Short Story #40: Late

My last short story of 2015! :) 

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If there was any word that could describe Nathan the best, it was that he was someone who was always tardy. No matter if it was to turn up at school or a casual outing with friends, he never failed to arrive late every single time. One would wonder if Nathan would ever change his habits and like the old saying goes - 'Old habits die hard'.

Trust me, there were a lot of things we all tried to make sure Nathan be early for once but they all failed miserably. It did not matter if it was setting five alarm clocks on his bed or if you call his phone repeatedly, nothing seemed to work.

In spite of it all, what really made us keep persisting to help Nathan was that Nathan himself seemed keen to improve himself. Every time a suggested solution failed, Nathan would beat himself about it and putting the blame solely on himself no matter how much we told him that it was not entirely his fault. It pained us watching Nathan leaving the scene with his head lowered and gaze focused downwards. We felt the burning fire inside us to help him grow larger and we became even more determined ever.

One day, Shayla threatened Nathan that he would have to pay for our dinner if he were to turn up late once again for our regular kickback. It would be a hefty sum for a person to pay, and Nathan was no wealthy kid. We all held our breaths as we all waited in Xavier's apartment. Of course, deep inside, all of us wanted Nathan to kick his habit but I did not even bring any money with me and I was pretty sure the others did not too. It was vastly contradicting how we all wanted him to be early for once but we did not even believe in him to do so.

A few minutes to the scheduled meeting time, there was still no sign of Nathan. If this kept on, it meant that Nathan had once again failed and we all managed to save our own money. However, before we all could celebrate on a free dinner, the doorbell sounded loudly. All of our heads whipped at the door and I sprang up to answer the door. To my utmost surprise, Nathan was standing there, with a huge grin on his face as he excitedly pointed at his watch.

"Just on time!"

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Almost 20 minutes into 2016, my resolutions for the new year is for me to continue writing short stories everyday, become a voracious reader, update and complete my stories! Overall, be productive!

Short Story #39: Lunch Time

We were walking around aimlessly, searching for a place to eat but so far, the places that we frequented were packed. At this point, we were all hungry so we were okay with any place as long as it was air-conditioned and had delicious-smelling food.

Maybe it was a wrong idea to leave the house when it was near lunch time but Papa overslept because he had arrived home from work really late last night so he needed to have plenty of sleep. Even though she did not voice it out, Mama was quite worried about Papa and I could tell because she kept casting uneasy glances at Papa.

Finally, we came across a cafe after we crossed a room. From the outside, the cafe appeared to be really clean and spotless, and the windows were wiped really clean that you could see your own reflection. As I was about to lift my eyes to see the name of the cafe, Mama dragged me inside and a wonderful cool breeze greeted our faces.

Thankfully, there were not many customers inside so we could easily find a vacant table. I sat down and drummed my fingers on the cool table absentmindedly. Papa immediately rushed to order us food as currently there was no line. An exasperated sigh escaped Mama's lips and she begrudgingly stood up to join Papa. I guess in a rush Papa forgot to ask us what we wanted for lunch.

From where I sat, I could see Mama mildly reprimanded Papa who gave her a small, sheepish smile. After seeing that exchange, a smile instantly filled my face. It had been a long time since I saw Mama and Papa next to each other. Having to work overnight for consecutive days could be blamed for that. Even though I was told Papa was at home, I had this uneasy feeling that Papa was cheating on Mama with another woman. Last night, Papa came home looking a little inebriated and smelling like lavender.

Mama hates lavender.

My eyes darkened at the vision of Mama and Papa arguing when Papa's dirty secret came to light. While I peered through a small opening of my bedroom door, observing the fight closely. What would I do when that happened? My hands clenched as my mind played over multiple scenes of a situation that may likely occur in the near future. Abruptly, I stood up and grabbed my bag. It was laughable how I managed to sneak out of the cafe unnoticed by my own parents.

Maybe I am better off without them.

Short Story #38: Let Bygones Be Bygones

Throughout the first half of the day, Haley had this fixed pout on her face. No matter what her group of friends did, she just refused to change her facial expression. Whether it was Ken spilling milk all over his vintage black T-shirt or Owen cracking a hilarious joke, there was not even a twitch of a smile coming from her.

A sigh escaped Katie's lips. "Okay, Haley, what's the matter with you?"

Not surprisingly, Haley pretended not to hear her and continued to be busy writing on her textbook when she was actually doodling. It greatly hurt Katie that her best friend of 2 years was blatantly and intentionally ignoring her. Maybe years ago, Katie would just lower her head meekly when Haley got angry but not this time.

Frowning, Katie forcefully grabbed the textbook and tossed it across the classroom, the sound of it hitting the teacher's desk startling the rest of the students. Shocked by her action, Haley gasped and then glared at her best friend but her glare faltered when she saw the deep frown on Katie's face.

"Now tell me what's going on!" Katie practically yelled at the girl sitting down.

Putting on the pout again, Haley crossed her arms and averted her gaze to her desk instead. "You of all people should know!"

Confused by her answer, Katie scratched her head and racked her brain on recent events that could have made her best friend upset or angry. A lightbulb lit inside Katie's head and her mouth formed an 'O' shape as she figured out the reason.

"Let me guess, is this about the free dining at Pegasus'?" Haley solemnly nodded her head.

Chuckling to herself, Katie patted her best friend on the shoulder. "Haley, I didn't invite you cos the coupon expired yesterday and you were celebrating your little brother's birthday."

"Still, you could've at least invited me," Haley murmured.

Shaking her head fondly, Katie smiled, "Come on Haley. Pegasus isn't going to go anywhere. One of these days, we'll go there together and fill our stomachs till we are satisfied, okay?"

Haley still refused to look at Katie so the latter just hugged her best friend tightly.

"Okay," Haley smiled, for the first time that day.

Short Story #37: Taxi

This short story would be longer than usual...This piece of writing is actually long long overdue (lol). Okay so for this one, I am given these prompts 'taxi driver + cryptic letter + lucky penny + dark and stormy night'

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Raindrops on the window were wiped them away by a windshield. To the annoyance of the taxi driver, this process repeated every few minutes. Not to mention, the roads were heavily crowded with various other vehicles and for the past hour, his taxi had barely moved 100 metres away from its original position. 

Earlier this morning, his wife had nagged at him to bring an umbrella and warned him to not be late for their family dinner as their darling son would finally visit for Thanksgiving. Of course, he did not bring an umbrella because he never did. What did it matter if you were drenched from the rain? The solution was so simple - just change out of your wet clothes into new ones and clean the dirty ones. Besides, it was fun walking or running in the rain without any sort of covering over your head. However, the hapless driver doubted that coming home drenched from the rain would anger his wife; it would be coming horribly late for their family dinner, which he already was.

Frustration got the better of him and he pressed on the honk hard and for a long duration. In response, honks from other various vehicles sounded. He let out a sigh and pressed his head on his steering wheel. It was going to be a long night.

A loud knock on his car window jolted him awake. He raised his head and frantically looked around to pinpoint the source of disturbance. There was now soft rapping on the glass which successfully caught his attention and he glanced at the uniformed person outside his taxi. 

Well, shit.

A police officer was standing outside his taxi. The taxi driver lowered his window and briefly glanced at his surroundings. It looked like he was not on the busy roads anymore. No, his taxi was now parked in an alley with improperly disposed rubbish and it caused a major stench that invaded his nostrils. Trying his best not to puke his lunch out, he forced a smile at the police officer, praying hard that he would not get into trouble. At least, not a big one.

Luckily for him, the police officer was only concerned for him as he found him resting against his steering wheel and feared that he had fainted or worse, died. The taxi driver assured the kind policeman that he was perfectly alright and thanked the man for the concern. Minutes after the policeman left, a soft sigh escaped the taxi driver and glanced down at his lap.

A small envelope was perched on his lap. At first, he thought it was random but as he picked the light document, he found his name scrawled in the middle of it. Once again, he glanced at his surroundings, as if the person who sent him the envelope would still be there. 

Since it was clearly addressed to him, he hastily tore the envelope and shook a folded piece of paper out. It was a heavy parchment and despite such a huge white background, only a few sentences handwritten in black ink filled the middle of the page. There was also a coin attached at the bottom of the page, as if a superglue was used to stick it firmly on it.

"Old man, you owe me one. Find me or all your dark secrets will be revealed to the world. And hold on tight to the lucky penny. You're going to need it."

Indeed, it was a cryptic letter. If it was all an elaborate joke, he could not tell. Whatever it was, he decided to push the matter aside and head home before his wife call him to ask for his whereabouts.

