the last nite

now it has come to this kind of time. finally, the awaited day is only a few hours away. in less than 24 hours, i'll be off the land.

so, how actually did i spend my last few days before flying off? going out at most days!

well, i read books. manga can still be considered books, right? so i read the whole series of '20th century boys'! actually i reread it, but in hard copy this time. when i read it before, it was all pixel-ed and i had to stare on the screen for so long, of course, it's comprised of 23 volumes after all, topped up with 2 extra volumes which concludes the whole story. it's really interesting!

the nice thing is i find myself reading manga in japanese so naturally now. that makes me so happy. i did set my goal of getting myself able to read manga and watch drama as soon as finishing my JAD program. prior to reading this one, i finished reading pluto too, both from the same mangaka-Naoki Urasawa! his works are simply fabulous and amazing. the story will hook you on and the suspense never fail to keep you jumpy. well, both of this is sorta heavy for some readers. it's a seinen manga after all. all this thanks to JFKL Library, i need not to pay a cent! except the transportation cost.

and more about books, i bought another one today, the temptation is far too high, i just gotta have it in my possession. rather than buying, i was using the voucher i got, all thanks to my bro who made a big purchase the other day which entitled him for a rm50 voucher after spending rm500 in kinokuniya-see how this store could scrap money out of you. this one is called 'You Shall Know Our Velocity' by dave eggers, mostly i was attracted by title, but then when i tried reading it a bit, i find myself hooked already. the one i just bought the other day is still unfinished though, the one i've been coveting for so long-'Stories'all new tales edited by neil gaiman and al sarrantonio. but from my recent tendency of getting immersed in reading while commuting, throughout the 7-hour flight tomorrow i could finish most of them i think.

now let's hope i could finish these two soon coz i'm alredy eyeing on japanese novel next

the last book i just finished was good too, in fact great. now that's another haruki marukami's in my list. but this particular book titled 'Underground' is kind of special because it revolves around a real incident. he probes into the tokyo gas attack that occurred at tokyo subway in 1995 and publishes the interviews he did with some of the people involved in it-the victims and the part of organization that's apparently behind the attack. it gives the view inside the incident firsthand from the people at the scene from their perspectives and the effect long after it, mentally and physically. once something had already sunk in the mountain on the past, one can still be affected by it no matter how much it weighs in the present.

i'm so impatient of getting 'waltz' manga once i reach nihon. i've been refraining myself for more than a year already when i always saw them at the rack in kinokuniya

wow, that's long when talking about books alone!

so, i also watch an anime. it's actually from a year or two before but i hadn't had the chance to watch it. it's 'Eden of the East', partially because the character design is the same like honey and clover, added with a strong story, this makes the anime among the top of my list. i pretty much had babbled abt the same stuff here, so to avoid the post from getting so long-winded, i better end it now.

lastly, a little member of our big family who i can only see again in 2 years time. it's my cousin's newly-born baby deep in sleep after getting so worked up in the night. see you again, zikri!

wishing everyone a safe flight!

十夜

now it really is only 10 nights away.

if anyone ever watch ayashino ceres, you know what character i'm thinking about now.

ok, back to the main topic, it's unfortunate that i can't reunite with all 84 of us who are going. and some of them will live not so close that will allow me to always meet them. yes, i'm sad. my flight's gonna be the last one, in Saturday night of april 16th. a few classes gonna be skipped inevitably. but i don't think i can blame it on this if later i can't cope with the lessons, or can i?

and one funny thing when the person from ypm called to inform me on the matter yesterday, it was told also about our attire for the flight. not only they make us wearing suits as to make it so formal, but also black scarf. i ask him "really? black scarf? with black suits? are we attending japanese funeral?" (coz if it's funeral which i used to go, it's light-colored clothes, but for japanese, it's black. now, let's just hope none of the boys gonna turn up wearing black neckties)

perfect with the recent disaster where everyone's grieving, and we are showing we are too.

so, that's one thing settled, no need for me to go all anxious of when is it exactly i'm going. but i actually forgot about the flumpool's dvd and only get that thing settled today-the release day. it all boils down to luck now whether i could get the first-press edition or not though i badly want that one.

btw, yesterday was also the day when i think library is not exactly a bad  plain boring place after all. well, if you're going to the correct one. i guess i could spend my remaining week there in jfkl library, and it only lies next to the midvalley. i could finish a few manga series and some haruki murakami's novel without having to buy it. well, as much as i love kinokuniya for it's mountain of books i have interest in, i hate it when i splurge my money each time. 

as i've mentioned somewhere b4, my goal of at least a book month is somehow accomplished so far. well, it's april and i've finished 5 books until now this is excluding the loads of manga which can also considered books.   my favourite so far is definitely 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time' by mark haddon. i always love when books are narrated in 1st person view. and as neil gaiman said it, unlike tv, words from the book are built into a world of your own, where you're one of the characters. it certainly holds true in a way. i also finished a book i bought a while back, 'Johnny and the bomb', terry pratchett still haven't failed to disappoint me in this one. and at kino, there's 25% discount for Randa Abdel Fattah's first book, well, i ended up reading her 2nd book-'Ten Things I Hate About Me'. all i was about to say is for the above 3 books, i love them!

