A Little White Lie Never Hurt Anyone...

There was a light tap on my door, a gentle knock.

I looked up from my laptop. Who was that?

Gentle knocks don't bode well in campus. Because if it's your friends, they'd just barge in without knocking. If it's people selling stuff, they'd knock loudly and brazenly on your door. If it's people going around preaching, on the other hand...

Tap tap. There it was again, barely audible.

Curiosity killed the cat (or in this case koalas) and I opened the door.

As I had expected, there was a girl there, neatly clad in a headscarf, long-sleeved t-shirt, and pants. A pamphlet was in her hand. She made to speak as I opened the door, but faltered when she saw me.

"Ack, foreigner..." I heard her mutter briefly in surprise.

Then she recovered herself sufficiently to ask. "Umm... Malay, or...?" she addressed me dubiously.

I took pity on her. I could have pretended to be a foreigner, but I decided to tell her the truth. Plus I was too lazy to fake an accent.

"Chinese," I said, with what I hoped was a straight face.

Ok, fine. Half-truth. Misleading to be sure, but still partially the truth. =P

"Oh... never mind then." Half-smiling, she walked away sheepishly and I shut the door.

And here I thought I was becoming too Melayu. I've still got it, baybeh.

(Yes, I know I'm bad. But I have FYP to do, and I can't be bothered to entertain long-winded preachy people. So sue me.)

Baby I'm Addicted

Hi, my name is Shira, and I'm a game addict.

During the semester break, I neglected work on my FYP, choosing instead to dedicate myself to such games as Tales of Eternia, Star Ocean: First Departure, The Sims 2, and Persona 4. I neglected my personal life as well, turning down offers to meet up with friends so that I could just complete the next dungeon, and the next, and the next...

Upon returning to UTP, I was game-free for 9 days before I made my fatal relapse.

I downloaded a game called Plants VS Zombies upon recommendation from some friends. Last night, I stayed up until 5.30 AM playing it. I have a progress report for FYP due tomorrow, and I have not done a single thing for it.

Game addiction is ruining my life. Let it not ruin yours.



(lol There really should be a support group of some kind for game addicts, especially in UTP! oh, I'm taking Peer Group Counseling this semester as a co-curricular subject. Be prepared, one and all. The suicide rate in UTP will go up once Shira is a full-fledged counselor. Better keep a close eye on that lake. =P)

FYP Deadline, Oh Noes

FYP is scary. I've only the vaguest idea of what to do, and practically none as to how to do it.

Meanwhile, the progress report is due in two days, and I have very little to report. I'd force some progress out of myself for the sake of the report, but I have no idea what kind of progress I should be making. I wanted to see my supervisor today, but she isn't around.

Ah, FYP. Alas for FYP.

Can I graduate without FYP? I've been told it's possible. But I would graduate without Hons.

What a pity. I've already finished FYP I.

So if I don't do my FYP II, it would be a bit of a waste, wouldn't it?

Is it possible to graduate with half an Hons.?

What would I be with half of an Hons.?

A Ho... ?

Hmm. I don't wanna be a ho.

Ok, back to my FYP work then. I think.

Unpacking Blues

After one week of dilly-dallying, I have finally unpacked.

Finally!

When I first arrived on campus exactly 7 days ago, the comments I received were mainly along the lines of "Whoa... you brought your whole house with you!" or "Did you run away from home?"

Just for the record, it's not that I have a lot of stuff. It's just that my stuff is all carried in many, many bags. Plus my car is small. So that's why it looks like a lot! Really.

I unpacked all my bedding and clothes first, and then my toiletries. And then my indispensable laptop and printer. And then my vacuum cleaner. And then my pail with my clothes hangers in it.

Books and stationaries I decided to abandon temporarily until a later time, because I was dead pooping tired at the time. Besides, those things I didn't need urgently.

A decision which I came to regret today.

See, when your deceptively skinny but able boyfriend is willing to help you carry your stuff even part of the way to your block, you should take advantage of the offer. Especially if the stuff to be carried is incredibly heavy and somewhat ambitious for a 1.54m, 48kg girl with very limited upper-body strength.

Not wait until aforementioned boyfriend has gone home to Ulu Kinta, and then attempt the whole load one week later. Oh. My. God. T___T

I guess I was a little... ambitious. Lessee... three very heavy boxes. One containing a full semester's worth of books, as well as a large Webster and some other miscellaneous textbooks from previous sems. One containing one semester's worth of notes (it's a LOT ok), files, as well as miscellaneous notebooks. One containing... well, it's just a box filled with bottles of mineral water meant to last me until the next time I go home. And then there's the suitcase filled with stationaries and miscellanous odds and ends. DON'T ask me why I use a suitcase for that. I have long forgotten the reason.

After carrying all the boxes and the suitcase up to my room from the parking lot, my arms feel like they're going to fall off. Really. It's like they're completely weightless. Although my fingers seem to somehow miraculously have enough energy left in them to type, albeit really slowly.

Wait. I didn't carry up all the boxes to my room. I left the mineral water.

HELP. Please. Somebody. Somebody with upper-body strength. Please please please help. Will belanja makan, yes I will. +___+

I'm Indecent, Apparently

Yours truly was denied access into the library today.

