A Tick on My To-Do List

This semester I'm taking a subject on Interpersonal Skills and Leadership which require us (me and my group mates) to make a poster of our Idol. We decided to take Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister as our model (actually, I'm the one who made that choice for them since I respected him so much and I was a little bit of a pushover in that decision). Anyway, they all agree and the problem solved. So last Saturday, August 1st, Tun Dr. Mahathir attended a forum as a speaker that was held in the National University of Malaysia (UKM) where I was in. I took the opportunity to get more information as well as snatch a few photos for my group project (since I had a morning class that day and I was nearby DECTAR). Here's what I and my parner-in-crime managed to capture ^^v

Details of the forum

I like this pic coz it matches the background ^^

Tun Dr. Mahathir was really friendly though the people were pushy and impatient

I managed to get an autograph from him ^^v it was hectic and I didn't even get to shake his hand but it was all worth it ^___^

I had always been a big fan of him since I was a little girl and a chance of meeting him is not something an ordinary person like me can get everyday. Seeing him in person is one of my dream and it had came true. I will treasure the moment forever and of course put that signature in a frame ^^!

Letters from the Past

I went to my dad's house yesterday to pick up my stuff that he brought back here. Since he's retiring next week and had to move out from the quarters he lived, I have to gather my stuff before he throw them out with other unnecessary things.

The most important thing number 1. is a box full of soft toys that my oneesan and I had collected since we were toddlers. We couldn't give it away since each of them had their story behind it ^^v. Box number 2 is my collection of junks. People may see it as junks, but for me they were all the memories of my younger days.

When I opened the box earlier this afternoon, I saw a tin box inside where I had kept my most cherished item in my life - some letters that my friends sent to me when I was living far away from them.

There are only 6 letters, but they have kept me going all the while when I was struggling alone at a new place

This was from my first best friend ^^v she was the one who made me realize how wonderful the world of anime is

This was from the same person. She would've made a great mangaka. Check out her blog - krrow.blogspot ^^v!

This one is from my one and only best guy friend! I owed him a lot. Even now still ^^v

Haha! This is the longest letter I have ever received! This came from my second best friend (because I met her later than my first one!) She drew a lot of chibi characters inside. -sigh- maybe I only meant to write and not to draw as well as they did >.<

All of these letters were sent to me about 4 years ago, when I was in my final year of high school. I cried, I laughed, I felt envious yet I felt relieved knowing that I'm still at the back of their mind. At that time, I was having trouble adapting to the new place, the new life and their letters - word by word had drove me strong to face the day after the other.

Those letters from the past really meant to me and I can never throw them away even if they turn into pieces of junks.

More Than Just a Butler...

Title: Kuroshitsuji

Creator: Toboso Yana

Genre: Supernatural

My Rating: ****"

Set in the Victorian Era in London, Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) is a story of 12 years old Ciel Phantomhive who made a contract with a demon to serve and protect him until he fulfilled his mission as an exchange for his soul. He named the demon Sebastian Michaelis who posed as his butler. On the surface, Sebastian act as a perfect butler with no flaws at all in carrying his duties. His job includes waking Ciel up in the morning, dress him up, tying his shoelaces, prepare breakfast and so on until he put him to bed at night. Behind the scene, he's more to Ciel's bodyguard since in reality, the Phantomhive family served the Queen as the 'eye' of the underground world.

Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis

As the Queen's 'dog', Ciel devoted his full loyalty towards the royalty despite the fact that his parents were killed by the Queen's people. Ciel and Sebastian took on villains from the underground world (underground world here means mafias, drug dealers and so on, not the other underground world where demon dwells) as ordered by the Queen and he slowly meet his purpose which is finding the truth about the misfortune that fallen onto his family.

Sebastian and Ciel in disguise in order to find out the identity of a possible 'Jack the Ripper' that terrorize London

This anime is a must watch!!! Although some facts (if you're obsessed with Sebastian) are hard to bear, this anime is no doubt one of the best I've seen. [Spoiler Alert!!!] First of all, from the beginning its already set that this anime wont have a happy ending because it is already stated that the contract between Ciel and Sebastian will be over once Ciel get his revenge therefore will surrender his soul to be devoured by the demon in disguise, Sebastian. Putting that aside, the whole story itself is wonderful and no one will get bored with the ongoing suspense and humor. I always like to give compliments to the minor characters because they too, play important roles in making this such an amazing anime. The 4 additional employees of the Phantomhive family; Bard the cook who always burn down the kitchen, Meirin the klutz maid, Vinny the cute gardener with extra powerful strength and chibi Tanaka-san sure cracked me up with their quirks.