and i got a feeling if there's any manga or movie i want to savour, now's the time. it'll be hectic once i reached nihon. well, i just wish i'll still be able to watch sakura in bloom. and i actually got a consolation word that in up north, sakura still blooms in May-and do i have time then??talking about movie, they're showing this in malaysia starting tomorrow-thanks to someone who reminded me of this. yeay, matsuyama kenichi in action-he's also in norwegian wood movie but i'm yet to watch that though it's been sitting in my external hard disk for a while now.

iro iro

yesterday, quite unplanned, i bought 2 more books

this morning, i finished reading one of them

i found out that i can easily finish books that are newly-bought. with probability of 1 to 2.

hopefully i'll start on that other book soon.

btw, for the one i just finished, i think i won't mind reading it again. i'll even consider bringing that along with me to the land of rising sun. this was my 3rd attempt of getting in haruki murakami's world. unlike the first two that i read, this one is non-fictional.

the content is just like what the title says. it's about running. actually just recently i was seriously thinking of starting getting my body in shape by the simplest means i can think of-jogging. and yesterday my meeting with this book is like fated, it's like saying to me, "don't let that thought be left only as thought realize it!"

and as for the rest of the book, it tells about the author himself how the very running influences him and his career. if i want to quote from the book, it's too much that are worthy to list here. it might not be an exaggeration if i say this book can be considered as a self-help book.

even more helping when i didn't have to buy at a hiking price it always is. for the first time i stepped into book xcess in amcorp mall, pj. if only i've gone there a lot earlier....

so, including that, my yesterday was great.

and it took a rollercoaster ride today. honestly, i feel very bad now. for several reasons i've yet to resolve.

even the thought that i'll be going to my dreamed nihon for real in only about 2 weeks from now doesn't make me feel better.

aargh

so, what's next?

nihon?

actually there're quite a lot of stuff in prior to that. surely, we are now filled with ambivalent emotions. but for me at the moment, i'm plainly relieved that i'm finally spared from the hellish exam (yes, i use that word again)

today, aside from that final paper, a lot of stuff ran through my mind. i mean random stuff like what usually filled this head of mine. sometimes i find myself so vulnerable to any distraction when i'm the middle of something else because i tend to think to hard, it sometimes too tiring to do what i originally about to do by then. call me silly, but that's who i am. 

but one thing that attracted my attention was when i visited our university library in the morning to prepare before entering the exam hall. like any library do, books are what they contain and i can't help peeking my heads on the racks especially the japanese ones. here's where i discovered an interesting children's picture book. it's actually a simple story told in a simple way, yet it leaves quite an impression. a big one.

the title in english would be "What is it like?". if i were to tell about the content, it'll spoil everything for those who haven't read it yet. what i can say is you can hardly predict such a story it has here. it'll make you dumbfounded for a while and it'll strike something inside and leads you think further and deeper, it's visceral(yeay, i can finally use this word!). and it subtly highlights how imagination is truly a powerful tool-something we think we have perfectly known all along but tend to heedlessly forget when struggling to get through everyday lives. quite a brilliant work. aside from that, one of the prominent message might be about our perceptions towards the less-fortunate people. like in here, the emerging characters are people from this group whom most of us has little encounter with and very little thoughts about them. usually, most of us would only think about how pitiful they are and it only stops there, no more than that. the thing is if we care to take a little more time to delve deeper we'll discover more than we can ever think. thus, the gist of it all, THINK!

that exact theme reminds me so much of my Maou: Juvenile Remix manga. aahh, i really will reread them this holiday

seems like this post will still be longer from now on, exam's over after all.

so, once i finished reading about that, it's sharing session, right? my friends are as touched as me too with the picture book. and another stuff arises from there. from our limited japanese material, we came to our naive conclusion that japan's children books are indeed rich with such stuff, i mean something with human touch and goes deep rather than superficial and silly stories (is that really the case though?). well, based in our experience when we were young, that is. if i could recall, what i was exposed to was ladybird's 'peter and jane', or the malay stories would be 'pak pandir' or 'pak kaduk' or 'si kancil' renowned from old tales and stuff similar to that. later it goes to something more knowledge-based materials like figuring out how rain forms and stuff like that. i won't really say i did read encyclopedia even though it's lined up nicely on the rack which i only realized of their existence quite later, but i was attracted to animal stuff especially with stunning photos. oh yeah, i did once inspired to be photographer for national geographic.

that's all now still left as a dream far to be realized. and i'm now apparently treading on another kind of path.

probably this is only me who's oblivious to the true situation, but what i feel is that in my current society, we are so in a rush to reach such development where industry and economy are the vital core, hence we lack with people that focuses on the counterpart of it, the human part, to shape people into becoming people who care to think, not programmed robots. certainly there are those people but still, the former far outweighs the later thus the unbalance. okay, i'm in no position to say further, i'm no philosophical expert and my knowledge of the world might not be greater than that of 'katak bawah tempurung'. i can't analyse whatsoever and whatsoever with no data (hahaha, i actually said this, this is so science student?). here, what i mean is, i got a lot more to discover, the whole expanse of the world which takes more than a lifetime to figure out.

i'm looking forward to nihon.

the done list 2010

*in the end, due to some miscalculation, this entry was up later than i planned, it's already 2011*

long ago, i've thought of making this kind of entry where i would list out all what i've read and watched throughout the whole year. well, and this kinda made me torn whether to post this here in blogger where my real life are much more enclosed or the other channel i use in my livejournal account where it encompasses more on the subject of my fancy-for instance my fandom on flumpool.

