Simple Little Fibs

So I’ve been on many many many silly adventures, since I’ve last posted.

Went to Genting about a week ago and it was a lot of fun, my gosh. We didn’t get to explore most of the outdoor park (and consequently, didn’t get to go on many of the rides either), since it was raining, but we had a lot of fun fagging about the Indoor park and mall place.

And you know what? I honestly loved the cool weather up there, reminded me of San Francisco, and also the silliness that entails the Malaysians XD

See, we can understand Malaysians adapting better to the humid climate, I mean, I know as Malaysians, we throw snickers at the silly tourists who wear those ridiculous shorts and wide-brimmed hats and tank tops, and a backpack possibly filled to the brim with waterbottles, mosquito repellents and sunblock.

As a Malaysian who has dealt with cool weather, however, I couldn’t help but snicker at Malaysians who were outright wearing WINTER GEAR up in the Highlands. I could understand feeling cold in your short shorts and tees, I know I would, I went there with a sensible cardigan, some woolen tights, a scarf and some boots. When I see the dainty Asian girls with their parkas and hoodies and fur-lined and godawful Ugg boots, I near cried from laughter. I could understand a bit of over-preperation, it can get chilly up there and it would be most uncomfortable to walk around in nothing but your knickers, but really? Throw on a sweater and some proper shoes and you’ll be fine.

However, despite some over-prepared Chinese girlies walking about in and out from the casinos and abundance of Chinese restaurants, I couldn’t help but wonder what on Earth silly girls were walking about with mini skirts and flimsy peasant tops were thinking.

It was such a nice trip though, get out of the house, head to the border and just have good-clean fun <3 Arrived at First World at about 8 am? Most of the rides and shops weren’t open, so we decided to roam around a little and had some breakfast at Marrybrown’s. Their chicken is amazing, their nasi lemak, however, left much to be desired :p

I think we spent most of our time in the Ripley’s Museum of Facts and Oddities! which, is really really cool, if you like anything that involves brain teasing and optical illusions X)

I had a lot of fun though, even if the rides were a little on the kiddy-side X) We did stop by for coffee and cheesecake at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf <3 Also, managed to snag myself some Blush! lingerie heehee! We’re gonna go back up there, possibly with more of our friends, since it seemed like a lot of the outdoor rides catered to 4 or more people > w>

It’s just nice though, to plan a little daytrip and get away from it all <3

more photos here

So yes, lovely trip <3

Hey loves :> Been having bouts of The Sims 2 (which explains the header at the top of this post here) and driving what little energy or will I have left, throwing screenshots from the game into Photoshop and turning them into graphics that would make a scene kid blush.

Not much has gone in the way of activity for me, other than hanging out with returning friends and painting the town red. I saw the ab-fab RIYA yesterday, much fun, hanging out with Reza, Shaun, Mad and two of their friends (whose names I didn’t manage to catch!). Fun, as in stoner movies and breaking pieces off bass guitars :p

Today, caught up with Fizzy and a few others, which is always, always nice, because I *love* that boy’s mind and the conversations we have. We go from mature and philosophical to childish and petty the next, haha. Peppered with some scantilating humor and a dose of black/dry humor > w> He told me about his trip to Myanmar, showed me pictures, really nice :> If he had asked me waaaay before hand, I wouldn’t have minded and gone along with him (parental units seem to approve of the idea when I casually brought it up).

My seeing him, however, did not have me empty handed though!

Elaborate, heavy, colorful and straight from the heart :> Definitely a perfect gift XD And that silly bird was worried about me not liking it, pshaw

Was definitely a good day though :> For a while I was sitting around the house practically moping how I wasn’t really doing anything (I wasn’t!) and how I wanted to go out more often. It’s something of a dying wish, you see; when I first got my license and a car of my own, I thought how insanely cool it would be to drive out whenever I so pleased and see my friends and have a blast out in the town or in the hidden corners of Cyberjaya. But… reality is radically different than fiction :p Often times, I’d forget that my friends were of the international persuasion, and thus, were often jetted back to their homelands. Those who were local usually made plans with family/friends for trips (leaving me out of it).

