Mini Keitai Gathering @ Marina Square Starbucks

Note: Keitai (けいたい) is short for keitai denwa (けいたいでんわ/携帯電話) which means mobile phones in Japanese. In this context, I am referring to Japanese mobile phones in this post and not mobile phones that are sold in Singapore.

This is one of the most impromptu gatherings I had ever seen. It was actually organized one day before the actual day itself. Imagine that. If I didn't go online the day before on February 19, 2010, I would actually missed the actual gathering yesterday that is on February 20, 2010!

I was bubbling with excitement when I know about this gathering. Finally! A chance to get my hands on the keitai itself instead of looking enviously at the pictures online!

I wasted no time in contacting Jaslyn to see if she was interested. After all, she was the one who fell in love with SH-05A which was unfortunately, a 3G only keitai that at this moment, could not be unlocked for usage locally. Not to be deterred, her heart went for SH-06A. However, with the release of the latest Winter 2009/Spring 2010, SH-01B caught her attention as well. I can tell that she is having second thoughts about getting a keitai or just save up for her trip Korea. This keitai gathering would be a good chance for her clear her thoughts, get hands on, as well as getting advice from the experienced keitai users. Plus, after the interaction with the other keitai users, if she decides to get a keitai, she can also take this opportunity to choose between SH-06A and SH-01B.

In my opinion, getting SH-01B would be more worth the money since SH-01B is the successor of SH-06A. The quote below shows the write up on SH-01B and why SH-01B is better than SH-06A. This is written by Aaron.

NTT Docomo SH-01B Specs/Function summary (also including improvements when compared against previous predecessor SH-06A)

* 110 x 50 x 14.7mm (weighs 126 grams)
* Slimmer at 14.7mm depth vs 16mm depth on the SH-06A (both still share same thickness point at @19.9mm maximum <- usually referring to the camera-portion area)
* Lighter Weight at 126grams vs 135grams on the SH-06A
* Larger 3.4" 480 x 854 pixels main display (New-Mobile ASV 16.7 million colors LCD) as compared to 3.3" on the SH-06A
* Larger 1.4" 192 x 64 pixels external OEL display (Organic Electro-Luminescent) as compared to 0.8" on the SH-06A (also able to display more details such as Calendar and Mail Message Preview this time round)
* Internal Phone memory stands at 140MB vs 128MB on the SH-06A
* Comes with 430K-pixels resolution CMOS
Inner-camera (for making video-calls or self-shot, similar as SH-06A)
* 12.1MP CCD sensor vs 10MP CCD sensor on the SH-06A (both still shares the same 1/2.3" CCD sensor/lens focal length, actual specs taken from Sharp Corp's white paper specs as seen in the picture link)
* 6-Axis Handshake Correction and High ISO-sensitivity Image Stabilizer (as compared to SH-06A which only comes with a normal 6-Axis Handshake Correction Image Stabilizer)
* Background Picture-Saving Mode (Softbank Sharp had it since 930SH last year? Those who have used before Softbank Sharp recent CCD models will recognise this feature)
* Under Camera mode, when Smile Facial-recognition is enabled your subject names can be previewed live on the LCD viewfinder as long as you have the subject's facial data saved in the phone before-hand (can be tagged to create albums up to 10 individual face profiles each)
* Pretty Arrangement function under Camera mode allows user to beautify/change the subject's face w/o resorting to doing post-processing on a PC with software like Adobe Photoshop (*additional note: this feature will make use of Hand-writing support in the SH-01B, just like F-01B to enable user to do fun stuffs to your taken pictures)
* Hand-writing Support for Text Memo input only (slightly inferior in comparison to Fujitsu's implementation for the F-01B/F-04B models, which supports Hand-writing for Mail Message input as well)
* New Illumination Style Design (LED lights up in variation of colors when flip is opened, closed, or when there are incoming calls or mail msg arrival. Some examples can be seen here and here.
* Pedometer/Accelerometer Function built-in (Can be used for camera operation and sub-display, additionally Sharp has implemented an i-Appli software making use of the Pedometer known as Karada Tune to track and manage your burnt calories everyday, records can be previewed and kept up to 3mths before old data is over-written)
* Touch-Cruiser function has been changed to capacitive electrostatic-sensor type, was mentioned by Sharp to improve slimness of the handset dimension since the sensor is smaller (previous SH models were based on optical sensors such as SH906i/SH-03A/SH-06A)
* Time/Date large display option is no longer automatically shown on every text message preview/compose screen, this is minimised to small display instead (displayed on the top-right hand corner of the screen usually, example shown on SH-01B, as compared to SH-06A previously for compose screen)
* Battery life doesn't seem to be increased much, only comes with a 770mAh battery pack this time round (a slight improvement increased from the 700mAh battery pack found in SH-06A/07A previously)
* Colors options will be available in Black, White & Gold

I was wondering why Jaslyn didn't express much interest in this gathering initially but it turns up that she thought that I was not going. DUH. How could I miss such a good chance to get some hands on and opinions? I had wanted to ask Kristy and Samantha along too but both of them were busy. What a pity. Especially for Samantha since I didn't have the chance to expose her to the little keitai knowledge I had like I had done with Jaslyn.