Short Story #36: Reputation

For the Orpheus High's well-known bad boy, nothing worse could happen to Jarrod Lake than a new transfer student who was stealing his fights and winning them. It did not help matters than the newcomer was much taller than him and his muscular arms looked like they were on the verge of ripping his sleeves apart. Without a doubt, Jarrod's reputation was on the line and if he did not do anything about it, he would just be an ordinary student who was no longer feared by the school, students and teachers alike.

"Hey newbie!" Jarrod yelled over the school cafeteria, not caring that he had caught a lot more than his target's attention. Actually, an audience was part of his plan too. 

The new boy, Casey Palmer, glanced over his shoulder, not even bothering to give his full attention to Jarrod. It was clear that Casey could care less about the so-called bad boy and this only served to anger Jarrod.

"I'm talking to you!" An audible sigh escaped Casey's lips and he begrudgingly turned to face the bad boy. As Jarrod neared the new boy, a large crowd slowly formed around the duo, curious and anxious glances exchanged between each other. Was a fight about to break out between the two toughest boys in school? For a certain nosy future reporter, she had already pulled out her phone, ready to film the incoming brawl. 

"So, you think you're all tough huh?" Without waiting for a response, Jarrod threw the first punch on Casey's broad and firm punch. To Jarrod, it hurt like hell, but he refused to show any hint of vulnerability towards his (one-sided) enemy. 

"What's wrong? Got sca-" Before Jarrod could even finish his sentence, he was roughly grabbed by his arm and thrown all the way backwards till his body landed at the entrance doors to the cafeteria. A collective gasp resounded at the unbelievable scene before them. Jarrod beaten easily by a simple move? 

Not caring about the situation, Casey gathered his lunch tray and headed to a vacant seat to eat his lunch, blissfully unaware that the table's other occupants were visibly shaking in fear. 

"Snap! Looks like we have a new hot headline for tomorrow!" Rosa Suarez exclaimed in glee as she took a shot of the now barely conscious Jarrod. "Former bad boy now has become a loser nerd!"

Short Story #35: Tiring

A loud yawn escaped from Jasmine's lips as she leaned back on her chair. Clearly, she could care less if the whole lecture hall heard her.

At this point, no one would bat an eyelid when someone said they only had an hour's sleep. The final examinations were approaching and everybody had been busy catching up with their studies by staying behind in school till night time and approaching their tutors for help.

Studying for examinations was one thing but having to attend every revision lecture had became a burden for almost every student who just wanted some time for themselves of self-studying. What made it an even bigger burden was that attendance was compulsory. An absence would automatically mean answering to your homeroom teacher and the most likely punishment was an hour-long detention that would serve nothing but waste precious time. Not to mention, there were fifteen days left to the most important examinations for their year.

It was evident that Jasmine was one of the many students who had little sleep with the way she rested her head on the table and by the sound of her loud snoring. People who were aware of her trying to catch some sleep could sympathise with her but they were all too engrossed in either their own conversations or re-reading their lecture notes while waiting for their lecturer to arrive.

Speaking of their lecturer, Mrs. Robinson was sure late. Of course, the lecturer would not start till eleven minutes later but she would usually be present fifteen minutes earlier without fail. Maybe she was caught in a bad traffic jam? Whatever it was, students were all secretly wishing that she would arrive late or not arrive at all so that they could all spend the unofficial free time doing their own revision.

However, it seemed that the students would not be getting their way when the doors were roughly pushed open revealing the slightly haggard looking Mrs. Robinson who had been robbed of her sleep herself. Seemed that the teachers themselves were suffering too.

Review: SHINee Some Wonderful Day

Time for another SHINee review! So, just now, I have completed the variety show where the group dispersed to enjoy their own personal vacation where they had full reins of. That means none of their group members would be there to protest and even the staff that went with them would not interfere, even they lacked money to buy things (lol). 

Once again, SHINee proves to be still entertaining yet still down-to-earth and grounded even when alone. For me, it's pretty cool to see the destinations that the members went because personally to me, it was as if I was given a tour around those places that they visited. Furthermore, it's entertaining to see how the members behave when they are left to their own devices.

Onew (Krabi):  The leader's vacation is the most interesting to me. Unlike the other members, Onew did not plan out his itinerary. Onew himself has shown to us that he is a happy-go-lucky guy who likes to do body gags and make people laugh with his jokes so for his vacation, he just went with the flow. It was so fascinating watching him eat, especially the barbequed food. I personally love barbequed food and the ones he had are really tempting and totally my style. The most shocking thing about his vacation is when his toe bled at the beach that I gasped audibly at the sight of blood pouring out profusely but he remained unfazed and still maintained his megawatt smile. 

Jonghyun (Japan): Jonghyun has mentioned many times before that he loves anime so I find it adorable when he gushed about One Piece and Gundam. I think he really loves Japan as he really maximised his three-day vacation by exploring many cities and places and trying out many things. It was also fascinating to watch him eat since he has a huge appetite thanks to his diet. He's really cute (not being biased here...or maybe I am lol). He is quite thoughtful too as he bought souvenirs for each of his group members.

Key (England) : Personally, I found Key's to be the least interesting. Most likely, it was due to the fact that some of his plans were disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances so unfortunately, we were not able to see him fulfill his wishes for his vacation. Even though I could not relate to him, I still find it amazing how he knew so much about fashion, movies and British etiquette. The most interesting thing that he had done was when he applied the pink dye on his hair. His eye for detail and his persistence of having things done his own way (I wish I am able to rephrase this) truly amazed me.

Minho (England) : Even before I knew SHINee, I know that Minho loves soccer. It is adorable seeing him so enthusiastic and excited about soccer. However, I felt sad for him because he was not able to hand a choco pie to Rio Ferdinand. Maybe next time, Minho? Don't give up! ^^ Other than that, Minho has shown to be quite a sweetheart and a kind person. The sweetest thing he had done was when he gave money for performer on the street and just stood to watch him perform, even staying behind to chat with him.

Taemin (Switzerland) : Taemin was full of unexpected surprises. He is definitely not risk-averse as he appears to have a penchant for dangerous activities. Even though he appeared to not have a fear of heights or falling, he was really eager to try paragliding and skiing out. If I could recall correctly, he had no worries about doing such activities. I find it adorable and charming how he still maintained that megawatt smile when he fell a number of times. I find it most admirable when he still remained calm when he misplaced his train ticket. If I was in position, I would be acting really hysterically. Taemin may appear naive and scatter-brained during his trip but thankfully, all worked out for him in the end. 

10/10 must-watch for all SHINee fans! 

Source of image: allkpop

Short Story #34: Ambush

"So...um...how did you find our date?" Tom nervously asked, not daring to look at the other's eyes.

"Hmm...it was...nice," Sabrina answered, smirking as she noticed the other sighing in relief.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Tom flashed her a megawatt smile.

"Thanks Tom, for the fun date," Sabrina smiled back. The couple walked silently at the park, enjoying the soft and pleasant breeze at night. As they walked, they both inched closer to each other, their bodies slightly touching. Neither flinched and they both smiled at each other.

Tom thought it was now or never so he slowly intertwined their fingers together, earning a soft smile from brunette. In Tom's eyes, Sabrina was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, her big brown eyes twinkling and her red lips inviting. He leaned in and closed his eyes, but his lips could meet hers, he was brutally shoved to the concrete ground.

A loud scream filled his ears and it was obvious that it belonged to Sabrina. Tom struggled to get up but was pushed back firmly by a pair of bulky, muscular arms, the kind that belonged to a wrestler or a bodybuilder.

"Sabrina!" Tom yelled. He squirmed helplessly as he watched his girlfriend being thrown into a van before it drove off.

Before he could yell the name the second time, his head was hit by a heavy object. His vision dimmed as he fell into unconsciousness.

Short Story #33: Teddy Bear

Unbelievable.

Of all the times in the world, my brother chose this exact moment to screw up. I suppressed the strong urge to simply yell at him but I had to consider that in doing so, I would be attracting unwanted attention towards us. Instead, I opted to sigh heavily.

"Did you at least see where he went?" Not surprisingly, my brother responded with a shake of his head. At this point, my patience was running thin. It was one thing for my brother to make a dumb mistake but it was another thing for him to act so nonchalant and guiltless about it. No simple apology. Not one ounce of regret on his face. Nothing! Of course I did not expect him to go down on his knees and apologize but such common sense should be damn obvious.