"Akumade shitsuji desukara..."

There are some points that I'm not fond of (it doesn't have anything to do with the anime, its just that my taste is hard to satisfy). Of course I would prefer a sweet ending (I have to admit, that I cried - who wouldn't when a cute 13 years old boy's soul are eaten?!). Even though its just an anime, you can feel the emotions. By the way, be prepared to hate the main villain (in my case, I dont hate the alter-ego; I love bad guys after all! KYAA!!!). All in all, I have a very good time watching this. There's only 24 episodes, so it can be finished in half a day. Get ready with some tissues or a handkerchief if you're super sensitive when you watch the ending ^^v

"I'm one hell of a butler..."

disclaimer: thanks to the mangaka who created this wonderful masterpiece. I don't own anything except for the first picture!

p/s: reviews are only for leisure purpose and to fill my free time. thanks for reading and do leave your comments ^^v

The Tennis Supremacy

Title: Tennis no Oujisama (The Prince of Tennis)

Creator: Konomi Takeshi

Genre: Shounen/Sports/School/Comedy

My Rating: ****

TeniPuri (short version of Tennis Prince) basically progressed around Echizen Ryoma, a first year who attended the Seishun Gakuen (Seigaku) and joined the tennis club. To make the short story long (hehehe), his father, Echizen Nanjirou was a tennis pro who suddenly disappear from the tennis world. Ryoma's dream at the beginning of the anime was to beat his own father (who he had never won against). After the experience he went through with the Seigaku team and the memories he built with them, Ryoma finally found a new dream, which is to be the best player in the world.

Seigaku regulars before the captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu injured his left shoulder

top left: Echizen Ryoma, Momoshiro Takeshi a.k.a momochan, Kikumaru Eiji, Fuji Syusuke

below left: Kawamura Takashi, Kaidoh Kaoru, VC. Oishi Syuichirou, Capt. Tezuka Kunimitsu

Happy Times ^^v

This anime had been aired a very long time ago but I never get the chance to watch it until now. I finished 178 episodes in a week! Just imagine how torturing it would be if I were to follow the television airtime. The anime was very nice and good for people who took tennis. But it doesn't mean that those who doesn't like tennis shouldn't watch this. Though most of the times they were talking about tennis, the humor and the plot are very good too. What's more, the characters differs in their personalities which create a unique atmosphere in the anime.

Ryoma and Tezuka Buchou (Japanese for Captain) are somewhat similar in their coldness but Tezuka is mature and very grown up while Ryoma is a bit childish and reckless. There's Inui, who's like a mad scientist always creating bizarre drinks such as Aozu and Akazu. Fuku Buchou (Vice Captain) Oishi as the members put it, the 'okaasan' or mother of the Seigaku team. He worries about the team member's welfare all the time. Kikumaru Eiji is the only one who I think suited the image of a 15 years old school boy. He has cute ways of saying words for example saying "mango, mango" when apologizing (it sounds almost like 'gomen, gomen' when saying it backwards - gomen is sorry in Japanese) and he ends his sentence with 'nyaa' most of the times ( he's portrayed as a cat in the chibi version). Kawamura Takashi is a very peculiar character. I wonder if a person like him exist. When he holds a racket (it also works with badminton racket if if I'm not mistaken) his gentle personality changed and he shout English words like 'burning', 'baby', and 'come on'. Kaidoh Kaoru and Momoshiro Takeshi are rivals from the start. The two will fight whenever fire sparks between them. Kaidoh makes snake-like sound 'fshuu' when he breathes which is hillarious but gave me goosebumps at the beginning (snakes are not my thing). Momo-chan is the closest to Ryoma since they have the same hobby- eating. Lastly, the tennis prodigy, Fuji Syusuke. He appears as an elegant and mysterious person, even the other regulars having hard time figuring him out. He loves drinking Inui's special juice but after having a taste of Aozu, he collapse which was a big surprise to the others. In one of the episodes, he admitted that despite he likes drinking Inui's juice, he loves watching people suffer more.

