Leon's Loft

Of Sketchbooks and Chlorine That Tastes Funny

2011-12-22T03:38:00.001+08:00

It's been a year now, more than that, since I last updated. KC said I should, so yeah, I think it's about time I did.

I mean, I've garnered 20,000 views since this blog first came into being that many years ago, and if I posted my art in the gap of this one year, hey, I might've gotten more exposure as an artist!

But enough about that, mistakes were made, actions not put into motion, it's all in the past. But it's the past that we ultimately wish to change. Tell me I'm not alone in the sentiment of going back into the past to stop someone, yourself in particular from causing that fateful accident or event. For me?

I wish to take back some words and actions.

So what else is new?

Just...don't leave me alone here.

The Black Cloud

2010-09-02T02:30:00.002+08:00

"Just what exactly is your problem?"

He couldn't exactly answer that, honestly. Really, he couldn't.

"It's nothing."

"You say that when I damn well know you don't mean it."

"Then it simply means I don't wanna tell you about it," he snarled back, though like always, he held back. He never could see himself fully lashing out at her. Not when he cared this much about her feelings.

"Then stop making it so damn obvious that you're this depressed when you jolly know well the rest of us would be concerned!" she roared, and that took him back. He knew she doesn't have any qualms of voicing how she felt, and he found that endearing about her.

But this, this right here, with her teeth gritted and her eyes dark and void of all emotions, save for her anger, scared him. She regained her composure a nanosecond later, but that image of her being angry -angry at him- was seared into the back of his mind.

Then he looked down.

"I'm sorry."

That wasn't something new.

"You apologize for everything. You're always so worried about how we look at you. I once told you that you're an open book, and it hasn't changed yet."

That was a lariat to the heart he wouldn't have accepted from anyone else.

"It's comforting to know that some things never changed between us." Dry humor. He was never good at it, but he couldn't stop himself from muttering those words.

She couldn't find a good response to that. He sounded monotonous, and that only meant that he lost his will to argue.

Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"What do you want from me?"

He had to look up when she asked that. He did not see that one coming.

His mouth fell a good distance as he couldn't think of a possible answer.

"Answer me!" she said, the strain in her voice panicking him. Every minute action she made, every gesture she gave was treasured by him. Seeing her being angry always tore him up.

"I-I just want you to see me differently!" he yelled.

Then it hit him like a brick to the face. It was no different from telling her I like you. I want you to like me too.

She stood aghast for the slightest moment before asking in an exasperated tone.

"W-What's so wrong about just being friends? Must you always try to push it to something more? I thought you were done with me ages ago!"

Blow after blow, he just stood there and took it all in. Deep down, every word she said made perfect sense that it hurt.

"Why is it so hard for you to get over me?!" she finally yelled. All that built-up anger finally spilled over.

"Because you're different!" He had his limit too, and it was time he did the venting.

"You're still the most beautiful girl I've ever met, you're still one of the few girls I've ever fallen for who still doesn't mind being my friend, you're still amazing me with almost all that you do, and if I had to sing praises about all that is good about you, I'l take the rest of the week to finish it."

There. A touch of wit to sum it up. Just like how the Brits would do it.

"I don't mind being the ear that listens whenever you have troubles, I don't mind being that shoulder for you to cry on, I don't mind helping you deal with all those problems you have with other boys even though it hurts like hell that I don't mean that much to be a heartbreak for you."

"You want to be a heartbreak for me? You want to cause me that kind of trouble I keep telling you about? Is that it? You want to be just like all those other guys? To get bothered-up in my head for a few days and then just *poof*, you're gone after that?"

"I just wanted you to love me the way you loved them! And I swear to God I will never break your heart the way they did it." He swung his arm for good measure.

"Those are all kind, sweet nothings you promise me but in the end things don't always turn out the way you want them. Do you think I wanted them to hurt me in the end?"

"I know you don't, and I can promise you the moon and the stars and I know they'll mean nothing to you if I don't back it up with action. And that's why I'm willing to take this risk.

"This is not the same childhood crush I had on you back then. I've had the pleasure of knowing you so much more as friends; your strengths, your weaknesses, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, the flow of your hair when it's windy out, that little giggle you make whenever someone says something you found amusing....

"I am truly, without a doubt, in love with you. Not some surge of hormones, not some rash confession, but I am sincerely in love with you, and I want to take that risk of making you mine."

She stood there in silence, taking it all in while he remained still, not daring to move an inch from his position.

As the skies broke apart to let the sun's beams shower the land below, he could see the anguish in her face, and to her, the utter sorrow in his.

It would not be so easy to remedy the revelation that broke open today, but if they were willing, they'd be able to handle it together.

================================================
A little gift for an old friend of mine who needed something like this to vent some steam. Or a lot of it.

*EDIT*
D, I don't think she's gonna see this lah. You still want me to keep this post up?

Finals

2010-08-22T01:22:00.000+08:00

So we finally manage to get the semester break started,

with one week already gone because of the Illustration Fundamentals finals.

So basically, it's finishing the Starcraft 2 campaign, and getting some

self-improvement work over and done with.

And indulging in Avatar. Gosh I'm in love with the series =)

Oh, and here's my submission for the finals.

Harry was done by the lecturer who wanted to use my work as a class tutorial.

Medium:

Color pencils, gouache paint and soft pastels.

Next stop: Sketches and tablet time.

Water

2010-08-19T09:26:00.000+08:00

It's been months since I last said something here,

and yes, I have kept track.

It's been 3 months, and honestly,

it flew by quickly.

My semester started about the time the previous post about Danny Choo

came up, so yes, it has been that long,

and it sort of scares me time can pass by so quickly.

My 3 weeks' worth of a semester break approaches soon,

and I find myself dreading to spend most of it doing nothing.

Just, nothing.

Being in TOA made me a workaholic,

or, at least, uncomfortable without some form of work in front of me,

some work that needed to be done.

Kai already illustrated that fact

(not literally, mind.)

and every now and again I keep telling myself to get the sketchbook out and

just...sketch. To draw. To practice.

In between an episode of Avatar when I found a shoulder plate design to

be rather fascinating.

When I'm playing some game that has some design I like.

But no, all I have sketched in recently is this half-hearted sketch of Astrid

(How To Train Your Dragon. I'm obsessed with HiccupxAstrid fanfics now)

and it eats away in me.

I need to get better. I need to practice more on casual sketches that look spot-on

without taking so much time to get the basics right,

be it proportions, or making the clothes just fit,

or whatever.

Still, as I think of the Illustration Fundamental work I'm going to hand up,

and how it contrasts so much with how my art used to be in Form 4 or 5 back

in high school, almost like night and day.

I'll bet my classmates are thinking the same thing right now about their own work. Maybe.

Guess all I can do is look forward and keep on marching, right?

It's funny how pensive one can get all of a sudden.

Meet The Choos

2010-05-17T03:43:00.000+08:00

No, it's not an upcoming movie.

I'm sure the name Jimmy Choo ran by you at least once in your life right?

Be it from TV, a magazine, or even a pair of his celebrated line of footwear that your

mum/sister/girlfriend (gasp!) wears.

Maybe even you wear a pair.

(Considering you're a girl, or else...it'd be...awkward.)

Alright, straight to the point.

Now, his son, Danny Choo, is a certain individual that deals in

Japan lifestyle and pop culture.

Other than that, his website is for everything anime/manga/figures/otaku-dom.

So he was here in KL and on his last day here he decided to have a get-together with

the members of dannychoo.com and figure.fm in Lot 10

Naturally I was ecstatic. XD

Quite the crowd.

Danny's Dollfie, Saber (from Fate Stay Night) was there to greet us.

My first real encounter with a Dollfie, and honestly, I want one.