Rolling my eyes, I trudged to the nearest bench and sat down. I rested my chin on my head and sighed once more. At the corner of my eye, I noticed my brother approaching me and taking a seat, though he was careful to leave a large space between us. Clearly, he did not want to incur my wrath, which was slowly building up within me.

"You're overreacting. It's only a teddy bear," my brother waved his hand dismissively. Not caring about an unwanted audience anymore, I instantly lost my cool.

"It's my hard-earned money!!" I shouted at him, my eyes bulging that they must have looked like they were going to come out. To a stranger, my words would sound dramatic but I was an unemployed girl so I had to scrimp and save to buy anything that I wanted. And a teddy bear was what I longed to buy ever since I saw its cute commercial on television.

Pouting, I turned my head away and stared solemnly at the ground. "Ah whatever. Guess it's not meant to be," I mumbled to myself. It was pathetic to blame at others for my own mistake. It was silly of me to entrust my newly-bought bear to my brother while I went to the washroom.

Five minutes. That was how long Emerald and I spent together. Yes, I named my teddy bear 'Emerald' and it was inspired by the green and black polka-dot bow on it which had nothing to do with emerald itself.

Right then, a bawling child was forcefully dragged towards me by a woman, who probably was his mom. My eyes widened when I saw Emerald held by the woman. The woman must have been able to piece the puzzle together because instantly after seeing my reaction, she handed me back my beloved teddy bear.

"Sorry. My child has the habit of taking things that don't belong to him," the woman apologized. I quickly forgave her and patted the child's head, too excited to be mad at him. I pulled Emerald for a tight hug, extremely elated that we were reunited at the end. I guess we did belong to each other after all.

Short Story #32: Smoke Break

"Life is stressful, huh?" Ashley gave a side-glance at the newcomer before pulling on her cigarette and watched the smoke dissipating into the air. She did not respond. After all, she was not in the mood for a small chit-chat.

However, the newcomer did not share the same thoughts and approached her. The newcomer, Ashley glanced back again, was a fair-skinned girl with long hair. Her eyes were big and brown, almost like a puppy. Almost.

"Do you have a light?" The girl held out a hand, smiling kindly at her. Ashley merely gave a blank stare.

"Here." It took a good 30 seconds before Ashley fulfilled the stranger's request. A generous person was not how most people would describe Ashley but for some reason, this newcomer was an exception.

"Thank you," the girl accepted and thanked her gratefully.

They both just stood there and waited in silence until they grew bored of having their lungs being tainted by a piece of cancer stick.

Even though she came in the later, the stranger dropped her cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. "Looks like my lifespan is going to be reduced by another 10 years."

Ashley cracked a half-smile.

"Nice knowing you," the girl threw the used cigarette into a rubbish bin and started walking a few feet away before stopping.

"My name is Paige by the way," the girl, Paige shot her a disarming smile.

"Ashley."

Short Story #31: Self-proclaimed Shopaholic

Emily was a self-proclaimed shopaholic. She insisted on that label, even to the point of including it in all of her registered profiles in social networking sites. It was astounding how badly she wanted to be referred as such and not simply as her name. Some people flippantly remarked that she did this badly for attention but really, her close friends could vouch for her self-declared title.

Ever since she had discovered online shopping, Emily had been tirelessly buying an assortment of things from the Internet, from pretty jewelries to branded bags to useless trinkets. One could say that she was simply hooked on online shopping. Despite repeated advice to put an end to this unhealthy obsession, Emily just simply would not listen.

It was when she was planning to buy a branded watch that she received the biggest horror in her life. In her bank account was left with a mere two digits. Then it all dawned on Emily that she had been wasting excessive money on a plethora of things. As such, she learnt her lesson the hard way and had decided to part ways with all of the expensive goods she bought online to slowly recoup her wasted money.

Short Story #30: Bookfest

Nancy could not contain the excitement building up in her. This was the day she looked forward to every year without fail. It was the annual bookfest and for this year, it was held a few blocks away from her house. She was so excited that she could not sleep the previous night.

Ask any of her friends and family members, and you would get an unanimous answer that Nancy loved books very much. In her room, her four-compartment bookshelf were filled with books to the brim and she was still adding to her already huge collection. Not surprisingly, she also frequented the library, sometimes using her family members' library card in order to borrow more books.

Once Nancy arrived at her destination, she seriously squealed with joy and hurried to the fiction section. She browsed through dozens of books and filled her basket to the brim with books of varying thickness. One would wonder how she was able to lift all these home without breaking a sweat. However, Nancy could not care less at how much she would have to carry back home. Her love for books definitely trumps the inconvenience of lugging the heavy books home.

Review: Hello Baby with SHINee!

I've recently finished watching Hello Baby with SHINee! At first, I thought it wouldn't be good but the entire run ended up being very enjoyable. To me, not only does the SHINee members bonded well with Yoogeun, this show also showed how close the members are with each other. Even when one member was absent, their entertainment value was not lowered. The camaraderie within in the group is really admirable and great to see. Even though they love to tease each other, they are concerned about one another and observe each other's mannerisms really attentively.

Yoogeun is an adorable child. The PD couldn't have picked a better child for SHINee to take care of for 100 days. Of course, at first, Yoogeun felt really uneasy but eventually, he became closer to the his SHINee Appas and the memories they shared are really precious and sweet! In order to deepen their relationship with Yoogeun, they had to achieve the missions given to them successfully, and for some of those missions or just activities, they split into groups to compete against each other.

The moments that I love the most are when the Appas split up to find the best clothes for Yoogeun to wear and also when the Appas were dressed in animal costumes and rode in tiny cars. Really, they bonded with the child really quickly although some of them were anxious at first. At the end of the show's run, they all were quite sad when they had to part from Yoogeun.

This is quite a wonderful and entertaining variety show. If you're a SHINee fan, it's a must watch! Even if you are not a fan of them, you can still try watching it. Give it a few eps and you'll soon be hooked on the show and the group! :)

Short Story #29: Helping Out

Beads of sweat rolled down Derrick's face as he carried the last chair to its designated desk. After he placed it down, he placed his hands on his hips and took a really deep breath. He smiled as he looked up at the newly painted ceiling. With the help of his friends, they were able to completely revamp the entire classroom, all under one hour before the children would return from their lunch time.

He heard the sounds of soft footsteps outside and chattering, and it dawned on him that the children had finally arrived. Stealthily moving to flick off the lights, he joined his friends at the back of the classroom, crouching down in an effort to conceal themselves.

The door had finally opened and the tallest child among them, who was also the class monitor, reached out for the lights to switch them on. As soon as the room illuminated, all of them gasped in total surprise and shock.

"Surprise!" The loud yells coming from the back alerted them and their already widened eyes and mouths grew bigger. Derrick and his friends did not waste time and rushed forward to give the still surprised children hugs. Some of the children were at the brink of tears and some could not voice their thoughts coherently so the volunteers merely tightened their hugs, smiling widely and some even crying with the grateful children. Wiping the tears of a little girl with his thumb, Derrick whispered, "Don't cry~"

Derrick guessed coming into the classroom must had been a huge shocker for the children. Imagine coming into the same classroom but with walls and ceilings completely painted in white, and the rickety tables and chairs replaced with sturdy ones. Not to mention, there were pencil boxes filled with the standard stationery placed neatly on every desk, one for each children. And now, the lights were completely bright as the light bulbs were also replaced with higher quality ones. The lights were bright but the grateful smiles from the children shined brighter than the lights.

Derrick could not help but cry with the children and his friends too. Having spent a few days in Laos with the children, he realized the hardships they had to go through in their daily lives, including for their education. The schools here, especially those in the rural parts of the village, were under-funded and as such, lacked proper and working materials to give the children an effective learning environment, a factor that Derrick and his friends had no problem with back at their home.

Derrick's heart ached for these children and he was happy that they were able to make a huge difference in these children's lives. He hoped the children would be able to pursue their education with more enthusiasm and convenience now. He was already dreading the day where he would have to part with these wonderful children.

Short Story #28: Nervousness

It's been a long time since I typed and published a short story! I've read advice that creative writing is very helpful for writers who have good plot ideas but struggle with structuring their stories or planning out their stories. So I've decided to do a lot of creative writing to hone my writing skills!

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Tucked in the corner on the level four at Block C building was a men's washroom. The room was empty and quiet, except for a single man occupying it. The aforementioned man splashed his face repeatedly with palms full of water from the sink, not caring that his collar and the top of his shirt being soaked during the hasty process. His white dress shirt tucked out, his green tie askew and his disheveled hair gave the impression of an untidy person. Actually, a few hours ago, he was immaculately dressed but only a few people bore witness to that.

