|| m n e m o s y n e || version v.iii swirls and inkblots

Feeling: Awake
Weather: Humid
Listening To: The Beatles- Can’t Buy Me Love

So… how have I been spending my holidays so far:

Wanted to clean up my room a bit since the start of the holidays, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Maybe this Thursday when I change my bedsheets. Not motivated enough and my room really isn’t in a complete mess, just that my compulsion to clean up is materialising >_>

I’ve also switched browsers- from Mozilla FireFox to Google Chrome. It really does load so much faster, which is a great plus with the terrible internet connection here in Malaysia. The only gripes I have with the new browser is that 1. I can’t open a whole folder of bookmarks in tabs in one browser window, meaning that I have to open them one-by-one and 2. the start page when I open a new tab or new window is not Google, which I am used to seeing. Unless I can find a way, I guess I’d need to get used to it :( I also do not appreciate having my “most visited” pages on display when I open a new tab or window. It feels… weird. I might want to give the latest Apple Safari a try, but I’m too lazy to download another browser and I already have three browsers now :x

Finished Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes Of Time on the Wii, although most of it is actually played by lo kong because my awesome 3D spatial skills hates jumping platforms :P It’s pretty nice and straightforward, and “lighter” compared to the “real” Final Fantasy series, in which I’d REALLY need a walkthrough to guide me through because then I’d be missing a lot of things, places and feeling awfully incomplete and insecure because there are a thousand or so paths to take, etc and each seem to have their own story or something >_> The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess has still yet to arrive. Argh. I am bored with no new games :( Thus, I have been playing Vampire Wars and Mafia Wars on Facebook instead. Yes, that’s how bored I am.

This is, however, the bulk of how I spend most of my holidays. Studying and honing my Japanese. Considering I have no actual Chinese language background, writing and learning kanji is a bit hard. The second hardest bit is the grammar rules D: Otherwise, everything’s fine, including hiragana and katakana, although I’ve not completely memorised the latter and still need to refer to the chart a bit for the former. I’ve found a nifty site that satiates and supplements all my Japanese language learning and honing needs as well- Japanese Class XD It’s pretty awesome- you can level up and gain EXP. Books I use for my study (Pictured) are Tuttle Language Library Elementary Japanese Volume One (I have Volume Two too, but it’s not in the picture and let’s start from the beginning), Oxford Pocket Japanese Dictionary and The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary. I wouldn’t say expect to see me posting snippets or writing in Japanese here anytime soon though, as I have yet to find a satisfactory Japanese character typer program thing :(

On another note, I love notebooks from Daiso (Pun not intended)- they’re Japanese notebooks and I love how they complement my coloured pens and ink pens >_> I use them for my Japanese notes (Pictured as well) and for note-taking in University, and I don’t think I’d use any other notebooks for them now, since at RM 5 each, they’re a steal too :D

Not to mention, I did some shopping with Mum, little brother and lo kong over the weekend :3 Didn’t buy much really, but got a pair of pretty brand-new white leather half-loafers from Hush Puppies :D I swear, they make the most comfortable shoes, but too bad their heels are a bit more “mature”-ish and don’t really suit my tastes. Otherwise, their shoes are great (I have a pair of their slippers/sandals). No photos, I guess, since I wore it out the moment I bought them, so no box too :( At first I wanted grey suede loafers from Rockport, but they’re super pricey at RM 249 D: The Hush Puppies half-loafers are only RM 189, but there’s a RM 50 rebate for purchases above RM 200, so I threw in a few pairs of socks for little brother and only paid about RM 165 XD Might be getting a new pair of trainers/sports shoes too- from Nike obviously, but I don’t know what yet. Most of the current designs in the stores either look similar to the pair I have now, so there wouldn’t be a point if I bought a similar design, or they look like I can get better imitations at Petaling Street for way less >_> Nevertheless, I can wait though, since it’s not very important/urgent XD

Would love to do more window shopping/shopping in general, though.

The heat is really killing me. I rarely sweat, even when I do work out, so if the weather alone is capable of making me sweat that means that the weather is seriously out of control D:

I am secretly thinking that I am nocturnal. It’s an observation I’ve noticed for a few months already. I seem to absorb what I’ve read/studied in the late hours (Defined as being between 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.) better than in the daylight hours >_> Still, sadly, staying up so late is bad for me.

