PuddingCamera for Christmas

Christmas is here! Oh joy!! I don't celebrate Christmas, but the whole world is high in Christmas spirits, especially Facebook. I keep seeing posts on Christmas in my Newsfeed. The shopping complexes here have got tons of decorations with all sorts of themes. I actually thought of going to 3 popular shopping malls in the city, but I rarely have time these days due to my preparation for finals. So I only managed to go to one of them (Mid Valley Shopping Mall) and took photos of its decoration.

There are tons of barrels, such excitement for me because they remind me of Pewdiepie, a famous Youtube gamer. I wanted to bring one home, but too bad, my desired victim isn't around anymore.

Pretty homely concept. Cozy shacks and bird houses. 

I went for a small Christmas Eve gathering with my relatives in a cafe called The House of Croissants. It was a buffet dinner for 20 people, so we were expecting large portions of various food. Unfortunately, our high hopes were met with disappointment. Not much of a variety we've got there. So far, most of us only enjoyed the mutton with mash potato, noodles and stir-fried vegetables. The pastries and desserts were far from my expectation. The name of the cafe seems to boast about its croissants' specialty, so why wouldn't I expect delicious, freshly baked croissants? Instead, they served us with pathetic-looking ones with cold meat in between them. And oh, did I mention that the croissants were cut into smaller pieces? Seriously smaller pieces. We either got deceived by the name or its owner was taking an advantage to cheat us, hence behaving like a stingy-poker. Nevertheless, its always the time spent with family that matters the most. I appreciate my cousin's effort and thoughts of organizing family events. Of course, we were entertained by my young cheeky nephew and nieces. To top it all off, I'm about to be an aunt again! A baby on its way! Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah for the good news.

A few days ago, I downloaded an Android application, PuddingCamera, for photography purpose. I don't simply download applications because some of them are meant for scams; others might cause your phone to crash all the time. Before downloading, always read the description and the reviews. Don't rely solely on the how-many-stars-given rate. People these days are lousy in rating simply rate the quality of a product or service. Anyway, back to PuddingCamera, it has 9 different cameras and 8 kinds of films, so you can just snap photos with all types of effects by combining your choice of camera with your chosen film.
Camera:

1. Snap
2. Basic
3. Triplex
4. Motion x2
5. Fisheye
6. Motion x4
7. Motion 2x2
8. Fantasy
9. Panorama

Film:

1. Basic
2. Vintage brown
3. Vintage blue
4. Vignetting
5. Dazzle
6. Mono
7. Noir
8. Vivid

My favourite combination has got to be Motion 2x2 and Vintage brown or Noir. You'll have difficulties when using Triplex, Motion x4 and Motion 2x2 because you have to be quick in adjusting your focus on whatever you wish to snap photo of within 3 seconds. Use the grids provided as your guide in focusing. It seems that this app is used by many Kpop stars, so I stalked their Twitter and indeed, idols such as Nicole (KARA), YeSung (Super Junior), Donghae (Super Junior), Sonh Dam Bi, Yuri (SNSD) and JiYeon (T-ara) frequently use this app. It kind of convinced me to download it and so far, I love it and highly recommend this to all of you. I still edit my photos using PicsArt Studio, a photo editing application. 

Triplex & Dazzle

Basic & Dazzle

Motion 2x2 & Vintage Brown

Motion x2 & Basic. Left: Edited with PicsArt Studio - Twilight fx.

Motion 2x2 & Vintage Brown. Edited with PicsArt Studio - Twilight fx.

Motion 2x2 & Noir.

Snap & Vintage Brown. Edited with
PicsArt Studio - HDR2 fx & Twilight fx.

Motion x4 & Noir.

Motion x4 & Basic.

Motion x4 & Vintage brown.

Panorama & Noir.

Motion x4 & Noir.

Fisheye & Basic. Sharpen with Instagram.

Motion 2x2 & Noir.

Alright, as I mentioned earlier, I'm in the midst of preparing for my finals. Therefore, I won't be blogging for more than a month, unless I sign in to rant about how terrible exams is. I have yet to rant about the Twitter thing, only 4 followers. Obviously, it's a flop but I'll just stick to that account for convenience. Meh.