Wiping his wet face with a handkerchief, he clumsily retrieved a piece of paper from the left pocket of his black slacks. While he unfolded the paper, his hand was visibly shaking and his heart was palpitating faster than normal. He began to mutter to himself as his eyes flitted though the messy scribbles on the paper, accidentally smudging the words with his wet hand. A passer-by witnessing him would have thought that he was diligently reciting a mantra.

"Theodore, are you done?" A loud voice boomed from outside, startling the man.

"Almost done!" The nervous man croaked. He hurriedly pocketed the paper without even folding it neatly first. Staring back at his reflection in the mirror, he realized that his face was extremely pale and his eyes looked very exhausted. Never in his life had he craved so much to disappear right then and there. But eventually, he had to face the music.

He tidied his unkempt attire to the best of his ability before breathing calmly, readying himself for the dreaded presentation that would compute 15% of his overall grade.

Some Random Thoughts To Share...

So I'm now approaching the end of my fall semester - my second semester. So that means yet another long holiday will be coming and I want to spend my holiday meaningfully. Just now, I laid out my plans and there are just so many things that I have and want to do. Among of which are finding a part-time job, cleaning my room, reading books and brushing up on my general knowledge. Also, there are stories that I plan to publish. It has been quite a while since I wrote any piece of fiction and I want to resume back to constructing my own plots and churning out quality stories out of them.

My fear is that I would spend my entire holidays doing nothing productive and end up regretting and beating myself about it as a result. SO I'm going to keep a diary to keep tabs of what I did for the day so that I would at least do something productive.

Also, I have so many shows I want to complete watching. And, I also made a realization that I don't always have to finish what I started. If I get irritated with the characters and stories (or lack thereof), then the logical thing would be to just stop, right? Why further torture myself by enduring an irritating show or movie and gain nothing at the end? The same goes for reading books. If I get bored after flipping a few pages, I should just skip sections and not worry about "missing out". We all have to eventually accept that we all don't have the luxury of time to do everything. Besides, if something doesn't interest you, no matter how many times you read or watch those boring things, they just won't become embedded into your minds.

When I made those revelations, a huge weight seemed to be removed from my shoulders. It's worrying about little things like this that make us easily stressed and agitated. We could change that and we have the power to since those matters are in our control.

So yeah, I'm feeling quite relaxed and confident that I am able to reach my personal targets during this holiday!

Review: World Date with SHINee

Recently, I watched a variety special called World Date with SHINee. I quite enjoyed it. Maybe it's cos my SHINee bias (Jonghyun) was in it. Anyway, my only qualm about this show is that I wish it had more episodes. I also hope they do more of this 'world date' with other groups cos I really like that there is an avenue for idols to interact with foreign fans. 

If I'm not wrong, this special first aired in 2012, around the time SHINee did One Fine Day. I know I was 3 years late but I just recently got into the group. lol.

In three episodes, they had the date winners meet each other and bond with each other while getting a tour in Korea. They also each received professional styling to experience how idols doll up before they appear on camera. After all of that, they finally met Jonghyun and Key who surprised them with a birthday cake. One of the contest winners had their birthday on that day itself. I appreciate that the staff took note of this and I'm sure the birthday girl must had been very happy!:)

All in all, Jonghyun and Key bonded with the girls and had a lot of fun together. Once again, I enjoyed watching all 3 episodes. There was never a dull moment, at least in my opinion. My favourite part is when they played games together and when they ate in the open field together at night. I think they picked Key because he is the only English-speaking member in the group and Jonghyun because he is the friendliest member in the group (i.e. able to socialize with everyone, including strangers). I have seen many videos of Jonghyun talking with Shawols, conversing with them like they are his friends. It's really sweet of him. 

Yup, so that's it lol. This special is really quite entertaining so I think anyone is able to enjoy it regardless of whether you like SHINee or not. Shows where idols interact with fans, let alone foreign fans, are really rare. Such interactions only happen in show segments like Star Date and the like.

Day #30: Your highs and lows for the month (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Since I did not start doing this writing challenge on the exact first day of the month, I'll just summarize the highs and lows from the last 30 days. Basically, I'm a person who has a lot of things to be embarrassed about and as each day passes, there is at least one more reason that makes me embarrassed. At the same time, I have events that happen that day where I kick serious ass so there are things that I am equally proud of!

So...

My highs:
-I finished reading a storybook.
-I have read a lot of interesting fanfiction and re-read some.
-I found a lot of happiness from watching B2ST and SHINee videos on YouTube.
-I received a new phone.
-I bought an epic present for my friend and she claims that it's her best present for the year!
-I finally ended my giving my tuition for the year so I am free!
-I have a lot of ideas for my own stories.

My lows:
-I procrastinated on my school assignments yet again.
-I am just plain lazy and unmotivated.
-I still have not written out my story drafts.
-I pretty much daydreamed during most of the lessons.
-I am still addicted to my phone, which led me to delaying my assignments.


AND I finally reached the last day of the Writing Challenge! So that's a wrap as I have successfully completed my writing challenge! Add this triumph to one of my highs for this month! :)

I guess since I am freed from this writing challenge, I will go back to writing out my own stories from tomorrow onwards? I'll try my best! Somehow, I still get mind blank when I am faced with a blank Word document even after setting aside time to write haha.

Day #29: Conversely, write about something that's kicking ass right now (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Once in a while, it's great to stroke one's ego to boost one's confidence. There are many things that I believe that I am great at but obviously won't brag to others.

I am quite meticulous in my writing (though not consistently) but it holds true for major writing pieces like for example, school assignments and my own fictional stories. I really like to pen down my thoughts and organize them such that my responses meet the question's requirements. I just find joy in writing down feelings and thoughts about certain issues. I would make sure the responses are not lacking in content and relevance as I am rather perfectionist in that. Even if the word limit is not stated, I do not feel satisfied just by writing out a few statements. I would pen down small ideas and elaborate on them, ensuring that I have fully explored every part of my idea within the time limit.

I love buying numerous notebooks and I even write on a number of them at the same time despite all of them still having a lot of blank spaces. I simply just love to write and can't find any other avenue I love more than writing. It just feels so therapeutic to write down my own feelings and thoughts on a piece of paper or publish them on my blog. Sometimes, I would look back at my entries to see whether my thoughts and interests have changed since then.

SO yeah, I think I kick serious ass in doing meticulous writing :)

Anyway, this is my second last day of the 30 Day Writing Challenge I am participating in and I can't believe I have been quite committed doing this so far! *pats myself on the back*

Day #28: Write about an area in your life that you'd like to improve (30 Day Writing Challenge)

I tend to focus on my weaknesses much more than my own strengths. I always keep in mind that I have a lot of room for improvement and I also remind myself that I should not get complacent. Of course, it's important to enjoy triumphs in life but at the same time, I cannot get too carried away.

Anyway, that aside, an area in my life that I'd like to improve is definitely my lack of motivation and productivity. Whenever I am outside or in the shower, ideas would naturally come to my mind and I feel eager to pen them down lest I forget it. I also get suddenly inspired to work on my school assignments. But every time I'm at the comfort on my own bed, everything - my motivation and urgency to complete my assignments - all gets thrown out of the window. Coupled with Iphone addiction, I obviously have to raise my productivity levels.

I have suggestions, among them are constantly reminding myself that I have piles of work to do and to think of consequences if I procrastinate. Time is something that is precious but we easily take it for granted. And reality is not always going to be constant. Anything bad may happen or any incident could surface and disrupt life so we all have to act quickly and get our work done.

But it's easier said than done of course. Old habits die hard. So I must try my best not to get dampened when I fail to reach my daily personal targets and always remain optimistic to work hard!

Day #27: A Book You Love (30 Day Writing Challenge)

To start off, I love to read books and fanfictions. Now, I tend to read more fanfics than books haha. I guess what pulls me more towards fanfics is that I already knew the characters featured beforehand and the sense of familiarity allows me to relate to them better and easier, even if the story is set in an AU.

Still, I read some books from time to time. The book that I just love the most is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I first heard of the book after reading a Big Time Rush fanfiction (you guessed it haha) which is based on a book storyline and I was so intrigued by the storyline that I felt inclined to read the original book.

Personally, I feel that the storyline is just so unique. It's just fascinating to see how the author piece all the events that led up to the main character (Hannah) deciding to commit suicide. Even though she was already dead when the story starts, she somehow felt alive through the casette tapes. And I really like the overall message of the book and the way it ended. Listening all of the casette tapes, Clay (the only good person in Hannah's list) was deeply affected and started to regret not approaching Hannah and consoling her if he had just persisted. So Clay noticed that a person he knew was showing the same symptoms as Hannah and approached her before she did anything.

