Season 6, Episode 4: I'm Tangled...

" And at last, I see the light..." - Tangled

I don't even know why am I blogging now. I should be away hitting the books for an upcoming test, reorganize my planner for imminent meetings- and brace for some criticisms, or busy filling in details for an application. I should be anywhere but here, in this world, blogging.

Probably this will be a site for me to vent my frustration- or provide a slight entertainment from all these stress!

Yes, I had a great weekend escape. Lots of food, lots of fun. But that's the past, coming back to the present is worrying, sometimes demanding. I applied for an exchange program since last semester and only lately was i informed to apply for a placement myself. That's not all, i need to do it fast. Extremely fast. Deadline is less than a week and i need my documents prepared! Where to go in all this rush? Minus the weekend, where office or bank are closed, i am left to solve the remaining parts of the application which does not require any of this sort.

Then i need to know my courses which are transferable, or exchangeable. Forget my uni internet line- it's not very convincing. Luckily, i managed to get home for the weekend and utilize a more stable connection. Rush! After all is said and done, and filling in where i can at the moment, i have to put it in their hands. I will try my best to submit where possible and leave it to them to decide. Finger's crossed, everything will be fine.

The next thing is the commitment issue. Lately, i'm torn in all angles- studies and responsibilities, home and uni, local and international, that sometimes, i don't even have enough time to breathe- exaggeration intended. But to say the least, sometimes i couldn't even have a meal without having these thoughts in mind or sleep without dreaming about these issues. No, i'm not complaining. No, i'm not giving up. Sometimes we just need to say things out so that we don't get caught up alone in all these stress. Whatever i am doing now, i believe, is that i will try to stay strong for whatever comes. I needed to. If i'm not, everything around me, and myself, will fall into pieces.

Recently, i watched Tangled and surprisingly, it's a winner! I went to watch with not much anticipation or expectation, but i was blown away by the end of the show. It's great to see that Disney's back with another great music piece. Since i'm running out of time, i won't be writing a synopsis or an elaborate comment. One thing i can say is this, if you have the chance to watch this, prepare to be mesmerized by its magical impact! It is, after all, a Disney movie.

wc11 will leave at this and is off to dash out the other notes on his planner!

Season 6, Episode 3: Dare to be different

" Sing it for the world, sing it for the world! " - Sing, MCR.

Lately, i encountered several 'requests' tempting me to be different. Asking me to go outside my box, outside my comfort zone and take risk. Sometimes, i ponder to myself, have i not been daring enough to do something different? Have i not tried taking risks, facing challenges, overcoming obstacles? Have i changed enough for the people to see that i have changed?

It's not easy to answer these questions because the person involved is the person i see in front of the mirror. And to answer these questions is to look back, reflect, and find the answers. If i have not been pushing myself to my limit, daring to be different, i doubt if i could even be here. In uni. Juggling studies with responsibilities.

There's no need to try so hard- or sometimes, we're just trying so hard to prove to ourselves that we become not the person we know. The main point is that we know who we are, we know ourselves best. Life takes its course, taking us down a road filled with bumps and turns. And through that, we may be aware, or unaware, that it is teaching us a lesson, guiding us to handle the situation and testing us on an ungraded trial. We don't need to go around telling people we have changed. We don't need to find challenges because it will come to you. We don't need to dress differently, talk differently, act differently to highlight the external changes. We should dare to be different but not to the point where we lose our uniqueness and our true self because the moment we lose that in us, it is the time that we become common. When we know inside that we are different and we have changed, people will know. People can see.

And even if they don't, in time, they will come to see that we have changed.

One thing i know i am is that i am a planner. I plan most of my time. What i want to accomplish today, what i want to accomplish over the week, what i want to do later. The only problem is that it sometimes can become too rigid. Sometimes when i planned everything all so nicely, some unforeseen mistake comes to ruin the plan and causes the domino effect- all plans have to slowly reorganize. So the one thing that i need to work on now is flexibility. My plan is to be readily open for changes. We can plan, but that's the furthest we can go. We cannot control the future to be in place of the plan.

That's some serious piece of sharing. Switching topic, i'm still not done with my CNY posts. Second day of CNY in Melaka!

With all the cousins from mom side.

With the youngest aunt!

Playing cards is part of tradition.

So, try posting those questions to yourself. See how it comes out to be.

wc11.

Season 6, Episode 2: White Swan

" I had the craziest dream last night about a girl who has turned into a swan, but her prince falls for the wrong girl and she kills herself. " - Black Swan

Initially, this post's title was to be named 'Black Swan' but because it is still CNY and we prefer not to deal with anything 'black', i switched it to 'white' instead. And naming 'white' doesn't really alter the purpose of the post either. It has, after all, both in one.

Yes, when i knew this movie the end of last year, i had made it a must to watch it the soonest i got it- and comment on it. The trailer was out. The interview session was published. It sounded dark. It looked dark. It felt dark. 'Black' itself tells something, but 'swan'? Something as graceful and elegant as a swan be 'dark'- and i don't mean the colour. Something as pure as a swan be overshadowed and overcast. Black Swan lives to my expectation, scoring above and beyond what i had in mind for a psychological thriller drama.

It has been a long time since i had my expectations in movies satisfied. It's always much anticipation which is later followed by utter disappointment after watching it. But Black Swan? No. And not only does it deliver, it has that afterthought, riveting yet disturbing at the same time. A story of double like 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' and great element of rivalry last seen in 'The Prestige'. Thrilling directing, over-the-edge acting. Definitely the best Natalie P's performance- no wonder a Globe was for her. And what more, this story revolves around the Swan Lake- every ballerina's dream performance, an ideal and intriguing setting for the movie to play on.

Natalie P plays Nina, the lady who has set her eyes on becoming the Swan Queen and let nobody else take her role in the performance. She was seen as the perfect, ideal white swan. But the producer wondered her capability to dance the black swan- the evil swan who steals the love of white swan that she needed to break her spell. The producer looked towards Lily, a suitable candidate to play black swan. Nina becomes paranoid of her role of every little detail that tried to threaten it and guarded it with all her heart- even putting herself in danger. A struggle on all levels- within herself and with external pressures to deliver the best Swan Queen. Soon *spoiler* instead of playing the black swan, Nina became the black swan- evil, wicked, dark, the other side of human being.

Despite some explicit scenes, this movie is a real winner! It has a story of purity and darkness intertwined in a highly competitive ballet performance, Swan Lake, and that shows the price of perfection! Watch it, give it some thought and the real essence of the movie prevails, slowly and silently to yourself.

Enough with Black Swan, things in uni are getting back on the wheel, rolling, accelerating. Dates of quizzes, tests, assignment dues, meeting dates, etc start to fill the pages of my planner. I had to have a planner, otherwise, everything gets jumbled up! Lectures are fine- some more interesting than the other. We can't always have fun lectures, some tends to be dry.

Helping my friend to pump her car tyre in this. I liked this picture. It's as if i'm promoting for The Chronicler, or the car, or both.

On the first day of CNY

In red on the new year's day!

Red and yellow lions make great combination! I used to fancy dancing lions when i was a kid. my mum said i was a good dancer.

The surprise this CNY- three lions!

My grandpa receiving the lion's present.

New Year's day was great. Tiring, but great. As i have said, tire ourselves once in a year and the return is always fulfilling.

wc11 dances the lion.

" I was perfect. " - Black Swan