Acapella... and other stuff

Hey everyone! Just noticed that I have not posted anything on this site for more than half a year and thought that I should just give a brief update on everything that's happening. Can't believe that it has been that long since I posted something on this site. Can you believe how fast time passes? I certainly can't. Especially since it felt like just yesterday I stepped foot into secondary school and now i'm currently in my last few months of it.

First things first, this year there'll be a major examination for me and it's definitely not like the past exams that I have mentioned. This exam will more or less determine our future like what we want to do and such. It's far more important than the previous ones and I'll really have to go all out if I want to achieve great results in this exam. My strategy is to just study consistently and not leave anything to the last minute. Which honestly is quite hard to do since it has already become a habit but where there's a will there's a way right? I'd also have to discipline myself so i'll probably try to be more on time with my updates. Change needs to happen and it needs to happen now before it's too late.

Anyway, I did not start writing this post to rant about my exams, i'm here to share my experience with you, the readers. Just in six months, so many things have happened. I have been to two concerts, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. The first concert that I went to is an Ed Sheeran concert and you cannot imagine how happy I was when I found out he was coming here. I absolutely couldn't believe it. This guy is definitely my favourite singer/songwriter and getting the chance to see him perform live was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. He just puts so much soul into what he's performing whether it's a slow song or an upbeat song or even rapping, this guy practically nails it all. Who knew that just a guy with a guitar and a loop pedal could be so mesmerizing once he hits the stage, it's amazing. Also, from his concert, I realized that there's a difference between just being a performer and an entertainer. Sure, you can go up to a stage and perform a couple of songs but to entertain people with what you're doing, that's not something everyone can do. So, kudos to you Ed. I aspire to be like you someday, so humble and talented.

I mean just look at him, it's amazing.

Besides Ed's concert, I also decided to go for something different and went to catch Pentatonix live. If you have not heard Pentatonix yet, I urge you to go listen to them now. They're a really really cool acapella group consisting of only five members; Scott, Mitch, Kirstin, Avi and Kevin. They are all extremely talented at what they do and are especially talented vocalists/beatboxer, I wish I could sing as well as they do. They were so good til' I actually started to doubt if they were actually singing live. It was just absolutely incredible and amazing. Plus, the acoustics at the set were just phenomenal and I was honestly very fortunate to have stood so close to the stage. It was definitely an experience that I would not forget anytime soon. Have high hopes for them to come back here and perform for us again.

If you have not heard (or would like to hear them again if you have heard them) here's one of my favourite arrangements by them:

That's basically all there is to say now. There's probably more to be said but it'll be too long to fit into this short compact post and I have said what needs to be said for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead of you all and I hope to see you all soon when i'm back. Till here, cheerio.

Song of the Week

It is almost impossible to forget this segment of each blog post because obviously i'd want to share my current favourite songs with you all. I've been hooked to this song for the past few days and i've just been replaying it again and again and again. It is just that good. It's a really fun song to clap to and I have been loving it for a while now but recently the love for the song was rekindled when I watched the episode of Glee where they covered the song. This weeks song of the week is Dog Days are Over by Florence + The Machine just cause it's such a fun upbeat song that I could just dance to any time and any day of the week. Also, Florence has a really one of a kind voice that you'd instantly fall in love with. Hope you guys will like it as much as I do!

Sudden Patriotism

Hey everyone! Was thinking of just writing a little something for you guys to read. Just a little update to my life and a small catch up session. So how have you all been doing? I hope you're all great and being productive cause I have been anything but productive.

First, explaining the title, we'll be celebrating our 57th independence day on Sunday and I thought i'd write a little about the country that I was brought up in. It's extremely exciting and I just like to think of all the small things that makes us who we are. The diversity in culture that we can see everyday. The culture or language of a different race that we've automatically adapted into our daily lives. Phrases that we've been so used to using that when someone else doesn't understand it you stare at them in awe. These are the kind of things that I admire so much in my country. Not to mention the fact that we all have to at least be able to converse in a few languages. I think that's pretty cool.