I made plans with Jaslyn to meet her at the City Hall MRT Station since the gathering was at the Starbucks of Marina Square.

I was lucky that I wasn't late as I had managed to catch the train. In fact, I was early by couple minutes. I was waiting for Jaslyn while Umme, who was on her way to her religious class, spotted me. Too bad Jaslyn arrived a little later or we could have a mini gathering. Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Jaslyn and I arrived at the location but didn't spotted anyone there yet. Turns up the two organizers were late. I was hungry so I had gotten a Blueberry Muffin and shared a Dark Mocca Coffee with Jaslyn. It was really interesting and cool to see so many keitai in one location. A plus that I get to use it! Keitai keypads in my opinion, are definitely much better than my Sony Ericsson W595. They are kinder on fingers and less stiff. The bigger keypad size helps too. When asked about the durability about keitai, all the users vouched that it is definitely much more durable than local phones. In fact, some had used it for 5 years plus with several drops on the floor and it is still going strong. One of the user must be really rich for he owned at least 8 sets of keitai and who knows? He might have more at home.

The pictures below are taken by ipwnj00. All the keitai in their glory!






I went to eat dinner with Jaslyn at KFC and went home after that. What a day. It was worth the time going down for I managed to pop a few questions which Jaslyn was afraid to ask. Jaslyn stayed true to her word of going there to get hands on only and will not stay anything. It was as if she didn't understand English/Japanese and I was her translator between them. Hoho! However, it was interesting to be with them as I had learned a couple more things about keitai. I will definitely go to the next gathering and hopefully, I will have my own keitai by then!

First post in year 2010

Yes, I know...I couldn't believe that it took me till February 7 before I am finally writing my first post of the year. In my defense, I had to say that I had been busy with school and that's the truth. Project submissions deadlines, tests, presentations bombarded me senselessly. It is amazing that I am still alive. I have been pretty much not getting enough sleep for the past several weeks. Many of the nights were spent rushing through my projects to meet the deadlines. I can't say that I have enjoyed my past one month plus. In fact, the last month was utter hell, something which I hope that I would never have to go through again. Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that.

Still, I am happy that things has started to slow down for last week. Most of my stuff have already been submitted so I was able to start reading the novels that were due soon. How I wish that I am able to relax all day, not needing care about school and yet, get paid to do so!

I have to enjoy while it last for I have two OOPG test next week. One OOPG lab test tomorrow (February 8, 2010) and the other OOPG written test, on the Friday (February 12, 2010). Even though I have the OOPG test tomorrow, I don't feel like studying for it at all. In fact, I haven't even look through the materials. A bunch of jumbled materials that doesn't really makes sense to me. Why oh why? As I ask myself again. Why on earth did I even put this course into my list of choice when I am not even sure of what it is in the first place. If only all I have to do was HCI. That was something, at the very least, I had enjoyed it pretty much. From what I see now though, that aren't happening any soon. I seemed to be making mistakes through my whole life. No matter big and small, they are all the choices I had made. Some which I had made even when I had given much considerable thought, and some which I had made due to me not wanting to think about it anymore. I always regret later. I always do. I seem to be doing a lot of regretting as well...*Frets*

*Sigh* back to the topic...so, after the two OOPG tests, I have to prepare for my CMSK presentaion on Thursday (February 11, 2010). I don't really mind much about that presentation since talking about my report doesn't seemed to be too hard, though I have to be mindful of the 3 minute time restriction. Sometimes I talk too much.

With that, the study week begins which unfortunately, clashes with Chinese New year. It has not doubt, dampers my spirits for Chinese new year and in fact, I have already decided not to visit my relatives this year in favor of studying. Aren't I a good girl? of course, the usual reunion dinner at my grandparents' house will still be carried out as per normal. At least it means that I will still be able to get some red packets! Hoho. $.$

Examinations will begin after the study week. Although I only have three papers, they are spread out so my last paper will be on a Thursday. I hope that I will NOT make some silly mistakes like remembering the wrong time or venue for the paper again. Once is definitely enough for me. I can't wait for the holidays that comes after examinations!

My room certainly needs a good dusting and throwing. I had procrastinated my time away last holiday and I am not going to do it again. After all, I do need more places to keep my textbooks and novels! Plus, my poor deck of tarot cards is buried under so many copies of Seventeen and Popteen. Besides that, my mum has been nagging me to get started on the cleaning too. I will never get her to stop nagging if I don't do it. Plans must be made and actions must be carried out! No more procrastinating!

