Off to Rio in 2016

For the past 2 weeks, I've been actively following the London Olympics while searching for jobs. As a result, my biological clock as gone wonky due to the 8 hours difference. Anyways, this Olympic Games sure is an interesting one - world records broken, scandals involving doping & match fixing, etc. Eighteen badminton players were disqualified for match fixing & was reportedly suspended from the sport for 2 years.

Despite all that, athletes like Michael Phelps made history by being the most decorated Olympian with 22 medals in which 18 are of gold medals. Usain Bolt, nicknamed "Lightning Bolt" became the first athlete in track & field to win gold medals in 100m & 200m for two consecutive Olympics. My favourite & one of the most beautiful sport, rhythmic gymnastics has its fair share of success story. Evgeniya Kanaeva representing Russian Federation is the first gymnast to defend the title of individual all-around Olympic champion. Watching her performing routine & scoring mostly 29 in 4 apparatus was absolutely amazing. Just look at her physique & beautiful posture~

 

Our Malaysian athletes managed to garner 2 medals - silver & bronze medal for Datuk Lee Chong Wei & Pandelela Rinong respectively. Datuk Lee did put up a good fight with his nemesis, Lin Dan to try clinch the gold medal but however still could not defeat the unbeatable, defending Olympic champion. Still, a silver medal is better than no medal; Datuk Lee made the country proud. Pandelela's bronze medal in the women's 10m platform diving event was a surprise win as competition was stiff. She made every Malaysian proud of her & crafted her name in history by being the nation's first female athlete to win a medal at the Olympics. Congratulations to the both of them for all their efforts to leave an impression in the world arena!

Nevertheless, all good things do come to an end. The 17-day event closed big bang finale which as quoted in Yahoo! Sports - the "symphony" of local flavours. Pyrotechnic firework displays lit up the London sky during the closing ceremony featuring several British stars - old & new. Just to name a few of them who performed include One Direction, Annie Lennox, George Michael, Jessie J, Taio Cruz, Spice Girls & more. Even supermodels Kate Moss & Naomi Campbell made an appearance strutting their stuff on the stage at the centre of the stadium.

The next Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. As part of the formality of each closing ceremony, a brief performance is showcased as a sneak preview to what to expect in the next 4 years. It sure is gonna be an exciting summer Olympics after catching a glimpse of the renowned samba dance by the Brazilian counterpart. I'm definitely looking forward to it~

 

Pics courtesy of Yahoo! Sports & Wikipedia

London 2012

Four years ago, I blogged about the Olympic Games held in Beijing with its spectacular fireworks display & showmanship that was like no other. Now in 2012, London set forth to bring us another grand sporting event. Only not as colossal as Beijing. Despite the looming economic gloom, London still managed to pull off quite a feat.

The different time zone made it rather difficult to catch the live telecast but thank God for repeats, I had the chance to watch the highlights of the ceremony. For a surprise, the ceremony featured Daniel Craig as James Bond & Queen Elizabeth "parachuting" out of the helicopter above the stadium. Don't be too surprised, they're only stunt doubles =P

Artistic direction was led by Danny Boyle with the theme "Isle of Wonder" taking centre stage, celebrating how British contributed to the world from industrial to digital revolution. Picture here below shows children dancing in the British rural meadow scene.

One segment of the ceremony shows how the giant rings joined together to form the Olympic rings with fireworks raining down was quite a visual display. But the dancers dressed in costumes of the Industrial Age moving their arms up & down in a robotic style looked a little disturbing. *shrugs*

Alas, the most important part of the ceremony was the lighting up of the Olympic cauldron. The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which consist of 204 copper petals representing each competing nations attached to a long pipe. Seven young & upcoming athletes selected by the British Olympians lit the petals with torches, thus spreading the flame from one petal to the next. The petals slowly rise upwards to form the cauldron.

Quite a brilliant idea to light up the cauldron~ But I still prefer how Li Ning sprint mid-air holding the torch to light up the cauldron high up in the stadium back in Beijing 2008. Like I mentioned earlier, no nations would be able to match China's enormous scale but albeit all that, London 2012 is still an interesting watch. I mean, which Olympic Games wouldn't be exciting to watch? It's the shortest sporting festival where you can witness so many events in action for 2 weeks. Let the Games begin!

