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Sianz-ness

Joy-killer is the word for work. Why must everyone be in some artificial mode when it comes to work? Japan trip was awesome, but it did not have the wow-factor that I have expected. Sometimes, it is really better not to think about stuff which might or might not happen.

Book review: Vamps by Nancy A. Collins

One of another vampire stories that I have been hooked on recently. I realised that there are really a lot of vampire stories on the market recently. Probably due to the twilight saga? Simply to put, this vampire story is a three-way fight among the Old Bloods, New Bloods and the Vampire Hunters. I like the way the plot twists and turns the situations but some of them are just way too cheesy for my liking. Lilith is a bitch who cares more about her heritage than any other things, including her mother. As one of the distinguished family members of the Old Bloods, she is able to get her way most of the times and she intends to keep it that way. But all changes when her half-sister comes into the picture and turning everything upside down. Of course, she didn't know that Cally is her half-sister until they got into a fight and she tasted her blood. Before that, when Cally was transferred from the New Blood School to the Old Blood's, she tried to make Cally as uncomfortable she

Book Review: The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

*I have read the second book before the first book, so I have extra background to the plot. The Demon's Lexicon is the first book of the series and from the start, the two brothers, Alan and Nick, are escaping from the magicians who wanted to hunt down their mother, which led them to moving house every few months. This time round, there is a difference; the attack is witnessed by two other people, Mae and Jamie. They were hoping that the two brothers would be able to help them with their trouble, and they all landed in deep shit. And they went trying to crawl out from the pile of shit that they dug into. The best parts of the plot is that they subtly dropped hints throughout the story and wove them altogether at the end. We know that Nick can't tell lies and he doesn't feel much for people, but he does feel for his brother, at least. I love the way how the ending contradicts the beginning, as it shows that demons can have feelings too; albeit a strange way of showing

Book Review: Forbidden (The Demon's Trapper #2) by Jana Oliver

The second book in the series. My brother and I have been hunting down this book since Oct, and I finally found it online. OMG. I was captivated by the first book, and now the second. And I can't wait for the third one to be released. Forbidden is a Urban Fantasy (UF) book, and having demons in the city is commonplace. Schools are held anywhere and everywhere, but with regularity. It actually sounds like the future world that we would probably be facing, especially with the budget cuts in the cities. Riley is the only female trapper in the Trapper society, and she has a huge score to settle with the necromancers as she thought that they have forcibly taken her dad to be a deader. It ends up that someone else was behind the scenes, which rounded up the plot considerably. In this book, Riley's relationships with guys took a turn for the worse. All the three guys, in fact. It is a little unsettling that she managed to get rid of the thoughts of Simon so quickly and jumped into

think hard

When it comes to little little things, I like the way he is so concerned. But, when it boils down to everything, I think I always end up keeping my mouth shut. Is there a way to get rid of all these excessive emotions?

Book Review: A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden *Spoilers*

Synopsis HE MUST RELY ON HIS TALENTS IN THE BEDROOM... Anthony Hamilton cannot help it. The way he looks, the way he lives, his past-it all conspires to make him a man men fear, women desire. His name fills gossip circles in a seemingly endless, lurid drama. But he's never forgotten the only woman he's ever truly wanted-yet could never have. TO MAKE HER FALL IN LOVE. Celia Reece knew Anthony well before he forged his scandalous reputation. The young man she remembers spoke kindly to her, made her laugh, and his devilish good looks always quickened her pulse. But Celia's mother had other designs-designs that didn't include marriage to Anthony. Now, Celia is widowed, and her mother is intent on finding her a new husband. Refusing to let any obstacle stand in his path this time, Anthony sets out to win Celia's heart by using the same skills that made him London's most irresistible rake... The first time I set my eyes on this book, I thought that it would be ano

