HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUN~*
One day in Advance :):):)

お誕生日　おめでとう～＊
　

Labels: arashi-嵐, matsumoto jun

It's been very busily exciting the past few weeks :)
And it's going to get even more exciting woot.

I AM SO HAPPY BECAUSE the best thing happened today!

:)

Yayyyyyy my family rocks :):):):):)

Labels: family, whoo-ee

I think that the majority of the scholarship will go towards paying my air ticket.

So much so that I'm tempted to by by China Airlines because it's whackingly cheap by comparison.

If I can persuade my parents of course.

Ohwell.

Now to be obsessively compulsive.




Annoyed that Stardust in only coming in November! ARGH when they're enjoying it over in US. Grrrrrrrrr no simultaneous worldwide release, and we're ahead of TW and JP!!!
ARGH.

But I have my Nouvelle Vague cd (the bande a part)
and
Absolute Garbage.


Finally I can listen to Queer on demand.

Very very lovely. :)

The Happiness PV is totally dedicated to ohmiya fans man. Tskkky!

Labels: arashi-嵐, garbage, music, nouvelle vague

*whew, really a massive phew because I managed to print out the survey so I am officially VERY LUCKY!

Jap class was interesting today. I was always intrigued by the whole Jap National Identity (crisis) of sorts. While we have US, Europe and our very own SEA countries* celebrating diversity and multiculturalism (is there even such a word), here we have Nippon happily proclaiming her homogeneity and her extremely singular national identity.

Then in comes Okinawa culture and how now there's a new spin on things because Okinawa is like a throwback to the past and a source of nostalgia.

According to the lecturer (Mr very-cool-funkily-dressed-Romit) Okinawans have the longest life expectancy, high QOL and well a less stressful (dare I say stress-free) type of life. And he did point out, is this really something to champion, publicise?, specially when you put two and two together and you notice that young Okinawans are heading out of the island and onto the main islands for jobs. Investment in Okinawa is afterall, selective, tourism and real estate. Frankly, it's going to become another Hawaii or -insert idyllic island name-.

So it's food for thought. And when you throw in US occupation, you're going to get a real major crisis of identity. Okinawans were once described as noble savages and well, it's not just a non-sequitur of a term but insulting too.

And afterall, the whole Okinawan-nostalgia thingymajig is profit-driven concept. His point being, is your traditional culture still a way of life? Even if we look at home, do we really celebrate traditions and stick to them as strictly as we ought to? Uh uh that's definitely not a way of life, but if you look at tourism ads you would think that we wear cheongsams and play five stones and maybe India= elephants....you know that sorta thing? What is popularly projected as the norm could differ from reality.

Food for thought.

*though I do feel that it's kinda selective diversity if you get what I mean in these times (grumble)

ps. it's interesting to note that Gackt is an Okinawan (he's a coughcough vampire I thought?). Watch his Shima Uta cover. Gackt has got a good voice but it's sure weird he's performing ol' style.




Tiger Biscuits are by Danone. And Danone is a gooooood company! :)
Mmmmmmmmmmmm *munch*

I am one step closer to USC (yay!) but I am annoyed that I failed to pay attention to smalllll details. I think Sean is going to kill me. Ok he replied I think he is going to kill me. *little whine* Ohdear I shall be detained and deported. Hmmm.


Off the Bourne OST although I heard this song off Moby's 18 many years back. So my jukebox abilities still exist!




JUST ONE WEEK EARLIER.
Now, if only I had put my mind to it.
But I am therefore mindless.

Anyway to reply:
Greg ur reply was classic, im going to rmb that comment
Sheryl you should be on your plane now <3!
Dracegal haha yeap been seeing you ard school!
G hahaha no la i have watched far too few movies and I was trying to write about Bourne:U without giving away too much spoilers.

Anyway Bourne is damn good la.
Oh, I hate CORS.

*~*
I'm tired of trying to fit schedules. CORS is such a mentally draining exercise at times that I think I should get one module based on the amount of heartache that it generates. And yes I think I no like you year one freshies. For a while. It's the system, but it's so nice to label people innit (evil!)
And naturally, I'm going to freeze on a LOOOOONG trip on the train tmr from Clementi to the Airport (urgh) but it's for you Grace! :)




Bourne was seriously mind-blowing! I really enjoyed the rollercoaster of a movie and well, afterall if you haven't watched the first two, it's definitely not a problem (well I didn't) because you won't be left too clueless!

Parts of the plot was quite well, typical, but it was nice (sweet!) to see how it was played out. And the fights were just NASTY! The showdown between him and Desh was really the sorta getting down to the basics kind of fight. I was quite O_O when I saw how they were doing it the hard and gritty way. Heh boggles the mind, it's a lot more realistic though!

And the high speed chase was original, although some parts were stretching reality, but it's Bourne, he's close to indestructible.

And frankly it wasn't quite dizzifying as some of my friends complained. I really enjoyed the whole jerkiness of the filming. Pretty different from Matt Damon's persona back in Oceans.

