Rain

Today I missed my bus going home from QvB station. Seeing that it would take another twenty minutes I decided to walk home. I'm glad I did. Something about walking in the rain (with an umbrella of course) feels nice, even a bit soothing. It's also a time where I can think about things, let my mind wander, that kind of jazz.

Actually have no idea why I'm writing this, just felt like sharing my simple experience of walking in the rain. Got an exam tomorrow, I'm confident, but it's a fool's confidence, as I haven't really gone through the lectures properly and my study has been solely on last years paper.

What's happenin?

Currently enjoying B1A4's new song, which like almost all the new songs out seem like a bunch of random songs in one. First time I heard something like that was B.A.P's No Mercy. Yeah was I the only one who found the huge contrast in the parts of songs weird? Anyways Jaye was going to do B1A4's song so I decided I could spend a few hours heading over and checking it out. In a turn of events I ended up teaching which I did not expect doing, especially since I haven't taught in ages. And I haven't even learnt it enough to teach. Luckily I had 15 minutes to learn it properly.

Had three students, one of which was a total new person. They seemed to cope well, I mean I wasn't prepared mentally and knowledgeably but I did the best I could. Luckily the dance wasn't too hard, I ended up teaching the entire song, though only 2/3 students found it easy. Which makes me wonder how I should help the other person, do I slow the entire class down for the one person at the expense of the others? Or is it a balance thing?

I've learned a lot from Alan not just in popping but in dance and teaching. I kinda wanted to try out some teaching methods like some kind of experiment but yeah I was rushed, didn't even get to stretch the class so it felt weird if I tried to do so. Maybe next time, whenever that is haha.

On the uni side, I have another quiz to do on Friday, hopefully I'll be ready by then. Going to hit the library every day after class, including Wednesday which sucks but I have to make that sacrifice now. Anyways Friday would be more fun anyway, probably. If only I didn't have to deal with 3 labs before that quiz. Luckily Ling let me use his excel template so I didn't have to do any prework. Now I have to deal with Physical Chem and Physiology lab. I hope PHSL doesn't pull another random quiz which I totally failed last time.

I noticed I used the word lucky in this post a lot. Which makes me think of how lucky I am to have friends I can count on and etc. But there's the back in my head thing of doubting that I deserve it all. I feel so weak these days, I just want to break out of it.

So out of it

1:45AM now, I should be working on my lab reports due on Monday but I'm so out of it. I have to complete five reports and yeah that includes writing out the results and completing the questions which I am totally lazy to do right now. So far I've managed to gather them up and put them on the floor to organise. At the same time I'm converting footage from kpop summit which is taking forever and it's quite a drag. Wouldn't have this problem if we stopped using tape cameras. But yeah we all agreed not to use that anymore. I suppose that this is another pressure on me to do things but not much I can do to make things easier, this is the work that must be done. I signed up for this. Did I mention how out of it I feel? lol.

I don't know if it's that second year is harder or that I'm being more lazy, but I feel like I'm going to get lower grades than I ever got. Not that it worries me right now, I'll see how it turns out at the end of semester. But for the moment, seems like there are so many things happening right now and I can't keep up. So many problems. I just want to rest for a bit. Maybe do some exercise.

Pretty excited for Iron Man 3 though.

Up in the air

lol I just realised my most recent post was that sad one and it's been there for like ages now, how awkward. Anyways, I just finished my midsem for Analytical Chemistry which technically has no chemistry theory but a lot of maths stuff. Damn statistics, I thought I escaped you! Turns out you're involved in EVERY SINGLE experiment I do. Now that that's done I can now relax a bit for now. Lately I've been up late (latest I've been was 4am) mostly due to studying for exams as well as having to do work that is due like online quizzes and prelabs.

Luckily keeping me sane during late night studies has been Infinite's Man in Love. I find it a very nice song and it gets me pumped to do work.

Parents made green tea creme brulee. I wanted to make them myself haha but that's okay, I'll do it next time.

Popping intensive with Alan has been quite challenging, especially since I essentially have to master everything he teaches in class before the next class, and then be able to use it in freestyle... Yeah I haven't really set time to just practice with music. Just two more weeks till the course finishes. I already miss bumper cars/late night times with the others ):

Oh sweet 30 Seconds to Mars is going to release their new MV soon, although the song has been out for a bit now. I feel like 30STM put the art in artist. They seem to do a lot of big things, and things that haven't been done before. Their most recent action? Using NASA to sent their new album into space.

my mind is shattered to many pieces. I don't know when or how this happened exactly but I no longer think with a complete mind. Thoughts go in all directions I think I might go insane. I hope time can cure me of my mind.

e.g.
I suppose the difference between you and me is that I do not fear loneliness. Sometimes I think that loneliness is all I deserve.

