... cravings ...

Now and then, I'll have a sudden craving for salad. But making salad for one is hard, and I end up having at least 3.5 portions each round which I tend to finish in 2.5 meals or less.
*well, a carnivore can't survive on just greens for long - I try to maximise the amount of non-rabbit food one can put in :p *

Maybe it's because I don't have enough containers or they weren't just big enough - after preparing most of the ingredients, there is always 1 or 2 items which just can't fit into the meal boxes anymore. Last round, it was the hard boiled eggs *had to carry those separately as snacks*. This time, it was the fusilli pasta *lucky I haven't boiled them yet*.


*sigh*
I need more space.



On another note, recently found this simple piano program which allows one to plonk a couple of octaves in not just 120+ different sounds *includes gunshot and other SFX, but those don't sound good enough anyway*, but the best is that one can even play using the keypad! No mouse or clicking one by one. Cool, right?


Ok, not that it's anything new... But it sorts of temporarily abate my long-time craving for an actual piano *which will probably never be satiated*. At least now I can give my favourite melodies a makeover for the melancholic music box effect ^_^



Wanna try?

... portobello revisited ...

Had the best char kuey teow I've ever had in over a year today for lunch at Nyonya ^_^


Ok, the fish cakes were limp and they used king prawns instead *I know I shouldn't be eating prawns so soon after the hives-allergy attack - anyway, it's gone down now and I still have no idea what caused it*, but the wok hei was good and the overall taste was there... except that it was KL style although the menu said 'Penang' -_-

Never mind that the menu descriptions were misleading *owned and managed by a Singaporean family, what can one expect?* and the bad service the last time round, I was more than ready to forget and forgive since the char kuey teow is just good enough. Really, it's lucky I don't live near the area, or I'll end up spending too much eating there *it's expensive :(* and shopping at Portobello market all the time.


Well, around some time during the last round of college, had this sudden craving to go to Portobello market again. Went with SZ today who's never been there before, since the weather is finally forecasted as all sunny *yesterday was sunny-rainy and tomorrow is supposed to be all rainy*. It was *gonna get a sunburn =(*.

Decided to get yet another charm from that same stall and was contemplating a small silver 'royal jewels' crown *souvenir of London?* but ended up getting a train engine instead to add to my collection *more worth it and better quality*. At this rate, I'll probably get one each time I go there -_-

Also bought a couple of Matchbox Crossley car models, for me and me sis. Wanted to get an old-fashioned toy soldier on horse for my sis, but decided against it since they were made from lead *hear it's dangerous for health*.

...old car models...

Spending yet again.
*sigh*


On the way back in the Tube, this old bearded Polish guy who couldn't speak English tried to set me up with his 2 sons, who are likely to be still in high school, and were all probably here just for a holiday. That is, what I could gather and guess from the foreign words and sign language. Probably never seen a Chinese before. Or, dressed as I always apparently am, I looked 15 -_- At least, one son had the decency to be embarassed and moved to the end of the carriage.




By the way, saw this Fullmetal Alchemist Piano Solo Album online with 77 songs arranged from the anime and became obssessed with it, although I've yet to hear the songs on the OST. Needless to say, stayed up until 3am plus just surfing and debating whether to get it...







... over-shopping.

... intrigued ...

Maybe I've been deprived of nice music for too long *I really miss listening to the songs on the blog playlist =(*. And that, I may be unconsciously starting to think that any jig that could carry a tune is a good song...


Had to make a lot of calls at work today and as usual, spent some time being shunted around on the network while waiting for the operator to finally tell me that they have no idea who else to transfer me to for me to get what I wanted. But one of the companies had extremely nice music playing while you're on hold. Not exactly soothing, but so nice that I didn't care about being on hold for more than half an hour.
*think it has some sort of Russian flavour to it*


Anyway, I might be starting to love Russian music. First that short piece used in Drive of Life, then that absolute beauty of Bratja *'Brothers' in English* from FMA, ... and now this strangely not-irritating-at-all telephone-on-hold music.


Russian music can't all sound like that, right?



Or maybe, I just wanna make some music. Noise. Anything.



... in need of more.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Sigh...

Was hoping to take a break by watching the famous anime Fullmetal Alchemist. And since it's 51 episodes, one would have thought that it should last me some time, right? After all, I managed to drag out over 3 weeks the Ouran fever from a mere 26 episodes... *it's still my current favourite ^_^*


Needless to say, I finished FMA. In a couple of days.


Aw, I really need to slow down.
*still in denial*



Anyway, FMA is as good as they say indeed ^_^ *it's been voted no.1 anime many times*. I've always wanted to watch it. They were showing the Cantonese dubbed version on Astro some while back, and I only managed to catch a few episodes due to the timing *my sis had 98% control over the TV -_- only me dad could win over her*. Those few random ones included the final episode, and although I couldn't quite grasp the significance then, I still liked it enough.


Now that I've gone through the entire thing, I liked it even more! Maybe I just had a deep penchant for dark twisty tales *definitely not horror though*- just hearing that the premise involved 2 young brothers carrying heavy burdens of their sins alone was enough to make me want to watch it. Although the later anime storyline differs from the manga, the plot was well-crafted wth sufficient doses of complexity. The 2 protagonists' character developments were excellent, and the sentimental scenes weren't overly done either *just the right amount for me :p*.


