"When it feels too painful

 I smash my broken heart of gold."

And if you recognise that phrase, I can safely assume you have either watched Rurouni Kenshin : The Final, or you heard of One Ok Rock's most recent song, "Broken Heart of Gold" (which is available in its usual International version i.e. full English, and also Japanese version).

While I had not watched the movie, I am currently hooked on this song. Not too sure why but I have recently been feeling this indescribable feeling of wanting to give up on life, coupled with the uncertainty and confusion of not knowing where I am going. So, I can safely say this song seems pretty much like a sign from the universe, to appear at this moment.

I am lucky enough to not feel suicidal, however, I do feel tired. Really tired of whatever is happening. Sometimes I just want a 'pause' button for life, to take a breather from everyone and everything around me. Just a 2 to 3 days silence. Not talking to anyone, not communicating with anyone, not dealing with everything. But I guess in a world where everything is all about connectivity, this shall remain a wishful thinking. Then have to manage the fragility of other humans.

Well, that's that. Random expression of thoughts and feelings over. Moving on with actually dissecting and understanding the song:

The piano intro starts with chords and some solitary notes here and there, works wonderfully well to ease the listener into the song, then the vocal starts coming in together with the synthesiser, bass and guitar. At the chorus, then only the drums become apparent. Thereafter, it is a complete masterpiece where the listener feels completely immersed and hangs on to every note, every beat, every word and every 'explosive' moments. Then it ends with some bass and guitar, and some super light snare(?).

While I think this song does not fully release each member's capability, as in, everyone still seems to be holding back instead of going all out, yet, perhaps because this is a ballad, hence that's why? But again, just a guess and personal opinion.

What I can commend this song for is that all members blend really well together and bring out their own aspects to the song.

Of course, the mixer, producer and all technical hands do play a part in making sure this song comes out well, so, I would still say kudos and great job to everyone!

Now, the biggest part and most significant part, the lyric(am going to go with the full English version):

I move along, something's wrong, I guess, a part of me is gone.
Skies are grey, starts to fade, I guess, I threw it all away.
Sometimes I just wanna quit, tell my life I am done with it, when it feels too painful.
Sometimes I just wanna say, I love myself but not today, when it feels too painful.
I smash my broken heart of gold x 2
Tired soul, dying hope, I guess, I am running out of road, I guess, I got nowhere.
Sometimes I just wanna quit, tell my life I am done with it, when it feels too painful.
Sometimes I just wanna say, I love myself but not today, when it feels too painful.
I smash my broken heart of gold x 3
Feels like I am dying, feels like I am lying to myself, I know I am trying, but it feels like, I am in hell
I am in hellllllllllllll~~
Sometimes I just wanna quit, tell my life I am done with it, when it feels too painful.
Sometimes I just wanna say, I love myself but not today, when it feels too painful.
I smash my broken heart of gold x 3

(Yes, in the style of a classic idiot, I forgot there is an official lyric video version and only realised once I typed everything out. Good practice to listen I guess, oh well, what is done is done.)

So, yes, it somehow feels depressing yet motivating at the same time. Honestly, I like the song still. Like, it acknowledges life is tough, living is tough, it is ok to break down once in a while, eventually just toughen up and just keep going. 

I guess it is kinda like, having a heart of gold wears you out, and maybe, just maybe, break it for a while, and while you pick up the pieces and recover, you become a stronger and better person? What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right? RIGHT??!!

Well, one more interesting thing is that, the band currently does not have any Music Video for the song and are accepting submission of videos to be used as their Official Music Video. So, creative folks, seeking breakthrough folks, bored folks, curious folks, and anyone who would like to try, the end date for submission of your creation is 30th June 2021.

I personally don't have an idea for the Music Video yet, maybe I just want to enjoy being a consumer of the performing arts, so, less one competitor here. XD

There you go, folks:

NEVER. GIVE. UP!

(Now, I am not a professional critic or anything, heck, I don't even have a good listening ear, but hey, at least I tried and best of all, I am not afraid to be wrong, cause that's where I get to learn, if anyone corrects me la.)

Theme park madness!!!

(Back in 2014 apparently)

Theme park in question is none other than Times Square's indoor theme park! Where rides threaten to turn your innards inside-out and upside-down! And all these while, I thought it is only powerful enough for secondary school kids. Imagine a bunch of 20/21 years old being pawned by the rides! Of course, we also played some gentler ones to calm ourselves down, once in a while. :P

First ride up, the Ooort's Express which goes in a circular motion, and with some physics logic involved, will always push passengers to go outwards. So yeah, the heavier ones, please sit outside, so at least you get to cushion others(?). XD This ride is quite a nice one to just go round and round and round. It is quite a good warm-up to the other rides since it is not really scary, just a little fast. But the circular motions really won't do much harm. Or any, at all.

The next one is actually a silent killer. To quote one of us, he said, 'wah, looks like a romantic ride' when we were still on ground, but when we go up the ride, he sounded like he was freaking shitting in his pants and totally terrified. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Spinning Orbit, which brings you all the way to the peak of the theme park and rotates in a fairly fast motion, but not breakneck speed, of course. But still fast enough to feel the breeze and cool air. WARNING : If you are scared of heights (google the scientific name or the actual word yourself >.<), you might want to skip on this. Unless you want to focus on the ceiling view or eye-level scenes.

I pretty much can't recall anymore of the riders but what I will say is this, every second, every minute, every hour spent in the theme park, which a group of friends, that remain close-knitted even after going on their separate path after 5 years or so, remains to be one of the best memory in my life. I may have forgotten what happened but the sheer memory of it is enough to fill me with joy, warmth and maybe, melancholy. 

Bumping in the Night

*super delayed post ahead

On a summer's night, is there any better way to give yourself the chills than ghost stories? Nope, none in my opinion. Which is why, on 21st June 2014, I attended Bump in the Night session, which is part of the Cooler Lumpur Festival for 2014(Theme: #Fast) and scared myself silly! >.<

Can you imagine, listening to ghost stories at night?? Yeap, GHOST STORIES. At NIGHT(precisely 11.59pm to 1.00am (or sometime around then)). And the stories were told by, in this order, Patrick Teoh, Susan Lankaster and Kamini Ramachandran, and I really got spooked out by them!! And that was after I try my best not to imagine or picture what is happening through their story-telling, but they are so good that even that method of mine failed!