Anyway, I have been toying with the idea of having a Chinese blog for a long time. By that, I mean that the blog post will be fully written in Chinese text. There are times when I find myself being able to express myself better in Chinese so I will update the blog as and when I like it, just like my current blog which you are reading. However, I don't think that I will be doing double posting, such as translating my English blog post into Chinese and vice versa. I don't think that I will be choosing Blogger as my Chinese blog host so I am currently look at three different blog host. They are namely, 新浪博客(Sina Blog), 痞客邦(PIXNET), and 无名小站(Wretch). Could anyone tell me which blog host is better and why? Thanks~

I guess that that's all for today!

Avatar Movie Outing with Samantha

Do you remember my previous post on Monday, December 21, 2009 about me wanting to watch Avatar here? Well, I finally did it on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 with Samantha.

It was, in fact, a spontaneous decision to do so. I only had one 2 hour long DCNK lab on that day, which was supposed to be from 11am to 1pm. However, the lesson ended at 12pm, which left me with a lot free time on that day. My friends were all discussing which movie they wanted to watch. It seems that they were rather interested in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. No offenses but while they were attracted by cuteness of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, cute just doesn't does it for me enough to spend money and watch a movie. After all most of the movie critics are crap and I believe that there must have a reason to do so.

I had contacted most of the my friends but it's either they were not interested in watching the movie or they had already watched it. My, they are sure fast. After all I only ask them after 3 days of opening. Besides that, as mentioned in my previous post here, I was pondering I should watch it in 3D or not.

Luckily for me, I remembered that I had recently reconnected with a friend and she was interested to have some shopping trip or something similar together. I decided to ask her if she's interested to watch the Avatar movie together though I know that it's a super last minute arrangement and she might not be free.

Luckily, she was and with her help on booking the tickets, we managed to grab a decent seat in Vivo City Golden Village at 4.50pm. She was late for a little while but luckily while waiting for her, I had fun window shopping in Forever 21 and Fox.

When we got the tickets, Samantha decided that she needs a bottle of water so we were complementing if we have enough time left to do so. At first, we thought that the Vivo Mart was the other side of Vivo City. Luckily for us, it was only downstairs so we make it back in time.

Although the seat was not really close to the screen, to me however, it was an awkward position for me as it forces my head to be tilted in a weird position in order to see the whole screen clearly. I got dizzy half way through the movie and started to feel nauseous. Luckily I didn't watch it in 3D or I will surely puke for sure. I gradually got used to the weird feeling and lasted through the whole movie without puking. Thank goodness. I didn't want to make a scene. I have to say though, though the fighting scene isn't as much as Transformers and such movies, the volume was deafening. Other than feeling nauseous and the deafening sound, it was rather pleasant overall. The movie is indeed a 4/5stars.

When the movie ended, we got out of the theater, we were shocked to see that it's already 7.40pm. The movie end later than we thought. We then took the public transport home.

Thanks Samantha for agreeing to watch the movie with me. =D It was fun~ Let's do it next time! (^0^)

A review on the Avatar movie will be up soon~

Avatar

I suppose that none of you needs any introducing to this new movie which is already out there in the wild. If you have no idea what Avatar is, you seriously need to get out of your cave and start living among the civilization. However, I shall cover brief introduction of Avatar to those who have heard of it but aren't too sure as of what it is.

As quoted from Wikipedia.

The film focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. On Pandora, human colonists and the sentient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, the Na'vi, engage in a war over the planet's resources and the latter's continued existence. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the natives.

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film. In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora.

The summary of the story of Avatar as shown below...

As quoted from Golden Village.

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.

Avatar was directed by James Cameron or the guy who directed the Titanic movie. You know, the movie with the famous "You jump, I jump..." line? I am sure you had heard of the movie considering I had never watched the movie before and yet it's a considerable feat that I can quote from the movie.

Avatar has caused quite a ruckus out there considering the number of nominations under its belt. Hey, after all the it aren't everyday you see a movie that was in development for around 12 years before being released. I am sure the graphics, storyline etc helps as well.

To tell you the truth, I didn't took much notice of Avatar when it was released. It seems like another science fiction movie to me. Although I am quite a fan of science fiction movies, I couldn't quite grasp what's the deal with this movie. It doesn't really pull me in when I saw the trailer. I guess that I am a sucker for those big action stuff. The few comments about Na'vi looking like Smurfs didn't help either. However, I grew more interested when the local Chinese newspaper, 《联合早报》(lian he zao bao), gave a review of 4.5/5 stars, local Chinese magazine, I-Weekly giving a 4/5stars review and with reviewers both agreeing that it's a must watch in 3D. It aren't common to see a 4.5/5 stars review on that newspaper and what's more, with a 83% certified fresh review on Rotten Tomatoes, that got me thinking that there got to be something about it to get people giving raving reviews about it.

Alright. I am curious. The trailer for Avatar movie seen on my computer screen monitor certainly help though.

Avatar: The Movie


And then, I listened to the official theme song for Avatar, I See You, sang by Leona Lewis. It reminds me of the song My Heart Will Go On sang by Céline Dion. Coincidentally, My Heart Will Go On was also the theme song for the movie, Titanic directed by the same director as Avatar as I have mentioned before. It wasn't the song I expected to be. I expected more rock(?) kind of song...after all those movies I was used to always had that kind of song. So this song was more refreshing to listen and certainly more beautiful.