but then, i don't sense the line distinguishing the two of them, what i like is pretty much what makes up my life, isn't it. like how i learn and improve my Japanese language skill majorly owing to engrossing in too much dramas. or how i maintained my English skill from rusting away by reading novels-though i don't think this really worth much praise.

so much of an intro there. basically it's a list of books i read, dramas and movies i watched in year 2010-listed chronologically.

novels i read:
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett
The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
Ahiru to Kamo no Coin Locker by Isaka Kotaro
The Chronicle of Wind-up Bird by Haruki Murakami
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Children by Isaka Kotaro
The Newton Letter by John Banville
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton
Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne
The Little Prince by St. Exupery (reread)
[manga]Maou:Juvenile Remix (the whole 10 volumes)
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo
Rikei no Hitobito

novels halfway read (hopefully soon to be resumed):
-American Gods by Neil Gaiman (carried on from the previous year)
-The Graveyard by Neil Gaiman
-The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
-Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

movies watched(as in going to cineplex):
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatball
The Vampire's Assistant
Sherlock Holmes
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus
Case 39
Alice In Wonderland 3D
How To Train Your Dragon
Clash Of The Titans 3D
Woochi
Kaiji
Kick Ass
Shrek Forever After
Letters To Juliet
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Inception
Shanghai
Salt
The Last Airbender
Devil
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Harry Potter 7:Part 1
Rapunzel: Tangled
Tron

movie watched via other channels (dvds or in the comp):
Satorare Movie
Jyuuryoku Pierrot
Ahiru To Kamo No Coin Locker
Oto Na Ri
Honokaa Boy
Fish Story
A Cheerful Gang Turns The Earth
Dream
Big River
Ai No Mukidashi
Rookies Sotsugyou
Platonic Sex
20th Century Boys: Our Flag
Black Gaisha Ni Tsutomerundaga Mou Genkai Kamo
Go
Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu
My Girlfriend is an Agent
Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru
Children
supposed to be a lot more but somehow i lost track of them

Dramas watched (complete episodes):
Bloody Monday 2
Boss
Samurai High School
Tokujou Kabachi
Hello My Lady(Korea)
Iryu2
Shinzanmono
Team Batista 2: General Rouge No Gaisen
Sunao Ni Narenakute
Mother
Hammer Session
Hotaru No Hikari 2
Gold
Atami No Sousakan
Unubore Deka
Shibatora
10nen Saki Mo Kimi Ni Koishite
At Home Dad
Keizoku 2: Spec  -my top drama of the year
Himitsu
Nagareboshi
Ogon No Buta
Perfect Report
Yankee-Kun To Megane-Chan
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (Korea)
Gakeppuchi no Eri

Dramas watched halfway or yet to finish:
-Tsuki No Koibito (not that aroused to watch till finish)
-Liar Game 2 (this just so monotone in a way)
-Angel Bank (the wordings just too hard)
-Tumbling (still not past the first 2 episodes)
-Moyashimon (too much bio terms with no available subtitles)
-Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo (interesting but internet not that allowing)
-Natsu ha Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (boring?)
-Face Maker (maamaa, okay for relaxed watching)
-Iryuu 3 (still watching, waiting for subtitles)
-Freeter, Ie Wo Kau (still watching, waiting for subtitles)
-Shiroi Haru (skipped here and there during 1st episode, perhaps not now?)
-Secret Garden (Korea) (still airing)




of only i could offer as much attention towards my studies......

on edge

 a short account of what happened during the weekend (or what i thought at the beginning, but it still ended up quite long)

Saturday. the day before JLPT. i believe if not all, almost everybody in JAD was bound at TBP for the sake of studying for the test. so, when i stepped into Sunway Pyramid, there was no familiar face at all, usually it's very rare not to find someone there. somehow, it feels weird. i was out there for ice-skating, something i planned earlier that week. it sure is unhealthy for me to continue being at TBP for so many weekends, so i gotta be somewhere else doing things i enjoy no matter what. rejected by any fellow JAD, i ended up going with my sister and one of the TA's who bothered to wake up in early morning. well, ice-skating sure is difficult though but it feels exciting when you achieve to at least skate. u're only depending on two thin blades under your feet! nevertheless, i could only get as far as moving at a speed no greater than a turtle unlike my companions who joyfully slide through the throng of people, sometimes leaving me helpless. at times, i do feel sorry for Endo-san who would follow with my pace closely behind. it sure made me glad as if i'm being protected. mission accomplished for the day! not without falling down for numerous times. next time i'll practice more until i can do it effortlessly :)

Sunday. JLPT-KinoKuniya-Rapunzel

somehow it made me feel relieved that i actually went out playing the previous day. it'll be of no use were i to be stuck in my room, my nose under those books. that was just way too difficult. even for me (hahaha, this sounds like i'm damn good) i could care less what the result would be. it won't even affect our university entrance or whatever. so, that was it. the next thing i realized was i was on a date with Fatin. :D i've always wanted to watch Rapunzel so i've made a reservation for it. it was only the two of us, everyone else seem like to have their own plans. thankfully the test venue was near enough to the lrt station, getting to klcc was a cinch. so, while waiting for the showtime, i went to my favourite place-as expected. and what a delight to see so much interesting books ON SALE. i'm a girl in essence and can't help but to be so much excited when discounts are concerned. I, who usually prefers paperbacks(they're cheaper and smaller) actually bought 2 hardcovers today and due to the temptations i can hardly resist, ended up buying 4 books altogether. 

