Back to manga world

I have been going back to reading manga~ Lately, I have been reading:

1. Kitchen Princess (halted till further notice)
2. Love So Life (excellent series!)
3. Gakuen Babysitters (was on my way to find any similar manga to Love So Life when I found this little gem)
4. Koi Dano Ai Dano (don't really remember how I ended up picking up this series, but I sure don't regret it, I've read till the latest chapter, as well as latest Chinese translation and even the raws, though I don't understand a thing)
5. Arakure (read finished! Really nice manga~)
6. Hibi Chouchou (Such innocence~! Such sweetness~! Such fluffiness~! So much cuteness~! I simply can't!)
7. Warau Kanoko-sama (prequel to Koi Dano Ai Dano, it's quite okay. It does give some insight and background on how the characters came to know each other, as well as the circumstances of Kanoko)
8. Nanaco Robin (an okay series, quite entertaining! XD)
9. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (love the stoic heroine~ Though I'm actually rooting for the second male lead... Yamaken... You're kind off a douchebag yet I love you so much, you silly tsundere)
10. Horimiya (Another must read manga! Definitely not a typical shoujo manga! A cool-headed heroine and a nice & friendly male lead? *thumbs up*)
11. Various one-shots from Omari's Sister
12. Pochama Ni (You can read it from Omari's Sister. Only two chapters had been released so far, but it talks about the relationship between a chubby girl and oh-so-hot-yet-weird guy. Quite a heart-warming manga~)
13. Otomen (Hi. La. Ri. Ousssssss~ I totally cracked up at every chapters! Definitely must read!)

P.S. Obviously, Hibi Chouchou has rendered me into a blubbering, retarded, fool. Lol.

I'm still high on my manga-reading spree. Now, I'm downloading Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn. I'm also trying to find any manga that are kinda similar to Koi Dano Ai Dano and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. A manga that has a stoic heroine... or a heroine with a rotten personality. I also want to find manga where the male lead is a tsundere.

Hakamori Majo Bianca and some other Halloween One-Shots

Thanks to the incoming assignments and group presentations, I have officially lost my "valuable" free time to watch my movies, dramas and spazzing about Shinhwa. It's been weeks and there had been plenty of time to actually do my assignments yet the ideas are not coming out. Naturally, writer's block is anyone's worst enemy. Procrastination as well... as usual. So, I finally fully succumbed to procrastination yesterday and took some quality time to catch up on some one-shot manga from one of my favourite manga scanlation sites, Omari's Sister. Suffice to say, there has been quite a bunch of new release just in time for Halloween. And since it's related to Halloween, the one-shots that had been recently released are, naturally, somewhat gory and creepy. Especially this one one-shot: The Memoirs of a Sadist by Ogura Akane. I never really read true S & M in manga. In fact, I tend to avoid those mangas. And... I tend to be quite picky when it comes to manga. Yesterday just happens to be my one of my few supremely open-minded days.

May I warn you that The Memoirs of a Sadist is not for the faint-hearted or to those people who are extremely squimish.  This one-shot took S & M onto a whole and extreme level. I don't even think those two characters' relationship will last for long. It will come to a matter of time where the guy, Natsukawa, ended up accidentally killing the girl. Furthermore, I do pity Natsukawa a lot. He ended up being driven to this path by Sakurai, up to the point where he is unable to turn back anymore.


On to a lighter note, there is this cute and funny Halloween one-shot called Hakamori Majo Bianca by Yamazaki Aroe. The heroine is not those typical cutesy innocent girl nor those tsundere type of female leads. Bianca is this awkward, gloomy witch who is entrusted the task of a grave keeper for a prestigious grave which lies some of the most powerful sages of the Underworld, which also include Bianca's Uncle, the Great Lord Girrick. Bianca does look gloomy but I find her cute. ^^

This one-shot consists of three chapters so far, with Chapter 2 being scanlated already. I do hope this series would go on for at least few more chapters. I want to see more interaction between Girrick and Bianca. I'm totally in love with Girrick. Heh. I guess I'm just too drawn towards charismatic and confident characters. Plus, he's quite hot... for someone who is dead. Sigh, if only he really isn't her true uncle, I would totally ship Girrick and Bianca. Actually, I'm already rooting for the uncle now. Guess I never really have a liking towards beasts. *stares at Zela and Jacob from Twilight* Except the Beast in Beauty & the Beast. But then again, he does have a huge library. *swoons at the thought of the library*

Ahem. Yeah. So, I absolutely recommend you guys to read Hakamori Majo Bianca for some cute fluff in our otherwise stressful reality of life. Cheers~

Signs of being a Bibliomanic

I was finding some arguable topics in the Internet just a while ago and came across an interesting debate article: Why We Collect Stuff. As I read through the opinions posted by different authors, one author gave an example of a famous historical figure whose love for collecting went out of hand. His name is Sir Thomas Phillipps. According to Wikipedia, he was an avid book collector who had the largest collection of manuscripts in the 19th century. His severe condition of bibliomania ended up putting his family deep into debt.