Patrick Teoh started off the night with a story from a male adult perspective, presumably mid-twenties to somewhere in the early-thirties(my forgetfulness had kicked in!), returning home after a long time away and was reminiscing about his neighbourhood and house, until he finds it odd that his mother covered all the windows with black paper. Turns out, there was a park nearby his house, where a little girl was killed after being lured by the promises of red balloons. It would seem that the little girl has been going house to house, asking for the promised red balloons. Throughout the story, the little girl's last memories were unfolded and the male adult finally decided to grant her last wish, so that she can move on. However, it was this move of his that ultimately ended his mother's life.

The next story, told by Susan Lankaster, is the spookiest one of them all. And the subsequent one told by Kamini Ramachandran was less scary but still in the same tone.

However, since Procrastination took over me, I no longer remember the stories, which a big fat shame on my part, and for that I apologise.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that I get to enjoy this session in the future.

Restoration, Resurrection, and Revival

Title pretty much sums up what this post is about, really.

4 years and more had passed since I last wrote anything here. However, recent conversations and what is happening around the world, made me realised that I do miss the moment of just letting my thoughts flow and fingers running wild. Of course, with that said, it does not mean I removed the brain-to-mouth filter but perhaps, just perhaps, I remove self-censorship and express myself without being prompted or asked. One thing for sure, to keep rantings to a minimum and only a one-liner in each post, if any.

Now, memory test of a fraction of what had happened since my last post:

1. Became older by 5 years (Duhhhhhh)

2. Learnt great lessons from 4 idiots (at different timing, of course!)

3. Changed job 3 times (with no breaks in between, at all)

4. Enrolled for 2 classes (Japanese and Date Selection)

5. Switched company 1 time

6. Made the transition from keypad phones to fully touchscreen phones (only because the distributor stopped selling that brand in my country)

Well, quite sure there are more but I guess these are my personal highlights from the past few years, the ups and the downs, the good and the bad and whatever else.

Not sure if I should credit Lady Fortunate, but I experienced the most growth in the career aspects, with all the sacrifices of not enjoying a proper "uni life" and coming out to work at a fairly immature age working out just fine now. Definitely not going to rest on my laurels, since I have, about 30 years left till retirement. Way too early to slow down or go easy on myself, especially when I have this unlimited capacity to grow and learn. Maybe the only blocker in my path is wanting to enjoy life a little; stopping by to smell random flowers and weed (hey, even grass have its own smell, ok? Don't believe me, next time pluck a grass and rub it between your fingers, there will be a lingering scent), listen to birds chirping and twitting (when they might be exchanging plans on whose head to poop on), or experience some peace and quiet in the open space rooftop area, catching a nap or two.

On the personal front, think my growth is less exponential. While I am still single AF with questionable suitors in line, I shall just take this time to develop myself, and put MYSELF first while helping others in times of need. Whatever happens, happens. Ain't gonna force, ain't gonna pressure.

Back to helping others, at times, what they want may not be the best for me but I shall be contented as long as they end up happy. Where I draw the line is when whatever they decide for themselves is going to turn out detrimental to themselves. At that point, what I will do is to highlight the pitfalls of their actions and the final outcome and yet, I still will not forbid them to pursue what they intended. I guess at the end of the day, I just wish and hope everyone finds their happiness, regardless if I am part of the happiness journey or ending. Perhaps this was one of the many great lessons I learnt from the 4 idiots but, I am glad the lessons happened. Made me a tad wiser and conscious of the fickleness of the human heart (not that I didn't know before but this really opened up my eyes and drilled the lesson deep).

With that said, while I know blogs are mainly thing of the past, that is not a massive blocker in coming back here to resurrect this part of my life. And my words may or may not be seen by another, but at least, I do justice to myself by letting the random fleeting creativity that attacks me gets released, one way or the other. This definitely not the last of me and the revival is only starting. :) 

CInapek Romeo and Juliet~~

Also known as............*drumrolls* Lo Mio and Chiu Liet!!! ("#LMnCL")
Like seriously, get your most Cina-ish friend to pronounce Romeo and Juliet, you will get Lo Mio and Chiu Liet instead. XD


Ok, ok, enough joke. This post is meant to be my thoughts on the currently on-going theatre performance at KLPAC(if you don't know where, the most I know how to say is that it is at Sentul). Before that, let me get the itty-gritty, teeny meeny mini details out of the way first:

Thespian :
Alfred Loh, Amanda Ang, Dylan Yeo, Emily Tan, Fahad Iman, Gregory Sze, Ho Su Chuin, Mark Beau De Silva, Stefanie Paulus & Shawn Loong
(Dem names should be enough to pull you to watch the play, if not enough, read on :p)

Date & Time:
25 – 27 Feb, 2 Mar – 5 Mar @ 8.30pm;
28 Feb & 6 Mar @ 3pm
(Hah! Left 5 more shows only! Also, higher chances of getting tickets on the weekday shows, weekend shows tends to be a bit packed)

Language:
Mainly presented in Cantonese, but with a fair deal of Mandarin and English. Surtitles available, so you can read some of it.

(The above were copied from KLPAC):

Now, here onwards would be what I think about the performance of the day (27th Feb) and in fact, even within the same show, different audience would have different opinion. Let's start, shall we? There might or might not be spoilers, for which I humbly apologise in advance.

As we all should know by now, #LMnCL is adapted from Romeo and Juliet and the setting has been changed to Ancient China, but it is a bit hard to pinpoint which dynasty or era it is from because I am not that good in the history of CHINA. But then, it can obviously be seen that western influence has begun to seep into China, so there might be a strong indicator there. The overall geographical setting of the story is in the Forbidden City(imagine emperor, harems, royal families, dignities yadda yadda, you should be getting the idea by now) but what I find the most commendable is the use of space and the setting up of props because it is being shown in Pentas 2 where the audiences are surrounding the entire stage. Like, a praying altar is set up where it can be seen by everyone or, in between seats, a bed is placed (are you curious yet? ;D ).

