GaMeRz and their egos.~ Rant

Midnight Ahri says...

Ohai. 

First of all. I'm just going to put it out there for the unfamiliar that yes, I may be on the verge of what people call a 'LoL addict.;

LoL, or better known as League of Legends, is one of the biggest online multiplayer games out there. Normal games involve 4 other players including you to comprise a team of 5, and the point of the game is to use different 'champions', or characters that each person individually selects to destroy the enemy team's base, or nexus. The game is set with 3 different lanes, or paths that consist of top, middle, and bot, and the current meta, or accepted set-up for games is one champion in the top lane, one in the middle, two at bot (consisting of the support and the adc, adc being the one who focuses on damage and attack speed to melt down the enemy), and the jungler, who goes around the 'bush' of the map and tries to create ambushes to kill.

So. Such games like these are quite fun, and it's really nice when you have a really nice team. Of course, I'm still learning and not the best player, but then again, it's only fair to say that everyone should still be learning to an extent, as not everyone is a pro player. It's especially nice when your team actually supports you even though you may be struggling, and is vice versa.

Many, MANY prefer a put-down, blame everyone else approach.

I think it's because people get frustrated and too caught up with winning. But fuak, after way to many hours gaming, here are my top peeves about playing with these online gamers. (I know in life, you're supposed to focus on the positives, but fuark, sometimes games get to me and here I am going to list out a lot of the negatives that run through my head. )

1. Negative attitude.
2. Blaming everything on everyone else.
3. People who troll and throw the game.
• that being said, people who forget to have fun
4. Lack of courtesy.
5. Ego ego ego/selfishness. 

And if you're a decently hardcore gamer and are reading this, I can bet you that some of this will apply to/this is something that you probably do. You can try to deny it, but it's reality. Like myself, I know I am susceptible to lack of courtesy. None of the players I know are perfect players.

1. Negative attitude

Okay...so I missed my grab. I'll silence you if you tell me how noob I am...

        This is with no doubt the one that gets me the most. It's the people who say 'omg noob, stop feeding, gg bot, gg top, gg mid, unskilled, wtf,'. I'm not refering to when the person is actually doing something retarded on purpose, I'm referring to the UNPROVOKED negativity that players vomit and squirt when a player messes up. I've even had people who say gg even BEFORE THE GAME STARTS. It's like. Wow. Are you serious? You don't even know how these people play, and you're dealing out judgement and negativity. Way to set the team mood.

It's so unnecessary  and obviously as human beings, no one likes playing badly, or feeding, or negativity. So for all those negative as*holes out there, I don't see why you can't either keep your trap shut, or better yet, OFFER SOME POSITIVE ADVICE OR ENCOURAGEMENT. And you know what, yes, people friggin mess up, but sometimes it's a one off thing. Or maybe they're still learning. I don't see why there is such little tolerance. And if you look at the bigger picture, if you lose a game, fine, but at least learn something from it, or have the other player learn something out of it to become a better player. Take something out of it, besides negativity.

What's more silly is that a lot of the players who are negative aren't amazing either. Thus you're dealing out judgement and saying other people are noob, but in reality, you probably have a lot to learn too. Instead of taking it out on someone else, what can YOU DO to improve the situation. Don't use your energy to bring down team moral, use it to bring it up. As*holes.

But just in general, even if the game is not going well, try to remember that everyone in the game is a human being. Everyone is trying their best. Even if you are getting frustrated, focus on what YOU can do to improve the situation, not what you can do to make everyone else feel as frustrated and shiet as you. If you keep adding negativity to the game, then you're only going to lose because your team no longer want to help you, and vice versa. End of discussion.





2. Blaming everyone on everyone else. 

I think this one is closely related to 4-ego. But wow. Another thing that pisses me off is when people start to lose their lane, or are losing a fight, and blame everyone and everything the can. "Jungler, why aren't you ganking bot, adc, where were you in the fight, support, why did you ult?, Dude, why didn't you follow me??Fuak it's YOUR FAULT I'M DEAD BECAUSE I DECIDED TO GO IN ON YOUR ULT".

And its like dude. Dude. Please. In a game like this, it's a team game, and if you guys are losing, maybe it's because of your team, but you are PART OF THE TEAM. Thus, losing, or not doing well is also your fault. Maybe you're stealing too much of the adc's cs so he went to farm, maybe the support was just trying to scare them, maybe the jungler was busy doing something else.

