Yes, the image above is a proof that I’m back to my lomography obsession now.

So I’ve sent two years worth of stuff for shipping yesterday morning. My apartment now looks like a messed up playroom of some poorly organised schoolchildren. After struggling to fit my two years of life into three tea chest boxes, my body aches all over. The boxes were too high for me, so bending down in the correct way was not possible at all. I had to bend down like a dork, even stepping into the box at some point, to make sure the items stay the way I want them to. My back hurts like there’s no tomorrow because of that.

Now that the finals are around the corner (this Saturday, to be precise), I find myself thinking back to the days when we first reached Auckland. It feels like a long time ago, but it also tastes fresh in my mind still. I may be somewhat reclusive compared to most of my coursemates, but I’d like to think that I’ve had a fair share of good times with them, regardless of how limited my participation was.

I didn’t get to go places because of some limitations. My parents greatly discouraged me from traveling. “You can go back later when you’re already working. In fact, you can visit any country you want to once you’re earning some decent money on your own,” my mother once told me. I feel a little sad for not taking the opportunity to travel, but I know Mom meant well for me. I’ll be back, maybe in a couple of years if not next year for certain events where I get semi-sponsored out of luck. I’ll be traveling a lot starting from next year, so I really should not feel sad about not having the time and money to travel this year and the last.

I believe that as long as I’m alive and breathing, opportunities live with me, walking side by side with me and holding my hands. They will always wait for the right time to pull at my sleeves, so I won’t feel sad anymore.

Remembering all those little things makes me feel old. I’m no longer that girl who was paranoid all the time about what people would think about her if she were to choose a certain path. I’ve become that girl who doesn’t care about what people think about her and thinks that she at least has a right to make her own decisions.

I’d like to just extend my deepest condolences to friends who lost their loved ones in the span of two years being overseas. It must have been a great emotional challenge to go through, so I hope my feelings would somehow reach them and become a tiny portion of their strength (even if they don’t need it from me).

I can’t wait to go home. I just can’t wait.

And I’m sure this entry is just one in a series of posts relating to ‘nostalgia’ that I may possibly be writing soon.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

Starters: I’ve been so lazy to update the blog because I’ve been quite active at my Livejournal ever since I renamed my account and purchased a whole year of paid account. I can never really leave my LJ. Ever. The communities are hard to leave behind. Besides, I’ve been there for more than six years. My first account was deleted and my current account that I still use actively and love is nearing it’s sixth birthday ♥. How could I ever forget this attachment? I promise myself to get a permanent account when I start working!

So many things happened in October. I’m now done with assignments, just waiting for finals. I’m also currently really busy with packing up everything that I want to ship back to Malaysia as well as to pack everything so that I can move out early to lodge with Mira, Atie, Mint, Dzeti and Pikah to save money. Yup. Money is extremely tight now. I can’t afford to spend more than necessary. I’m still emo-ing and angsting over the fact that my dress for the formal farewell dinner cost $50 (although $50 is dirt cheap considering it’s from Max). Lol, to think that I’d willingly buy a regular Nike t-shirt for $60 and not angst about it… That really says something about my personality.

Armageddon Expo: Aside from assignments, finals, practicum presentation (that sucked like there’s no tomorrow!) and packing, Mira and I went to the Armageddon Expo on the second day of the event. I’m not fond of western comics and gaming stuff that I can’t really relate to, but my enjoyed my day oggling looking at cosplayers of my favourite series, looking around for stuff that I love (and bought two reference book for my works), blended in with the crowd and went happpy-happy-crazy at the cosplay game, blablabla. Usually I’d write more about this sort of event, but maybe I still feel shaken whenever I think about my camera that I almost lost that day at the expo. Someone found it and brought it to the information counter. I was so relieved! Whoever that kind soul was, he/she has my eternal gratitude!

Farewell Lunch: our juniors organised a farewell lunch for us last week. The food was awesome. Really awesome. It looked like a regular lunch buffet you’d have back in Malaysia, but it tasted awesome (well, it was a restaurant serving Malaysian food at Hobson Street). And the endless refill of drinks. Mmhmm. I’m so grateful for the lunch and I got to bring some back for dinner too! Oh, self, what a cheapskate!