I See You by Leona Lewis


More Avatar posters below for viewing pleasure




This is when my real dilemma comes in. I had been stingy with myself recently for I am saving up for keitai denwa and also, to replace the void I had left in my bank account when I embarked my shopping frenzy last October. I kept complementing if I should just get the DVD when it comes out and watch it on my black box or treat myself to a visit to a cinema to watch it. Of course I know that there's no way, no freaking way that watching it on the black box is going to replace the "WOW!" sensation from watching it in cinema with the big screen and surround sound.

And...say, if I want to watch it in the cinemas, should I watch it in 3D? I read that it would be quite a waste to NOT watch it in 3D but I have a weak stomach and get dizzy easily. Any comments? Oh! And does it cost more to watch in 3D?

Also, if I want to watch it in the cinemas, I am planning to watch it during 22 December 2009-25 December 2009 since my school holidays ends on 27 December 2009 and watching it during weekends are expensive...anyone wants to watch it with me???

Alright...that's all for today. Contact me if you are interested to watch it with me...

Dinner time now!Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Our own version of Chen Family

To anyone who has watched Momo Love, a.k.a 《桃花小妹》, you should be familiar with the Chen family which includes the five overprotective brothers and their younger sister. Well, my friends and I were bored while waiting for the teacher to come for CMATHS tutorial and we came up with our own version of Momo Love. Look at the picture below for reference! The picture is compiled by Izzati.

Japanese Student Exchange Program on 6 Oct 09

It was rather by chance that I was involved in this Japanese Student Exchange program. It was one random day when I received an instant message from Aiman, saying something about if I wanted to be involved with the Japanese Student Exchange Program. Anybody who knew me well enough will know that for sure, my answer is a big big YES!

Thus, I contacted my Care Person to know more about it and also to inform her that I wish to take part in this. It took some time for the details to be release but everything looks promising. Though, I have to comment on the fact that the organizing team seems to be rather inexperienced in dealing with tasks like these. The organizer our Care Person directed us to gave us the details while another person smsed us and gave us different details. Such confusion. This was of course quickly solved after a quick sms to the organizer. The organizer in question was not very detailed with his instructions as well. We don't even know that we had to get them a gift until a little less than a week to go. Plus, details like which school they are from, what age they are, what we will be doing were not stated as well. They really should improve on that. All I know of is that they are going to visit my school and they will be interviewing us on our life in school and stuff like that for their assignment.

With around 2 days to go before the exchange program, I had already bought my gift for them, brushed up a little on my Japanese(though it's still crappy), and I am left with more brushing up on my Japanese(just in case we have problem communicating with one another), plus wrapping of the gift. There are still other little miscellaneous stuff I have to do but I shan't mention them here or I will be boring you.

Here's what I know for now:

====Start of report====

Briefing Meet-Up
Date: 06 October 2009, Tuesday
Time: 11am
Venue: LT 13
Attire: White shirts + jeans + covered shoes. Strictly NO shorts and slippers.

Things to prepare
A gift with value worth of less than $5 as per instructed on email. This will be given to your buddy*.

It is advisable that the gift should be something they couldn't get in their homeland.

*Details in Event Details section.

Event Details
What is your task:
1) Buddy - Each and everyone involved will be paired up with a Japanese student. The pairing is done male to male and vice versa.
2) Be interviewed - Apparently the Japanese students have to do an assignment on TP life and student life in TP. Thus they will be asking you questions related to their assignment.
3) "Tour Guide" - You will be bringing them around TP. As far as I know, bonding sessions have been canceled due to time constraint.
4) Have fun and make more friends! - Do I really need to explain this?

Actual Event Duration:
Date: 06 October 2009, Tuesday
Time: 1pm to around 6pm.

About the Japanese Students
*The details here might have some errors. This was gathered from my research and also from the organizer himself.*

School: Kumamoto National College of Technology
Number of students: 45

====End of report====

Details/Changes/Updates will be made/included the moment I know any more details. I hope that it helps you all out there...

When you fail to remove your polish...

So...I applied Estée Lauder 305 Crystal Opaline to my left hand on 5 September 2009. I was too lazy to get it removed while it's growing out but with my right looking like a nail polish disaster zone, I finally got out my nail polish remover and attacked my nails.

Left Hand Before Removal of Polish


Right Hand Before Removal of Polish


When I had removed all the nails polish, I found that my nails had turned yellow with prolong use of polish. ∑(O_O；)Shock！！

Left Hand After Removal of Nail Polish


Right Hand After Removal of Nail Polish


This is what you get when you are so lazy. Gosh...thankfully it will grow out with time...a lessons learned indeed!

