Internet rants, school rants and stress!

If you didn't know, my internet's been down for almost a month now! Imagine living without the internet for a month, it literally drove me crazy! But now we're on the 4th week of school and as you might already know, I'm a senior this year in High School which means ... university applications! And a lot of stress. =_= I do have *some* idea of what program I want to go into (Engineering) but it hasn't been decided yet.

My timetable is stressful as usual :(.

And I'll be getting back to my mountain of homework. :'(

Internet's been down for a week.. School's start soon.

I'm currently in my senior year of High School, and Grade 12 starts next wednesday. :( I still haven't decided which program I want to go into in University (although I'm leaning towards Engineering :P) Internet has also been down for more than a week now, I've gotten it back up today. Without the internet I learned how to cook, but I still manage to burn my omelets every time. Maybe cooking isn't for me!

My internet provider sucks; they have horrible service. I'm thinking about switching providers soon :(!

I Just Finished Bleach!

Well finished as in, finished up to the latest chapter that is. I've put off reading the manga for years and finally I've gone through more than 320 chapters in two days! I was going to space out my time evenly, but I couldn't bring myself to stop reading it. It was just.. so good..

So start reading now!

Big Bang's New Mini Album: Haru Haru

Big Bang's new mini album came out yesterday, the hit song being Day by Day (Haru Haru)! It's an awesome song, you can download the mp3 here: Clickie!

If you like it, please support them by purchasing the album off yesasia! :)

Short: Grey's Anatomy Songs

So recently, I've been watching Grey's Anatomy and I just happened to watch a clip of an awards show on YouTube and discovered a catchy new song! It's called "Just a Ride" by Jem.

Jem - Just a Ride

I finished all 4 seasons of Grey's and I'm waiting impatiently for Season 5 in September! :)

Stickers

Have you ever had mountains of CD's in your CD Rack with no sticker attached so you have no idea what's on it? Well, that is what's in my spare closet right now - hundreds of unlabeled CD's that have been used. VistaPrint is a website that has helped me organize these CD's so that I would never have to sort through hundreds of disks just to find what I was looking for. They have multi-purpose labels that can be used for labeling CD's, books, toys and much more.

With their fast and easy ordering, you can create a high quality, colorful label in just minutes and with their low prices, you can easily label hundreds of things with their stickers. It's great; you're able to order from a template or you can create your own custom design and have it done for you.

VistaPrint also offers a variety of different products such as business cards, notes, stationary, cards, invitations, rubber stamps, caricatures and more. Ordering is a simple and efficient task. You add the desired items to your cart and proceed with the checkout. You have payment options of either Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Paypal, which is very flexible.

The Greatness of Bubble Tea!

No, seriously, I literally worship this drink. Every time I go to Pacific Mall, First Markham Place or any of those asian malls (even Vaughan Mills has Bubble Tease! However, it's not the greatest..) I would immediately pull $5 out of my wallet and buy myself a Green Apple Green Tea w/ Tapioca, Honey, Lychee or Blueberry. Those are my personal favorites. Basically, they mix the flavoring with a green tea and crushed ice and then add small beads of tapioca at the bottom (optional).

Some people might find this expensive compared to a simple can of pop for $1.25. Bubble Tea runs around $3 for a small, 4$ for a medium, and $5 for a large and you also have to add an extra 50 cents or so if you want tapioca. But this stuff is seriously addicting! However, it's making a serious dent in my wallet - I go to asian malls as much as 3-4 times a week!

Favorite Seafood Recipe

Having spent 2 years in Nova Scotia, you would naturally learn to love fresh seafood. Lobsters are fresh and delicious in Nova Scotia and it can be served with many things. One of my favorites from a few years ago are Creamed Lobsters with Puff Pastry Shells. Ideally, it should be served along with English muffins or a tossed salad.

