Autumn Leaves In Summer

KLIA trip!

2011-11-10T02:23:00.002+08:00

roll in bed roll in bed roll in bed
msn games msn games msn games
eat eat eat onomnomnom
shower shower shower shaaaaa
eat in rush eat in rush eat in rush
bag key car drive drive drive
wrong way u-turn u-turn u-turn
jam jam jam rush rush rush
from LRT to ERL to KLIA
domestic to international
gate gate gate wait wait wait
wait wait wait call call call
wait wait wait ...
... wait wait wait
tweet walk tweet stand tweet stare
wait wait wait ...
... wait wait wait
music repeat music repeat music repeat
missed call without ring ring ring
return call relieved talk talk talk
happy hungry tired sit teary tweet
type type type type type type
walk ask walk ask walk ask
snap photo snap photo snap video
buy ticket snap photo sit wait
wait in bus wait wait wait
radio radio bumpy bumpy radio bumpy
bumpy bumpy toll bumpy bumpy toll
blog blog blog radio radio radio
read mina read mina read mina
nap nap snap snap walk walk
KL Sentral McD Burger King float
LRT LRT LRT walk walk car
phone phone phone yell yell yell
drive drive brake brake brake drive
home home home.

*see how my blogging skills have reduced to a string of repetitive words. ヾ(oﾟxﾟo)ﾉ

Ray Malaysia [Be in the Mag] Mad Over Spots

2011-10-05T00:27:00.001+08:00

today i joined my first Facebook contest organised by Ray Malaysia, which is published by Cite in English translation! oh, what a dream come true for me to find an Asian fashion magazine published in English version! Cite also publish Malaysia version of Mina magazine (which i love to read for fashion, too) but it is in Chinese edition, so i could only stare at the photos and figure out tutorials by imagination.

this month, Ray Malaysia is hosting another model search for their next issue, and to participate, you only need to get a photograph of yourself polka dotted (pic below: polka dotted salopette skirt, polka dotted border socks, polka dotted lace on cutsew top; all Bodyline except shoes and handmade accessories) and ONE of the winner's prize is a magazine-worthy makeover! be sure to log on to Ray Malaysia Facebook page, Like them, and Like my photo too! "please and thank you!" - Kim Possible.

a very special thanks to Herman Photography for the photograph - this is an unedited photo of the subject and resized smaller.

remember to vote for me here!

Ray, the September 2011 English version was actually brought in by someone at my workplace earlier this week, and i so happen to find it lying on his table. we think that Ray Malaysia was a really well written and translated copy in English. (a couple months ago i also discovered SCawaii in Malay edition, but the contents were less of my taste, unfortunately.) despite being RM9 (RM1 more than SCawaii), i would definitely read Ray! in addition to Mina of course, ~~but that would mean somebody *cough*JO*cough* has to pay for my monthly expenses~~.

by the way, since i uploaded one photo, i might as well upload the other photos from my recent lolita-themed studio fashion photoshoot with @encikmisao. here are a few photos~

..and the full gallery at Herman Photography's flickr)!

Japan Life at level 33!

2011-10-04T11:48:00.003+08:00

after playing this game on my phone for a month plus, my Japan Life game has maxed out the current available levels. now i am eagerly waiting for the next game update to build an airport, which in case you have not noticed, for the little path i have made in advance at the north of the map to the not-yet-there airport gate.

Ninja Joe @ Sunway Pyramid

2011-10-01T08:58:00.002+08:00

my days this october are so short despite the 31 days. so i met up with minori +1 for a short lunch yesterday before my worktime, the friday before september ended.

it is not a good idea to ignore a good craving for something you have not had in a good length of time, so we head off to Ninja Joe for 6 good saucy ninjas with a couple shuriken sets - yummy goodness!

did you think us girls met up for a couple fatty pork sandwich only? of course we had other agendas squeezed into 99 minutes: Liz Lisa, banking, makeup, chatting, and A-saloon.

girls make ends meet - we make time and this proves so!

Goku Raku Ramen @ Mid Valley

2011-09-30T02:46:00.002+08:00

after watching Railways (2010) at GSC Mid Valley Japanese Film Festival (RM5 each ticket), organised by Japan Foundation, kilmenyanne and i were starving from lack of dinner. so i intoduced her to a new place (to us) called Goku Raku Ramen because it was having a 50% discount on ALL ramen items on monday and tuesday this september.

i ordered some sort of char siew pork with egg ramen, while kilmenyanne ordered some kind of spicy char siew pork ramen. there is absolutely no way to remember the long food names especially with someone who kept pointing out good looking waiter and waitress left and right.

verdict of Goku Raku Ramen titular dish? absolutely amazing! the broth tasted thick of pork flavor, the ramen smooth and original, while the portion is definitely generous. i would eat here again even without the discount.

our drinks were not discounted but i was too full to refill my refillable hot green tea, and kilmenyanne was contented with a mug of Sapporo beer.

Japanese food is a great way to end a Japanese movie day~

Dong Cha @ IOI Mall

2011-09-30T00:45:00.003+08:00

yeay~ this is my second everyday.com.my voucher redemption! quite a delicious treat at only rm4.75 each set.

earlier this week, after weeks and weeks of emailing and postponing, motr and terrasmark finally could meet up together with me on a weekday when i am off work. we went to IOI Mall to redeem three sets of bubble tea and jumbo wagashi at Dong Cha, one for each of us.

see, the boys fighting over who gets their Dong Cha serving first~

guess who got there first? i ninja-ed to the front of the queue!

the photo below shows a delicious large milk tea with black pearls and a belgium chocolate jumbo wagashi (see all that choco cream oozing from the center) - all mine!

The Muse @ Neo Damansara

2011-09-08T14:53:00.003+08:00

BEFORE: my "yin-yong" bleached hair (with leftover makeup after the Evangelion photoshoot last weekend).

10am: finally got out of bed after being awake since 8am. i remember about my appointment today at The Muse, so its time to get moving!

11am: i nearly forgot about the voucher after i got changed into my dress, but lucky for the annoying reminder on my not-so-smart-but-sometimes-is smartphone.

(i believe a smartphone is suppose to ease my life by helping me not being late anymore because i am always terribly fashionably late for anything and absolutely everything. so late that it would be appropriate for my coffin to arrive late for my own funeral.)

12noon: i parked in the basement of Neo Damansara (weekday parking rate is RM1 hourly) and made my way up the elevator.

imagine my surprise when i saw The Muse was all black at first, thinking they were closed! T____T it turns out that the glass was just tinted super black.

after i linked my phone to The Muse wifi, i spoke with a couple stylists about which colour to dye and they suggested a shade of brown from their L'oreal range.

before the dye, the daunting moment of truth: how healthy is my scalp? The Muse scalp test revealed i have the average untreated scalp, perhaps causing my thin hair growth due to the cling-film-like layer on my scalp.

1.30pm: wash time~ the dye has set and i am off to receive my scalp treatment and hair treatment. anxious about being late to work again.

2.30pm: yes, i am officially late.

AFTER: evenly dyed my hair to a chocolate brown (with leftover undertone "highlights" from my first bleach).

3pm: my hair session is complete with a warm blow dry (and quickly blogged this)! i thanked Liam and Jojo for their service and quickly headed off to Tenshi no Café.

how much do you think the entire package cost? i had hair colouring, hair treatment, scalp test and treatment, with wash and blow included. i bought The Muse discount voucher from www.everyday.com.my for only RM75!

Blogging via Android phone

2011-09-01T01:04:00.001+08:00

since i have began to get used to my new phone, courtesy of my very generous cousin, i started to complain about qwerty keys, adding and using that smartphone-exclusive thing called Apps a.k.a. applications.

at the moment i am complaining to myself about typing on qwerty keys to update my blog. Blogaway is a superbly smooth Blogger client app, unfortunately i am not sure about its photo publishing (which only uploads one image per post).

so, beware Blogaway, i will uninstall you in replacement of a better one if this test post does not upload the screenshot of my Japan Life game (level 21).

P.S. leave me a comment below so i can add you as neighbour in Japan Life.

P.P.S. as an additional edit, image does appear and uploaded to picasa (not sure if it was auto or i activated my acc previously) but new image cannot be positioned (auto at top of post).

tumblr

2011-08-13T00:01:00.002+08:00

i am on tumblr! follow me at:

http://tumblr.akikowolf.com

movie, handicarft & tea times~

2011-07-20T00:23:00.043+08:00

(considering it is past midnight, day before) yesterday, i had dinner at Papa Johns and then watched a movie with my family - it was Mr Popper Penguins starring Jim Carey. i guess it is only proper to say it was half family and half romcom type of movie. mummy said the penguin casts were probably remote-controlled because it would be difficult to train them to perform, but my sister said there are animal movie trainers who can, and i said we should have stayed for the credit roll to find out.

before the movie, i quickly walked into my favourite tee store, Brands Outlet to look at the current tee prints available. i immediately spotted a couple must-haves, and a couple more cute wants. i left empty-handed since i was penniless (though i vow to return soon for them!) but i did buy a pack of colourful heart-shaped beads at Daiso before making it juuuuust in time for the movie.

i am really happy to have made and wear these~

i made three sets of cute bracelets out of that pack of beads from Daiso, and added some white pearl beads and string them together with some leftover elastic thread (which are not exactly leftovers coz i still have a lot and never actually sew any shirring with it before).

today, i met up with a long time acquaintance for late tea time at Garden cafe in Mid Valley. once again, i have been dying to visit as many fancy tea cafes (not the serious tea people places coz i am not that enthusiastic about tea) as possible. i particularly love the interior/exterior of the Garden cafe and also the tea time promotion (which, sadly, expires on 31 July). unfortunately mr.acquaintance arrived late at 6pm, so i could not order the tea time promo set (but we did order it a la carte).

for rm3x.xx, it was not worth the Garden cafe super stiff green tea cake i had (even the red beans were hard) but my hot honey lemon tea was well done, while mr.acquaintance only had to say his choco banana cake was a tad too small and there was a tad too much water in his teapot to which he complained was not heated prior to filling up with hot water (hmm~ i must learn more from him) and the cake plates were chilled unnecessarily.

next, we took a stroll around mid valley and the gardens. i bought him a melon-pan (i simply seem to show affection by presenting cakes and bread) from La Boheme while walking on the way to our next tea stop. once i spotted Isetan, i paced up and there it was - Pastis cafe. their location seem to have changed compared to the last time i saw it, but perhaps for the better.

for rm3x.xx, we felt Pastic cafe scored much better for our tea session. (apparently i might start taking my tea times super seriously.) we shared the "Dessert of the month" of bread and butter pudding, and a serving of lamb pie with mashed potatoes and salad. both dessert and pie were too soggy (despite your imagination, they were not lumpy) and the pudding glaze was too runny, but the pie stuffing was well seasoned and i personally loved the mashed potatoes and gravy.

after our second tea session, we looked out of the Gardens Residence through Pastis and realised it was dark because it was 9pm. we took one more stroll around the mall and i ended up spending too much time in Jusco browsing Japanese magazines, toys aisle, and reading Japanese children's picture book, until the staff had to usher us out since it was way past 10pm. soon we were back into my car to drive mr.acquaintance home by taking chances with the KL signboards. not bad, considering i found my way through a toll-less route to sri hartamas. not bad at all.

Beautiful BodyLine~

2011-07-01T12:00:00.001+08:00

a few months back, BodyLine's fellow faithful followers must have noticed a steady stream of new prints churning out on the Rakuten site before being updated to the international site. but i know, from long ago (at least a year ago when the infamous Carousel JSK was sold out) BodyLine is most likely able to jump on the lolita trend bandwagon which more members of the lolita community can accept as... Beautiful.

this spring and summer, BodyLine has find their way into my heart again, with more prints original then ever! sure, occasionally they have some 'similarity' to upmarket brand prints and designs such as Angelic Pretty, but i doubt you wouldn't mind much if you weren't a brand whore. just wear what you wish and love!


squirrels and birthday cake? i do wonder how do you name this print~ AND did you notice the wig? ♥

cosmetic/perfume prints similar to Metamorphose and Angelic Pretty.

strawberry prints similar to Angelic Pretty, but nothing that would harm you~

it would not be uncommon to find a teddy bears print~

the infamous BodyLine Carousel JSK is returning with a new colourway: purple!

well, these are the latest prints from BodyLine which have caught my eye (and most likely my lolita friends). if you want to join a group order (within Malaysia), you can be sure that i'll always be around for the next BodyLine GO~ ♥

cookie cutter craze!

2011-06-22T08:28:00.062+08:00

last week i was browsing some unique cookie cutter designs, and decided i wanted to bake some cookies but the kitchen ran out of flour and i want new cookie cutter shapes. last tuesday, i took the chance to buy a packet of cookie flour at Daiso when minori and i were out for a lunch date. in the meantime, i fell hopelessly for the macaron gashapon, so i bought one as a phone accessory.

my new macaron handphone strap was randomly spat out from the gashapon machine, and i received the main character on my first and only try. i also bought two cabochon of (pirated) Sugarbunnies and DIY them into rings. it seems i still have one last plain undecorated ring - what should i stick on it?

here is an upclose photo as a proof of my cookie cutter craze! i read a short and simple tutorial on how to make your own cookie cutter, and all you need is a sheet of aluminium foil! first, i folded it on the wider edge for maximum length. second, i pressed it into the shape i want (in this case, wings). then i squished the two open ends together to create a "closure."

yesterday, i mixed the Daiso cookie flour with some cake flour (bought over the weekend) and a few colouring and flavours. the colours seem rather toxic (like plasticine) but rest assured, they baked well and turned into delicious soft cookies!

see? the baked cookies look just fine and edible. for non soft cookie fans, your first thought when you bite into these, you might think "ewww this is soft from the air exposure!" but the truth is, i love these soft cookies because they are quite like crunchy bread slices! XD

later today, i will take them out to share starting with minori first (and hopefully nobody minds the cookies being soft)~

souvenirs from japan! 「おみやげ！」

2011-06-22T08:07:00.022+08:00

these are souvenirs from japan brought by friends and shared with colleagues two weeks ago~ the cookie boxes contains spicy cookies - i think is a great game idea (i do love spicy food too)! there is a bottle of oolong-cha (perhaps from a japanese convenience store, コンビニ) and the iconic Tokyo Tower keychain~ last but not least, a lot of yen coins (most likely enough for a few return train tickets).

*sigh* i wonder when will it be my turn to visit Japan?