I would also like to talk about the food. The oh-so-amazing food. You can never go wrong with Malaysian food. It is the absolute best. (or maybe i'm just saying that cause i've been growing up with it. who knows. xD) It's really really easy to find food here in Malaysia. Let's say you want a quick bite with your mates, mamak it is! It's cheap and the food is pretty good. Love love love the spices that they put in the curry. I'm a bit biased towards curry. Besides that, there are also dishes which are prepared differently according which gives it a different flavour. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that you're eating the same dish because it can taste more sour towards one style of cooking, and perhaps more sweet when cooked a different way.

The post was partly inspired by this video made by TheMingThing which is one of my favourite local youtuber. You should totally check his channel out. Gonna leave the video here just so you can watch it.  Don't forget to show him some support if you like his work!

So, recently i've been listening to a lot of Joe Brooks... There's just something so nice about his voice and his songs. His voice comes out so clean and it's the kind of voice that doesn't require that much effort to sound nice. No high notes or anything, just plain old Joe Brooks and his guitar. Probably why he's on repeat on my playlist. I'm just really really hoping that he'll come back here to perform again despite the fact that he has already came here two times. Why did I not see him when he was here.

Alright, I guess that sort of sums up life at the moment. Spread love not hate! I hope you guys have an absolutely wonderful independence day, go do something really Malaysian in the spirit of it! or you can go listen to your favourite artist, your choice. Live life with no regrets! Till here, cheerio.

Song of the Week

Ironically enough, the song of the week wont actually be coming from Joe Brooks. Right now i'm in a The Vamps kind of mood and a song that I absolutely love from them right now is Lovestruck. It's cute, it's bubbly, it's about a girl and I just love it. My favourite line would probably be "I heard Wonderwall beating through your headphones, cracked a little smile when you got the words wrong." Hope you guys enjoy the song and i'm definitely looking forward to recommending more songs for you guys in the future. (:

The Little Things

Before you start reading the blog post, play the vid. :D (It's the song of the week by the way.)

Society has created so many unrealistic standards that most people think they need to reach in order to be cool. But what I want you to do right now is to just forget about those things for a second and just take a deep breath. Look at yourself, you’re still alive and going! I’m absolutely proud of you for making it this far in life already and here’s a hug for that! (just imagine a figure coming to hug you.) I think we constantly take things like these for granted and it really saddens me at times because you are absolutely beautiful already.

Another thing I noticed that happens too often in society is how we judge people way too easily. All of us do it at one point in our lives whether we realize it or not including me but there’s nothing wrong with it, doing it just proves that we’re all humans. We’re all flawed in a way and we can’t run away from our flaws. We’re not made to be perfect. I constantly see people getting bullied all over the world. The effect of words on a person is something that really amazes me. How simple words can create such an impact on a person.

I have seen so many people online who are just as insecure as we all are yet are in a worse situation. Anytime I see someone who wants to hurt themselves to make them feel better, I won’t hesitate at all to talk to them even if I don’t know them. God knows what they’ve been going through in their lives. It’s seriously amazing to see how much you can help them even though you think you’re not doing much. They’ll appreciate it, trust me.

So, this is what I want you guys to do. Since we have noticed how much words can impact a person, let’s put those words to good use. Compliment them. Shower those you think who deserve it with compliments. It’ll make their day.  They need to realize that they’re really worth it. Depression and self harm happens way too often nowadays that it’s time to do something about it. Hurting yourself is not okay. As human beings, living altogether on the same planet, and what more the same country/town/etc, we need to help each other out.

It could be someone who you’ve been friends with for a long time or someone you just met yesterday. Complimenting them will make them feel much better about themselves. Besides, the more you give, the more you get. When you compliment others, others will compliment you back. It will find it’s way back to you. If you think that girl is pretty, go up to her and tell her. If you think that guy is really nice although you’ve heard people trash talking about him, just tell him to never doubt himself about it.

It doesn’t just have to be compliments, let’s say you’re walking and you see someone who might need help, go and help them. You’ll realize that it doesn’t just help that person but you’ll feel good about yourself once you’re done with it. You’ll be able to feel the satisfaction of being able to help someone even if it’s in a small and discreet way. Living in a world where most people are rude all the time, little things like these always count.

