Flyin' Early

So I'm returning home... eight days earlier than initially planned. The situation is kind of a double-edged sword as it brings both happy and sad effects. I'm leaving due to another family matter (this year is really an unfortunate year) but I get to meet my family just when I'm started to miss them, Hong Kong and its delicious  西多士. Ah wellz.

I admit I'm having mixed feelings right now. Though I've been through this whole journey from UK to Hong Kong (and back again) for many times, I'm particularly nervous today. Probably because I'm actually going on my own or because I don't know what to  expect when I arrive home. (I just hope all is well there...)

'Til then!

My poor computer

So I've recently mentioned my broken Mac and how it would be rare to go on this blog for many days - oh how ironic it is that I've already done three new posts in the course of two weeks! - but I never mentioned how 'broken' it is. Turns out only the internal hardware (ie keyboard and trackpad) would sometimes fail to work but all would be perfectly fine if I used USB ones instead. Of course, i happily complied to the suggestion as now I can go on the 'interwebs' as frequent as I used to. That is... with the cost of this:

 omg, the clutter with fudging macbook brings... (yet again it's already five years old... time for a new one?)

Clutter. Not only am I faced with weird looks from the whole awkward composition of out-of-proportions keyboard and millions of wires all tangled on my desk (note how 80% percent is used up by this monstrosity), I'm limited to the number of USB ports my poor laptop can provide. So that's one ethernet cord for internet access, one charger cord for well, charging, two USB ports used for just the school's keyboard and the mouse I borrowed (I say 'borrowed' but it's really the keyboard of a broken computer I stole off) and the earphone port for my ear buds.

That's a total of five cords coming out of this machine. I can't tell if this is considered humorous or plain stupid.

And that's only the temporary solution while I'm in the UK. Who know how I'll solve it in Hong Kong. Buy them in the Apple store? Buy a new laptop entirely??? Dear god think of the price of that. It's a pity I'm not a college student - that would give me extra student sales :D ah wellz. I guess I'll just continue typing on this oversized keyboard for now.

'til then!

Pancakes, Hotcakes, whatever

So you've seen me say this:

"... I need to stop pancaking around..."

What the fuck FUDGE is 'pancaking'? (heh, that line already shows how my love of sweet stuff affects my use of language.) Well... you know the term 'waffle'? As in when one waffles but doesn't give any useful information? One day - when I was bored - I decided I should 'personalize' my words, if you will, and swap 'waffles' to something I much prefer: PANCAKES! :D So, from then on, I would use the word 'pancake' in the context of 'waffle' to show everyone my love for then over the pesky hard frames of batter. (yes, shockingly, I don't like waffles.) 

Oh... how I love pancakes. All soft and fluffy, thick and squelching with syrup - though not too much. You could decorate it with bright berries and fruits or Pollock some masterpiece with chocolate sauce. You could go for the traditional and spread butter - 100% veggie oil! - and watch it soak all the goodness like a sponge. ah, how I long to make pancakes again.  

'But couldn't you go and make them now?' unfortunately, no. Being a boarder I have no access to a frying pan nor do I have the skills to master the fluffy pancakes my mother used to make. I COULD eat them back in Hong Kong but I promised myself to go and take the time to strip off some cookie rolls. (Hah, another term to do with food! 'Cookie roll' means 'fat', FYI.) However, I've recently come across a few recipes that may help me indulge without any guilt: Chocolate Avocado Banana Pudds. (Ashley in Edible Perspective have some really good stuff, you should check it out!) I may have to go find the elusive avocado and dig up the dusty blender but I'm sure the work would surely make up for it. Oh how I long to try it! 

I think I already have laidbactus (again...) and I still have two more weeks before the exams have ended. Premature case?

'Til then!  

Hannibal the Cannibal

So I've recently go hold of my own wifi access (about time!) so I can freely go about the 'inter webs' without the school's horrible filter, but only at an agonizingly slow pace. I swear every site needs four minutes to load- two, if it's in a good mood.

But yea... Whilst I was online, I came across a new TV show that I'm now dying to watch back in HK: Hannibal.