Birthday cake! 「たんじょうびケーキ！」

2011-06-03T23:24:00.000+08:00

since i enjoyed the Create Your Own Story cake from Bread Story, i decided to order the same cake again for my own birthday cake. it is actually vanilla sponge cake with fresh mixed fruits (not the yucky fruitcake type) covered with white icing. you simply order the cake according to size (RM10 for 4inch, RM26 for 6inch) and decorate the cake with the provided coloured icing~

however, this time i bought the 4inch cake (previously i bought the 6inch cake) which now lacked space, so i could only squeeze the 'birthday number' on the top, instead of decorating something more elaborated.

plus, the icing piping bags edge had melted/liquid icing. when i lifted the piping bag over the cake, icing dripped on the white cake! luckily i could cover the 'stain' with coloured icing.

then, when i was drawing the chandelier strings, i realised i had gotten rusty and forgotten how i had decorated the cake previously, so it got messed up on the sides too.

yes, i know the sides looks terrible and you can still spot the dripping icing i tried to cover!

in the end, i added sugary stars and chocolate rice (which is sold separately from the cake at RM2 per pack). the result? i will only show you the one photo above... and leave the rest to your imagination!

♥ thank you to my family for taking me out for a birthday dinner~ i loved all the birthday greetings from melc, ywsmokona, minori, sayoko, merrinette, nqw, nana, clow, misao, izumi, muzaffar, kazuya, michi, solomon, and more friends!

ほんとうにうれしかった！いつもありがとう～

Tenshi no Café 天使の喫茶 Facebook cake!

2011-06-02T20:50:00.000+08:00

Tenshi no Café Facebook page has finally reached 12000 likes today! i did not plan anything special for today's occasion, but it did remind me of the time for the first 10000 likes!

i brought a custom cake of which i decorated, from Bread Story. it might not look like much for a 6inch cake, but i managed to cut it into eight slices to be shared with several Tenshi no Café maids, butlers and master.

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

i kept anticipating for the day that Tenshi no Café receives its first ten thousandth like on Facebook (because i needed time to prepare the cake). the last couple of days were antagonizing because the numbers were moving up so slowly! eventually, it passed the 9999th like and i prepared a celebratory cake as promised (made to myself).

on the night of 20 April 2011, there were over 9999 likes!

here are a few more photos taken from my Fuuvi Biscuit Camera:

now i await for the 20000th like on Tenshi no Café Facebook page!

do you have any suggestions what should we do for the 20000th like?

Determination!「決定！」

2011-05-31T09:35:00.001+08:00

today i was listening to Yui's new single entitled Hello (featured in Paradise Kiss live action movie releasing in Japan in June 2011 - right next to my birthday!) and suddenly i got all gung-ho again to complete one of my most difficult, complicated, elaborated, expensive, (insert more adjectives), and secretive cosplay project:

Yukari "Caroline" Hayasaka

Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa

...and today, i reveal that project of mine because i want to make it a reality! i have full and renewed determination and i wish to debut this version at Comic Fiesta (December 2011) to cosplay Yukari in the grand prix gown that would make (my favourite character) George proud~

this gown has been planned since i watched the anime. in fact, i got started on the gown since 2009! and guess what it looks like now? a pile of fabric lump with tons of scattered blue roses and pearl beads. yes, that is how my cosplay project looks like if i made it a secretive one (but i only have one, so that spared me the mess in my bedroom).

in total, you can say i have already spend more or less RM500 on this gown and it can only be more expensive because i still need to buy (acres of) lace for the underskirt! i wish, if only i had a team of Paradise Kiss designers to help me out with this humongous cosplay project of mine.

until CF2011, i hope to blog my progress on Yukari's gown from time to time.

wish me luck!

シク。。シク。。

2011-05-22T23:14:00.004+08:00

ウワァァ━━━━━｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡━━━━━ン！！！！
いつもこんなになった。
私のせいから、あなたたちはもうそんなに怒ってないください。
あなたの許しをしてくださいと頼む。
今日の事件がわざとじゃないよ！
今怒ってでも、あきらめないでください。。
あなたたちがしなければ好きなことで断念しないでください。ぜったいに！
ほんとうにごめんなさい。
我々はまだ友達ですか？

私はただ1人になりないよ.

黒板の落書き

2011-05-18T19:57:00.016+08:00

先々週、天使の喫茶で黒板に落書きをえがいた。それは学校で昔のことを思い出した。最後にチョークで描いたから長い時間が過ぎている。

その一週間で、3つの落書きを描きました。月曜日、木曜日と金曜日の3つの落書きを描きました。

月曜日にはじめての黒板の落書きを描きました:

Fuuvi Biscuit Camera でしゃしんをとってとき、急いでいた！

それが描くのは楽しいと思ったから、木曜日にも落書きを描いた：

リクくんのBBカメラからとった。ありがとう、リクくん～

週末にはたらきまさんから、金曜日にもういちど落書きを描いた:

暗いな金曜日の夜にこれを書いた。

じゃ、またね～

リボン・カチューシャ

2011-05-15T23:51:00.020+08:00

ね～しってる？さいきんまいにちロリータをついています。ゆめみたいでも、げんじつです。うれしいだよ！

昨日私はリボンカチューシャを作りました。あとで、Fuuvi Biscuit Camera と写真をとりました。

かわいいでしょう？

リボンはピンクです。しろいパールビーズもあります。

参考として、このAngelic Pretty カチューシャを使用。

じつは、ともだちさんは手数料が私からリボンカチューシャがほしいから、このピンクカチューシャが作りました。そして、このはじめてのカチューシャはプロトタイプです。かんぺきな完成品をあげるから。

じゃ、おやすみ～

two tone: Bodyline wigs (and some shoes) replica

2011-04-05T19:00:00.000+08:00

this is part two; a continuation from my first contemplation on two-tone hairstyle:

~~vertical or horizontal two-tone?~~ definitely vertical. horizontal is everyone's pick currently (trending).
~~lighter colour on the left/right or top/bottom?~~ lighter colour on my right half.
~~which combinations: black/blonde, brown/blonde, pink/blonde, brown/light brown?~~ decidedly brown/brown or brown/blonde depending on how long the chemical stays on my hair.

one major event that pushed me to make the decisions above is the idea of having to buy two boxes or four boxes of dye (since Guardian is having a "Buy 1 Free 1" promotion on Beauteen products). by my calculations, i would have to get three boxes for most of the colour combinations. therefore, i decided to get two boxes of bleach, both would be different tones of blonde bleach.

after concluding about the three issues above, i realised i might still have one more hurdle: parents. but oh well, i will just have to walk in the saloon later this week and get it done on my own, then see their reaction. how bad could it be? the solution is simply to dye my hair back to black.

now, Bodyline seems to have jumped on the hype of two-tone wigs too. what most people have noticed is the wig which is a replica of a Cyperus wig in brown with a quarter of dark brown.

left: Bodyline has actually removed the two-tone wig from the site soon after its release.

what i noticed later was the shoulder-length curly wig in "pik-mrn" which i'll guess is half of pink and half of brown! might Bodyline be able to create a whole half-and-half wig? [pun not intended.] i try not to keep my hopes up too high because you never know how Bodyline defines a two tone wig.

click to zoom in to view colour.

anyway, moving on to the shoes i was talking about. since we are on the topic of replica, i just wanted to point out a couple shoes where Bodyline made replicas from Sweet Catherine. click to view larger details:

Cinderella Ribbon Shoes

Two-strap Formal Shoes

speaking of shoes, i now own a pair of an*tai*na tea party shoes in pink:

i bought size 24.5cm but it is a tight fit - not recommended for long walks.

Fuuvi Biscuit Camera

2011-04-04T19:54:00.000+08:00

after losing my mobile phone in January due to an unfortunate event, i vowed to get a new one - at first. after calculating the costs and expenditures in, i realised i could only make do with the most basic. but that does not mean i have to feel sorry for myself.

i am currently using an old phone from mizuiro. as much as i hate this brand of phones because the interface is totally whack, at least it does not lag like most of my girly friends who uses the cute pink clamshell types and the likes. it is so basic, the most advanced thing about it is the Bluetooth feature. no camera, no USB/audio jack; just a plain colour phone.

you probably noticed my failure to keep my blog updated during the past couple months after i lost my phone. i really needed a camera, and i wanted the cute Fuuvi Biscuit Camera i found on Chocomint last year - but it was sold out then. thank goodness for HibikiTokai's facebook album where he linked theclickshop, leading me to find that they do sell Fuuvi Biscuit Camera - of course, i bought one!

i was once again questioning myself: which colour model? in the end, i decided to order the one in plain/light brown because it looked like a biscuit the most. i am so simple. XD

i took a couple photos to test the camera whether it was working or not, but first i had to install the driver CD in order to download the photos later. i'll say, the camera is really easy to handle (though i have yet to try the self-timer mode) and the driver CD was totally simple to install and use.

♥ authentic vignette effect! ♥

not long after i snap the photos, here they are, uploaded on my once-again-updated (hopefully often enough) blog. photos always makes blogging a worthwhile effort.

what camera do you use for your blog?

two-tone: the hairstyle or the chance?

2011-04-04T19:20:00.001+08:00

inspiration since ever: Violet le Beaux.

inspiration one: Guardian pharmacy having "Buy 1 Free 1" sale promotion for Beauteen hair dyes. (at first, i just wanted to grab a couple to re-colour my shoulder-length hair.)

inspiration two: nikki minaj's hair in the music video entitled "knock-out" with lil wayne. (it got me thinking about using brighter colours.)

inspiration three: then i wanted to create something like the wigs from MintyMix~ (two-tone FTW!)

right now, i am contemplating these questions:

~~vertical or horizontal two-tone?~~ definitely vertical. horizontal is everyone's pick currently (trending).
lighter colour on the left/right ~~or top/bottom~~? i'll figure out something after i choose the colours.
which combinations: black/blonde, brown/blonde, pink/blonde, brown/light brown? think think think.

do you have a good suggestion for me?

COLLEGE SCUMBAGS

2011-03-21T18:46:00.001+08:00

no matter what you do, don't come yelling at me for ranting today. i just want to complain about my college.

i dare say that i always defended anything/everyone neutrally (positively if possible) even if strongly negative comments come from my bestest friends. however, once you cross the line, i will no longer cover your dirt!

the following will be my rant about COLLEGE SCUMBAGS.

so you know i am talking about my college. you also guessed correct that i am no longer bothered to say good things about my college. you probably don't know which college i go to, but there is no need to know - you probably had it as bad as i did, if not worse.

once when a music book borrowed from the library went missing, i was fined double the price of the book purchase price. i understand that the library should have heavy punishments for misconducts, whether i lost the book or someone stole it. but when you beg the librarian to lower the price of the fine (instead of paying full double) and you get discriminated as "well off" by your home address (which the librarian checked instantly from the student database system), are you sure it is the right way to make students pay?

"it looks like you live in _____, so you must be well off. i am sure you can ask your parents to just pay the fine for you. the original price was RM200, so your fine is RM400."

first, the textbook sellers appointed by the college sells the same music book for a fraction of the stated original price, albeit newer and updated edition. second, why can't i buy the same music book as replacement because other students will still benefit from it as if it was never lost. third, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, MISS LIBRARIAN - to tell me that my home address is in a particular area, so i must be well off too? fourth, MISS LIBRARIAN, DOES IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MY PARENTS BOUGHT THE HOUSE? my parents work for their hard-earned money - i never bought any landed property but you think living in one means i am rich enough to water the library with cash!

YOU, MISS LIBRARIAN, DESERVE TO BE NOTHING. you have no right whatsoever to say i am loaded just because my parents can buy a house.

recently, i has an issue with delayed assignment submission. naturally i was called to meet the particular lecturer in charge for that coursework assignment. i understand that it was clearly stated that late submissions will be penalised a certain percentage of marks, and i do admit to my mistake wholly due my fault and willing to accept the lesser marks with no excuse. here is the thing when lecturers try to be nice by offering you the chance to give excuses - they force words out of your mouth. of course, i sat and listened in silence and guess what the lecturer said once the silence was dragging on?

"do you have any relatives in the college? are you related to anyone in the college? are you the principal's daughter or somebody?" (i shook my head to all.) "well, if you were the principal's daughter, then i will excuse you from the lateness and pass you. but you are not, so what do you expect me to do?"

EXCUSE ME? first, if my parents were your bosses or work in the same organisation or company, in this case college, does that mean you can simply grant FREE PASSES? even if i truly was the principal's daughter or even teacher's pet, i would not admit to it! I HAVE A SENSE CALLED PRIDE, MISS LECTURER. i don't buy people over with with a credit card called "MY PARENT'S STATUS" - i work for it. second, students who bother to even make a late submission still did put in their effort to produce quality - yet you diss them off like so. third is a personal attack which i would like to say, all along i thought your strange sense of humour was a tad too hypocrite for me - now i know why i felt that way.

YOU, MISS LECTURER, DESERVE TO BE NOTHING. you have no professional work ethics to be in this education line.

* * * * *

college scumbags, do you not agree? or maybe not, simply because you think the whole world is already corrupt like this. i just want to say that i am wholly disappointed by injustice based on MONEY, and favouritism based on STATUS, happening in my college.

perhaps it is just my naive mind, haphazardly flitting around innocently, until i got slapped in the face.

tick tock! thought thoughts.

2011-02-12T22:12:00.009+08:00

tick tock!

with the amount of time i spent on the computer online recently (it was my semester break after all), it generated a totally unequal amount of blogging done over the past weeks and lack of sewing too. tsk tsk, truly a disappointment. it was only today that i felt, time flew a little too fast. then was the moment it hit me that time has been taken for granted again and the new semester is approaching soon - monday!

with time running out, i even squeezed two posts in to one. so let's get started with the first one, which is about the past. well, not the past as in one decade or two millennium ago kind of past, but a recent update.

zombie farm by play forge. heard of it? this month is the first anniversary of the game so the valentine grand prize will be the apple ipod touch 4G - but it would be something impossible to attain since (1) i do not have a facebook account to submit an entry and (2) grand prize is only for USA residents. though, i would like to win the zombie farm printed tee since they accept international winners with USA address.

thought thoughts.

xxx (deleted because lazy to continue.)

baking biohazard

2011-02-04T02:43:00.003+08:00

~~baking biohazard.~~ baking: big hazard!

does the kitchen god/goddess exist(s)? don't answer, that was rhetoric.

i spent most of the day helping mummy to make pineapple tarts (apologies for the lack of photos, but i still am without camera). the weather was fairly warm (there were some clothes out for drying too). at the end of the day, there were lots of egg whites leftover (since the recipe only requires egg yolks) from ~~six~~ seven large eggs. the ultimate question was: to bake meringues or macarons of the egg whites?

of course, meringues are the simplest (only two ingredients, excluding flavouring and colouring) so it came to my mind first. although kclee suggested macarons, i doubted my skills as i made no prior preparations (more ingredients and more time consuming, but i have both). i was also told that macarons are best made in cool weather, and i used the warm weather as an excuse to NOT choose macarons. XD

sign #1: suddenly, it started to rain heavily. shortly afterwards, it stopped raining and the room temperature was chilly once again (it is the monsoon season after all). could it be the kitchen god/goddess is telling me, "meringues are easy peasy; go bake some macarons instead!" sorry, i would love to choose macarons over meringues but i am feeling lazy.

sign #2: soon after i placed all the ingredients and tools and trays on the table, i was ready to make some meringues so i started the electric mixer. all of a sudden, POW! the electric mixer blew up and you can smell burnt electronic parts fumes. there was a small exposed area on the electric mixer where it was scorched black, like the explosion marks on the ground as seen in cartoons.

sign #3: i do not give up and proceed to find the hand whisk. unfortunately i do not find it, even with help from mummy. dear kitchen god/goddess, do you really leave me with no choice at all?

conclusion: i poured the egg whites into a container to chill overnight in the fridge, and went to the wet kitchen to wash up all the dirty dishes instead. i felt angry because i was not able to bake meringues, yet i was happy to think about a hopeful brand new electric mixer (yes, i am counting the chickens before the eggs hatch).

do people get days like this (in the kitchen or else where) all the time?

a case in point

2011-01-20T23:25:00.038+08:00

i actually did a check whether the correct phrase was "a case in point" or "a point in case" and i believe you will notice the correct phrase is stated in the title itself; meaning in relevance.

as the day crawled by, i remembered Tenshi no Cafe was supposed to open today, but postponed to 22 january in conjunction with a weekend event in e@curve. no wonder the day was slow - something exciting is about to happen (just like waiting for Christmas presents)! the updated list of maid-themed cafes here.

meanwhile, here are some sneak-peek insights to Tenshi no Cafe released on their blog:

seriously, some people do not know how to utilise the quote block/box function in forums when sharing a third party information. a case in point, the article from my maid cafe list has been copied and pasted directly to a forum thread with no acknowledgement of source or whatnot, but of course i have already written a short message to reprimand the reckless forumer. now i just wait for the forumer to make changes to the mistake, otherwise be an information thief.

