Musings

Oh, hi. I’m finally back from my long-term absence. (: I wasn’t being absent, really, I was simply updating my other journal at DeviantArt. Sometimes it gets pretty tedious to have two journals, I mean you often get torn between which one to constantly update. Hence, the sudden absence.

Anyway, I have been away in Taiping for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Along with Jason and Amanda, we have to put on a brave front and persevere through whatever that is thrown our way. Actually, the pet peeves of CNY will be elaborated further on in another post. Just to be organized.

But apart from other none too jolly things, Taiping will always be a treasure trove of stuff to explore for city people like us. Who pops by once a year. So things come and go, and we even see new (drastic) changes, such as an awesome Tesco (haha) and next to it, Taiping Sentral-with a cinema to boot! That could be the first cinema in Taiping-ever since the ancient ones got demolished many years ago. I don’t know how people there can be deprived of movies for so long. Drive to Ipoh for entertainment?

We watched InkHeart there, so no complaints.

Jason and I also got around to recording this audio story of ours. It’s completely original. And it’s spontaneous. So while listening to it again, we caught moments of awkwardness like the occasional ‘eerrrs’ and ‘ahhs’ while we try to think of a continuation. It’s still in development.

But I’m still thrilled to be back in KL-mainly because of the homework that I had not completed. And also, because Victoria is coming! (: Do tell us when you are here.

Weekend at the beach, part 1

I was in Port Dickson last Sunday to visit the parents of the toddler which my mum babysits. They are building a holiday home there. And it’s just in front of the beach. (: I can’t wait to see how it looks when it is finally done!

 

The Yacht Club where we had lunch. This is the sitting area.

 

The swimming pool from the restaurant.

 

Sigh. I can't swim, but the water looks inviting.

 

The back of their bungalow. It's low tide, so we can walk along the shores. (:

 

My sister taking in the beach.

It's like rocky road ice cream!

 

Taken from the balcony, of one of the rooms.

That's the swimming pool-under construction!

 

My mum and Uncle Ron. That's his house in the background. Only 40% done. So, keep an eye out for the finished one next year. (:

 

Later, we went straight to Midvalley. My mum and my sister shopped while my dad and I did this.

Taken from where we sat. Not bad, my sad camera phone.

Part 2 will come along when I am up to it. (:

Rolling stones

First, I will give a report of my day. Without pictures, again, obviously. Yours truly have never really gotten the bug for taking pictures wherever I go. I don’t know why; guess the whole photography thing hasn’t kicked in yet?

Jason and I started our Columbius-cum journey from Asia Jaya to KL Sentral. (RM2.00) The LRT was fine, except we had to stand for the entire journey. But it was fine. I’ve stood longer on my two feet. From KL Sentral, we walked out from the station to the nearest Monorail just few minutes away. We had to cross a packed street, which really just brings to mind how busy KL is, small or main roads it should be. The Monorail costs about uh, an unbelievable RM2.10 to get to Bukit Bintang. Why on earth is it so expensive is really a mystery. We got off one stop earlier though. Then we walked to Pavilion KL to get tickets for Bolt. When we had to pay the lady said that it was RM18 per person because the film was in 3D, complete with the bulky glasses we had to wear during the movie.

Jason and I: (Is this insane?) 

Actually it was pure insanity because IMAX is much more worth it. Not price-wise, but the screen and other special effects. Either way, it will be a long time when I will ever consider watching a movie in 3D again. But Bolt was super cute. Very adorable. I want him too! (: I think the movie is just bent on showing Bolt in various poses of total cuteness, which is a sure win on Disney’s behalf. And there’s a movie called Coraline, written by Neil Gaiman (Stardust). It is done in stop-motion style, and of course, with beautiful graphics indeed. Check it out on Wiki or any movie page. It’s wonderful. Miley Cyrus fits singing country. Seriously. 

And yes, Daniel Craig is adamant in patronizing me for as long as the movie should last. What is wrong with you? You horrified me in my dreams, and now you are set to get me wherever I go in KL? How preposterous is this. I saw him in Pavilion KL, in Lot 10, in Sungei Wang, and Low Yat. I tell you, he is out to get me, I swear. I even saw the movie poster! D: Take it down already, geez. 