 my cameraphone sucks so it's not that visible but what i got today was 'I Shall Wear Midnight' by Terry Pratchett, 'Mini Shopaholic' by Sophie Kinsella, 'My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me' by various authors and 'Noah Barleywater Runs Away' by John Boyne. initially i thought of attempting another Isaka Kotaro's work when i heard the latest one is on sale, but it costs way too much over my budget! and it's also not that thin. aaa, just when will i be able to read those novel without much trouble? hopefully it'll be soon.

and Rapunzel sure is awesome!! Maximus is my favourite horse in all the stories i've watched so far.
so, next i'll be looking forward to Narnia! fantasy livens up our lives, isn't it??

just want to express my gratitude for the above things which will be very beneficial to me indeed^^

more reading list

here's what i hope i get to read/have in my possession before the year ends.just why they have to be so damn expensive at the moment?? anyone? *wink**wink*

and now i've gotten to the last part of 'children' by isaka kotaro. once i finish with that, i'll go compare it to the tv adaptation. the character 'jinnai' can't fail from amusing me.

and the other day, i got myself this cute little things i'd love to adorn my scarf, well their purpose is generally not only limited there, but i'll think of that later.

anyone interested? *begins daydreaming of getting more pocket money*

sleepyhead

i don't know why, but since the new sem started, i felt as if i've turned so much older, i mean by stamina. i easily feel tired and there must be a day in a week (excluding the weekends) where i can't escape from stay tied on the bed for almost 12 hours. and it's weekdays we're talking about here.

and that still doesn't cut short the amount of sleep i never intended to have during class.

at times like these, people will say, you lack exercise!

and i cringe at the whole truthfulness of it...

but what bothers me more than the above is how i can easily be in a dream. or what i thought is a dream. perhaps it's only my mind flying off somewhere else especially when this occurs in the middle of a class, but what i'm sure is, it's tiring! the purpose of getting sleep is to get rest, yet what you get after sleep is getting even more tired.

and even more frustrating is i can't recall what the dream was about. perhaps, some of the fragments are still left in the memories but it only last for seconds the moment you wake up, and suddenly it vanishes into thin air. at lucky times, i could remember one or two characters in the dream though.

and recently i just noticed how the book i'm currently read affects the dream i have. the other day when i read a short story about vomiting, i had this dream in which i feel so nauseous and somehow it linked to how i actually vomited all what i ate the previous night. stupid, right? but that really made me fell unwell for a few days. and i just finished reading a novel about indian society, and i dreamed something very related to it. i told ya, i can't remember my dream, but only the feelings linger which i can't easily grasp or properly translate into words.

talking about books, lately i'm so hooked to them, perhaps it's a seasonal thing, but it still puts me in such delight for the fact i actually finished 3 novel in only a few weeks just recently. they indeed had jumped in the queue as i'm still in the middle of reading 'children' currently. yosh, i'll finish that too soon! and when i feel like it, perhaps i'll review that a bit. well, i'm eager to finish it coz i'm looking forward to read another book (or more exciting, buy it for myself) which i had once leafed through a few pages of it some time ago in the bookstore-a novel told from the eyes of a cat. it's a classic work i guess and reading it in its original language is ever more tempting...



this reminds me when we were having our SPM exam week where others were cooping themselves with textbooks and kept leafing through their notes, i jauntily read a few novels i divulged from my buddies' room which i found just to my liking.yes, this only means i'm actually in a period where apparently we're very busy....

p/s: only about 2 weeks b4 the interview for the universities, zenbu umaku ikimasu you ni~

how should i organize?

ok, currently there's quite a few things running at my mind that are only waiting to be flowing out through the tips of my fingers. i don't know where should i start or where should i end. this is something that occurs so often i guess that explains why i rarely get to have any entry done. a muchakucha entry would be useless, won't it?

ok, we start with stuff related to words and books.

after finished with 'ahiru to kamo no coin locker' the other day, i embarked on my second challenge with isaka kotaro's work. this time it's a compilation of short stories-Children. nevertheless, when i've gone a part through it, i discover those stories are somehow related to each other. and for this book, i just found how i really enjoy reading his narration, possibly owing to the first person view that he adopts which enables the reader feels like actually participating in the story. and while still unfinished, i got attracted to another novel. this time, it's haruki murakami-the translated one. well, quite a famous name but i haven't got the chance to read his yet-aside from reading a few pages from bookstore some time before. so, when mph made a promotion of 20% off on any book for this weekend, i got myself one-The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. not surprisingly, it's the same 1st person view. perhaps most japanese authors just love this style. not for me to comment coz i've only read a few works from them. back to the novel i just bought, based on the first few pages, it proves to be interesting. this would make my desire to get his original work-as always with the excuse of improving my nihongo-grows stronger. only wish my financial state will grow as strong though.

there adds another book waiting to be read.