Sanrio special

2011-01-17T02:37:00.000+08:00

although Sanrio celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2010, i still want to write up a little about it! actually, i just wanted to list out the stuff i wanted from Sanrio this year. *looks away*

a photo of the current McD Happy Meal collection~

as usual, i never fail to notice McD Happy Meal toys if it released something from Sanrio. the previous Happy Meal was the sugarbunnies (but i only managed to collect shirousa, kurousa, and momousa; missed out on the yellow sugarbunny) collection. this month (Jan 2011), McD releases Sanrio 50th anniversary characters collection. (why so late to Malaysia?)

i collected these two already~

awaiting to collect these two!

for the past fortnight, i have collected Hello Kitty and My Melody stamp charms. next up are Cinnamoroll and Sugarbunnies! oh, i just can't wait to complete the set~

moving on, there are also a couple items i am eyeing... gotta love Tiny Chum and Hello Kitty pairing! now i see why people are so hyped up about Duffy with Mickey and Minnie. for me, i really like Tiny Chum because the bears reminds me of Angelic Pretty and BTSSB~

RM65ish - totally expensive mobile case!

RM33ish - notebook at daylight robbery price...

RM47ish - this minimalist wallet reminds me of Metamorphose ♥ ♥ ♥

oh, where do i have left to look? Sanrio is everywhere~

super shopping

2011-01-15T16:36:00.004+08:00

with free time, comes great amount of online 'window' shopping! plus, it is a great therapy when a mood boost is needed. that is, of course, if you are the kind who will be satisfied with window shopping. there is no fun if you are going to continually rant about how you do not have this-and-that.

now, i did make some purchases instead of just drooling on the computer. the thing is, which should i start off with first? hmmm... decided to start on the things which i bought! ^____^

i have new clothes (again)!

bought the blue shorts and black dress with lace, and shared shipping with minori~

bought these like.. a couple months back but size did not match the said measurements, so i have no chance to wear it.

next, the window shopping for clothes~ some liz lisa inspired clothing for spring! a little too early, am i not? nevertheless, these are just so sweet! ♥ ♥ ♥

floral power~ oh, i want a new beret too - a pink or light brown colour will be great! a cream-coloured cancan hat will be special, but i am not sure if i'll pull it off. and socks! after getting in and out of black and white OTK (over the knee) socks for so long now, i think i am ready for argyle print on them (i need some colour). ♥ ♥ ♥

finally, i would like to get some shoes or sandals! i want them to be strappy and selected from lolita shoe shops so that it will be cute! secret shop's most popular is the Tea Party Shoes, but i think i will go with an*tai*na version (which is a very similar replica) in pink, maybe sax, and brown would be nice too. XD

before i end this post, i also want to add that i got myself a medium-sized semi-transparent plastic case, very recently (no photos since i am without camera). it has little partitions in it, so i use it to organise all my accessories and jewellery! ♥ ♥ ♥

enchanted exam

2011-01-15T15:05:00.000+08:00

while time permits me, i shall squeeze in a blog post or two now. exam is finally over, and the weekend begins, so semester break goes on until the weekend before valentine's day. but let's recap what happened over the past weeks. i start with a long rant, so if you wish to skip it, please click on the "continued" link below.

last week, my phone went missing. *dramatic music* here is how it went on that unfortunate day: went to college, leave bag outside classroom, enter exam, busying in the exam venue for two hours, exit classroom, check bag, noticed my phone missing, asked around and was told another coursemate's phone went missing too. WHY US? ;__;

first, the model and condition of our phones. mine: sony eri with camera and basic communication, cracked screen and missing back cover (battery is exposed). hers: nokia, black/white display and old. seriously, what kind of desperado wants our phone for? ARE YOU A SECRET ROBIN HOOD WHO WANTS TO DUMP OUR PHONES IN THE "RECYLCLE PHONE" BIN? please ask first. at least give us back the SIM card!

second, responsibility. is it the students' fault for bringing their phones to college, knowing well in advance that we are to leave ALL our belongings (which are not used for exam) whether rain or shine, outside the exam venue? or is it the college fault with poor conduct? at first you might say the students' fault but you think again - what about students who take public transport to college, one hour away from home? of course we will blame the college because as far as i know, other tertiary institutions have the student bags put aside in the exam venue, not OUTSIDE.

if you have not made your conclusion, allow me: i have no more camera phone (thus no photos for the rest of the blog until a replacement comes along), i have replacement SIM card now (still using the same phone number), i have lost all contacts (so all you out there with my phone number, please send me an SMS so that i can save your number), and i am using mizuiro's spare phone (i do not want to use motorola any longer than i have to, please).

let's see... *dig up photos* thank goodness i often upload photos to the computer, thus no photos lost. i know you still question how i take photos with both hands in the picture. look ma, hands!

my most recent nail art~ pink base with glittery black lace stickers.

croissant with kaya and strawberry jam filling - supper for a hungry study night!

this is the last photo taken on my phone camera (after team Checkmate post-CF dinner).

so, what is so enchanted about exam? nothing.

Christmas of 2010 and New Year 2011

2011-01-09T21:30:00.005+08:00

since i was so busy blogging about comic fiesta and maid cafes at the end of december, i shall have to write about my christmas day in january and throw in the new year post as well. XD i wonder what did you do for christmas and new year's eve?

christmas presents!

my christmassy days started in comic fiesta where elaine and mbek gave me x'mas candies~ next, i received presents from minori and sayoko one day when we went for karaoke, before sayoko had to fly off on her month-long vacation! (i think elaine went off on her annual year-end vacation too.) i also received presents from motr and wgfai just before the christmas weekend. on the notion of giving and receiving for christmas, i too gave little gifts to friends (though some presents are still with me).

finally, on christmas day itself, i went out with my family for a movie... and i managed to persuade mummy to buy me a pompom scrunchie (シュシュ) which i had wanted for a long time. next time i'll go buy them in different colors! (too bad Daiso does not sell these medium sized ones; Daiso sells small size pompom instead).

soon after christmas, the new year 2011 arrives - and so have my semester exams! ;__; i spent my new year's eve at home at the "study" table (which has a computer on it). *wink* approaching midnight, my phone credit expires on the first january, so i did not send out any SMS or call anyone up to wish happy new year. do not be sad, dear friends - i have not forgotten you, and of course, i hope you have a happy new year 2011!

my parents ajak me out to IOI Boulevard to watch fireworks, yet i declined and decided to stay at home (ひきこもり？), so they went out without me. after being pestered by motr who thought i was very kesian to be home alone, i reluctantly switched on the television to watch some fireworks. to which now i think would have been better if i watched Katy Perry's Firework instead.

alright, time for new year resolutions! what is that? a list of things that you almost never achieve even after 365 days of struggling. this year, a new list!

keep my hair trimmed (no more cut-1inch-1year) ☑
dye my hair (this weekend!) ☐
increase my cgpa ☐
organise my makeup stash (so messy now!) ☐
keep my bedroom neat and clean OTL ☐
add more colours into my wardrobe ☐
be brand-whore for the first time ☐
save up for that one year-end Lucky Pack ☐
*will be back for more*

do you think i'll achieve them all? [ × ] [ √ ]

Maid Mania 「メイド・マニア」

2010-12-31T19:09:00.000+08:00

wow~ would you not believe it? there seems to be a running streak of maid-themed cafes opening every month recently: september (Kirameki Cafe), november (Maid Cafe), december (Little Pantry), and soon-to-be january (Tenshi no Cafe).

did you notice anything different or new on the list? actually, there are two news i want to share with you: first is Tenshi no Cafe's opening date; second is this month's new maid-themed cafe called Little Pantry.

let's start with Tenshi no Cafe! first of all, it has been announced here that the opening day has been rescheduled to 20 January 2011 - that means, 20/01/2011~ please remember to bookmark this day and 'return home' to your maids. XD

next, a new maid-themed cafe in IOI Mall called Little Pantry opened on 17 December. the decor is majorly white accented with sweet pink.

want to know more? i have updated the list of Malaysian maid-themed cafes, so click for more information! ^__^

Comic Fiesta 2010

2010-12-30T00:52:00.191+08:00

this year, CF was held in the Manhattan Ballroom (which is on the 14th floor) of Berjaya Times Square Hotel on 18-19 december. i went for both day1 and day2 and i return with photos - not too much, but a good number of them! XD

so allow me to separate my report into day1 and day2 here~

WARNING: image heavy! (well, that is unavoidable and almost predictable, isn't it?)

Day 1: 18 December 2010

for most of the entire event day, i was occupied with the Checkmate team for our cosplay group competition from the series Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). minori and i took the LRT to times square in the morning and arrived at 9-something (morning, of course). boy, could there possibly have been a more crowded and long queue even before the event opened? luckily, misao helped us to get in queue and buy our tickets, before he took some photos and left for class. it was soon after our short time together in the toilet where minori changed into her outfit (with a waloli flavour) and my costume (Ranmao) that we went separate ways for the day - in fact, one of the things we did was visit the Hoyu booth but at different times.

our entries for the Hoyu contest!

i did not take many photos on Day 1...

i reunited with team Checkmate near the entrance where we caught up with our lives (since our last group practice) and prep up each other for the competition performance. once we got into the waiting area, some of us started to get nervous since the wait was quite long for us as group #7. after our performance for the competition, we stuck together for a while longer for a random photoshoot (sadly that means i do not know who are the photographers and where our gallery will appear at all). of course, thank you so much to Renee (click to view her CF gallery), who lent her time to photograph team Checkmate and email the photos to us.

my head cannot be THAT giant, but the size of my waist gave you the illusion of so. ;__;

towards the end of the evening, people started to leave and so did we, after a change out of the costumes. misao returned from his classes and teman me at the times square (shopping mall) Japanese Food Fair. where i bought some snacks. apparently jo was done enjoying the live band performance in CF day1 closure the same time i was done shopping, so the three of us went to Gasoline to eat, but the only person doing the eating was me. *__*

Day 2: 19 December 2010

i arrived slightly earlier today compared to day1, even though i did not have any particular timely activity for the day. in fact i had cancelled my day2 cosplay plan since i wanted to stay home to finish assignments, but there was something else i wanted to do - promotion for Tenshi no Cafe! ♥ ♥ ♥ were you approach by anyone who gave out free bookmarks for Tenshi no Cafe at CF (both day1 and day2)? if you did, on day2, half the chance is it was probably me (there were two of us on day2).

my outfit (usamimi, blouse, JSK, and not in photo, socks, shoes, bag) fully coordinated from Bodyline~

once the bookmarks were all given out, i spend the rest of the evening watching stage activities (solo cosplay competition and emcees giving out freebies), shopping for doujin and merchandise (i bought so much stuffs), chatting with the 'DJs' at the EMiNA radio 'station' at the entrance, taking cosplayers' photographs - basically taking it all in my own sweet time, whatever i missed on day1 (but i missed the Lolita Runway Fashion Show on day2 anyway).

the booth displays:

the cosplays:

the camwhores:

thanks to elaine and mbek for the christmas candies~ also thanks to clow for sparing his day2 evening with me. and finally, thank you, Comic Fiesta committee, for making CF happen in 2010!

my stash from CF10!

Hoyu souvenirs! photo envelope, CNY red packets, discount coupons...

my little Happy Berry bag, bought from Apple-Taiwan booth~

Ranmao dash to the lash!

2010-12-17T16:43:00.001+08:00

okay, i know the title does not make sense now, but let me explain. this post is about the making of Ranmao's accessories and wig styling, and a piece of prop for the CF cosplay group competition tomorrow.. and to confess, today i skipped classes. (yeah, i did it for CF.) *slapped*

because the prettiest item is the photo of Ranmao's hairclip, i shall start with that. as you can see, i simply attached a blue 'tassel' piece to the flower hair clip. but truth is, i used one whole spool of blue thread to spin the tassel because i have no more money and time to spend on a ready-made tassel from a store (which could probably be inaccurate to the colour or wrong shape that i want, and waste petrol and parking fee too).

my handmade tassel was created out of a stroke of luck - i found the perfectly accurate blue thread in the sewing drawer, and immediately got to work. i picked up a case of marker pens in the length i think is right for the tassel, and started to wind the thread around it until there was very little thread left on the spool. then i cut the roll of thread in half once, and looped a short thread around the top to secure the loose ends. finally, i wind another thread around the 'head' part to get that bubble top.

next is the performance prop.. because i do not look so bad with the roast chicken speech bubble and a fringe. XD i want to keep that fringe, but i need a SUPER SHORT doll-cut to use on CF day2. come support me by watching the Checkmate Team performance on CF day1 at 2pm, and wish us luck and roast chicken will be served! haha~

finally, the disaster haircut. *cries*

i seriously thought the wig looked a little like Japan from Hetalia after i cut the fringe! well, truth be told, indeed it was labelled as a Japan/Hetalia wig by the seller in the first place. i bought it to use as the short base wig for my Black Rock Shooter cosplay.. but i guess, (mind if i repeat myself here) with no more (money/time) budget to spare, i cannot splurge on a new wig.

now, about the title of this post: lash rhymes with dash, but i was meaning (eye)brow... while i was trimming the fringe, unknowingly, i accidentally cut off some eyebrow. @____@;;; oh well, Ranmao actually has a unique eyebrow shape. this incident only helped me to look more Ranmao-like.

for now, i will have to make do for Ranmao. i still have a couple things to do:

make the little horns and braids to complete Ranmao's wig;
sew on the butterfly pattern on the dress!

well, at least, that is one less item to do for Ranmao since the previous post here. but that means i am doomed on CF day2. (OMG it is only half way done - shall i just cancel my CF day2 plan?)