By what I said, we did go to those places I mentioned. My legs really hurt when I finally reached home. But I relish in the workout without heading to the gym. It was great. And KL transport is a bum. 

It seems that Sherrin is one of my most loyal readers of Beautiful Disaster! (: Well, I must thank you loads for even allocating your time to read my rather random stories. It’s pretty cool that we keep in touch through our blogs-because our own class blog is static! And I’m glad that at least my stories has kept you entertained to some degree, because I didn’t know I can do that. I shall answer your questions!

Daniel Craig is totally not my Robert Downey Jr. indeed! I agree wholeheartedly on that! He’s creepy. And going topless in each of the 007 films will not boost ratings! Okay, about Beautiful Disaster, I’m currently thinking of what to do with it. Haha, it’s nowhere close to Twilight, although another friend of mine has asked the same thing. But Heroes yes. I’m trying to write out a Heroes-something else crossover. But if you have been following the season lately, the whole thing is going out of control and so mind-boggling that even my friend from college (big fan) can’t even tell what’s happening anymore. ): Least to say, I’m even worse than him. So I’m currently considering rewriting the whole story and nixing out Heroes from it. If the show gets even obscure, there is no way I can continue writing this. I think Matt Parkman is messing with my head! Let’s hope that ain’t Sylar.

The Bucket List stars Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson as two old men who are cancer patients. And they are dying. Morgan Freeman’s character writes out a Bucket List, which are things to do before you die. Jack Nicholson’s character is a rich man, so the two of them have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams by completing the list they had put together. It’s a beautiful, heart-warming movie to watch and contemplate on. (:

My story has no synopsis! That is the very sad part of it. Because I write on a whim, and most of the time I draft out my story in my own head and attempt to visualize the whole thing like playing a film. But I would love to listen to your opinions before I cut Heroes out from my story first. I will try to keep the rest unscathed, or if I have to, change the story line. Perhaps some pointers from the genius of 5 Batai, if you would? (:

Repeat after me

The current mantra is: to complete the concert poster by today. It’s the only driving force that is pushing me to uh, skip class today. But actually today is actually the last class for Perspective Studies, so there probably won’t be any class today either. 

I took a bunch of photos on our life painting trip to KL on Wednesday. It was great fun, except the fact that… some of us couldn’t finish painting in time. What luck. It seems that you can’t complete a painting in 3 hours now that you are in ToA. If Picasso sees my painting he’d puke, to put it politely. D: And we painted under a shade, but then mercilessly, in a temple, so you can imagine the amount of incense we had to inhale. And the ashes that fell with every breath of the wind. Our lecturer told us that an artist gets special treatment wherever he/she is, so on that day we definitely get to test that theory. And what do you know-some of the kind ladies in the temple gave us bottled water to drink. (: I know Yee Chuan was so elated. Will upload the photos later.

It was incredibly hot that day. And some of my classmates painted in the open space. I’m partially grateful for the shade, but not so for shortening my life span.

I’m downloading the Malaysian Artists For Unity video: Here In My Home. My lecturer is in it! 8D Anyhow, you can download both the song and video through this link.  

Hiro: What are you doing?

Ando: I’m being awesome. 

How cool is that? (: We should employ that line sometime.

Report from 1 Utama

My dad said due to the recession lately, there aren’t many people in the mall. Quite noticeable. Actually all you need to do is to look in Vincci. It’s always crowded, without fail. And last night it was quite deserted. I spend my whole night prowling and entering shops that I ever entered before.

I was so peeved when the DVD shop showed Iron Man and The Hulk and the people were watching Hulk instead.

I did find the blinds we’re looking for. They are RM 15 per square feet. I’m a bit worried about the time taken to make it and also the shape. Mostly the shape. They said “square feet”…

As for the mirror, I didn’t see any oval shaped one for sale. I saw one in a changing room! (Furious) But I saw a rectangular mirror in a shop. It’s 20 inches by 2 feet, and it costs RM 85. Ouch. It’s about a portrait sized mirror with carved patterns around it. I don’t think photos are allowed in this shop. ):

Here are the blinds I found:

this looks kind of cheapo; it's plastic.

 

Thousand apologies for my sister's face. XD But I like this wooden one.

 

Another wooden one.

A close up of the mechanism.

 

A closer look at the wood.