A smaller one placed against the bigger (in more ways than one...) Saber.

The meet-up place was rather small due to the reserved area specifically for us,

'cause Danny wasn't expecting nearly a hundred people to turn up on such short notice!

Danny had pulled some strings in YTL for this place, though. ^^

A girl taking care of her 'daughter' (nickname for a Dollfie, since it needs that much maintenance and manja)

Those who don't have Dollfies brought Figma figurines along, like I did!

Haruhi and Kyon (from Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) are the only 2 I have,

so I thought they could use some fresh air.

Someone's actually taking a photo of them!

Can't get a good angle to show off the real dynamics of the pose.

Looks so kayu in this shot.

The Dollfies again, this time with an unknown illustration.

More shots on my Figmas! XD

She changed the pose to suit her liking, which I don't mind.

Merry bunch of people that I sat with.

Everyone clicks in this gathering, 'cause we're all on common ground. =)

lol, some of the guys wanted to go creative.

Luka (top) is so cute! ><

ahh, the man, Danny, himself.

I stuttered a little, being extremely nervous of meeting a celebrity (he is!) like him.

"It's okay, I'm a little nervous here too," he said with a smile,

and I appreciated that.

Japanese humble-ness. =)

Like everyone else, he asked me about who I was, what I do,

and we had a genuine, nice discussion.

He takes time to talk to every single reader who turned up,

and that was something I found to be delightful. =)

A dedicated flag presented to him,

with notes of thanks to him written all over the red and whites =)

owner of the smaller dollfie,

and a friend of my current classmates! small world!

mother of the medium-sized dollfie.

Okay, close-in on my 2 Figs. Haruhi never ceases to drive Kyon up the wall.

Otacool magazine made by Danny's ocmpany.

You should buy one at Kinokuniya.

Better shot at them.

now this was a pleasant surprise.

when I was halfway drawing a sketch of Saber,

a man came up behind me and said

"I like this style. It's the whole manga thing, right?"

I gave an immediate thanks and turned around,

but couldn't recognize who he was (thought at first that he was another fan)

until I saw the person next to him.

Dato' Jimmy Choo.

*omgomgomgomg*

that was what went in my head as the crowd swarmed with murmurs of

"Jimmy Choo! He's here!"

Some called him 'Daddy Choo.'

And guess who that other man was?

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh,

managing director of YTL.

2 of Malaysia's business giants were stading mere feet from me,

of whom one already complimented on my drawings.

To say I was starstruck is an understatement.

Yup, couldn't pass out the chance. XD

He has a very firm hand-shake, to be expected from a man of his caliber.

More Dollfies. XD

The amount of details of a high-end Dollfie is astounding,

but so is the price tag.

Mind, clothes are bought separately, and cost as much as real ones, if not more.

Danny decided to add one more accessory to her,

and I smiled when I found out what it was.

She has her own mini-DSLR.

Awwww. >3<

Accessories are abundant for Dollfies. Try Googling it all of you're curious.

After most of the crowd trickled out,

Danny decided to hold a small Q & A session,

and he sat at the table where my Figmas and those of several others were there,

and he decided to have a little fun,

to our amusement.

Lolololololol.

I felt like a reporter for a night. Lalalalalala.

So while I was taking these shots,

I was continuing my sketch of Saber (who was right in front of me, lol),

and was caught off-guard when Danny asked "What'cha got there?"

All attention turned to me as I quickly replied that it was a sketch of Saber

and handed it to him the second his hand stretched out for it.

"This is really nice. Such a lovely pair of eyes," he said with that cheeky grin,

and I immediately caught the hidden meaning.

"Which eyes??" I asked with an amused tone, and the rest laughed.

Yeah, we all know the joke.

"Both," he said, and we laughed some more.

He signed the sketch and I was told by the rest to get a snapshot with Danny and the sketch.

T.T

I'm so happeh!

Haruhi wanted to have a last shot with the girls she bonded with

during her time here, while she sent Kyon to pack things up.

(what else is new...)

These group of people were with Danny and Jimmy at some time,

and they were all sitting together when everything was over,

so it's safe to say that they're all family. ^^

It was edging to 9pm when it was all over,

so I decided to have dinner at the food court,

and to complete the day nicely,

udon for dinner.

Haruhi-chan just couldn't resist getting into one more pic. =)

We were the last 20% that actually stayed back to the very end,

and it was rewarding, to say the least. =)

Looking forward to next time, Danny!

Hatching, Cross-Hatching

2010-05-14T00:04:00.000+08:00

I've been looking around for some time and I noticed that

I'm lacking in certain areas that really have me going down in the dumps today.

I don't like to feel depressed, especially when I'm driving, or stuck in a traffic jam, like earlier tonight.

But I'm feeling better now, being in the midst of family.

This post isn't all about morbid-ness and grim-tinged muses, though.

Fields of Blue

Done for Mother's Day recently,

and I should've posted this sooner,

but I forgot,

or just being my usual neglectful self.

My first take on a scenery digital painting,

so there.

Ze Edits!

2010-05-05T20:18:00.000+08:00

Cropped a lil' at the lower area because I though her legs looked kinda odd at the end.

What do you guys think?

Snow

2010-05-04T02:55:00.001+08:00

Yuki.

Snow.

Something that I wish would be happening here in KL,

but yeah, no hope for that, since we have no mad scientist

whose only sole purpose in life is to create a snow-day here.

But enough about that,

here's what the post is really about.

Yuki Nagato,

from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Did I mention that I'm in love with this girl?

Reading The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi just reinforced it,

and makes me impatient for the DVD-ripped version of the movie to come out.

Yes, the studios who made the anime turned that particular plot arc into

a 2-hour+ movie. And I'm really eager to see it.

Why?

Because the otherwise emotion-less Yuki (she's an alien, don't ask)

acts all moe and all-round adorable in that arc,

and it has almost all the fans going nuts over it.

So that's why I made this pic,

to show that side of Yuki that bears real emotion.

And when I was browsing through my folder with all my works in it,

I came across my first Yuki CG, which was done last year,

when I first got this tablet.

And I made a comparison.

Yeah...major difference.

Before: 26th December 2009

After: 3rd May 2010

I still have a long way to go,

and Kai advises me to sharpen my anatomy skills,

so I'll take a break from CG-ing and brush up on it, then,

the pencil once again being my best freind.

But looking at this, goes to show how far I've come in these past few months,

and how far I still have to go to reach the level all Illustrators dream of.

Practice practice practice.

Gotta remember that one.

The Shield And the Hammer

2010-05-02T03:50:00.000+08:00

Good news and bad.

Bad news is,

sleepy + figure homework = some f**ked-up finishing.

Good news is,

Robert Downey Jr. doesn't fail to deliver another solid role.

Neither did Mickey Rourke!

Yes, folks, I've watched Iron Man 2

one day straight off the bat of it's release,

owing to booking the tickets a week in advance,

and even then, a majority of the good seats were gone to the reservations.

Pfft.

At least I got good ones this time for the whole family.

So, critique time!

Ignore if you don't want spoilers,

which...I wouldn't give, at any rate...

The story was nice and solid,

none of those cliché elements in them,

not in my eyes, anyway.

There were times that I felt bad for Tony,

who is a terrible alcoholic in the comics origianlly (though only shown briefly in this one)

and find myself tempted to shove Pepper and Tony together

so they would just kiss and stop arguing already,

(not really furious arguments, you know,

but more like those moments in the first movie where they won't stop countering one another,

and it's endearing, yes, and it makes you just *wish* they'd make out already)

I swear she's perfect for him.

Gwenneth Paltrow certainly portrays Pepper wonderfully,

being the not-too-overly-sexy, caring, controlled and systematic woman

that can still give Tony a piece of her mind.