+J Collection by Jill Sander for UNIQLO

As most of the fashionistas out there know, renown German fashion designer, Jil Sander, recently paired up with UNIQLO for her line, +J, under UNIQLO. From the pictures that have been circulating online, Jil Sander stayed true to her usual minimalist design for this line. Thus, if you are a fan of her designs, +J certainly wouldn't disappoint you. However, for those who like loud, individual and unique styles, +J aren't for you.

Fans of Jil Sander flocked to UNIQLO store in UK and queued anxiously, while waiting for the store to open as seen in the picture below. Looks like UNIQLO stores in Singapore aren't the only outlet where they receive queues before opening. And I thought that it was our "kiasu" attitude at work.

The queue outside an UK UNIQLO store at 8am



Check out more details of the +J line in the video below.


From what I know, +J isn't available in Singapore UNIQLO outlets yet and I am not sure if they are bringing it in. However, you can always buy it online at UNIQLO UK Website.

Monday, 28 September 2009 Collection of my spectacles and wallet

Monday, 28 September 2009
I went to collect my spectacles($188) upon receiving a call from the shop that it's ready for collection. After much pondering, I finally bought the long wallet which I was eying since last Friday from The Wallet Shop.

I had been wanting to get a new wallet since my old one couldn't contain all the cards I have. It wasn't an easy decision considering that the one which caught my eye costs $119. I had initially set my heart on the $109 long wallet from the same series. However, as the salesperson pointed out, the $109 one didn't have a expandable bottom. That would meant that it wasn't able to contain as much things as the $119. However, the $109 one had a nicer interior design with it's choice of pink x black for slots while the $119 interior design is all in pink.

In the end I choose the $119 wallet for practicability. Thankfully, The Wallet Shop was having some kind of promotion such that with each $45 of the whole item cost, you will receive a $5 discount. As my wallet costs $119, I was eligible for a discount of $10, which reduce the price to $109.

I suppose certain people will be OMG-ing by this point of time at the price of the wallet but it's real leather...so yeah.

As always, pictures below.

My Guy Laroche Long Wallet

Shopping Trip on Thurs, 24 Sep 09

Wednesday, 23 September 2009
The trip to Vivo City was a rather hasty planned one. Since Izzati didn't have any concrete plans to visit Vivo City, I got tired of waiting and decided to visit Vivo City the next day, 24 September 2009.

Prior to my friends' request, I contacted three of them. Only two of three replied that they will be able to make it but that's acceptable considering I had contacted them less than a day before. I tried contacting the third but she gave no confirmed reply. It was a day later after our outing that I found out that her phone was dead when I tried to contact her. Due to some personal reasons she couldn't make it anyway. It's a pity but somehow I couldn't manage to get an outing with the whole gang together. What a pity. I hope that we will be able to have a get-together sometime during the holidays.

I didn't know who was the one started going about wanting to chipped in and get Jaslyn a belated birthday present, though I think that it was Izzati/Aiman, but somehow Aiman managed to get most of the people who were online via MSN to chipped in for Jaslyn's birthday present. The people are as follows: Aiman, Izzati, Michelle, Bevin, Edmund, Wee Seng, Qian Hao, Zhan Jie, Christina and me. Perhaps there are others who wanted to chip in as well but we could only make most of those people who are online at that time. So there. A quick discussion still render us unsure on what to get for Jaslyn.

In the end, my suggestion for last minute trip turned into a gift buying trip as well. Like I said before, it was rather last minute planning so in the end, only Aiman, Say Yin and I could make it. We arranged to meet each other in the morning so that we were able to have sufficient time for gift buying before meeting Jaslyn in the afternoon.

Thursday, 24 September 2009
After some shopping around, we got Jaslyn a Forever 21 Jacket, an Esprit Studded Tank Top and an Esprit red wallet(not pictured). The picture below was ripped from Jaslyn's blog.




After meeting Jaslyn and lunch at Banquet, we then gave her her present with the tags still on. We had no choice but to do so as if the tags were removed and if the clothes doesn't fit her, we wouldn't be able to exchange it. We sent her off to try the stuff in the toilet. Luckily for us, everything were in the right size. I had nearly blew the surprise with the remark about "not seeing the shop River Island just now". I was thankful that she didn't really gave too much thought on it.

Hours of walking around in Vivo City as we went from one shop to another according to my mighty list, we were left tired and mostly spent. It feels kind of weird that I was the only one who was doing the shopping while the others just stood there, chatting around. I admit that I was kind of self conscious about that.

I had seen some really nice clothes in Mango but they were way too expensive for me to afford it. In my opinion, the only two shops that seemed to be worth going on that day was Daiso (for the prices are kind on wallets), and Forever 21. The Forever 21 outlet in Vivo City was even bigger than the outlet at Wisma Atria and that means that they were more stocked up on different styles of clothes and accessories. I bought two different stacks of bracelets from Forever 21 which costs $10 and $13 respectively. The stack of bracelets were more affordable than those sold in Chamelon for they were in a nicer design and having more bracelets in one stack as well. The trip to River Island left me quite disappointed as they didn't stock as much boots as I had seen from their online shop. I did see a pair of nice brown wedge but it was a tad too high for my taste. I wanted some height but not too high that my feet will be aching after a few minutes of wear like it did with my 9.5cm high Lolita wedges.