I love the book a lot. I've re-read it at least thrice now.

Day #26: Post 30 facts about yourself (30 Day Writing Challenge)

This will be an easy prompt to complete. At first, I considered on avoiding this prompt altogether because I am not keen on revealing personal information about myself but then as I thought more about it, I can keep the facts to be general and vague.

So here are 30 facts about myself:

1) My favourite colour is green.
2) I'm not a spontaneous person. I prefer to plan ahead and consider scenarios that may end badly.
3) I used to wake up early just to watch morning cartoons during the weekends.
4) I bring a lot of stationery to school.
5) I dislike being in the limelight.
6) I often get self-conscious cos I get afraid of being judged.
7) I look past things like heights and body sizes when I form a first impression on anyone.
8) I can never concentrate fully in class.
9) I like to daydream.
10) I get embarrassed whenever I reminisce the memories of me doing something stupid.
11) My favourite animal is the penguin.
12) I want to own a hamster.
13) I am weird.
14) I used to be mocked for watching anime and cartoons.
15) I still watch cartoons.
16) I can't tear myself from reading comments despite being affected by them before.
17) I wished I was more frank when I was younger.
18) I wished I stood up for myself when I was made fun of when I was younger.
19) My favourite genre is mystery and thriller.
20) I love whodunnit stories and storylines.
21) My first anime is Shaman King.
22) I tend to gravitate towards characters and celebrities who are usually seen as underrated. It's a trend.
23) I first discovered fanfiction in 2006.
24) The first fanfiction I read is from Naruto.
25) I was obsessed with Naruto back then.
26) I used to look down on Kpop.
27) Now I'm really deep into Kpop scene and even writing fanfics about them.
28) My first fanfiction was about Duel Masters but I had already deleted it cos it's so embarrassingly bad.
29) My first fandom was Big Time Rush.
30) My ideal type of guys are the manly ones.

Now thinking about it, 30 facts are quite a lot lol. And I guess I did self-disclose some harmless personal information unintentionally.

Day #25: Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you (30 Day Writing Challenge)

To make things clear from the get-go, I'm not overly-concerned about horoscopes. I don't believe that horoscopes shape our personalities and behaviours. Anything that is similar between the horoscope readings and what happened in reality are just pure coincidences.

I'm a Scorpio. I'm not sure what is commonly said about people who are Scorpios but I guess most people say they are introverts? If I'm not wrong. I'm definitely an introvert  My energy gets depleted really quickly whenever I socialize so I require time to recharge my 'batteries'. So you could say I was relieved that there are plenty of introverts in this world when I started using more of the Internet.

Day #24: List five places you want to visit (30 Day Writing Challenge)

One of my dreams is to travel to many countries in the world. It is tempting to broaden my horizons and witness with my own two eyes the surroundings of foreign countries. I am able to see other people's experiences navigating around certain countries in The Amazing Race series. It would be really cool. So these are the five places I want to visit:

-Seoul: This one is simple to explain. I love Korean Pop music so I would love visit Seoul, the capital of South Korea, where the heart of Kpop resides in (I believe so). I've also heard a number of good things about Seoul like how high quality the make-up materials are and the wide variety of clothes in affordable prices most shops sell.

-Bhutan: I hear that Bhutan is the happiest country in the world, so I would love an opportunity to immerse myself in their culture. I like how the country has no traffic lights and depend on the traffic police to facilitate the heavy traffic. It's truly fascinating.

-Finland: This is the country where the education system is extremely helpful and accommodating to its students. It would be great if I could try studying there for a few months to get a taste of how they teach their students.

-France: Come on, who wouldn't want to see the Eiffel Tower standing in all of its glory with their own eyes? Because I certainly would. And I've also heard how breathing the air in France automatically makes you feel like an artist with an endless amount of muse!

-Japan: Anime and mangas are known as my first loves. I've always wanted to visit Japan to taste their food and just explore the place. It would be sweet to see cherry blossoms falling so prettily with my own two eyes.

Day #23: Discuss your first love (30 Day Writing Challenge)

From the first time I laid my eyes on it, I had a strong longing towards it. I just felt that I should have it. I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to attain it. Of course, no foul play should be involved. Well, in the case there was, it would be obvious to conceal it.

I usually do not become so attached to anything or anyone so easily but this...this just totally won my heart. I had always wondered where this all had escaped my sight and knowledge. Why hadn't anyone told me about this before? Maybe it was fate...that I would find this on my own efforts, not through hear-says.

Still, I must totally get this. It had became my life's goal to pursue this gem and attain it.

I would eventually do. My first love...the scooter.

-

Truthfully, when I started writing this out, I had no idea what I was talking about so I hurriedly tried to think of anything that made me happy when I was younger. And I eventually came to a decision. :)

Day #22: Put your music on shuffle and post the first ten songs (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Okay, I admit I'm feeling really tired and sleepy right now. I still have a piece of homework that I have not done yet and funnily enough, that's the only homework I have for the entire week. On the other hand, I have like 4 piece of assignments due next week on top of my own personal goals and targets. I really need to fix my priority and motivation level cos my attitude towards homework is worsening OTL. So I intentionally chose a prompt that is super easy that I could do it with little effort. I don't know but I'm also feeling less motivated towards my writing challenge and it's only less than 10 days left lol. I really need to slap myself to reality awake. I think as I'm nearing the end of semester, I'm becoming less alive as time goes by lol.

1) Clarity (feat. Foxes) by Zedd

I first heard this song from Glee and then I kept hearing this song repeatedly from TV commercials that I just have to download it. I've never watched the official music video before, if this song had one. So I never knew how the actual artists look like. Maybe except for Zedd but I am 95% sure Zedd is a man cos when Zedd came to my country, MTV kept replaying commercials featuring this news and they showed Zedd and played this song so I assumed that's Zedd lol. But most of the song, it seems to be sung by a female singer so I'm really not sure...and I'm not inclined to find out. At least. Not yet.

2) Complication by Rookiez is Punk'd

This is known as the first opening song for the anime Durarara!! And yes the actual title has exclamation points in it. I used to love the heck of this anime. I watched it while it was still airing back then before it exploded in popularity. My favourite character was Shizuo cos he's strong and don't-give-a-damn kind of anime characters I'm naturally drawn towards. I was also in love with the opening cos it's using its own unique style of introducing all of the characters, with their full names attached.

3) Big Time Rush by Big Time Rush

As much as I don't want to admit it, I was actually really really REALLY obsessed with Big Time Rush back then. It was the first fandom that I entered where I heavily relied on Tumblr and a fan website for the current news. That time was so crazy. I listened to all of their songs like there was no tomorrow and I even flaunted my obsession towards my classmates and friends. I felt like face-palming my face right now haha. The hilarious thing is that the song never actually say its title throughout the song. lol. My favourite member was Carlos and he's already married now. I thought he was the best singer in the band and always ranted about his lack of lines, even in his own self-composed song, 'Incredible'. Of course, years later, I learnt that what I had done is a case of 'defending your faves'. lol

4) My Dark Side (Glee Ver.) by Darren Criss

This song was played during that Superhero episode. The Glee Club in McKinley High had their trophy stolen from the Warblers in Dalton High. Blaine went back to his former school to confront them. They tried to bring him back to the school and they burst into an impromptu song and dance number. It was funny but I really like Grant Gustin in the scene.

5) Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings

This is just one of those songs that was popular and played numerous times in the radio and in my friends' handphones. I still think the title should have been 'Run Baby Run'. haha.

6) Jangan Berubah by Taufik Batisah

In case you're wondering, this title is actually in Malay and the entire song is sung in Malay by the flawless singer Taufik Batisah. He's a popular local singer in my country. I personally think he's talented. He even composes and writes his own songs.

7) Just Right by GOT7

This song was good and fun to hear with the music video. OMG JACKSON AND WHIPPED CREAM I really can't watch that scene with a straight face. haha.

8) Heaven by Ailee

The funny thing is that I first heard this song in a fanvideo lol. I usually don't watch fan videos unless I recognize the song and artist but I made an exception for this particular fan video. It's a beautiful song and full of feels. I didn't expect it to be sung by Ailee.

9) Live While You're Young (Glee Ver.) by Grant Gustin

I don't like One Direction but I love hearing covers of their songs. I think Grant Gustin sang this song with great vigor and I really love their performance.