Do I even need to mention how beautiful Pepper is?

Robert was born to play Tony Stark, hands down.

Remember the court room scene we kept seeing in trailers?

Listen to every word he says when you watch it that scene in the full movie.

Scarlett Johansson was...hawt.

As a secretary *and* as Black Widow,

kicking ass in 360 degrees.

Literally.

And Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury is made of win.

Seriously. Aside from the Robert/Tony destiny,

Samuel L. *is* the incarnation of the SHIELD Director.

Not sure bout Don Cheadle, though.

He did good in this movie,

but I haven't seen much of him before,

so I'm not sure what to compare.

I don't even need to mention about the graphics, now do I?

It's like saying the sea is wet,

or that Iron Man is red.

And gold.

War Machine's grey,

but he doesn't count.

I'm talking prismatic colors here, people!

Colors that make you a striking target FTW!!

Ranty P.S:

Pepper will make a wondeful mom one day,

just look at her character!

How can you not find maternal traits in her?

Time

2010-04-29T16:52:00.002+08:00

Don't we all wish we had more of it?

But this isn't some rant about how 24 hours isn't enough in a day,

(is it?)

but to show just how dusty this blog's been for ages since.

Partially because I've been too swamped up in favorite-ing others' works

on Deviantart and getting myself known there.

Got some good friends there already!

So after my previous work that I've published here,

I've done 2 more but just didn't have the time to post them up.

Jack(left): I mean, don't you pass this sign *everyday*?

Squad Member no. 14765: ....Shuddup.

This my friends, is a commission work for an upcoming animation called

The Undertaking

which is done by a group of people in Deviantart,

so they requested me to promote it.

My first take on semi-realism.

Title: Orz.

Seriously, it's called Orz in my Deviantart page,

because I had no idea what I was thinking when i did this.

I spent a few hours in this seemingly simple piece because I was trying a new way of

shading the facial features in semi-realism-ness.

(Got too lazy for some epic background. Ugh)

Good news is that the lineart didn't take as long.

Guess JollyJack was right.

"Experience gained can be more important than the final outcome."

Or something like that.

P.S.: Don't know what 'orz' means? Google it. It's a new emoticon. =)

Money Well Spent (Warning, High Content Post)

2010-04-18T02:57:00.000+08:00

Which is what I can say for the definite highlight to this term break of mine.

Oh yes.

A year ago I watched their performances on Youtube and envied the Americans

for having something as awesome as this.

And now here we are, experiencing this for ourselves!

I had Maine and Jas for company, and we all got the 2nd-class seats,

so we were just in perfect distance from the stage itself.

pardon the soddy camera phone shots...

It was packed! I never thought that so many fellow gamers would turn up for this!

And yes, that's Jas on the lowest part of the shot. XD

From the beginning till the end, this entire orchestra never ceased to fulfill

all our cravings for the best-of-the-best of video games.

They started off with a memorial for the late King of Pop by

showcasing his character from the classic Moonwalker game into others

like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Tetris, to name a few.

It was one of the best and funniest montages ever!

Then ALL of the great classics came out that we used to play as kids, like:

Super Mario Bros.

Tetris

Space Invaders

Outrun!

Moto-Cross

Top Gun!

Duck Hunt

Elevator Action!

They changed the arrangements and the games included,

but hey, that means every concert is varied!

It brought back so much memories!

Then right off the bat, the second piece to come up was:

Metal Gear Solid.

Me and Maine, we screamed like crazy at the mention,

and almost freaked out when Hideo Kojima made an introduction on the big screen.

There were other epics like

God of War (almost the whole hall screamed, including myself!)

Shadow of The Collossus (Again, everyone went crazy)

Warcraft (Need I say it? We all screamed)

Kingdom Hearts (Yeah, everyone waited for this one, man)

Sonic the Hedgehog (So nostalgic =D)

Super Mario Series (We all sang along to it!)

Legend of Zelda (Maine and Jas went nuts XD)

The guitarist is Tommy Tallarico, video game song composer and producer of VGL,

the maestro is Jack Hall, video game song composer,

and the flute-player is Laura 'Flute Link' Intravia,

who donned a dress to play vocals for the God of War piece.

One of my personal favourites was when the composer of the Metal Gear Solid series,

Noriko Hibino came out to bring out Snake Eater, the opening theme of MGS3,

and he was on the saxaphone!

(Maine swooned on this one, I'm sure.)

And there was one of my personal favourites,

HALO!

And Tommy was on the electric guitar for this one!

And the closing call for the whole this was,

to everyone's pleasure,

One Winged Angel!

(now, you don't need a Youtube video for this one, no?)

The encores (they were generous enough for 2!)

were Chrono Trigger (hardened fans loved this!)

and Castlevania (another hysteria-causer)

Afterward we had a meet-and-greet session that they were so gracious to have

for every single last person who stood in line,

(we waited for almost an hour and not one person in the line seemed to mind)

and I got myself this. =)

Autographs from (clockwise starting from the middle)

Jack Hall,

Noriko Hibino

Tommy Tallarico

and Laura Intravia

We were all so hyped-out about the autographs!

Especially Maine. Tommy winked at her. ;)

A stroll in the KLCC park and a Starbucks with the girls was our version of a nightcap.

Almost got lost trying to remember which floor I parked the car in.

Yes, I jotted down the pillar number,

but forgot which floor.

All in all a good experience.

I owe a very special girl thanks for convincing me

that I should treat myself to something like this every once in awhile.

;)

Soothing Spring

2010-04-12T13:13:00.002+08:00

So I have been a busy bee these past few days to complete this lil' something

as a Kiriban (commerative art) for my Deviantart site,

which hit its 1,111th page view marker recently.

This piece took me almost a full day in terms of accumulated hours to complete!

The lineart was exceptionally hard to do right since I was going for crisp,

non-fuzzy lines.

Orz.

Grass! I drew grass!

The weather's been rather soft and breezy these past few days,
so it sorta puts things into the right mood.

I can hear the trees rustling right now.
=)

50 cal + 20mm

2010-03-29T22:53:00.001+08:00

Here's yet another digital painting I finally got done with.

Ready?

Pardon my rather botchy Japanese.

I can't even write my own Chinese name right.

Haha.

Anyway, here's something about this artwork I feel you guys should know.

Lineart: Wacom, mid-January

Begin coloring-in: Last week, postponed due to laziness epidemic.

Finishing up: Today. But as I was doing this halfway, I realized I drew the neck too long,

therefore the head being too high up.

So what did I do? I had to readjust the lineaert and the colored bits seperately. Orz.

Tell me what you think, yea?

Three of Hearts

2010-03-27T04:23:00.000+08:00

Three of Hearts.

Not exactly the best of cards, but it got me where I wanted right there.

Right at the 21 mark, with the Eight of Spades and Ten of Clubs for companions.

"Now there's something you don't see everyday. Grip's finally got himself a win!"

Lefty never seemed to fail at making the boys laugh. Never failed me.

It was a painkiller, really. Humor.

While the others were laughing their collective butts off, I felt the need to look at that card again.

That plain white card was still wedged between my index and middle finger, and the only thing hindering me from feeling the unnatural smoothness of it was the standard issue tactical gloves we had to wear when we were on-site. No excuses.

"Hey, what's with the long face? The pot's yours. All 50 bucks of it. Should be enough to get you that book you saw at the store that day, eh?"

Tagger always could read my expressions well. Heck, everyone on the squad was readable to him. That's what made the bastard so good at bringing us out just at the nick of time before depression sank in every now and then.

I nodded, a sudden rush of anticipation rushing through me. But for all I knew, that bookstore might not even be there anymore. I had to make a point of finding out some time soon.

