where in the process of him becoming a bald reptilian human did he lose his nose.

Or maybe, you know, you could just pretend I got here together with the rest of the Lost crew but somehow they miraculously vanished. It just happened, don’t ask.

So I was alone. On an island. And in my hands were seven books I love with my whole fifteen years and five months of life, the Harry Potter series by none other than the queen Joanne Kathleen Rowling. They were there for some reason unbeknownst to us because it was a detail requested in a formstack form, and they were the only items the protagonist (that’s me lol) were allowed to have, apparently.

Suddenly there was movement in the woods and having seen no single trace of a human presence for so long naturally I thought of the wind. Because basically everyone blames the wind whenever these kind of things happen, even though their minds are practically chanting ghost ghost ghost the whole time. But then that wasn’t possible because there was no wind. And then comes the moment for dramatic music, and the apprehensive head turn, and the camera shows a more intimidating shot of the forest, and maybe the audio team could add in thriller tunes, and then suddenly, all is quiet. And I would gulp hard and pant to show my nervousness. And then bam! A dozen or more zombies carrying weapons like scissors, penknives, punch-holes (book destroying weapons, right?) started bounding for me, and it took me a whole minute to realise they were after my books.

With a gut-wrenching shriek I hugged my books to my body and ran, and since there was nothing but the sea and the beach, the only place that could possible offer me shelter and cover is the woods. So basically, I was making a U-turn into the forest again. I mean, zombies aren’t smart at all, aren’t they?

And if you’re wondering what the zombies look like, they look like this:

Wait what?

I mean… Well, they aren’t too far off from the mental image I had in mind.

Anyway, I ran, like I’ve never ran before, and you don’t even know how hard it is to run like a leopard on steroids and holding onto seven fairly thick books at the same time, because you see I cannot simply leave behind my books to become prey to those…ghastly monsters. You cannot imagine my fear of them ripping out pages and burning them and writing “Twilight ftw!” etc on them. No you can’t.

So the first thing that came to mind when I dove into the forest was, I needed to climb on a tree. I did, and waited. And sure enough the zombies swarmed in like bees, and that was when an idea came to mind and I started to break off nearby branches and dropped them on any target I could find. And being zombies, naturally, they dropped unconscious as soon as the branch hit them in the head. This continued three, four times until the nutcases finally realised I was there. By then, a dozen was reduced to about eight of them, which was pretty comforting, if you didn’t count the fact that seven of them would go for the books and the remaining one would go after me, which sounds like a fantastic plan if I were a zombie but naturally they were zombies so you couldn’t exactly expect it from them.

As the started edging towards my tree, I began to climb down hurriedly and took off again. And golly, would you just look at my luck? I just found a lighter on the ground! (Who says this isn’t possible it’s a fiction story I am the mastermind and this devastating tale deserves a happy ending.) I kept it in my pocket for later use, because the books in my arms were starting to feel really heavy. Aware that eight hungry and insane zombies were still hot on my trail, I did the old trick again, which was doing another U-turn, ending up in the woods again. Instead of delving further in, I went sideaways, moving at the edge of the forest, and finally I found a large boulder on the beach which I dove behind immediately to hide. I stopped and strained my ears for any sound of the zombies but none of them approached. Welp. My plan worked after all.

I then decided I needed to find another way to hold my books, and began to search for large leaves, and found one which was also pretty strong. I placed the books in the middle of the leaf and started to bundle them up, tying a knot on top. At least carrying a bundle like this was better than carrying them separately.