It's a good, entertaining movie, with some originality in the sense that although spy movies have to follow a certain route, this movie has a fair amount of inventiveness in it :)

Plus memorable characters to boot. Frankly, I quite like the 4-15-71 arc. That was wayyyyyy cool. The way Bourne carried it out, wow.

And the ending is quintessentially Bourne. Bourne to do it. Hehe. Okay sorry about the pun!

Labels: bourne, movies

愛してる!!!!!
I am just very happy that I know how to write that and I almost guessed it completely today :) YAY MOO YOU ROCK!

Plus. I met my brother's friend who's a little minor celebrity in sg circles.. in jap class no less. What a teeeeeeny weeeeeeny coincidence! :)

And are we facing such a LACK of talent. Hai.






TODAY is a day of many startling revelations.

AKIRA SHOCKU would be an appropriate description!

Nonetheless, it's good to know that you're valued. :)





pingu it's all your fault now that song is spinning in my head :P

Labels: gaiman, reflections, sophie ellis bextor

Anyway, after I got over the happiness at finding random schtuff.
School's in, and a coupla funny things happened.

I was lugging my textbooks and files and whatnots and a kind really nice guy offered me his seat on the bus!!! But then I felt bad/shy/dunnowhat/unprepared so then I refused him. Actually I was quite surprised so then my knee-jerk reaction was to refuse. But it was SUPER NICE OF YOU KINDLY PERSON! :):):)

Then I met this really pretty Czech girl who couldn't find the laundry room, so we managed to find it together. And she has such a pretty name, Pavla :) Yay it's so fun meeting random strangers and doing good deeds!

Thereafter QH came to my room to scan his passport. It was so funny cuz he jumped over a low wall to take a shortcut from the carpark and if I had to do the same I would prob have to climb over it. Note: my friend is 1.8, I am but a measly fraction.

And yes we cleared up the bizad lounge and clubroom too!
I talked to Psy !!! :)

I wish I had a soundproof door sometimes!

And my darlingest CHEE CHEONG FUN is COMING BACKKKKKKKKKK! :)

Labels: things happening in my life

水嶋ヒロ or Mizushima Hiro!

Anyway, he has the same bday as MEEEEEE! megafaints! :):) Yes, Namba has the same birthday as me! Whoo~ :):)
This has made my day!

Labels: birthdays, hanakimi, namba

extremely funny

Labels: comics, non sequitur

After a while you get fiction overdose and your brains are screaming for NON-FICTIONNNN! Which is what I'm doing. I just realised that I haven't touched a truly fictionnny book in a while. At least a new fictionny book.

Because all I've been reading have been stuff on Kabuki (then again it's a book on the plays, which are semi-fiction but I digress). Stuff on Japan's pop culture and it's more erm cultural aspects, a gaijin's tour of the neon sun, random sf books (ok there we go, fiction did pop up afterall) and watching dvds.

So, non-fiction ist gutt. There's only so much Crime & Punishment you can take afterall. (trust me, I still haven't worked up the guts to plough beyond the first chapter)

Thereby proving that I'm no snobby wobby when it comes to enjoyment, Orange Range's イケナイ太陽 is a superbly funnnnnn song because it's the OPENING SONG for HANAKIMI~* And who can ever forget Nakatsu's Homo ja NAIIIIIII! :):):):)

Labels: etc

WHYYY is Toma joining NEWS?

My hands now reek of the smell of coins, well not really after I gave them a really good scrub. Anyway counting flag money was really tiring, five hours of it afterall! But it gave me lots of time to figure out the most efficient, energy-saving way of sorting out coins. :)

Gosh school's starting soon, but I'm looking forward to it! :D:D:D:D:D
TOMA IS LOVEEEE!~*

I've not stocked up on stationery because I feel this slight sense of guilt whenever I see the pens bought from yesteryears lying all around my table and my drawers, although I am extremely partial Uniball's Jetstream pens. I pray to them now. :) Because they are smooooth and the ink doesn't fade after a while. That's surprising because these pens often sadden me. Esp roller pens. They have issues with consistency! I am addicted to good pens. Like the Uniball... I refer to that as the expensive pen. And my Bic Orangeness, those are the cheap and good and highly distinctive pens. :)

I lost my notebook for a few days because it got stuck among my Japanese stuff but now it's back. Although I did spend a while worrying (albeit guiltily) about buying a new schedule book.

I am also wondering whether I should wait till I go to US and get the US versh of Harry Potter over there. And I hope USC will hurry up and contact me because the deadline is looming dangerously close and I don't wanna have any last minute bad news and so divine intervention had better come soooooooon. And I have so many places to go to when I'm over at L.A. that I've no idea how I'm going to complete all my visits.

