visions of clarity...do as infinity

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Too Many Updates

Hello

Technically, I'm cleaning my room now. But it's in a depressing state so... distractions are needed! And since I haven't updated in.. eons with anything proper/normal, I shall do a quick post and urm. Attempt to continue cleaning. Which is now working I might add. *coughs*

Shows I've been to recently:
- Jump
Martial art comedy from Korea. It was really funny and very well staged.=)
- Dim Sum Dollies: The History of Singapore
Singaporean humour with musical aspirations. Rather well staged and pretty funny. Against expectations, I rather enjoyed it.^_^ I think Hossan Leong is hilarious by the way.xD

TV:
- House Season 3
O hearts! xD I love House. Wee!

Books:
- Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami [or Murakami Haruki depending on which side of the pond you're from]
Great stuff.^_^ I think I'm liking his books more and more. He writes really well and manages to capture modern society within his novels extremely brilliantly.
- Manga!
I'm reading Vampire Knights which is great because all the guys are really goodlooking. The plot is looking interesting too and looks set to thicken as we discover more about the characters.
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles is heartbreaking as always and CLAMP can really make a fortune creating hot guys.xD xD xD

I'll be making food posts on spoonerisms*inc very soon.=)
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : mugen no hana alice nine.]
[mood : the weather is too hot]
[food : konnyaku! ALOE VERAAAA]

Jiamin: Urh. I thought it was relatively short already. Haha. And yay. Short post.

Labels: Dim Sum Dollies, food blog, Haruki Murakami, House TV, Jump, misc, Tsubasa, Vampire Knights

Thursday, July 05, 2007

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Hello!

Happy Birthday Shou!!!
Today is Shou's birthday!!! ^_^ He's the vocalist of alice nine.^_^ I've no idea how old he is [unlike darling ol' Gackt] but I'm sure he ain't that old.xD

Also, I'd like to introduce a new food blog by Wendy and I!

Spoonerisms Inc.=) So from now on, I'll TRY my best not to flood this with food related posts and post there instead! You can visit it by clicking HERE.^_^

Anyway. As I mentioned yesterday, we went to watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo). It was produced by Madhouse and released in Japan last year in July. The DVD is already out in Japan but hey. I suppose they needed time to put in subtitles.O__o This film also won a few awards! Like: Best Animated Film in the ANIMA'T category at the thirty-ninth Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia, the first annual Animation of the Year prize at the thirtieth Japan Academy Prize and was recognized as "Animation of the Year" at the sixth annual Tokyo International Anime Fair.

Overall Impression:
Not bad I suppose and it built up a bit slowly. I thought the ending was terrible though and there were too many repetitions.

Storyline:
Konno Makoto is the protagonist of this story and she's a high school student in one of the old parts of Tokyo. She's really good friends with 2 guys, Kousuke and Chiaki, as well as her female classmate, Kazuko who is in love with Chiaki. Everything starts out normal until one day, when Makoto lost control of her bike and almost crashed into the subway train at a train crossing, she realised that she had actually leapt backwards in time to avoid that happening. The story thus follows Makoto as she experiments with her powers on petty things like getting a good grade on her test. Eventually however, she learns of how her actions can adversely affect others.

Animation:
Old school anime. Really. No fancy moves, no funny stunts. Just plain old animation without any weird deformities like anime. So kudos to them for consistency!

Voice-acting:
I don't know. Maybe it was the sound system but this was a little weird. Still, I think since it didn't jar my nerves, it was all good.=D

Music:
NICE.^_^ As usual, I loved the movie soundtrack. Hehe. I loved the song, I loved the music... It was all appropriate..^_^ Great stuff.

Characterisation:
Hmm. I suppose they did develop their characters pretty well, so much so that all of us got extremely annoyed when they tried to do self-denial things like, avoiding their feelings.

Overall?
This wasn't a pointless show. But I can't say I'd vote for it to be "Best Anime Movie of the Year". I think after watching so much Studio Ghibli movies, this one is just a teensy bit.. Hmm. They didn't really tie every knot together and left strings hanging all over the place. Unexplained strings. And that really annoyed me.-_-"

Oh! And today I've been watching House Season 3 which is great! Except for this really annoying detective. *nods*

And I also watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Hmm.. It moved along e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y slowly.-_________-" I fell asleep twice. Literally. It also had that Studio Ghibli flavour to it except it a more raw form. That is not unpleasant I suppose but after watching films like Mononoke Hime, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, it's a little bland. And it wasn't cute like Tonari no Totoro. Plus, the animation isn't fantastic but it WAS made in 1984 so I can forgive it.^_^" O well. I'll plow my way through the Studio Ghibli archives. And then I'll see what gems they really have.