The music, however, didn't quite stand out for me. Mainly inconsistent, I think *especially that sequence in the background during Edward's lines played at the opening of every episode in the later arc, which seems totally out of place - not to mention it reminded me of kompangs -_-*. But there were a some really beautifully sad and moving pieces *Brothers is just too beautiful :'( - ah, I want it!*. Also, I like the first opening *Melissa - catchy chorus* and the last ending *I Will - great combination of the guitar and supporting vocals* songs best out of the 8 openings and endings. Of course, I haven't yet had a chance to get my hands on the full OST yet... but I think I like the songs better when I listen to them on their own *perhaps not very well-placed in the anime?*.


The author of the manga apparently requested a different ending for the anime, so as not to spoil it for manga readers. That was quite a good idea, and I must say, the anime ended well *might not be the best or even original, but it's satisfying and leaves hope for any continuations ^_^*.



Ah, the manga... I have a feeling that I'll like it. A lot.




... something to look forward to indeed.




Edit:
Ok, forgot to put this in earlier, but just can't get over it... The anime plot has some inconsistencies and one in particular involved Roy being the soldier ordered to shoot Winry's parents dead back during the war. Which was so unlikely that the famous Flame Alchemist would be forced to kill innocent civilians, not to mention using a pistol instead of his trademark alchemy, and THEN tried to kill himself later, but ended up saying that THAT was the reason why he had to head for the top post in the military, ... - it all just doesn't make sense, especially when one considers Roy's character's personality in the first place. But then again, these mere imperfections don't mean that the overall anime isn't still good, 'cause the anime is just that good :)

... plagued ...

I must be cursed...



In the last couple of months alone, I had not only one, but 2 pain-in-the-butt abscesses. The first one had apparently been larger than normal, and I now have 2 scars to add to my collection. Not that I knew what the condition was in the first place. Besides, the doctor couldn't even give me a reason for the cause. The second time round, the doctor asked me to get a blood sugar test in about 3 weeks time - just in case I have diabetes o.O Only finished my round of antibiotics for the second one last week, and all that air swallowed gave me an even harder time falling asleep.


Yesterday, I woke up with numerous red itchy spots on my arms. And tomorrow's my exams.


Never had such red and so many before in my life, and they were spreading. They look like hives or some skin disease - well, what I thought those would look like anyway. Hoping it was just an allergy *although I haven't been eating anything new* and nothing more serious *like eczema?*, went to see the doctor today. He thinks it's only an allergy and most likely caused by my clothes, but how can that be when I've been wearing pretty much the same things and hasn't changed the soap brand since last year? But that's what he thinks anyway, since he kept asking me whether I had change the washing powder lately, which I am most infinitely sure that I hadn't.


In the end, I am now on anti-histamines with no idea what had caused the allergy. And I think that's what's making me drowsy. Hope I don't fall asleep for exams tomorrow, or worse, forget to wake up :s oh, and hopefully those ugly red spots won't leave scars =(



3 physical ailments which I had never had before in my entire 23 years of living, and all happened to me in the last 3 months I'm here.*bad feng shui? wait, I've been living pretty much the same for the past year...*





... plagued.

... lawless not ...

Ok, I started work here exactly a year ago. Celebrated/commemorated our 1 year in working life/misery by having lunch at a Japanese place near our college, since we're back to attending classes for the next round of exams.

Hm, let's see. I've been working more, but not to an extent of being a workaholic *certainly hope not*. Had the chance to go out of London on away jobs *though no time to sight-see or relax* to Ipswich, Exeter, and Jersey *my favourite so far just because there were flights involved*. All in all, not a bad year. And definitely less stress overall than the last month I spent in my previous job, right before coming here.

Guess it's not bad, no?

Well... the only thing that marred today was finding out I wasn't exempted for Law in my professional exams. And the exam's in 6 days, just an hour after another exam. Damn.
It is not a gross misstatement to say that the law subject effectively screwed up my degree. Not that I was going to get top class results, but it was just that I could have. If it wasn't for that crappy part-time tutor employed by my college who couldn't even be bothered to show up on time, much less teach, and where classes were held after normal working hours, which meant having 7pm-9pm classes twice a week for the whole of my 2nd year. And he had the nerve to turn up late to most of them *much less did any actual teaching*.

It isn't the fault of the subject really. Just that, even after all that, I couldn't even use it to get exempted in my professional studies. It's as though I can never get away with it.
Had not originally plan on taking the exemption for law. Sort of wanted to give myself a second chance and score higher for a subject so apparently suited for one as argumentative as me *my mum even forbid me from becoming a lawyer, not that I had any ambition in the first place*. But looking back at how affected my degree was, might as well make it all worth it. However, it was not to be. Wasted sacrifice?

Oh well, nothing I can do. Try and hope for the best...

p/s: of course, this also meant that any hope I had of ever making it back in time for Amy's wedding has been crushed beyond the point of despair. I knew it was unlikely, but there was always a glimmer of hope... well, not anymore. *sorry, Amy! =(*