All of a sudden, a terrible gargling noise told me the zombies had returned. I stood up and backed up against the boulder. I picked up a broken branch on the ground near my feet and lit it with the lighter, the only weapon I could come up with. Sure enough, they bounded towards my hiding spot, and as soon as the first one passed me by, I threw the flaming stick towards them, and one of them caught fire immediately. Let me tell you something though, throwing a small flaming stick towards a group of eight zombies proved to be more effective than you think, because once one of them starts to panic and go beserk, naturally the ones near to him catch fire too. Not to mention the ones who ran into the flaming person, because they didn’t stop in time. In the end, five of them caught fire and I considered them off my list. The other three were the last ones in the race, pausing in their tracks at the wild scene before them. I took my chance and dashed away again, this time a plan forming in my mind. I headed for the sea, careful not to get my books wet. As predicted, the remaining zombies came after me, and at a rash and foolishly brave attempt, I soaked my hand in seawater and splashed a good amount of it in the first zombie’s eyes. If you have never gotten salt in your eyes you wouldn’t know the pain. I left the first one writhing (since he was losing his bearings and starting to wade deeper into the sea) and upon impulse, I fished for the lighter in my pocket again, opened it and threw it at the second zombie. He caught fire, and wasn’t smart enough to put it out with water surrounding him, apparently. And how did I get rid of the last zombie? Well, Jack Sparrow seems to be doing me a favour, because right at that moment, a sea turtle swam past me, and I quickly grabbed it and hurled it at the zombie, which hit him right on his head where he fell into the sea, knocked out.

THERE. I HAD WON. I DEFEATED A BUNCH OF ZOMBIES AND SAVED MY HARRY POTTER BOOKS.

I could say I got off the island the same way Jack Sparrow did too, by sea turtles, but then that would sound like I was copying the idea off Gore Verbinski. So I can assume I got it off safely anyway, by ship, helicopter, broom, Hagrid’s motorbike we’ll never know, because it’s not supposed to be part of the story, just like how you never question how I ended up in that place in the first place.

So this is the adventures of the brave and mildly insane Michelle Teoh, brought to you by none other than Michelle Teoh herself. As you can see, this story is merely a fabrication of fantasy and a wild desperation to please whoever dropped that request in the formstack form. Attn person who suggested this topic, are you happy now?

Ravenclaw Colours: Blue/Bronze

 

After Slytherin comes Ravenclaw! (And I plan Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff after that, since I’m in Hufflepuff and all.) Today was slightly different from the other trips because Kai Li and her family went with us to the orthodontist too, since she also wanted to have braces done too. We reached the place at 10am, and maybe I should tell you that I have to wait for more or less an hour before I get called in. And I have to wear bands again, but this time it winds around my molars and my canine teeth too, so it hurts terribly.

After that, we went to Popular at this mall, which I do not know the name because it is about to close down, because there was a huge banner hung saying there was a sale ranging from 50 to 70 percent discounts. I’ve seen this many of times before, and was often let down but this time I was not. It was amazing, I don’t even know how to describe this pure bliss. Anyway I got 6 books in the end, and my mum got some for herself too.

I got:

  • Eragon + Eldest Omnibus- Christopher Paolini
  • The Virgin Suicides- Jeffery Eugenides
  • LOTR: The Two Towers- JRR Tolkien
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Stiel Larsson (Millennium series)
  • The Girl Who Played With Fire- Stiel Larsson (Millennium series)
  • The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest- Stiel Larsson (Millennium series)

And get this, I only got Two Towers for 9 dollars! I couldn’t find Fellowship of the Ring and the Return of the King though and that makes me feel incomplete somehow.

And I brought Heart home from my uncle’s house and it’s the first time seeing him for three days which makes me really happy. In conclusion, it has been a great day and I’m going to go watch Wipeout now, bye.

EDIT: OH AND HEY GUYS CAN YOU PLEASE CLICK THIS AND DO IT. PLEASE. JUST DO IT AND NOT MAKE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT.

EDIT#2: Oh and Sasha see I updated my blog so you get to read something. I am such a good friend. Lolno but I love you. ❤

Open Topic!

So comes the time when Michelle finds herself really really bored once again and demands a favour from her readers.