While reading this article as well as various other related Wikipedia links, I paused and thoughtfully think of my own book collection. While my situation is not as severe as Sir Thomas Phillipps, I can't help but think that I do have signs of bibliomania. Whenever I entered a bookstore, there is a 95% chances of me purchasing at least one book. And I tend to visit the bookstore after my classes and just idling around to not go home early. Worst thing is, I have yet to read most of the books I purchased. Now they are just sitting prettily in my overcrowded but small bookshelves. Not to mention my seemingly overflowing bookshelves back in Brunei.

Now that I think about it, rather than being interested in reading the mass amount of books, I seem to find more pleasure in *gasp* buying and collecting books.

Let's just hope I'm being overly dramatic here. =)

Japanese Journalist Killed in Syria: My thoughts

Now, I just turned 20 years old and I'm not exactly very knowledgeable in the areas of politics and world peace. Frankly because I'm just not that interested in these topic. It irks me, for some reason. However, after stumbling upon a news of a Japanese journalist killed in Syria, I felt compelled to share my thoughts and opinion to these matters.

I was watching the news halfway and they showed this video of a Japanese lady, a journalist who is reporting in the midst of violence and shooting. I later found out that this was in Syria and the video shown was the last clip of her reporting. She was shown to give some warnings to the people nearby of armed people coming and even interviewed some civilians along the way. Somewhere in the middle of the video, she was missing and later a clip showing people carrying a body wrapped in a long, black plastic bag in the hospital. That body was her. And her name is Mika Yamamoto. For more detailed information, Click this link.

I have no idea why I was particularly intrigued by her death. It's not like she's the first ever journalist to be ever killed. I've seen and read some news of reporters and journalists that lost their lives while reporting at these dangerous countries. Perhaps it was her appearance and her gender, a lady who spoke with a polite-sounding voice and the fact that the clip was actually her few hours before the very end of her life.
In another news article, a rebel fighter said, "I hope that these countries that have not been moved by Syrian blood will be moved by the blood of their people." He's been upset by the lack of action from other countries and international bodies, so it's understandable that he uttered these words.

I guess what drawn me to this particular news was that here is a woman, who had been through and reported at least two notable wars. She wanted to report to show the world of the sufferings behind these wars and conflict that can easily be overlooked by leaders and politicians around the world. I respect her bravery, as well as other journalist and reporters that risked their lives, and some that died while on duty, to go these conflict-filled and dangerous countries for the sake of showing the world the reality and grueling truth of the suffering of the people and how severe the war is.

I really do not understand why war occur, just as most normal people do. Why would war even happen in the first place? Is it for the people? For freedom? For the nation? For the people? Yet these all came at the expense of innocent lives. What is so good about war? That the invaluable lives of people are traded? Will war ever end? Can we even prevent war from happening in the future?

It's choongjaeday :)

It's choongjaeday, a.k.a Jun Jin's birthday today. That's the chosen trending word for this year. Sadly it only trended in Singapore only, unlike SmallChilliBongDay, which trended at least both in Singapore and Malaysia.

There's this fanproject where we can send either messages (in any language), pictures or videos to a @Shinhwa_Updates in Twitter and they put all of that into a birthday video tribute. Keke, nice to see my message's not left out.

2012 Happy Birthday Junjin! My message is at 7:35 ^^. Credits goes to ShinhwaForeverSF

I actually summarized that message because I was afraid I might have got carried away and wrote a letter instead of a message. =.= So, I'll just write my full message here instead.

Park Choong Jae, you, who lived up to your other well-known name, Jun Jin.
I must admit, when I first know Shinhwa back when I was a mere 14 year old girl, I hated the sight of you.
I thought you were too cocky and arrogant. For this, I must apologize my young and immature self, for you are much, much different from my first impression.
This year, when I looked at the very first new pic of Shinhwa's comeback, I was struck by your easy smile and handsome looks. This is before I'm obsessed with Shinhwa again. As I watch more old and new videos, as well as Shinhwa Broadcast, you turned out to be someone who is quite happy-go-lucky.
Though you looked extremely handsome and manly, yet you love to do aegyo and many other weird stuff for the sake of variety and laughter.
Though your Shinhwa members tend to make fun, teased or pranked you, you take it all in without bothering much.
Your trusting and slight naive nature... Your competitiveness... There are so many sides of you which I had failed to see few years ago.