I can’t say that the holidays haven’t gone without reason though; we’re doing some home improvements around the house (finally!) and there was a mention on fixing up bedroom, since we’re done with the bathrooms. I’m definitely gonna enjoy the trip out to IKEA, I know it’s silly, but I just love looking at the little show space in the stores and how everything’s set up. New furniture is always fun and now I’m getting that excitement without having to move out! Haha.

Also, the amazing thing about having a literate boyfriend is that, whatever he says on a whim or in his faux-philisophical highness, often times inspire me XD He’s done so already in the past.

Let’s see what happens, eh?

Love

So I was listening to this song by Little Jackie called ‘The World Should Revolve Around Me’, and seriously, I’m loving the Motown and Hip-Hop beats thrown together and making this rad new sound Mad props to them, definitely gotta watch out for these two!

Got new art up! Check it out:

Funny thing about this one, I got an SMS from a certain, notorious someone; being the lovable idiots that we are, we exchanged messages in this faux, intimidating, death-has-warmed-over Romeo and Juliet deal.

Then I started sketching this out and just finished it all in one sitting :v
I realize I stopped with the whole refined lineart for my more personal works, the drawing flows SO much better this way and I can be messy and sloppy all I want, you don’t know how satisfying it is to see the work come together so nicely :>

Though, despite enjoying getting comments on my piece, I really second guess myself whenever I post on the CF boards. Most of the members there are nice, it’s just that there are two certain parties there who THRIVE on negativity; always critisizing the pic without actually telling the artist what’s wrong, how it can be fixed and instead, go straight to slamming the artist for not being good enough (when they’re mediocre artists themselves).

Ah, the other side of Malaysians. Oh well, any publicity, is good publicity as they say XD

Ohai! I get to keep my scholarship, so that’s always a good thing

Today’s Poupee:

So the system wasn’t wrong, it turns out :\ I got my result slip today and they seem to keep within the regular 4-point grading system, the numbers I got alongside the grades, were actually all the credits I got within the module. Which, by the by, I scored full marks on all the credits in all my modules, meaning I passed rather well, I was just off the mark by literally, less than a quarter. Sucks loads, but my mom and I are going down tomorrow to see what we can do about this. I’m going to stay positive, though, wish me all the best guys!

IN OTHER NEWS…
Wanted to go to Youth09, meet up with some cool peeps and old friends but… bleh, I didn’t! But we’re slowly doing some home improvements around the house, getting rid of old furniture and fixing things up. We’re starting with the bathrooms and I have to say, giving the entire place a good scrub down makes it so much different, we even gave it a new coat of paint just because XD Can’t wait for the whole house to be finished up :>

Next up is my room, was thinking of painting the room a bluish-green, with some wall decals from WhatIsBlik.com :>

So yes, some very awesome stuff, they can be removed and placed elsewhere if/when you need to and they come with a really nice price. I’m looking at Undoboy’s Dreamland, 8-bit Sprites and Space Invaders, definitely looking forward to this

Oh hey and fashion spoils, can’t recall if I mentioned this, but a while back I went to MidValley with my mom and brother for ‘just-because-we-can’ shopping’ and I found myself this cute little dress from Niichi

Absolutely love dresses :>

Till next time…

Inspiration is annoying. Just a small rant:

It comes when you least expect it and you can really only enjoy it when you catch it in the right moment and have every positive energy and fiber in your body focused on it. You want to make something out of nothing, you want to put that image that was graciously put in your head straight onto a surface somewhere, anywhere; post it note, scrap paper, Bristol board sketchbooks, anything…

And when you LOSE it because your mind and body temporarily focuses on something else, you become a monster of yourself.

See, for days now, I’ve been crying, ranting and raving over how I never had the drive to do anything art-related and I really wanted to do a finished piece, something personal, to get my head out of all the commissions (which, I should finish). I just need something to do, something for my personal enjoyment, you know?

Then, it hit me. I had this strange, but gorgeous, picture that just APPEARED in my head, out of nowhere, really. I quickly sketch it, throw it in the scanner for Photoshop and then as I put the first color of what was to be a melancholic picture of a ballerina-woman-thing…

…

… my mom starts complaining that I forgot to take the laundry up It wasn’t a lot, either, so when I got up to placate her (nagging is never kind on the ears) and came back, BAM!

The picture in my head? Gone. The dull colors? Gone. The sketch that was now looking at me on the screen? Looked strange and alien to me, I tried my best to start it off again, but I just -lost- that drive.