Parnell Festival of Roses: I went to Parnell Rose Gardens with Mira and Hijrah this afternoon. The roses were all in full blossom and they were beautiful. It would have been more wonderful to gaze at the flowers without so many people there, but hey, it was a family festival! Stalls selling various items, stages where people I don’t know performed, children dancing happily to the orchestra and many more. It’s funny that I think the highlight of this event was me buying a box of takoyaki and enjoying it under the sun. I wasn’t even that hungry. It’s just that it’s takoyaki, and I haven’t had one for a long while! It was delicious~ I was tempted to get the obanyaki set too, but then my mind kept saying ‘money! money! money!’ so I didn’t buy any. Amazing how money takes precedent over healthy diet in my life, LOL. Although it was a long walk from my place (didn’t take the bus), it was enjoyable. Remind me to thank Faris for randomly telling me about this event.

Until next time.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

I’ve always known that I have some kind of fear of failures, but I didn’t think it would haunt me in my dream. Despite my dislike of writing about dreams, I find myself compelled to write this one for memory’s sake. In most of the dreams that I could remember, I was always in school or academy – the kind of environment that’s only suitable for learning. Last night was different in a way that it deals specifically with assignments. For some reason, my dream self did not submit an assignment due in January and only realised about it when it was already October. I was not sure if I truly did not submit it, or it was just my fear taking over (in the dream, of course). There was arguing and begging and pleading with the lecturer in charge of that subject.

What woke me up was the lecturer’s words, “They are all looking to catch you off guard and fail you. You know you’re finished if you fail the next one.”

I never failed a single paper in life. Not ever. I guess this is what the last semester does to me. I’m not performing as good in two of my subjects now, so the fear of failure is taking over me. It’s funny to have myself flail and squeak and freak out, unlike my previous self who would study like mad by now.

I just can’t find it in me to study so diligently like when I was in secondary school, chasing after scores and grades. The enjoyment I could gain only from studying seems to be gone somewhere. I can’t feel it anymore. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t what I should call ‘enjoyment’. It was not even ‘self-accomplishment’. It’s more like a ‘drive’ to please and fulfill the desires and meet the expectations of everyone around me. I failed to realise that all along, that was my fear of getting scorned by others, mainly my parents.  This particular fear is one that binds my dreamscape to school scenarios up until now.

It’s somewhat irritating, really. Hmph, and this entry is so pointless it hurts.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

But today is like a wonderful post-birthday celebration of sorts. Our class went on a sailing trip (though we were on two separate boats). It’s the first sailing trip I’ve ever had and it’s probably going to be the last one too.  Can’t afford it otherwise (this trip was sponsored, so…). I’d rather spend the money traveling on planes to different continents if I can afford the luxury. The wind was nice. The view was nice once we get past the docks. No one got seasick~ We were practically standing on the seats.

At first, we were so in the ‘BOAT RACING!’ mood, but then the wind was too nice to even think about competing. Lol. Just before we end the trip, our boats docked side by side where everybody brought out the cakes and sang a birthday song to Akmar and I. The cakes were also meant for Eid I didn’t know there was going to be cakes. The cheesecake was awesomely delicious. Just a little bit saltier than usual but delicious nonetheless. Next comes the lunch. Fried rice from Angie’s Kitchen. The best thing was that…

…we ended up eating lunch where it says ‘No passengers on decks‘. Pfft. Just like us. Just like in the picture;  it was taken where we definitely shouldn’t be at.

This trip, I have to say, is a very memorable one for me. After the dull day yesterday, this Sunday is definitely several times more awesome.

Now I have to return to my deadly EDUC348 assignment. For some reasons, I’m not freaking out at all although I’m calling it ‘deadly’. Hmm. I must have snapped.

p.s/What’s with the sudden onslaught of Russian spams? They were in Russian before, but now the comments are in English. The comments are so funny too. Pfft.I guess spammers really do try so hard to fail at life evn though they’re already so full of fail

p.p.s/ Mom, I’m not as anti-social as you think, lol. I’m just an indoor kind of person, like a disproportionate chubby, overweight hamster that’s too comfortable in its cage ♥♥♥

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

Isn’t the cake cute? I love it. The one who made it is cute too ♥♥

Eid Mubarak! Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslims around the world. I know the first of Syawal was yesterday for the most par of the world, but for us in New Zealand, it’s today on Monday. One extra day of fasting for us over here. This is my last Aidilfitri in New Zealand, yay! I miss celebrating with my family and friends.

