I [had] a dream(???)

No, wait, sorry, rephrase that; 'nightmare'.

It was... supremely terrible. Ended up a really anxious since then...

Very hard to describe, but it was genuinely just horrible. Everything seemed decrepit and spooky all alone and it seemed cold, though this was during sleep. Something about a dead guy's abandoned upstairs apartment and exploring it in silence... buh that's all I remember ):

Woke up and was sweaty instead. AC was turned off, turned out. Really bizarre :\

In other news.

...

Rainy season continues on 'till who knows when.

It's actually quite lovely as a break from constant daytime heat~ =)

'cause without it, Brunei may as well become a new desert (hahaha!). (But I guess it'd be cool to live in a desert for a little change, y'know?)

Finished Memoirs of a Geisha a week or so ago, too. Splendid ending. :'D

Might spend weekend digging out the movie and watching it. :p

What a boring post.

Check the next one for picture scans. Currently drawing neat stuff atm :D

DVD stuck in Macbook? I gots tips to help! :D

Okay, so this was a pretty new (and infuriating :\) experience for my Mac's [super] hard drive. :s

You know, you just happen to watch a new DVD or burn/listen to a CD and it just won't spit it out when you've tried to push 'eject' at least 20 times [in a row].

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU-

Well, no fear! I have some help for that:

Tip 1: reboot, click.

Reboot your Macbook. As soon as you hear the opening chime, click straight away (works for both trackpads and USB mice). This should force-eject the CD.

Tip 2: 'drutil tray eject'.

If that fails, try going to 'Applications' -> 'Utilities' -> 'Terminal'.

Then type in drutil tray eject and press enter; from here it should try to force-eject. (You can try as much as you like; it shouldn't stress the Macbook.)

Tip 3: card jam

Try to reach for a thin-thick card of some sort (credit cards work best, but since I don't own one, I just took a bookmark instead). Press the 'eject' button, and just jam it in there until you feel it against the CD, and try to drag it out.

Tip 4: tilt, card-jam

This worked for me.~ Pick up the laptop and tilt it at a 90-degree angle, then shove in a piece of card during 'eject' until the force lets the CD drop out a bit, and pull it out the best you can. This should work if the above don't.

I don't know what else there is to it; if all else fails, then try to search for more on Google or take it to a repair shop. :s

If shoving in with a piece of card, don't do it forcefully, since this might just wind up in scratching the CD (not good). Fortunately, my DVD doesn't seem to be scratched badly after more than 30 tries :'3

Strange for a post of mine, I know, but I felt like it, since I hear more people complain about this recently. e.e;

4-day term break = bs.

Indeed.

Including CNY, that's just plain unfair :\

Well, at least the next half of term's gonna end a day after my birthday (YYY)

Also continuing 'Memoirs of a Geisha'.

Really getting to the peaks of the story~

After that I think I'll read 1984 again, then review.

Nothing much else...

Except, I've been messing with ants and bugs recently.

I like to group them up and feed sugar cubes to them with tweezers.

It's so... amusing c':

~Book review~ Memoirs of a Geisha

Okey dokey~ I just wanna spend a second to say I lurve reading. :D

I'll be making occasional posts on stuff I've read/am reading.

NOTE: I'll now be posting creepypastas on random days. Not (necessarily) Saturdays. Sorry...

And now for the review (excuse the geeky English, but I'm just practicing to brush up on this):

Memoirs of a Geisha really goes into utmost depth concerning the life of a Japanese girl who goes by the cute name of 'Chiyo' . Once a member of Yoroido, a poor fishing village, she then ends up being taken away from a person with whom she had trust for and winds up becoming a maid, then trains to become a geisha, in the town of Gion in Kyoto, where many geisha thrived.

So far, so supremely stupendous- the author makes the story seem as though they have experienced it themselves. (Whether because the story is also in first-person perspective, I don't know, but it's very convincing nonetheless).~

The only little hiccup here is that the author isn't Japanese, but American.

The story contains details and descriptive facts on factors of traditional Japanese life that know no bounds; most are very inspiring and teach something new, such as that nightingale droppings were used as a sort of base cream when applying make-up upon a geishas face (no joke!).

It also tends to really pull heartstrings in certain moments. There are numerous deaths that occur (but I won't tell them here, just to not spoil the story for anyone :3).