I made a rather abrupt decision to visit Orchard Road for the shops that was listed as having Dr. Martens boots didn't have the design I wanted. Surprisingly, they agreed on my plan as well. We took a bus to Orchard Road prior to Say Yin's request who had a bus concession pass and did not wanted to waste money taking the MRT.

My first stop in Orchard was none other than ION. Before reaching ION though, we passed by the ETUDE House outlet and a man was shouting in Korean. I didn't understand a word of it but it looks like that if we were to enter the store, we will be given a free face mask. How can I give up the chance to obtain freebies? I got a O2 White Mask Sheet for free and bought a bottle of Dear Darling Nails No.24 Star Shine which cost $7.50. The tester colour looks nice in the store incredibly bright lights but the colour looks different outdoors. Oh well...

I headed for UNIQLO the moment I stepped into ION. I wanted to see if they had stocked up in their NeoLeather series Jackets as well as the denim Leggings, both which I was interested in getting. Unfortunately, they still didn't have the ones I wanted. I hope that they will stock up soon.

After much protests by Jaslyn, who already had blisters by then *poor her*, we decided to walk to Orchard Central which was at Somerset. I didn't want to waste any more time on shops that claimed to sell Dr. Martens boots so we visit the official Dr. Martens first ever flagship store in Singapore at Orchard Central instead. Say Yin and Jaslyn were tired so they were walking tad too slow for my taste. Aiman and I decided to put our super speed walking into good use and reached Orchard Central far ahead before them. I decided to make good use of this time to get to the store and try on the pair I saw in Seventeen Singapore September 2009.

Check out the pictures of Dr. Martens flagship store below. Note: The pictures were ripped off from Dr. Martens blog.





The moment I stepped into the store and did a quick swept of the layout, I finally spotted the pair of boots I wanted on display. Dr. Martens Phoenix Jara from the Autumn 2008 Collection. Could you imagine my excitement? After weeks and weeks of pounding the streets, visiting countless shops that don't stock it, I had finally found it! Of course, it also comes with a very nice price, $229, but considering that it's made of quality real Leather and it's trademark Bouncing Soles, it's worth the money. I am always looking for something that will last years like my mother's Scholl shoes which lasted 5years and still going strong.

I tried on that pair in my usual US size 6 but found out that I couldn't even put my feet in. In the end I had to switched it to US size 7. I could fit my feet in but while walking it feels a little weird. As if my feet is about to fall out. When I raised my concerns, the salesperson was quick to assure me that most of first timers who wore that felt that way and that it's perfectly normal. Without further ado, I paid for the pair of boots. By the time Say Yin and Jaslyn arrived, I was already paying for it.

Pictures of my Dr. Martens Phoenix Jara below:









After that, we walked to Dhouby Ghaut and went to KFC for dinner. However, the seating area was tad tacky and a little dirty so voted for Burger King instead. We ate and chatted until 10pm before leaving for home. It was fun sitting there, chatting while discovering another side of Say Yin. *Which I shall not mention it here or else I will get killed. （￣～￣;）・・・*

On the way home, I was quite worried about purchasing the wrong size for my Dr. Martens Phoenix Jara but as I tried it on at home, it fits perfectly and was incredibly comfortable. Thank goodness.

With that, this pretty much sums up my shopping trip on Thursday, 24 September 2009.

I hope that you had enjoyed reading this blog post!

ヾ(=^▽^=)ノ Bye bye!

Oh~ My holidays...

~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)HIー♪

Logged into Blogger and I am happy to see that the layout is working fine.
＼（＾ ∀ ＾）／ That's great. It took them seriously long enough to get it fixed. Seriously...like weeks? Hmph.

For those dear friends who are in the dark out there, I am currently on vacation now. It's seriously sad that the longest vacation I have is around one and a half month. My current vacation is set to end at Sun, 18 Oct 2009. Which means that I don't have much time left to actually get started on the list of stuff I wanted to do. Let's see...looks like list making is required. The list of tasks I am required to do are not in order.

To do list:

Cleaning
1) IKEA Cupboard
2) Study Drawers
3) Study Desk
4) White Shelf
5) Book shelf
6) Plastic Area
7) Laptop Bag
8) Wardrobe

Washing
1) Doraemon Pencil Box
2) Red Pencil Box
3) White Alice Bow at Side with Rose 132★816
4) Wrist Cuffs 132★041
5) School Bag
6) New Balance Shoes


Filming
1) Fake Nails Tutorial

Yes, as you can see, it's mostly cleaning related stuff but I have to say that although it doesn't look like much, each stuff for the cleaning list has to take at least a full day to complete for it's utterly messy...I have to get it done soon or I wouldn't have place to put my stuff for next semester! Plus, if I keep on dragging it, I bet that I wouldn't get anything done when school reopens!