Pic credits to www.london2012.com & The Telegraph

Game of Thrones

Most of you have heard (or may not) the upcoming mini series called Games of Thrones which will be aired next week, 28 August on HBO. Games of Thrones is adapted from the first book of popular fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin.

I haven't read the book yet but after watching sneak preview on HBO, the series seems very exciting. It's an epic tale of kingdoms & war in the Medieval era. It may sound like another Lord of the Rings story but I beg to differ. This series is focused on the human elements sans the magical elements such as wizardry & evil powers, you name it. It's perhaps more brutal & violent in some ways cuz it reveals the dark side of humanity - sex, incestation & slavery.

I supposed all those violent & explicit scenes will never make it pass our censorship board but hopefully the main scenes are still kept to avoid chopping off the plot. Game of Thrones will premier on 28 August at 10pm with 2 episodes back-to-back & do catch upcoming episodes every Sunday at the same time. The series will last for 10 episodes for Season 1. I definitely can't wait~ =D

Depth & realism like never before

The teaser ad came as an attention grabber with only a pair eyes staring out viciously on a FP+FC page on dailies of various languages. Instantaneously, my Dad thought it was some car advertisement trying to create attention of an upcoming big bang launch.

Two days later on 2 Sep, the same pair of eyes appeared again. This time on another newspaper but with something extra - a pair of 3D glasses. If you look carefully, the ad was printed in double image which was supposed to mimic the 3D effect once you put on the glasses provided.

This ad did not just end here. It had a centre spread page revealing the brand new Panasonic 3D Full HD Plasma TV. Use the 3D glasses & you should be able to see the 3D image of the puma jumping out of the TV screen.

Flip to the back page & you'll see the same pair of puma eyes staring viciously - this time with a night safari background. This visual is in 3D too!

Too bad the 3D image wasn't visually stunning cuz this is probably the best newspaper printing can achieve with the ordinary 3D glasses. At least Panasonic had succeeded in communicating the main theme - 3D to the readers. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time such an interesting concept is introduced in Malaysia. It sure is one hell of an expensive ad launch. No wonder they have this exclusively for The Sun. The Star would probably cost a bomb. =P

Farewell Beijing, Hello London

Yesterday marks the end of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. How time flies, eh? The 16 days seemed to pass by in a breeze. After watching the Closing Ceremony last night, I told myself that I'm gonna miss Olympics very much. This is the best Games I've ever witnessed so far with many records broke & new ones made. Coming from a Chinese background, I'm proud that the host country had succeeded in promoting the rich culture for the world to understand more about us. Let's see how the London Olympic Games in 2012 can fare up to the new benchmark set by China. Meanwhile, farewell Beijing 2008! All the memories you have given us will leave behind a legacy in years to come.

Pic courtesy of Wikipedia.org

An extravagant opening

No words can describe how spectacular the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony was last night. How I wish I was there to witness history in the making. The lightings, performances, fireworks & pyrotechnics were absolutely stunning. The beauty of the Beijing National Stadium aka Bird's Nest was simply breathtaking, imho the most uniquely designed stadium in Olympic history.

Photograph by Bullit Marquez/AP

The performances were filled with splashes of colour, depicting China's richness in history & culture. One of the best moments of the opening ceremony was the 1 minute countdown to 8.08pm, the official time for the opening. This is probably the first time the countdown was manually performed by thousands of men while incorporating the modern, state-of-the-art effects reminiscent of a digital countdown clock.

Photograph by Adam Pretty/Getty Images

As you can see here, the drummers are hitting their drums that illuminate light for the man-made countdown. What brilliant idea & awesomeness!

Photograph by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

There were lots more beautiful moments during the ceremony that it would take hours for me to put them here. I think what most ppl are looking forward to most which is the climax of the event - the lighting of the Olympic flame cauldron. Rumour has it that a panda will be igniting the cauldron. Not true! It would've been interesting, really. But it doesn't sound very realistic either reason being the panda is a rather timid creature. Giving that poor little creature the huge responsibility to officiate the event means the organisers are asking for trouble. Here's the fact: Li Ning, Olympic gold medalist for artistic gymnastics was selected as the last torchbearer, suspended mid-air & running around the upper lip of the Bird's Nest while images of past torchbearers from around the world were projected on the walls.