Anyway, have a great holiday, Merry Christmas, happy studying to all A-level students and Happy New Year!!!!

The Love of Shamisen.

I'm not much of a person who appreciates instrumental music; I'm more to R&B and Kpop songs. But lately, I found it difficult for me to focus on my Edexcel finals revision, so I've decided to turn to some relaxing instrumental music. At first I was listening to jazz music, which is soothing yet not my cup of coffee. It somehow reminds me of my Council President singing Michael Buble's songs. Funny yet horrifying moments.

Then, being an exchange student in Japan, I tried listening to Japanese instrumental music. A wise choice, I would say.

Back in Osaka, I was introduced to the beautiful traditional Japanese culture. Among these layers of culture, the shamisen (a Japanese instrument) caught my attention. That happened during my one-week stay in Kasai-shi. My host mother is a shamisen player and coincidentally, she had a shamisen class, hence she brought me along to expose me to the captivating world of shamisen. You have no idea how stunned I was, as I listened to the class picking the shamisen strings, in awe. A friend who joined us nearly dozed off, but somehow, I felt alive.

The small guitar-like instrument, that is the shamisen (3 strings). The longer instrument, koto, has 13 strings.

This is my host mother playing the shamisen.

I guess shamisen is meant to be in my life after all. I moved to my second host family and whaddaya know? My *otousan (host father) plays the shamisen. In fact, he regularly flies to Okinawa to play the shamisen during festivals or cultural events. I held the shamisen many times and long to play it. But I was told that my time hasn't come yet. So I used to lay quietly in my room while listening to otousan play the shamisen late at night.
*otousan means 'father' in Japanese. I call my host father 'otousan'.

After returning to Malaysia, I got to know about the famous shamisen brothers, hailed from Noboribetsu by the name of Yoshida Brothers. Yoshida Ryochiro and Kenichi who debuted in 1999 as a duo playing the shamisen, are performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen. They've taken the once-forgotten instrument outside the realms of Japanese folks, incorporating elements of pop, smooth jazz, rock and new age styles into their music, without degrading the shamisen and its rich heritage. I've watched them play the shamisen in Youtube and fell in love with them, especially Yoshida Kenichi. Your heart would just skip a beat as you watch two manly figures pick the shamisen strings in concentration and passion, leading you to the true beauty of shamisen and Japanese culture.

The video above is one of my favourites from Yoshida Brothers - Yuunagi (Evening Calm). Their albums are now constantly playing while I study. They really help me in focusing on my work. I feel peaceful and calm even though there are times when my revision gets screwed up. Plus, knowing that the shamisen player is the tough guy Yoshida Kenichi gives me high spirits. *drools*

Anyway, like what I've said, it's not time for me to play the shamisen. But I have a feeling that that time would come soon.

Twitter. Will You Follow Me or Not?

Announcement: I've created a Twitter account - Ntakada_92.

Alright, some of my friends said that it's not a big deal to create an account just for my blog and told me not to expect many followers. Which is somewhat true, honestly. I don't really know if you readers would want to follow me. I created the account just for those who are not friends with me or don't know me personally, so that I can just post up the links in the timeline and you're just a click away from any updates.

I usually post updates in my Facebook and my other Twitter account (only for people I know). I'm not expecting any followers, though I already have 2 followers. It's up to you if you want to follow me on Twitter. I'll also share pictures and photography work on Twitter almost everyday since I only post certain pictures in my blog. I actually have huge photo galleries in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which are kept private. This Twitter account will be kept public. Also, I'll tweet some random stuff.

Would appreciate a lot if you follow me on twitter. :) Thanks!

Nightmares of Cat Mating Season.

Padi's a grown-up kitten now. No, wait. I don't know if I should even consider her as a kitten since she had already gone into heats. Heats?! Alright, it was the cats' mating season last week and since she isn't neutralized at all, Padi was behaving like a hooker, trying to lure a male. And lure a male she did!! That tomcat has been targeting her for a long while though.

How did we know that Padi was in a hooker mode?

1. She made more noise and her meows are louder and more frequent, eventually becoming constant. Irritating 'music' to my ears!
2. She was more affectionate towards us.
3. She weaved in and out of her legs.
4. She shook her pelvis.
5. She rolls about the floor. (Beta was wondering if she had gone too playful.)
6. She grabbed at our arms when we picked her up while she was rolling on the floor. 