10) Lips of an Angel by Hinder
I haven't listened to this song in a long time. I love how honest the lyrics are and this is back when mainstream music was actually good. Such raw emotions but at the same time, not totally unrestrained and various musical instruments are used. This song just brings me back to those days.

Of course, I wanted to fulfill the prompt by just listing down all the songs but of course that would be the LAZY thing to do so I inserted a statement or two. That way, it does not seem that I am cutting corners.

Day #21: Five ways to win your heart (30 Day Writing Challenge)

I'm not kidding. This is a legitimate prompt from the writing challenge I am referring to. haha. Truthfully, I have intentionally tried to avoid this prompt because I don't really like to write about things that are related to love or romantic feelings. I actually don't know why actually. I just don't like lol. But then, as I am approaching the end of my writing challenge (9 more days!), I guess I eventually realize that I won't always be able to write within my comfort zone so I thought maybe I could use a challenging topic to write about.

Buuuttt, now that I'm thinking about it, this prompt may not actually be related to 'winning my heart so that I would fall in love with you' kind of prompt. Haha ^^;

SO, guess I would still be writing within my comfort zone after all!

I guess the very first way to win my heart is a great command of the English language, be it the written or spoken form. I am always constantly seeking to improve my English so I tend to gravitate towards the well-written stories and the incredibly eloquent English speakers. I keep getting comments that my vocabulary are too profound for them so I really scratch my head whenever they say that. I thought some of the words and phrases I use are pretty standard in nature. haha.

The second way would be, I guess, a kind and genuine smile. Life can be incredibly hectic nowadays. As you grow older, you get swamped with responsibilities, be it whether from life, work or school. So it's always great to see someone with an unrestrained smile to uplift your mood :)

The next one would be for a person to be well-informed of current affairs and an interest in history in general. It's always great to talk with someone who knows a lot about past and current events, and even have some opinions regarding those matters. I get to learn something I've never heard of before so in a way, this has become an avenue to learn something new and gain knowledge.

Humility and modesty would be the fourth way to win my heart. Sometimes, I wonder why it's so hard for some celebrities to stay grounded. It's like once they get praised more frequently, they let it all rush to their head and get complacent and arrogant as a result. I find it sickening. So, it always put a smile on my face when I see people behave with such modesty and humility.

The last one...hmmm...I am thinking...maybe delicious food and ice cream? XD Especially when I receive them for free. Haha.

Day #20: Write about someone who inspires you (30 Day Writing Challenge)

About what I think about myself, I think I lack a lot of things, like a lack of personal talents and a lack of a good attitude and mannerism. When I am walking alone and I happened to be behind a person who was walking as slow as a snail, I would reflectively roll my eyes. The action happens naturally. I probably do that because in my mind, I have to amuse myself about the situation but to other people's POV, they may view me as rude and impatient. Obviously they can't tell that that small action meant nothing. 

Whenever I look at the people around me, I think that they are much better than me, in terms of accomplishments, talents and attitudes. At the same time, they are merely strangers to me and even after numerous conversations, I would still not know them inside and out. Maybe they were only projecting themselves as the way they want others to view them. I've known some people for years. I consider myself close with them and vice versa. Still, it does not mean I know everything about them. They are the same age as me after all so I guess I can't really choose someone from my age group to be inspired by. I'm not implying that they lack maturity. It's just maybe they probably have similar experiences with me because we are born in the same generation and have similar education.

SO, the person who inspires me is someone who I've known since quite young. She isn't taught formally in school like me. Actually she has no education certifications. She actually learnt her native language from the way people use around her and she built her vocabulary from there. I find that truly amazing. According to some stories, she was quite strict to her three children, giving them harsh punishments so that they would learnt their lessons. It is quite hard to believe she used to be so strict since she is now quite composed and calm. Of course, she nags from time to time but she only does that because she cares. She is an incredibly helpful person - she takes care of others really well and they feel indebted towards her when they have grown older. She has an incredibly pure heart - full of good intentions for others and without asking for conditions and rewards in return. I strive to be like her. To be so unconditionally caring and concerned for others. 

Day #19: Write About A Lesson You've Learnt The Hard Way (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Okay this one involved financial reasons. Since I procrastinate a lot and tend to be quite ignorant, I totally forgot about paying my course fees for the first semester. So I ended up having to postpone the payment after the deadline of the payment had passed. I received the withdrawal notice and actually considered that maybe being withdrawn may not be such a bad thing after all. But of course, everything turned out to be okay and I was able to make the payment, which was on the 9th week of my semester.

Back then, when I attended school when I was younger, my parents took care of all the financial matters and everything for that matter. I had no idea how my school fees were paid; I just knew my parents handled it all. Now it dawned on me that I have to take charge now instead of relying on my parents. Of course, I only paid attention to the course I wanted to take up and did not consider the costs. I wish I had done a better and thorough research because now financial matters are going to haunt me all my life. But I guess this may be the intended lesson. To teach me to be more frugal and make sure that I am financially stable. Having debts is not a fun thing, that's for sure.

Haiz. This is probably the first post that makes me gloomy. Talking about finances really dampens my mood haha.

Day #18: Think of any word. Search it on google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image. (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Also known as my longest ever blog post title LOL.

I'm going straight to the topic. To be quite honest, B2ST's Shadow has been endlessly playing in my mind. Actually, it's Doojoon's echo that has been filling my mind haha. So the word I'm thinking of is 'shadow' and this is the 11th image.

(Source: Google images and gunnercooke.com)

Okay so now I guess I have to write a short story or something based on this picture? Okay then...

-

The sound of water dripping echoed through my ears. I clenched my eyes tight before slowly and carefully opening them as the sound grew more deafening each passing second. My vision gradually started to stabilize and I took in my unfamiliar surroundings. It was very dark. Despite not being able to see anything, the feeling of my spine tingling told me that I was trapped and in such great danger. I gulped nervously, the process slightly painful as my throat felt completely dry. My whole body started to shake involuntarily, my hands trembling uncontrollably. I tried to stand but failed as my legs felt numb and weak that I simple fell to the ground. The ground. The tiles felt soft and clean. Even in the darkness, I could see the white tiles glowing, flaunting its spotlessness. 

Suddenly, the sound of a door being opened was heard. I instantly whipped my head upwards. I did not hear any sound of a door knob being turned or the sound of a key being unlocked. Nothing. Everything seemed to be happening abruptly and I was given no time to prepare myself mentally. I simply watched helplessly as the door was opened fully and bright light blinded my vision. As a reflex, I covered my eyes partially with my hands, protecting myself from the bright light but not completely blocking my view from the new presence in the room. 

A long shadow appeared and my eyes dared to gaze upwards. My eyes widened as I saw a silhouette of a tall man with broad shoulders and sturdy frame. 

"You....you are..." I weakly uttered, my hands reaching up towards the figure. The unknown man did not react and simply watched as I gradually fade into unconsciousness yet again, oblivious and terrified to my upcoming fate. 

-

I felt that it sucks but I tried my best to make the story sound ominous. So yeah, I thought it's not a bad effort but it could be better.  

Day #17: A letter to someone, anyone (30 Day Writing Challenge)

To my darling KN...

When I first met you, I did not expect us to become such great friends and to grow so close in such a short time. At first, I thought you would just be one of my acquaintances whom I just don't get the opportunity to get close to and know more about. I am glad that you did not end up to become like. You've become one of my closest friends to the point where I always think of you first when I hear the word 'friends'. You are such an amazing and great and an irreplaceable friend. Like the Beyonce song :)

You light up my darkest days and you are always there for me whether it is during my happy or sad or angry times. You understand me mostly. Even when you don't, you try your best to understand me. You make everything less awkward with your presence alone and you just have that natural ability to lighten a mood or atmosphere. I really envy that.

I am so blessed to know someone as amazing as you in my life. You and I have similar interests but of course, you are much more knowledgeable and experienced than me. I wish you were my sister so bad.

You may changed and became more serious as time passes by as your life burdens have grown heavier. But knowing you, you'd definitely be able to trump all your life obstacles. I believe in you.

A kind and beautiful girl like you deserves the best in life.

Thank you for being my best friend and tolerating all my weirdness haha

From your dearest friend, your other half...Midori

Day #16: List 10 Songs That You're Loving Right Now (30 Day Writing Challenge)

In terms of music, I listen to all kinds of music. Okay let me rephrase that. I try to be open-minded to all kinds of music. The reason why I said that is cos I listen to songs of different languages, including those that I don't understand. The alien languages include Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Hindu.