However, the general story line remains the same where a pair of star-crossed lovers tries to overcome their family feud to be together. And something about the ending is open to debate whether is it actually a happy ending or a sad ending. Personally, I find it to be a happy ending but hey, it is up to you once you watched the whole thing.  I would welcome an open debate, if any.

To be honest, I am more of a purist, so I sort of did not expect to have such high level of Chinese elements, but then these elements made the entire performance so much more fun. Especially when certain words were mentioned i.e. ham ka chan. And the re-occurence on the complain of the mantou(a plain white bun). There are funnier ones but then, it needs to be experienced in the show itself. Although, I did set a high expectation to have a non-stop laughing session because it is co-written by Cheah Uihua and Freddy Tan(creator of Corporal Punishment) but thinking back, it was unreasonable of me la.. for god's sake, it is based on Romeo and Juliet yo! Which is Shakespeare's most tragedic tragedy of all times!

Talking about Chinese elements, it does take some time getting used to the Cantonese pronunciation by the cast at some point like when the Westernised Chinese aka the Chiu family (representing the House of Capulet) speak Cantonese, they had to make it sound so English but speaking Cantonese, which is very praise-worthy because I honestly cannot do that. On the other hand though, the Lo family (representing the House of Montague) had some really good Cantonese speaker and some of them need to brush up on their Cantonese XD

In terms of acting, I am not going to comment because I don't have the understanding of the technicalities but one thing for sure that I will say is that the potrayal of characters were damn entertaining and the bit I like the best is the one playing dual-role(a guy playing a guy role and a female role) although, most of my friends didn't notice it. So, you may or may not be able to notice this person playing dual roles.

And there you have it. It is definitely not a complete dissection of #LMnCL but it is written to the best of my ability and observation. A final note though, I do hope that more people will go watch in order to support the arts!

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme~~~~

Does anyone recognise the words above? XD A line from Scarborough Fair(the song), in case it seems familiar to you. So, now, actually what I intend to do with this post is to offer my understanding of Scarborough Fair because recently, I find this song so hauntingly beautiful and a little enchanting. And damn, I had a good laugh reading the lyrics.

If you want the Wikipedia's write-up of the song, you can click here.

Anyway, back to my interpretation:
Basically, I find this is like a break-up song in a manner that only people of the past can do, where it is refined and polished. Also, because there is no finger-pointing involved about whose fault it is. Although logically, based on the impossible set of requests given by both parties, it is like... you are kinda forced to walk away by yourself because those kind of tasks are impossible to be done.

The funny part is that, the one who gave the requests first thought that, ok, now I am breaking up with you, unless you can fulfill the three requests, then when I read the second part of the lyrics, essentially, the other party is saying, Fuck you, you do up my three requests, then only you get what you want from me. It is such a playful manner of breaking up. I am quite crude here, but essentially, that is what it is.

Well, I basically saved you the hassle of youtubing the song, so here is a link where there are 12 versions
Scarborough fair multiple version

The songs are not in full, but at least you kinda get a feel of which type you like.

I am only feeling a bit irked by the fact that, I have yet to find a version that perform all six verses. Really annoys the hell outta me, but nah, not enough to make me hate the song.

So, there you go. Scarborough Fair, where you can find parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme~ XD

1 76 16215! XD

Would any of you be able to decipher the meaning behind the numbers? XD
Just a quick explanation, if you haven't(or, if you do, skip to the next paragraph).
Basically, for the 1st time, I tried number76 (Starhill Gallery branch) on 16th February 2015! See, do the numbers make sense now?
Well, I thought the two numbers, 76 would have really given it off, cause I think by now, number76 would have gained quite a lot of publicity, with so many... people, in a way, swearing by it(in a good way).
Well, at least, enough publicity for me to know about it, (as I believe in ignorance is bliss~~ :p)

I really have no idea when did number76 started but I first heard of it by word of mouth from a friend, back in 2013 and the deal clincher was the fact that it is heavily influenced by Japan but not in a crazy way. If you are imagining the crazy Harajuku hairstyles, I wouldn't say you are wrong, but erm.. perhaps the 'lookbook' feature in number76 website would provide a better idea of the styles they do.

Ok, enough with introduction and on with the experience!

Let's start with the booking process, shall we? In view of Chinese New Year approaching soon when I made the booking, I actually made my booking 2 weeks in advance, through a phone. And being forgetful, I called once to reschedule and another time to reconfirm. Well, suffice to say, there are really patient with me and all, which made me really comfortable.

Then on the day itself, I was terribly late due to other CNY errands. However, instead of cancelling my appointment and asking me to reschedule, what they did instead was to slot me in the next available session. Being only 3 days away from CNY, I would say that it was a very win-win situation la. XD

So, the stylist I got was Xuan, who is really super duper nice and accommodating to my request. Basically, what I requested for is a manageable hairstyle and maybe some fringe, that will make me look younger(Audit has an effect of making people look older than they actually are :p). On my part, because I don't really like to get my hair washed by others and I am not going for their special treatments and stuffs, I just ask her to skip the hairwashing part, lol. Again, she accommodated my request. Then, off she goes, snip snip snip~ and she nailed it! I was really going for a haircut where the change is subtle, like really really subtle, as good as not cutting but there is still a noticeable difference. And that is what Xuan gave me. :)

There you have it, a full-blown words post. Again. Regarding my experience in number76. And of course, I will most likely be a repeat customer and I fully intend to have Xuan's approach to my hair again too! XD

Kris Kringle/Secret Santa/etc etc activity in office!!!

As usual, a super duper delayed post! XD ( I will never learn) This is supposed to be a Christmas-y post but now is already February, where people are either in Valentines' mood or Chinese New Year mood. I seriously live in my own pace.

Anyway, back to the story, in the month leading to Christmas 2014, a few of workplace friends and myself organised a gift-exchange activity where each week, we would buy gift(within a price range, gradually escalating each week) for the name of the person name we drawn from the 'lot'. There are two types involved, where one person will buy for the same person for the whole month, while the other type is the one that every week the receive would be changed.