From left: Tezuka, Fuji, Kaidoh, Kawamura, Oishi, Kikumaru, Momoshiro & Inui

On Skateboard: Duh, Echizen Ryoma

I dont have much complain about this anime but for from the looks of it, only Ryoma and Eiji looked their age (bear in mind that they are junior high schoolers). Tezuka looked and acted as if he's at least 17 years old. Same with the other third years. And some minor characters who are also junior high schoolers even looked like old men (ie. Kabaji from Hyoutei Gakuen). Some tennis techniques are 'out of this world' but I don't want to say more than I have coz I don't play tennis. So all in all, I'm pretty satisfied with this anime. It cracked me up, made me sobbed, and kept me going till the last episode. Banzai for the creator ^^v!



Disclaimer: Do not own anything except the words in length ^^v

p/s: reviews are for leisure purpose only. Thanks for reading and please leave your comments!

Puss in Mailbox

It's embarrassing, but I reached my goal

Don't laugh but this is not a joke to me. Today, my mom left the door open and my kitties got out then went into the elevator. She managed to catch one of them but the other went missing (and where am I when all this happen? I was still in bed). I searched high and low all over this 9 floor apartment where we live. After I went crazy looking for my 2 and half months old Moko, I resorted to what my sister told me to do - make a poster. So I did. the result was like the above. Why are there 3 different positions? Position 1 is to show that he's wearing a red collar. Position 2 is a full shot of his body and position 3 is supposed to be his face (but its hard to see 'cause his face is 'pitch' black! muahaha)

My sister told me to include a reward, which I though was unnecessary (come on, it wont hurt to do something without wanting a reward in return). So, the story continued as I went to look for it once again. I bumped into two girls, who're looking for their cat as well. We went on the 'adventure' together but no luck. I left it all to fate and went back home hoping that someone will call me if they see my cat.

As I was surfing the net (after not feeling like doing so for a while), my mobile phone (which was always by my side) gave a very (VERY) short rang. It was an unknown number and its was only a missed call. I had my hope high. I gave the number a call, but terminate it after a couple of rings because I thought it could be a prank call from some kids who saw my missing cat poster. The same number called again and I picked it up. It was music to my ears when the person calling said that he spotted my cat. I told him to hang on to it while I rushed to the scene.

When he said 'mailbox', I thought that my cat had wandered around the parking basement and got tired then rested at the corner where the mailbox were. I never expected that my cat would be IN the MAILBOX!!! Relieved + surprised, the two gentlemen who informed me about my cat tried to pick the mailbox (there's around 50 mailboxes there - its an apartment, what do you expect?). I told them I'd go check whether there's anyone home (based on the address on the mailbox - the person lives at the same floor as I am) but no luck. The 2 gentlemen walked away as I thanked them. Though my cat was still TRAPPED in the MAILBOX, I dont think I should vandalize someone else's property (though who's SMART idea was it to put a CAT in a MAILBOX!!!)

I decided to wait for the owner of the mailbox. It was somewhat embarrassing standing by the wall when my cat is wailing while people were going in and out of the elevator (he's been trapped there without food or water for more than SIX hours, who wouldn't?!). I can't just stand and wait. The structure of the mailbox were kind of loose so I can pull the steel out to make some room for my cat to go through. He's wasn't being co-operative with me. Then I found out that he could move from one mailbox to another (some space for him to slip into the mailbox beside).

I got him out from the second mailbox from the left at the bottom row

Is it really true that black cat means bad luck? I think mine is a pretty lucky one. He slipped into a mailbox which the one on top was unlocked. So now, more space for him to go through. I pulled out the loose structure of the mailbox adding the space from the unlocked one above, I pulled him out with my other hand. It was hard, and I almost gave up because I didn't want to hurt him. I gave him instructions (in Japanese - but I doubt he would understand even if its in English) and OUT he goes!! I was thinking a little bit punishment would be a good reminder, but I was so happy that I hugged him instead (that cat is reaaaallly lucky I didn't wrap him in my wrath).