I am getting my bro's STRAT. (Rubs hands in glee)

Somehow, the more I read about Japan, the more mixed I feel about them. Their aversion towards anything non-Japanese; their obsession with purity; the kitschy-wannabe-cuteness of the ladies; etc etc. You can never fully integrate, there's just too much confusion and of course, the innate knee-jerk rejection in me that can refuses to comprehend the numerous absurdities. I guess it's the same feeling I had while reading One Billion Customers (China). It seems that everyone's a cutthroat waiting to spring a deal, with you, the outsider, as the loser. Then again, no race, country etc is perfect, but some are far harder to understand. There's the reminder to not swallow anything wholesale.

Have a free drink. I still have my free Starbucks Voucher (courtesy of Narita Airport) pinned on my note-board. Ahwell.

Fret not, time to watch Porco Rosso.

Understanding the language in one important step. But it can also swing your opinion either way.

Labels: flag, jap stuff, news, toma

Why? Anyone who has spent more than a few hours trying to complete a game knows the feeling: you get to a point where there's a sequence of of tasks you know you have to complete to proceed further into the world, but the tasks themselves are more like chores than entertainment, something you have to do, not something you want to do: building roads and laying power lines, conversing with characters when you've already memorized their lines. And yet a large part of the population performing these tasks every day is composed of precisely the demographic group most averse to doing chores. If you have to lock kids in their room to get them to do their math homework, then why are they willing to spend six months smithing in Ultima? You'll often hear video games included on the list of the debased instant gratifications that abound in our culture, right up there with raunchy music videos and fast food. But compared to most forms of popular entertainment, games turn out to be all about delayed gratifications--sometimes so long delayed that you wonder if the gratification is ever going to show.

On rewards.....
IF you create a system where rewards are both clearly defined and achieved by exploring an environment, you'll find human brains drawn to those systems, even if they're made up of virtual characters and simulated sidewalks. It's not the subject matter of these games that attracts........it's the reward systems that draws those players in, and keeps their famously short attention spans locked n the screen....

Everything Bad is Good for You, Steven Johnson

Labels: everything bad is good for you, popular culture

Wow I just watched Ran and it was so so so amazing. Completely blown away!

Ran (Japanese: 乱, "chaos", "wretchedness") is an Oscar-winning 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mori Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear.
-Wikipedia

Seeing it on small screen doesn't do it justice. This is my first ever full period movie and it was totally absorbing. And the sets were wow. And seeing the Osaka Castle 'burn up' was a fiery sight. (It looks like Osaka Castle but I could be wrong!!) I'm just speechless. Kurosawa is a genius. The last scene was especially poignant, summing up the hopelessness and the bleakness. It's not those sort of endings where you're filled with that sad feeling, but rather, this sad feeling is so inevitable yet so final that it strikes you really hard in the chest.

And the music. It's the flute that does it. It makes you feel so wretched and empty that it kinda gnaws at you.

I'm still speechless. I'm not thinking straight.

Labels: akira kurosawa, ran

I'd love pretty hats and things, but I mustn't mortgage the future
to pay for them.

-Daddy Long Legs


That is such an apt line. Pretty beautiful too :)

Labels: books, daddy long legs

1. I forgot to return my Franz Ferd dvd. Which means i'm going to be slapped with a hefty fine!!!!!

2. I found up a $1 coin after losing a 10cent coin. Not a bad tradeoff.

3. I have gotten new books (whee!) and it was for free, or more like my bro passed them to me but YAY I LOVE BOOKS!

4. I've finally (yahoo!) gotten HERO! Wheeeeeeee! I love offbeat humour. :D

5. I am tempted to get Gokusen II

6. Oweek ytd was fun, I know a few vj people coming in, plus I met my old classmate (double whee!)

7. I am getting a STRAT yayyyyyyy.

8. School's starting double whoo-ee.

9. I'm moviiiing back. ARGH!

10. Photos make good memories.

11. ANDDDDD I remembered! When I was borrowing Kurosawa's Ran dvd, the librarian actually said, "You like kurosawa? Very good, he's an excellent director, pity not many young people know him." Which made me grin from ear to ear, and it's like THANKS to the parents. Now it's lying on top of the lappy and so i shall go and watch it soooon! (and pray I don't kena another overdue epic or the library is going to bankrupt me.

12. ps if you ever have money, you can buy me a J Mascis Jazzmaster. It's purple!!! hehehehehehe :) That is so faintworthy!

Labels: chronicles, memories

ARGH (@)!*#)@($%*()@$*)(@$

I am supposed to have a test tomorrow, a spelling test no less, and I still haven't studied. Annoying past habits still have not changed.

Good thing is that if things are approved it might be a prolonged stint. Okay now I better mug like hell for this semester or else.... (suspenseful pause) And if things really do surprise then maybe it will be for FOREVER!!!!!! *throws confetti* Okay kidding about that.

And I resisted buying 10000000008902389045820358923 cds today. Because they are so expensive sigh sigh! I am rather saddened by the cut throat pricing sigh sigh sigh. Ohwell! Anyway I am glad that four modules are settled!

Labels: etc, japanese class, school