Teva's Women's Kiru Boot in Deep Wood

As some of you know, there was a World of Sports sale at first floor of a nearby mall during around April. The sale includes sports apparel as well as shoes from brands like Birkenstock, Teva etc. I saw the Teva's collection of boots on sale and I knew that I had to get it.

Among the many design available, I love Teva's Women's Kiru Boot in Deep Wood most. It's perfect for bohemian styles and it fits exactly the mental image of the pair of perfect boot in mind.

Alas! To my dismay, as I tried on that pair of boot, in size seven if I didn't remember wrongly, I couldn't even fit in. When I asked to tried on bigger sizes, the sales person told me that they only have it in this size for these were all samples sent by the Teva company to test the market. Unfortunately from what I had learned from the sales person, World of Sports has no plans to bring the products in and if I wish to buy, I have to ordered it online which I found out that will cost me S$300+ due to expensive shipping charges.

Good━━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━━Heavens!!!

Plus, not to mention that I don't have a credit card... （￣～￣;）・・・

ヽ(´〜｀；） Why must this happen to me!!!

It took me ages to find a pair of boots which I LOVED and then I couldn't fit in it and there's no actual stock available???!!!

☆彡　　　　　(-人-;)　求神拜佛...*其实是看到流星许愿...*

Is there possibility of a miracle happening such as World of Sports deciding to bring in that pair of boots or...me possibly finding it in a local shop somewhere?

That's why I need YOUR help!

σ(´ｪ｀●)me？

Yes YOU! (；⌒▽⌒)σ (´ｪ｀●)

If you notice a shop in Singapore selling Teva's Women's Kiru Boot in Deep Wood, tell me!

Just leave me a tag or something! I will be very very grateful to you!

Many thanks in advance!

Remember to keep a watch out for it! (ﾟДﾟ≡ﾟДﾟ) The pictures and details of Teva's Women's Kiru Boot in Deep Wood is available at the link. Just click on Teva's Women's Kiru Boot in Deep Wood.

☆彡　*.:*:.｡.: (人 *) 希望新加坡的商店有卖那双靴子!(Please let it be available in Singapore!)

That's all for today...

ヾ(=^▽^=)ノ Bye bye!

Akon feat. BoA - Beautiful Music Video Remix

Alright! Finally all the errors and stuff that's wacky on Blogger is smoothed out! I am so tired of having to type all the HTML myself.

Alright, I don't think that I have posted this out before. I had found this fan-made Beautiful video using the song "Beautiful" sung by Akon Feat. BoA. The author is none other than PureDragon54 from YouTube. PureDragon54 uses the videos from BoA's Dakishimeru, Secret, I Did It for Love and Energetic plus Akon's Beautiful to get the result. Although the video is fan-made, the song Beautiful by Akon Feat. BoA is real and does exist.

Enough of that. Enjoy the video!

Akon Feat. BoA - Beautiful Music Video Remix by PureDragon54


P.S Only couple days left before BoA Deluxe, the Deluxe version of her self titled English debut album, BoA, with two new songs, Control and Crazy About, plus one remix is out in stores!

Best Maximum Ride Fanmade Trailer I had ever seen.

Blogger is STILL wacky. I don't know what to do with it, conidering I have to type all the codes myself. ARGH. *Sigh* Enough of that.

As you guys out there know, I had openly declared being a fan of the Maximum Ride series. If you don't know what that is, clearly, you haven't been sticking around. Never mind. Here's my blog post on Maximum Ride which I had published last time. Have fun reading it and take you time to watch the short videos which I had embedded into the blog post.

So, I was on YouTube, as usual, looking through the videos and I found this. A Maximum Ride Fanmade Trailer made by a Maximum Ride fan named lilmisssicecream from YouTube. It was utterly cool, fantastically made and so real and totally believable. Sure, I had already embedded another Fanmade Maximum Ride Trailer in previous blog post but although this one is longer by around a minute, it also have better gauge of climax and everything.

Enjoy watching it folks, especially if you are a Maximum Ride Fan, I think that you would have enjoyed it and understand what's going on. ~\(=^0^=)/~

The Maximum Ride Trailer by lilmisssicecream

Free whole UGLIES book in PDF format for download!

Here's your chance to read the whole book of UGLIES for FREE! If you are lazy to get your butt of the chair to borrow it, then just download the book in the link provided in the post below. Don't worry, it's totally legal and everything as it's advertized by none other than the author, Scott Westerfeld himself!

The post below is Free Tally!, as quoted from his blog.

P.S Blogger is being annoying with all the layout messed up so I have to actually typed out the HTML codes myself. Thank goodness for WDS lessons! Faridah you rock! ~\(=^0^=)/~

P.S.S Twitter is being annoying as well as it updates my latest Tweets incredibly slowly! Most of the time it is stated as loading but the updates doesn't get uploaded at all! =(

Free Tally!