Ranmao again? getting close!

2010-12-10T20:04:00.001+08:00

so far, my progress looks to be delayed here and there (due to assignments fighting for my precious limited time), but i think my Ranmao costume will be completed before Comic Fiesta! my next update here is about the bell anklet which is worn on her legs.

i don't know if they are meant to be bell-look-alikes or real live ringing bells, but i decided to be cheeky and went with real bells. in fact, i got the bells in medium size (instead of small) because Daiso sells them on a handheld tambourine-thing. of course, as you can see, i have ripped all 10 pieces of bells from the toy/instrument, leaving a pink plastic thing.

here is how it looks like before the bell sacrifice!

and the bells, they sure can ring! so if you are looking for me in CF2010, ask around for the girl in china dress, or listen out for my anklet bells. *wink*

what i have to do next on Ranmao's to-do list are:

attach a blue tassel to the headpiece (XL flower);
wig-styling;
sew on the butterfly pattern on the dress!

wish me luck! lots of it too... ;__;

cute usamimi 「かわいい・うさみみ」

2010-12-08T21:25:00.001+08:00

today, i got my first usamimi~ i ordered it from Bodyline last week because it was recently restocked in black color (previously the black and pink were sold out, and i don't really want the blue one). it was so cute and i love it! in fact, i love it so much i am wearing it as i am blogging now.

i spared you from the exposure to a short camwhoring session after this jumpline, but if you wish to see more pictures, feel free to continue to the link below~

before: a mop of messy hair!

after: belinda chee! no lah, just kidding.

variation: pulled back my long fringe for a neater look~

variation: twisted the usamimi into a bow~

usamimi is a wired headband which is wrapped around the head and twist the top part to get that "bunny ear" affect as the name usagi (bunny) and mimi (ear) implied.

how do you wear your usamimi?

delicious omurice 「おいしい・オムライス」

2010-12-07T18:08:00.002+08:00

こんにちは、ご主人様、お嬢様。

good afternoon, my master, and my lady.

お元気ですか？

how are you?

今日はオムライスを作りました。

today i made omurice.

食べたいですか？

would you like to eat?

お楽しみください。

i hope you will enjoy it.

ありがとうおはようございます！

thank you very much!

note: i was waiting for my phone to recharge after i made the omurice because there was no battery to use the phone camera. so the tomato sauce and chilli sauce started to bleed off the omelet by the time i was ready to take photos. sorry for the sloppy pictures!

a short side story about the omurice i made today:

sometime last month, i was in IKEA to find one of those cheap 85sen cup to get free parking upon exit. however, i could not find any! onoes. i asked my friend, what should i do?

my friend wanted a small frying pan, so we picked up the cheapest one (RM12.90) which was quite a decent size compared to the tiny pan i have at home. yay, free parking~ after the purchase, we tried the pan on the induction stove - oops, it does not work!

before someone tells me RTFM, i quickly read through the manual book (yes, IKEA pans have manuals). i found out that it was not suitable for induction stoves afterall. so i said i will keep the pan instead, since i needed a larger (than tiny) pan to make proper-sized omelets in the future. plus i have gas stove at home which works with the pan.

after a couple weeks, (even mummy already used the pan) i finally found a day to cook. not that omelets are any trouble. today was a chance, when there was only one dish, rice and soup. omelet makes the perfect compliment.

the next issue that arose was, hey, i don't have any squeeze bottle for the sauces! at least, i found one last packet of chilli sauce (the kinds you get from fast food restaurants or pizza takeaway delivery) and drew the bunny one. as you can guess, i simply dashed tomato sauce over the other omurice, straight from the bottle.

finally, i added some thousand island sauce (instead of mayonnaise) because it was the only sauce that was in a squeeze bottle i have at home. the result? delicious.

Ranmao around Japan~

2010-12-05T14:31:00.000+08:00

with less than 15days before Comic Fiesta 2010, it is time to install Ranmao's character in me. (okay, i just wanted to learn more of her poses.) hahaha~

so here is a small gallery of Ranmao cosplays from Curecos - starting with the cutest Ranmao~nyan!

Ranmao cosplay by RIMUTA

well, that wraps up all the cute and sexy Ranmao cosplayers for today. time to get back to the sewing room!

Ranmao WIP update

2010-12-04T05:06:00.001+08:00

i added the yellow details (i know you cannot see the long slits in the middle of the yellow detail on the cuffs ;_;) on the sleeves and made the anklets. still have to find little bells to attach to the anklets, and get purple fabric dye to finish the dress design (or maybe i will cheat by sewing purple appliqué). XD

also i redo the corset lacing because Ranmao's corset is laced in white ribbon while my Bodyline corset was laced in black ribbon. lacing up a corset took forever and countless redo (usually because of one careless 'knit' like if you were to knit a 30-something wide wool scarf). after the lacing was completed, i took another hour to resize the corset to fix to my waist measurement (because the corset has a zipper on the side to allow a quick change).

now that is done, i am this much closer to completing Ranmao's costume (have not worked on her shoes and wig yet). so, after that hungryous all-nighter, it is time for bed. *zzzzz*

Ranmao & Lau WIP & my tailor

2010-12-03T09:03:00.001+08:00

earlier this week i went to my tailor to collect the costumes for wgfai (who could not go) and mine too. misao went together with me since he had an assignment to do. ^__^

my tailor is located in a very hidden place in salak south (or salak selatan), borderline to sri petaling. i could not tell you where exactly she is since i only know the place by remembering the way there. but i do know she makes me really fitting costumes even if she is just a normal tailor (not a specialised fancy pansy costume maker).

i first year met Madam Yong when i was in high school to make my librarian school uniform (which was all green in color, blouse and skirt) introduced by mummy (her long time friend). the second year, she made my first cosplay costume - Éclair from Kiddy Grade (yeah, i know, really old school for a first, instead of going for something popular at the time like Naruto or Bleach).

every year after the first costume, i went back to Madam Yong to make one costume each time, so to commemorate the number of years that i have cosplayed. my second costume was Sachiko from Maria-sama ga Miteru, third and fourth was Seras Victoria from Hellsing (anime and manga versions of the same character made at the same time), and my most recent is Ranmao from Kuroshitsuji.

in total five costumes of mine represent the five years since i started to cosplay (now in my fifth year). Madam Yong was also a big inspiration to me to make my own costumes - she was always very friendly and encouraging. the first costume i completed on my own was Simca from Air Gear - inspired by my second costume Sachiko. sure, i don't make mine as perfect, but we all have to start from scratch.

even after i started sewing my own costumes or ordering tailored costumes online, i still went back to get one costume tailored at the end of every year (or two costumes together for two years' worth) from Madam Yong. i wonder if there are other cosplayer who has a dedicated tailor for their costumes?

Maid Melody 「メイド・メロディ」

2010-12-01T19:37:00.003+08:00

i was driving home one day, and got stuck in a terribly congested highway (and to think i have to pay the toll to drive on the highway), and my mind wondered away to thoughts of maid and masters. so i came up with a song, inspired by maid cafes, entitled Maid Melody. i hope you enjoy it~!

dear master (lady), hear me now
i think of you all the time
welcome you with a bow
ready to serve any time.

i know you like hot tea
milky sweet and mildly warm
two cubes of sugar and
our secret wishing charm.

your favourite cake is here
a slice topped with a cherry
i draw a chocolate bear
and wish you will be happy.

dessert before main course
its our little secret
in my heart in silence
no space for any regrets.

oh, dear, look at the time
it is almost time to leave
don't be late; just on time
to meet your busy schedule.

the cleaning has been done
the mansion is so quiet
the maids all miss you dearly
so we await your return.

the end~ i hope you like the lyrics (read it in a sing-song voice). ^____^

by the way, i have updated the list of Malaysia maid-themed cafes with the addition of Maid Cafe (in Klang Parade) and a little update on Tenshi no Cafe.

Bodyline and me~

2010-11-25T22:30:00.001+08:00

it is that time again - time for shopping! i needed a few items to complete my costumes for Comic Fiesta 2010, so i thought, where else better to get them than Bodyline? XD

here are the contents of the DHL box from Bodyline. they were all in Japan just 48 hours ago! these are orders from the November Bodyline GO (group order).

caution: camwhoring ahead!

first item, my new gigantic flower hair clip!

second item, my first corset!

as you can see, the corset is easily tightened to the minimum (OR my waist is small).

here a close-up of the black rose lace details! *love*

i'm so sorry for wearing a black top with the black corset (in case you wanted to see more details on the corset). i quickly tried on the corset right after i got home in the evening. >__<

the third and final item i ordered was a pair of white lace gloves. this one is for that secret CF Day2 costume i was talking about. hehehe~

now that pleasure is done, its time to work - packing the items individually to post them out tomorrow evening.

Strawberry Cake

2010-11-25T08:02:00.001+08:00

i made a strawberry cake for a birthday celebration last weekend. XD mind you, i wanted to try strawberry-flavoured Adabi cucur at first, but the recipe at the back of the flour packet has instructions for muffins, so instead of deep fry (too oily), i chose to bake (my specialty)! if not for cucur flour, i would have made the cake from scratch since i rarely use ready mix. *show off*

wait, you don't believe there is such thing as strawberry-flavoured cucur flour from Adabi? well, i had to look twice at the supermarket shelf at first too. have a look at the following photos!

the ingredients i used were Adabi strawberry flavoured flour, butter, egg, water, and sugar. for this cake, i used a rectangle tray to bake.

the instructions were simple and easy - combine, mix and bake! there were not many tools required for this process. in fact, i used an upside-down tupperware as a makeshift cake tray and cake box. haha~

after baking for 20 minutes, i cut the cake in half to get two squares, iced the centre with icing and strawberry, and piped on the pink icing. the icing? oh, i made that on my own. what a sin.

then finally, ta-dah! a pretty-in-pink strawberry cake fit for a strawberry lover. i would definitely try this recipe again. ♥♥♥

Animangaki 2010 - photostory

2010-11-01T08:54:00.001+08:00

i shall keep text to a minimum and leave more space to share my photos from Animangaki!

i met up with the K-ON members in the changing room, fixed some wigs and makeup, and we were off to the hall. by noon, the hall was already super crowded but due to the size of the venue, we were still able to move in a group without losing each other or bumping/knocking/stepping/breaking into someone/armour/weapon/gown/wings.

after touring the doujin booths and hanging around to watch the stage activities, we had our lunch picnic in the female cosplayer's room, went to Hibiki Tokai Productions studio room for a photoshoot, and also laughed ourselves silly with an unguided tour in the Haunted House attraction. as the event continues, i stayed to watch cosplay performances while some have left. i also played WS at Little Akiba booth before i left for home.

sorry for the tl;dr text - i promise there will be only photos ahead!

Sawako-sensei guides the K-ON club trip to Animangaki!

my fellow students and honourary club members~

figurines and toys display area

half of the entire doujin booths in the event hall - so crowded!

emcees of the day - HisashiGlay & Dante!

lots of band performances at the end of the day!

the end? no, wait, there is still the next year - see you at Animangaki 2011!

Daiso in IOI mall~

2010-11-01T08:24:00.001+08:00

once again, i made a stop at Daiso back at IOI mall last weekend. there were several interesting things i saw there this time~ first, the layout has changed as they rearranged the shelves where the food section was previously, and now they are at the left corner from the entrance (i think it is a good idea so people don't crowd nearby the cashier while choosing their snacks). second, there were some good stuff which i still cannot find - i guess they do not really restock everything.

now, lets get on with the photos!

cute stuffs at the arts and craft aisle~

fleece neckwarmers! just wear it like a pre-tied necktie.

it was not my plan but i saw a pair of dark grey thigh-high socks so i bought it. XD found some super large ziplock bags, so i bought two sets (3-in-1 small and one large sizes) too.

dimsum breakfast~

2010-10-30T11:42:00.000+08:00

i have seen some spell "dimsum" as "timsum" but as long as we get the point across, let's not argue on that, alright? early today it was already raining, but since my family were all awake, we decided to go out for some breakfast at our usual dimsum place.

since the little plates the restaurant provided were cleanly white the sauces were in squeeze bottles, i had an itch to draw a cute face! i need more practice though. haha~

after a few dishes (where several pieces had fat juicy shrimps in the filling), the kitty face on the plate has been smeared, leaving only a little bit of whiskers surviving from my breakfast.

Nail Art - Her Dark Hearts ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

2010-10-30T11:32:00.000+08:00

earlier this week, i had painted my nails black for a video shoot (for an assignment). but i felt sayang to remove it so soon. so i decided to add a little design to it and wear the black for a little longer! i used five different shades from white to pink on each heart, but i only painted hearts on my left hand nails (the right hand nails are just plain black now but i plan to add a music note design).

as i do not have any fine paint brushes, i used the tip of the polish brush to paint the hearts on. first, drop a blob of polish as the center of the heart. second, flatten the brush and drag the brush tip from above the center down diagonally. as you pull the brush past the center blob, lift quickly to leave a sharp point as the heart bottom "V" shape. finally, repeat the second step for the other half of the heart.

alternatively, you can try to drop a larger blob in the first step, and then use the brush tip to drag the blob outwards in a "V" shape in three directions to create the heart.

triangle sandwich maker!

2010-10-29T08:20:00.002+08:00

i could not remember when or where had i seen this triangle sandwich maker before, but i remember the price stopped me from buying it, but i really wanted to try it - and now i own one! i bought it from the 'plastic-all-RM5-each' pile at Ace Hardware in Sunway Pyramid.

yesterday morning , i made some scrambled egg (with added mayo, since milk was still too cold from sitting in the fridge). then i pressed the triangle sandwich maker on the bread (with egg and cheese, and spicy tuna fillings) and packed it for lunch at college (i had a 3-hour break between classes). here are a couple sandwich, pictured along with my law notes~

it was kinda hard to 'stamp' the bread out (it took me a minute or two to press just one sandwich) so i would recommend using it on a totally flat surface like a chopping board (i pandai pandai pressed it on a plate).