Photograph by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Now that China has set a benchmark for such an extravagant event, I can't wait to see how she lives up to it for the closing ceremony. And it looks like the Chinese athletes are in the head start of the medal tally, battling the Americans. This is definitely the most exciting Games I've ever seen.

The M is back

The MTV Asia Awards 2008 is finally back! Not bigger or better but the fact that it is to be held in Malaysia for the first time. At Arena of Stars, Genting of all places -_-. I began thinking how much the MTV organisers can do from this small venue. It only houses merely 6000 ppl. Been there. Seen it. It's THAT small. The trophy design for award winners was shocking. Simply cuz it's a gold-plated "M" shape bar with the award categories engraved on it. I wasn't very much impressed. Reminded me of a Toblerone bar.

I saw the delayed live telecast on Saturday night. And guess what? The event turned out to be surprisingly good. Though lacking sufficient award presenters, I must say that I'm indeed satisfied with the artiste lineup this time. All the performances were awesome except the ones by Project E.A.R & the collab between Electrico & Stefanie Sun. I'd have to stress that my favs for that night were One Republic & Leona Lewis. Hands down to Leona Lewis cuz she pwned them all. Bleeding Love is not her best song. In fact, Better in Time is 100 times better. Nevertheless, thumbs up to One Republic's main man for such a warm interaction with the crowd. ^^

Did I mention that Jared Leto looks incredibly hot? *drools* I believe not many ppl are buying his rather flat-ish hairstyle but I'm so intoxicated by his puppy-like eyes. They add on to his cool, emo & slightly gothic image. Why didn't I know that he acted in Troy? Oh right. I didn't watch the movie. For the list of winners, log on to mtvasiaawards.com as well as the latest news of the event.

Now if it wasn't due to assignments & upcoming exams, I'd definitely get my ass there. It's the experience that makes the trip worthwhile. The room rates for that weekend were deliberately jacked up, obviously. But if I were to go, I'll just to stay in the more expensive Genting Resort rather than the smaller but not-so-cheap First World Hotel. Ah well, I guess there's always next time. I still have SM Town in Bangkok 2008 to look forward to, right? XD Btw, congrats to the MTV organisers for the event's success. The team made us feel proud as Malaysians. =D

Pic courtesy of mtvasiaawards.com

Britain's Got Talent!

I decided to look up on this new reality TV series, Britain's Got Talent after hearing my friend mentioned about the 6 year old girl who sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow. If this sounds unfamiliar, it's actually a talent search TV show reminiscent of American Idol with 3 judges commenting & scrutinising the participants. Seems like there's no age limit in this competition so practically anyone from all walks of life who thinks that he/she's got what it takes to win can sign up. You can sign up as a group or solo, which is different from the typical idol search shows that we see today.

This talent show doesn't refer to singing alone; it comprises other talents such as dancing, miming, throwing daggers...you name it. As long as it's a special skill that other ppl don't. Do I even need to elaborate further? To sum it all, the show started in 2006 & attracted lots of Brits to attend the auditions. The participants would have to demonstrate their talent in front of the judges & audiences in a hall. Three judges (2 men, 1 woman) in which one of them is Simon Cowell, you can expect lots of nasty remarks from his mouth. Audition process is pretty much similar to American Idol therefore I shall not go over the details.

In the first season, both finalists Connie Talbot & Paul Potts battled it out with the latter emerging as the winner. Connie was the first youngest participant to audition for the show & this has encouraged many kids try out in the following year. Paul, a mobile phone seller; wowed the crowd with his opera singing prowess. Citizens voted for Paul maybe cuz they felt that Connie was still young & had plenty of opportunities to prosper. Her voice was still at the growth stage so there's still lots of time before she matures & develop better vocals. Nevertheless, she still sang really well ^^.

As for the second season in 2007, the two finalists were dancers. Interesting ppl, I would say. I won't reveal much for now as I strongly encourage you to watch them in action in YouTube. The winner was Paul Sampson, 14 year old cute teenage street dancer. His rival was the group, Signature which consists of 2 members. This group really amazed me & after watching the video link below, I couldn't stop replaying it. It's just so hilarious yet entertaining. I even downloaded the video clip to add on to my collection. Do watch it & lemme know what you guys think.