Life is too short to take these things for granted. Before you know it, it all could be gone. You should always appreciate those around you especially your family and close friends. Friends are amazing companions besides your family members. To me, they’re like my second family. I’m proud to say that I’ve found many awesome friends who I’ve created such great memories with and I can’t imagine being in a world without them. Spending half of my life with them has molded me into the person I am today and I don’t think I would have made it this far if it weren’t for them.

Go on and make someone’s day by telling them something nice that you like about them. It’s always time to spread some love! Don’t force it, make sure it’s sincere. Also, don’t just stop at one person, continue the act and tell someone else a compliment in hopes that the person you just complimented will continue the act with another person. So the cycle goes on and on. If you’ve been feeling down for a while and you’re reading this, I want to tell you to not lose faith yet. Things do get better. Come on guys, let’s make the world a better place for you, me and everyone else. After all, it is always the simplest and littlest things that can make someone’s day. J

Movies and Exams!

Hey everyoneee! How have you all been doing? I really hope you all are doing great. Welcome back to my blog, and once again feeling really bad that I haven't been updating as often as I can. I've just been so caught up with school work that I tend to forget about updating the blog. Since it's the holidays, I thought I might take some time off to write a short update for you guys! :D

So yeah, exams... We just finished our first test a couple of days ago. Not much to say about it but it's definitely a new experience for us considering that this is the first time we're taking papers with new subjects and also new formats. Definitely much more tough than last year. And I thought last year was really challenging already. So far, I only got a few of the papers back, most probably have to wait a week before I get the rest of the papers back but i'm fine not knowing. The thing about getting the results is that you want to know how you did but at the same time there is a fear of you not doing good enough. It makes me feel really terrible and i'd rather just not think about it sometimes.

Enough about school, it's the holidays now! Eventhough it's only for like a week. Started it out by going to watch Divergent with my friends and it was AWESOME. I really liked the whole setting and all, so so so unique. I think they did a really great job with everything. Shailene Woodley is also slowly starting to be one of my favourite actresses out there right now. She's just so adorable as a person and I just really love her acting too. I did not read the book because let's face it, we all know how lazy I am, but I have a friend who read the book and she said it was not a disappointment.

I think it's really cool to see how they adapt a book into a movie because it's a different way of portraying the story. The thing about adapting books into movies is that there is already a fanbase for it, and there are definitely expectations set for it. To reach those expectations isn't a very easy job, so kudos to the director for doing a great job! Also, I think the reason why it was great is because Veronica Roth (the author) was involved with the production of the movie and that actually helps in many ways.

Another thing about the movie that I can't get over is Four and Six (Tris). I just can't get over how adorable they were in the movie. It was clear that love wasn't a very big part of the story (well in the movie at least. even my friend agreed with me.) but I just can't stop thinking about how adorable they look together. Although it's just on screen romance, I can't get enough of it and i'm craving more of them. Hard to imagine Shailene with Ansel in TFiOS now cause I'm just too obsessed over Sheo (Shailene and Theo). /: I think another reason why I can't get enough of them is because they cut the kiss scene, and it was so anti-climax-ey (I'm not even sure if that's a word). My friend and I were so disappointed when there was no kiss scene. To say the least, we were pretty angry and pissed. It's like climbing a mountain to not reach the peak.

look at them and tell me they're not adorable.

So yeah, that's all I have to say for now. I hope i'll be able to write for you all again some time in the near future, even if it's just a short update. I'm pretty sure i'll just procrastinate and end up updating only a month later but i'll try to fit in at least short updates about events soon! Till here, cheerio.

Song of the Week

This week i'm deciding to go a little local and the songs that I chose are made by local artist. I feel as if the local scene is so underappreciated and that there is so much talent here that isn't recognized and we always underestimate the local scene. I'm choosing three songs made by local artist that I think you will like. :D The first one is No More by SonaOne. The first time I heard this, heck the whole time I heard it on the radio, I actually thought it was made by some guy overseas. I was totally shocked when I found out it was made by a local guy, The second one is Beat of Your Love by Paperplane Pursuit and Darren Ashley. This song is like a cute song that you can dance to because of how catchy it is. And last but not least, bringing back a familiar name. Here is Cair by Narmi. This song is just so fluffy and adorable an- just listen to it for yourself!