Here is a form, and everyone should write in there what you want me to write, what you want to see on my blog. For example if someone writes in there ‘music’ I write a post concerning my music tastes, interests etc; or if someone writes ‘what would you do and how would you feel if twelve zombies entered your room right this second carrying magical wands and axes and smashing your Harry Potter books up’ I would also proceed to write a long post saying I would burn those zombies alive (or dead) and suck their fingers with a vacuum before they even touch my books.

So yeah you get the idea. I told you I was bored, didn’t I?

It would be absolutely great if you could be more elaborate on your answer too kthx. Leave a name if you want, but either way I don’t mind.

*Also I get the right to dismiss your answers if they are rude and rated (hehehohohuhuhoo) and I will try to write every topic unless I find it foolish and abnormal and too tedious then I apologise.

AND HERE IS THE LINK TO THE FORM TO THOSE WHO MISSED IT THE FIRST TIME

A Deathly Fun Night Indeed

(Note: I actually had a nice good and long post written on my phone with this very same title but my phone suddenly crashed on me and everything went kaboom so sorry if I keep this short because I am about to tear my hair out in frustration.)

I know in the previous post I said “Three More Days”, and I apologise for my ignorance. The problem was, no one knew it would be released so early in Malaysia (what with us being so outdated and all) except for Elya and Effie whom I heard from was watching the movie on the 17th since it would be out for them in KL on that date. I was positive Alor Setar was a slacker but out of curiosity, I checked the Alor Setar Mall cinema showtimes and was surprised to find “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” on the list. I immediately rang up Jia Yuan, still couldn’t believing that yes, I am actually going to watch DH earlier than any other country in the world, only to find that she knew it way earlier than I did. I didn’t have much time to prepare for my adrenaline and excitement, since it was 4pm when I rang Jia Yuan and the movie started at 6pm.

There weren’t many people when we reached the cinema, which was pretty surprising since I knew it would have been packed in other countries like what Ellie and Luisa said (ah the Potter spirit us Malaysians show!) but I reckon not many people realise that we have an early release date as oppose to the scheduled worldwide release date on the 19th.

I knew I started squealing as soon as I saw the Warner Brothers logo. And after that, there wasn’t much coherent thinking except squealing and finger-biting and laughing and crying and feeling happy, finally getting what I’ve waited hopefully for for months. I sincerely apologise to those sitting around me for constantly blabbing out spoilers like “Hedwig dies”, “George loses an ear”, “Fred dies in Part 2”, “Bathilda is actually Nagini”, “Xenophilius betrays them”, “Dobby dies” etc.

Oh I’m sorry for ruining the surprises for those who haven’y watched the movie yet. But honestly, it would be best for everyone to read the book first before watching the movie. It isn’t that hard, is it?

One downside of watching the movie in the cinema: having people walk up and down the aisle every 5 minutes. What is wrong with you people, this is the final Harry Potter movie. I wouldn’t have left my seat to go to the loo even if I drank two cups of Coke, because it is the most important movie you will ever see.

But then again not everyone is as mad as I am.

I admit there wasn’t much action in this movie, and it was quite boring to be fairly honest, but I was happy because Yates succeeded in doing something not all the other HP movie directors managed to do: being elaborate, because honestly, I wouldn’t have liked it one bit if too many scenes from the book was cut. Every single detail was crucial to make the movie a masterpiece, and Yates did it. He brought the book to life, instead of just making it into a movie.

Welp, at least I know the action-packed scenes are all in Part 2. The anticipation hasn’t ended, there is still the giant finale. WIZARD. LIGHTING. BATTLE.

…

If you didn’t get what I mean, your life must be sad. Click.

Oh, and

DOBBY DIES

PS. May I add that Annie’s review of the movie is A+ and I would love to save it here forever.

ϟ

I don’t know about anyone else, but every single post from now on shall be dedicated to the upcoming release of the Deathly Hallows movie. It’s not much hype where I live, but it’s like a festive countdown on Tumblr, and the excitement has certainly gotten to me, which makes me very happy indeed. If midnight screening actually exists in Alor Setar, of course I would’ve camped the whole night in front of the cinema willingly, don’t ask stupid questions. Although I really must warn anyone who is watching the movie with me to tolerate my tears, shrieks and euphoria because I think I will be a mess. It’s Harry freaking Potter, for Merlin’s sake, I cried watching the trailer I’m going to bawl watching the movie.