Book Review: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Like always, I didn't realise that it is a start to a series until I googled it. I was captivated by the interesting combination => boarding school + magic. There are few books which have such plots, and I'm a sucker for them. In addition, there are Vikings and all the Greek mythology references throughout the book, and who could resist them? So, I picked up the book and brought it home to read. First, I didn't have much common sense when it comes to plots. I like realistic ones as well as unrealistic ones, and this book falls under the unrealistic category. i mean, magic and common sense doesn't match right? I kind of assume that the target audience for the book is maybe like 12-ish, since the phrasings used are simple, and easy to understand. I'm glad because I don't have to read between the lines to catch the meanings (lazy me) The story started with Gwen, the "Gypsy girl" being an outsider in her elite school, and it talks about how she

Review: Crave by Melinda Metz & Laura J. Burns

It's a reverse vampire book. I was caught by its synopsis, since I have this fetish for blood and it hits the mark. The story is about this girl, Shay, who is always the 'Sick Girl' in school. She even terms herself as the 'Sick Girl' which is so depressing but true. It's a realistic portrayal of a sick girl in school wanting to be normal but that is where all the realistic parts end. Here comes the interesting part. Her stepfather is a doctor who vows to find a cure for her, giving up his initial research on leukemia to concentrate all his attention on her. It's a little freaky if you think about it. A guy marrying the mother of his patient so that he can better focus on her? That aside, Shay thinks that he is a good stepfather and she only had good words for him, that is, until she discovers his secret. She has been undergoing blood transfusion regularly; albeit a bit more frequently after she started on an alternative blood transfusion treatment whi

Book Review: The Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan

It's the 2nd book of the trilogy - The first book is The Demon's Lexicon. Okay, I admit it. I have not read the first book yet, since I unknowingly borrowed the book from the library without checking it out first. But the second book is awesomely interesting for me to read past the first few pages even without any prior background to the book. The point of view by Mae is refreshing, as her emotions cloud the reader, and we, the readers, actually feel her emotions instead of being some faceless readers lurking in the background. Of course, even without reading the 1st book, we know that she loves Nick, even though he is a demon, without any feelings, and the best part which stunned her was Nick telling her that she is an idiot if she chooses anyone over his brother, Alan. Of course, things that never that simple, especially in a YA Fiction book. Mae's brother is a gay, and she is occupied with another guy (no, not Alan, not Nick) but someone who is a magician, only tha

Kiseki Buffet Review

Went with Val to eat Kiseki Restaurant Buffet after recommendations by Jingyi and Alvin. I was just mentioning about my cravings for sashimi when we suddenly switched our dinner plans to Kiseki. Booked a reservation through the phone. I was quite surprised that there was still space since it is a Saturday night, and it seems like people have been giving it good reviews. The place was BIG. I didn't expect it be so big, and Val was joking that we can eat more since we can move about to digest our food. The first thing that we aimed for was sashimi since I have been craving for it quite a while. I think I didn't get to eat enough in Malaysia. LOL. The sashimi spread was quite alright - above average for a buffet at $41.45 with other Japanese dishes. I think the salmon was nicely cut, not too thin nor too thick, just that it doesn't have the freshness taste that I was accustomed to when I ate sashimi in Japan, but I don't think I should compare. I am not a big fan of

Review: Season 2 of Kimi ni Todoke

I like the way the creators explore the characters' feelings. They really captured the essence of first love, and the whole awkwardness of it. I admit, it's a typical boy loves girl, girl loves boy and they fall in love kind of story, but I think that the difference between this anime and those out there is the innocence that was portrayed. Sad to say, but many of the romance stories end up with more explicit scenes that I rather do without, and this anime series is atypical. The comedy scenes are awesome, and they were injected at the right place. With the right combination of comedy and serious/thoughtful scenes, it just captured my attention all the way to the last episode, and left me wanting more. It's no wonder that a life movie has came out in Japan, and on DVD. Now, if only I can get my hands on the DvD.... And Haruma is in the movie too, acting as Kazehaya. He seems to be very popular in the Japanese dramas recently. I hope it's as good as the anime....
Astounded by the excessive meritocratic mentality that is appearing in the newspapers. So every single thing is about money? What exactly are the values are we trying to teach our kids? That if they do work, they'll be rewarded with cash? Then what about those who volunteer? I disagree with thus kind of teaching method. It seems to me that it will only create a society where everyone just cares about monetary compensation ( one to one exchange) where money ranks the highest in the hierachy and others take a low second. Kind of reminds me of the equivalent trade that was mentioned in fma, which the theory got rejected in the end.