-sigh- It’s easy to relate these things to my sister, because she KNOWS, she’s does art as well. And really, I told my mom I was busy and that I would get to it, but… I don’t know. I wish I could tell her, “I just brainstormed the most awesome picture in my head and if you let me finish that ridiculous little chore that can be rectified at a much later time, you would have my eternal gratitude.”

Then she’ll argue that I won’t make money that way and people would backchat me due to my lack of housekeeping skills. This, this is why I don’t believe in traditional Asian values mothers push to their daughters :\

New Year’s isn’t as Old anymore!

Well, it looks like 2008 has ENDED! Thus, marking the start of 2009, a clean slate, another chance at life, whatever you want to call it. For me, it’s just another year for me to get older :p I’m keeping low expectations for the year, so I don’t get hopelessly disappointed when we usher in 2010.

The year has been a little bit kinder than most, though I can’t say nothing bad or boring happened. I’ve had a few shining gems for 08 though, so let’s have a round up and see what happened:

• Melaka Roadtrip
  The sole reason TheGang™ is so close ; w; It was a two day trip, in a small, historical state, staying in a tiny (but comfy) hotel. On the first day, I think we pretty much covered the entire state, going around seeing all there was to see, when we got back we all just hung out by the pool talking until we were on the brink of passing out. The next day we found a small beach and headed out to Jonker Street :3
• Oh hi! I can has boyfriend?
  I won’t lie, this is definitely a highlight right there ; w; I’ve had a thing for this guy for a while now and it was, initially, very, very harmless (the whole “Oh wow, that guy’s fun to look at and he’s in my class”). All the same though, I hope we could be together for a long time, he’s a really sweet guy ?
• LOMA?
  This happened at the last leg of the 2nd semester •?• I remember going out every Saturday with Steve, Lisa and Fizzy to his grandma’s house in the morning, to his old school until the afternoon, then wasting time at KLCC. Once we were over that, we would all pile up at his place in Cyberia, finish up what needs to be done while movies played in the back.
• Surviving the 3rd Semester
  They weren’t kidding; the 3rd semester (the start of our first years as designers and gone with being foundation kids) is definitely hard. Foundation was a cinch, really, because everyone had different talents in different fields, everyone could manage a good grade one way or another. However, being all piled into one class as Professional Designers, we’re all put under the microscope, and I honestly felt the pinch. It was really frustrating to see others come up with better/crazier/awesome designs than me, but it was also bitter inspiration for me to do better and put them back in their place
• Meeting up with old friends, making new ones and cherishing existing ones
  Now, please excuse the cheesiness of it all, but this one, I cannot lie about. Facebook is a scary powerful tool; I met up with old friends of mine from schools I’ve been to, and after talking to them online and face-to-face, I’m just washed with this… feeling. I saw them as kids, some I’ve hated, some I wanted to be friends with, some I didn’t care about, but after seeing them again for so long and seeing how they’ve grown up? I don’t know, it’s just a strange feeling, really. Another mention was that I’m closer to Diva, Riya and Zaty, who were previously, ‘hi-bye’ acquaintances at best <3
• Forgiven
  I’m such a proud little thing, really. There were a few people I honestly, couldn’t bring myself to hate even more, no matter how much I tried. No, hate is too strong a word— “dislike” fits better. But anyway, there were people who I could look at 30 miles away and I would be suffering a great deal of disgust and unexplainable fury. Now though, after acting like a decent human being, it’s surprising how a few small changes can make someone more appealing.

That’s enough of that :Y

Artstuff!

You know, I think I’mma gonna start a doujin. Now, before you raise your hands and tell me, “Amanda, shut your face. You keep saying you will and you’ve never really finished one.” I’ve had this idea stuck in my head for… years? I’m a HUGE fan of Guilty Gear. Never had I been so… drawn(?) to a game. A fighting game of all things D:

But I will Though I’m wondering if I should post bits of it and sell it? Or just put the whole thing up?

ALSO! Found this super trippy video, an ad campaign for Louis Vuitton ; w;

Okay, so on the 20th (which dates that on a Saturday), I went to Sunway with the family to head on over to ComicFiesta, like I do every year. The only difference being is that I’m not exhibiting since my group didn’t have the time or energy to pull through doujins AND school work.