Omg...I missed my ez ult...ITS YOUR FAULT

Before you blame everyone else...are YOU playing the best YOU can? If you say yes, I say bullshit. Unless you dodged every single hit, dealt damage without receiving anything, hit all your attacks, then stfu. Work on your own play. Offer helpful advice if it's something obvious that your team may not be aware of or is doing, but don't blame them for not being there to save your ass because frankly, it's your fault that your ass got caught out. 

3. People who throw and troll the game. 

This isn't actually one of my big peeves to an extent. Like, I reckon when gaming, you should go in to win, but you should be also going in to have fun. That being said, if your team is winning, it's really annoying if you decide to do stupid things for your own entertainment, feed the enemy team, and end up losing. Like, it's fine to play around if you're sure you're going to win, or if you're sure you're going to lose, or doing harmless fun. But if you keep doing stupid stuff, you're wasting other people's time who actually want to win, and play a successful team game.

4. Lack of courtesy

This one isn't one of my big ones. Although it's probably because I'm the worst with this one ^^''. Thus if I'm in a slightly irritable mood, you will never hear an I'm sorry unless I feel bad enough about it.

Akali wants to tell people to be courteous =D

But yes, the gist of this one is that in a game, there are things that you should apologize for. Like if you cause someone to die, badly engage, dc, or accidentally steal someone's creep (little minions that you get gold when you kill), miss an important skill, you should probably apologize if you want to be a really good, courteous player.

That being said, you obviously can't apologize for every single skill shot you miss. (I mean, isn't the point of a skill shot that you need skill and practice to hit, and that they're supposed to be difficult?)

Like sidenote, in regards to skills that need sufficient aiming, (i.e. blitz grabs, amumu bandages, other skills that hit first target only) you really should feel benefited if it hits, not being negative if it misses. Like treat it as an awesome bonus if it hits. 

5. Ego and Selfishness.   

This one, is one of the ones that can come off as annoying. Mainly I'm addressing roles such as mid, top, and adc, who need a sufficient amount of gold and cs (creep score) in order to deal the damage that the team needs to get kills.

 I am waiting for my farm. Have fun in that team fight over there. 

Pretty much, these three roles, there is slight debate about who needs the farm 'more', and who needs protection. In reality, every single player would benefit from some extra farm; even the support player, who is often forgotten. If your support had full build, to be honest, they could go in and not give a shiet and just tank all the damage. (i.e. aram games)

But yeah, pretty much my peeve is when people fight over farm, or want excessive protection when the other team player may also need such farm and protection (I.e. the support following them around or saving them from being focused). Like, maybe just share farm, or agree that the first one there gets it. If you tell someone else who could also benefit to gtfo, then a. some farm is being lost, b. that person is going to lower the overall average power of you team. Sure you may get some farm, but it's a team game.

Likewise, in the game, there is no most important player. Yes the adc does damage, but without the mid damage, or the support bringing you up during laning phase, or the top dealing damage, or the jungle ganks, you wouldn't be melting down the team.

~

Just overall. To all you LoL gamers, remember that everyone wants to have fun, and everyone wants to 'do something' in the game. Thus try to be the best, most courteous, most helpful, and open minded gamer you can be, because there is so much you can learn, there is so much fun you can have, and there is that amazing, awesome feeling of playing a good team game that everyone deserves. Don't be the one to bring the team down with your ego and selfish desires to vent your frustrations, be the one to bring up the team and make the game the fun the makers want it to be. Play for the team, not for yourself, and you'll find that things go so much better. 

                                                                           Positivity!

Disclaimer: LoL is copyright to riot, and the arts used in this blog all belong to them/ I used a lot of the Asian artworks found here.

And also, have this Ashe art. Just omfg. It's so gorgeous.

Les Miserables + Update

 Hey There~

Went to go see Les Miserables with the high school crew. Was bored and decided to experiment with casual makeup. So I put on a little bit of eyeliner, a teeny bit of brown eyeshadow on the corners, and tried curling my eyelashes and adding mascara. I also did I little bit of silver eyeliner on the bottom lid of my 'waterline' as Michelle Pham always highly recommends.

I'm pretty noob at makeup in general, and one thing that I really don't understand is mascara. Like the basics of natural makeup is to accentuate your natural features or make you look healthier (i.e. red cheeks, good skin, red lips) and kind of tone down aspects that you don't really like or certain features that imply unhealthiness (i.e. conceal your dark circles aka tiredness, blemishes, lack of eyelashes? (In contrast formal, magazine,  and wedding makeup is more about creating a new look  or vibe for yourself....kinda more about artistically accentuating you and your outfit or a style)

But yeah. Mascara is meant to make your eyelashes more defined and more feminine-by adding chunky globs of black onto them. Like I'd understand if it was smooth oily gel that thickens each hair, but in general, most mascaras I've seen are chunky and look like you have crap all over your eyelashes:

Full face view

Macara...can you even see the difference? 

