The Promised Update~

You know, looking back, this blog really was active wasn't it? 8 updates per month...what the hell prompted me to write so much?

Well, it's probably because my life's been rather uneventful lately, though I can't say I don't like it. In fact, I prefer it this way.

The whole time I was in Segamat was pretty boring except when I met up with some friends. You could say it was mostly due to the crappy net there. Seriously, the cables outside are so badly maintained that one rain is enough to kill the net and phone lines.

New desktop finished and functional when we got back to Singapore, so I installed a few things to try it out, definitely works excellently, unlike my current laptop. So, I was thinking to getting a desktop next instead of another laptop seeing as I won't be going anywhere soon.

Man, time really does fly when you're having fun (was I?) and tomorrow, school's starting again.

New books~
Light novels:
-Bungaku Shoujo - Volumes 1 and 2 GET!

Manga:
-Bartender - Volume 9 GET!
-Bakuman - Volume 1 GET!

And then, BAM!

It's been more then a month now yeah?


Huge arse box there is my cousin's Hayate figure.


Pictures of my small, old room.

I moved out of that rented apartment on the 28th of February, and moved into a new one. Much bigger place, and I now get to have my own room.

Regardless of how I much complain about it's size, or how dusty it gets the moment the windows are open (the reason why I almost never open them), or how noisy some of my (former) neighbours can be, I have to admit that I'm gonna miss the place.


New desk and whatnot. Having that slide-out side table is great for doing work on. I now have a proper desk to study~


Same old bookshelf. Since I have more space now, I'm trying to see if I can get a larger one. After all, the amount of books I have will only increase.

The view from above is great, especially at night. Only thing I don't like about living 11 floors above is that the elevator kinda takes it's own sweet time.

New books corner~
Light novels:
-Toradora! - Volume 7 GET!
-To Aru Majutsu no Index - Volume 7 GET!
-Bungaku Shoujo - Volumes 1 and 2 on order, 3-5 GET!

Illustration books:
-Kozue Amano Illustration Works - Alpha, Stella and Cielo GET!
-Aria the Illustration Avvenire - GET!

Now my Okami Art Book has companions.

I'll be going to the PC Show at Suntec City next Saturday (14th of March). There's a few things that I need to buy there. Things have been rather hectic as of late, with our teachers now starting to push us to work and the approaching IGCSE. While some may whine about it, I just wanna get over and be done with it.

Have semi-solid plans for the future already. After much thinking, I figured it'd be better if I just finish my IBs here and then go to a University here in Singapore.

Money money money~

SPARE ME A DIME?!

Nah, just kidding.

Skipped school on the 23rd, original plan was to go back to Malaysia that morning. My father came to Singapore by train, since he was the one who'd drive us back, since apparently, my mom can't keep her cool when there's a crazy ass traffic jam.

That plan just got shot to hell the moment my father heard that we won't be going to school the next day. He immediately said that we should go now (12:30 midnight, Thursday) because there wouldn't be any cars, thus no traffic jam.

So fucking glad we did that. Apparently, according to the radio, both the Causeway and the Second Link had heavy traffic jams since early morning on the 23rd. When we went that night, there was like, only five or six cars, excluding us, there.

Chinese New Year! Reunion dinner and whatnot. Recieved angpau money (always welcome) when we went to my grandmother's house on the 25th. 'twas pretty fun.

Came back to Singapore on the 27th, via Second Link and luckily, no traffic jams.

Of course, over the course of the past few weeks, there cannot be a lack of new books.

Light novels:
-Aria~Shiki no Kaze no Okurimono - GET!
-To Aru Majutsu no Index - Volume 6 GET!
-Toradora! - Volume 6 GET!
-Shinigami no Ballad - Volume 8 GET!

Manga:
-Tegami Bachi - Volume 5 GET!
-.hack//XXXX - Volume 2 (END) GET!
-Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica - Crimson series Volumes 1-2 GET!