And as if he too knew what I was hanging in my mind, Tagger placed a hand on my shoulder. My armored shoulder.

I'm sure it's still there. It was the city center that got hit bad, not some random building.

"A shopping mall isn't exactly random," I finally said, with not much emotion to it, mind.

"True," Bronx -always hulking on- said, that inquisitive and ponderous side to him baring itself for the fleetest of moments. "But it is a useless target if you're thinking of crippling an infrastructure. What c'you wanna do? Spark a guerrilla force of disgruntled shoppers?"

We laughed at that. Mostly because we knew what he said carried some meaning. Seriously. Hell hath no wrath than a shopper scorned.

It was then that Liang dropped in -quite literally- bearing the most inconspicuous mess of metal and more metal.

It didn't take him 5 seconds to see the questioning looks on all our faces.

"Just got word from the Sarge. We're pushing the line up by half-a-click. We'll be able to retake Sierra Whiskey by today, the way things are going," he reasoned before putting that contraption down.

"So that warrants you to carry a minigun along?" Blade asked, sharpening the very machete his namesake's for. More than half his kills came from that. And he carries a light machine gun around. Go figure.

"One per squad. We're gonna do sweep-up in 20. Once Sierra Whiskey is clear, we'll be able to push on back to Ground Zero." Liang said. He didn't sound like it, but we knew he was all too pleased to carry a minigun around.

Heck, I wouldn't mind giving it a go. Maybe he'll let me spray a few rounds. Maybe.

We remained silent after that for no reason, the silence rather deafening, if you asked me.

"So...any idea when we'll be able to fully take back Kilo Lima?"

Faz decided to be the one to break the wall.

"...I don't feel right, calling in that. What's with all the full-names and stuff?"

"Avoiding military goof-ups," I simply tossed in my two-cents.

It was then that the ground thundered and shook.

It didn't take long for the sounds to come after that.

I got up to see at least 5 of them, 5 tanks making their way through the street, an entire column of death slowly moving on to who-knows where.

I heard some other people cheering on, some yelling their amusement at the sights of these behemoths. To the infantry, tanks were near-indestructible. They mostly think so because they're never close enough to see one get blown apart by a missile to the top.

We did. Not a pretty sight.

"Probably they're gonna push the line forward. That means we're on point," Blade said, sheathing that machete and holstering it next to his hip. He often unsheathed it mere seconds before the blood started splattering. Ugh.

"Aren't we gonna wait for the Sarge?" Bronx was right.

Blade made an impatient sound as he sat back down. We all knew what would happen if we moved before Sarge told us what to do. Orders were orders. And we were ordered to hold this line, though we had 5 full squads covering us just a click or 2 ahead.

We waited another good 10 minutes, and the thundering herd of battle tanks were nothing more than distant echoes by then.

And just when we thought it would be quiet again, another thundering herd came by. No, more like a thundering flock.

We heard them before we saw them.

Fighter jets.

I counted at least 7 of them, flying by us, and for the briefest moment I raised my own rifle up, forgetting the what it would do to something traveling at over 600mph.

"Easy there, hot-shot. It's ours," Lefty said, putting a rather firm hand on my gun, lowering it.

"How can you tell?"

"By the fact that the AA guns nearby aren't blowing our eardrums to bits."

"...Oh."

Hey, you can't blame me. I'm just Ground Infantry, people.

"Ground Infantry or not, know-how's important, Grip."

That voice never got old.

I turned around quick enough to get a glance of the first thing that anyone would first notice about Sarge.

Dark, long hair that always moved with the wind.

Her rather generous assets were a close second.

"I'd advise you to keep your eyes on your equipment and not mine, private," she said coolly,
the rest sniggering.

Damn it, I only looked for a second. S'not my fault you wear body armor that resembles a corset more than anything.

"Because I don't go out into the front lines. That's what we have you boys for," she said, crossing her arms, her form-hugging cargo pants doing nothing to hide her curves from my angle of view.

Nothing about her uniform was regulation-fit. There haven't been any complaints so far, though.

"Orders, Ma'am?" Blade asked. He was the only one that never seemed amused by Sarge's dressing. It was either he was strong willed enough, or he was gay. We never voiced it out with him. That machete is very persuasive, sheathed or not.

"We're pushing on. Your squad and the other forwards are taking point with the tank column that passed by earlier. They're already engaged at Bravo-Bravo," she said as we began moving up. She walked us to the transport trucks waiting nearby, her arms remaining crossed.

"No good luck kiss for the road, Ma'am?" Liang asked, earning wide-eyed stares from the guys from the other platoons. Her reputation was well-spread among everyone here. They just never saw it up close.

Sensing impending doom, the rest of us prepared for whatever Sarge must've planned out for Laing. Poor bastard, why'd he have to go poke the hornet's nest like that?

"I don't see why I have to. You've got all the dumb luck in the world already," she replied, earning Liang some snickers from the boys.

She then slapped the truck's hull several times, and the truck itself jolted to a start as the engine started. Probably a faulty timing-belt.

There were no goodbyes. In the army, there was never any need for them. It was like a silent prayer that we'd all see each other some time later.

Still, I waved ever-so-little to her -not too obvious, or the others would know- and I could've sworn I got a nod from her. Maybe I was seeing things?

I'll make a point to ask her later.

There will always be a later.

Summer Time

2010-03-21T00:38:00.000+08:00

So here I present to you my latest work of art.

She's a kitsune (fox girl)

Clouds! I did clouds and an ocean!

This is kind of a hallmark for me as it's my first

actual piece done with a solid background.

Well, the lineart (meaning the girl herself)

was made by godzilla23 on Deviantart and I decided

to use it as a practice for digital painting.

People there in DA usually color linearts from thier

fellow compatriots as a form of practice. I'm glad to finally be in that circle.

The original.

Some references from other works were used to get this coloring done right.

Tell me what you think guys think, yea?

The Third Impact

2010-03-19T01:38:00.000+08:00

Several things can go right on certain days that'll keep you smiling.

For me, several of those things did occur.

The most significant

(or rather, the one I'm most willing to announce publicly...)

thing, is this.

No, not the rather tasteful eye candy on this picture,

but what it represents.

Yes,

for all you anime fans out there who actually knows a hoot,

this is from Evangelion 2.0.

I can tell you honestly that it's awesome.

Seriously.

"I got chicken skin when I watched the movie, man,"

-Ah Fai.-

Indeed, whether you're a fan of Evangelion or not,

I'd recommend this to you,

though one should watch 1.0 before taking in 2.0.

(Google: ]Evangelion 1.0 stream] or something like that.

Okay, really sleepy now.

Signing off.

2200

2010-03-16T00:18:00.001+08:00

It's been ages since I last wrote something here.

Culprit: Work, and good plain laziness.

Well, I'm suddenly feeling less...lazy,

and actually have some things to muse about, I guess.

So Drama was today,

and the entire class gave it their best on this one,

and I hope the videos will get posted on Facebook

(better get it on pronto, Jordan!)

But more often than not,

Good News gets stalked by it's unwanted counsin,

Bad News.

Clothes printing in Visual Comm. didn't go on very well,

and we sacrificed several white t-shirts on these stints.

Did not take it very well when I had to run to Giant in Sunway Pyramid

to get extra t-shirts

(Well, I volunteered since I messed up

one of those t-shirts trying to fix it...)

and up getting quite pissed since

I didn't get to print that A2 stuff for Composition.

So what happened?

I released some pent-up frustration when one of my team mates pointed out I got an XXL

t-shirt by accident, when there was really that only size left for that color.

I did apologize for that one,

as I'm not one to always be grumpy.

Maybe I was experiencing withdrawal syndroms from

immersing myself into character for Drama?

(CK said this could happen.)

But yeah, when I'm frustrated,

it shows.