and actually, recently i was itching to write about how i can be so disturbed with language error-be it spelling or grammar. it's the same for english or bahasa melayu. i mean, it is understandable if it sometimes inevitably occurs due to carelessness, but then if it does happen so often in a text, it almost seems that the person who wrote it just doesn't care. i mean, supposedly they have learned for nearly a lifetime and you still don't get the sense of the correct conduct of the language? don't you feel it's quite impolite to the readers who are giving their attention. indeed, i might not be in my place to say anything coz i can't escape making errors too, but i do give my effort into reviewing what i already wrote and check for any error. that way, i can curb them down as many as i could in the future by studying the pattern where i do have mistake the most.

and also i hate it when i want to recall a word and it just would not resurface. i've been stuck with this one particular word describing what i feel like the above. urgh, just what's that word?

btw, the btn we went through during the past week was ok. i did learn something, or more correctly my opinion from before is strengthened. i couldn't say much coz "we are not to reach a conclusion before we manage to grasp the situation from every angles and aspects available". in short, for what i know at the moment is certainly not sufficient enough to allow me to have my say. it won't be fair for any persons/entities involved as i could easily overlook them. for what is true and what is wrong and what i want to believe in requires my effort to understand them in full depth. any people in the world are capable of manipulating others for their own interest, so for not being a victim, no matter how much hassle it cost us, 'to think' is indispensable. so, when i am still and silent, it's not that i do not care like a sloth, it's solely because i haven't yet gotten past the 'thinking' stage.

but then, thinking is so mendoukusai, ne?

well, that is more the case when you got more enjoyable thing to get your mind so engrossed. i can't deny the fact i've passed a bit the gate of obsession when it comes to my favourite music. as the name suggests, entertainment does entertain!

and so finally, tomorrow school starts. yosh, another one semester left to be endured!!

math failure

finally, one hectic week of school over. no, tht's not a week, definitely that felt like a month! i'm exhausted with all the workloads. they just don't do it the usual way where the first week would be much lax, they go straight to the contents of every each subjects while we plainly have no idea of everything in it. if we're compared to a car, we're no normal car, if not, to go straight to gear 5 is utterly impossible.

yet, once the last class of the week came to its end, instead of lying in my lovely bed, my leg brought me to kl. yeah, kl! specifically klcc, my venue: kinokuniya.

while originally i planned to go there next week, for the pc fair as well, the thing i've ordered just have to arrive on this very week. well, i'm a person with little patience. straight away, i went and now i'm in cloud nine. hehehehe. to have something you covet so much finally in your hand is such an ecstasy.

yea, yea, i know the reports and homeworks are chasing me, but let me relish in this moment first. aaahhhh~~~

go, go iman!!! you've spent so much to be lazing around. you've overspent again..... when i thought i would stop at that book i want so much, kinokuniya just have to do this offer which i just wish they had already started it in march. every rm30 spent earns you a stamp, 9 stamps give you rm30 worth of book. let's just say you spend rm270 and you get book worth rm30 for free. i'd like that. if only i know they would do this in april, i'd delay buying all that manga-gosh, i spent over 200 on them alone. i can nearly have all the 9 stamps that way. oh, and while thinking that, i made a blunder today. dunno why, but i guess the hectic week really affects my head, i miscalculated, i ended up wasting over rm10 when i didn't even have to. aiya, tht can make up my 3 days lunch. what a waste, what a waste. sorry ueno-sensei, i can't even count properly, so much to struggle in your math class.

nonetheless, bookstores are simply dangerous.

oh, bought another novel despite having a number of others in queue, waiting for the day i would read them. this time, i bought 'the winner stands alone' by paulo coelho. his writing is amazing, i still remember reading 'the alchemist' and so mesmerized by the story. language-wise, indeed it made me want to put it down at times but i enjoyed it so much. the story is just great i ended up giving it as a farewell gift to someone when i had nothing else better in my sight. i wonder if he would read it though. would be good if he does.

now, i'm so lethargic. still well for blogging, but report? i think.....

terengganu escapade (a long-winded account)

what terengganu ever reminded me of is none other than the long long journey just to reach there. i remembered when i was little, i lay at the back seat of the car, sleep and waking up, sleep again and wake up again and we still hadn't reach our destination. a very tiring journey i would say. but last week, i have no regret making that long journey one more time.

it's really worth it! -first of all, you just have to take night bus coz u wouldn't realize the passing time. it was a short 3 days and 3 night trip but it was so eventful and such a memorable time i've spent there.

Day 1(Sat, 20 March):
Kuala Terengganu/Marang
this is the trigger for the idea for the whole trip. it was the wedding of our sensei! of coz, initially i would've never thought of attending coz obviously, it's so far! but then, a lot of us were planning to go, and it just seemed so interesting. very interesting, indeed! we went in a convoy of 4 cars, head count: 19. it really was a merry occasion. and i never thought what i said hits the bull's eye when i jokingly said we would only be in time if only sensei is jawa, uhukuhukjawa has amazing time definitionuhukuhuk. and her family really is! in the middle of terengganu. though we were kinda late, we still were welcome. and the souvenir we received were really into our liking-cute homemade tissue holder, folding fan and umbrella! thanks sensei! wish you a happy marriage till the end of time.

and i would like to extend my gratitude to saro's family for their hospitality along my stay that whole day(and night). my first time having nasi dagang as breakfast.