The basic recipe:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
• 2 tablespoons diced sweet red bell pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning or other seasoned salt blend
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups diced cooked lobster meat
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish if desired
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley, plus more for garnish, optional

If you like it creamier (which I do prefer), add 5 tablespoons of butter instead of 3 and 3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese instead of 1/2. Have you guys heard of the Great American Seafood Cook-Off? Personally, I think that my creamier version of this recipe would be a great contender at the cook off. I'm ecstatic for this event because, over the years, I've become a huge seafood lover and because where I live now, the source is known, local and fresh. I'm open to suggestions that will make my favorite seafood dish better, or you can recommend your own favorites. Have fun cooking!

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 19 August 2008


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content will always be identified.


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Paradise Kiss Episode 12 - Ending!

Spoilers!

So recently, I watched the last episode of Paradise Kiss and the ending was totally not expected. I expected that Yukari would have ended up with George, but that wasn't the case at all. After watching it, I wished that the story would continue because it was beautifully written.

Kaori vists George on Christmas Day, only to find out that she had interrupted George and Yukari, and Yukari was not at all pleased with it. However, Kaori tells George to go London to pursue a career as a designer, but George tells her about his plans to be a make-up artist and his desire for breaking up Paradise Kiss. This proceeds to him talking to his father, where his father agrees to sponsor his overseas study in design.

On New Years' Eve, Yukari and George arrive at a festival watching the sunset. George tells her that he is planning to go to Paris to pursue design and asks Yukari to come with him. With tears in her eyes, she declines and tells him that she has just started her modelling career in Japan and cannot come with him. George smiles and tells her that it was the right decision.

Ten years later, Yukari is engaged to her classmate and first crush - Hiro. She tells readers avidly that she is going to be married in two weeks and that they have been sent tickets to a broadway play in New York - a play whose costumes were designed by George Koizumi.

As I said before, the end was not expected for me. I had expected a typical, happy ending where the two main characters would end up together, but that was not the case. However, it was the lack of the typical happy ending that made this anime/manga so wonderful. I don't believe that it was sad, but it was very realistic. Although I love seeing George and Yukari together (they are so cute.. xD), I think it was better for Yukari in the end to marry Hiro and not George. She needs a lover that is willing to shower her with a lot of affection and love and someone to spoil her. In my opinion, George is unable to do all of that for her.

I recommend everyone to watch this and then read the manga! The anime is okay, but the manga is just simply amazing.

Rune Factory

I've always been a fan of Harvest Moon which is a farming simulation game. Although as dull and boring as it seems, I enjoy simulation games even more than I enjoy RPG's (just like how I enjoy manga/anime that aren't fantasy related).

Having played Rune Factory, it seems more like a spin-off of Harvest Moon (actually, I think it is..) and it is more fantasy orientated. In addition to farming, there's the added concept of dungeon crawling and killing monsters and bosses to progress through the storyline. I don't think that's something I enjoy.

Although as stupid as it sounds, I like turn-based games more than the regular running around and slashing and hacking sort of thing (Zelda, perhaps). I have never finished a single Zelda game in my life. Although I simply adore it, I just keep on dying because I'm horrible at those kind of games.

Paradise Kiss

So recently, I've been obsessed with the anime/manga NANA. Now I'm obsessed with the anime/manga Paradise Kiss, which is by the same author as NANA. Paradise Kiss is about a high school student, Yukari, who does not know what to do in life except for study for college entrance exams just to please her mother. One day, she is asked to be a model for Yazawa Art School's Fashion Contest, and reluctantly agreed. Soon she realizes that she does not want to take the college entrance exams at all, and falls in love with the group leader, George.

Okay, excuse me for my crappy summary, you should all google Paradise Kiss instead! I've always been horrible at summarizing stories.. But seriously, Paradise Kiss is just as good as NANA. The anime spans 12 episodes, and it was "okay", but not as good as the manga. You couldn't really fit a lot of the plot in just 12 episodes (the manga spanned 5 volumes), so sometimes everything seems a bit rushed.

My suggestion is that you watch the anime first and then read the manga because once you've read the manga (amazing, pure awesome-ness), you won't want to watch the anime. So watch the anime first! Emotions are perfectly expressed in the manga, unlike the anime, which everyone is sort-of monotone-ish. Right now I'm in the process of converting the episodes into .mp4 format for my iPod so I can watch it on-the-go!

I need new headphones ..