Kai Lee got scared when I asked her for her ID Tag for the locked door

since I lent mine to Shaz.

She thought I was scolding her.

LOL.

We all had a laugh about it when the rest began reciting my Drama lines

to the poor girl.

"You're my wife, so you do as I say!"

or something like that.

Asides that,

today's been a rather good day.

I'd give it a 70%-30% split.

Laughs aplenty, good thing.

Dinner with CK and Johnson was a good tonic.

Now, all's that's left to worry about it printing my Compo work.

Not that I can't find the place,

it's a 10-minute downhill drive to the Leisure Mall area,

but for once,

I wish I didn't have to drive.

Maybe a little Red Alert 3 and reading a nice chapter from that HarryxHermione fanfic

would suffice as my nightcap.

My preverbial substitute for Bacardi Coke and Vodka Sprite.

Mmm.

Makes me miss the shots we had at my aunt's place on both New Years'.

It's good to be legal.

=D

Dang, this is the most I've written in awhile...

An Artist's Sorrow

2010-02-13T09:43:00.000+08:00

Well, here it is,

my latest piece.

This was made for Composition Analysis,

a subject in my Illustration major,

where we learn about stuff that makes pictures

more....intersting.

To cut it short,

we're learning how to make good pictures.

If this picture seems somewhat creepy or depressing,

well....

A major reason why it's such is because I spent 5 hours,

starting from 1am to 6am the night before I had to hand this up.

Why?

Because I spent 10pm-1am trying to do something different with

photo-manipulation (fail).

So with half-a-can of Red Bull and my trusty tablet,

I worked through the night,

though I can hardly remember how I did it.

Both me and Johnson suspects it's the Red Bull.

It zombified both of us for before through the night.

So...comments, anyone?

Sequential Art

2010-02-07T01:01:00.000+08:00

Currently in love with Jolly Jack's works.

His style is such a nice mix of manga and western art. =)

-

2010-02-02T20:11:00.000+08:00

Somehow it's been yet another case blown wide open.

Oh God, don't let it be so much 'till the intended recipient doesn't

realize it just yet.

Still, the old familiar feelings are comin' right back.

Play it one step at a time.

You've got help, remember?

Yawn

2010-01-20T01:02:00.002+08:00

Too sleepy to explain,

but it's for my Signage Design class,

theme being: Environmental Stuff.

Arrangement is by me,

thought the original pics of the vehicles

are vectorized stock images,

along with good ol' Earth there.

G'nite, folks.

The Cold Steel I Wished For

2010-01-17T20:38:00.002+08:00

Do you know what the feeling's like to be fine for
almost the entirety of the day, and one simple
thing comes to bring you down?

Sometimes I wonder if the continuity of this
crap is worth it all.

Things can be all right on the surface,
but what goes supposedly unheard is the very thing
that ticks me off.

Thank goodness not everyone's like you.

Clouds as Grey

2010-01-09T19:46:00.004+08:00

Though I've improved slightly through the time,
I still feel my technique is painfully lacking if compared
to my other fellow peers.

I have to keep remembering the facts that there will
always be individuals that are better than us.

I do agree, and take it as a healthy challenge to try and catch up with them,
but they do seem to be so far ahead...

Still, I'll persevere, pushing myself forward
-even kicking my own arse a few times to get the point across-
but for now, I'll have to take things one at a time.

=)

Yuki

2009-12-26T20:39:00.005+08:00

Yuki is the direct Japanese translation for snow.

Why, you may ask?

Because I'm in love with Yuki Nagato.

^^

For those of you who have not even a remote idea of
who she is, Yuki is one of the main characters from the
Melancholy of Suzumiya series,
and by far my favorite girl in it.

And she's wearing Haruhi's Brigade Leader armband, by the way.
How did she get it?
....I'll let you guys figure it out.
XD

So art-wise,
I've spent quite some time on the black-and-white lineart
as drawing straight from the tablet is still not so easy,
but I'm learning to get used to it without
having those husky outlines from my constant re-traces.

I've also incorporated new styles of coloring and shading by utilizing more layers
and not being so lazy with the overall color composition
that made all my previous works rather...lifeless?

Please tell me what you guys think about this piece yeah,
as constructive criticism is needed for my learning curve
and all-round praises makes me happy I've spent time doing these pieces.

=)

Pandora

2009-12-25T12:02:00.002+08:00

So on the Eve of Christmas itself
my family and I went to see
what I believe to be Movie of The Year.

Avatar,
in 3D.

Indeed, it was a wondrous movie,
what else would one expect from a
production that was 14 years in
the making?

A lot of my friends sing praises of this movie,
so would I, if I wasn't so lazy.
XD

'Cause the movies itself is stunning
in almost every aspect,
from the character development to
the fact that the Na'vi language is real.

Yes folks, The Star Newspaper
shown an article in the past about how
an Oxford Professor in Language
was hired to construct the entire
Na'vi language from scratch.

Hah, development down to the very core, it is.

Well done, James Cameron.
Hope the coming sequel will be just as good.

And yes, rumors are it'll be on its way.
=)

Two Sides To The Coin

2009-12-19T12:31:00.000+08:00

Chapter 18 is out, my poeple!

=)

It's been awhile, I know.

If only I was more free.

=(

Of V10s and Rich-Arsed People

2009-12-17T11:57:00.005+08:00

Now this e-mail was forwarded to me by

Nigel Siow Wei Yau,

but I wanted to post it here instead

since it might get the attention

of not only the people in my email list,

but other blog readers as well.

Have you ever seen one of these?

It's a Mercedes Benz owned by an Abu Dhabi oil billionaire (naturally).

Featuring the newly developed V10 quad turbo with 1,600 horsepower and 2800nm of torque
0-100 km/h in less than 2secs, 1/4 mile in 6.89 secs
running on biofuel.

That is NOT stainless steel, people; it is WHITE GOLD!

I'm not sure if the car's specs are indeed this great,
so 'Boy, I need you to clarify up for us here, kay?
Looks just like your everyday SLR to me,
not a Vortege'.
^^

Memories in Picture Frames

2009-12-13T22:43:00.003+08:00

It's hard to believe that it's already near the end of the year
when my life as a TOA student just began in May.

Half a year has passed by since I've been introduced
to what's literally a whole new world of friends,
yet it's felt like it I've known them my whole life.

I'll never forget all the times we've spent together,
all the laughs, all the joy,
all the trials we've been put through,
all the perseverance we've shown,
everything.

We've all become one big family,
a smile working its way up our faces every time
we see each other, especially after absence
made our hearts grow fonder.

We may be going to different courses,
and the idea of us not keeping in touch may frighten us,
but we'll always friends as long as we never let the bond wither.

These 5 months that we've spent together have
been spent well.

We have learned from each other,
made our mistakes known,
opened ourselves to what were once
complete strangers,
but now we call ourselves brothers and sisters.

We are bound together not by the chairs
and tables that make us a class.

We are bound together by that invisible string
of friendship,
and we wear it proudly under one name.

We are CD0905-2,
and these seemingly meaningless bunch of letters and numbers
mean so much more to us.

They represent what we have become after our time here as one wholly
united class.

CD0905-2 represents us.
And we represent the best in each other.

Here's to the rest of our lives.

Hail Mary

2009-12-07T01:07:00.002+08:00

It was magical,
everything a celebration like that would be.

That touch you gave me,
though platonic it may be,
still made me smile inwardly,
because I'm an open book to you.

You looked beautiful.
You sounded heavenly.

...You were always my personal version of Gwen.
It's just too bad I couldn't be your Ben.

Holding

2009-11-30T00:38:00.001+08:00

It's the final blow.

I'm not as depressed as my heart's yelling I ought to be,
but a few kind words and a metaphoric
pat in the back does some good, I'd imagine.