Back then, when I was younger, I was very into anime. I was very into drawing as a result and would concoct my own stories with storylines that are akin to the anime that I watched. Then I would visualize how the opening and ending themes of my original anime would play out in my mind. I was very fascinated by anime back then. I could care less that I was ridiculed because of that. I had a hobby and it makes me happy. I'm not harming anyone and it's not anybody's business so who are others to condemn my hobby?

That aside, that mini-anecdote is meant to imply that I listened to plenty of Japanese songs back then, mainly those I knew from the anime that I had watched. Unfortunately, now I have sort of outgrew anime and manga so I hardly listen to any Jap songs. The good news is that I have been listening to a lot of Korean songs after getting into the Kpop craze. It's funny how I started listening to Korean songs after listening to a BigBang song 'Blue' from my friend's phone. It all just propelled from there. It's so amazing just by thinking about it.

Anyway, fast forward to now, I have a number of songs that I'm currently in love with right now. In no particular order (again ^^;), here they are:

1. Good Luck by B2ST

2. Shadow by B2ST

3. We Up by B2ST

4. 12:30 by B2ST

5. Sherlock by SHINee

6. View by SHINee

7. Everybody by SHINee

8. Crazy by Jonghyun ft. Iron

9. Beautiful Liar by VIXX LR (Leo and Ravi)

As you can obviously tell, I am currently in a B2ST and SHINee mood. Well they have really great and memorable songs that I can't help but be addicted. So I present you #10 which is totally in English :)

10. A Thousand Years (cover by Melissa Benoist and Jacob Artist from Glee)

This is a really great cover in the form of duet. The emotions flow really well both singers. No offense to the original singer, I prefer this version. I feel like I'm drowning in an overwhelming amount of feels when I hear this duet version. I've never thought that a song can touch me so deep.

Additional mention - All Of Me (cover by Darren Criss)

A Thousand Years isn't the only cover that's better than the original in my opinion. I love the lyrics in All Of Me. The lyrics are filled with contradictions which are relatable in a relationship, as I have learnt as a communications student.

 

Day #15: Post about your three celebrity crushes (30 Day Writing Challenge)

I am at my halfway point of this challenge. I'm totally proud of myself that I have been committed and am excited that I am actually going to successfully complete this challenge!

Moving on, I couldn't remember clearly but I'm pretty sure I've had my first experience of having a celebrity crush when I was 13 years old. It was during the period when Tumblr wasn't mainstream yet so at that time, I didn't use that social media website to find glamorous pictures of my favourite celebrity and reblog them. The funny thing is that, looking back, most of my celebrity crushes were douchebags, to put it crudely. And the funnier thing is that despite whatever horrible things that they had done that made me shake my head, I still clung to them and defended their actions. It was dumb, now thinking about it. They were quite problematic but I still stan them. I was such a weird person back then. Of course, back then, I doubt the word 'stan' was a popular word usage.

Fast forward till now, fortunately, I've carefully picked the people I've chosen to stan or support. Of course, they are not without faults, but hey not every human being is perfect right? I'll only use pseudonyms cos to be honest, I'm a bit shy to gush about people I like online publicly so I would be more comfortable doing that without photos and real names attached.

In no particular order, for now, my three celebrity crushes are SI, DY and JH. I'll also not be revealing their actual ages and races. But to start, all three of them are quite close in terms of age and they are all in their late 20s. And another trivia, I was into older men back then but now I've chosen to pay more attention to the younger people because it's more relatable that way.

Also, I've only started noticing all of them in the second half of the year.

To begin, I like SI because he is a very good speaker with an impressive English vocabulary and he incorporates uncommon English words into his daily speech which I admire. Not only that, he is extremely dedicated to his craft which is acting and he's quite grounded too. The best part about him is that he is quite well-informed about current affairs and his tastes in say, movies and music are quite classy. Also, I couldn't find a dirt about him so far, so I hope he maintains that. I get shy whenever I see his pictures cos he has this intense smolder which I just want him to stop lol I do sincerely hope he'll get far in his acting in a good way.

Next is DY. So this guy - he is super handsome and gorgeous but at the time, he's super dorky and knows how to liven the atmosphere. He's also super athletic and competitive. Oh and have I mentioned that he has this sharp jawline and basically, he has really good facial features and good proportions. Total dreamboat. Literally, I could stare at his pictures for long hours cos he's just that good-looking.

Last but not least is JH. To be honest, I really like his body. He has really broad shoulders and narrow hips - which automatically gives him a sexy aura, at least in my eyes. And when he starts dancing, WOW. But, his main talent isn't dancing, it is singing and boy, this man has a really wonderful voice. He can belt out high notes really well and the thing I really admire about him is that he gives his 110% in all of his performances. Even when he's clearly exhausted, he still gave it his all.

So, I notice that the male celebrities whom I attracted to are the manly and athletic ones. The mature ones as well. There was this brief period of time where I liked this guy who's the same as me but he's so problematic that I kept wondering why I kept clinging to him. He's so damn childish and basically has a lack of respect for people and women. Thank goodness I'm no longer attracted to him.

SO anyway, these are my three celebrity crushes :) If any of them rings a bell, well...no one's going to know their actual identities anyway...other than me of course :)

Day #14: Write about something for which you feel strongly (30 Day Writing Challenge)

There are quite a number of things in the world that I am quite puzzled about. And the thing that makes me the most puzzled and confused is human behaviours. Obviously, all human beings are different from each other. We all came from different places in the world and are brought up differently so we give different reactions to the same situations. And the thing I just don't get is why is it so difficult so display a simple act of kindness. I'm not talking about elaborate kind acts like helping a stranger to carry his or her heavy bags up a flight of stairs. I'm talking about the simple ones like simply pressing the lift door open. Of course, those are not the only examples.

Back when I was young, I read a number of books and it included reading about doing acts of kindness. Being a naive and simple-minded child, I thought that was the standard and that everyone was doing those acts. However, reality is much more different. Not everyone is all smiles and help willingly in real life. And that's just sad.

When I saw a person dropped his or her books on the floor, it is saddening to see nobody helping that person out. Even when the place is crowded with people. And now I suddenly remembered about 'diffusion of responsibility', which essentially means the more crowded it is, people become less responsible because they think have less accountability. This simply means if there is someone in distress, people around are less likely to help because they expect others to help that someone. But in a way, I could understand why some people are reluctant to help in such situations. Sometimes, we have good intentions when helping people but we are not always met favourably so it is quite a killjoy when we help someone in need of help and they brush off our help like it was unneeded.

Still, the world would be a nicer place if more people voluntarily help one another without asking for rewards in return.

Day #13: What are your goals for the next 30 days? (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Obviously, there are lots of things that I have and want to do. However, I tend to procrastinate by excessively using my phone. I am still terrifyingly addicted to my Iphone and still have not learnt my lesson yet. The time I wasted could have been used for something more productive. But, well the damage has already been done and I admit that people procrastinate sometimes. I just have to try to consciously have control over my actions and stop doing things that I don't like and should be avoiding.

That aside, to reiterate, I have many goals for the next 30 days but taking my busy schedule due to my university commitment and social life, I have to make realistic goals and limit them.

So here they are:

-First and foremost, I am going to be productive and work on my assignments as soon as I can. I can improve on this by not underestimating the time that needs to be spent on assignments and tests and exams preparations.

- I am going to do extensive research on my research paper and work on its draft. Since this is going to hold a high percentage of my module, I have to put in a lot of effort and take it seriously.

-I am going to finish reading at least 3 books in 30 days. Hopefully I can do that. It's so simple so I better work towards it and not underestimate it! And I have to keep in mind that I have set myself a 2015 reading challenge. My aim is 20 books and I have read 3 books so far.

-I an going to update my story that has been dormant since August this year. After updating at least 2 chapters, I am going to write drafts for the entire story in 30 days.

Can I achieve these goals? I am going to pray hard and believe and keep repeating these goals to my mind countless times till I remember it.

Day #12: Post your favourite movies that you never get tired of watching (30 Day Writing Challenge)

If you want to know anything about me, I love watching movies. Since young, I love to watch movies. Back when technology was less advanced and when Blu-rays have not existed yet, I depend on the local broadcasting stations to watch movies and I would diligently look at the tv guides every day to know what movies would be airing. On public holidays, since most people would not be working or go to school and would most likely be at home, there would be at least two movies being shown on those days. It was either watching movies on TV or buying CDs and DVDs to watch them. I used to be a huge fan of DVDs since DVDs would have those extra features and English subtitles. I can understand English, obviously since I have written quite a number of posts as evident from this blog. But, I tend to not capture what was spoken really well so I have to rely on subtitles to understand the dialogue being exchanged. Also, English subtitles also show how certain names are supposed to be spelt.

