Lullaby

For the past 3 afternoons, I had to tolerate what sounded like a stubborn cat howling noisily for hours. Then, yesterday, I found out that it was in fact my neighbour's new born child who had been crying.


Well, whether it is a cat or a baby. It does not make any difference. My afternoon nap was being ruined!


So this afternoon, I took 'preventive' measures to avoid the 'noise pollution'.


Guess what I did?


I actually played classical music using the computer and slept with it on. And it works!


Now, the likes of Chopin, Schumann and Tchaikovsky are on my playlist and their pieces really help in drowning out the baby's cries. And I get to sleep soundly again.


To everyone who thinks that the classical music I listen to must be very boring if I actually can fall asleep, it's not! In fact, classical pieces from the romantic period are my favourites and they are in reality very soothing and calming.


Some recommendations for those of you who need quality sleep or maybe, just want to be relaxed, you can try listening to these songs:


Chopin's Waltzes, Preludes and Nocturnes
Schumann's Carnaval Opus 9
Tchaikovsky's Les Saison

Happy listening and sleeping!

On Days Like These...

I just feel like curling up into a ball and go into a deep deep sleep and not be bothered by random phone calls from people at odd hours.

Today was another one of those days where it just rained incessantly. Rainy days like these make me do things I hardly do for enjoyment (think add. math and mandarin) but then again, the cool weather just simply makes me tolerable even of the driest subjects (accounts) and thus the rain is good.


Okay, ignore that whole paragraph of crap above. My brain's not functioning now thanks to the lovely sound of the raindrops pattering on my window. I think I'll take a break for now and have a rare blissful moment of just enjoying the rain (while it lasts).

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. Ashley Smith

World Cup Mania

I have yet to be bitten by the World Cup bug at this particular moment.

I watched 10 minutes of a football match yesterday night. It was between Argentina and Nigeria.

It was kinda disappointing, to tell you the truth. I had been channel-surfing and finally decided to watch a match just for the sake of watching something. By the time I started watching, it was already 20 minutes into the game and Argentina had scored a goal.

5 minutes later, after getting lost in the sea of blue and green players, I gave up. Not only was it boring, there were also too many missed opportunities, especially for the Argentinian team. They failed to score when they should have. Okay, I know I risk angering all you football fans out there when I don't even know what I'm talking about. So I shall stop with my comments about this particular game.

Then, I started people watching. Unfortunately, the both teams did not have any eye candy, and I gave up watching after 10 minutes.

Err...never mind.

I started 'following' the World Cup in 2002. That was the first World Cup I actually took an interest in. At that time, being young and impressionable, I supported the top teams such as Brazil and England. I know, some of you will probably say that I'm being bimbotic and everything for supporting a team like England, but hey, I was only 8 at that time. I wouldn't have known better. I remember being all excited over players such as David Beckham and Michael Owen. And that year was also the first (and last) time I ever made a bet about football. I bet against my father that Brazil would win the finals against Germany. In the event that I won, we would eat at a restaurant of my choice. If I lost, oh well, we would still have to eat somewhere anyway. It was also the first time I watched 2 hours of football just to make sure that 'my team' won. To cut a long story short, Brazil won the match and I got to eat at a fancy Indian restaurant. And also had the opportunity to gloat that I 'correctly predicted' the winner and won my first bet. I know this sounds really lame, but 8 years ago, that was an exciting event in my life.

Fast forward another 4 years on to the next World Cup. I was rather upset with Brazil and England as neither teams made it through to the finals. But then, I was wiser, I didn't really support both teams even in the initial stages. Instead, I made it a point to support the underdogs (or more like obscure countries with funny names) such as Trinidad & Tobago and Ivory Coast. Of course, they never really made an impact, but I wasn't really that interested in this particular World Cup as I had other things to worry about (think UPSR). The finals was disappointing, Italy against France. I didn't even watch the finals as I felt those 2 teams weren't worth my time.

This year, I'll be supporting the underdogs again. On my list is the North Korea team! Never mind about what happens in politics. This is football and sports is one of the few things that actually unite people. According to the newspapers, North Korea has a team which has strong stamina but lacking in skill. Also, they are determined to win for the glory of their leader and country. Well, determination will get you somewhere, so I really do hope that they create an upset and kick out of the top ranked teams. Another team that I'm rooting for is the South Africa team as they are the host country. It'll be really cool if they make it far too.

There you have it, my (somewhat amateurish) take on football.

Of course, when all these teams fail me, I can always go back to another 'side' of football. WAG watching!

Waka Waka!

The Karate Kid

I just watched The Karate Kid in Queensbay Mall and enjoyed myself tremendously. A must watch movie for the holidays.


This movie is about a boy, Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) who moves to Beijing. After being bullied by Cheng (who is my favourite Chinese boy is the show!) he learns Kungfu from Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Dre falls in love with a Chinese girl Mei Ying who is apparently a violin prodigee. Dre joins the local Kungfu competition and beats Cheng.


It's really hilarious, especially when Dre speaks Mandarin with an accent. I also appreciated the efforts of the production team to make the scenes in China as genuine as possible, by including the local culture in it. The music in the movie is diverse too, with the latest hip-hop songs and also a beautiful classical song played by Mei Ying on the violin. If any of you know the title of the song, please do let me know. It's so sad and beautiful at the same time.


My verdict?


Watch the show. You won't regret it.

Love at First Sight?

It was a Sunday morning when I first saw him. I had only caught a glimpse of him, but in a single glance, I knew that he was the one. He caught me staring and glared angrily at me. I immediately dropped my gaze. However, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that he was still observing me. What does he see in me? I wondered. Nevertheless, I pretended to continue scanning through the paperback novel that I had been reading. After a few minutes, I could not take the suspense any longer. I stole a peek at him again. He was still looking at me. I ignored him and returned to my book. Suddenly, I heard a deep voice asking, "I see that you are reading a book. But why is your book upside down?" Cheeks red, ears tingling and heart pounding, I turned to my right slowly with a small smile playing on my lips.


Note: This was a combined effort of an English essay between my classmate and I. She supplied the ideas while I merely put them into words.