However, being strict and not wanting a litter of kittens, I became the evil witch in Rapunzel by locking Padi up in her cage and chasing 'Prince Charming' away. I sprayed water at him. Gasp! I even warned him once that I would skin him alive (just a threat, I will never skin animals) and that bugger had the cheek to stare back at me, mocking at my frustration. Thankfully, Padi didn't get to mate, phew.

Alright, I know some people think that I was being cruel, stopping Padi from her natural desire. But it's for Padi's own good. She's still too young to be pregnant and to give birth. Besides, I think we've got enough cats at home. If Muk Ching were to find a litter of kittens appearing in the house all of a sudden, she'd rather face Doom's Day. And my family have more than enough pets to take care of. 2 cats and a rabbit. What more do we want? Definitely not kittens which were to be thrown away and killed by stray dogs.

More pictures of the adorable kitten which turned into a one-week hooker.

Her sleeping spot in the cupboard.

The week after mating season. She's back to her playful self now.

This is not Padi, but her senior Muk Ching. FYI, she's neutralized. So seeing males disgusts her. Single but will remain as a sexy spinster till death.

p/s: I love my pets.

Eating Gives Me Headache!

My passion for eating for pleasure has come to a full stop. I'm now just eating for the sake of providing sufficient nutrients to my body cells for an effective body system. Simply put that as 'eating for survival'.

I used to love eating, especially snacks (ohh!!! Chocolate is the best!). Whenever I felt like munching, I headed down to the kitchen and started ransacking every corner of the refrigerator and cupboards, even for the tiniest bit of cracker. As long as I satisfy my hunger pang. 

Well, that was before my father was diagnosed with a few serious diseases. I'm glad that it was a turning point for my family to start eating healthy. Even the food we cook is healthy (too healthy if I'm cooking). Virgin olive oil, no salt, just use shallots and ginger as seasoning, no deep-fried stuff whatsoever. Snacks, instant noodles and fast food once in a while. What else? 

Oh, I began to be very choosy when I eat out. I can look at the menu and think over the choices for 30 minutes because I would consider 2 factors very seriously: nutrition and price. Yes, there would be a frown on my forehead as I go through the nutrition facts while calculating the risk of burning holes in my parents' wallets. Unless someone serves me a plate filled with vegetables (not salad please) cooked in a healthy manner, I would start sulking, knowing that my body gets the wrong amount of nutrients.

I hate restaurants with either little or no vegetables on their menus. And I hate those that serve oily vegetables. I mean, what's the point of eating veges when all the good stuff in them are gone thanks to the oily cooking? I remember I once ate the oily vegetables served in my college's canteen. The moment they landed on my plate, their oiliness revealed, glistening in the bright sun, and I knew I made a mistake. My stomach was cursing me while my tongue begged for mercy as I swallowed the veges, oil covering my mouth. Alright, too exaggerated but I was horrified with how oily the vegetables were. Even the green colour faded to yellow. Honestly, I felt so down just by looking at the pathetic state of the veges. 

Due to my family's fussiness in food, I find that it got more difficult for both my mum and I to decide where to eat. We both would ask each other to decide, simply by stating, "I'll just eat whatever you want to eat. So what do you want to eat?" And this question became a pain in my neck everytime we want to eat out. It bothered me so much that I now hate eating out. Home-cooked food is my favourite since I get to choose and control whatever I eat. And hey, more non-oily veges too!!!

Speaking about home-cooked food, I'm a housewife again for the weekend because my mum is having the time of her life in Penang. Ironically, eating all kinds of delicious local cuisines (unhealthy alert!). It's fine, once in a while and as long as she exercises. As usual, my grandmother cringed when she knew that I will be in charge of cooking for the next few days. Too healthy food is a no-no for her. Meh, I don't really care. But fortunately, for today's dinner, I grilled teriyaki mackerel and stir-fried *potato shoots (very little olive oil, tons of shallots and water for the gravy). At least, they've got decent taste. No, actually they tasted good. 