Those of you who haven't read my post on Sennheiser CX300's, read it now, and you'll realize how much I've adored these earphones. I haven't even had them for half a year yet, (no, they haven't been broken by careless me) and I want new headphones. I listen to my music when I sleep and I realize that even with my iPod's lowest volume, these things make the music extremely loud in a quiet environment. I can no longer use these because the silicon inserts hurt my ears now, even when I switched to the biggest cups.

So now I'm looking at headphones! Right now my top choices are the Sennheiser PX100, Sennheiser PX200, or the Koss PortaPro. I don't want to spend too much on headphones, so around 50$ is my limit (I'm still a student :[).. I've been on Head-Fi and it's seriously tempting me to spurge more on headphones...ack!

Recently Watching: Nana!

Recently, I've been obsessed with the anime/manga/movie, Nana. Although I have summer school, and I *should* be doing my homework.. I've been staying up late everyday to watch/read Nana. XD! But I can't help it.. it's so good.. The anime was amazing, the manga was even more amazing, it's just that the movies were okay. I'm not particulary fond of the actors in the 2nd movie (Ren), but I do like the choice of Shin's actor! He was so adorable in the manga (being only 15), and in my opinion, the actor in the first movie looked a tad too old to play the role.

I read the manga first. Actually, I read it twice. The first time I read it, I was skimming past the pages with a lot of dialogue because I'm pretty impatient for these kind of things. But then I realized I was missing out on a lot of the story; I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the last ten chapters because of all the flashbacks. So I had to re-read it and everything started making sense! It's amazing and I recommend it to everyone!

Tag Force 3 Not Coming to US

I'll make this short and sweet :(. Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 2 is an insanely popular game here in North America, and yet it's just been announced that Tag Force 3 (which I've been waiting for ;-;) is not coming to the states. I just don't understand Konami's reasoning behind this.. I guess those of us who really want to play this just have to import it now. Grr!

PSP Slim PlayGear Pocket Case

One of the most popular cases for the PSP Phat is the Logitech PlayGear Pocket Case. Unfortunately, those with PSP Slims will have a hard time adjusting to the original PlayGear Pocket because it's a little loose. Luckily for us, Logitech is releasing the PlayGear Pocket Slim in a month's time. It fits the large 2200mAH battery for slims and it's made out of polycarbonate. However, the old one came with a 2-year warranty, and this one will only come with a one-year warranty. We're all looking forward to this release!

E3: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for DS

E3 was today down at Los Angeles and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was announced for the DS! Can you believe it? Grand Theft Auto on the DS? I just hope that it's going to be in 3D (but I doubt), and not the overheard birds-eye view. No new redesign was announced, even though a lot of people were hoping for one. I was hoping for one :(! Or atleast they could introduce that lime green DS to North America.

Rumor: Silver DS on its way to N.A

Rumors has it that the silver DS only available in Europe and Japan is coming to North America. This is entirely possible, as the Metallic Rose DS has just been released recently. I do prefer the Metallic Rose over the pink, and the silver over the white :). Plus, Europe already has the release of three new colors, including green! Hopefully, silver gets released here, but then I might be tempted to add another colored DS to my pretty collection. My wallet hurts :'(

Getting Ready for E3! DS Mock-ups!

Although Nintendo has firmly denied any rumors of a redesign of the quite successful DS Lite, several (okay, not just several) mock ups of the DS redesign has been circulating across the internet.

With E3 fast approaching, we can only fiddle our thumbs and wait patiently for the news. But will there be a redesign? I remember that the DS Lite was released a week (I forget how long) after Nintendo firmly denied a redesign of the old DS Phat! We can only hope! Personally, I really want this redesign (or even a new model!) to happen!

Students Bring PSP to School for Exams

Apparently in Hong Kong, there's a program called Mobile Learning Platform that allows students to use their electronic devices (PDAs, mobile phones, or even mobile gaming devices) to partake in a inter-school mobile quiz contest that is going to be held on July 8th. Eighteen schools will participate in this event that tests the participant's knowledge on the Olympics and other trivia. Of course, Sony is one of the sponsors.