Okay, it seems as if I have been droning on and on and I guess I have to get straight to the point...but to me, such posts would be boring without some background story right? Haha anyway, I would not call myself a movie buff but I do watch a lot of movies. Enough to have a few personal favourites that I watch repeatedly from time to time and would never get bored of them.

In no particular order, here there are:

1. Enchanted

Enchanted is about a singing girl (Giselle) who is in search of her prince charming (Edward) and she actually founds him immediately after singing about him. On the way to her wedding, she is forcefully sent to the real world: New York City, where no happy endings exist (according to the witch). There, she meets a lawyer (Robert) and his daughter (Morgan) who takes her in. At first, Robert doesn't like Giselle because he finds her weird and overly optimistic. Soon, they start falling for each other and eventually they get a happy ending (since it's a Disney movie). 

This movie is definitely one of a kind. I mean, there is not many movies that have this crossover of real world and cartoon world with an enjoyable storyline and well-acted characters. The music from the movie is really nice to listen to and the dance numbers are really elaborate fun to watch. This movie introduced me to Amy Adams and Idina Menzel - both such great actresses who display great performances in this movie. I know Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden prior to movie. At that time, I only know Patrick Dempsey was from Grey's Anatomy but had never seen him act before while James Marsden was Cyclops from X-Men, a super serious guy so it was funny to see play the gullible and charming Prince Edward.

2. The Blind Side

Based on a true story, this movie is about an African-American boy named Michael Oher who regularly switches his foster families because he had never felt attached to any of them. No one believed in him enough so he was always looked down upon. One night, a caring woman named Miss Tuohy took him in and raised Michael like her own son. She believed in Michael a whole lot and he was soon able to play football professionally. 

I really love this movie because it shows how a little bit of trust and plenty of concern would change people's lives, both to the person receiving it and giving it. And the results are amazing. This movie shows how kind acts manages to successfully turn a person's life around for the better. It shows that there are indeed people with generous hearts in this world and it is incredibly heartwarming to see these kind behaviours being displayed.

3. Toy Story 3

Toy Story 2 is the first ever animated film that I have ever watched and it was my all-time favourite until Toy Story 3 came along. I still TS 2 of course but I believe the storyline in TS3 is much more interesting and more well-executed. TS3 continues to show Andy's toys still being in Andy's room even when the latter is going to college soon. Simply put, Andy has outgrown playing with toys so he left them all in a huge box while selling off or throwing away his old toys. Woody believes that Andy holds them all in high regard as Andy held on to him through all spring-cleaning and garage sales. Through some misunderstanding, Buzz and the others believed that Andy was going to throw them away so they escaped from the trash bag that confined them and went to Sunnyside (a childcare centre). But it turns out the place was a nightmare and soon, with much difficulty, they were all able to bring Woody back to Andy before he leaves for college.

This movie is really great and I really love the sequence of events that was being played out. They transit smoothly from one scene to another. Another thing that I have to commend is the three-dimensional villain. As such, I like this movie for the fact that it does not talk down to its audience, even when the demographic is mostly children. The prison break scene is my the greatest highlight of the movie for me. Spanish Buzz was random but I guess they had to make Buzz interesting.

4. Little Miss Sunshine

Last but not least, Little Miss Sunshine is about a dysfunctional family who goes on a 800-mile road trip from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Redondo Beach, California in order for Olive, the youngest member in the family to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. 

I love this movie because the movie is so heartwarming. It is such a great story where a dysfunctional family whose ties were so bad with each other discovers that they need each other during this trip. Aside from Olive, each of them had their own problems but in the end, they were there for each other at every step of the way. I think the greatest idea is having the family bus broken because it becomes a symbol for all of them to gather and work together in order to get the bus moving. 

All the movies I have mentioned I recommend. 

All images belong to their respective owners. I got them from google images to put it simply.

Day #11: Something you always think "What if..." about. (30 Day Writing Challenge)

Whenever I have time to think deeply, I would either think of what happened in the past or have my personal thoughts in general. The latter would often consist of my opinions on shows, people and issues. At times, I have a sudden burst of ideas about a story plot! I particularly love it when that happens because I could not wait to turn those thoughts into written form.

That aside, whenever I think about what happened in that past, for some situations, I thought of why I did not react a certain way and thought 'what if...I had reacted differently?' and to that question, 'would that have changed anything?'. I am a person who zones out, even when talking with other people. I have a hard time giving my undivided attention all the time so I only do so in situations where I have to be absolutely focused. Even so, I am an introvert so I have a limited time on how much time I am able to socialize before my battery eventually runs out and I have to recharge. So there are times where I wondered if I had been fully attentive back then, I would have been able made a better quip and shut the other person up. You see, there are times in the past where people uttered some incriminating comments towards me that I did not accept but I just tolerated because I did not want to escalate the issue and also could not come up with a smart comeback on time.

So, as a result, these particular memories would come rushing back to me from time to time and made me wish that I had snapped back at those people. That wish would grow so intense and strong that I automatically frown and even forgot about the music that I was listening to at that time, if I was listening at that time of reminiscing. But thinking about it, maybe giving some sort of comeback at them would indeed satisfy me, obviously the other party would not be feeling too happy about being sassed at and consequently, they would start blacklisting me and badmouthing me every time they got. And those situations happened when I was currently studying in school so I could not risk such saying such sassy comments without suffering some consequences like having people rolling their eyes at me and spreading slander about me. It would be a childish thing for them to do but it would become troublesome and irritating to me as time lets on. So, in a way, I'm glad that I didn't lose my composure but at the same time, I still wondered what would be the consequence if I had stood up for myself.

Day #10: Post five things that you make you laugh-out-loud (30 Day Writing Challenge)

One thing about me - I laugh easily. From the right jokes of course. On top of my head, I can't readily name all of the things that made me laugh. I would obviously miss out on some of the most epic jokes known to mankind. So, here are the funny things that made me laugh out loud recently :)

In no particular order...

1. SHINee Hug from Oppas

It's just hilarious how the little girls hugged Onew, Taemin and Jonghyun in that order, leaving poor Minho alone. One would think Minho would get hugged first since he's the visual of the group, so he's supposed to be the most eye-catching person to anyone new to the group. Then the next girl was asked to hug her favourite oppa and she went to hug Onew! Shocked by the girl's choice, Minho was left frozen and when he was shook by the other guys, it seemed as if his soul left his body (funniest part). Finally, the last girl hugged Minho and the latter carried her and spun her around multiple times. It did seem as if Minho was more excited about the hug than the girl herself. LOL.

2. Troublemaker ft. Doojoon

This is one of my personal favourites. I've recently become a fan of B2ST and Doojoon is quick to cement himself as my bias from that group. And here, he's presenting as someone who's totally enthusiastic about performing the Troublemaker song, more so than the actual performers themselves. At the start, when Doojoon was shaking his hips in sync with the beat, that was hilarious and sexy at the same time. Doojoon really brought a lot of laughs from his impromptu Troublemaker 'cover' of his. 

3. NTU lecturer feedback

This is a classic. As an undergraduate now, I can totally relate to the environment in universities and classrooms. What more the life of an undergraduate with lengthy lectures and tests and examinations to intensively study for. And the most relatable one is having lecturers or professors with a very distinct sense of humour and quirky nature. Of course, it is the smartass students who help bring up this entertaining personalities of our lecturers and professors :) But the lecturers' and professors' reactions - those are the epic ones that bring out the loud laughs! :)

4. One of Ramsay's funny moments during Masterchef US

Chef Gordon Ramsay has a reputation of being frank and crude with his comments. As in he seriously has no filter and does not mince his words. Usually. Until he met a contestant who presented a meal that is one of his personal favourites as it reminds him of home. So I just find it funny that Gordon actually went for more of the sausage roll because it tasted so delicious and fulfilling. Kudos to the contestant for bringing out this side of Gordon. :)

And just any Honest Trailer, really. But I think the funniest Honest Trailer is this one...

5. Honest Trailer: The Walking Dead

Honest Trailers can be so on point, really. And the one for TWD is no different. Having watched TWD until its 4th season, I was able to catch on on all the references presented in the trailer and had such a good laugh out of it too! The funniest part of the trailer is the 'Starring..' part because some of the things pointed out were things I believe only the most attentive person would pick up on themselves.