Review: Dragon Crisis ep 10

A painting that sucks females into its dimension. Don't you think that it's quite of clique? But I was quite taken aback by the abruptness of the whole plot. The plot could have been developed further (it's really superficial, and there's this feeling that they made up this plot because they have no other alternative.) It's kind of pathetic if you think about it. The character was trying to link the scenario that they were facing in the painting dimension with the horror movie that she had watched. What was the creator trying to say? Promoting horror movie? Or criticising it? It seems to be the latter. And the lamest part was the scene where the murderer asked Rose who she likes. That is a dumb question, and they wasted 10 seconds of my life repeating the male lead's name. =( okay, so I get it. The guy is supposed to have a lot of girls fawning over him, and he is supposed to choose one of them in the end? A typical harem storyline. =( I don't like.

WTF?!! NUSSU has at least 3.1million in reserves?!!

Okay, I know this has nothing to do with my personal life but I am really curious about how they managed to store such a huge sum of money and leaving them untouched. I know the concept of rainy day but isn't the amt abit too large?!! I admit that I usually don't bother about this kind of stuff, but this is really news to me, despite kor kor telling us that they actually have money in reserves which they don't really use. I understand the need to put the money so as to earn more revenue, but I cannot comprehend that why do we have so much in our school's reserves? If that's any indication, we have been paying for more than what we need to for the past dunno how many years, since so much of the money is not being used for our welfare. Instead, they are being stored in the bank/tied up in investments and used to "grow more money" Not to mention the amt of money NUSSU has been spending on their posters ar. I heard ridiculous stories abt it too, and I think

Review: Kimi ni Todoke Season 2 (up to ep 3) thoughts

I feel like shaking Kazehaya and Sawako! They should just get together soon! I have not really read the manga yet, but I'm thinking that this Kento guy will trigger the love scene between Kazehaya and Sawako. It's sooo long since they're really talking to each other! Is this Kento guy good or bad? Or is he just playing around with Sawako? It seems so initially, until he saw Sawako smile. Then it seems that he has actually fallen in love with her. I like the part where Sawako interacts with her class, even though I think it has been depicted quite a few times. Somehow, the sincerity just won me over, even through the com screen. I can't wait for the next ep.

Review: Rio Rainbow Gate! ep 1 + 2

Plot: In an island casino called the Howard Resort , Rio Tachibana is a popular casino dealer with the ability to bring good luck to gamblers just by walking past them, earning her the nickname "The Goddess of Victory". Mint Clark, a young child, comes to the Howard Resort with her grandfather and encounters Rio, and the two become the best of friends. Rio's life soon changes when she learns that she is a "Gate Holder", a dealer who holds one of the 13 legendary cards called "Gates", and whoever collects them all will be named "Most Valuable Casino Dealer" (MVCD). To collect all 13 Gates, Rio must take part in special matches called "Gate Battles" with other Gate Holders and gain their Gates to become the most popular dealer in the world. (Credits to wiki) 1st episode - I thought that it was a watchable anime, since the starting was still normal, with Mint running around the area in the casino and the casino itself, ev

GEK1545

I'm perfectly happy with my GEK1545. It's hilarious and interesting, and I would grade is up there with TS1101E. Everyone should take it! And, I have finally sent the email to fas, to ask whether I can do the module conversion. If not, I probably have to take 1 more module so as to fulfil the graduation requirement.