THREE MORE DAYS

Just An Add-On

You know all those add-on programmes you install to your Firefox or Chrome or whatever Internet browser you seem fit to use? I am just like that, but the human version.

It’s like having everyone focus on the laptop screen, and everyone goes, “Wow, Google Chrome is the shit!” or “Firefox is the best browser since Internet Explorer!” and no one notices anything else. It’s like snapping a photo of three people, but people only notice two of them in the centre, because the third one isn’t important, she is just an add-on, a spare, just like how Voldemort screamed, “Kill the spare!” before Pettigrew blew Cedric Diggory to pieces, nothing worth paying attention to. She is there when you are desperate and needs a hand, but otherwise she is just dust and shadows, a furniture or wallpaper that you overlook everytime. When you see two people walking towards you but you just look at one of them, because the other one is useless and worthless, like a dead remote controller compared to the latest Apple technology and yes of course you want to use the iControl or whatever they’re going to call it. Or when you are surrounded by people and when one of them pipes up and suggests something but everyone pretends to not hear the spare and continue with whatever they were saying before the piping up. So naturally, the add-on stands alone and abandoned.

Do I have a problem with that? No, I do not have a problem with that, who said I had a problem with that? I am perfectly fine with being the background music, the floorboards, the ceiling tiles, the wall posters… Hey, whatever makes the people around me happy right? I have no right to think that I am far superior above others.

11/11/2010: SJKC Pumpong (Class of 2007) Reunion

After countless meetings (actually there were only 2 meetings, but I want to make it sound like we’d put in more effort than we actually did, so. Okay I’ll shut up now) and brainstormings with the “committee members” (Jia Yuan, Yi Jing, Cheah En, Mi Xia, Joey, Wei Xing, Hui Xiong and Lian Kai) at my house, we finally decided to have a primary school reunion on the 11th of November, at Jia Yuan’s mother’s shop, Joesphine Beauty & Slimming Centre.

Original invitation:

11 November 2010
SJKC Pumpong 6M + 6K (Year 2007) Reunion

Time: 7pm
Place: JOSEPHINE BEAUTY & SLIMMING CENTRE ( 1031 ) 1A Jalan Putra, 05150 Alor Star, Kedah Darul Aman. (Behind Dapur20)
Attire: White shirt + jeans
IMPORTANT: REMEMBER TO BRING A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES AND A GIFT (anything that isn’t needed at home, no need to buy a new one).

On that day, out of 60+ people of the 2 classes combined, only 18 turned up, 12 of 6M and 6 of 6K: All the committee members except Mi Xia (who was MIA to claim her Mighty Minds prize), Vern, Evelynn, Soo Min, Ying Hui, Chia Shin, Sin Shiun, Jojo, Chong Lim, Vincent, and Chun Tat. The number was disappointing, but that didn’t really mean the reunion was, too.

The committee members arrived at 6pm, then after realising some of us had forgotten to bring gifts, Jia Yuan, Yi Jing, Cheah En, Joey and I walked to 7-Eleven to get gifts (which were actually a packet of Ferrero Rochers, Kinder Bueno, and a box of Koko Krunch). Wei Xing and Hui Xiong were pretty much the junk food suppliers.

At 7pm, people started to turn up, and we began the first game (suggested by Jia Yuan during one of the meetings heh) which was having the first person (let’s say it’s a girl) walk up to a boy and say “Baby baby I love you, can you please smile?” and if he does, he has to take her place and sayin the exact same line to another girl. If he doesn’t, the poor girl has to find another guy. Joey got called out the most times, and I got called out 2 times (which was bloody embarrassing) but Yi Jing lost the game in the end.