In other news.. I really should clean up my room. *looks at the mess* Urm. Maybe tomorrow..

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : RETURNER~Yami no Shuuen~ Gackt + Mugen no hana alice nine.]
[mood : house! house! house!]
[food : --]

Labels: alice nine, birthday, food blog, House TV, movie review, Nausicaa, Studio Ghibli, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

House, Valentine's Day and Flyers

Hello

Wee! So today I was once again disappointed by mankind while giving out flyers. You'd think everyone would be in a better mood because it's Valentine's Day but apparently, it either doesn't matter or a lot of people got dumped.-_-" Poor World. Why is it progressing like this?

Anyway.

Funny Moment of the Day!
So I hand a flyer to this guy and you know what he does? He takes his rolled up copy of Today [the free newspaper] and starts swatting at me like I'm a fly. And he doesn't just wave me away [with the rolled up newspaper to emphasize his point], he uses his newspaper to push my flyer away from him. Gosh. Is it really THAT poisonous? HMM.

Apart from that, the usual "acting as if you don't exist" and rudeness was present. But there were REALLY polite people today too! ^_^v Quite a number smiled and thanked me, and a few actually took the flyer from me with both hands. I was SO SHOCKED. I just blinked and then recovered quickly enough to beam all my appreciation in their direction.^_^

Thank you Wendy for letting me see why we should NEVER be mean to anyone no matter who they are or what they do [or what they are holding].

Thank you to the Lido Security Uncle who was super concerned about me holding the flyers and having a place to put them down when I ran to the washroom.

Thank you to the people who were polite and nice to me. Manner can make one's day.^^

Thank you to the people who were rude, inconsiderate and annoying. You taught me something about human nature.

It's sad how accepting I am about how the world is. Surely I should actually want to change something and make the world a "better place". Ah well.

On a bright note, I think the people who dined at the restaurant today had a great Valentine's Day! ^_^ There were quite a number of young couples [rich young men], working adults [generally not poor] and a couple of old people.^_^ Very sweet. Loads of flowers too. One girl got this GIGANTIC white rose bouquet. Not that I like roses. But I thought it was a sweet gesture.^_^ And one girl got this beautifully wrapped and "decorated" single rose. It was so simple.. But so pretty.

And I still think roses are overrated. Except that I would LOVE to receive black roses! Although they are apparently very expensive. HMM.

O yes. I almost forgot.

Happy Valentine's Day!!! ^_^

On an even brighter note, I'm cruising merrily along the second season of House.^_^ Yay. I love House's sarcasm and childish behaviour. It is hilarious! Hugh Laurie is a FANTASTIC actor with a very very very good accent.=D Yay. And there's even eye candy!!! Which is a complete plus.=D The stories manage to stay original, exciting, funny and has wonderful development. I like how they develop the characters although Foreman [is that how his name is spelt?] and Chase aren't quite developed yet...

^_^ Yay for House!

A couple more days to CNY!

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : PROTOPLSM RENTRER EN SOI + Last Song (piano version) Gackt]
[mood : ^_^ House!]
[food : --]

zeelei: Yay! Glad you like the cake.=D And yes too late for apple pie! xP Can always make it again but it has to be eaten fresh out of the oven..

Wendaye: Gackt looks damn good there right! *faints* Hahahaha. Yay for You and Gackt! ^_^

Labels: House TV, misc, Valentine's Day, work

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Frequent Flyer Fatigue

Hello

Today I was giving out flyers for the Blood Donation Drive at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Thursday.

I vote to put "giving out flyers" as a nomination for "Most Depressing Job EVER".

Usually, people either behave as if you don't exist, avoid you as if you are highly contagious, flick their hands as if you're a fly or they mutter something and shuffle away. Otherwise, you have those who snatch the flyer from your hand because you are blocking their path, take it because they feel sorry for you or...

You have the nice people who look you in the eye and take the flyer because they think that MAYBE just MAYBE this flyer isn't an advertisement. And then they thank you. Which made things a whole lot better.

This is kinda sad but I found it really funny that one guy tripped over himself in his attempt to avoid me and get away from that highly contagiously poisonous flyer in my hand.

Although I found most of their behaviour highly disgusting, I am absolutely ashamed to admit that I know how these people feel. I too avoided and ignored people who gave out flyers. But really. Now that I think about it.. How hard is it to take a flyer and smile at the person? [And not the embarrassed smile of "O shit I was hoping you wouldn't see me *runs away*"]

And let's not just blame the Singaporeans for being rude and avoiding, EVERYONE does it. From the tourists to the aunties. IN FACT. The aunties are much nicer to you than any of the young people out there. And seriously. When one talks about blood donations, do you really expect an old grandma to donate her blood?!