There's probably a few who have heard me rant about Odin Sphere and about the Gwendolyn figure.



1/8 scale, S$118.

I got it >=D and it's totally worth the money.

And then it hit me

A few days into a new year, then it really starts sinking in. All that you've treasured so far, is now known as "last year". What I've done, enjoyed, felt, experienced, now nothing but memories that will slowly fade with time.

This year, my friends in Malaysia would be taking their SPM, and I my IGCSE. I've started thinking about it since two years ago, but I've yet to find an answer to it.

What the hell am I going to do?

Suffice to say, my foreseeable future is nothing more then a blurry mess, and frankly, that scares the crap out of me. That goes without saying, whatever that I will then choose to do will require more and more work on my part.

Therefore I have decided. This year, I will take my studies seriously.

From the impenetratable darkness, it appears!

An update, that is.

It's been more then a month since this place was presented with a new post. During that time, finals came and went away, and I went back to Malaysia for my holidays.

My cousin came back from Australia on the 23rd, and since then, I've been to his house as much as possible. Played endlessly, of course, no question about that. And yes, of course, we soon went to Kino and as expected, brought back bags of books.

My (elder) brother came back to Malaysia, and my mom went to Macau with a few of my aunts and cousins. Good thing for me, I didn't go. A place filled with nothing but casinos would most definitely drive me batshit insane, just from the sheer boredom and lack of things to do.

Met up with my (rather emotionally distressed) friend, who returned the books that I borrowed to her (Shinigami no Ballad, volumes 1 and 2), and sorted a few things out.

Then comes the bad things. Anticipating the horrible net connection in Malaysia, I brought home quite a few books, my PSP, and my PS2 to keep me entertained. I would've had my DS to had it not been for my cousin who borrowed it and told me that I'd see it again in a day or two, got confined and ended not coming back until I went back to Malaysia.

Although there was plenty of things to do, the most that I planned to do was play with my PS2. But as Murphy's Law would have it, it broke down, probably due to old age (4-5 years?). I managed (somehow) to keep myself entertained for the entire time I was in Malaysia, though.

Manga:
-Tegami Bachi - Volumes 3-4 GET!
-Toradora! - Volume 1 GET!
-.hack//XXXX - Volume 1 GET!
-Bartender - Volumes 7-8 GET!
-Ikoku Meiro no Croisee - Volume 1 GET! (Awesome stuff)

Also got another Ryogi Shiki figure.



1/7 scale, S$102.

I must say it was worth the money. Look closely, the details on the kimono are absolutely fantastic.

Or you can look at it here since my camera sucks.

Can I go home now?

I blame the lack of updates on my laziness and..uhh....the crappy net in Malaysia..yeah..that too.

First things first, new members to the family~!
Light novels:
-Watashitachi no Tamura-kun - Volume 1 GET!
-ARIA~Mizu no Miyako to Kanashiki Utahime no Monogatari - Volume 1 (End) GET!
-To Aru Majutsu no Index - Volumes 1 to 5 GET!
-Spice and Wolf - Volume 6 GET!
-.hack//G.U. - Volume 2 GET!

Manga:
-Tegami Bachi - Volumes 1 and 2 GET!
-Bartender - Volumes 1-4, 7-8 GET! They didn't have 5 and 6 when I last checked, so I'll probably get it soon.

And I also got Tetris DS. Yeah, spendings are jumping alright.

Went back to M'sia on the 17th, just got back here this afternoon. Got a call from Kino, telling me that my books were here, and that today was the last day of the 20% offer. Rushed all the way there to get my books, of course. Lucky~!

I came, I saw, I conquered!

Survived the Sumatra expedition, and came back completely unscathed with a sense of accomplishment.