So, here is my part:

The friend that I got was a girl, so in a particular order, I bought chocolate cookies which are like kinda healthy(cause she likes to keep fit and all), a Nivea body lotion(cause I also find her pretty sexy :p), a packet of Hershey's chocolates with special Christmas-y flavours(cause she always gives me food in office :p) and finally, a pendrive(for her to store her dramas and movies la)!

Being the cheap me, I wrap the presents from the colour papers in office and I tend to put a note on the 'wrapping paper'. Perhaps I injected a bit too much of myself that I blew my cover!! Lolololol. Part of the fun and excitement during the whole time is actually to guess who gotten who's name and perhaps drop a hint or two regarding what you like.

So, on the other spectrum, where I am on the receiving end:

I guess I was pretty lucky in the sense that my name was under the second type, because different friends would pick my name each week. So, before I gush further regarding what I got, allow a picture to speak a thousand words to you :

For the first week, I got the green cup with a Santa on it, which is on the far right of the picture. And trust me, I have really been using the cup at work. Why have it and not use it, right? Whereas for the second week, it was a pair of Totoro figurines! And ain't they cute and adorable??!! Lol! Excited much due to their cuteness.

Moving on to the third week, this friend of mine gotten me a Laneigh basic trial-kit out of her 'sayang-ness' for me, and as it was not available in Malaysia, she had to ship it over from... somewhere else. I had not yet began using it cause I do want to treasure it properly (and I have been leaving it in office, instead of bringing it back home :( )

And the finale! This friend is one of the most bugger-ish asshole but all the same, he is damn nice de XD So, what I had gotten as the Christmas presents are the tin of Garrett popcorns(which I had been craving for... a year plus, I guess) and the badges of two characters from Assassination Classroom. First thing first, I am not very sure which variant of popcorn did my friend got for me, but I would take it that it is Macadamia Caramel Crisp because each individual pieces of popcorn and macadamia was thoroughly coated with caramel. Which cause a little havoc in the office because although I am cheap, I ain't selfish or stingy to share yo!

Well, that's that, lol, for the Kris Kringle activity! Fun time with fun people! ^_^

#shearmadnessmalaysia!

Pardon the lack of a creative title, but there you go, SHEAR MADNESS is here in Malaysia!! And no, it is not a matter of wrong spelling, but a matter of puns! You geddit? You geddit? ^_^

To be honest, I have not heard of Shear Madness before it was brought to Malaysia, but being an ardent perfoming arts supporter and stand-up comedy fan, I am definitely not missing this one! Furthermore, with names like.. Gardner and Wife, Phoon Chi Ho, Qahar Aqilah, Marina Tan, Junji Delfino, Na'a Murad and Alfred Loh, what could go wrong??!!

So, Shear Madness, how do I words it? Well, let's start off with Gardner and Wife, the production house. They have always been bringing in world-class acts and performances to the Malaysian audience which I am shamefully never a part of until now(due to $$$$-constraints ;_;). But after yesterday, I realised that their performance is worth every penny and cent, and hell, an experience is worth much more than what needs to be paid! (Hint : I am going for round 2 and 3 and......(if I can find kaki to go with la XD))

A retro hair-saloon!!!

 

A bit of Shear Madness storyline:
It started on a normal day, in the hairdressing saloon. A few unconnected individuals but in every aspect, connected to Isabel Fernandez, came together, either by appointment or coincidence and then! Isabel Fernandez was discovered dead! Who did it?? Who so brutally killed her with a pair of shears(we are Malaysians, parang would be better la)?

Now, the beauty of Shear Madness is not exactly in the storyline, but in the execution of the play. From this point on, I fully disclaimed that other that laughter and madness, your experience would have no similarity with mine. XD
The one that I watched had a fair bit of sexual innuendos and satire on politics, so it was really entertaining for me. Or perhaps, even things not meant to have an innuendo also become one for me like the part where Tommy(played by Qahar Aqilah, as a fairly... queer hairdresser) said that Chanel(played by Marina Tan, as a beautician, with super Ah Lian pattern) had a very, very, very close relationship with Isabel Fernandez by doing scissoring motion with his hands, completely naturally. XD
Oh! The poem(s), how melodious it sounded to my ears, because the words were very well-linked to the 'writer' of the poem. And there was a super short reference to Poetry Slam! ^_^

In this opening night(yesterday!), Phoon Chi Ho and Alfred Loh played Inspector and Sergeant, respectively, which eliminated them from the suspects list. OF THE NIGHT. However, I am not ruling out that in other shows, Inspector and Sergeant roles would be played by others, as in the list of suspects, there are also The Contractor and The Student, to be played by Chi Ho and Alfred, respectively. Just a quick note, the Inspector seems to act as the moderator when the time is right. XD

Oh! Oh! Here comes my favourite part of the whole thing, which is, THEY BROKE DOWN THE FOURTH WALL! When things like this happen, I am definitely excited and happy because, the audience then becomes part of the show (reminds me of Corporal Punishment). In this case, things were taken a step further where the audience gets to steer the direction of the murder!! How it goes, I am leaving it up to you to experience it yourself. =P

In short, ie. tl;dr, I am definitely watching it again and perhaps, I can get the outcome I finally wanted. *hinthint*winkwink.
 

Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival at KLPAC!!!

Yeap, I am late (as usual) but then, better late than never! Especially when it is about sharing the arts. As the title/picture/rest-of-the-content, I am writing about my experience during the Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival 2014 (YSDAF). I only attended 14th Sept, which is Day 2.

First off, when I arrived at the KLPAC, I headed towards the indicine, waiting for doors to open because at 11am, a short session to understand Shakespeare is available. I cannot exactly say I am a fan of Shakespeare since I do not fully understand his works. Perhaps the more suitable word would be... deeply intrigued. Anyway, this session allows me to further my understanding in Shakespeare's language and acting methods(in some ways). Presented by Shakespeare Demystified, I realised that in Shakespeare's works, the best way to understand are to link the words to feelings or imagery.The funny thing is, to read Shakespeare is definitely NOT the same as performing Shakespeare and to understand Shakespeare, the latter is much more useful.