*The potato shoots were organic home-grown veges. My mum used Beta's poop as fertilizer. Go green!!! Go mama!!! Go poop!

Organic home-grown potato shoots!!

Grilled teriyaki mackerel.

Anyway, when it comes to eating fast food, I tend to compare between McDonalds, Burger King and Carls Junior a lot. Well, Carls Junior should be out of the topic since I find it hard to finish the huge portion of burger and fries despite the fact that the fries are 100% made of potato. McDonalds' burgers are pathetic. All you'll see are bread, meat/fillet, a little bit of sauce, a few shreds of dead lettuce and another layer of bread. There goes the nutrition pyramid. Burger King's burgers are just nice, some of them though. I love the Whopper Jr burger. Fair amount of protein, carbohydrate and veges. 

My friend introduced another fast food chain restaurant to me, it's called Wendy's. I tried the lunch value meal - chicken burger, fries (maybe 70% made of potato) and a cup of carbonated drink. Erm...I have to say that it is slightly better than McDonalds? Not that pathetic but the burgers lack vegetables. Seriously, humans are omnivores, not carnivores! Give us some greens, for our digestion's sake!

Once An MCKLian, Always An MCKLian.

For the 1107s. It's not the end but the beginning to test our faith in each other.

If I had chosen to not take a gap year or to go to Tokyo to secure the scholarship, I wouldn't have ended up here, going through bittersweet moments with friends who brought me closer to God. I wouldn't have met a mixed-up 'family' consisting of perverts, the God-driven student council, the 'sampat' (crazy in Chinese) gang, kiasu Chemistry classmates along with our beautiful NUS lecturer, the bunch of Further Maths guys who miraculously got me married to my husband, the awesome group of dancers and choreographers, lecturers and staffs who came from all walks of life and the list goes on. 

Studying in MCKL has been one of the most amazing times in my life. I'd be lying if I say that my heart isn't heavy to leave college. Prior to the last day of college, I found myself going back to the first few days of college. Funny, it just felt like a few days ago. In a blink of an eye, three semesters have passed but we've all changed for the better. Many mistakes done, many valuable lessons learnt. 

The last day of college went well. No tears shed, no regrets. Just faith in Him and the people who have coloured my life. Once an MCKLian, always an MCKLian. 

Do I regret going on a gap year? Nope, not at all.

*If you're not one who is sentimental or emotional, I suggest you don't read the following paragraphs. But you're free to do so if you're curious. I'm sorry if it's such boredom*


27th November 2012.
Train of thoughts. I sat in silence in the monorail, time-travelling secretly all the way back to 4th July 2011. My first day in a college by the name of Methodist College Kuala Lumpur (MCKL).
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Last week, I was on a roller coaster ride as I go through waves of emotions. Who's not happy that college has ended and we don't have to wake up early for boring lectures? But who's not sad that we're parting with our college mates to our own ways, unsure whether we'll be in touch with each other? It's natural for us to take last-minute pictures in college, then upload them in Facebook or Instagram. And 5 years from now, sometimes even one day from now, we would look back at those pictures, either laughing in tears or regretting our mistakes. We would relive our college life as we walk down memory lane.
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As I stepped into MCKL that proudly stands up to its motto 'veritas vincit omnia', I was nervous yet excited to start a new life after returning from a gap year. Thinking that I have an advantage over the rest in terms of life experience, I was secretly slightly arrogant although I maintained my humble self. Thankfully, on the third day, when classes officially started, my arrogance was washed away by the excellent-and-smart-student image that my college mates were trying to uphold. After all, most of us had good results for our high school finals. Surely, we felt insecure to meet others who are on par or smarter than us. I was already panicking because whatever scientific knowledge I learnt in high school went down the drain due to taking up art streamed classes in Japan. With all these insecurity and effort to uphold such smart image, I felt really small, finding younger students who could answer simple chemistry questions which I couldn't.