Lo kong will be gone from Wednesday to Sunday. Am missing him already T_T

Feeling: Excited
Weather: Humid
Listening To: Social Distortion- Don’t Drag Me Down

One more exam to go. The exams thus far have been all right actually, although I do wish that I could have wrote more for HAN 101 Introduction To Anthropology >_> Oh well. I actually also studied before the exams this time… well, that is, if flipping through slides and chapter summaries the night before the papers are considered studying anyway :P

I am not very pleased with the 3 p.m. time slots for the exams though. They’re actually more tiring than 8 a.m. or morning slots. Next semester I hope that the classes will be mainly 8 a.m. or early morning ones instead of late morning or afternoon classes, due to the increasingly bad parking problem in University :| The new semester starts on the 11th May 2009 and lasts until 11th July 2009, and we’re going to be sharing the same classes as the semester below us >_> Not too pleased about that, since a group of them (A clique, actually) tend to steal my seats in the lecture hall and there’s just some huge gap and/or between me and them, despite my attempts to try and be friendly (Or at least, civil) with them. See why I don’t try to make friends?

Meh.

On another happier note though, I’ve finally managed to persuade Dad (And Mum) to get me a Nintendo Wii, since little brother got a Sony PlayStation 3 :D Got it last Saturday, 11th April 2009 from Gamer’s Hideout for RM 1380. The bundle set includes the console (US version), a nunchuk, a Wiimote (I refuse to call it the Wii remote. Wiimote sounds better and also cuter) and a choice of either Mario Kart Wii or Wii Play. I chose Wii Play :D Don’t ask me why, it just seemed more tempting than Mario Kart Wii at that time >_> The Wii is also awesomely tiny and portable (Compared to other game consoles), but there’s an extra sensor bar (Not pictured- but it’s really thin) to lug around, though it’s not space consuming. Perhaps I should consider a carrying bag for it. Hmm. Admittedly, the Wii looks adorably cute.

Wii Play came bundled with an extra Wiimote, which is an awesome plus since I wouldn’t have to buy another one. I had to buy another nunchuk, though, but that’s alright :P The controls and the usage of the Wiimote take a little getting used to (Sensitivity and all), but it’s quite easy and comfortable once you’ve got the hang of it. It’s also actually quite fun and to be honest, my hands are not very suited to normal game controllers as they hurt after extended gameplay due to the way I grip perhaps- but I don’t face this problem with the Wii :D

My current Wii game collection- Wii Sports (Which came with the Wii), Wii Play and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes Of Time, which I am currently playing. It’s quite a nice game, it’s not as ‘heavy’ or mind-numbing like the other Final Fantasy series. I can’t wait for my copy of The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess to arrive, which is most likely next week :( I love the Wii more than the PenisStation PlayStation 3 as there are a lot of games that I actually want to play on it. And I am happy I can pre-order and get the games from Gamer’s Hideout :D

A current list of games I want for my Wii:

- Bleach: Versus Crusade (For Aizen Sousuke ^^)
- Rock Band 2
- Guitar Hero: World Tour
- Cooking Mama series- Cook Off and World Kitchen
- Trauma Centre series- New Blood and Second Opinion
- Guilty Gear series- XX /\ Core and XX /\ Core Plus

Can’t think of anymore at the moment. The Harvest Moon series, Fatal Frame, Castlevania Judgement and even Bomberman Land sounds tempting.

It should be noted here that I thank my parents not only for buying the Wii for me when they already bought a PlayStation 3 (And days after each other, too. And persuading and getting my parents to buy consoles can actually be an arduous task >_>), but I also thank lo kong for handling the setup of my Wii and stuff :D

While having lunch at Santini (They have good service, good ambiance and the food is nice. The set lunch is quite worth it) in Tropicana City Mall (I quite enjoy hanging out there for some reason, and there’s a Gamer’s Hideout branch there too XD) with lo kong this afternoon before the PSY203 Child Development paper , I stumbled across this cute anomaly in my pasta dish. Isn’t it adorable? I swear I didn’t shape it this way, I was poking around my pasta when I saw it, and isolated it to the edges for this shot :D

I am making quite good progress on a story I’m writing… that’s a good sign.

I also made some minor tweaking to the site. Nothing too noticeable, though. The sidebar needs some more stuff… maybe Twitter? I’d have to figure out how to incorporate that into my sidebar, though. Not too much a fan of tags, though, so putting a tag category is pretty out for me :(

After Monday when the exams are finally over I can resume immersing myself in honing my Japanese again T_T

And before I forget- I hate Bleach and the direction it is going now. Especially the direction it’s going now- both anime AND manga. Argh. It frustrates me.