Seriously, these kids have it lucky! They get to bring their cellphones, and gaming devices to school without getting them confiscated. If I was to do that right now, the minute a teacher sees it is the minute I'll lose it forever..

Disgaea DS Release Date Confirmed!

The release date for Disgaea DS has been confirmed by Atlus! For those rabid fans that don't know yet, Disgaea DS will be released on September 23 this year! That's right, start counting down those days guys. For those of you that don't know, Disgaea is a SRPG that has wasted over 150 hours of my life.. and counting! :P

Toilets in Japan

Although the Japanese energy consumption per person is about half of what one person uses in the United States, toilets in Japan use up energy like no tomorrow. Apparently, these Japanese toilets are able to warm and wash your bottom, take away odors with built-in fans, and play relaxation music. The higher-end toilets are able to sense when a person walks in or out of the room so that it can lift or lower their lids accordingly and develop a "memory" that predicts the "bathroom schedules" of everyone in the house.

These luxuries (can I call them luxuries...?) cost up to $4000 and use more energy than dryers and dishwashers! I know that I don't even use a dishwasher that often because of the high energy consumption, but think about how many times you go to the bathroom in a day. And then multiply that by the number of people in your family. I just thought that this was very interesting.. :)

Facebank: One of a Kind Piggy Bank

What more amazing gadgets will the Japanese come up with next? Piggy Banks we have now are "cute" and "pretty" in every imaginable way. Then you'll meet Facebank, a one of a kind piggy bank designed in Japan.



There are sensors in Facebank's eyes that detect your movements so it knows when you want to put a coin inside. Then it triggers the not-so-silent motors in its mouth so that it can "digest" the coin. Cool... but very creepy...

Crime Spree Inspired by Grand Theft Auto

The six teenagers that went on a crime-spree in Garden City, New York admit that they did it because they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto. If you don't know, Grand Theft Auto is a popular video game where the player takes on the role of a criminal that is free to wander around the city. There are missions to complete, such as robberies, assassinations, and other crimes.

Armed with crowbars and baseball bats, the teenagers stole cigarettes from a from a driver, mugged of man of his cash, and ran around smashing cars. When they were apprehended, the police spokesman said that they admitted being inspired by Grand Theft Auto.

Oh wow, and to think I just put down GTA to read news articles on the web. Sure, it's an awesome game, but to think that a video game would inspire someone to actually emulate it in real life? I wonder how the court's going to handle this one.

iPod: Overrated?

The answer to the question is, yes, iPods are, in fact, very overrated. This is coming from a person who owns one too. When do you not see a person walking down the street or on the bus with a pair of white Apple stock earbuds in their ears? These white earbuds have become one of the symbols of society - you see them so often that you just want to buy another type of mp3 or switch out your headphones atleast. Don't you get that feeling? When you buy something that's worth well over $270, you would atleast expect the device to come with a decent pair of earbuds right? Well no. Sadly for all you audiophiles out there, you would have to dish out more money to buy a pair of decent earphones.

Due to Apple's successful marketing campaign, most people don't place iPods in the mp3 category anymore. They always ask, "should I get an iPod or a mp3 player?". Even Future Shop, which is a major retailer of electronics in Canada, have the category "iPods and Mp3 Players" on their website. This just shows how ridiculously popular these things have become.

The main attraction (well the thing that attracted me to buy one) is the simplicity of the whole thing. It has a nice, sleek, and clean feeling to it when you browse through your music collection via the clickwheel. That's it. There's nothing else nice to say about it Oh, maybe besides the fact that right now, it's one of the biggest portable music devices you can get: around 160GB. Unless you're one of those people who have a ton of music, it's just not worth it, trust me. I have a 80GB Classic sitting at home with about 50GB of free space. The 20GB I used up consists mostly of videos that I'll never watch. Should've bought a nano.. :(

Honestly, when my iPod breaks, I'm never going to buy another one ever again. Perhaps, I'll be investing into something like the Samsung P2!

Earphones and the Sennheiser CX300

As we all know, earphones play an important part of our everyday routines - especially if we listen to music. The Sennheiser CX300's are one of the most recommended earphones for people with a low budget. They come in a variety of different colors - Silver, White, Pink, and Black (my favorite, personally!) with an asymmetrical wire design.