Alas, when I came out from indicine, the weather was storming indeed. I kind of pity the outdoor activities like Panggung Pusaka, Lorong Makan and the flea market(for lack of better word). But blessing in disguise indeed as I managed to experience what Urumee Melum(spelling differs but you get the pronunciation) is. It is like a rock concert made with traditional instruments of Tamil origin. Luckily enough, there would be performing again at Panggung Pusaka later in the evening.

Anyhow, the thundering rain was no match for my grumbling stomach and I did buy some food but the wet tables and chairs were..... difficult to adapt to, so I discover little pavilions around the lake, supported by stilts and it was much easier eating in these pavilions, than trying to eat while holding an umbrella. The seats, in the pavilion that I stumbled into, was like work of art to me. Made with wire frames, those seats was pretty sturdy. It felt a little serene, sitting inside the pavilion, looking into the lake, with droplets of water falling(as the rain reduced to a slight drizzle).

So, after lunch, what's next? I went to pentas 2 and see what local bands and artiste had to offer. But I only stayed for two acts, which are An Honest Mistake band and Bihzhu. I have long heard of An Honest Mistake but I have yet to seen them. Finally seeing them perform, I can see that they are really committed and I really wish them all the best in the future. Bihzhu's performance came as a really present surprise because I have not heard of her before but her genre is jazz and gosh, her voice was so clear over the music. And she interacts with the crowd really nicely too.

Next on, I enjoyed sometime which is closer to my heart, poetry. The forgetful me has forgotten the name of the poets but what I remembered was as such :
1. Corrective Couture, where it gave me the impression of challenging traditional views of what a woman should be, in some ways. Hugely amused by this one.
2. A poem accompanied by guitar strumming which suddenly seems more like a song than a poem. Nonetheless, entertaining indeed.
3. A poem which tells a tale of .. sis-mance between to housemates, and reminded that it just takes one thing for everything to explode and to finally iron things out. In this case, it was the colour of a cup. Lol.
4. A romantic poem of long love, where the protagonist is a soldier(sounded like one in the poem) and the love of his life was waiting for him.
5. A poem about being YOLO and involved audiences' participation by requiring the audience to yell 'JUMP!" when the hand signal was made
6. Two poems in Bahasa Melayu which left me in awe, partially due to the fact they were accompanied by violin and guitar and in BM. It felt very... jiwang (am I using this word correctly?)

A word of caution, as with all poems, the above are just my own understanding. Possibly it differs from the poets own meaning and intention but that is what make poems so wonderful and beautiful, right?

So, that is as much as my muddled goldfish brain can remember. But I do have to say, there were times that they are so many things going on that I was at a lost of what to do and where to go, and it is then I understand the meaning of sacrifice, lol. A mismatch lesson learnt but it was all good. It is the arts anyway!

A Shaman's Journey revisited!

And the shaman being referred to is..... Asakura Yoh! Yeah, for those who recognise the name, I am actually going to talk about Shaman King ("SK")(manga version). Granted, SK started its serialisation more than 10 years ago and ended its run in 2004. Hence, 2014 is exactly a decade after it ended. Well, since I recently completed reading the manga (I would say more like.. marathoned it, rather than reading), I figured a dissection or just some thoughts of it would be just fine. Lol.

Initially, I thought SK had the usual shounen plot. Main character meet other characters, started off as either allies and rivals, and eventually all became allies because of a greater cause. Anyway, if you want a summary, wikipedia article can help you much better. For me, I think the driving force of SK is actually the characters' individual development and how well the plot twist can occur ie completely defeats my expectations. For example, like how "Bokuto no Ryu" became a shaman and eventually a comrade of Yoh's during the Shaman Fight(or Tournament) when in the first few chapters, he was portrayed as a 'normal delinquent' and could also be considered as an enemy of sorts.

If there is one thing that I really applaud SK for, it would be the fact that the mangaka (Hiroyuki Takei) uses actual birth dates and year for each significant character. So, it is quite fun, really. Sometimes I make little calculations on each character and give them a definite age at certain point in time. I mean, it is common for mangaka to give birthdays for characters but specific years are definitely not a common practice.

Lastly, the best part about SK is really the ENDING. Nah, not because I want the manga to end! But because the mangaka really wrapped up the story, with some fast-forwarding to the future of showing how the significant characters became and so on.

Well, I know I didn't really go into details and specifics because I was sort of trying to make you read it, rather than me spoiling the whole story for you. And as I have said at the beginning, this is just some of my thoughts and insights regarding SK manga. I didn't make a comparison with the anime because it just doesn't seem fair to compare those two. 

Sengoku time! (AniManGaki version!) aka 2014's theme

CHAAAAARGE!!!!! Through the doors and enter a world of the Warring States, where Kei-Chan tries to conquer Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre!!
(Nah, Kei-Chan didn't, actually event-goers, cosplayers and all other related people did. :P)

Anyway, that was how I pictured the opening of Day 1 of AniManGaki (AMG) 2014 to be like. While I didn't managed to make it for both days of AMG 2014, I didn't had the slightest doubt that it will be another awesome year!

And based on the response I managed to collect via the internet, it would seem that most people enjoyed themselves. Of course, there were some negative points too but hey, we can never satisfy EVERYONE, can we?

Well, it was sad and depressing, not to be able to attend an event that I had attended(more like helping out or be a free slave) annually, like a pious devotee, since its inception in 2009, and missing out on all the fun this year. Especially when there are so many things that I was really looking forward to, like Animenz piano performance, Bin Yun's singing performance, the panicked faces of the crew during the 2 days (sadist in me) and the look of satisfaction on event-goers, invited guest, doujinshi crowd, cosplayers and definitely, the whole crew when the event came to an end.

Ah, another thing, AMG was trying to break the Malaysian Book of Records for the longest figurine display! But no information has been mentioned at all regarding that, so nope, no idea what's the outcome so far.