ComicFiesta was more like ComicSiesta :\ The event hall was definitely a step up from last year’s, but the layout was a bit awkward; I had a hard time trying to find the artist’s booths. Which was also a let down, all I saw were Vocaloid, Haruhi Suzumiya and overdone goth-lolita items. Nngh! Wasn’t all that fun.

BUT I got some new art, well.. I got around to putting them up so :’D

Did this when I was super bored!

“… but when spoken softly is never heard.”

Just some pretty lyrics that have little to no semblance to the post :’D Anyway, I know I promised pictures, but oh my god after a few eventful happenings the night before, I’m honestly in no mood to do anything. In fact, I dare say I’m shell shocked.

Anyway, as it turns out, Diva isn’t going to stay here for long, which makes me really sad, because I thought I could hang out with her in Cyber and just go out to Times Square and be fab-o together. She’s leaving the day after tomorrow, which makes me a sad cat :c I also have a feeling that a certain someone’s going to be leaving very very soon, so I think I’ll see them both tomorrow. I can’t begin to tell you how it feels with this sudden loneliness settling in so fast.

But I have some art I found in my sketchbook! I really want to finish a huge, full illustration; I miss that satisfying feeling.

I really hate to be the little person shouting big things, but I don’t want art to become another sell-out thing

Happy Days
So, over in the magical realm of Livejournal, I was tagged by the most notorious Sagani (a member of my doujin circle), she tagged me with the question of “What made you happy today?”. Now, aside from the very casual and friendly, ‘How’re you today?’ gig, I smiled when I read that question, because I thought back on the day to what made me happy; spending some time with those who I care about, sharing laughs and acting goofy and silly. Really, there’s no better way to do it than watching silly shows/movies and painting risque women on a wooden board

So yeah, I’m glad she asked that question, and one I’m going to ask back; what made you happy today?

PayPal issues worked out
Well, as it turns out, my bank hasn’t allowed the use of debit cards online  yet, which does frustrate me, really, because here I am with a PayPal account and no bank account linked to it (which I should do soon). In any and all case, there were talks of me getting a credit card as well, which is awesome sauce, because now I really have no excuse of, “Uhm… I was out of money?”. And it does make my inner shopaholic/fashionista (I could never tell those two apart sometimes) twitch at the fingers even more, haha.

PC Fair
Going to KLCC tomorrow to head out to the coveted PC Fair which I keep missing year after year. And this time, I’m getting myself a small digital camera (that hopefully would be able to take pictures as well). I like recording moments and sharing them with friends, and honestly, they make for good nostalgia. Remember the days when the family would gather round and watch home videos? I love those moments and it’s such a sad thing to see it go like that.

So while it’s not quite gathering at the couch in front of the TV trying for the life of you to figure out how to connect the camcorder to the TV, I think uploading it from a USB cable and a little editing here and there would make it otherwise presentable for Facebook/blogging uses ;D

Pointless, adorable things!
Check it out, look what I found online! Pixel Art <3 Really cute stuff and affordable too, I’m thinking of getting the Mario Mushroom, but in a bigger size so it would look better on a necklace! I’ll have to drive to Sunway Pyramid to pick it up from her (apparently, she doesn’t deliver via mail), but I wouldn’t mind, it’s a delicious piece of art!

There are a lot of people who frequent and are members of these notorious social networking sites; Friendster, MySpace, meebo, Habbo and the biggest one today, Facebook. And I’m pretty sure most everyone knows the dreaded little thing called ‘friend requests’.

I’ve always wondered why complete strangers or a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend would request to be listed in your friends list? (that was, by the way, a redundant sentence)

Has anyone ever wondered this? I guess I’m the sort of person who would only accept these requests if I’ve known them a great deal and know we have common interests. On more occasions than I’d care to mention, I’ve received these requests from the most random set of people. I don’t know what goes through their minds when they click on my username and ask if we could be friends, despite not knowing each other. Don’t pull that “Oh, they must think you’re pretty” line on me, because I honestly don’t believe you ;D

Or maybe I’m just not game enough or really don’t care that I don’t have 500 friends listed :’D

I’m starting up a line of pin-up like pictures to be sold via DeviantArt’s print service :3