• We had lots of food. Every apartment (or any group) brought at least one dish. Mira and I made Nasi Himpit and Kuah Kacang. Other food include cupcakes, chocolate mudcakes, assorted cookies, lontong, beef rendang, different types of rice vermicelli etc. We totaly stuffed ourselves silly (not really).
• Playing and singing to Guitar Hero on the X-Box with Sheryll. I should get the video uploaded after the internet quota is reset tonight.
• Staying back with Mira to play Scene It! with Nigel, Wira, Dyau and Faris. Most of us were guessing wildly at the most part anyway. Well, I’m totally not a movie person, so yeah… Clicking ABXY randomly is fun.
• Randomly washing the dishes and brought back leftovers from the party XD Since Mira and I are so sadly and poorly broke, we appreciate the extra food for storage. Really.
• Need to cook chicken rendang for our apartment. For our own celebration (somewhat), even though we’re broke like whoa.
• I think a certain someone should totally be disowned/banned from our cohort. I don’t care if she finds this entry. This is beyond rational. I bet she regrets being a member of Cohort 4, and I bet she thinks of most of us as lower than her standard – whatever that standard happens to be. Not that I care. Go and join your circle of friends. Go on. Don’t come to meetings with Sheryll, please. Disregarding prety much everything Cohort4 organises means you’re totally out, so go.

Regarding that old, old OLD post about Tesco Kota Bharu

One sentence from me: Shut the hell up, you racists.

I wish people would read the posting date before leaving comments, because seriously, commenting on entries over a year old makes them seem pretty stupid.

What the hell is up with random visitors from Malaysia googling for Tesco Kota Bharu and leaving retarded, simple-minded derogatory comments smelling heavily of racism on my entry written almost two years ago? Why do you care what I’ve got to say? This is my place, so I get to have my say. Go write your own blog entry, retards. I’m well aware that I’m being rude and I’m not sorry. If they can leave thoughtless comments, I can respond crudely as well.

You try building your own business empire if you’ve got so many things to say. Empty words may sound pretty to you, but they stink like rotten fish in reality. Stupid racists and stupid simpletons.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

- Aren’t their Yamamoto and Gokudera awesome? ♥♥♥ -
(More pics) もっと取った写真はこちら～

I should be posting this to Junjou, but I’m still having the blasted disappearing post body problem (even after reinstalling), so I’ll post it here instead. Although I was (and am still) sick like whoa, I still went to Doujin Overload. Well, what the heck? The venue was Hyatt Regency Hotel, which is only around 5-minute walk (maybe less, but definitely couldn’t be more unless I walk like a real zombie). Anyways, I went there at around 11am with Mira to submit a very crackish art entry to the art competition before midday, lol. We missed the first dance performance, but we were just in time for DO Band. Oh, the band was awesome. The songs performed were from Nana and Full Moon wo Sagashite. The one singing had such a nice voice~

And then we started browsing randomly. So many shounen-ai/yaoi items this year I’m so happy! Apparently, this year is all about Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Hetalia, Kuroshitsuji and Vocaloid. I’m surprised at the lack of Reborn and Dino’s popularity. I’m so not surprised at the abundance of Yamamoto/Gokudera, hehe… Speaking about Yamamoto and Gokudera, refer to the picture above My eyes have been following them (agh, I feel like a perv!) from the moment we arrive. No, I’m not turning into a stalker. Really. So, um, if you  guys happen to be reading this by chance or whatever, please don’t mind me. I’m just a happy and delirious fangirl~

After looking around, we went to Mid City to have lunch. It started out okay until everything I was eating suddenly tasted bitter. I had to stop eating and throw my lunch away. On the way back, I got myself a haircut.

This new haircut suddenly caused a girl to speak Chinese, and a guy to speak Japanese to me at the event. Hmm, why exactly? I’d like to think I still look very, very Malaysian even after this new haircut, thank you very much

Before going back to Hyatt, we went home to drop off a few things. And then we walked back up to the venue and started spending money on small stuff.

I’m proud of myself for not spending more than $50 for this year’s event! I’ve got to save some for Comic Fiesta this year (cosplay too?) as well. I can’t remember how much I spent last year, but it was efinitely over $60. Maybe even $100, I don’t know.