Because, apparently, I was dressed indecently.

wtf.

I've been at UTP for 4 years. Never once have I had a problem entering the library with my clothes. After all, I only ever wear jeans and t-shirts/blouses. How indecent could that be??

But they revamped the dress code recently, I guess.

So off I went, all the way to my dorm on the other side of campus. Nasib baik ada kereta, kalau x boleh bunuh diri.

What was wrong with my clothes? Apparently my sleeves were "too short".

=___=

If my blouse was low-cut, or backless, or sleeveless, or short to the point of exposing tummy, I can understand. But short sleeves??? ni UITM ke apa? summore UTP is so hot the point where you can fry an egg on the ground! you want us to wear long sleeves?? siao.

Baik tukar nama jadi UiTP terus. Thank god I'm graduating after this semester, so I don't have to deal with this bull anymore. Urgh.

Oh, and for the sake of clarification, here is a picture of the offending blouse. I leave it to you to judge whether it's indecent or not.


Indecent, my ass. Nk tgk indecent, mai aku pakai miniskirt jln depan irc. Bengong.

Today on Mythbusters: Megan Fox Is A Man??

My friends were telling me about that Megan Fox is a man who underwent sex-change surgery at the age of 16, and that she/he reportedly liked Salma Hayek's boobs so much that she/he made a cast of them for his/her next surgery job.

Like, wha?

I, like many other females out there, am skeptical about the Megan Fox craze and think she is vastly overrated. She is hot, but I don't think she is THE hottest woman on earth. Seriously, this is the same thing as the Jessica Alba craze. Neither woman is that great of an actress, but a few strategic poses and cleavage shots, and WHAM! goes their faces on all the lad rags.

Understandably, some people might be... jealous? 'Dengki' would be the appropriate Malay word (I'm not sure what the direct English translation of the word would be). But y'know, spreading a rumour that she's a man is a bit much, ain't it?

Pity la all the fellows who wanked to this photo only to be told afterwards that she's a guy. Or maybe not.

I found it hard to believe that she is a man. I mean, I watched the Transformers movies. However many surgeries a guy has, I doubt he can get his voice as girly as that. However sexy a tranny is, the voice is one thing that they can never totally change, right? Right?

So before I accepted my friends' words as a fact, I decided to check Google.

First warning sign of a hoax: The information did not appear on Wikipedia.

Now, Wikipedia isn't the most reliable source of information around. But if something as juicy as that isn't on a Wikipedia page, you know something is most definitely up.

Second warning sign: Only one main source of 'news'.

However hard I searched, the only source of this alleged news tidbit was this article on Weekly World News. Sure, various websites and blogs also discussed the possibilities of Megan Fox being a man, but all of them listed that WWN article as their source.

Can you trust a piece of news when only one article in the whole of the World Wide Web claims it is true? And in addition to that, that single article does not cite sources or provide proof of any kind?

Third warning sign: Source isn't reliable.

Furthermore, Weekly World News isn't a reliable source in itself. According to Wikipedia, it "is a website, originally a supermarket tabloid, which parodies sensationalist and bizarre stories." Can you trust a tabloid as your one and only source of information? More likely they're just trying to boost their popularity.

I found the origin of the whole controversy, apparently something Megan Fox said at the Golden Globe Awards:

"I am pretty sure I am a doppelganger for Alan Alda. I'm a tranny. I'm a man. I'm so painfully insecure. I'm on the verge of vomiting now. I am so horrified that I am here, and embarrassed. I'm scared."

Actor Alan Alda, best known for his role on TV series M*A*S*H.

Which, however much I read it, it doesn't sound like a confession to actually being a man. More like she was being really nervous, and in a particularly low bout of self-esteem (or maybe a low self-esteem act to induce sympathy, you never know with these people who are paid to act), she compared herself to a man.

And in a separate quote, also at the Golden Globes, Megan Fox saw Salma Hayek and said:

"Those are the most amazing boobs."

Yes, those are fantastic boobs. If only I had boobs. Insert sigh. Eh, eyes up here.

Basically, the Weekly World News article took two quotes and misconstrued them into a story that we all would like to believe. Because lets face it, how many of us wouldn't like to laugh at our boyfriend's faces, saying "Hah! And all this while you've been drooling over a MAN! How does it feel??" You've gotta give WWN some credit for their imagination.

But c'mon people. Check your facts first. GIYF. And, oh yes. MYTH BUSTED.

Dunno why I'm defending Megan Fox so much in this post. I'm not even a fan. If I were to turn bi-, I wouldn't do it for her. For Alyssa Milano, Catherine Zeta-Jones or Reese Witherspoon, maybe. Nyahahahaha.

And yes, I am bored, hence this blog post.

If only I was this dedicated and this resourceful when it comes to doing research for my thesis. =___=

Harry Potter is Made of Lolz

Harry Potter amused me, that it did.

Throughout the movie, I saw a wizard reconstruct a completely wrecked room, fixing everything from broken mirrors and chandeliers, to floors and upholstery. A school-level witch fixed Harry's broken nose. And yet, no spell to cure short/long-sightedness? Poor Harry. Guess he's stuck with those glasses for awhile.