Daiso in Sunway Pyramid~

2010-10-29T08:09:00.003+08:00

since i have visited Daiso at various locations, i could not help but to check out the newest branch in Sunway Pyramid which opened on 2 October. although i did not buy anything from my recent trip there, but i did see a lot of things that made me go rambang mata. there were little at the snacks section, but there was a pretty well-stocked section for arts and crafts (with some Japanese fabric quarters!) as well as a good selection of cute bento accessories. here are the photos from the bento and craft supplies sections~

i would definitely go back again, but only when necessary, as the outlet in IOI (largest in Malaysia after Sabah and Melaka branch) has sufficient supplies for me to throw my money at. haha~

all that is well, ends well

2010-10-22T14:06:00.003+08:00

this week had been unpredictable, i think. there weren't many events that happened, but those little moments were the ones that matters and left a big impression on me. perhaps it was because of the absence of english language classes this week? ^__^;;;

let's talk a little about food today! i am starving for supper~ plus, it has been half a years since i last wrote my monthly food theme.

this month, i made these (suspicious & questionable) yummies:

easter pie: i forgot to put extra cheese for the filling! it turned out dry but maybe because i modified the filling to what i wanted to eat..

apple pie: i thought it was only a caution on the recipe, but there really were lots of overflowing apple juice! i know, weird crust (it stuck to the tray).

chocolate cookies: these are my favourite type of bake - simple and neat to eat!

from left: i made hot green tea (bought from Daiso) while dad made lipton tea.

have a happy weekend~

yet another bad day..

2010-10-19T23:51:00.048+08:00

when is it ever gonna get better? *cries*

this morning i was all dressed and ready to go for that singular class of the day (which was due to follow with an afternoon session in Times Square with friends) BUT the car had to break down before i could drive it past the first traffic light from home. just like that. it screeched loudly. it stopped. and it smells like burnt rubber (i swear i can still smell some of it now). i managed to drive the car back home slowly and that was the end of the day. (dude, i am NOT going to drive a screeching car 30km into the city!) so i skipped two classes this week already (yesterday and today). *cries more*

sucky days are just gonna get suckier. but they say third time is the charm, so perhaps a brighter day lay ahead? well, it better be! i have an all important interview coming up (way to go, i just jinxed it). such a horrible, terrible, incorrigible start to the week. at least i got to browse more Bodyline stuff.

i was browsing dA today and i came across this exceptionally good piece of print for Bodyline. the best part was the artist really truly works for Bodyline, albeit textile/fabric designer. she mentioned that it was probably due to be released in late-2010, but i hope it might take some time longer because i only ration myself to get one Bodyline JSK yearly. take a look at her designs!

cheers to XxViolentxLolitaxX!

why i am interested in lolita? because it comforts me.

sad day...

2010-10-18T23:17:00.028+08:00

there are days when you have ups, and there are days that get you down. what a fluctuation compared to my recent post here. perhaps you might just leave this page and return another day when you don't think yours truly is in PMS mode.

even though there are such unforgiving days, you must make some use of it. after all, don't they say, if you get lemons, make lemonade! lemons are sour citrus fruits, but you can still sprinkle some sugar and ice in the lemon juice and make delicious lemonade.

since i skipped today's afternoon class, i spend the entire class hour at home doing my own reading for Corporate Communication subject - reading an entire business weekend newspaper pullout. after lunch, i took some time to sew since i was not bothered enough to do anything else.

the front~

the back~

i took my own sweet time to sew this lace bow シュシュ hair-tie. the fabric elastic band is temporary. i'll find a proper black hair-tie or a blank barrette clip to glue this on later. but for now, i will wear this to class tomorrow, on a high ponytail.

at the end of the day, i did not feel worse but nothing better either. of course, while i was sewing i was happy to be sewing and not thinking about anything else. now i also feel slightly better thinking about wearing my new piece to class tomorrow.

happy day!

2010-10-14T23:54:00.057+08:00

you would think with a title like the above, i had had a happy day today? your guess is right - yes, i was a very happy girl today!

let's highlight what were the little things that made my day:

the arrival of a long-(nearly-)lost parcel to complete my Sawako costume
the compliments about my new clothes which i received a day ago
the fun lunch with my coursemates
and an unexpected email!

now, i shall begin in (almost correct) chronological order, so i will write about yesterday first. ^____^ after i got home on wednesday, there was a large flat parcel waiting for me. i grabbed it and tore it open - there it was, my first batch of new clothes for the new semester! first batch? yes, these were not on the previous post where i listed a number of items i wanted to wear... but nanaC was having a sale - four items for RM50! now, if you knew i had a cheapskate eye for clothes, then you bet i bought four new pieces! take a look:

thursday morning was a little bit of a rush as i ended up driving to college instead of taking the LRT. but nevermind that. i was wearing my new grey top which received comments that say it made me look like a ballerina due to the tutu frill detail. ^__^;; i wish to ask forgiveness from all the ballerinas in the world coz i am not a ballerina and i can hardly act like one (well, just in case you are offended that i had looked a little like one).

during the 3-hour break between classes, i joined my coursemates for lunch at Sushi King as they were having a promotion - RM2 for all rice-based items on the kaiten belt (but there was a 1-hour time limit to eat, probably to accommodate the growing crowd in the queue for the promo too). there was only so much i could eat - i wanted to eat only the unagi ones but i would probably poison myself, so i got distracted by all the other yummy tako and whatnots on the belt.

after i got home today, there was yet another parcel albeit a much smaller one. first thing that came to my mind was, "could it possibly be...?" i opened it up, sat down and counted each tooth that poured out of the small ziplock bag. all 30 pieces of tooth (animal fangs) had arrived safely, a 5-week long wait from Hong Kong. i thought i had lost them all at the customs. ;_;

later in the evening, i went online to send a message to the seller to let them know i have received the tooth/fangs. then... while i was reading my emails, i noticed an interview invitation! interview invitation? i cannot say it is an 'invitation' if i went through the trouble to apply fior it, right? well, whatever you call it, it will be quite a casual sit-down chat with the company representative for the interview. what did i apply for? that is for me to know, and for you to guess. *happy*

i am so ドキドキ excited - i am waiting on my toes for the interview! *prepares my cutest clothes early*

Malaysia maid-themed cafes

2010-10-08T21:49:00.014+08:00

have you heard of the popular maid cafes in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan; such as cure, @home, and maidreamin? don't you just wish to visit one of those maid cafes? because i myself dream of visiting a maid cafe in japan! perhaps, butler cafes too.

however, the closest i ever got to a cafe maid was: Ryomou Shimei (one of my previous cosplay character who works part-time in a maid cafe). why? you have to understand it is not that cheap to travel in japan, at least for me. so, let's get started on a list of maid-themed cafes, here in Malaysia!

♔

kissA Koyotei
http://kissa-koyotei.com

No148, Ground Floor, Jalan Hutton, Georgetown, Penang

kissA Koyotei is most likely the first maid-themed cafe to emerge in Malaysia, according to my memory. it has been running since 2007. they serve japanese cuisine and attracts lunch crowd for the bento sets (most reviewers are happy with the food) but non-halal. the maid uniforms may change over time (but all will wear the same dress design), and changes by color (they started with all-red, i think it is all-orange now). service-wise, they don't serve you with master-maid relation, so i'll warn you that they don't specialise in cafe maid treatment.
what to expect: bento lunch, or dinner with sake, when in Penang.

♔

Snowy Healthy Dessert Home

F1.AV.113, First Floor, Asian Avenue, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, 3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Snowy has been around since 2008 and serves dessert specialties such as fruit desserts. there are also main course items which are suitable for lunch or dinner - no pork served; i am unsure if it is truly certified halal. unlike the point system of Akiba's maid cafes, here they offer fixed discounts for students who show their student cards upon ordering. the cafe maids are dressed in pink gingham uniforms (which are pretty short) and there is no cafe maid service as the concept takes a hint from HK-style due to the owner's background, instead of Akiba-style cafes.
what to expect: student discounts for lunch, when in Sunway.
extra: i read here that it had planned to open branches in Mid Valley Megamall, Sungei Wang Plaza, and The Curve.

♔

Moe De Cafe
http://www.facebook.com/pages/moe-de-cafe/123573640988149

K-Gallery, Lot G-2, Ground Floor, Lot 44667, Jalan 1/62A, Bandar Menjalara, 52100 Kuala Lumpur

Unit B-9-G, Sunway Giza, Jalan PJU 5/14, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

when i heard of this cafe at the end of 2009, they were in their recruitment drive for cafe maids without much information. they were being very unclear about their address (c'mon, how are we to locate you?) but i was excited to hear an outlet was opening in Kepong as it was accessible via MRR2 or LDP. the good news, it has a large library of comics with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all full! the bad news, it reminds me of Singapore's Cosafe Restaurant & Bar, because it opens until past midnight and aims to push the beer sales - obviously non-halal. the cafe maids wear colourful uniforms (with each maid in different maid dress) but also no master-maid experience.
what to expect: tons of comics, lots of beer, when in KL or Damansara.
extra: ~~i read that it had planned to open one branch in Sunway Giza (Kota Damansara).~~ added new address!

♔

Kirameki Maid & Cosplay Cafe
http://kirameki-cafe.blogspot.com/

Lot 92a & 93, Star City Link Bridge, 88800 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Kirameki is the first entry into the maid-themed cafe in East Malaysia as it opened in september 2010. the cafe maids strive to serve you as maid to master - an experience to get to know on your own. they are dressed in black-white and red-white coordinated uniforms. the menu serves typical items from Akiba's maid cafes, including onomatopoeia-sounding foods, in their own naming style. Kirameki is a simple place but why clutter your "home" when you can indulge in the cafe maid experience?
what to expect: maid cafe-styled menu, master-maid treatment, when in KK.

♔

Maid Cafe
http://www.facebook.com/maidcafe

28A, Pelangi Avenue, Jalan Kelicap 42A/KU1, 41050 Klang, Selangor

aptly named after its own cafe concept, Maid is yet another addition to the growing number of maid-themed cafes in the klang valley (it is located in front of Klang Parade) which opened in november 2010. the maids are dressed in colourful uniformed dresses (sadly, no lace katsusha/headdress, so you can guess it will be strictly dining served by waitresses in maid costumes) while the modern décor takes a strong white and orange theme (contrary to their logo). the menu is unknown at the moment (but it does look like another HK-style maid cafe menu with main course, a la carte and drinks).
what to expect: non-halal food, when in Klang.

♔

Little Pantry
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Pantry/156600777719405

G02 & G18, Ground Floor, IOI Mall Puchong, Bandar Puchong, Batu 9, Jalan Puchong, Puchong, Malaysia, 47100

only a month away from the previous maid-themed cafe opening, Little Pantry opened in mid December 2010. the décor is majorly white accented with sweet pink (reminds me of a cross between Full House and Gardens restaurant.). its FB page informs that they serve "western and asian food in a european home concept." the maids are dressed in pink maid uniform with apron and matching lace katsusha/headdress, but the japanese maid cafe resemblance ends there.
what to expect: set lunch, special occasions, when in Puchong.

♔

Tenshi no Café 天使の喫茶
http://blogs.animetsu.com/cafe.php

LG18, e@Curve, 2, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

finally, an upcoming maid cafe, Tenshi no Cafe is scheduled to open in e@curve (formerly Cineleisure) on 22 January 2011 - so that means one more maid cafe to look forward to!

Updated: Friday, 21 January 2011

new semester fatigue

2010-10-07T12:49:00.000+08:00

this has been a rather strange week, but i think i can explain why.. of late, i have been feeling sleepy easily and hungry soon after each meal too!

usually i can stay up really late into the night, way past 12midnight, but last night i could only stay until ten past midnight and i really could not keep my eyes open any longer. most likely because i sleep all the way into the afternoon during semester break last month, and now i have to re-adjust to the morning timetable. also, i get sleepy after lunch break hour, but that was probably because food+heat=sleep.

oh, the hunger issue is more serious. you could say i am eating half times more than my usual portion for each meal, so far this week. not only that, i also snack in between meals and get hungry not long after the previous meal. =__=;;; AND i don't feel full no matter how much i eat (i know there is a real disorder for this but i am sure i am not affected) until i burp (which then i can feel some food going half way up my throat) which tells me STOP, YOU ARE BLOATED. i think it's the hormones due to 'time of the month', but one fellow Gemini did experience similar hunger level (but not as serious i think) so i was thinking maybe some stars and planets position is causing Geminis to overeat this week. well, i hope it is only for this week.

or else i might grow into a large mushroom - but people will tell me, "hey, you're not that much now, won't hurt to eat a little more to lose that stick figure." well, excuse me but i do not want to lose or gain any weight! i am happy with what i already have for years.

new semester, new outfits

2010-10-05T05:33:00.000+08:00

i want some new clothes, please!

a cute fluffy top, don't you think?

mostly my choices are dresses (and long-sleeved, because lecture halls are freezing cold even when Malaysia weather can be scorching hot), partly because i don't want to wear jeans anymore (except on days when leggings are not advisable). for wearing dresses, i had been mistaken once or twice by my coursemates for lolita. maybe they were meaning ita - sore eye fashion (to them). and sometimes, students who walk past me will sneak a giggle saying "auntie" to their friends, or try to snap a photo to make fun of this weirdo on FB. even a couple of my own relatives teased me for Lady Gaga likeliness - that i don't mind since i love her to bits, but am quite insulted since i don't see any resemblance in the first place.

all i did was wear dresses (sometimes skirt+blouse) with leggings (see? covering skin), mary janes or boots (prcatical for walking and rainy days), and a beret (because it ~~protects my hair~~ is cute); none of which are against the college dress code. nothing truly lolita; nothing erotic or sexy or revealing; and absolutely nothing ita. who are you to judge me? even if you are twice as senior as Twiggy, i will still wear my choice of clothes because it makes me comfortable. if you thought wearing alternative fashion daily was difficult, think again. even normal fashion sense in a no-nonsense environment will reward you with stares.

sneer and jeer all you want, but i still want these!

you might have noticed my picks are in grey and black-white coordinates~ i want to add more grey to my wardrobe because grey is my color for 2010. ^____^ initially my picks were grey-pink-white, but i screwed up with pink, so i decided to play safe without it.

what is/was your color for this season/year?

it's sem break! day 23

2010-09-24T22:31:00.007+08:00

oh dear! look at how the time flies! my new semester will resume next week, and i still have so much things i want to do! and look! i'm so hyped up i cannot stop typing exclamation marks! today! tomorrow!

oh, before i go on, an announcement:

this is a scheduled post written in advance of published time~

because i was afraid i might be so tired and forgot to update my blog for today, i decided to schedule one. why tired? well, i am busy tonight. why busy? i am at an event tonight. what event?