2009-11-29T16:55:00.002+08:00

There is no truth.
Everything is permitted.

So I've finally completed the Game of The Year,
Assasin's Creed 2.

And lemme tell you, it was *awesome*.

Can't wait for the 3rd one,
and I know it's coming.

XD

More Oekaki

2009-11-29T01:44:00.006+08:00

Here's my latest doodles after awhile,
seeing as I need to use some free time for
tablet practice.

Honestly, I need to learn to make my work more...

advanced.

P.S. Oekaki is Japanese for doodling. XD

Knights In Shining Armor Don't Always Get The Girl

2009-11-08T18:25:00.002+08:00

Okay, after an eternity of awaiting,
Chapter 17 is now out.

=)

As a footnote,
my novel isn't following others with one major story arc,
but branching out to small, different ones
like any long-running anime would.

Midnight Fancies

2009-11-03T09:50:00.002+08:00

Another doodle with a tablet in -you guessed it,
the middle of the night.

Only thing is, it's with my tablet.
=)

What We Really Are, On The Inside

2009-10-24T01:14:00.012+08:00

So today my college, TOA (The One Academy)

hosted it's annual Halloween party in the main block.

Well, this was my first time heading for such a shindig,
and let me tell you, it was AWESOME.

Before I move on to pics of the event itself,
allow me to introduce the cosplayers (costume players)
of CD0905-2.

Albert the Mutant
(using my shotgun...)

Johnson the Jason
(Jason from the Friday the 13th)

Melvin the Witch
(Yes...he's trying to be a female witch. Weee~)

Patrick the Vampire
(Edward Cullen, eat your heart out...literally, maybe...)

Yipin the Pirate (Left)
(He's a pirate. Arrr.)
&
Terry the Working-class Zombie (Right)
("Hello, I am Terry the Zombie. Here's my card. Raaargh.)

Han Yang the Demon Claw
(Made out of 100% organic flour! It smelled good!)

Shaz the Joker
(Yes, THE Joker. His Joker laughs are epic, and so is that manic smile.)
&
Bee Lian the Doll
(Think Bride of Chucky + Ju-On. She's the right size, too.)

And last, and maybe the least of all...

Leon the Slayer
(I'm not supposed to be a cosplaying as a demon or ghost or whatnot.
I'm supposed to be the one *hunting* them with my arsenal of weapons. Details below)

The Joker vs. The Slayer.
Batman, where the hell are you?
(Shaz needed my shotgun to complete his Joker getup. It really worked! He was one of the most popular because of his great Joker impersonations and his height. 195cm! Oh, and carrying a shotgun while laughing manically helps...
But that meant half of my costume prop was gone...==)

Preparations.

So before the party we were all at Shaz's dorm getting ourselves ready.
Bee Lian brought an entire arsenal of makeup and other effect kits
to dress us up gorily (Me excluded. I just used a lil' white-dyed hairspray)

Mid-preparation, I had the cheek to go to Youtube
on Shaz's laptop and blare out Michael Jackson's Thriller
to suit the mood, everyone extremely pleased with it.
Terry actually danced while we were grooving slightly to it.
Too bad it wasn't played in the party
=(
The King's music was *made* for cool events like these.

Patrick's costume and makeup was basic if compared
to all the other vampires from the other cosplayers
out there in the party, but man,
he was the most handsome one just by being plain.

Fuck my lousy camera. Seriously, gimme my DSLR!
Okay, Terry being well...Terry. He can be a crowd-pleaser at times.
We all can =)

Boom! Boom! Firepower!

One of the best cosplayers tonight, deffinately.
Yes, that's Bee Lian after her full transformation.

If I didn't know her...I'd be really, really scared right there and then.

Shaz's Preparation

Why the special treatment for Shaz's part of the post?
His makeup was the most intricate amongst us,
especially because we had the genius artist Lee Kee to help us out.
That dude has undoubtedly earned my undying respect.

"Stop laughing! I can't put it on right!"
is what Kee sometimes said as Shaz was constantly giggling. =)

Halfway done.

Actually, yes, that lipstick on Shaz's lips belong to Bee.

Well, that's Shaz for you.
It'll never be boring with him around. Really.

Lee Kee actually made some fake blood clots that looked real.

"See the tonal value and the change in hue and saturation?"
Drawing 2 lessons applied to real practical use
XD

What's a crazy clown without sudden mood-swings?
This pic genreated peals upon peals of laughter from everyone who saw it.

The Doll

Still makes me cringe a little in fear...

These few shots were taken when we all had
to dim the lights in the waiting room for awhile.

Perfect opportunities, if you asked me.
I still hate my cam.

Strange enough, all her ex-boyfriends were never heard of
again after the break-ups were done....

Me, trying to look half-decent for an emo-shooter-dude shot.
Lousy camera = bad lighting. Diu.

The Party

Saying the party was boring would be a downright lie.
Seriously, we weren't bored for even a single second!

Shoddy work, but there's Ern Nee the Witch next to Bee,
with Kok Wai and Mei Kuan the Witch(2) above.

The Three Witches(Ern Nee, Mei Kuan & Jing Ting),
Beee and Kok Wai.

Doesn't look like much,
but when the heavy rocker band came out to perform,
everyone was yelling and jumping.

I'll kaotao to this guitarist.

"Now this is my kinda music!"
Shaz said when the guitars began jamming. Hard.

The lead can really scream.
He should meet Linkin Park's Chester.
Who knew we had rockers in TOA?

The only shots I could take were when the crowd wasn't
so hyper, as people were literally jumping and rocking.

"Hillarious!"
He said that several times, sometimes regarding people's costumes.
XD

"Why so serious, short stuff?!"

The Witches again. They won the Pumpkin Carving competition!

Albert the Mutant turned to become
Albert the Smart-Dressing Witch -err...Wizard.

Bee wearing what used to be Melvin's witch hat.
Shortly after, Shaz wore the hat between his legs...

BeeKee
(Bee Lian x Lee Kee)
One of the few TOA couples I know.
Kee needs the gun nearby,
y'know...just in case...

Albert with Patrick's coat and my pistol.
Alot of the other people in the public
wanted to borrow my gun for photoshoots.
^^"
Even got a few candid shots with me comparing my pistol
with some guy who cosplayed with a minigun...(a Gatling gun)
==

Terry pulling off a Thriller dance move,
with Ern Nee ready to show him who's boss.
By now, t'was already the party's end,
and an afterparty was called for.

The Afterparty

So we strutted ourselves down Sunway with Joker faces
and zombiefied fake-blodied faces
and shotguns trotting, getting alot of attention.

I had to borrow what used to be Han Yang's cloak to cover up
the shotgun as we walked through the nearby police station...

So we decided to have the afterparty at the nearby Old Town (LOL?)
and when we walked in, all eyes were on us.
I had to wrap and hide the shotty as we may still get the wrong kind of attention...

Kee's camera-shy when he doesn't want his pic taken.

"This is what The Joker does after work."
-Shaz-

With the shotty hidden,
the boys played with my pistol instead.
Credits goes to my cousin for lending me the shotty. =)

Sucky camera to blame.
IF you're wondering,
the guy on the left's trying to lick the gun from my photo angle
XD

Terry's new definition of a handgun.

"This drink's green for some reason....I like it."

Shaz seriously likes toast with ice cream.

"...Why does she get the big gun...?"
-Yipin-

"Do bullets taste like M&Ms?"

"Stupid Shaz...can't you take even one photo nicely?"

"...Nevermind."
-Bee Lian.

Just a fraction of a second later,
Shaz's finger hit straight home.