Oh well, I guess that is as much as I can write for not attending an event, which I will definitely be attending next year!

Reminder on teachers and friends

Hm... This is a common story, which by now I would assume a lot of people had read, but I just can't help other than to post it here, because the story really struck me and has been stuck with me for so long.

So, read on first :
 
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. 

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. 

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. 

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. 

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments. 

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. 

The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on. 

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. 

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.' 

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it. Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. 

The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it. 

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home. Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album. I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary' Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists' 

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

(Life lessons that came with the email: ) 
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late. 

And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do something nice and beautiful. But it's up to U to forward this one. 

If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care. If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships? 

The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about. Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

And that was the end of the email I received. Maybe you had read it some time ago, but it is a good reminder. I would have love to do something like this for my friends, but then, I am too lazy to compile and rewrite the list. So I shall just stick to spending time with them whenever I can. Lastly, teachers. The awesome-est beings after parents. They know exactly what to do. Especially with the Teach for Malaysia initiative. I have read stories of how the teachers and students life/perception had a shift and most times, it is more heart-warming than heart-wrenching. Oh well, I guess that's it for now. And please, do spend time with your loved ones. :)

My 1st time with NIVEA’s rinse off body lotion

Whee~~ I finally had my first time with NIVEA's rinse off body lotion and gosh, I went for 7 days straight since I first started! I tried the white bottle(picture is somewhere below :P), which is for normal skin but NIVEA do have a blue bottle one, which is for dry skin and I assume to be the more powerful one la! So, now, share my experience with the experiment below (lol, the last time I wrote something like this was for SPM, which is about 5 years ago or maybe more? :P)

---Beginning of report---

Lab (bathroom) report
Title :
Effect of NIVEA's In-Shower Skin Conditioner (for normal skin) after 1 week

Materials :
NIVEA In-Shower Skin Conditioner(washable lotion), body shampoo and water

Apparatus:

Shower equipment and towel

Hypotheses :

By using washable lotion, it can
1. Saves time in body care and maintenance in general
2. Makes skins impeccably smooth
3. Evens out skin tone and reduce spots

Constant variable :
Quantity of washable lotion and frequency of daily usage, which is once a day.

Manipulated variable :
None available
(Scientist note : Due to the low budget availability, the scientist was not able to manipulate any variables like test subjects or location)

Procedures :
1. Take a full bath from head-to-toe and bathe as usual.
2. Rinse off all shampoo and body shampoo and make sure the skin does not have any residue left.
3. Take a palm-full(yeah, I have a large surface area to cover :P) of washable lotion and apply all the body, arms, legs and etc etc etc.
4. Rinse off washable lotion with water once application is done (See! No waiting time required at all!)!
5. Dry off body with towel and enjoy the sensation of having a layer of moisturiser over skin.
6. Record observation and findings (available below).
7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for 7 days (In my case, it is from 20.2.2014 to 26.2.2014).

Observation and findings (recorded based on days/date):
Day 1(20.2.2014) - Using the washable lotion for the first time, I immediately noticed that my skin became fairer. There was also reduced redness from spots I have. However, after I dried myself, I felt that there was a layer of smoothness on my skin (My initial thought was actually 'why my skin feels so weird de'). I thought it was from over-usage of washable lotion when I took my bath.

Day 2(21.2.2014) - Using the same amount, method and order, the spots that I have reduced their redness further and I still felt that layer of smoothness on my skin. I think I am beginning to get used to that feeling. Being a person that has been neglecting this aspect of my skin due to lack of time and effort, washable lotion is a blessing indeed!

Day 3(22.2.2014) - Today, I realised that my skin tone evened out slightly, particularly at the neck and arm area. Ok, just to share a little, I am a modern day slave to money employed by a company and I tend to wear short sleeve formal shirts for work. So there is an obvious difference on my arm. XD So yeah, washable lotion is helping me out here.

Day 4(23.2.2014) - I finally felt that my skin is really turning smooth rather than just feeling smooth after continued usage. Besides that, my spots are also beginning to fade away rather than just losing their redness. Also, instead of having two separate colours on my arm (light brown and fair), now I have a gradient on my arm due to the light brownish part slowly being lighten.

Day 5(24.2.2014) - I began to realised that while I have lengthened my time in the bathroom(which I absolutely love), I save time putting on my clothes because I don't have to wait for the drying process. Besides that, that layer of smoothness does not cause any issues when it comes to putting on your clothes cause I assume it is just the skin showing some form of reaction that it is working with the washable lotion.

Day 6(25.2.2014) - Other than the stuffs and effects mentioned above, there was really nothing else I can say about this product other than the fact that despite using palm-full of it each day, the bottle still feel as heavy as the first day I started using it (does the product secretly multiply during our sleeping hours or something).

Day 7(26.2.2014) - After days of focusing only on the effect and sensation on my skin, I only remembered to sniff the washable lotion because every time I use it, there seem to be barely any smell, so I wondered if it is scent-free or my nose is weak. Turns out, it is very lightly-scented with NIVEA's signature scent. The one where, if you smell it, you will know it is a NIVEA product? Yeah, that was really pleasant too!

Conclusion : All my hypotheses are met with no let-down and disappointment! XD

--- End of report ---

Haha, I thought I simplified the post, I didn't realised it still turn out to be pretty lengthy. Anyway, basically that was my experience with NIVEA's In-Shower Skin Conditioner. And, before I forget, there is this really awesome video(which you might or might not have watched by now, because I think sometimes YouTube shows this as well?) with eye-candies for both female and male ;)

Now, have fun people and go get your hands on some bottles of this amazing NIVEA In-Shower Skin Conditioner! More likely than not, it will be a staple in your bathroom!

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

Well, I am actually referring to the recent uproar over the blog that compiles pictures of young girls and is named Sweet Young Malaysian Girls (SYMG) or something like that la. My preference is to call it loli blog so I guess I will use the two name interchangeably. Of course, being me, I am quite sure I am considered slow in expressing my views and thoughts on this. Anyhow, I just gotta let it off because I find it that the general consensus currently, that I come across, is that the owner of the blog is at fault, which is unfair.