The second game (which was Wei Xing’s idea) didn’t even last for 10 minutes. It goes like this: when one asks you a question, you have to answer it wrongly in 3 seconds without stuttering. It’s actually quite familiar if you’ve listened to games played on the radio. And not too surprisingly, I lost the game, and it ended there. Lol.

The third game (which was whose idea I don’t even remember) was pretty easy to understand and pretty common. You get someone to perform an action and the rest of the people have to guess the exact sentence. It was easy, until Chong Lim started setting loose all his crazy ideas, then things got funny. Even my dad went for a try! Vincent was the one who lost in this game.

By this time, my mum was already bugging us for a group photo, and we whipped out our shades and posed and laughed. After that, it was about 10pm and time to leave. The rest of us remaining got individual shots with other people. Everyone started to leave, and then it was only Jia Yuan and I, chatting while waiting for our parents.

Needless to say, I had an amazing time. I don’t really know about everyone else, I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, and look forward to another reunion in the near future, like I do.

Soooooo here are some photos, but you can find the full album here.

First game
Third Game

It’s A Swamp!

Photos should be up later because the internet connection’s here not too good, but I assure you you’re not missing much.

(Edit: Photos can be found here and here.)

It rained non-stop from the 30th of October until the 1st of November, and the day after that, places in Jitra and Southern Thailand were flooded. I was supposed to go to a camp in Kuala Nerang the next day, but the roads were found flooded and blocked, so the programme was cancelled.

I guess you can say we were pretty much prepared for what was in store for us, since we went through a flood in 2005 too, in December. The water supply was cut off on 2nd Nov, and later I found out the whole Alor Setar (if not the whole Kedah) has run out of water supply too and people are buying mineral water left, right and center. We, for one, didn’t even think to make those preparations. We were pretty confident. 2005 wasn’t that bad, why would it be bad now?

Yesterday was the 3rd of November. We borrowed Uncle Guan’s pickup to round the neighbourhood, and there were some pretty terrible places that were completely swamped, like Taman Asas and Taman Malaysia. But what was really puzzling was that the area around the Raja’s Mini Store (which would usually be flooded along with the other low lying areas compared to my area at Taman Lumba Kuda and Taman Golf) was surprisingly dry when water was edging towards us already at my place. But we didn’t think too much, I mean, the electricity was still on, wasn’t it? Plus, my mum decided to stay in the house this time to watch over our properties instead of moving out like 5 years ago.

I admit, the first day was pretty fun. I mean, a flood! That means no school, and something interesting to gossip about. The electricity stayed on until around midnight last night, and we slept in darkness save for the emergency fan.

I was woken up by my parents this morning at 6am. My dad said the situation was getting too critical, and if we don’t move now, we won’t have the chance to anymore. So we were pretty much just groping around in the dark packing stuff and moving furniture while our eyes almost tried to close in sleepiness and it was huge bloody mess. We were sweating by the time we got everything and everyone out, then together with Aunty Ai Loon, Uncle Hoe and Aunty Amelia, we rode in Uncle Guan’s pickup to get the hell out of the neighbourhood -now a swamp. The water was so deep we barely made it out. As it is, my father proved to one hell of a driver and got us out safely.

After that, we went to Uncle Guan’s house, where we cleaned up and had a short nap. We thought the situation would get better, instead it took a turn for the worst. So we had to borrow a huge truck to get back to the house to rescue Golden, because the water was rising too rapidly and it would soon be too late. The roads at the T-junction to the Pumpong area was mostly closed and pretty empty save for a few evacuees and pickups and boats and trucks like ours. Remember what I said about some parts in the neighbourhood still completely dry? Now the whole place was completely wet. Absolutely everywhere. The area around Taman Jubli Perak was still pretty dry when we came out this morning but the water already reached Wisma Darulaman when we went in that afternoon at about 2pm.