With Leviathan on its way (60 days and counting!) my publisher and I thought we would give you guys a little present. So for the next month, Uglies will be available free in pdf form.

That’s right: Free book! Free Uglies! Free Tally!





Of course, this isn’t just free for you, my faithful blog readers. I mean, if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got a copy of Uglies sitting around somewhere already. But if you have any friends, siblings, crushes, or enemies who you think might be interested in the series, why not send them over?

Cause, you know, people like free stuff.

Oh, and by the way, the first chapter of Leviathan is also included, along with an illustration you probably haven’t seen before. (That’s right, this is all a promotional scheme! Bwah-hah-hah!)

Click here to go to Simon & Schuster’s free download site.

Enjoy.

A quick technical note:
Obviously you can read a pdf on your computer, and both Sony e-Readers and Kindles take them too. If you have technical questions, feel free to ask them in this comments thread. I probably can’t help you, but hopefully somebody will.

Also: the download site asks for a US zip code, which is five numbers.

HAPPY 44TH BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY EVERYONE!

What's my birthday wish for Singapore? I hope that everything mentioned in The Pledge will stay true forever. LOVE&PEACE!


+-+miko kagome+-+

Hanphone network is up!

As you had know from my previous post, my handphone network was down due to not enough credit in my hi! card. I had topped the amount so I can receive calls and sms now. However, as the amount is to be last for 6 months, I would advise you to call my house number if you must since I don't take calls on my handphone as I don't have free sms/calls!

That's all for today!

My handphone network is down!

Just to let you know folks, I had used up my prepaid card amount so network is down for my handphone. I can't receive sms/calls...until I top up. I don't know when I will be topping up so don't sms or call me now...I will tell you folks when I had topped up my handphone credit here.

If you need to find me, just call my house number...since I have the Mio Voice now and incoming and outgoing calls are unlimited and free. Or just tag/email/Private Message me...

*I want a software unlocked Japanese Mobile Phone!*

I have a Twitter and Facebook account now!

A quick update!

To those folks who are still in the dark out there, I have finally created a Facebook and Twitter account!

You can find me at www.facebook.com/Stay.Icy and www.twitter.com/StayIcy respectively!

Feel free to add or follow me! ^0^

Izzati had misread my link "StayIcy" to something like "Stacy". There IS a big difference with both phrase! Why "Stay Icy"? "Stay Icy" is a quote from the book "SPECIALS", a book from my all time favourite series called "UGLIES". "Stay Icy" is a slang in the book and it means something like "Stay clear headed and be aware of your surroundings." Read the series to find out more...it's so thought provoking and yet utterly cool at the same time. =D I highly recommend it!

I am now busy with completing my part of the Computer Architecture(CARC) project which requires presentation and handing up of everything on next Tuesday, 21 July 2009! It is hard to complete as I don't even understand what a hacker needs! GAH! I have to wear Office Lady clothes on that day...I have to say that I am excited about wearing the outfit though. Hehe~ Feel like I am the boss of the whole universe(s) and ready to kick some ass whenever I wore that outfit.

=D

On a side note, some how a particular someone just couldn't get it that we absolutely CANNOT copy and paste text from a source directly on to the project itself. Does that someone wants to cause us to lose all marks and get penalties? Come on, it's so obvious that it's a plagiarism!

AHHHH!

My hair~ Flat with no Volume...

3 July 2009, Thursday
I had been complementing of going for a long needed rebonding session for my fringe on Friday, 4 July 2009. My mother surprised me by offering to sponsor me for a full rebond considering that my hair was getting really long, unruly and tired. Like I said before, I was surprised. I was still half awake and preparing myself for school when she just popped the question all of the sudden.

I supposed that she expected me to jump for joy the moment the question left her mouth. I was admittedly pleasantly surprised at this offer but still, I had some things I had to consider.

1) I had wanted to get a curling tong. If I rebond my hair, curling my hair would be almost impossible as the curls just wouldn't last. Plus, why straighten my hair if I was going to curl them?

2) I had done a rebond at around one and a half years ago. It left my hair really dry and I had tangles and knots whenever I run my comb/finger through my hair. Do I really want to have such dry and damaged hair again?

However, I have to admit that I was tempted. Having rebonded hair means that I just have to comb and go. Quite convenient except for having to use more conditioner and mask.

I promised her that I would give her a reply by the end of the day and left the house.

I had consulted quite a lot of people throughout the day. From classmates, to my good friend and finally, to my imouto. Among all of them, it was imouto who had managed to clear up my thoughts most. Thank you so much imouto! You know who you are! It is always fun to talk to you! You always never fail to make my day! =D

Yes people, I had done the rebond on 4 July 2009, Friday. I went into the salon at 2.20pm and walked out of it at 8pm. The whole process was longer than last time. My hair is now shorter, straighter, flatter and full of a chemical smell. You shall now be able to recognize me by my smell.

However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that my hair was not as dry. Hopefully, the intensive treatment I had planned for my hair will keep it healthy. =D