"Shaz's hat needs a little blue pill."
-Terry

Caught Yipin in mid-teleportation. Oh yeah.
Oh, and the guy with the read hat behind is with us too.
We were one big gang in Old Town.
=)

...Sometimes, having a camera like mine has it's moments...

...And most of the time I hate the fucking thing...

I'll postone of the better group photos taken from
from the better cameras...

All in all, it was a heck-load of fun.
Can't wait for next year, guys.
=)

Gwendolyn

2009-10-23T17:47:00.004+08:00

No, she's not Gwen Tennyson.

I was having some fun with Shaz's A4-sized tablet and decided to make

this sketch a colored one.

Mind, it's my first time drawing something straight from the tablet,

so like, it's not my best work,

though I am quite satisfied with the result

as it's only a lil' sketch.

Shaz, Bee and Terry thought she looked like me...

But to be honest, I modeled her a lil' to be like my future daughter.

*shrugs*

Tell me what you think, yeah?

Morning Rain Whilst The Sky Remains Black

2009-10-14T02:24:00.003+08:00

If the title confuses the hell outta you,
it's now 2 in the morning here for me.

Why am I still up so late?

Well, it's usual for us TOA folk, actually.

But what I wanna whine about now is how long I took to finish
what I think is one of my best work so far.

Hugh Laurie / Dr. House

I swear to God that if it wasn't for the wrinkled paper
and the poor lighting, it'll look better.

Heck, you can ask any of my college mates how the real thing looks like.

But what peeved me about the drawing is that although it took me
my average of 4 hours,
I took up an entire hour to construct the proportion.

Yes, 1 hour to get everything as spot-on as humanly possible.

And without keeping track of the time,
I stupidly spent another hour just to shade the left eye.
WTF?

Well, to be honest,
I was referring to the way one of my seniors did the same picture,
so I got carried away.

Die
Die
Die.

I should be getting some sleep now,
but I'm tempted to finish the last level of Halo 2 tonight
so that I have nothing to itch to do when I get back tomorrow.

*Then* all I have to do is to finish my other work that's due by next week.

Ugh.

We don't have things easy, I tell you.

Losing The Race That Wasn't Even There

2009-09-28T01:16:00.002+08:00

It was all make-believe by my mind.

All it ended up doing was hurting me again, badly.

Why do I even bother to do it
if I know I'm never going to stand a chance?

I never saw the hints,
giving off too much of my own in the process.

Every move I made, intentional or not,
was saw right through.

I'm tired of having my heart broken,
I'm tired of being seen as such a ridiculous hopeless romantic.

Maybe the 100% wasn't meant to be a positive one.
Maybe it just affirmed that we were never meant to be.

You wouldn't have been the first.

Hell,
I can't say if you'll be the last.

The only thing is...
Will it come to a point that I'll be afraid to fall for someone again?

Every Silver Lining has a Cloud. Really.

2009-09-26T21:54:00.003+08:00

Be it by the hands of Fate that we shan't be able to meet on this day.

Lest my heart be burdened by this.

It is your companionship that I miss.
My feelings for you are not involved in this debacle,
only my desire to see you after a year's absence.

Only as friends.

Is that too much to ask for?

Comparisons

2009-09-25T22:20:00.002+08:00

Just to show you guys out there what Bee Lian is like
compared to the great almighty Shaz.

XD

Reflections

2009-09-23T00:43:00.000+08:00

Chapter 16 is now out, people!

And as promised, the action's toned down.

Alot.

You'll know what I mean.

;)

The Picture Frames We Call Memories

2009-09-16T16:48:00.007+08:00

So I'm home early for a change,

since class ended early today.

Finally dug up the old family digital camera since I need to use it
for one of my classes,
Letterform and Calligraphy.

Wanted to focus more on the guy in the center.
Y'know, the one standing up? He's the lecturer for the class,
Gabriel. And he's Swiss, ladies.

This was supposed to be just a shot showing the class, but little miss Bee Lian thought I was taking a shot of her. "Perasan little shorty,"
would be Shaz's comment on it.

And speaking of Shaz...there he is.
He's one of the best in my class in terms of drawing.

And since he's like, the tallest guy in class,
and in contrast Bee's the shortest (okay lah, the cutest too, okay?),
he torments her on a daily basis to our class's amusement.
It's all good fun in the end though.
Unlike how *some* people do it...

Too bad I couldn't get a clear shot of what he was drawing
exactly.

In order:
GC, Sim Yang and Patrick.
Sim and Pat are also 2 of the several classmates I bow my head to
in terms of their Figure Studies drawing,
besides Shaz and a few others.

Melvin (blue t-shirt guy in the middle) having some fun
as the guys share a laugh or two about some jokes
we came up with.
There were too many for me to remember which joke exactly...

We then had to go out and find some pics of
things that resembled alphabets,
like how a lamp post would look like an 'I'.

I thought the lion of Sunway Pyramid looks like a 'r' from this angle.
Whaaaat~?
It kinda does!

Later on...

Bee wanted to try this new restaurant for lunch,
so we went along with
Shaz, GC, Mei Kuan and Ern Nee,
and later visited by Ken and Vincent.

After much hard efforts from me and GC to get a snapshot,
I managed to get one of Channiece with her other half, Boon Sin/Sotong.
Not a very good one, though, as I practically freaked-out when she saw me.

This is one of my experiments in trying to draw old men.
The results were rather okay for me,
since I got a few approving nods here and there for it.

"Why's the rum...always...gone?"
-Captain Jack Sparrow-

Credits go to Shaz for giving me the reference picture for this piece.
It's one of my best by far yet.

And I got a few praises and constructive feedback on this week's submission
and I appreciate them, although a certain party's comments were redundant, to say the least.

Just goes to show that the majority
will always overwhelm the individual
in several situations.

Location Location Location

2009-09-13T02:51:00.002+08:00

Johnson Ting came out with today with a nice little hilarious bit of news.

He had this little IP tracker program for us to have fun with,
and the results were well....
funny.

See, he tossed in his IP address,
and his location result was: Miri.
And he's staying near Sunway currently...

The best part was Jing Ting's location.

The middle of a river.

Yes folks, that program told Johnson that Jing lives in the middle of a river,
though not knowing which one exactly.

There's 3 distinct possibilities.
Either she's a mermaid,
or she has an underwater house
or....
the software's screwed-up.

Now which one's the most probable...

Reclaimed Valor

2009-09-12T22:40:00.003+08:00

Well, the weekeend's fair enough, so far.

I can liberally drive freely again.

Weeee~

*Ahem*, anyway....

It's kinda strange to do this,
but I've got a restaurant to review.

Dragon-i.

It's a Chinese restaurant found in Leisure Mall and Pavilion.

Well, I went there once again tonight, and
only now have I came to realize several things about it.

For one, the waiters there are quite well-versed in the menu.
Why?
Well, one of the waiters today could even estimate how long each individual
dish might take to be done, checking his watch & all that jazz.

Secondly, their billing system is quite well-organized,
to say the least.
I mean, they even show the bill's split-cost for each person,
also known as 'going Dutch'.

And there's this little highlight to it that.
As the another waitress tried to write something on our bill,
her pen popped open.

You heard me right.
The pen popped open as the spring backfired,
and I saw the components flying-off rather...systematically.

=D

Only in Dragon-i, people.

Maybe they'll pay me some form of royalties for this recommendation?

For Shaz

2009-09-08T23:29:00.005+08:00

In case you couldn't find the fanfic about Harry and Hermione,
here's the link, Shaz.

And to anyone who's interested, you can have a go at reading it too.

Just do not insult this coupling.

I am rather serious.

He already pissed me off quite enough.

A Tale of Two Gryffindors

a HarryxHermione fanfic

A Tale Of Two Gryffindors

2009-09-07T23:25:00.008+08:00

Because she stuck with him through everything.