Britain's Got Talent - Signature

Another gruelling week!

Thank God is FRIDAY! Yes...it's the end of the week and soon the start of another week. And here I am typing this blog on my cuzzie bro's comp feeling physically exhausted but my good 'ol brain is still so energetic. Ya know, I'm so prone to this kind of thing especially at night when I'm trying so hard to fall asleep. Anyway, forget bout that. As I promised, I met up with my buddy on Saturday at my sis' school carnival. The carnival was not at all great. The only part I enjoyed was her bubbly presence. With all the stalls set up in the school compound selling food & drinks, it did reminded me of my younger days in secondary school where I used to do the same thing too. So, it was a walk down memory lane again. One thing for sure is to be prepared for the worse food sold in this kind of event. I ordered food at this stall. Apparently they made their classroom to resemble a cafe, something like Delifrance. I thought they would be very well organised with waitresses ushering you to a table. I ordered a meal set from the menu and guess what, I was served with a toasted bread with NO BUTTER. On top of that, there weren't much potato salad left...and I was the unlucky customer to get such a small portion of it.

Me, my buddy and my sis left the school and headed for steamboat lunch. Oh boy, I wished I had more appetite that day because I love steamboat so much! Besides, I haven't had it for ages. After lunch, we were about to leave when a girl approached us to conduct a survey. I agreed to do it since my sis is underage and my friend wasn't interested. I was asked to test a new drink by Sarsi. Somehow, another guy asked my sis to join the survey though she mentioned about being underaged. When they found out my sis wasn't eligible, they called upon they're "leader" (I supposed) to handle the situation. Here is what he said with sarcasm: "Why is this young girl here when she's not supposed to? Oh nvm, I'll let her do it. Hey you, young girl. Next time don't come in & join ok." I was so pissed off with him...I lashed at him: "Your people pulled her in to do it. Do you think she even bother to do?!" He was embarrassed and walked away. Haha! We were asked to answer the questionaires on the paper. They gave me a puzzled look when I answered that I don't take Sarsi drink. There was so much confusion and commotion going on and finally, I was deemed ineligible to do the drink test. My poor friend had to be the guinea pig for Sarsi. Haha! I wasn't pleased though they gave my friend RM5 as a token of gratitude for being a drink tester.

Sunday wasn't a day I anticipated either. So what if it was Mooncake Festival? It turned out to be awful. Both of my relatives ended up quarreling for a small issue and one of them blurted out foul language, cursing away. He left before dinner started. Why quarrel like young kids over a small matter? It's downright dumb to see adults like that. It was hilarious!

A few more days left before my mock exam commence. I'm not fully prepared (as if everyone is prepared). The worst part is I caught flu...darn, I don't wanna get sick. These few days I had no choice and ended up got myself soaked skin deep in the rain. I hadn't had good sleep for a few nights, waking up earlier than I'm supposed to and feeling mentally drained the next morning. I'm gonna be a zombie soon! I need blood! Haha....tonight is Malaysian Idol grand finale. Vote Nita! Type VOTE NITA and send it to 33722.

Time goes by but memories not forgotten...

Whoa! Another week had passed. How time flies...like they said, "time waits for no man". So many things happened this whole week and just one week's happenings is enough to make this blog a lenghty one. I shall start with my ex-boyfriend. It has been days since he left for London to pursue his studies. I wonder how he is doing now. Does he like the place? Sighs, it was really hard for me to let go...how can I possibly do that when he only asked for a breakup 3 weeks prior to his departure?! It was nightmare when I thought back those few weeks when I had to cry myself to sleep each night and waking up in the morning feeling heartbroken again. My two best friends tried to console me but I felt it wasn't helpful. On top of that, I felt they backfired me instead. At this point of time, I was hoping that they would at least supported me that I wasn't wrong and it was my ex's fault for not knowing how to handle the breakup. I was very disappointed...seems like the 3 of them resembled "Pakatan Axis", attacking me one after another. But oh well, it's all over and nothing can be done. My ex already left and he arrived London, safe and sound. Honestly, I cried on the night he left. I guess I was too silly; shedding tears of loneliness and depression for a guy who has already given up on me.