Will Graham from Hannibal

It's based on Thomas Harris' Red Dragon, hence the story is before the movie The Silence of the Lambs - as it was in the books. I saw a few trailers and I'm loving the artsy feel that resonates BBC's Sherlock style but with the under layer of horror. I know it'll be gory but that's I like about the show. It has gore but not to a certain extent it turns cheesy and full of crap. Plus, it really plays well with the fact the viewers are aware of Hannibal's cannibalism and so plays with us on whether he has eaten someone or not. It throws in subtle suggestions yet never fully reveals it all. The real horror lies in the fact Hannibal can hide his secret so well even we don't know what he intends to do. Aww... I'm getting filled with squee and pancaking again.

'till then!

EDIT: oh carp I forgot about going through my use of 'pancake'. :S whoops. that'll have to be next time then!

...

Heart thumping, lungs crushing, her world spun round as she desperately clawed for the top. Wave after wave, water tipped her off balance before she could swim away. Sucked back into the abyss, pictures flashed through her head; a computer screen, an abandoned blog, her several posts of her life. 

*gasps*

she reaches the surface and scrambles for the nearest ledge. She grabs to one and slowly heaves herself up. She looks out to the keyboard and enters 'Mind of a Mundane Girl'. The screen flashes to a empty page. Her fingers rest of the keys and she begins to type the first words since the Crash...

Hello dearies! Yes, I just called my horrible GCSEs as 'the Crash' like some cheesy name for an apocalypse. This is actually a rare time for me to just sit down and type down what ever is left of my mind. Not only because of my great efforts to preparing for the exams - I admit there are some times where I don't use our given study leave with more practicality - but because my Mac decided to crash and burn. Apparently the logic board decided its time for it to stop working during the most essential time of this year - when I need it for past papers and mark schemes. So... in a sense, 'The Crash' goes not only to my current living under notes and papers but also the bloody crash of my precious computer. I could go on moping about losing one big part of my life but I think you wouldn't really want to hear about it.

So, life has gone preeetty fast. I'm already done my first six exams and now simultaneously revising Chemistry and English Lit. Before you know it I would probably think 'euphoria' is somehow related to ammonia... or something of the like. Furthermore, I'm dangerously close to that awful week where almost every contiguous day included one or more exams.

But while I am living under the rock I still try to keep my 'geek' up. I just recently finished the LOTR trilogy at an agonizingly slow rate and I'm still working on the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (whilst half-crying to the fact there are still 18 months before BBC finally showcases series 3 of 'Sherlock' ). Oh, I should probably mention that two months ago, I've read and still am in love with Pratchett and Gaiman's baby: Good Omens. Omg, how the very first page won my heart! If I was some Shakespeare prodigy, I probably would've written two or three odes and sonnets for that book of gold (not saying the other books mentioned aren't as good). So shite, need to stop pancaking* about... already a whole wall of text! 'Til then!

*to those wondering, I will (hopefully) explain this term in the next post... :P

Revising with OCs

being someone who has to undergo masses of GCSE exams in the following next two months (fudge.), I naturally would panic about revision and such. One on the most annoying things I cannot put my head around is the ion tests in Chemistry. So I decided to find a way to remember all the elements and their corresponding colours (to certain chemicals or to a flame)... by creating OCs.
 

So... from left to right: Casper (Calcium), Lilith (Lithium), Nate (Sodium), Polly (Potassium) and Barry (Barium).

They're the pyrotechnics of their P.L.U.S. team - possibly of a military group. (I have a feeling I should change them to some aspiring pyrotechnics as they seem too young.) 

The colours from the flame test corresponds to different aspects of the character  - ie Lilith is a redhead and Barry has a apple green hoodie. I haven't developed further more than I've just shown so... yeah. first draft... 

It's possible not the most efficient way to revise but definitely the most fun. I can't guarantee I will fully remember all of them (apple green, dirty green, bright red, brick red... ARGH) but at least I would be looking forward to revising chemistry!

hem.