Day 1 was pretty uneventful, waited at the airport to check in for quite a while (two hours, was it?). Flight only took like, 50 minutes (meh).
When we reached, me and my partner for the trip, Perry, were sent to Group B (Group A consisted of only boys, while all the girls were in Group B, along with 9 boys, not counting one male teacher). The teachers who followed our group were Miss Lawrence, Miss Kitchener, and to the relief of many, Mr.Toh. One of our guides looked so familiar, and I soon found out why. It was Dodi, from Loola!
Stayed at a small resort, which in my opinion, is tied for the 2nd best place we stayed at during the trip.

Day 2, was when things started getting "rough" (not at all, compared to everything else)
Played a soccer match with the locals in the morning (I didn't participate) and trekked through rather flat ground to our first campsite.
We (the boys) had to squeeze into one large tent (8 men tent, was it?), but in my opinion, it was still rather comfortable.
One big waterfall near our campsite. But we also had to trek into the jungle to reach another, smaller waterfall, which I think was rather pointless and a waste of both energy and time. Wet our shoes, which was not fun at all and very uncomfortable. Showering in the big waterfall was fun.
We were all woken up in the middle of the night and were told to move somewhere else to sleep because the tents were leaking.

Day 3, in my opinion, was the 2nd hardest day. Lots thought the trek the day before was hard. But this just proved them all absolutely and utterly wrong.
Unlike the day before, we had to carry our own bags (all of them) and trek UP, a mountain (volcano is more like it), Mount Merapi.
Stopped halfway and had snacks. The sugar crackers and chocolate biscuits were the exact same ones I used to eat, so very nostalgic. Got rather high afterwards (SUGAR RUSH!!) and we managed to reach our campsite quite peacefully.
Set up tents and waited for dinner (which was like, more then 3 hours away) which consisted of instant noodles (YAY!). Very quickly realized that we were not being well fed up here.

Day 4, got up at 3:30 in the morning. The plan was to hike up the mountain, reach the very top of it in total darkness, with our torchlights or headlights, and catch the sunrise.
Ultimately failed to do so, but most of us pressed on, climbing all the way up. This was the hardest part of the trip for me, because of my poor physical abilities. The air was so thin, that it took quite alot out of me to get to the top. We did this without breakfast.
I personally climbed a freaking mountain, reaching the peak, with my own hands and legs.
So while I was looking down and wondering how we, without food and therefore energy, were going to get down the mountain, the guides started boiling water, and took out food. Quickly became one of the best breakfast I've had in my life (starving makes food taste that much better) even if it was only two slices of bread with chocolate peanut butter, three crackers and a cup of cereal drink.
The way down was harder (though less tiring) and me helping Kristine soon became something well known and remembered by the group >_>
Reached our campsite, packed our things and started on our way down the mountain itself. Took quite a long time and everyone was glad when we reached the lodge beside the lake.
In my opinion, this was the hardest day. There was little food, limited amounts of water, and lots of hard work.

Day 5, me and Donavan woke up in the morning, walked to the lake, looked around, and saw Mr.Z at a distance. Looking closer, we saw the other group's tents and ran across. Got shooed away by Mr.Z, and were told not to let anyone from the other group to know where we were staying.
They suffered more then we did, hah!
Morning activities consisted of building a raft, and paddling to their campsite. And after that, short visit to the paddy field to learn about the processes and whatnot.
Bus ride, and SUPRISE! (not really, since quite a few of us already knew from Day 1) we got an excellent resort to stay in.
Some of us went out to buy food without permission from the teachers, and were scolded (that includes me).
Dinner was an excellent buffet meal, and we had to perform skits about the trip after that.

Day 6, we were to wake up at 5:30 in the morning, pack, get ready, have breakfast, and set out for the airport by 7. I woke up at like, 4, and sat there waiting for the morning call. But it never came.
Another excellent buffet breakfast later, we were on the bus, heading for the airport (long bus rides are not very fun).
Reached Singapore, and all of us were naturally, very very glad.

There, that concludes the trip in a nutshell. Tiring, but fun and exciting. Wouldn't wanna do it again though.

It's awesome to be back, no shit.