Home Sweet Home

So, that was the end of The Advanture of Puss in Mailbox. I don't think I'd let ANY of them to go out for a day of adventure EVER again!

p/s: the person who locked Moko in the mailbox was lucky he didn't leave him any thank you 'gift' ^^v

One 'Hell' of an Anime

Title: Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae

Producer: Aniplex & Studio Deen

Genre: Supernatural/Angst

My ratings: ***

After the prequel and sequel came the final part of the Jigoku Shoujo trilogy- Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae. Well, I dont think I need to explain much since most people know how the story goes. A person who holds a grudge and accessed the 'Jigoku Tsusshin' at midnight then enter the name of the person they begrudge will be given a 'wara ningyo' (vodoo doll) by Enma Ai, the Jigoku Shoujo(Hell Girl). If the person pulls the red string on the doll, the person they begrudge upon will be send to hell immediately. However, they too will go to hell after they die.

Yamawaro in straw doll form - kiro no wara ningyoo (yellow vodoo doll)

In Mitsuganae, there are new additions to the main characters. A boy called Yamawaro became Enma Ai's new assistant apart from the regulars Wanyudo, Hone Onna and Ichimoku Ren. Not to forget the obnoxious Kikuri is there too but this time I'm giving her presence a credit for giving the anime a slight humor. A girl named Mikage Yuzuki, a junior high school girl became the host for the jigoku shoujo after Ai entered her body. Because of that, every time Ai need to send someone to hell, she will be released from Yuzuki's body as if she's a butterfly breaking free from a cocoon (I mean literally).

scenes from Jugoku Shoujo Mitsuganae

-In the second frame, Ichimoku Ren was the one holding the mop and the naked boy is Yamawaro

- The next frame was Hone onna with the cocktail drink

- The very first victim sent to hell is the school teacher in the next frame

- In the last row of the first collumn was how Ai released herself from Yuzuki's back, like a cocoon

I'm not telling about the rest of the story, you have to find out yourselves. For me, this is the first and the last time I will watch this anime. I think the first and second series is better than this third one. Most of the time I skipped the time Ai make the deal with people who accessed the Jigoku Tsusshin and how she break free from Yuzuki's body. Its the same every episode. The grudge is getting more and more insane every time which made me sick. There are quite a few of shoujo ai element between Yuzuki and Ai as well as a few other minor characters so this is definitely not the anime for me.

The story line is hard to understand sometimes and the reason for a person to send another person to hell can be very vague. This is not an anime you want to watch if you wanted to get your mind off something. The message this anime trying to convey is heavy and to be able to understand it a person need to think critically. It's actually very good seeing that it reflected the world we lived in today. I only recommend Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae to those who are looking for inspiration or need a food for thought. The moral values are there, its just that this anime is not for fun. Be prepared to be angry with the characters ^^v


disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Jigoku Shoujo trilogy.

p/s: reviews and comments are for leisure purposes. Happy Reading ^^v

Workaholic Blues

Title: Hinotori Hataraki Man

Creator: Moyoco Anno

Genre: Drama/Slice of Life

My Ratings: ***

This anime main character is 28 years old woman named Matsukata Hiroko. She's an editor for a magazine called shukan JIDAI and is a total workaholic who will go into a 'working man' mode (working man is a direct translation of 'hataraki man') to get her job done. She is very passionate about her career. However, because of her busy schedule, her life is turning upside down. Her boyfriend of 4 years, 28 years old Yamashiro Shinji were as much as a workaholic as she is. This has created a crisis in their relationship.

Matsukata Hiroko

This anime portrayed the struggle of a working women and also shows the support of people such as Matsukata's desk-editor and her co-workers as well as her boyfriend. Overall, its an 'ok' anime. The humor is not really there, conflicts aren't that heavy, nothing much about the romance (accept that its clear that Matsukata Hiroko is in a relationship). There is no fantasy depicted unlike the usual anime theme. I would recommend this anime to those who is not a hardcore fan (those who like to watch drama, this would be good). All in all, I didn't regret buying this anime (since I bought it half-price anyway) and I dont dislike it. The message is quite clear and direct to the point.

disclaimer: I do not own any part of Hinotori Hataraki Man except for the picture of the DVD (and also the DVD in the picture) that I bought with my own money ^^v

p/s: The review is for leisure purpose and only my POV. Thanks for reading ^^v