I’ve already established that the DO Band was awesome. The last dance performance was cool too. I cannot unsee Japan dancing, though. No, seriously. I wonder if it would be cuter if young Holy Roman Empire and young Italy were to join in (I was actually secretly hoping for Gokudera to dance as well *sobs*). We then practically hunted down people to take pictures with. Well, I wasn’t complaining at the cute interaction between two Gokuderas and a Yamamoto (imagination, imagination!). After snapping pictures of/with a few cosplayers (I missed taking a picture with TYL!Squalo ;_;), we headed back home.  That was when I realised that I FORGOT TO CLAIM THE MUKURO BADGE I RESERVED!!! So disappointed. All in all, today was a fun day. Now I’m back to being semi-bedridden because of my sickness. Ugh.

p.s/ Read a longer post on Mira’s blog, Sweet Choco HERE~

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

Sleeping from 7pm to 1 or 2am, and then stay awake doing random and not so random stuff like:

• Proofreading documents I’m asked to go through for quality control
• Translating Japanese doujinshis, mangas and novels for various scanlation groups (and individually). It is enjoyable, but very mind-breaking. My eyes are swirling from all those Kanji characters. Apple of Eden’s works are still okay (though the long discussion between Lal, Kusakabe and Hibari in ‘Sayonara Hibari Sensei’ is so full of kanji that my brain hurt), but Electrocks tendency to use difficult kanjis is a different case.Arrrr.
• Abusing my worn tablets, sketchbooks, pigment liners and pencils to draw randomly. I need to finish my doujin “Inori” (the title may or may not be changed to “One Million Sandcastles” to match the fiction version), start working on Eleven Fifty Nine and finish at least the darn prologue of “Parapsypchic”. I’m still in the process of drafting out the whole Parapsychic universe including school curricula and organisations and a whole democratic and legal system. What have I started?
• Brainstorming for the Doujin Overload 2009 Art Competition. It needs to be hand-drawn, which I think is fair for everyone.
• Revamping Project Catharsis (http://project-catharsis.com). All of them. I reinstalled wordpress and cleaned up the tables. The site now is totally backed up by WordPress, CushyCMS and NextGen Gallery. I’ll need to work on integrating my manga viewer script with the site.Since I’m a sucker for cute applications, I love CushyCMS~

I tried to get WordPress blogroll to appear alongside the list of pages, but no matter what I do, using the template tag without arguments was totally hopeless. The original one was this:

[code lang="php"]

• Home

< ?php wp_list_pages('title_li=&depth=2&sort_column=menu_order'); ?>
< ?php wp_list_bookmarks('title_li=&depth=2'); ?>

[/code]

It went out of line so very horribly. Being a total noob that I am, I tried to free the default values for title_before and title_after, but it still looked ugly. In the end, I gave up. I simply created a navigation icon that kind of look like wp_list_pages. This is what ended up with:

[code lang="php"]

• Home

< ?php wp_list_pages('title_li=&depth=2&sort_column=menu_order'); ?>
< ?php wp_list_bookmarks('categorize=0&category=2&title_li=&depth=2&title_before=&title_after=&class=page_item'); ?>

[/code]

I don’t care anymore. As long as it’s not as horrible. I still get a decent drop down link list this way.

p.s/ I need to go sleep for a while. I should update my Dreamwidth as soon as I wake up or I’ll forget. Again. While I’m at it, I might as well draw and write for Kamikorosu’s next journal entry (moving into canon timeline now, finally).

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

Other than admitting to the fact that I am hopelessly in love with my own name (this has nothing to do with narcissism, thank you very much), nothing particularly interesting has been going on around me lately. I’m back to being snappish, easily annoyed, feeling like wanting to sleep the whole day without doing anything and anything else that you can associate wih extreme laziness. The weather the past few days were not helping either. Waking up to a white blur out of the tall window was not a pleasant experience, just like having temperatures above 15 degrees celcius during winter was kind of uncool (literally).

I’ve been switching from books to books, one piece of writing to another, sites to sites – unable to focus on anything. Even this entry feels forced. I haven’t been updating my other journals as well. Those are just a few examples of my laziness at the moment. The biggest accomplishment during this reign of ultimate boredom is probably that I’ve managed to write over 10,000 words of fiction in a week. They’re actually pieces that I really had fun writing too.