Sigh. Anyhow. I hope that what we're doing brings people to donate blood. After all, I was thinking today that.. All of us live in a modern society, and we'll almost definitely need an operation one day.. Blood from donors are most likely required. Surely then people would be all grouchy and go "WHY DON'T PEOPLE DONATE FOR ME?!". Indeed.. It's what you don't have that you miss.

Sigh.

To lighten the mood [or at least.. my mood since I know no one else could care less], let's have a Gackt update! =D BEAMS.

Beams!

Anyway. Gackt update! ^_^v

Gackt hates chocolate, so he hates Valentine's Day. [Overcommercialised nonsense. See my point? Beams.^_^]

He bought You-kun a Mac for his birthday. [xD xD xD Oh the love in a male friendship!]

Gackt is writing an English textbook. [OMG. FAINTS.]

The pianoforte version of 野に咲く花のように contains part of Pachelbel's Canon. [I NEED THAT SINGLE. WHY AM I TOO POOR!!! (T_T)]

Gackt thinks that Cube, Birdcage & Ash (as well as the new single) are some of his best songs. [Omygosh. I LOVE Cube. And Birdcage!!! xD xD xD And his new single is really good too. At least it sounds different from his other songs.=D]

Oh he is so goodlooking here! *dies*

Oh and good news Jiamin! =D

X Japan is reforming, according to Toshi & Tetsuya Komuro. But this appears to be separate from the Yoshiki/Gackt/Sugizo band.

YAY!!!

Another note: House is FABULOUS. ^_^v

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : 鶺鴒~seki-ray~ (Rebirth Version) Gackt]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : Fresh Milk Raisin Twist by Sun Moulin]

Labels: Gackt, House TV, misc, thoughts, X Japan

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Soba Salad, Pork Ribs and Apple Tart

Hello

Yesterday Jiamin, Vivion and I cooked! =D Beams. And although we only remembered to take photos of the completed apple tarts, there are photos of the urm. Process of cooking for everything else.=D

Salad with Ponzu dressing
Soba Salad with Mint and Scallions
Orange-Soy Braised Pork Ribs
Maple Apple Puff Pastry Tart

No photos of the salad but here's the soba while cooking!

Fascinating to me.. We dressed the soba noodles in a light sauce made from ponzu, sesame oil and some other ingredients. Finally, you add spring onions, mint and cucumber strips before you eat.

The soba was quite light and refreshing! ^_^ The original recipe called for just soy sauce but I used ponzu instead.

The ribs halfway through cooking:

I flipped them halfway through and they caramelized nicely towards the end of the cooking process. Then I flipped them again to let the other side brown.^_^

The ribs were pretty yummy! Haha.=P And not as tender as I expected but not too bad.=) The sauce was made from orange juice, ponzu, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and various other ingredients. I might use more ponzu next time.. I thought that the yuzu juice in it would further enhance the orange flavour. Perhaps I might also add zest next time?

For the dessert, we made Maple Apple Puff Pastry Tarts! ^_^ To get it, I modified 2 recipes I found in Donna Hay magazines.

First you make an apple syrup. I had maple sugar on hand so I used both maple sugar and regular sugar to make a gorgeous brown syrup. Then you steep apple slices in the cooled syrup till they are needed.

I then used frozen puff pastry as the tart base and laid apple slices on them to get tarts. Here they are fresh out of the oven:

^_^v The puff pastry crisped up nicely in about 20-25 minutes. Above in the syrup, I was thickening it and preparing the apples for plating.

The final product!

I plated the tarts with slices of apple and drizzled the maple sugar syrup over the tart.=)

The puff pastry was actually quite yummy! ^_^ I was quite pleased. My mom felt the apples needed a little cinnamon and I agree.. It needed a bit of kick apart from the maple sugar taste.=) Yay. I'm glad I bought the maple sugar in Ann Arbor but I'm horrified at how fast it's running out!

Wee! I'm currently watching House. Ahh! It's great watching it FINALLY..xD At last! I found an American drama that I love!

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Eege Malice Mizer + House OST]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : japanese. *dies*]

cch: Urhh. Did you like her that much? But it's quite sad right.. *sigh*

Jiamin: OF COURSE Uruha looks good!!! He looks good in general? xD xD xD O yes. Remind me about the neoprints okay!!! xP I keep forgetting. And sorry alice nine. only had concert pictures in this magazine.=X

Labels: Apple Tart, baking, cooking, edibles, House TV, Pork Ribs, Soba Salad

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