Day 2(Sun, 21 March):
the highlight of the whole trip- Redang Island!!!!! actually, i really dislike getting on board the ferry but i've no regret getting on this one. what awaited us at the island was really breathtaking and astonishing. i can't help giggling when suki keep saying "i feel like we're not in Malaysia". oh yeah, this Redang plan only comprised of us three-me, huda and suki. an adventurous bunch, aren't we? hehehe... so, as soon as we arrived there, the crystal-clear sea amuses us so much, we didn't wait frolicking on the beach, getting excited with the sight of the beautiful scenery all around us. and that very afternoon, we straight on getting our first time experience to snorkel. so funny there's none of us who could swim, so initially i didn't deny we were a bit chickened out. but when i saw the view inside the sea, woaaaaa, kirei!!!!!! this is no longer only visible thru the tv screen, it's before my two very eyes. it's like an entire forest perfectly preserved, only that it's underwater. subhanallah~~ so, so, so, so beautiful!!! can hardly describe it in words. i'm completely enchanted. the corals, the fishes, the whole creatures i don't know what they are called, i was speechless. the guide kindly caught a clownfish to let us it close-up, let us touch gamat and more importantly led us around coz we don't know how to move, hahaha. i really wanna do it again. next plan, anyone?

oh yea, here we also met with a very friendly couple, especially the wive. can't really guess she's actually a mother of two. she looks so young and lively. they're more adventurous than us, they just got on the boat and randomly survey a place to stay upon arrival, cancelling their original plan. somehow i felt like doing the same someday, in nihon kanaa...

Day 3(Mon, 22 March):
Kemaman
well, we returned from Redang after only 1 night. tarinai naa... well, our budget only goes as far. the ferry trip back was a lot better, i'm grateful for that but my pants is all sandy-Redang sand. so, before heading on our next destination, we stopped by Pasar Payang which is just next to the jetty we arrived at. my objective fulfilled-i just wanted to buy Asam Jawa which to my surprise my 2 buddies has never tried. it's way better than any of its derived products. the original still is the best. then, boarded on the bus, never knew Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman is so far. but i was very disturbed with a fellow passenger who can't lower his voice on the phone just behind me-that's plain irritating. at Kemaman, we went to Fatin's house. actually we're the last batch of the visitors at her place. she's been entertaining our friends coming to her house for a few days straight. her mom must have been confused as to who has come and gone. Here, it was my first time eating Pais and Terengganu-style Otak-otak, they spell it Otok-otok though. such a good feeling to eat it while being caressed by the breeze at the beach. if only we have a university located near the beach among our selections. it's really nice~

Last Day
Back to KL
my bus returning to KL departed near afternoon. thank goodness, it only takes about 5-6 hours from Kemaman. i brought along Keropok Lekor-i wished i've brought more, it's simply not enough. so, upon arrival, i immediately stored my bag at the bag counter (such fortunate thing i got spare money coz my wallet in entirely empty) and headed straight to the book fair at PWTC next to the station. quite relieved it's a weekday, i just hate over-crowded places, it's suffocating. withdrew my money and spent it all! okay, i lied, i did have the remaining RM7 on my way back. yes, books are dangerous, for my pocket. i bought 3 leisure reads-comics, 2 Terry Pratchetts' novel, 3 back-issue magazine(dunno why but Popular Science is so hard to find among those bulk), one non-fiction novel-a malay one(wow!) and self-stick book cover. wanna buy more but i'm financially restricted.




i've overspent this whole month.

And a few days after that(today)
completely engrossed in flumpool.. shiawase~~

my february wishlist *edited

hohoho, now we're already in the middle of january when we didn't realize it... and i haven't even gotten used to write 2010 in the date entry yet

so, for the coming month, there gotta be much things to be look forward to

like the EXAM for example

so my wishlist #1 is definitely making thru the exam safely and with ease, please ya allah, let all of us pass through this ordeal smoothly and next pave our way to nihon altogether without a hitch....

and wishlist #2 is...........

no doubt, it's this!! -flumpool tour 2009 『Unclose』 Special!! LIVE at 日本武道館 [DVD]-

it's just tempting and alluring (though i pretty much know the whole contents of the dvd) but the offer that comes with its first press edition sure is seducing. and what more, when its original price is apparently 5800yen, i just found a place with a greater deal.

+++utterly irresistible+++

and carrying forward from my unattained list, wishlist #3 is  'Twenties Girls' by sophie kinsella. i know this is last year's but still, they haven't released the cheap paperback. so i have to hold until then.

and the next also goes to more novels (getting fired up after recently finished 'Nation' -such marvellous story, u just long for more)

in fact, when i checked as wiki.d-addict for the dorama for winter, there're surprisingly much that are adaptations  from manga:

• Liar Game 2 (oops, this has run for several episodes already but yet to watch it)
• Bloody Monday 2 (of coz, so looking forward to this, what more, flumpool sing for the ost again)
• Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge (it got Kame so i dunno whether to watch or not)
• Shinsengumi PEACE MAKER (i remember how much i love the original work n later somehow i accidentally bought the anime dvd with chinese subs :P)
  
• Angel Bank (unexpectedly a spin-off from Dragon Zakura)
• Tokujo Kabachi!!(Sakurai Sho and Maki star in this one, kinda interesting)

so, might this include in my wishlist? to be able to watch more doramas..... well, exam's over before february ends after all. ngehehehe

p/s: what got me hyped up more tonight is probably because i got to see such gorgeous image of ryuuta by chance. he really can make a living through modeling were music hasn't chosen him.