Arthur's Day in Malaysia!

basically, when you read this (if immediately after this goes online) i am either still in sunway, or on my way home with mizuiro and mummy (thanks for the ticket~). either way, i would be too tired to update my blog on time. so here i am, sharing the info about arthur's day event:

Date: 24 September 2010
Time: 8pm
Venue: Surf Beach @ Sunway Lagoon
Dress code: Black party chic

i was surprised to see dress code. onoes. i have to find a good set of black outfit that will be comfy for a mosh pit area. okay, i cannot say i am certain i will be getting access to the mosh pit (gold zone), or far far away (black zone). but i still expect a large crowd at an international event. i missed last year's because i was working part time during the semester break, but not this year. =D

the artists i look forward to see are Flo-rida and Melissa Indot. i have watched Sean Kingston perform live before, so not much on must-see list. the other artists include:

Colby O'Donis
Pop Shuvit
Mizz Nina
DJ Fuzz
Thaitanium

kilmenyanne would smack me for going to a beer-related celebration and don't drink - but the fact is, i don't drink. beer. its not my kinda drink i guess. she would also kill me if suddenly, Snow Patrol appeared to be performing live here. now you know why i am going to Arthur's Day right? *wink*

okay, i dont want to drag you down reading this entire scroll of text with no photos, so watch out for my next post! i'll upload whatever photos mummy and i took from tonight~

it's sem break! day 22

2010-09-23T23:07:00.003+08:00

happy mid-autumn festival~ it is sometimes shortened to "lantern festival" or "mooncake festival" etcetera. where do these people get their ideas. tsktsk. anyway, the actual festival was yesterday, but i was busy eating mooncake, so i am sharing the home-made snowskin mooncakes i mentioned here today.

home-made pandan snowskin mooncakes with white lotus paste filling~

these few were dotted to separate them from the ones with fillings mixed with kuaci seeds. yes, i wanted the plain filling all to myself. hahaha~ of course, i am only joking - you know that, right?

a day in september seems to be incomplete without a parcel from somewhere. so click the jump to continue reading if you have not tired from my month-long shopping craze. includes something from AFAX too~

DHL shipment from Bodyline Japan~

this is the final batch from Bodyline for the month of september. there is one more parcel won from ebay that should be arriving this week, but looks like there is no news of it until today. mr.Kastam, please don't hold my bag of fake wolf teeth! the next parcel will be arriving mid-october, but that was helping a friend to order something online.

finally, bought one AFAX VIP ticket for 14nov (hall + stage + I ♥ Anisong concert). i bought it around 6pm, but still managed to get allocated to the right aisle on sixth row (dotted in green). later tonight, AFA Facebook announced that Gatecrash has changed their system for purchasing AFAX tickets - now you cannot view your seating location prior to purchase! i think that is really unfair. we are paying SGD118 but we can only pray behind the LCD monitor that we got some good seating somewhere.

people are getting really annoyed with the system and would go to the extend of claiming a refund if their ticket seating was allocated differently from purchased online. so what i will do is, camp at the AFAX ticket registration counter in hopes of an unhappy customer who wants a refund and then buy his/her ticket. why?

well, just so you know, you will not be able to get a seat any nearer than row O (15th row) after you read this.. and the ticket does not belong to me (helping miracle to order once more) so pray that i can still get my AFAX VIP tickets later (not enough funds now).

i just realised - this is my first post about AFAX! oh, the memories from AFA08 flooding in~

it's sem break! day 21

2010-09-22T22:57:00.000+08:00

one more parcel~ today's delivered item was a disappointment i must say. well, it is after all a very suspicious item to spend one's money on. but for the sake of experiment, here we go...

do you want to take a guess what is inside? it is described as "electronic" on the customs declaration slip but i think it is the wrong label. it is NOT an electronic item. hint: its is a small handheld machine (that's why i placed my hand in the pic to show the size).

as i have mentioned my disappointment, i think there is no need to describe why i was disappointed with the photo i am showing you here. yes, it was shipped cheap in a flat bubble-wrap envelop. but the item box was crushed badly. why is it that if the Kastam open a parcel for inspection, the item always return nice and neat, but if it was unchecked it would be really blah.

it is a sewing stapler! silly item huh? i will explain how it works. first, put in spool of thread. second, thread through the little hooks and holes. third, 'sew' your clothe item (make sure it is not too thick) like how you use a stapler. fourth, rip all the thread out and get frustrated. fifth, try again and realise that the needle broke after you try to sew on some thicker part of the clothing. finally, complain or throw it to a bunch of student engineers to reverse engineer their new toy.

for this experiment, i picked a red pants which had the edges fraying due to loosen thread. i started to stapler the cloth and here is my result (the right photo above). the left seam is the back side of the sewing (which i accidentally sew it on the outer side of the pants) near where i started, and you can see my first attempt created an unstable sewing line. the right seam was towards the end of my sewing attempt, and you can see i am sewing/staplering more stably (its the inner side of the pants but front side of sewing thread).

it looks nice and neat but only if you have the patience to sew one line over and over for about a gazillion times and only able to achieve a few inches of perfection. as you can see from the photo above, i ripped out quite a lot of thread in order to get a short line of perfect sewing.

i will blog more tomorrow! tonight is yumcha night with a few friends - going out now. yes, in case you are wondering, i will be meeting a bunch of engineering students - i have a new toy for them.

it's sem break! day 20

2010-09-21T19:33:00.002+08:00

more incoming parcels! i think the postmen assigned to my area must be royally annoyed, wondering how many are being sent to my address. just today, they took 3-4 trips to my home for delivery! (yes, i lost count.) could they just send everything in one go? apparently there must be a glitch in the system today. XD

more delivery for today~

i took a photo of these two before i received yet another delivery from the next postman. one was ordered from cosplay.com and one from taobao.com - can you guess which?

sorry, you got the answer wrong. or most likely. haha~ the white box containing a black skirt is from cosplay.com while the brown wig is from taobao. i just cannot think why would the Kastam want to open the box containing a skirt. i bet they had a hard time stuffing the skirt back in - because it really does give an extra large poofy volume! i have not tried it with any skirt or JSK yet. as for the brown wig, it was supposed to be red-brown, but i squint and blink and stared - no trace of red found. oh well, at least if it cannot fit Haruko i can still use it for Sawako.

RM120 (US$40) for the black pannier skirt was expensive but well worth the volume you get. (when i was removing it from the box, it really looked like i was taking out a whole lump of dry black seaweed!) RM106 for a wrong coloured wig? at least i can use it for my next character.

last delivery of the day was for an item i won on ebay. it is really cute and matches all my bento case and accessories which i initially bought from Daiso. i have not seen this one around in Daiso, so i decided to grab it from ebay for RM21 (US$7). three times the price from Daiso (RM5) but it comes with stamps. lol. it still does not justify the price difference. oh well. novelty is novelty.

6 sauce bottles with animal caps!

lookie - the envelop has stamps! =) more for my collection.

it's sem break! day 19

2010-09-20T23:24:00.124+08:00

potatoes and parcels!

okay, i am cheating. the potatoes were made yesterday, but that doesn't mean i cannot blog about it today. haha~ remember my Potatoes recipe book which i bought from the recent Book Fest? yesterday i took note of two recipes and tried them for dinner. here are the results!

baked potato chips and potato croquettes - yummy!

total time: 2 hours. first, i quickly prepared the potato slices, and chuck them in the over for baking up to 40 minutes for the "baked potato chips." i can't call them "french fries" since i did not fry it and neither are they "baked potatoes" because usually that item would be stuffed with yummy bits, but mizuiro did call them "baked potato wedges."

then, i started to prepare all ingredients for the "potato croquettes" which turned out quite burnt because i deep-fry them in oil that was too hot. (i told you i am better at stir-fry instead. or i need to learn how to guess oil temperature.) anyway, for the croquettes, the potatoes were boiled in milk according to the recipe, and then there were some left over creamy milk, so i turned it into white sauce dip for the baked potato chips. not bad for first try, more especially when achieved in 2 hours!

now, back to today. i received two parcels! okay, i should stop getting all jumpy and excited over all parcel deliveries because i have already received SO many this month. half of them was due to Bodyline sale craze, but a parcel is a parcel. every successful delivery makes my heart go doki-doki until i open it up.

look at the size of the two parcels!

what's inside? well, the smaller yellow envelop contains a skull necklace, to be attached to my sawako-sensei costume. (skull pendant is a hidden watch!) i will be ripping the chain away, and hang it on my costume choker. i won this bid from ebay and the shipping took 11days (including weekends).

then, the larger parcel... has lots of large stamps! okay, that is only on the outside, but i do collect stamps, so i will be glad to add these giant stamps along with my China stamps.

anyway, the inside is the hoopskirt which was mentioned earlier here about underskirts. it is a 3-layer 3-hoop crinoline skirt. i bought it from a wedding-related ebay seller (is there such description?) and it took 16 days to arrive. i tried it and it gave much better volume than the one tailored for me two years ago, but i was a little disappointed that the lowest layer hoop was not as long as i thought. the photo is accurate though (the last hoop is hanging way above floor level).

each item bought above were RM8 and RM80 respectively. what a coincidence that they arrived on the same day~

it's sem break! day 18

2010-09-19T17:52:00.031+08:00

i have returned to browsing archived pages from Bodyline once again. yes, that means i was spending too much time online than i should be. here are some old tote bags which were available on Bodyline site in the past:

this bloody Alice print tote must be around 2 years old.

currently, Bodyline is selling both the same print but in red canvas.

in case you are wondering, yes, i browse through Bodyline international/English site entire archive page by page. i have found some interesting old stuff they used to design, and some of them are restocked until recently too, while most of the good stuff never make a return to available stocks, and thank goodness the not-so-good stuff do not find their way back to restock availability.

it's sem break! day 17

2010-09-18T23:45:00.071+08:00

lazy day!

there was not much done today, but tomorrow i will be helping mummy to make snowskin mooncakes for this week's mid-autumn festival. snowskin mooncakes are no-bake mooncakes which are simply chilled after removed from the mooncake mould. not only they are delicious, you can save a lot with home-made ones because confectioneries sell them quite expensive due to high demand.

later at night, i was blog hopping. i was reading several lolita blogs at one time including blogs by Caro-chan and Victoria Suzanne. suddenly, one of the articles made me realise something about Bodyline fabric/print. for the past couple months, i have been browsing many, many local fabric blogshops. one of the print from Bodyline in 2008 matched a print i found sold in the blogshops!

the Bodyline JSK+headdress and tote bag print in white.

identical pink fabric on sale from MayMay's blogshop at RM90 for 4meters!

so if a Bodyline print was released in 2008, and it became commercially available in 2010, does that mean other Bodyline fabric/prints will too? i must admit, i am starting to realise that this is not the first fabric i saw sold at fabric blogshops which coincide with Bodyline prints, which gives me even stronger hopes that i will be able to buy the fabric/print after two years. if they will, i am so investing in a good sewing machine! *wink*

the Bodyline cake print JSK in white.

identical cake print from MayMay's shop again!

the aforementioned are only two prints i am sharing here. there are more prints which i think may have been used by Bodyline in the past but i might not have the original stock photo to compare with. have you noticed any Bodyline print in other fabric stores available commercially?

it's sem break! day 16

2010-09-17T23:46:00.101+08:00

a date with the tailor!

today wgfai and i met up at noon to hunt for our costume materials in Chinatown (aka Petaling Street). our scheduled debut will be with a dozen other group members at Comic Fiesta 2010 (CF10) on Day 1 (18 sept). hopefully, our entire team will make it as planning has been going on for a quarter year since i joined.

initially i wanted to cosplay maylene/meirin because i love maid characters. it was only later that xajin approached me with a proposal to join his Kuroshitsuji team for CF10 as ranmao. i could not resist to take her position because i do love her ~~sexy dress~~ mini cheongsam. again, it was a debate between character personality (maylene/meirin) and character design (ranmao). something i am accustomed to already, so deciding was not too difficult.

right now on ranmao's to-do list, i need to:

paint the butterfly print (after the tailor finished sewing)
style her wig
make her hair corsage
find a black corset
build weapon props
attach bells to anklet and spray gold
find black ballerina flats or chinese fabric shoes

wgfai will simply have to find a nice blue sash (a long scarf will do) to complete lau's costume. no fair! but he did have to fork out for more fabric since his costume is really long. however, the amount of cloth i picked was just enough to sew everything together; so exact that the tailor complained (again) that i had better provide her more cloth next time, just in case! (well, it was not her fault; i always buy just enough cloth.)

so that will be 25% completed for CF day1! as for CF day2 costume, i have been stuck at 25% for a very long time now. hopefully this year i will be able to debut on time~ wish me luck! *scribbles ganbatte everywhere*

it's sem break! day 8

2010-09-09T23:39:00.000+08:00

it's meet-high-school-friends day! well, it only involved mine and nquowei's own cliques, but there could have been others who happen to be doing the same thing today. might you have planned the same too?

in the morning, i was at the post office to send several parcels at the post office. then kilmenyanne drove us to minori's place to fetch her, as we were carpooling to IOI mall. we met up with tharani, and then contemplated which movies to watch in replacement of the cancelled Expendables 12noon slot. we decided to skip it and went straight to the next agenda on today's to-do list: lunch!

first choice was Papa John's but it happened to be unusually full at lunch time for the last day of fasting, so we walked into Seoul Garden next door. the bbq-steamboat buffet offered student price (after tax) RM25.xx per person (the receipt was RM100.xx for four pax). boy, did we eat the buffet money's worth! a delish selection of meats (no pork) marinated in various sauce and spice, wide variety of side dishes, colourful dessert (ice cream or shaved ice with choice of your own toppings), some fruits, and free-flow hot and cold drinks!

we started with a very clean grill plate (and the end result was a very hard to clean grill plate)!

the view (a quarter) of the buffet spread, with rice/noodle, dipping sauce and cold side dish closest to our table~

start by filling up your plate (these are the seafood stuff)...