I guess I should go back to my DS. It’s been a long time since I updated my gamelog. What a shame. It’s time to go hunting for good DS games again. I’m also putting DSi on hold. Nope, not going to buy it anytime soon, at least until they find the proper flash cart for it. I’m still extremely happy with my red DS~ I’d rather buy a second Wii or a new UMPC.

I’ll be back to feeling very, very bored after this. Huffs.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

I went to Atie’s place with Mira at around 6.30pm last Thusday and waited for our friends from Australia to join us for a little sinfully chocolatey indulgence time at Chocolate Boutique. There were Rozi, Sarah, Umai and Kak Fad (Kelsey’s not there, though). I’ve only been there once, and I went alone last time; so it wasn’t that interesting. Since I knew we would be going as a group, I just knew it was going to be fun. I’m not the type who’s comfortable walking in a crowd, but they’re a bunch of lovely friends. Being able to join them while being known as the not-so-sociable girl (at least not anti-social) eating, talking, laughing and just having a good time with them is something I consider precious.

We took the link bus and arrived a little bit further than our destination, but it was okay. It was a short walk down, no worries. After a random camwhoring moment, we ordered for our chocolatey treats. Yummy, yummy chocolates in all forms. I ordered their Chocolate Waffles because of my sudden craving for waffles (saw the easy-cook waffles at Foodtown, but it’s not in my budget at that time), and a glass of Mocha Affogato (melted milk chocolate + 2 shots of espresso + ice cream) to slurp. Poor Atie took my espresso as chocolate and got the strong taste of coffee burn her tastebuds. Sorry dearie~

Acap arrived way too late to join the feast. The funniest think he said was probably “Where are the other guys?”, because there weren’t any (though I kind of expected Dyau to tag along, but I guess he was sleeping?) After the food, we camwhored for a while and walked all the way back to the city from Parnell. It was a pleasant experience it you don’t count the cold. My back was sweating under my jacket and sweatshirt, so no probs there. Mira pointed out to a fancy shop selling equally fancy stuff.

“Look, it’s like the Phantom of the Opera!”

That was what set Atie, Sarah and me into a long conversation about our Foundation days back in IPBA in which we parodied PotO in small groups, under the supervision of Miss Pat. I was the Phantom in my group. Sarah was a memorable La Carlotta. I still remember LOLing at her ‘Where’s my doggie?!’ lines, and the part where the (imaginary) grand chandelier fell atop her (imaginary) doggie. Fun times! We agreed that we kind of miss those days. I hope I still have the video recording of our parodies at home. I know I took them, so they must be there!

Before going home, Mira and I went to Foodtown for minor grocery shopping (because I already did most of them the ther day). Sweet night was sweet indeed, and our house was not that cold. That’s about everything for now. Some photos have been uploaded to FB, and are available for viewing here.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.

Myself (left), Atie and Kelsey @ Hulu Cat Tea House, Auckland, New Zealand (170609).

I have revamped the entire blog, minus the jumbled up tags, as a silent promise to make this blog more active from now onward. Yes, yes, I say that all the time, but I really hope I’m able to keep it. Why is it so hard to spend at least 10 minutes per day to write a journal entry that I can go back to in the future? I really need to work on my poor time management skills and my ability to write more serious stuff – fandom doesn’t count.

I’ve finished practicum in New Zealand last Friday. While I’m glad to not have to commute from Auckland City to Avondale College, I do feel a pang of sadness. Just a tiny wee bit. It’s not because I miss the school or the students; it’s just that it is a reminder that I now have less than a year and a half to graduate. It’s a reminder that this is my last year in the university, doing headache-inducing third stage courses, preparing for another year of training back in Malaysia. Mmhmm. It makes me nervous. So, so nervous.

Putting that aside, Mira and I left the cocoon of our warm house (not that warm, but warmer than the pre-winter chill outside, at the very least) to join Atie, Felicia, Wira, Dyau, Hijrah, Danial and Kelsey at Hulu Cat. Kelsey and Dan are here for he term break, over from Brisbane. Once there, I had a sudden craving for kare- ramen. The closest thing they have there is kare-udon (seafood, of course), so I settled on that. Yummy. The worst part, though, was the Caramel Latte. For $6, it sucked big time. It tasted exactly like Nescafe Freeze. I’ll never ever order that drink again.

Alright, that’s it for now. I have to catch the Link Bus to Chocolate Boutique, with Mira and Atie, as well as a few others. Ciao.

© 2009, Adlina. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page if quoted.