unfit

without doubt, with the current state of mine at the moment, there's no way i'll be able to make it through.

whether it's for the final exam which is only 30 days away (oops, only 29 left)

or for bleep test next week. ouch, my ankles still takes the toll from the sprain the other day.

but for some particular reasons, i'm quite oblivious to all that, pacified n smothered in a momentous happiness.

well, there's a saying, happiness spreads, so better spread it out wide!

hehehe, the reason as to why i'm quite cheerful at the moment might be trivial, but it still leaps my heart in joy. the thing is i managed to finish the novel i just bought the other day! and it left quite an impression to me. i'm so glad i've read it. it's certainly a valuable buy, hehe thanks to jaja who paid for it anyway. i just knew i had to get it once i caught it in my sight. i've been a fan to terry pratchett especially the books targetting the young readers. and this latest book from him certainly do not fail to amaze me more. oh, it's like i've mentioned before in one of my post, it's entitled 'Nation'.

the story sets on an island so far from the main land we know and not even visible on the map for it lies under one of the letters of the name of the ocean. and a boy was awaiting his moment of returning to that island again. only to find there's no one left. no houses, no village, all have been swept by a monstrous wave (this kinda made me feel the author got his inspiration from the tsunami incident few years ago). however, he's not alone. the wave also brought a sailing ship which crashed in the forest killing all the crews, but one single passenger on it-a princess.

okay, this is no ordinary boy meet girl story.

unlike any other, pratchett has this distinctive characteristics he lays on the characters he creates, they are the persons who loves to 'think'. in fact, think far too much than any regular person would in times they want it or not, but they constantly think. okay, this is the point that kinda hit me a bit. while i know the path i'm pursuing requires much thinking, more often than not i prefer to find the easy way-the one without much thinking-it tires out the brain. however, when i read about these characters, it reminds me how foolish i've become. indeed, dreams are important, but it does not stop there when you have one, you have to think of the ways of realizing them. hohoho, that's what we tend to ignore.

back to the story, though not much romance is involved, i still feel it's so sweet. it certainly don't go like the cliched happy-ever-after, but still, one can hardly question the ending. although eventually the two persons were separated, they are happy after all in their own ways-having done the good for the greater cause. i love the way it reaches the conclusion. the story just goes on.

hahaha, now i believe i'm such a bad reviewer with such vague descriptions of the story and all. this is only based on how i felt after reading the whole book-good feeling seeps in. perhaps, for overcoming the ordeal i'm facing in a month, such new insight like this is needed too.

to think. and keep on thinking

20th gregorian new year of my life

huhuhu, seems like 2010 would be the year where i have to say goodbye to my teens age.

however, even when the calendars's changing but i pretty much don't feel a thing. aside from the diminutive fear of the coming final that is drawing nearer and nearer.

but certainly today is a delightful one. at the moment, i'm so happy i'm grinning so wide it might ache sooner or later. though it was not exactly like what we initially planned, but i still got to watch 'cirque the freak: the vampire's assistant' after all. i've been looking forward to this for weeks before it's released(which is yesterday). so to get to watch it today made me in sheer bliss. thanks faseeha for watching it together with me! at first, the plan was to watch together with others (rifqi and izmier) but sudden circumstance didn't allow them to. to sum up the story, it was really a nice one. adequate suspense and actions, pleasing to the eyes. i was genuinely expecting for more but then it had already reached the end. this might be the 1st installment to the series so i guess it's not wrong to think the sequel will come soon. and i'll definitely will catch it the moment they show it on!

but frankly, if they titled it as 'darren shan' instead, it will do far from taking my interest in it. somehow the name have some repelling power to me, i didn't even turn my head when i came across the book with that very name. so, i guess the movie had really done a good job! especially love it with their effective casts and storyline that does arouse my interest and keeps it retained. i'm originally is a fantasy genre fan, so this just suits my taste.

talking about fantasy, another thing that made me in full bliss today is i could get a hold of a new book from terry pratchett, the one titled 'nation'. what more, when i already in anxiety for i had spent so much, Jaja-my lovely friend whom i just planned to meet on impulse after watching the movie, she just said "it's my treat!". I LOVE HER!! she really spared me from misery.


honestly, for the past few days, money has been flowing out like water, so fast i fear i couldn't stop this madness. for the singapore trip alone, though it was truly a budget one, still i had to withdraw a lump sum of money-for a mere student such as me. and also on the way back from jb, i happened to find a fabulous blouse i just got to get it-though it was on sale but it's still quite a price. and i was also caught by a sudden rare craving when i saw the baskin robbin's outlet-one that could only be satiated once i bought a cone of double-scoop of the mouth-watering ice-creams.

and another thing that i just pleasurably spent money on was the magazine featuring flumpool~! :D ahh, this addiction just never ceases. thankfully though i now have to make a serious effort in reading and understanding the interviews and all, there are generous people translating it on the net, so i could compare my own understanding and the ones it really means. and i'm so pleased to see those photoshoots, they just looks so adorable and irresistible. moreover, i once read the blog by seiji where he told an account about an interview they had when there was a cat suddenly pop in the scene. and this is the exact issue he was talking about. the cat looks so comfortable in the picture, acting so haughtily as if the photo shoot was centering on it. it's understandable why seiji was so lively in that blog entry of his. he's a cat-lover at heart, so he can't help but getting excited over that. the same way my eyes got bright and shiny whenever the the topic of flumpool is concerned. XP

and yeah, definitely, getting so impatience for tomorrow, finally 'what's flumpool' gonna reach these two hands of mine! hope everything will go well :D


and oh yeah, happy becoming 23, my sis!! ngahaha, if you're gonna follow our big sis, you'll get married by next year lah!