Park Choong Jae, you have been through a lot in your life... and from such a young age even.
Yet you continue to move forward, through the ups and downs.
With that frequent smile on your face, you braved on and even joked around along the way.
Just to put everyone, your loved ones, Shinhwa members, fans, at ease.
With that, I have come to respect and adore you.

On this special day, may all your wishes come true. I'm sure currently you're glued to your phone, messaging to that special someone, no? ;) Hopefully this special someone would ended up to be your loved one for the rest of your life. I look forward to hear happy news from you, you who deserved it more than anyone else.

Park Choong Jae oppa, saranghae. ^_^

Mini pic/gif spam.

All pics and gifs do not belong to me, I took them from Tumblr. Credits to the original owner~ :)

Another Pensive Mood...

Ever since I came to stay in Penang, I have been spending most of my time in front of my laptop and cooped up at home. Since I'm somewhat in a pensive mood, I shall try to recount what have I been doing, why I ended up like this and what I really want to do in my life.

I live with my relatives and almost everyday is pretty lively, with all my cousins and aunts visiting the house on an almost daily basis. They do have a close-knit relationship, even though my five aunts tend to argue with each other, especially my 2nd and 4th aunt. I'm not used to this sort of lifestyle. In Brunei, I live a quite introverted lifestyle. After school, I will stay in my room for most of the time, blasting music from my laptop, trying (but failed miserable countless times) to rearrange my stuff and tidy up my room, reading my book whenever I'm in the mood, have my nap... I did almost everything inside my room. I don't even eat dinner with my parents, we don't have that habit of eating together. Mom gets hungry easily, Dad comes home quite late from work, and me, well I may be asleep, so we usually eat separately at separate times. I do go out sometimes, hanging out with my friends, especially during Form Sixth where most of us are separated and we tried to meet up whenever someone came back from overseas. My parents and I don't go out too, like going out shopping or just travelling. I don't like that therefore I'm always the one left at home. At the time when we moved to a new house and I had my own room (like finally), I discovered there's a WiFi service at my house area and I finally have Internet in my own house, when I was 16 years old btw. So I was really fascinated by the Internet starting from there on.

I came to Penang for my degree studies. My parents, especially my Dad, seems to think it was the best possible decision for me. In Penang, it's quite an extroverted lifestyle here. Youngsters tend to went out after classes, especially college/uni students, who most of them have driver's license and their own transports. Whenever I opened my Facebook, I saw my coursemates' status or uploaded photos. They usually went out together or with their own friends, living life and having fun.

And me?

I have to look after my brother, who has epilepsy and is also really naughty. I do not have much friends too, which is why I seldom went out. My friends, have their own friends too, and boyfriends, and work, so they do not have much time for me. That's okay. I don't blame them. My only haven is my laptop, my books and Shinhwa (recently). My aunts tend to scold me about this. I know. Really. I know that this is unhealthy, that I should go out, try new things... do something, rather than rotting at home in front of my laptop.

But I think and think again, what can I do? First, there's slight language barrier, I can't speak Hokkien nor do I understand much of it. And most of the people here preferred to speak in Hokkien. I do not own my own transport, can't really go anywhere. Third, I have to look after my brother, as I had mentioned in the above paragraph. My 2nd aunt always scolded me, saying I should go out... the way she scold me is really spiteful. She's the main reason why I'm so unhappy here. Until now, I still can't seem to warm up to this place.

There are many things I really want to do now and during my 20s. I want to travel around the world, especially European countries. I want to buy a decent camera and take pics of all the scenery when I go travelling next time. I want to learn archery, learn another language, especially Korean, Japanese and French. I want to learn how to cook, I want a bookshelf where I can proudly display my vast collection of books. I wonder when I finally can take flight away from this oppression and finally be free to make decisions of my own. I do hope at least by the end of this year, I will be able to find a part-time job, make my own bank account and finally be able to buy Shinhwa albums and DVDs online. Lol.

It's SmallChilliBongDay!!!