I first came to know about loli blog from my facebook news feed, when concerned female friends start sharing the blog to their friends that were actually tagged/listed in loli blog. And I admit, I clicked on the blog, scrolled through a few pages and saw that the owner listed the sources of the pictures. To be honest, my first thought was 'Wow, the owner definitely has a lot of time to compile these pictures', rather than the whole issue of the girls are being publicised in a blog.

Now, this is my train of thoughts :

The girls most likely have put up their photos to share with friends and family and if Instagram or Twitter, followers as well. Depending on the privacy setting, I would assumed the security level to be fairly low on their side for the pictures to be easily copied and placed elsewhere. Now, ignoring morality and ethics (I know I am fairly screwed up when I considered the young girls to partially shoulder on the blame), if placed in a different perspective, isn't SYMG similar to FHM/Playboy magazine, except for the fact that they feature amateur young self-taken photos and it is in digital format rather than a physical magazine?

Another thing to consider, loads of people made some huge noise, but I don't really see an action being taken. Yeah, as of now, I guess the latest news is that the blogger/owner of the site has been exposed, so what next? Public shaming and then? Let goldfish memory take effect on Malaysians? Besides that, was there any legality issue in this whole thing? Like let's say I took your photo, which by now is a public property, for my use, can you still sue me? (Not that I recall doing such a thing as I have better things to entertain me) XD

Call me ignorant or shallow, but I am sure there are more levels to this issue than I have cared to thought of. Too bad, I am tired and I don't see why is it such a big issue. If I were to equate it, the girls loaded the gun, the owner pulled the trigger, something like that?

A chapter closed

I love books. I find them fascinating, interesting and at most times, wildly imaginative. And that's precisely why I tend to compare things, with books as a reference.

In this instance, what I could possibly mean is that.. I just closed an important chapter. Finally decided on the ending after a fairly wishy-washy plot. Maybe it is due to procrastination, or out of  politeness, or even fear of change, that I kept this chapter open for far too long than it deserves.

Over time, it did well in gaining my favour, spanning over quite a period or time, at the right moment when I was looking for this. But as the adage goes, things do change. So, I guess, it is quite the time to close this chapter.

To be exact, this chapter is about me deleting friends from facebook, pretty historic moment for me since I have not unfriend people before. I am trying to reduce the head count to 500 people, because.. I only want to keep people who mattered. Yeah, by deleting them, I am definitely eliminating the possibility of making them matter but sometimes, the future works in a funny wei and in any case, can just add again in the future, no?

Also, at the bottom line, it is my loss, not theirs, not the ones that I 'unfriend'-ed, so :)

However, fret not my friends! This book shall go on and perhaps, be thicker than your average dictionary or span more volumes than the encyclopedias!

30 plays in 60 minutes!

That's what you get in Never Eat Too Much Before Rapture which I watched on 6th July 2013, in KLPAC. Aside from the wacky sounding name, it is also chaotic, random and of course, AWESOME!

Never Eat Too Much Before Rapture(NETMBR, pronounced Net-tem-ber) is a very uniquely conceptualised theatre performance where the audience(we/us) decides the order of the plays being performed. Hence, each session is really different as the order will differ, depending on the number being shouted out by us. The really cheeky bit is the part where the onus falls on us if all 30 plays did not get performed within the 60 minutes time frame. Besides that, all 30 plays were written, produced and directed by all 9 cast members(credits roll at the bottom, as usual XD)

Now that leaves an average of 2 minutes per play, but seriously, is that enough? Oh, did I mention that 60 minutes include setting up time for each set? Yeap, so within the 60 minutes, you can imagine how many things were going on! We were shouting, actors/actress were jumping up and down getting the numbers(I was laughing hysterically during this part), scrambling for props and getting into place! Now, you get what I mean when I say chaotic and random?

Next on, about the plays themselves, 30 of them, some poignant, some comedic, some physical, some literal, all truthful and enjoyable! Pepper in lots of stage play techniques and it got me thinking that if I was given the chance or opportunity to rename the whole thing, I would call them Rojak! (Ops, going off-tangent here) Back to the plays, there were also some bit of improvisation going on as there was this particular short play "The Show Changer (Everyone's going to hate you for picking this)" that 'kills' a cast member. And his body is laid there, while the shows go on! (Remember, we are on time constrains here) What happens if there is a solo performance by him which had not been played yet? Well, the ensemble basically resurrected him using whatever they can link from the previous one.

With all that being said, actually I think the best part was the last performance, and it happened by coincidence, true and pure coincidence! By some strange power, "The Importance of Family Albums" was the finale of the session and is one of the pieces that actually struck a chord in me(side track a bit, I am actually fairly camera-shy during my formative years, and still am, I suppose, hence I don't have much photos of me from younger days). Anyway, the best part was, after the whole monologue was performed, the whole house was called for a group photo session! It was a really random one! And we still had a little bit over a minute to spare! (I guess can consider as achievement unlocked? XD)

Omg! Why did I write so much??? Meh! Basically what I want to say is, if NETMBR ever gets performed again, which it definitely should, please go watch and support them! Oh yeah, credits roll (in order of the leaflet provided) :
1. Alexis Wong
2. Jeremy Ooi
3. Grace Ng
4. Dinesh Kumar
5. Jen Yee
6. Ui Hua
7. Ho Lee Ching
8. Freddy Tan
9. Amanda Ang

PS. Tickets price can be discounted up to a maximum of RM 6, depending on the mini-games you play beforehand :P

Topic : How Arts Changes Countries

Here is the second installation on my take about Borak Arts! I am completely taking the lazy way out and skipping all the keynote addresses and speeches. So, the first session is basically highlighting the impact of arts on countries and the countries being observed in this session are Korea, Australia and Malaysia. There are some obvious similarities and differences and let's see that further.