Review: Gosick ep 1

Plot : GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve. (credit to animenewsnetwork)    I like mysteries! From the look of this first episode, it has the feel of Professor Layton (the video game), and it perks up my interest =) The starting of the series is abit unnatural, because it doesn't really make sense. Kazuya Kujo is dubbed by the other students to be a character in one of the urban legends, and his teacher? told him to read up more on the urban lengends and horror stories so as to make friends with his classmates (weird right? What ki

Review: Kimi ni Todoke Season 2 ep 0

Finally it's the second season! I've been waiting for it for sooooo looooongggg. This episode follows Kurumi and her feelings from middle school, and it reveals more of why she likes Kazehaya. It's a bit boring if you have read the manga, but I think that it's crucial to make the characters more rounded. That's one thing that I like about Kimi ni todoke. The main characters have a lot of depth. There are quite a few repeating scenes in this episode, but if you're a fan of it, you probably won't mind it that much, like me =)

Review: Beelzebub ep 1

Plot : The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent", Oga Tatsumi, who is a first year in "Ishiyama High" the school for delinquents. The story starts as he is telling the story of how he found the baby to his best (and only?) friend Furuichi Takayuki. One day while fishing by the river (actually, taking revenge on people trying to kill him in his sleep), he sees a man floating down it. He pulls him to shore and it reveals a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby's maid Hilda. (credits to wiki) It's quite a refreshing change from the usual genres where they just do fan-servicing or fighting. I see promise in this series, especially when there's quite a lot of light comedy scenes in it =) The baby is super cute, and the way Oga tries to keep him from crying is super duper funny! And the reason why is becasue when the baby cries, everyone around him will get shocked! It&#

Review: Oniichan no koto nanka zenzen suki janain dakara ne!! ep 1

The plot is about a younger sister who does almost everything to get the notice of her brother, and her brother is also a pervert, peeking at his sister's panties and stuff. It's very incest-related, especially when there are hints dropping everywhere that both of them likes each other. But, I think the anime has a bit too much of the bro-complex =( It has exceeded my tolerance when the whole episode is about the two of them. Somehow, the plot seems too shallow for my liking, and maybe a tad too digusting. And that's rare, since I have been said to have a bit of a bro-complex myself.

DSS birthday + others

Kind of celebrated dss's birthday in clubrm. I guess I'm nt that good at organising stuff? HAHA. cuz we ended up sitting and chatting abt nth, and just doing some stupid stuff. I got my gek1545 mod for almost 900 points. Not too bad. So at the end of this sem, I just need to go and convert the philo mod to my arts gem and I can grad liao. Hmm.. I hope everything can go according to plan.

Day 2 of batam trip - 3rd jan

Woke up super early. The rest were still slping. I think chengwei was the second one to wake up. And some of the guys have to go back to sg early, so left me, yuxi, mj, zy and bh. 5 of us. The guys dabaoed a muffin each for us, but it was totally not nice. And we drank white wine in the morning sia. Not a lot la, but then it is quite shocking. Slacked until around 12 den we went off to BCG mall (i think) and ate lunch there. We had fries marathon, and it was horrible. Cheese fries become thousand island fries. I think they dunno how to cook de. After that we went arcade again. On the way, we saw some tattoos shop and bh was jokingly saying that he will sponsor pple to do tattoo! haha. And we also went to the hypermart to buy stuff again. For the whole trip, it was just eating, and walking around, eating again, not forgetting our dearest arcade for company. Imagine. We played until we got 500+ tickets, which is a hell lot considering that we were there only for 2 days.

My batam trip - 2/1/11 to 3/1/11

Met Chin-i, cw, mj, kyn and zy at harbourfront in the morning to take the ferry to batam in the morning. And almost all of us were late. HAHA. supposed to meet at mac and eat too, but only 3 of us managed to sit down there to eat. And the reason gave was because the iphone alarm didn't work and cw couldn't wake up. It was quite funny. We went to the counter and took our advance tickets. It was batamfast, and the guys only remembered that they have to notify SAF that they are going overseas AFTER they scan their passports. Nice. HAHA. They kinda panicked and stood there using the iphone to send the notification. So, we ended up being one of the last few going into the ferry and got lousy seats which are stuffy, and there were also people smoking in the ferry. Not good. MJ and I htht-ed in the ferry while cw just slpt RIGHT AFTER he got on board. Damn zai. With us talking so loudly, I'm amazed that he can slp right through it. Took like around 45 mins to reach batam. I go