I don’t think the people at Jusco mind, or maybe because they weren’t there. So my dad suggested that I record the movement. ;D (Okay I have to get a Youtube account to post up a video. I guess that’s fine.)

Uploadinggg.

And here’s the second one.

Oh gosh, pardon our voices.

You can message me after you guys see this.

KL Urbanscapes 2008

It was our first Urbanscapes visit ever! Thanks to Candice (somehow Li Wen got into the picture as well) our whole class got into a bus (Yuki and I had enough bus memories to last a lifetime) with minimal space and no curtains and we were on our way. Haha, it’s not that I am complaining about the bus, it’s really like that.

I had no idea that the venue was at Sentul West! The place where Jason’s family and ours always have supper nearby, on the opposite side of the road. Small world. I always had the assumption that Sentul has gorgeous houses, but there’s really nothing inside. The A’ Famosa-esque ruins however, were enough to drive Ilina high; Yuki and I were pretty convinced that she’d gotten heatstroke. Because it was really hot there, and the exhibition gallery doesn’t have much. It’s the bazaar, and we were spoilt for choice and torn between our money and the pretty stuffs. (:

Siew Cheng monkeying around (pun fully intended).

That’s the side view of the gallery. Doesn’t look like one.

The walkway towards the gallery building!

As we were walking through it, I can’t resist snapping another photo. The random ribbons must be art.

Woooo. We are in.

This is my favorite exhibit of the day. It’s a birdie-tree-thing by Wondermilk.

It’s so cute, no? (:

There’s another floor, but there isn’t much to see up there.

They have a cafe there. I’m quite ashamed to say that we’ve wasted our money on them.

RM5 for iced lemon tea! Never again.

A view taken at the staircase going up. They have amazing ceiling-to-floor windows. And yes, those are really chairs crafted from metal wires.

Next we decided to check out the Koi area. (: It was so Japanese-y, from the entrance, to the bamboo stalks.

That’s the exit actually.

It’s lovely! The pond is filled with big, fat, cutesy fishes! (:

Why is Joseph in this picture? Haha, just kidding around, I guess he didn’t know that I was taking a picture, but it doesn’t matter. (: Behind him is actually a restaurant (Nestled away in here? You tell me about it) where they serve you stuff that severs your pursestrings. Nothing is edible here. Chris-the-genius said that the cafe back at the gallery had stuff for RM3. Says who? Even the drinks starts at RM5. D: Yuki you should just keep his cap. Haha.

Another house, which we all think is the office. They have paper screens! I feel like a stalker because we were all peering through the glass.

I can’t get enough of this place.

The Koi are really big. You have to see them for yourselves.

Away from the Koi pond, Sentul West has a lake, in which seen here this guy is sitting there and taking a drag.

Imagine if your phone fell through the gaps of this. The fishes won’t feel anything, but you certainly would. Norah’s feet and mine (:

Lastly, you have to give it up to Timothy. I can’t remember whose idea was it (definitely not his) to take off those crazy-kiddy-Genting-like-ticket tags from our wrists and glue them on Tim’s shirt. So for a moment he was the walking ticket man, used tickets though. He got tagged! Haha, pun is so there. (: Apologies for my lameness. 

 

But then again

One of the books I’ve long awaited for is finally out. It’s out, yeah. (: Now I need to do some patient waiting. 

We had dinner with Jason and his family yesterday. The service stinks. Does reserving a table means that your food arrives faster? Because that’s just so biased. Unless you can order via phone, but then again it takes time to prepare the food. I think we waited for about an hour-to top it off, one of the waiters gave us the wrong dish, in which the other family was casting us weird looks because it was theirs. Bummer. 

Yeah, I know I’m probably a filthy hypocrite by now, I said that I won’t watch a movie on pirated DVD unless the movie has already passed its screening time. But then again, we have no life. It’s not wrong to soak up as much movies you can right now before the doors close again. I have only seen one movie during our last semester break!

Does Basheer Graphic Books offers discount to art students? Hmm.

I really want that book. But it’s… expensive. Why on earth are art books so expensive here? What’s with the taxes? Suddenly there’s this extra RM20 and I don’t know where did that come from. 

I admit it already! Hellboy is pretty artistic. Once you look beyond the dark, weird, and the ugliness of it all, it’s really… you know what I mean. I’m not fond of the creatures, but the art! 