Because they just look so good together.

Because many fans gave admitted that
as much of a genius J.K.Rowling is,
her romantic bits in the novels are just shoddy.

Because they were just too hot for canon anyway.

H.J.P.
&
H.J.P.

Harry James Potter
&
Hermione Jane Granger-Potter

If you're curious, yes, in Western countries,
it's a norm to adopt your spouse's surname into your own,
like so.

Ties That Bind

2009-09-07T23:12:00.001+08:00

Alright people!

Chapter 15 is up!

And this officiates the last day of my 3-week semester break.

This chapter is dedicated to one Trisha Teo,
of whom without I wouldn't have to spend today
typing away to finish this chapter so quickly.

Hehe.

Just kidding, love.

XD

When grown men talk like girls

2009-09-06T02:24:00.001+08:00

"Didn't you at least want to take that time to sow your wild goats?"

"Oats. I'm not much of a sower.
And I kind of did all that anyway with Angela and Lucy before.
No, not at the same time. Get that pervy look off your face."

English, as it is spoken

2009-09-03T22:29:00.004+08:00

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns
down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

AND IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN

PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES AND THE GERMANS, GERMS

So...if someone's half a German and half a Hollander,
so is he a Germ-Hole?

Buku-Muka

2009-08-31T22:46:00.005+08:00

Facebook.

Buku-Muka.

Meh.

As Trisha had found out rather funnily about her Marriagebot woes,
I found mine on another similar app to that.

Crushbot.

Ugh! I want it to be true~!!

Trisha said Marriagebot sucks 'cause
like those other matchmaking stuff,
it's inaccurate asa blind archer after 3 bottles of Johnny Walker (Whiskey).

Well...maybe I can say the same about this thingy.
Still....I can't say I'm not pleased with the results...

Great...now I have another reason to mope about tonight
while doing my Figure Studies homework.
And my reference this time is Rowan Atkinson
who's smiling rather funnily at me....

I wonder how Rose would react if she saw this, eh?

^^

....*sigh*.....

Sad-ness time....

Onions

2009-08-29T18:54:00.002+08:00

Yes, the humble onion.
Under-estimated, it is.
Why?

Here's a small tip about why leftover onions are a reason for FOOD POISONING.

Ed (a nutritionist) says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the
officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the outdoors.
It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES. He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions.
You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.
It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you.
Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll
probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put
on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble.
Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

And here's a little reminder for those of you who have dogs.

Dogs should never eat onions.
Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

As The Skies Begin To Ebb To Gray

2009-08-25T02:46:00.002+08:00

I find myself again,
sitting on this cold rooftop,
glancing onto the sunset that bathes me in its orange veil.

My lips remain pursed as this feeling of melancholy envelopes me,
driving me to ponder many a things.

Of one,
I cannot help but wonder if it is destiny that leaves me to be alone.

I have been selfless many times,
bending myself to whims and requests of many.
I do it willingly, of course,
but the irony of the matter is that,
no matter how many times I want to be selfless,
when I try to be selfish for that ever-so-rare occasion,
I am denied?

Why is it that my heart's greatest desire never goes on fulfilled?
Why is it that every time I fall for another,
I am but broken in the end,
never once succeeding?

Just for once, I wish that I could win.
Just for once, I wish she would accept me instead.

Triggering the Outcome

2009-08-20T16:50:00.003+08:00

Yes folks.
Chapter 14 is finally here!

It took awhile, didn't it?

Jason: What d'you mean awhile?! It's been months, you idiot!

Eric: Dude, seriously. Was work really that hard?

Voon Keong: Hey, guys, give him a break, yeah? It's college we're talking about, remember?

Oh, guess who's the guy in the pic above, yeah?

Weee~

Quite an Interesting Tale

2009-08-19T12:53:00.001+08:00

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.... Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly-dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'

'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.

'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.

'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.

His son's name?

Sir Winston Churchill.

Destiny has a way of tying us all together, doesn't it?

Yesterday's CNN News

2009-08-19T12:42:00.001+08:00

After having dug to a depth of 1000 meters last year, Swedish scientists
found traces of copper wire dating back
1000 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 1000 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Swedes, in the weeks that followed, the English dug to a depth of 2000 meters and shortly after, UK newspapers pronounced: English scientists have found traces of 2000 year-old fiber-optic cable and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech digital communications network a thousand years earlier than the Swedes.

One week later, Malaysian newspapers reported the following:
After digging as deep as 5000 meters in the padi fields of Kedah, Malaysian
scientists have found absolutely nothing.
The M'sian Govt therefore declared that 5000 years ago, Malaysian's inhabitants were already using wireless technology.

Moral of the story : Yeeess...Malaysia Bolehhhhhh !!!

Hahaha....good one, eh?

Rivers

2009-08-18T14:06:00.002+08:00

So the semester break's here,
and I have some free time.
Well, relatively, since I do have some holiday homework.

I have to draw 8 faces.
I was strangely quite enthusiastic to do some work earlier on Saturday,
proceeding to even plan how many drawings I'd split per week.

Man, I've changed since secondary school....

Aaaanyway,
here I am, my tools at the ready, the paper in front of me,
...but I just don't feel like doing this.

Dammit, what's wrong here?

And for those who've been dying for Chapter 14,
I promise y'all it'll be up soon.

Yaksoku.
(Japanese for promise)

=)

Irony

2009-08-15T00:39:00.000+08:00

When you think about it,
it kinda makes sense.
(No pun intended)

Grades

2009-08-15T00:07:00.003+08:00

Well, others have posted their works on their own blogs,
while I haven't.

Well, I never felt like it, actually.
Even if it was good or bad.
Meh.

I blame my phone's camera for this.
It's only an outline for one of our final works for Drawing class,
and I got a star for it. Lol?

I got a 'not bad' comment for this one.
Wee~
The Lancer handles like a dream.
I pose a more intimidating figure when I drive around with it.
I don't get pushed around. People actually make room for me.
Haha.

Like the 2 previous works above, I got a B- for this.
Yanning, the lecturer, said the canister on the left is
'not bad' too. ^^

I never really got to complete her. Maybe I would during the break.

I forgot what's her name. Right now, I'm too sleepy to remember...

This is supposed to be Ronan Keating.

I'm verrry sleepy now...so I'ma gonna sleep.

Goodnight...

Memories in Frames

2009-08-10T21:20:00.010+08:00

As promised, here are more pics of the party,
courtesy of GC.

Vincent's own personal gaming haven.
Jealous-nye~

Us all having fun in his room.

The salad was awesome, as all the food was. Seriously. It was sumptuous!

Ken using Melvin's camera. Goodness, he looks perverted...

Shaz was really happy. Really.

Bee Lian's squeals are the cutest things one can ever hear,
similar to the sweet sounds of mewing kittens.
.....wait...

A baloon charged with static electricity + a small but feisty girl
=
Bad Hair Day.

Bah, this gal looks good in any lighting lah.

Us singing Happy Birthday to Vincent.

"Eh..,.don't take the whole cake ah..."

Typical Vincent dialogue
=)

There, a better pic of Bee if compared to the one
in the earlier post.

Hahaha, Vincent's face was priceless.
So was mine?

There. Another improved version of an earlier pic,
taken from GC's 7.1 megapixel camera.
It's good, but takes forever to upload pics onto the blogger post,
due to a larger size per photo.

It was a beautiful full-moon night then.
We had to take this.

Vincent's house.
Yes, it may not look big from this angle,
but the inner sanctums are roomy,
to say the least.
Don't believe me?
He has 3 Mercedes Benz!
3!

Kok Wai wanted to enjoy just a tad more before leaving.
We couldn't deny him, now couldn't we?
=)