Cooking Time - Crème brûlée

Today I tried out my hand at making a Crème brûlée. It didn't require a sophisticated amount of ingredients so yeah this is what happened.

Ingredients

Everything was easy to obtain, except the vanilla beans. Sure I could have gotten the essence but that sounded so artificial and I managed to find some at World Square albeit a hefty price of $8 per 4 pods.

Process

Scolding the cream and added the vanilla

Whisking eggs and sugar. My arm got really sore from whisking

Once the cream was ready I mixed it with the eggs

Placed the mix into the ramekins. Hmm they were right, it does serve four

Into the oven for 40 minutes. Realised I didn't preheat the oven. Also this oven confuses me. So many modes.

Out of the oven, looking good so far. Waited for it to cool before fridging them.

Finished product

After taking them out of the fridge I decided to experiment with different sugars for the caramel. I thought brown sugar would be good but my brown sugar was way too clumpy and didn't distribute well. My parents wanted to try their sugar and it turned out okay (left) but the sugar granules were a bit too big to make a good layer. Lastly I tried the caster sugar that I cooked with. The powder texture of the sugar made caramelising much easier. Next time I'll try brown caster sugar or something.

Verdict

They tasted okay, however they didn't set! Unsure where I went wrong but it was like eating custard. It might have been the oven so next time I'll take proper care of that part. I took some notes so I'll try again next time. Also I need better utensils such as measuring cups and etc, to make it more efficient. I also didn't preheat the oven, so I wasted precious time waiting for the oven to get ready. So I'll definitely make starting the oven the first thing I do.

The Will of Fire

Not sure if people noticed but I'm phasing in a new way of formatting my blogs. I think this way readers can make skim reading and navigation even more easier. Enjoy!


Pokemon X and Y

Holy crap I haven't been impressed/excited by a Pokemon game in a long time. What stands out is the fact that there pretty much isn't any 2D sprites both in battles or free roaming. Perhaps the only thing that could kill it for me is if the new Pokemon designs were crap like the ones in Black and White. That was pretty much the reason why I never opted for it. The starters look decent but not awesome. I actually have no idea who to start with, since they all look like viable choices (including grass muahaha). I'll probably cheat and see what they look like when they're fully evolved. However what caught my eye was the legendary Pokemon Yveltal (ee-vel-tall) which looks totally awesome. I like it much better than the other one Xerneas which looks like a deer. I'll definitely get Y version assuming that's where I can catch it. Here's the original artwork of the two.

Now that I think about it, it looks like a cross between Lugia and Groudon, my favourite legendaries in their respective versions.

Are those swords for feet?

Also here's my favourite fan artwork so far.

if the starters actually looked like this, I'd go for the water type.

Wednesday happenings

We were supposed to take class but we ended up discussing what songs we should do for the upcoming shows which is also good, hopefully we have time to make it look good by then. Song choices were set, I like them and I hope others like them too. Also tried watermelon Gatorade today. It didn't really taste like watermelon nor Gatorade. I swear it's like Mizone. Afterwards was dinner at Eating World. I don't think I/we have eaten there in a long time. It also feels like a long time since everyone (well everyone as it can get) were all together to have said dinner. It was nice having a dinner like that again.

Three people are heading to Melbourne for a week starting tomorrow/Thursday. I wish them safe journey and an enjoyable week. The purpose of trips like this is to have fun together, hopefully by the end they'd be a little sad that their trip is over haha.

The Crossover 2, and other things

I remember distinctly, when it was almost IJGK's time to perform on stage at Wesley, there were some of the kids who did kpop were telling each other that we were about to perform and that they really wanted to see it. Our performance wasn't the best, but by then I had realised that we had become something out of the ordinary.

Looking at it, we have something others don't, and I know some who would like to have something like we do. Kinda like how I would like to have peeps to mess around with videomaking with me. Not really that big of an epiphany but it does however give me new found motivation to work hard and not waste the time we have, and to do the best we can.

Recently heard about hate/criticism about us and what we do. I guess it's only fair since some of us (me included) are guilty of criticising other cover peoples who aren't great. But hopefully that's been happening less over time. If there are criticisms then good, we'll take it, and make ourselves better because of it. As for the second thing, I don't know why people would make a big deal out of it. It's not like this so called scene is going to grow bigger than theirs. People have their preferences and there should be a mutual respect for all. Real dancing or not, what happened to the freedom of doing what we love? 

Anyways rants aside, 2011 and 2012 were filled with a lot of shows, from awesome to downright random cough-chineserestaurant-cough. Regardless I've had a great time doing all of them. And I'm not afraid of what the future holds.


A quote from Naruto Shippuden

To those who posess the Will of Fire, everyone is family. It is the desire to protect which strengthens our bonds. If this will is embraced by everyone, the village will be alright, no matter what happens.