Speaking about Chemistry, for all three semesters, I had a super-smart, gorgeous lecturer. I tend to say this, "I feel stupid everytime I enter chemistry class." That shows how intimidated I was (still am) by her. But it's not a complain. In lieu, it's sort of an encouragement to work harder to master Chemistry. She's actually a passionate lecturer, of course a well-experienced one too, as she used to lecture in NUS. The university where you find kiasu kids, mostly Singaporeans. She even prepared 10 post-trial sets for us to squeeze our brain juice on. The last set made me screamed in frustration. Too bad, we're the last batch of MCKL students whom she taught because she'll be moving back to Singapore, I guess back to NUS? Oh well. I truly appreciate her passion and effort in teaching us chemistry. Honestly, I would have quit Chemistry if I weren't intimidated yet inspired by her. Although she sent me shivers down my spine through her difficult questions, I'm still thankful to her for helping me to be where I am now. I wish her all the best in Singapore if she sees this post.

I'm sorry, but Chemistry is part of my college life, hence the long passage on it. Even my bed and table would be conquered by my Chemistry notes whenever I study this subject.

After settling down for a few weeks, the new intakes embarked on a real journey to know each other well. Orientation Camp, Midsummer Masquerade, Inter Cohort Games, High Praise and not forgetting the small events  and outings we organised plus our first Edexcel exam. We were quite naive, unaware that Edexcel could bite us real hard. I still remember how solemn and disappointed we were when we got unexpected results. The worst was Psychology. My classmates and I were so demoralized that we were halfway to giving up. Some had even already given up.

Orientation Camp was probably the turning point for us to feel comfortable with each other besides searching for friends we could mingle with. I was placed in the camp with other cohorts. Initially, it wasn't something I look forward to because I barely knew anyone from the other cohorts. I guess things went well and soon, I found myself in a wide social circle. The best part of Orientation Camp is the stream-trotting. It was a tough journey, climbing up the hill through the stream, strong current pushing us down. Yet, you could see the satisfaction on our faces when we succeeded in reaching the top to enjoy the beauty of nature. We even had water fights, splashing each other. Little did we know that we would be the last batch to go for stream-trotting due to the Rota virus outbreak in the rivers nearby. 80% of the camp participants fell sick, but we took it as a record-breaking event in MCKL's history.

Second semester was just pure havoc. Hectic schedule for me. And it was definitely one hell of a life-changing semester. 2 words: Student Council. Even now, I still think that my term serving in Student Council is a dream. My first thought when I was elected: 'Ahhh...will it turn out bad, just like what happened in high school?' I wish to tell you more about Mushy Council (my Student Council's name), but I shall keep it to myself. All I can I say is that the 9 members I worked with were truly blessings from God. Things didn't go smoothly in the beginning, but we matured through the hardships, retiring with smiles of victory and sense of accomplishment. If I could travel back in time, I would want to be in Mushy Council again. Those late nights in college, sleepless days, arguments, tears, laughter, mistakes and endless list of events were highlights of my college life.

Being in Student Council has taught me things that I can never learn from the chalkboard. The most important thing I learnt, faith in Him. God-driven council. Whatever we did, was not for ourselves but for God. It's way different from how I managed my high school Prefectorial Board, in which racism, greed and misuse of power were among the main things. I never thought of Him when I had difficulties. All I thought were my effort and revenge towards rivals. I ran the board only for my school, but I never thought of it as being part of serving Him.

I also ended up having a bunch of friends being my 'family'. You know, the make-believe family, like how we used to play in kindergartens and primary schools. At this stage, you can't call it childish though, because we sort of treat each other like our family members. We call each other 'dad', 'ooki (big sister)' and so on. I even had a 'husband' who is actually my dance partner. We did all kinds of things together, basically nonsensical stuff that made us laugh non-stop. My only regret, being in Student Council snatched me away from them as I was too occupied with council matters and we drifted apart from each other.

Wanting to dance on stage so much, I joined a group of dancers to be in a performance competition during Midsummer Masquerade. This is one of the most awesome things in my life since I've always wanted to be in a dance group. It is through this group that I got to know my partner and 2 more amazing girls who were the main choreographers. We didn't make it to the final round of the Midsummer audition but we were asked to  give an ending performance. Man, I can still feel the heat on stage and the screams from the audience. I never knew performing on stage could give such satisfactory.

After retirement, it was time to catch up with studies. I screwed up second semester's Edexcel exam and I knew that I can't slack in third semester. This semester was mostly spent with various people, cohort mates and juniors. What happened shall remain history but memories.
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