A Frozen Chinese New Year... and bad shampoo

Hey there everyone! How are you all doing? I hope you guys are having a terrific Chinese New Year because I am. Once again, I can't help but apologize for the inconsistent updates. I actually have time to write the blog posts but then I end up procrastinating and then I don't update. Still something I have to work on but i'm on the way there... I think. It's the last day of our Chinese New Year break and I guess why not take some time off to write a blog post for you guys!

Okay so yeah you guys are probably wondering what is up with the title and yes, I have to admit it is a pretty weird combination. But well the explanation is simple, i've been spending way too much time during my Chinese New Year break doing anything related to the movie Frozen. Oh gosh. It is such a great movie and I just absolutely love it. From the songs to the animation and the characters, there is just soooo much to love! I'm not going to talk much about it cause I'm gonna make this blog post short and simple. If you have not watched it, I highly suggest you to watch it because it is awesome! And when me and my friends were watching it together, we just couldn't shut up. We were either saying the dialogues or singing along to the songs. It was just so enjoyable!

So yeah besides that, it's Chinese New Year! Also known as the most exciting part of the year. The time of the year where you get to meet all your relatives and get to spend some family time together. It's like the whole family takes time off their work to meet up with one another and it's kind of like renewing the established bond among the family members (i hope that made sense. and if it did not, i'm truly sorry. i'm not very good at metaphors. xD) It really is nice to just have fun with people that you rarely see and just the whole feeling of the celebration is great. And it's not just about relatives but also maybe around your neighbourhood. Everyone will be able to feel the joy. It's not just the family reunions but we get to dress up too! For me, I got a really really nice dress and so did my friends. In my opinion, they all looked absolutely beautiful in their dresses.

Book wise! I have finished reading The Fault in Our Stars. Really good book with a really good storyline and plot and language and characters, okay let's just say it was a really good book overall. Managed to finish the book in a day or so and I just really love the way John Green writes. You cannot imagine how creative this guy is. And his metaphors are just top notch, like they are fantastic. I've never came across that many great metaphors in a book. (Most probably because I don't have many books from that genre. xD) Recently, the trailer for the TFiOS movie came out, and I am more than excited for the movie. Even from the trailer you can see that it's incredibly true to the book and the 5/6 month wait for the movie is gonna be a torture but i'm sure it'll be worth it. Also, I got a new book shelf to keep my books so that's a plus.

Yeah about the bad shampoo, I don't even know why that's in the title. xD I just really hate when my hair gets all greasy after one day. So yeah, I blame it on the shampoo. I prefer my hair soft and not greasy and stiff if that too much to ask. (well maybe. i don't know.) But yeah, that is all I have for you today, will be ending my blog post here because it is time to go back to work! Most probably will procrastinate for the next few hours or so but I WILL RETURN TO MY WORK! same old me. haha. Till here, cheerio.

Song of the Week

This week, I chose a song which I instantly fell in love with the moment I heard it and it's called Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran. I really really hope that this song will be included in his new album coming out real soon cause I am SUPER SUPER excited for it! I'm just so pumped up to see what he has in store for us in his new album and there's just so much to love about his music. Also, in this song I want you to listen to the lyrics too because it is just absolutely beautiful. This is one of my favourite lines in it "cause all that you are is all that i'll ever need." There you go!

New Year, New Beginnings

Hello everyone! I am really bad at consistent updating because not updating for the past few months has really affected me and it's gonna take me some time to get myself disciplined again. First things first, this weeks blog post is not gonna be long because I am writing this on a school night and I can't sleep late on school nights. But at least there's an update!

Was supposed to update last week considering I was quite free but then my laziness took over me and I did not lay a finger on my laptop. Weekdays have been pretty busy too considering school has already started along with my tuitions and such and it's hard to find time to sit down and write a blog post. I would usually get back in the afternoon feeling really exhausted after having to go to school for almost 6 hours every day. Our climate, which is naturally hot and humid, does not help us in any way to feel better it just wears us down even more so when we get back home we're basically fried omelettes ready to be eaten. (that did not make sense at all. xD)

Anyway, new year, new beginnings. This year our class was oh-so-lucky to be placed on the TOP floor along with our juniors. I don't even know why we were placed there but according to our teacher, there are reasonable explanations as to why we were placed there. Let's just say that having to climb at least 8 flights of stairs everyday is not fun at all. But at least we'll like burn some calories doing so and stuff so I guess its worth it. Usually, by the time we get up, we are always sooo out of breath and we just need to stand there for a few minutes to catch out breath. Also, it's really hard to see our friends now when we're all the way on the top floor and they're on the ground floor. I am secretly envious of them.