While I was going through a episode of random hyper-ness after a binge of dark chocolate and teas (CAFFEINE.) I dawned on something like sudden clarity clarence: I may be getting ever so slightly gerontophiliac...
... as in the opposite of pedophilia .________.

i-is-is this me??? (^ Jiji from Kuragehime.)

Ever since I came to the UK - no, a few months before that - I have been exposed to more British culture than ever. And with that I've been more... um, interested in people like Stephen Fry and Jeremy Brett... and Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Hugh Laurie, Ed Hardwicke and possibly even Gary Oldman. Of course a few are only at the brink of the mid-forties or fifties but seriously, think of the age gap we're talking here.

Apart from those listed, I'm perfectly fine and drooling over the faces that many others would die to marry - Hiddles for an example. I guess I could just be going a bit too far on the statement and maybe I just don't know how to differ... that with real respect to their work. At least I hope so...   

Bah, humbug. It's Valentine's Day.

To be frank, I really hate Valentine's day. Wherever you go, they'll be flashes of shocking pink and blinding red. Not to mention that suddenly all the couples in the world are very open in displaying intimate relationships - sometimes more than enough. I can't go out without feeling pathetic and that I'm the only solitary person on the street compared to the masses of people all holding hands and giving each other sloppy kisses. I might as well make use of the valentine's day sales, buy myself a chocolate box pretend to buy it for my imaginary boyfriend and gorge on the sweets (only to make myself feel worse for becoming lonely and fat.)

As you can see -or read, really- I'm not the best love guru in the world but I've been asked by a few of my friends on how to woo their crush. (quite funny how they are so desperate they'd ask for advice from the most unresourceful person ever...) Luckily, I know that other animals have more experience in this stuff as they perform courtships every year. So, supplied by the animal kingdom, here are three tips on how to be romantic:

1. give your loved one a nicely wrapped dead fly (...if you are a spider)

Unlike how most think of spiders (hairy, creepy-crawly, too-many-eyes (eyed?) bastard), these lil' fellas can be quite the romantic. Before meeting their girlfriends, the males go out and get a prey (freshly caught and wriggling alive) and delicately wrap it in layers of silk as a presentable gift for the ladies.  Now, I must admit giving your girl or boy a box of chocolates is more than over-played but instead of the usual flowers and sweets, why not give something more personal or even something handmade? Maybe a you could bake your girlfriend a brownie? (sorry, that's just what I thought the perfect boyfriend might do. Do correct me if I'm wrong.)

2. take time and patience to impress her

From an outsider's view, I really don't get how the girl can be impressed by having the guy shoving roses and chocolates to her face - they're more likely to forget all the 'effort' by the next day. Instead, you could make this Valentines' day by giving her something that clearly shows how much time you would spend in order to make her happy. Though you don't have to go and learn some love-dance for most of your life - like the albatross seagulls do, try doing something like learning to sing or play some romantic song you know she'll like. 

3. tidy yo' crib and pimp it up!

If you're planning to spend time with your date at your place, then you definitely need to tidy up or even add some decorations to set the mood. I'm not telling you to suddenly turn your apartment or house into a restaurant in naples or a french cafe, but simple touches like less stuff strewn on the floor and throwing that half-eaten cup noodle away would be very helpful. Furthermore if you just met the date, you could maybe 'reveal' things to show what you're interested in, giving her/him the impression you want to make - like how the bowerbird presents piles of flower petals, shiny beetle shells and blue litter to tell its mate its preferences. Use the 'bower' to guide your date to what you want them to think of you.

Lent: May the National Diet Begin.

It's Lent today and that means everyone in school would be restricting themselves from the usual three Cs - Cheese, Chocolate and Coke. While everyone else would happily continue their days with half-empty plates of leaves, I'll look at my plate (possibly bread and some heavy cream soup, a side of greasy vegs, 3cm^3 of cheese and a bowl of pudding all lathered in custard.) and wonder if i should have eaten a little less, spend the rest of the week struggling to resist buying another candy bar and give up the whole 'lent' thing by the fifteenth day. I just don't get how people can do it. Nearly 80% of my classmates are exceptionally slim, can run 2-3 laps without being breathless - I lose my breath by just 'trekking' up the stairs to my room. - and easily survive a month or more without eating any comfort foods. Yet here I am, a muffin-topper who can't even jog for 3 minutes. I know all this sounds way too exaggerated but seriously? how the fudge do people even do it??