Nowadays, prices of earphones vary between as low as $2.00 to as high as $300.00! That is quite the gap, but I assure you that there is a noticeable difference between the earphones on the higher end of the spectrum, versus the $2.00 ones you find online. Heck, I even found a huge difference between the $50.00 Sennheiser CX300's and my cheap earphones imported from China (The currency I'm using is CAD, by the way!).

Now onto the Sennheiser CX300. As I've stated before, they're one of the most recommended earphones on the internet today. Trust me, search around and you're bound to find atleast one person on each website that has these or would recommend these! But why are they recommended so much? It's mainly because the quality you get versus the price you pay. Retailers, such as Future Shop and Best Buy (for you Canadians), sell these earphones at approximately $100.00 a pair! However, if you opt to online shopping, you'll be able to find authentic pairs for around $50.00 shipped! Fake versions don't work as well, the quality isn't the same, and they'll probably break down on you in a couple of months.

With real Sennheiser CX300's, you get a year's warranty and 3 different, hmm, rubber silicon pieces that go inside your ear. Make sure you find the best fitting one (I use the smallest ones!) pair in order to get the best sound because then they'll be able to seal properly. These aren't noise-isolating, as in the headphones transmit waves to counter the incoming noise. They just do a really, and I mean REALLY, nice job of sealing the sound inside your ears! But still, when I'm typing on the keyboard with these things in my ears and my iPod at the lowest volume, I can't hear myself typing at all!

The bass is great. Maybe I just haven't tried any of the really expensive earphones yet, not that I'm in any position to buy them *tear*... but with these I'm able to hear sounds in the background that I've never heard before with my other earphones! Personally, it feels like a mini surround system in your ears! So if you listen to music and you still own those lower-end skullcandies (no matter how nice they look!) or cheap earbuds, it's time to break out that wallet and get yourself one of these! Remember, try to avoid ebay and third party amazon sellers! Yes, I'm promoting these like everyone else. So sue me :D

Man Attempts to Trade Drugs for PSP

PSP's are pretty popular today in the world, but I never knew they were that popular! Here's a 22-year old man, Steven Priddey, who attempted to steal a PSP in Worchester, England. Priddey claims that he made a deal with the store employee, Richard Shurmer; he would give Shurmer cannabis in exchange for a PSP. However, Shurmer denied it, and stated that he saw the man sticking the said PSP down his pants on the security cameras.

However, when questioned, Shurmer admitted he had made drug deals with Priddey on several occasions, but had never agreed to exchange drugs for a PSP. Priddey was found guilty eventually because the shop employee had no right to give away items the store was selling! Apparently, Priddey's lawyer claims that the drugs have affected his ability to think clearly and make decisions.

So, instead of paying around $170 US for a PSP, he ended up with 12 months of probation service and a fine of around $800 US! It's pretty interesting how some people's work, even if they are on drugs!

Top 3 Programming Languages for Beginners

A lot of people who are interested in programming ask, "what is the easiest beginner-friendly language out there?". There are many great languages out there with their own levels of difficulty, but I would personally recommend Java, Python and Ruby. They're powerful languages that don't turn off a student or beginner with complex code. They teach the student important concepts which can be applied to other languages as well!

1. Python is an object-orientated language that was designed as an introduction to structured programming. It encourages the basic programming principles such as indentation and proper syntax. The syntax is clean compared to other popular beginner languages such a Java. Clean code is easier to read, write and understand. As a bonus, Python is open-source, freely distributed and teaches students many concepts that exist in other popular languages.

2. Ruby is another object-orientated language that is similar to Python. It's helpful and encourages many students to experiment with it. It's flexible and a powerful tool for beginners.

3. Java is an object-orientated language that is taught in some schools. The basic concepts in Java are simple and easy to learn, even if you've never seen a programming language before. Java is one of the many languages taught in entry-level programming courses in high school. It features a great introduction of the basic concepts for students, making it an easier transition into those higher-level languages.

Personally, I started learning in Java and it's been a great experience trying out new languages. Don't be afraid to try out new things!