I'm trying to take things easier now...yes, I can try to forgive but there's no such thing as forgetting what happened. Forgive and forget doesn't come as a combo meal. I don't hate the 3 of them because I don't wish to put further strains to our friendship. It was true that I did many mistakes in the past and it was beyond redemption. It was right for my friends to be mad at me because I was a mean girl for betraying and using them just to be with the guy I loved. I've learnt a good lesson...it's always a trade-off between friendship and love. Either one party would be hurt, though unintentional. Just like in the law of economics, it is very difficult to achieve a balance. Was it a mistake to start the relationship? Yes and no. Yes, because I didn't expect to cause so much hurt to everyone around me including myself. No, because I took risks to be with the guy I loved though dating at a young age is strictly forbidden in my family. The relationship was indeed a rewarding experience and even as time goes by, memories will not be forgotten. I will never ever forget the moments we held hands together for the first time in the LRT, sharing our first kiss together and getting all hyped up when we bumped each other at Section 14 because we didn't meet for 2 months. So, NO MORE DATING after this! Graduating with First Class Honours is my ultimate goal. There is no need to have a boyfriend for now. And yup! Me and my ex remained friends...I don't know how far we can go in this friendship. I don't hope much but if we do become best friends, it's a good achievement. It's not impossible to have a long-distance good friend and I already have one.

Guess what, the long anticipated DVD movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is finally OUT! As usual, I didn't have much time to watch the whole movie...and not to worry, I have the downloaded video in the pc. The protagonist, Cloud Strife is so good-looking with his golden blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. I did managed to view a few scenes of the movie but I was already confused...well can't blame...I have forgotten the storyline of the prequel. IMHO, I seriously think Tifa's boobs is too big for her body. Like I said, there is something wrong with her! She's too perfect...I'm so jealous!! Psst...Wira, don't kill me for saying that ok.

Recently, my Dad bought a box of mini ice-creams. Yes, it's miniature ice-creams. Melts in your mouth with one gulp. Lol. Did the Nestle product team run out of ideas to develop new products? My aunt said she didn't feel exhilarating when eating them...because it is so small! Haha more like ice-cream biscuits to me. And I ate a piece of snow-skin mooncake bought from Mandarin Oriental hotel. I seriously have to admit that I'm starting to dislike durian because that whole piece of mooncake contains durian paste which is freaking sweet. I guess they have an infinite supply of sugar from their suppliers...lol. Thank God it's mini size (what's up with these miniature size food?!), if not I'll definitely stay away from durian flavoured food from now on. Talking bout mooncake, this Sunday would be Mooncake Festival. I'm not excited at all...which makes sense because I'm 19 years old now...I don't play with lanterns anymore. In addition to that, I never fancy mooncakes. I only fancied that freaking sweet mooncake out of all the mooncakes sold in the market but I'm starting to hate it. Sunday would be another ordinary weekend...errr wait, it's a freaking weekend! I have to study for stats..arrgggh! And I spent too much time on one question in stats test today, yikes! Bad time management! My friend invited me to Assunta school carnival tomorrow. I think I should go to take a rest from a week's stress and depression.

The battle between the Idols is tonight on Malaysian Idol. I'm really anxious to know who will advance to the finals. Would it be Daniel/Farah, Daniel/Nita or Farah/Nita? Alright...to be truthful, I want Daniel and Nita to be in the finals next week. According to my predictions, Daniel and Farah may proceed to the finals. And the chances are, Farah will be the next Malaysian Idol. Here I am, fully supporting Daniel, the cute 23 year old guy who looks as young as me...I'll vote for him of course but I'm not insane to spend all my cellphone credit on him. :P Go Daniel!! Lol. Okay, here's the final thing I wanna say. I hope to do well in my upcoming mock exam as I'm planning to apply for scholarships to overseas' universities. I know I'm not likely to get any of them...it doesn't matter because I wanna give it a try. If all fails, I'll stay in my good 'ol college to pursue my degree. I know it sucks...but it ain't bad. I hope to post another a new blog next week. If not, it will be two months from now. Till then, jya~!