[SPOILER ALERT]

There was this one scene where I almost expected them to burst into song. Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall in the same room. Sweeney Todd, anyone? =P

It's also amusing that a person can fall multiple stories from the Astronomy tower, and yet his body remains perfectly intact when he reaches the bottom. No snapped limbs, no protruding bones, no blood. I'd post pictures of actual people after they've fallen from a great height, but I'd hate to make you lose your lunches.

And Gollum was cloned. Or did he find a mate and breed? That was a LOT of Gollums!

And it escapes me why Malfoy would plan for months and months to sneak the Death Eaters into the castle, only... to do what? Malfoy and Snape together were responsible for killing Dumbledore. What did the rest do? Watch them kill him? Blow up Hagrid's hut (the owner of which was conveniently not in the hut at the time, although it was the middle of the night)? Ah wait, that was just Bellatrix. The others just watched. And where did they mysteriously vanish to after that?

I thought it's like super hard to break into Hogwarts? Why make all that effort, just to watch someone die, thrash the place a little bit, and then leave? =___= Poor Malfoy. All that work.

Note that I haven't read the books in a loooong time, and have therefore forgotten most of the story. But I'm pretty sure that there was a lot more from the books that was left out from the movie. Although you can't blame them, the book is super-thick, and there's no way to include everything!

That said though, the movie was a fun watch. A lot of the scenes were really funny, with Ron mostly providing the comic effect. And the CG was awesome! I definitely wouldn't mind watching that again, best Harry Potter movie yet. Beats Transformers: Revenge of Megan Fox's Boobs any day.


============================================

In other news, my dad logged onto Aris' school's online portal last night. Not only could he check the exam results, he could also see in detail what Aris answered for each question, what he should have answered, etc etc. It's like every moment of Aris' school life is recorded on that page. Next thing you know, they'll start installing webcams for parents to monitor their kids when they're at school.

Wow. I'm so glad I went to a regular public school.

Results

I hate talking about results. Do I have to?

... But yes, I will. So you can read it here, and not ask about my results when you meet me in person.

To summarize, I got Dean's List for the January 2009 semester. Good? Not really. My CGPA is still 0.01 short of Dean's List, even though my GPA for the past 3 semesters have been (barely) above that magical 3.50 line.

And to those of you who say that I should be satisfied with my results, you're not the ones with the judgmental parents, who think that my grades are pathetic and aren't good enough. Ask Don, he overheard Mum's reaction to my grades firsthand over the phone.

Argh. Malasnya.

I've learned long ago that my grades are something that should satisfy me, and not other people. So whatever I get, if I'm happy with it, then it's fine. Just keep trying my best. Never mind what other people say.

But it still sucks that I'm happy about my grades, but nobody is happy for me. =(

... Except Hafez, who checked my results for me because I was too nervous and scared to check it myself. haha. I love you, baby =)

The End of The World?

"Did you know, the world is going to end on 2012?"

So my Dad said the other day.

I asked him to clarify, and then I googled for further information.

Apparently, some ancient Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012. That particular date is marked as the end of time or some such thing. And to add further dramatic effect, Nostradamus predicted the end of the world on the aforementioned date as well.

So is this for real? There have been end of the world predictions every few years or so since hundreds of years ago. And none of these predictions have, obviously, ever come true.

Personally, I won't believe in an armageddon occurring any time soon unless presented with an actual fact, such as... oh, I dunno. A real, honest-to-goodness comet approaching the earth with all probability of collision? Global warming finally fulfilling its ultimate threat? (Although I don't think that will happen any time soon.)

But a date marked on a calendar of a South American civilization that died out a long time ago? You've gotta give me something better than that. I mean, if their technology was so advanced that they could accurately predict the end of the world better than today's scientists can, then why are they extinct?

Anyhow, if the world really is going to end,what would you do? Pension plans, work, studies... suddenly that would all become meaningless, wouldn't it? So then what?

I know what I would spend my last few moments doing. It would involve a road trip to Ipoh and a bottle of whipped cream. Because heck it, I ain't gonna die without experiencing some things, if you know what I mean. =P

Food, Glorious Food

These hols have taken their toll on me
I've said "diet" too many times before
These jeans are getting too tight for me
And I have no choice
'Cause I can't resist food anymore
whooooa-ooo-oh~

Hols are ending sooon T__T

In the meantime, my jeans are becoming very, very snug. A bit too snug. Erm, what to do. Mum's cooking is just too good. Not to mention the fast food and other fattening food I eat when I'm not eating Mum's cooking.

Ah well. Once I go back UTP, it will be back to eating the 'Shira Special', as Don and Rez calls it, and then my ass will shrink back into my jeans without a hitch =P

*Shira Special = white rice + a bit of curry + a piece of fried chicken. Available at any cafeteria in UTP that serves mixed rice. Usually costs less than RM3, so it's economical as well as slimming. Note that 1 serving of the Shira Special lasts me the whole day at UTP. Dinner is optional.

Oh, Dad's home. And if what Aris told me is true, he brought back nasi briyani for dinner. lalalala~