Other than that, I also gained a few jobs for the school clubs and such that I really did not see coming. I don't know how i'm suppose to cope with all the responsibility. So, first things first, I was elected as cheer captain for the blue house and I can really feel the pressure. I mean, leading a whole group is not easy. I've never really done it before but I can already imagine how it'd be like. But at least one of my best friend is joining the cheer group this year so at least i'll have some support. Besides that, I was also elected Vice Chairman for the Girl Guide Commitee(?). That's a really high position for me and just to even get that title is so huge for me.

So yeah, that's basically what has happened in the past week. Nothing much so far but i'm sure more interesting things will happen in the future. I need to prepare myself for things that i've never experienced before and i'm kind of looking forward to it. I have to go now but I wish you all good luck with the schooling year and i'll try my best to see you all again next week! Let's just hope I won't be too lazy to update my blog. haha. Till here, cheerio.

Song of the Week

If you all don't already know, I am very obsessed with Ed Sheeran. He has got to be one of my favourite musicians out there today and I just admire him a lot. So this weeks song choice is Sofa by Ed Sheeran. Weird name I know. But I just love how the song goes and how can you turn Ed Sheeran down, I mean, he is a musical and lyrical genius. It honestly doesn't matter what kind of music you listen to, you are sure to fall in love with this guy. So go check it out! :D

Looking Back at 2013.

Hey everyone! As you all know, the year is coming to an end. It really is hard to believe that we've made it this far into the year already. I really didn't feel like 12 months has past. It all happened in a blink of an eye! One minute, the year just started, the next minute, i'm taking my results for my PMR examination. It is absolutely mindblowing. I'm writing this blog post to basically summarize the whole year.

In my opinion, 2013 was a year filled with homework, (lots of) procrastination and new experience. I think, overall, 2013 was a pretty bittersweet year. We had to work our butts off for first three quarters of the year and then we get to enjoy/worry for the last quarter of the year. But it was such a great experience. It was a terrifying one too. I remember on the first day of my exam, my heart was beating out of my chest, I couldn't exactly sit still, and I was just so so so nervous about taking my first paper. Thankfully, I had very encouraging family and friends who were by me the whole way and I am feeling so blessed to have them by me all the time. The week passed by really fast and before I knew it, we were already on our last paper. Ahh, the memories.

So besides my very important examination, let's talk about new experiences. The highlight of the year would most probably be dyeing my hair. It was a really big step for me in my opinion considering I really don't do anything with my hair and had the same hairstyle ever since I was little. I mean i'm not complaining, i'm perfectly comfortable with my hairstyle. But when I decided to cut it in a different style the end of last year, I ended up enjoying it a lot. It was like a whole new thing for me. It's still simple but it's much nicer than my old one. Anyway, in October, I decided to dye my hair cause i've been looking at dip dyed hair on the internet quite often so I said to myself, why not try it out. I wish I could have dyed more parts of my hair but i'm still happy about it. Maybe in the future, i'll dye more of it and try out a different colour too. :D

Another thing is performing more. This year was my comeback year, well sorta. Decided to perform more this year and it was definitely an awesome experience. This year, I participated in my schools talent competition and also performed during teachers day. The teachers day event was a really last minute thing, so me and my friend, Kristal, had to quickly come up with something. Luckily, we did manage to come up with something. But we kind of messed up in the middle of it and I went off the stage feeling really unsatisfied and disappointed in myself. Oh well. Besides performing in school, I also took part in open mics, two in fact. Both of them were hosted by the same person, Amrita Soon, and she's just such a great person. Go check her out, she writes great songs. Performing in a cafe in front of an audience is absolutely nervewrecking, trust me.