Korea is being represented by Korea Arts Management Services (KAMS) and their take is more on whether was it the other way round, "Was it is the country that was being changed by the arts?". There were mentions of how the Korea government is carrying out a 'cultural renaissance' where they are pushing for creative change and focussing on happiness of their citizens. This has in turn led to a proper welfare system being made for artist without the government trying to threaten growth by limiting diversity. Basically, the Korea government is supportive of the arts industry and makes it sustainable without interfering the creative direction. And I can see that this is not just lip-service from the Korean government, with the Korean Wave and all happening.

Moving on next, we heard from Australia Council for the Arts (ACA) just a brief introduction, this organisation is fully funded by the government but the government does not have veto power over it which pretty much makes it an independent body. And I guess Malaysia can really make do with this because I really saw how the balance of bureaucracy and support is evident here. Besides that, ACA acts as a ground for training and developing the arts industry in Australia and they have this awesome 'artistic vibrancy tool'(a really cool measurement tool that can really help the arts, in my opinion) which I think requires some really good knowledge management system. However, I guess the highlight of the presentation by ACA is when the words were spoken, "There is no nation if there are no arts!" or something along those lines :P

Last and definitely cannot be the least, we have Malaysia, and the main focus of what is being said is something along the lines like trying to make the arts an income-generating unit of the country, hence quite a few usage of the word 'product'. I wouldn't mention which government agency it is but I do have to mention this, they are trying their best to increase the number of projects being supported, however, only if the projects have commercial viability, which to me, there is this big gap that needs to be filled. Because based on my observation, most arts practitioner or production houses are more passion-driven and while they may be financially-constraint, they rather get another job to sustain themselves. Hence, most production houses and art practitioners are quite not-for-profit, which is not very in-line with what the government is looking for.

Anyhow, after listening to all three countries, I would say it is interesting how each of them view the arts differently and it is time for the Question and Answers session between the panellists and the participants. I am a bit worn out at this point, so I am just going to briefly summarise all that transpired. There was one point that research and interaction with the artist was mentioned. There was also another one about artists measurement which talks about other stakeholders, 'world domination'(geared towards the Korean Wave), 'unfunded excellence(an exercise done by ACA) and the importance of long-term vision. Finally, there is also this point about trying to develop professionalism in traditional theatre(one of the Malaysian government's initiative).

All in all, the first session was already a mind-blowing session, and did I mention that the moderator for this session was Freda Liu, a presented and producer of BFM 89.9? Yesh, go unleash your imagination and picture the awesomeness of the whole session!

Whee~~ Let's talk about arts! (Introduction)

On  the 15th and 16th of June 2013, by the stars above me, I was lucky enough to be a participant(delegate) in the inaugural Arts Conference, which is an initiative under My Performing Arts Agency's borak arts series. Just a quick introduction of some of the phrases: 

1. Arts Conference is basically a conference geared towards improving the arts industry as a whole

2. My Performing Arts Agency is... click me! (Sorry peeps, tried my best to explain it but nay, go find out more yourself :P)

3. borak arts is a rojak by itself actually. borak is a malay word for having a very comfortable conversation (I am a bit uncouth, so pardon me, but to make an easy comparison, maybe it is like how you and your friends talk shit/crap/whatever-type of conversation as long as it makes you happy) and the arts part is easy la. Put them together and you get something awesome. Like.. rojak!

Ops, that introduction does not seem to be quick, but oh well. XD Back on track, the theme for the year is "Building Sustainability in Arts" and I guess it is really high time for the arts to be sustainable despite having so many years of history. At least a few decades already lor(not counting the traditional art forms)! To be honest, one of the reasons I attended this conference, despite having to miss so many other activities and precious family time, was because I would really want to see how the arts industry grows from now on with all the support available. I mean, as a supporter of the arts, this would be a great opportunity to see how I can contribute further to the industry as well, despite being a consumer only. XD

Then, in line with the theme, the organisers had cleverly targeted and gathered two main groups of people, creative practitioners and business leaders for this event. I think this is wonderful because it sort of balances and bridges the gap between arts as a syok-sendiri thingy and the business element of it(which is pretty much the core of the conference). Not only that, these business leaders can also potentially bankroll these creative practitioners until they found their steady footing in an industry that is so... weak, in Malaysia. Hence, the both sides can understand each other better and it is a good networking opportunity/session.

My god, and I barely even touched the programmed flow. Meh, next blog post. But before I sign off, really got to say a mountain load of thank you to EYE Project(stands for Empowering Youth Endeavours). I mean, without them, quite likely I would not be able to join the conference. Are you one of my stars? :P Just joking and thank again, you awesome lot!

2 consecutive nights

The nights I ROFL-ed loudly and heartily in the longest time imaginable. It is really some kind of wonder that the simplest things in life brings forth the greatest joy. I guess that's how our ancestors or ancient people stay happy. By being simple. Although I think in my case, technology and civilisation did help in making things happen.

On the first night, I was staying up late and being bored, I enlisted Su Wei's help to keep me entertained and what did he do? He gave me Maggie Q's picture(since it was her birthday apparently), so I shared it on FB and that was the start of some unimaginable hilarity!! In short, the conversation went from talking about Maggie Q to photoshopping to creation of assbook/asses and some really random stuffs! Full conversation is in FB but I am too lazy to print screen and censor their names for privacy reasons. I just remembered that each post/reply drove me to fits of laughter.
After that, I really gave up on setting expectations on what is to come for the summer! XD

The second night, with a separate group of friends, from college actually, again laughter were all over the place. What we did was we went to a mamak(name is William's, if I am not wrong) and then a trip to Wall Street Bar. Only three of us, so there are three drinks, Kilkenny beer, Long Island Iced Tea and Boston Tea Party. To be honest, I completely underestimated Boston Tea Party because it tasted a bit bland at first but it is enough to make me lower my mental guard and drive me to happiness. Glad I didn't become wasted though. Also, I mentioned mental guard cause I told them stuff that I usually wouldn't and the one thing I told them became the topic for quite a while. >.< Disgrace, disgrace.

Anyway, for both nights, I learnt something much more valuable then just random conversations and drinks. I am reminded the power of friends and to be honest, while I may be able to survive without you guys, but I guess life would be quite boring.
Maroon 5's song, "One More Night" completely got defeated by the two nights I had! Arigatou guys!