Although I've yet another half to cover, the tale is getting all the more interesting and engaging to uncover. The fact that it's a genre concerning Japanese history (manga/anime is a little too... ovverrated right now, doncha think?) stirred in with memories told form a real-life retired geisha, named Nitta Sayuri, was what made me have the urge to read it.

WHOA, MAMA!

What a review. D':

But tbh this really is a super book. Do give it a read sometime =D

Next post will be on updates.

Singapore Dec. '10: trip blabber

FINALLY,

found that damn USB connector for my phone.

Now for trip info :D

Lack of hotel rest/freetime and neverending rush times stopped me from taking barely many pictures at all :c

Ain't that just annoying.

But thank GOD the Singapore Flyer has its benefits (YYY)

Take a peek below for some thought of what it's like:

^ Below our feet. (Nearing the end)

I just wanna go pick up all those little cars down there :c

Oh fudge, forgot the name of that place.

Pretty inventive for a high-rise building, no?~

Photo fail ;-;

This was taken on a bus. Couldn't get any good nighttime views :\

Looks like an invasion of flying fluorescent macaroni pieces~

Hm. But it was a pretty fruitful trip.~

Got a luggagebag's worth of stuff from presents/shopping.

Maybe more photos next time.

Oh, and 1/24 of the year has already passed by, seeing as today is 16th of January :p

Oh, wow, faked much, eh?

Freaking zodiac sign hype was a fake after all, eh.

It really was just the sidereal put in place of the western zodiac .-. Pff.

Hmm, I always liked learning about astrology-type stuff.

...I know it's not all true. It is obvious :\

But its nice to see how signs can relate to people, y'know?

And to draw them is kinda fun.

I don't get how it can be really that boring... its good to imagine stuff sometimes.

Being too materialistic can get dead boring (literally).

Aaaaand now for the post block:

CREEPYPASTA STORY TIME!

I now declare every Saturday to be creepypasta submission day. c:

Just to get your attention span up and running again .w.

Here's a good one I always found pretty neat:

MOONLIGHT FILMS

In many stores and establishments that provide videos of a less than savory manner, a business card is kept. Some stores keep it well hidden, locked in a safe, and will deny its existence. Others will show you if you ask for it by name. None will have it displayed in the open.

On this card is a name, "Moonlight Films", and a contact number. It is always a local number. Go to any payphone in your city and dial the number. The answer will be prompt but all you will hear is silence. Wait thirty seconds. Then you will be served.

A dry, monotone male voice will ask you a question: "Is the road from life to death dark?" The correct response is: "It is moonlit."

If you answer with anything but the correct reply, he will hang up on you. If you fail the first time, I'd suggest not trying again. But if the question is answered properly, the man will say one address in your city and then hang up.

Go to this address and you will find that it is a small, dingy apartment. The carpet will be dirty, the wallpaper flaking and wrinkled, the windows cracked. It will smell of tobacco smoke and decay. On the stained old coffee table there will be a paper bag. On this bag your full name will be written in red sharpie.

Open the bag and you will find an unlabeled video tape. Take it and place exactly $10.99 in the bag then leave.

You can watch the tape if you like, but you don't have to. I warn you: it's not pleasant. You will see a room or chamber papered in dessicated skin, the furniture will be crafted from flesh and bone. The tape will last approximately 32 minutes and will depict the murder of a person and the subsequent crafting of their body into furnishing -- lampshades made of skin, tables made of bone.

After renting the tape for one week, you must return it to the apartment by sliding it through the mail slot when the time is up. After that, never return to the apartment and definitely don't call the number ever again.

I'd also suggest you not keep the tape more than a week. The owners will not be satisfied with a mere late fee -- and you know, a good home can never have enough accessories.

Creepypicture above ain't mine.

But ain't it cool? TvT

It'd be nice to draw like that. The style's so fitting~

New (Late) Wallpaper Horoscope series!~

.: January 2011 Wallpaper (Capricorn) :.
Measures: 1024x768
Click to enlarge + save to use

Was in an artistic mood...
And this time I'm going to make a whole year's worth of calendar wallpapers c:
Already working on February (Aquarius)!~

They'll be released a couple days before the new month. 'cause this one was late .-.;

Feel free to use! :D
Even if you're not a Capricorn.
I chose it 'cause it sticks around for most of the month. Same for all other signs;
Aquarius takes last bits on Jan to most of Feb, Pisces follows on from Feb to most of March and blabber blabbuh blahblah yeah.

In other news.
Sports day later this week.
This calls for immediate massage scheduling ASAP. o:|
Athletics is NOT my thing.