...and cook! we chose tom yam soup for the steamboat broth.

some items were misses (beef), but most (chicken and fish) were hits that we kept refilling! nothing went to waste as we ate every piece off our plates. self-sevice drinks available were hot teas and coffees, as well as cold teas and carbonated drinks. there are SO many ways to cook your food there, and i just want to go back there again to cook up new stuff! (garlic fish yakisoba with egg, anyone? yes, first time i find eggs at a bqq-steamboat place!) i just thought of this: pouring the shaved ice into a glass and fill it up with honey green tea = honey green tea slushie! hahaha~

tharani behind the camera and all photos in the restaurant! (except the first pic was from my phone camera.)

we know we took our sweet time to eat (probably like forever to the waiters) because we were the second last to leave among the lunch hour customers! i think i am converted: Seoul Place is a good place to sit, eat, and chat with friends for hours! sure, the waiters gave us weird looks wondering if these four girls came with bottomless stomachs or have they gone on an anorexic diet for a year and decided to eat again, but kilmenyanne was happy to watch the good-looking waiters pass by, minori and i were whispering about how the waiters were acting around our table, while tharani kept her plate full. XD

Daiso loot, embroidery badge with "A" initial, and J.Co half dozen box! (this one is my camera at work for the second time of the day~)

love~ love~ love!

moving on, we had no other plans to replace a good movie, so we went into girl mode for the next agenda: shopping! i bought bento stuff from Daiso, tharani got herself a book, minori got herself a guitar pick, and kilmenyanne bought J.Co donuts for her brother (the three of us bought one donut each too). window shopping was a good way to walk off the glorious lunch buffet, while being functional. i had not done 'physical' window shopping for a while now (mostly online 'window' shopping) so perhaps i might have acted like an excitable alien.

before we left, a whole host of camwhoring session ensued:

while we were walking...

while riding the escalator...

while on a flight of stairs in the middle of the mall...

and when we pass by the carousel!

it was a fun outing! thanks, kilmenyanne, minori, and tharani~ *hugs*

it's sem break! day 5

2010-09-06T22:50:00.006+08:00

expectations! for those who are in the same college as i am, the gruelling exam weeks are over, and some of us are (some are not) looking forward to the exam results. what can i say about my exam? i have four subjects this semester, and i will optimistically say i can pass three of them. the first one i am pretty sure i flunked it (the momentum to study had not started yet when i was supposed to be studying).

moving on to more delightful expectations, i am waiting for a ton of parcels to come in and twice as much to send out to others in september. rough calculations came up with 3-4 shipments from DHL, 1 USPS, 1 china post, and several local ones. i will be receiving parcels from japan, america, china, and of course malaysia itself (hopefully one from singapore too). at least half of these do not belong to me, but the things that i actually bought for myself are at least half the original price. *wink*

first off, Bodyline. (i know! you guys must be really sick and tired of listening to me mentioning Bodyline like when i was so actively checking out Daiso earlier this year.) i ordered a grey furry beret to go with my clothes this year (monochrome white, grey and black theme), a pair of knee socks to go with both my JSK (i tcan match with anything that has a hint of red and black too), and a pair of lace up black boots for an upcoming costume (also, i was dying for a shorter pair than my brown knee boots).

second, two underskirts. one is a poofy black pannier / petticoat / skirt, which will be coming in from the states. it was expensive on its own, but for the volume it is definitely value for money. i was informed that it is actually a professional ballet tutu but - gosh, i never knew ballerinas wear so much volume in a tutu! the other one was the auction that i mentioned recently, bought from ebay. it is a hoopskirt which should give me a medium volume under one of my costumes, as i dont expect much from a cheap one (well, relatively cheap to similar 3-hoop ones) from china.

third, a kabajillion more wigs coming in. there will be two wigs for sawako sensei and one for haruko kamio. i also have a few other wigs to buy, but i must sell off my current wig possessions to earn some money to afford new wigs. i need a new wig for haruhi suzumiya, jill valentine and CC. one of my group projects got delayed until next year, so i won't be getting a red ponytail wig soon, but it got replaced by ranmao which requires me to wear a lot of braid extensions.

fourth, costumes. i am not really into getting my costumes tailored anymore, but as a ritual, i always return to my first tailor to get one costume done each year, so that each one represent the number of years i have been cosplaying. most of the others will be sewn on my own. characters in the line up are:

CC - two versions (super delayed photoshoot)
haruko kamio - home singlet and jeans version (photoshoot debut)
jill valentine - RE3 STARS version (photoshoot debut)
sawako sensei - two version (animangaki debut)
ranmao - default version (CF day1 debut)
secret character A - grand prix version (CF day2 debut)
nirvana - default version (2011 debut)
haruhi suzumiya - middle school version (pending)
secret character B - default version (plan to cancel so i dont have to buy a red ponytail wig)

well, that's all for my shipment expectations. might you be expecting something something this month too? did i make september sound like my birthday or christmas? XD

it's sem break! day 4

2010-09-05T23:24:00.079+08:00

i turned the clock backwards! nah, i just changed the time by two hours back for this post because i fell asleep after dinner and then woke up at 1am because i remembered to blog first. haha~ so today's post will be in reverse chronological order (so i can start with juicy stuff first, instead of the boring morning).

finally, here are the carousel print and removable bow!

before dinner, i was out to berjaya times square to pick up my Carousel JSK from my courier. STOP YOUR THOUGHTS THERE. no, i absolutely, definitely, 100%ly, do not buy Bodyline stuff from ISOCKS. (when i first went to ISOCKS, the only item that i fell in love with was a Bodyline bunny maid set RM350 or so, but if i order direct from Bodyline it will be just over RM100.) it was just a coincidence i was there to collect my stuff in the evening. i did not even get a chance to walk into their shops when i left BTS.

the shirring back and bow ribbon.

anyway, i love my new jumperskirt. more especially now that it is sold out in both the international and japanese Bodyline sites, in black. but more importantly, it is because i love the print, and it was expensive. i am so glad it wasn't another beautiful print that uses polka dots. i feel allergic to polka dots, and even recently i am starting to accept polka dots as friendly things but i will not openly wear any thing with polka dots (only because i have polka dots on my 2009 Bodyline JSK).

it will require a ton of ironing due to being squished in its travel from Japan to KL to me. there will be no need to review it, except to say it is lovely. you do remember how excited i was when i ordered it a couple weeks ago? that translated into love for this print. and somehow that love generated the money to buy it. (no, actually i begged and stole from my savings) so now, i have one 2009 print and one 2010 print JSK from Bodyline. i cannot understand why few would buy this print:

this JSK has lots of removable parts, includes the back bow and front ribbon pearls.

prior to that, i spent the whole morning until afternoon arranging Bodyline orders for the 50% sale. the second group orders have been submitted, while the third/final group will be submitted when the bank clears interbank fund transfers to me. thank you so much to all who have been patient with me during the sale orders because sometimes i might drag the conversation late into the night or am not able to reply within a couple hours.

it's sem break! day 3

2010-09-04T23:53:00.087+08:00

i made it! yayness for my continuous blogging. haha~ i realised i have so much time in this semester break. as usual, the more free time, the more busy i get. not in a socialite schedule kind of busy, but other things. oh, you know. XD

last night i did not sleep at all. i was waiting until midnight for people to make payment, but in the end there was no payment coming in. so i end up sitting online throughout the night while browsing ebay. then i stumbled upon a really cheap auction for something i need for a future costume. i was looking for a really cheap one because i will not be using it frequently. plus, the other parts of the costume already cost me a bomb. everything else will be on a tight budget.

come 7am, i still had not have any sleep, yet i went out with kilmenyanne to college. luckily i managed to squeeze in a quick shower (bad idea because i would not be able to sleep in college later). at the LRT station, i opt for the RM10 one-day EZpass that RapidKL offered. however, the staff who updated my TnG card screwed up, SLOWLY processed the problem, and gave me a small grey paper as my one-day pass. never mind that because it allowed me to walk past the special gates, avoiding all queues. yay for one day.

i slept on the LRT (i don't know how i leaned on the left to sleep, but woke up with my beret fallen on my right!) but i could not sleep in the arctic college library while i waited for kilmenyanne's exams to finish at 11am. then dany joined the both of us to KLCC for the Popular Book Fest.

thanks to Moon (?) who offered us a ride to the nearest LRT station to college, she spared me the need to sleepwalk to the station. when we reached the convention center, i was thinking "oops!" because i had forgotten that there will be an entrance fee of RM2 for one day. there weren't any children's books within my budget, nor were there any stationeries i wanted. so i paid for two food books at the price of RM29.44 and quickly left Hall 4-5.

hunger struck us, that's why. i only packed some biscuits for breakfast on the way to college (mostly eaten in the LRT or waiting on the platform) and a bottle of water. by 2.30pm, we were eating curly fries at A&W. i bought the purrfect burger again because it comes with a cute grey kitten standing on my burger box. you should try one! the grey kitten will give you RM1 off the next purrfect burger purchase. i like it because i always liked fish fillet burgers (whether McD or A&W). XD

after a long chat over the meal, we decided to skip the trip to Kinokuniya because we were all tired and sleepy. both of them had little sleep due to late night studying, while i was awake all night for... ebay bidding. (i won as first bidder though! i always do. if i am a second or later bidder i cannot win it.)

on the way back on the LRT, i made a stop at Chinatown as planned, while kilmenyanne waited for me at the station platform. i made a quick purchase of black and red spools of thread and a pack of black snaps.

what did i do when i reached home? drop on the bed and slept beside Potatoes, one of my new books. i woke up waaay past dinner time, yet i went online to answer questions and calculated quotations for the online orders first. i started to feel hungry only after midnight which is this minute now while i am typing this last sentence so icanuploadsomephotosandpublishandgoeatmysupper.

it's sem break! day 2

2010-09-03T23:14:00.003+08:00

it is embarassing to admit, but i honestly did not manage to do any sewing projects today. i was occupied online. very occupied. *serious face* *ter-laugh*

due to unstable server issues over at Bodyline's international site, they have announced an extension for the 50% off sale. there were a few latecomers who were interested to place an order for the sale period, so i arranged a second sale group order for them. (yay~ achieved productivity by one point here: customer service.)

somewhere in mid-day, i was bored and because i can, i went over to my domain DNS to mess around and *POOF* i have a new subdomain. you can view the new blog here: http://shop.akikowolf.com (it looks pretty but it's empty). i do not have an official purpose for it; i just wanted to made sure i had something productive done - learning to mess with DNS settings. (half point for effort here. haha~)

there was not much 'window shopping' done today (usually i spend a few hours each day!) as i was napping for much of the evening. i ate a really late lunch at 3pm because my gums were swollen and i could care less to irratate it when i chew food. when i was done with lunch, it was already 4pm and i was supposed to make an inquiry at the post office because one of my e-parcel to Australia cannot be tracked. did i tell you i was napping in the evening?

i went straight to bed after lunch and woke up much later after the post office closing hour. luckily, i received an email informing that the Australia recipient has received the parcel. it did take two weeks to delivery as the post officer adviced, but two weeks after last checkpoint in Malaysia. i learnt something about overseas postage! (half point for learning, but deduct half point for napping!)

also, i received a message from my courier that i will not be able to collect the Bodyline Carousel JSK tomorrow. so i was informed to collect it on sunday. onoes. who goes into the city on a sunday? i should be at home and sewing!

it's sem break! day 1

2010-09-02T23:15:00.085+08:00

before i proceed with today, i want to make a vow - a vow to blog everyday about what i will be doing in this semester break! i want to be productive! wish me luck. XD

now, allow me to write start with yesterday. after the final morning exam, i went to Chinatown, also known as Petaling Street, to shop for materials for upcoming sewing projects! i brought just below RM50 that day, so after lunch and LRT ticket fares were deducted, i had enough to buy red cloth, black cloth, and some smaller stuff. but, i ran out of money to buy red thread (no more in the sewing room)! that means i will be able to sew the black cloth for now and going to KL to buy more thread.

red cotton, black cotton, D-rings, red gem button, elastic thread (i was winding it up with some pearl beads bought much earlier).

so, today i was supposed to be sewing the black cloth, right? well, something came up and i spent the entire day to settle ~~shopping~~ business first. Bodyline is having a 50% off sale! thanks to at least 450 visitors swamping the site at any given time for the past two days, it takes 5-10 minutes to load one page - outrageous! then, they announced that there will be an extension for the sale due to the unstable server issue. but that is up to your luck since there is no deadline set.

i resisted temptation to speed up my next Bodyline item because i have a brand-new-wanted-it-so-badly Carousel JSK! but at a price. i sneakily bought it from Rakuten Japan because the one in black and M-size was in stock there, and i was not a fool to lose the second chance to wait for it to restock in the international site again. it is with my courier currently, so i will be receiving it only by saturday~ photos on hold until then! *wink*

the bizarrest of events

2010-08-27T23:32:00.000+08:00

two nights ago i was climbing up the stairs to the first floor and it faces a window directly. that night, there was a surprisingly bright source of light from the sky outside. i walked up to the window, looked out of the window, and i thought the sun had replaced the moon - for the moon was as bright, as white and as round as ever!

the next night, or yesternight, i peeked out of the window again and i saw that the moon was a quarter percent less bright, a quarter percent more yellow, and a little less than a perfect circle. little did i know, i hope now, it could have been lady luck shining on me!

(warning: seriously long stretch of text.)

the exam part

last night, honestly, i did not study a single page and just went straight to bed. when i woke up for the morning exam today, i thought i could study with whatever remaining time left, but when i arrived at college and checked the exam schedule, i had been wrong about the subject for today's exam. i have with me the wrong set of notes.

i had no choice but to flip through whatever scribbles i might have with me in my little daily planner. obviously there was nothing helpful (as i had been a good student *ahem* by writing all the yummy goodness of notes where notes are supposed to be). luckily i bumped into an angel who happen to have the notes (obviously the angel was a coursemate of mine) and we shared notes for the remaining one hour prior to exam.

total study time: 50minutes (exactly before exam).

total exam time: 1hour 50minutes.

not the most advisable study tactic, but guess how i fared? i performed much better in this exam than the one earlier the first on this week (albeit it will not be a distinction grade). the third and fourth paper will be next monday and wednesday (yay! i will be free almost the entire september), so let's pray i do not mess things up again. i think i used up all my luck for the remainder of the year.

the music tv part

once i got home from college, finished my lunch, and sent mummy off (well, just at the doorstep before she goes off to the airport), i plopped myself in front of the television (yes, the physical 32" electronic ware) and tuned to Hitz.tv channel. i thought i would stop after a song or two, but i followed the programme until the end since a quarter past one.

Best of British was one of my favourite music programmes from that channel, so i decided to blog while i listened (on mummy's laptop), but i ended up liking today's playlist (which could have been repeated all of this week but i do not know that), so i decided to blog about the playlist here~

Cry Me Out by Pixie Lott

won't hurt a little bit
boy, better get used to it
you can keep talkin'
but baby, i'm walking away

you'll have to cry me out
you'll have to cry me out
the tears that will fall mean nothing at all
it's time to get over yourself

Outta Here by Esmee Denters

get me outta here
'cause my eyes are burning from these silly tears
that you brought when you show me you don't really care
and you never loved me, someone get me outta this place

i thought that we were forever
i guess i misunderstood
my fault for thinking you loved me
or even thinking you ever could

22 by Lily Allen

she's got an alright job but it's not a career
whenever she thinks about it, it brings her to tears
'cause all she wants is a boyfriend, she gets one night stands
she's thinking how did i get here, i'm doing all that i can

it's sad but it's true how society says her life is already over
there's nothing to do and there's nothing to say
'til the man of her dreams comes along
picks her up and puts her over her shoulder
it seems so unlikely in this day and age

About A Girl by Sugababes

girls bring the fun of life
sugar like apple pie
take a trip to paradise
let's have a party, y'all!
beauty like you never saw
take you number, never call
bite the apple, take you heart
let's have a party y'all!

you don't know about a girl,
i'll take over the world, and i'm gonna party like oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!
you don't know about a girl,
the meaning of the word,
'cos we just wanna party like oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!