I’m currently hooked on Blues and Folk music. (: They’re just so incredibly easy to listen to.

Good therapy

Yes, writing is excellent therapy for me. It’s way better than retail therapy-something I have never tried though. It’s my way of letting loose; you can compare it to having a manicure or relaxing in a pool: both things which I don’t have the luxury to experience. Do you reckon that the untitled story I wrote in my previous post sounds a lot like Twilight? It wasn’t intended though; I don’t read my story until I decide to stop writing completely. So I think it somehow runs along the same lines…

Al Gore is way cool. I must say it again. You didn’t get to be President, but you won the Nobel Peace Prize. So that’s way cool enough. And you get worldwide recognition for your effort and work too. After all, you’re saving the world. (: But his presentation was the coolest ever. I’m gushing like a six year-old, but you must watch his documentary An Inconvenient Truth. You feel his words. And all the time I was in tune with his speech. He seriously knows his stuff. And also, MacBook Pro + Al Gore = pro. Haha.

I don’t know if I will be continuing that snippet I wrote. Maybe…

Hwee Lynn, I don’t know when will we ever get a chance to hang out like that again, but I really had fun. (: Sigh… different colleges, different semester breaks. Starbucks! And their comfy sofas by the window, something that I’ve not savored in a year I think. The last time I had their Mocha Frappuccino was during a countdown night, and that could be years back, at least 1 or 2. I think you have to give me a lesson or two on makeup soon… 

We saw this hair product called Bed Head. Does it give you bedroom hair? Come to think of it, I remember that in the Devil Wears Prada, Andrea’s colleague James had on this stuff called Bed Head, and he said “Hot name, how can you resist?” Gosh this is the result of rereading your old books, but I really haven’t read anything new (fresh new fiction!) since February. Call me pitiful, but it’s true. -_-

Midvalley outing

I had a very enjoyable time with Ilina and Zummi. Midvalley is definitely more fun with you guys! I find The Gardens even more desolate-on weekdays. The bridge isn’t as breathtaking as it is at night. The lighting and the walkway is far more pronounced in the darkness. I think I want those shoes from VOIR. Neither do I intend to wear slippers forever. The thought haunts me. D: Because I can actually count the number of shoes I have, and I think I can do so with one hand. So that makes about 5 pairs. Hmm… There’s that black Vincci shoes I use for ‘formal’, a pair of Vincci beaded (I think) slippers, yet another [Vincci] gold-pale yellow cloth stilettos, and that Grenda (Ipanema I don’t know) slippers. Brazilian, man! It’s not that Giselle Bundchen slippers though. Does sneakers count? Or do you refer to them as sports shoes? I have two of those. Oh, so it’s 6 pairs. 

So for our outing, we visited Art Friend. Ilina and Zummi both got charcoals. It’s definitely cheaper, but I didn’t want to get them in case they are the wrong type. And guys, I am not sure if we’re still using them next semester. :/ I saw this Copic multiliner that has a 1.0 nib. They even have 0.05 nibs! So I thought, why not, get that 1.0 one, and placed it back a moment later when I asked the guy for the price-a hefty RM24.90. Hello… it’s an artliner. It has to be the brand. And to think that we have this subject called ‘Marker Rendering’. Oh. 

We were at Borders too. While Zummi searched around for a book for her cousin, Ilina and I gushed over the art book section. The hugest book there-no doubt-was that Guess book of probably the best photographs from their photo shoots. There were a couple of cute snakes for a bag campaign. (((:

And oh, my goodness. I saw a book in which I have asked for-three years ago. That’s right. When the Curve just opened, I remember. Or maybe it wasn’t three years ago. It’s that Corpse Bride book! The one where they have the story boards, concept art, and script! I know I wanted that Okami Art Book, but…D: ARGH! If you knew me back then (eh Emily? ) you would know my undying (literally) affection for this movie. I really reallllyyy don’t like to spend so much-in fact I hesitate every time I want something that involves the exchange of cash. It’s really difficult; I feel like I’m having this internal struggle that is a matter of life and death. I am not exaggerating. Maybe it’s a good thing. Our Malaysian currency isn’t much help either. Cheap Affordable books in America becomes oh-goodness-that’s-quite-expensive here. Such a sad story, I know. Bibliophiles like me suffer in silence all the time, lol.