It's SmallChilliBongDay!!! It's this year trending word in commemoration for Shinhwa Lee Min Woo's birthday. Why small chilli, you may wonder? Why, watch Shinhwa Broadcast (specifically Ep 19) and you will get your answer? XD It's a quintessential ShinChangs trolling. Haha~

I admit, few years back I never really liked Minwoo. I thought he was kinda cocky for some reason (WTF WAS I THINKING BACK THEN). Now, I love him and the rest of the members just all the same. His eye-smile are to die for. Sigh~ And he's ships himself with every Shinhwa members. King of fanservice, not to mention his dancing skills. Seriously jjang!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FOREVER OUR COOL GUY!!!

Me: Minwoo oppa-ya

???

Me: Happy Birthday~! ^ ^

^_^

Kanji b!

Thanks! :D

Me: I got a present for you! ^ ^

HOOOOOOOOOO!!! (this gif is too epic XD)

PRESENTS!!!

Me: Close your eyes~ ^^

Ok.

Me: And your ears too~

Ok. 

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?!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: YOU'VE BEEN TROLLED HAHAHA!!!

T T

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 Few days later

I'm gonna do a runway~

Me: WOOT!

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It's M Style

Me: !!!!!!!!!!!!

Stupid! =P

Me: T T

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 Ok, time to get real.

Me: KYAHHHHHHH OPPA-YA!!!!!!!! DAEBAK!!!

Psh.

That's why I'm Lee Min Woo. *charisma*

Disclaimer: Picture all credits to the original owner. I'm just borrowing these and by no means claim them as mine. :) Cheers~

There comes a time...

"There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Officially Entering Life in Twenties

It's my birthday today. Well, it's a pretty ordinary day to be honest. Bought myself three books and one bookmark as a present to myself, went to Starbucks and found out I got to redeem a free slice of cake this month, so got myself a blueberry cheesecake. I must say, it's pretty good! The blueberry jam wasn't too sour, it was just at the right taste. The cheese wasn't too concentrated and the bottom base biscuit part was not too hard. There's some slight crunch yet soft enough while eating it. It's even better than Secret Recipe's one.

This morning my dad called me and at the same time informed my 4th aunt that it's my birthday. I had no expectations from my aunts anyways since they only celebrate the Chinese birthday. On that day then they will give me red packets. So I guess my 4th aunt told my other aunts it's my birthday today because my 5th aunt called me and asked me what cake flavour I like and whether hazelnut is fine with me. I was kinda flustered and kept thinking "!!! DAD!!!" In the end she bought it anyways and then we had a really awkward mini birthday celebration for me, with three aunts and two of the cousins I'm most awkward with. Also took some pics. Gah so awkward!!! XD But then I appreciate the effort. ^^;; And the cake is pretty. Maybe I'll edit this post next time with the picture, since the pictures were taken with my 2nd aunt's Ipad.

In the afternoon I kinda got depressed actually. I was at the mall on the way to Starbucks and I kept seeing some senior citizens. It got me thinking. Due to personal reasons, I don't actually plan to get married. But then when I'm old in the future, no one will be able to take care of me. I would be slow in movement and have to use a cane to support myself while walking. Thinking about these made me really depressed. But enough about that for now!

So now, how I'm planning to spend the remaining hours of my birthday?

Why, some Shinhwa videos marathon would be lovely! Go Go Go *imitates Hyesung's voice*

"Your life is a gift from the Creator. Your gift back to the Creator is what you do with your life."

Billy Mills

The Chamber of Secrets has opened. 4 chapters to be exact. And stay tune, myHogwarts!

So Slytherin won the House Cup for the first year and they were awarded exclusive access to the first four chapters of The Chamber of Secrets in Pottermore, 24 hours earlier before it's made public. Now, it's already opened to the public and I, naturally, already explored the four chapters.

I must say, Pottermore definitely had improved. They had included mini-games in some of the moments (two to be exact). If within four chapters, we already have 2 mini games, can you imagine the possibilities of more mini-games in the remaining chapters? I shall remain positive. =)

I'm also loving the new information by J.K. Rowling. Again, she never fail to amaze me with her brilliance in making what seems like a mundane information into something really interesting. And Malfoy fans, rejoice, we have more insight and history of this family so do check it out.

On the other hand, myHogwarts is finally about to be opened to public! To be exact, it's today. But then I read somewhere in Facebook that the courses won't be implemented until further notice. I believe maybe sometime in September? Shame, that's basically what attracted me to myHogwarts anyways, the classes and assignments. At least the library remains. Gonna check it out to see how it is, but since the classroom feature won't be available until, at most, September, don't think myHogwarts gonna keep my interest for that long. Oh! But then there's book discussions... hmm, ok maybe I shall stay there longer and meet new people. ^_^