めちゃくちゃ嬉しい～～

the above title was supposed to be of days ago.... well, exam's over

well, since then a lot happened. in short:

during the last day of exam, i finally ate the snack i received from my dai-senpai at japan with my friends.THANK YOU, ARIGATOU! well, it tasted like rice snack, it is. my friend said it's like honey star. whatever.


so, once the exam's over. we went for a movie - geng!. i admit, that's the best local animation i've watched so far. the story was not bad too. i was quite entertained. "pashipashi" and "fikir masa depan!" was what i could not forget from the movie.

and of coz, when we go out, it's incomplete without the 'makan' time rite? and for this time, it was Carl's Jr. hahaha, a great choice. i mean, the money i paid was worth the food i received. gosh, it's like the most enormous burger i had ever munched on. nevertheless, for not wasting it, i finished it anyway - to my friend's surprise

and the following day was a kinda retreat with the alumni. yea, my stomach was still full with the burger and my heart was heavily reluctant to go, but i made a mistake by accidentally slept at Lia's house, so i went anyway. and guess what? IMAN DID FUTSAL! yea, this clueless Iman played after all. well, only 2 notorious games though and then i disappear somewhere else. :D

so, there starts my day of no school at TBP. what do i have here? songs, doramas and novels. yeah, these are the unread novels i intend to read for this holiday. total = 8 with average of 350pages per book (one's not in the picture). actually, there was a day when huda and I really got nothing to do, and we straight went to Subang Parade on a whim. had lunch worth the same as 5 of my usual lunches. and withdrew more money afterwards when i accidentally found a novel by Neil Gaiman. stayed at MPH until the light's off. hahaha. went through the rain in the dark night to catch the train.

okay, we do find our ways to kill time, that being among of them.

it seems i'm drown my world of J-musics and dorama at the time. hahaha, in contrary to my buddy who's so delighted she could indulge in her favourite bolloywood stuff out of my door. yeah, ironic isn;t it?

remember\forget

yeah, i just finished reading a wonderful novel which i bought lil more than a day before. i went to mph warehouse sale a few weeks back and brought home 9 novels yet i finished reading this book i just bought first before them. i admit it was a totally page-turner. oh yea, it's 'Remember Me' from none other else but Sophie Kinsella. i am really intrigued by the whole content (ok, make exceptions on those 'turning on' parts, i totally have zero interest in those). all i could say is i didn't regret spending 35 ringgit on the spot i saw it on display. guess what, i've been waiting for the paperback since the year started. and now, the year is almost at its end.



just imagine if one day you find urself suddenly 3 years ahead of what you could recollect. ok, if it's me, i might already finished my Jad programme here and by then, find myself in a totally unknown place in japan. ok, that would totally freak me out. nonetheless, for the antagonist of this story, she finds herself as a wife she doesn't even know, a boss in the department of the company she remembered just joined 51 weeks before, having body figure she could only be envious of and a her own personality of someone she never was. anyone would be if not extremely, ultimately shocked by all this new possesion one could not remember getting a hold of. she wakes up to discover her life is like a fairy tale. her husband is a multimillionaire. her house is a grand, far beyond normal penthouse one could ever live in. a fully digital-functioning house controlled by a remote control. a big screen displaying anything from sceneries, her mail inbox and her visual pets. it was like those houses in 'cribs' program on mtv. but, more important, she was allegedly married a gorgeous man coming out from magazine yet owning his own property company. what's that? however, to her surprise, from remembering being a laid-back office girl who typically enjoy being in company of friends, loves chocolates, having a messy table, her 28-year-old self is nothing of all that. she is supposed to be a composed career lady, who treats her subordinates(also used to be her best buds) harshly, wearing nothing but black and beige and enjoys food none other than low-carb diet. no cookies, no chips.

it all felt surreal.

well, she struggles to find herself in this new personality. having a perfect marriage, perfect body, perfect career in short a perfect life seems all dreamy and a thing one could ever wish for. yet, she felt void. she then discover more strange things. her best friend is now some high-class girl who only enjoys gossip while her buddies she had known throughout childhood no longer in speaking terms. it was only 3 years but it felt like she lost a lifetime. everything turns over drastically. there is no way the previous her could feel belonged now. a husband prepared everything in a manual, get fussed over a cloth on the floor, who sends invoice for what the wife broke at the house doesn't seem like an ideal man you want to live with though his assets could probably feed every war refugees this raging world contains. getting stares from your own subordinates calling you names you won't want to hear does not seem like an example boss one could ever be. well, being so up high, wealthy and affluent does not guarantee a good life one could imagine. there's no use raking up all those money if you know how to care for others.
well, at least that's what i had learnt.

in short, the whole story is so magnificent you would not want to put it down. your heart jumps up and down. however, the girl in the story lost her 3 years due to an accident, but me who meet no accident, just frequently forgetting stuffs, at an important time at that. why the heck is that?