Though I'm sure I wouldn't be able to go through the whole 40 days but I've decided to set some Dos and Don'ts for lent:

1. stop snacking ('starch' nor 'sweets'.) 

Being a sweet tooth, it's irrational to think I could ever live without chocolate so I'll let that slide but I know I could survive from other candies for a month or so. Plus, I could switch my usual dose of milk chocolate to dark chocolate - giving me an extra dose of anti-wrinkle cream! (chemical wise, not literally.) I already started eating fruit as my main snack source so I could continue that to replace the lose of sucrose.

2. stop swearing

'Wait, whuuuuut? Since when do you swear??' Oh I swear. A lot. even around my parents, 'shit' and 'fuck' spills out my mouth every minute or so. Even worse, my swearing has influence my friend - who is from Shang Hai, so her engrish is so-so - to use 'fuck' in a daily basis. She only uses 'fucking' though, which made me wonder if I should stop or try to teach her to find more creative ways to express her anger to geography and biology. I concluded that if I stop myself, it'll probably stop her from saying 'fuck' as well. hopefully. 

...And there you have it. I've told you what I'm sacrificing during Lent. Normally, I would ask back what you are planning to give up but since this blog is a virtual version of talking to a brick wall, I'll just end it here. Bye!

OMFG MY SIDES ARE BURNING

...hi there.

the fire has subsided. I'm fine. Just don't make me laugh. Thank would kill me...

So why the pain? I'm basically on the run (again, though I never really talked about it on my blog) to lose some pounds. I do this by forcing myself to go through the torture of doing 1-2 sessions of 'Blogilates Bootcamp' everyday in hopes to strip all cookie rolls for some abs. Though the goal is ridiculously unattainable - especially for a girl like me who snacks on juice powder (Yes. Dry.) and goes breathless in a matter of seconds while climbing two flights of stairs. But I do hope that one day - possible by the end of this academic year - to lose so much cookie fat all the girl scouts/guide girls cry.

Diet wise, I'm limiting myself to one dessert a week and altering my intake to five small meals - which is currently happening at a wobbly rate. Sometimes I can be disciplined for a good three weeks before binging some make-shift bread&milk pudding before bed. (Why did I ever watch Nigella's express recipes on Youtube?)

You're probably like, "Oh it's one of those annoying girls who keep complaining about being fat when they're actually just perfectly normal." I don't blame you. I probably am. I blame all those blown out pictures of fit (AS IN FIT-HEALTY-FIT NOT FIT-UKHOT-FIT) guys I keep seeing on tumblr. Hiddles.... Benny.... Bomer.... Turner.... *looks are flubber and pouts* even chubby Martin Freeman walks his dogs. (okay, I'm starting to sound pretty stalker-ish over here. must stop.)

Probs more moaning about flubber in future posts. You have been warned.

I'm slightly recovering...

As I said from my previous post that i was infected with laidbactus. It's several days a little over two weeks since i came back to the UK. So hi! how are you? (Oh, I'm fine! says some imaginary friend, How 'bout you?) Me? Oh, just going through baby steps to recover from my disorder like doing at least one homework before the last minute. I still have a fudge load to do though: my room is still bare and needs decorating, 80% of my homework still needs to be done and then there's this. *sigh* When will I learn? Probably never.

On another subject just to avert the attention to my flaws, it's january :D Well, technically it's near the end of january but do you know what that means? BBC's 'Sherlock' series 3 is filming! Yessssssssss! As it will be exeat tomorrow, I'll be staying in London with my guardian for the weekend. I know chances are low to meet any of the cast but I still have my hopes... please, fate. make it happen.

(Yet again, if I can't meet them in person, I have tumblr (FREE FROM THOSE DARN FILTERS, YEA!) to cover that for me. *hint hint*double-negative-means-yes*hint hint*

Will be back shortly for more guffins!