Right then, all I could worry about was Golden, because Aunty Ai Chin said she saw 6 dead dog bodies floating that morning and I couldn’t help thinking about bad things my paranoia made me think. And when we went into the neighbourhood, it was like looking out to the sea. Everything was water, house, water, building, street lamp, water, and nothing else. And then I saw a dog’s body floating in one of the houses and everyone exclaimed in disgust and I couldn’t help it.

I cried.

I was sick with worry, paranoid of what I might find at my house.

So I was one of the first to climb down the truck, splashed through the water and to my house. And there I found Golden sitting on a bench, the ground completely flooded with water. I don’t know what’s wrong but I thought he looked pretty surprised and happy to see me. And then I don’t know, the tears started flowing. I was so glad he was safe, even though he never stopped barking at us, as if scolding us. Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me?

I’m sorry I’m not usually this emotional.

So we moved more things to higher ground, even though the water’s already flooded into the living room and the back kitchen. We grabbed some more important things, moved the cars to higher ground, grabbed Golden, acted as a rescue truck for many of our stranded neighbours and got out safely once more.

Once I was outside, I realised how frightening it was to be inside the taman. How trapped I actually felt all the time I was in there. Does this count as being traumatized? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve just seen something that could possibly change my perspective, if not forever then for now.

And if you’re just going to be horrible and say “Well, you’ve been through this 5 years ago? What are you worried about?”

Firstly, this time was definitely many times worse than in 2005. Secondly, I just saw dead bodies, even if they are animal bodies, floating around, and you’re asking me why I’m worried..you are in need of a doctor. Thirdly, this isn’t even the worst yet. The worst is about to come in these two days, because they’re saying they plan to release some more water from the dam, and the tides are getting higher. Fourthly, we are totally cut off from water supply. There are probably many more reasons but I’m too tired to remember them.

We saw many other residents planning to stay in their houses despite the flood, and I don’t know how they manage it waterless and powerless and feeling like a bug trapped in a cage. I don’t know how they do it, but God bless them.

I’m just so tired, today has been such chaos, moving stuff, wading in water and worrying. Just…pray Lord things don’t get worse.

Update on NaNoWriMo #1

Right now I am assuming people actually give a flying platypus about my NaNoWriMo. If you don’t, please leave I won’t mind.

So remember when I said I couldn’t find muse yesterday? Well, it’s not to say exactly that I did found my muse. My current story is more like an attempt at spontaneity than a well-planned storyline, like I usually have with my stories. At around 10pm last night, I began to feel desperate, and randomly groped for any stray ideas floating in my mind, and I did find one, from the series I was recently obsessed with, the Hunger Games, and I admit, my story is way too Hunger Games-ish I don’t even know if I like it or not, but since Katharine and Daphne have gotten me to continue, I decided not to abandon the idea. How about I just show you a screencap of the synopsis + excerpt of my story from my Nanowrimo profile.

(I actually do think my editing skills has improved…. *smirk*)

And yes, that is Kaya Scodelario. Now you know what I mean by my story being too Hunger Games-ish.

And to be perfectly honest, I have no real idea how this story is supposed to turn out, so now all I can hope for is that my brain does a miracle and supply me with the 374938759307503985402394750239754457659873245633 ideas I used to have when I’m daydreaming with a pencil in hand (or laptop in lap).

I only got to about 800+ words yesterday. And right now my word count is 1,849. I’m supposed to reach 3000+ words today. Gulp.

On a sidenote, and I completely digress, it has been raining non-stop for the past two days, and now it’s flooded in Anak Bukit and the water is bound to reach here sooner or later, so now I am basically crossing my fingers that the electricity stays on the whole while I’m on the computer (since the water supply is already slowly running out) and typical paranoid me has been clicking on the “Save” button every few seconds in case my laptop goes off suddenly (it’s battery-less and hangs on to life by merely a charger plus its wire, before you shout at me that laptops have batteries that can function even without current) and I lose everything I’ve torn my hair out in frustration to type out.

So guys wish me luck, both on my story and on the flood. And now, allow me to take a breather from writing and spend some quality time feasting my eyes on Dean Winchester.