Other than performing, I have also started to listen more to the local acts. Not that much more but it's an improvement. xD Well it all started on the last day of my examination when my dad decided to bring me and my mum to an open mic at a restaurant hosted by Reza Salleh. We met him earlier in the year at ANOTHER open mic hosted by another musician and that was when it all sorta started. Reza is one of the most friendly and down to earth person I have ever met in my whole life. He's so warm and super nice to talk to which is so great. Hope we can see him soon. :D Anyway, ever since that open mic, we've been going to some of his shows that he hosts every month featuring about four acts each session and that's where I get to see some of the local acts performing. They are all so great and so talented. They really shouldn't be taken for granted.

Books has also been such a big part of my year. I didn't exactly read that much this year because I was spending more time studying but I was still reading throughout the year. In fact, I was actually reading a story on the day before my exams. xD Now, I read both online and the books that I buy. I was quite happy to have finished the Beautiful Creatures series, which is pretty awesome, if I must add. I like the concept of it. Then there's The Fault in Our Stars, WHICH I HAVE YET TO READ. Soon, I promise. I even stumbled across awesome books online. If you want to read something which is filled with action and lots of fictional magic, I suggest you read The Heinous Prodigies : The Lost Dreamer on Wattpad. Seriously one of the BEST books that I've read online. Go check it out!

Besides that, anothing thing that has become such a big part of my life is YouTube. Now, every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is check my YouTube subscription feed. I just love youtubers so much and I admire them. They put so much effort into making videos every week like recording and editing it. The amount of work some of they put into editing their vids are just so nuts. It's really nice to watch them because it feels like they're talking right to you, and I just think that that's the magic of the whole vlogging thing. I am definitely looking forward to what they have stored for us in 2014. It's gonna be another crazy year for all of us but we are gonna go through it together. I just hope they never stop doing what they're doing because they are doing such a great job already and i'll miss them dearly if they ever stop .

I guess the last thing I want to talk to about with you guys is my blog. Whoa my blog has grown since I first made it. To have hit 11 000 this year was absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for all the support that you have given me whether you're just a blogwalker or a person who visits my blog regularly. It's just crazy to know how many people has visited this blog. I love each and every one of you guys and I want you all to just stay beautiful the way you are. Also, being able to update my blog regularly HAS to be one of my biggest achievements this year. I am seriously a very lazy person and to be able to update regularly each week for you for a few months was just crazy! I'm not even that disciplined with my homework. haha! Well, you guys should expect more blog posts next year because I am going to give it to ya! I hope I can cope with my work and still find time to blog for you guys. But I think it'll be fine.

We have reached the very end of the last post of 2013. I want the last post of the year to end with a bang because I think we should all celebrate it. The most important thing I want you guys to do is to remain being yourself, because the best person you can ever be is yourself. There is this quote which says "You're too amazing to be anything less than yourself. Just be you." Keep being nice to people and in return, people will be nice to you. If you ever failed at one point of the year, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep trying. Don't ever give up. If you don't keep trying, you'll never know what you're missing out on. I like to say, failing is the first step to achieving success. We learn from our failures and our mistakes so don't give up! And to my friends and family, thank you so so so much for being so supportive throughout the whole year, I really couldn't have done it without you guys. Well, that's all i'm going to say right now. I already planned out my first blog post for the new year! I'll see you all very soon. Have a blessed new year everyone and stay beautiful. Till here, cheerio. (:

Song of the Week

Since it is the last year of the week, I'm rewarding you all with three songs. I just felt like its right. Hope you guys enjoy the songs I picked out for you guys! Here are the songs!

1) The first one is Pop Danthology. Since we're in this phase of looking back at the year and just enjoying the year altogether, I thought why not look at the top hits of the year. It's a good mash up and if you're a fan of mash up's I think you'll enjoy this. It consists of 68 songs. That is crazy!

2) Since Christmas was a week ago, here is a Holiday Medley by Kurt Hugo Schneider and performed by Max Schneider and Victoria Justice. Don't just listen to the video, WATCH IT! Don't question why, just do it!

3) Last but not least, I have been absolutely hooked to this song for the past week and I am more than excited to share it with you guys. This is the track written by Ed Sheeran for the new Hobbit movie called The Desolation of Smaug and it is super awesome. So here is I See Fire. I really like Ed and his music and i'm sure everyone who listens to him will just be brought to a whole new world. So check it out too!