Breathe Slow by Alesha Dixon

i love you too much, it shows
all my emotions go out of control
good for you, bad for me
when i can hardly see from the tears that flow

can't forget to breathe slow
count from one to ten with my eyes closed
'cause ladies take it in and get composure
before i lose it get composure

Run by Leona Lewis

to think i might not see those eyes
makes it so hard not to cry
and as we say our long goodbyes
i nearly do

light up, light up
as if you have a choice
even if you cannot hear my voice
i'll be right beside you, dear

Miami by Foals

now black light sets on my short day
oh, you betrayed me, you gave it away
you don't mind picking up salt
to rub into my wounds

would you be there
be there, be there for me?
would you betray me
or save me, save me from you?

Half In Love With Elizabeth by Mystery Jets

the bubble will burst x12

and he's half in love with Elizabeth
and he's half in love with you

Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys

brian, top marks for not tryin'
so kind of you to bless us
with your effortlessness
we're grateful and so strangely comforted

some want to kiss, some want to kick you
there's not a net you couldn't slip through
or at least that's the impression i get
cause you're smooth and you're wet
and she's not aware yet, but she's yours

i doubt it's your style
not to get what you set out to acquire
the eyes are on fire
you are the unforecasted storm

most of the songs when i listened at the beginning were break-up song worthy, and towards the end was all *scratch head* crazy? haha~ well, if you need a playlist of British break-up worthy songs, do add some of these tracks. ^____^

Bodyline JSK wishlist!

2010-07-23T03:50:00.001+08:00

Bodyline is being naughty, and i love so many of the new JSK prints. i cannot help but to save up for some of the dresses i want to wear. what are they? well, here are some on my wishlist:

merry-go-round JSK

(this JSK has been around for a few months, but they sold out too quickly!)

biscuit stripes JSK

alice forest JSK

heart poodle JSK

(i have this one since the beginning of its release~)

Estee Lauder Model Search 2010

2010-07-13T14:02:00.000+08:00

last weekend i went to the final roadshow of the Estee Lauder Model Search in KLCC. mummy just wanted to purchase some EL products, so she gave me the contest entry instead. thus, this time i am joining for fun (plus, i won't be going to any fancy convocation for my Diploma graduation to waste money on some fancy photo).

"this time"? yes, i have participated in the same model search contest in 2007 (in Mid Valley) but i was really bad at my first attempt. honest! XD "this time" i have learnt a lot more from previous cosplay photoshoots, so i decided i should give it my best pose even though i will not be a finalist.

allow me to share the photo entry that i submitted for Estee Lauder model search 2010:

sorry, this is not a scan but a photo of a photo. perhaps i can scan stuff when i get an all-in-1 printer.

...and these are my photos from 2007:

back then, i really needed to learn that constipated-model look is a no-no! i mean, why waste my beautiful teeth by hiding my smile? XD

well, that's all the photos i have (i am pretty sure you will notice that i used to pose really 'cool and sultry' compared to the new 'cheers and smiles' now. but of course, i will only get the CD-R of my other photos in September, then you can see how much better i smile now.

$$$

2010-07-13T13:32:00.002+08:00

yay~ the second Nuffnang cheque had arrived last week... now, time to renew domain! (silly girl, who shares their cheques in full view of the public? well, you cannot duplicate it if i already deposit the cheque to my account.)

oh, but, one-year or two-year domain renewal? hmm...

21st birthday yukata - part 2!

2010-07-04T17:37:00.001+08:00

i thought there wasnt enough justice done for my yukata with the previous post in part one, coz mostly it was about my birthday. so here i am again, dedicating this entire post to my yukata~ yes, with photos of the yukata being worn too. i hope you can forgive the low photo quality. XD

this was taken with my phone camera on timer, sorry for the headless body!

i decided to wear the obi slightly different this time, and hopefully try a new style every time! ^__^ there are too many ways you can wear a hanhaba obi (compared to tsuke obi) especially when it is paired with obiage.

a close-up of the obi before i pushed it to my back.. notice the little knot of the pink obijime?

this style is a pink-green hanhaba obi matched with a white laced obiage. its up to you how and where you want the obiage to be whether tying a bow or showing more lace at the front. (which makes it a versatile accessory!) i decided to tie a double bow knot for the back which gives it the volume you see in the photo below~

きれいでしょう？

thanks for your support by reading! i'll post photos more from Bon Odori (17 July). so stay tuned if you want to see more yukata photos~

p.s. the yukata fair in mid valley jusco will end today! *wink*

じゃね～！

21st birthday yukata

2010-06-30T23:15:00.213+08:00

ta-dah! i am officially 21 years old, legal to vote and all that. i should be older and wiser, but what if i still remain the same? well, i have to tell you, changes are not always visible... but i really am much older and wiser at 21 than when i was 12 years old!

together with my birthday, i would like to wish my fellow gemini (some are june cancer) family and friends happy (belated) birthday: mizuiro, kclee, reggie, james, adrian, melvin, zend, justina, jason, patrick... (i am pretty sure i accidentally included one person whose birthday is not in june.) now, not bad a list for Gemini the Twins right? haha~

warning: there are lot more photos after the jump!

i celebrated my birthday with a small dinner with my family and few friends at Cone Pizza in IOI Boulevard, and had a lovely chocolate coffee cake afterwards. then we went to watch The Prince of Persia movie while my family went home separately. wait, there's more!

hi-tea pancake and waffle drizzled with blueberry jam and melted chocolate - heaven!

you have to squeeze all your books neatly IN one tiny little square bag at the Scholastic Book Buffet but for all only RM49.90!

also, thanks to minori and kilmenyanne for the birthday treats! i had a girly chat over hi-tea with minori at one of the restaurants in the grand dorsett hotel (love the necklace present *hugs* too bad we could not try Miyako together), while kilmenyanne got me Ursula Le Guin's Catwings series from Scholastic Book Buffet. and of course, thanks to a few others who wished me a happy birthday over the phone. ^__^

long story short, my parents got me a wonderful birthday present for my 21st year: my first yukata! it was ordered from Rakuten (yes, Japan) and i received it on the last day of June (just in time to call it a month).

the yukata was a set including hanhaba obi (reversible), koshi himo, obiage, obijime, geta, kinchaku, corsage, and how-to-wear guide leaflet.

it was supposed to come with two pieces of accessories but they were not in sight when i received the parcel. but why should i be greedy for more when i already have 10 items from the supposedly 12-item set? XD

sadly, i cannot fit in the geta with navy sakura fabric. is there anyone who wants to buy it? you have to wear size 5-6 coz i wear size 6-7. naturally you have to have smaller feet than me to wear it, but it is recommended that your heel stick out a little at the back for best fit. (in my case, i cannot fit AT ALL.)

anyway, below here is my second attempt (first attempt was with yukata) to tie the hanhaba obi (mind you, its not one of those pre-tied ones coz i prefer the traditional touch). i loved learning to tie the female obi as much as i enjoyed learning how to tie the men's obi~ (thanks to kyon and xajin for ordering the obi through me, or i would not have gotten the chance to learn the men's obi tie.)

the front of the hanhaba obi, obijime and corsage (which can be clipped as hair accessory too)

the butterfly obi that i tied (yes, i tried it with a t-shirt on, haha~)

men's navy striped yukata obi~

if you are looking to buy a yukata set for yourself, head over to Mid Valley Jusco ground floor (4 July is the last day!) or Queensbay Jusco (in Penang until 18 July) as they are selling basic yukata set starting from RM129 to RM349. there are also various accessories to match your yukata starting from RM19 and above.

i plan to wear my yukata to Bon Odori with minori and sayoko. so, see you on 17 July!

Nuffnang cheques for my domain!

2010-06-27T02:45:00.004+08:00

1 july update: Nuffnang tells me that the cheque is on the way!

congratulations to myself! haha~

my blog has earned RM124.50 since August 2008 from Nuffnang (minus RM2, as each withdrawal transaction costs RM1) until now. it doesn't matter that many other Nuffies earn fivefold compared to mine.

the first cheque was from my previous blogspot URL, while the second cheque is from my current domain URL. today is one month since i requested for my second cheque, which will be arriving in July.

this is my first Nuffnang cheque in 2009!

you might wonder, what might i spend the cheque on?

as the cheque was generated from my blog, i thought it was only appropriate to reward my blog by getting a domain name~ i never regretted when my domain akikowolf.com went online for the first time on 17 August. initially, i vowed to keep an active blogging pace but consistency fluctuated and the best ranking i got on Alexa fell short to reach the top 1million sites (but very very close).

next month when i receive my second Nuffnang cheque, i'll be sure to spend it on renewal of akikowolf.com domain. perhaps it might be good to renew for 2years, so that i can accumulate more earnings on Nuffnang before i need to withdraw for domain renewal payment. XD

what about savings? well, lets just say i dont even have to work hard to earn the advertisers money, so i might as well give it back to my blog. i have other serious business to garner savings from. hehe~

after a year blogging on my own domain name, it seems to have attracted some unusual statistics. namely, the value of akikowolf.com domain. StatInternet claims it is worth $4440, DomainValue claims it is $4169, while AdminStool says it is only worth $3830. and i believe we are talking about USD currency. but probably the most realistic value is calculated by CubeStat at $1309.62 (RM4258).

what do you think? perhaps your Nuffnang earnings might just help you get that big break! (but i will not sell my domain, probably ever. its me after all.)

Black ★ Rock Shooter

2010-06-07T04:55:00.002+08:00

i am looking forward to several Japanese monthly magazines August issue (with gifts)! here are reasons why:

Hobby Japan: B★RS Character Charm
Megami magazine: HUKE drawn pin-up
Animedia: B★RS Weiß Schwarz PR Card

from what i read, the three magazines above were supposed to have B★RS DVD instead. nevermind that, because these gifts are much better for me! their July issues will offer lucky draw for readers (in Japan) to win one of the 150 exclusive invitation to the B★RS premiere on tanabata day in Akihabara UDX Theater.

as for the long-time anticipated B★RS anime (which has been announced since last year), the release date will be postponed from 25 june to 31 august.

visit B★RS official website: www.blackrockshooter.jp/

last but not least, the figurines! max factory's B★RS figma and nendoroid products:

i wish i could pre-order them~ *love*

Pos Malaysia postage services and their differences

2010-06-06T19:47:00.001+08:00

as a seller providing online shopping services (and selling some second-hand items), i have been using "pos express" and "pos laju" to reach my customers. since march 2010, i have been taking a break from providing online shopping services to concentrate on my final semester studies and also to refine my services.

now that i have returned to the usual business, i have heard of this e-parcel gaining popularity among other sellers who uses this postage method. however, there are also many people who are confused about what is the difference of e-parcel postage compared to other Pos Malaysia services (pos daftar, pos express, pos laju) whether you are a seller or buyer.

(click image for full view.)

thus i have decided to do a quick read around about what are these methods all about, and simplified my understanding in the table as you see above. so now, whether a seller or a buyer, i hope the table has helped you understand what method of postage is most suitable for you! you may share the table with people whom you feel would benefit from the information, but do NOT remove the credits to my blog!

p.s. yes, i am back with Bodyline Japan shopping services! click here to find out more~

past cosplay & ACG events of 2009 (part 2)

2010-06-03T12:58:00.001+08:00

part one (january until may 2009) of the same post is found here.

time to clean up the cluttered events list! here are past events ranging from june until december 2009 in malaysia!

may 29 - june 7: MOVIE CARNIVAL @ SUNWAY PYRAMID new wing, orange & blue atrium (10am-10pm)
june 6-7: DOUJINFAIR 2009 @ LEO'S CAFE 3rd floor, lowyat plaza (12pm-6pm) Entry RM5/day
june 6-7: IchiBANZAI @ KDU penang (11am-7pm)
june 12-14: GAMES & GADGET 2009 @ MID VALLEY EXHIBITION CENTRE level3 (11am-9pm *8pm on sunday)
june 27-28: ANIMANGAKI @ SUNWAY UNI multi purpose hall (9am-6pm) Entry RM8/day OR RM5/day/cosplayer
july 3-5: GameHub @ PERSADA johor
july 11-12: DAICON @ MMU grand hall, cyberjaya (11am-6pm)
july 11-12: COSFEST VIII @ DOWNTOWN EAST singapore
aug 15-16: GACC2009 @ MMU exam hall, melaka (10am-7pm)
sept 26: Asaban Fest @ TAYLORS UC main campus, ss15 (11am-11pm)
sept 6-27 (sunday only): ANICOM @ SUNGEI WANG PLAZA t-hop 6th floor (3pm)
oct 10: Animax Event of the Year @ BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE boulevard (11am-6pm)
nov 14-15: Anime Hanabi Festival 祭 @ BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE 6th floor (10am-8pm)
~~nov 19-22: ACGC FINALE @ KLCC hall 5 (11am-7pm)~~ postponed indefinitely
nov 21-22: AFA09 @ SUNTEC CENTRE hall 403-404, singapore
dec 19-20: Comic Fiesta @ SUNWAY PYRAMID

events that i have attended from the list above are:

may 29 - june 7: MOVIE CARNIVAL - cosplay: none. like i said in part one, i had to work. i was just visiting the event booths during lunch break!
june 27-28: ANIMANGAKI - cosplay: none. still working! i purposely passed by the venue so that i can congratulate ywsmokono for sucessfully organizing the event. animangaki turned out to be a huge success!
july 11-12: DAICON - cosplay: Haruhi Suzumiya (bunny girl version and seifuku version) and Kyonko. for the first time, i made it to the cosplay competition as a finalist! even though i did not win any prizes, i had a fun skit with skypegasus for the finals pairing.
nov 14-15: Anime Hanabi Festival 祭 - cosplay: Haruhi Suzumiya (long haired in seifuku version). i just went there for fun~
dec 19-20: Comic Fiesta - cosplay: maid and CC (memory loss version). no particular fun thing to do at CF this time. went there to hang out, meet people, and mini CC photoshoot after the event closed.

i attended much less events in 2010 due to studies limitation. (i did graduate from diploma in the end~ yay!) nevertheless, more time for photoshoots~ *love*

wrapping books again...

2010-04-26T21:37:00.000+08:00

last fortnight, just a couple days before my final exam paper of the semester, i was getting bored of reading notes and decided to start wrapping some of my favourite books which i have left in the bookshelf unwrapped for around a year now.

among the titles you see here are Chobits (original japanese manga), the baby-sitters club, nancy drew (both series are the early prints, now rare), and a book each from Pseudonymous Bosch and Trenton Lee Stewart (who are authors of really interesting children's books). nope, nothing chic lit or intelligent literature from me.

i will always love children's books and collecting old (children's) books too.