So went out and watched Les Miserables. The cast staring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, and Anne Hathaway were all magnificent singers and actors/resses, and one of the stronger points of the movie was that apparently the movie was recorded live, so that the songs didn't have that sort of fake, staged sound that most singing incorporated movies have. As my friend stated, pretty much if the actor/ress's voice trembled while they were singing, it would be picked up during filming and recording.  [SPOILER ONWARDS- lots of recapping]

My first impression of the movie is that it is long. 3 hours. Straight. Of singing. Like I do love the story lines  I think the director did a really good job of communicating the depth and layers of each character, and probably did justice to the original book. However I found it a bit overwhelming for a movie-the quality of a strong good book based movie is that it is concise, but knows where to amplify and elaborate in order to successfully communicate the original author's ideas.

So I reckon the movie incorporated 3 strong storylines. (Although I think the book emphasizes 4?)

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean (I didn't recognize him at first) 

The first was about the life of a man named Jean Valjean (Jackman) who was condemned to 19 years of slavery after stealing a loaf a bread for his starving nephew, and how he escaped and created a new life for himself away from the law, and his sort of 'rivalry' with the police inspector, Javert (Crowe) who looks down upon him and will not forgive Jean for his crime; forever seeing him as only a thief, and not a compassionate brother. (19 years for one loaf...really?). My friend described Javert as 'black and white', who followed his duty to the ends 

Jean is set on parole after his 19 years, where he finds himself scraping for survival and somewhere to sleep until a church bishop, Myriel lets him in, and shares food and shelter and most of all, his kind heart. Jean steals from the church, and is caught; however the bishop denies that Jean stole, and even gives Jean more things to take with him.

I think just these two characters bring a lot of depth. Like how every person has their own stories, and no one is born bad; a lot of anger and bad personalities, or the 'scary people' we see everyday usually originates from something-more often than not from one's upbringing.

Russell Crowe as Javert, the inspector who doesn't leave Jean alone

Like Jean, inside, he really is a kind heart to have wanted to save his sister's son, but after being severely punished for 19 years, and just treated very harshly, it's perfectly normal for him to develop some bitterness and anger- as a result for the hurt that the slavery has inflicted upon him. That being said, Javert is not a bad person either for being an unemphatic inspector. In order to fufill his duties and keep people to the law, he must be stringent, and with so many con artists around, it is impossible to be empathetic as a position of power protecting the law, as sadly, there would be people who would take advantage of such sympathy to fill their selfish needs (such con is demonstrated by the 'innkeeper's husband and wife', who pretty much steal from every single customer and are heavily money and trickery orientated).

(Like relating to real life, today on the bus I saw this couple and a kid, and they dad looked really young; maybe early twenties? And he was swearing and just putting down the little girl, and the mom lightly told him that the girl didn't mean to kick him in the balls, but didn't really tell him off for such appalling behavior. A little kid like that, growing in such a hard environment is not going to grow up secure and happy, but is probably going to grow up with anger and unhappiness towards the father, for reasons she probably doesn't even understand as a response to the hurt and verbal abuse she is receiving now. Initially you might think that the dad is a dick, but again, it's a cycle. His parents probably didn't treat him the best, or didn't teach him proper values, thus he is where he is today; with a kid, probably no proper job, looked like he was doing drugs...Thus I reckon we should be thankful for having morals in us. But also to consider whether or not our morals are based on true reasoning, or are simply inherited.)

Anne Hathaway cast as Cosette's mother

Almost in contrast to bad parenting, the second arc was about Cosette and her mother (Hathaway), and how her mother was struggling and giving everything to her child. Her mother was working at a sewing factory owned by Jean (who had changed his name and become mayor, and quite respectable and successful). She however, got kicked out by his foreman,and was left to scrape a living. This was the one part of the plot that I wasn't completely satisfied with because Jean did not notice her departure, and ignored her screams. (Although he was preoccupied with the inspector). Thus the mother sold her own hair, her teeth, and her dignity and body just to send money to the con artist innkeepers to take care of Cosette. In the end, she does find peace because Jean vows to find and take care of Cosette, and free her, free them both from the hell that they're living in.

Which is interesting how the tension further develops, because at this point, Inspector Javert suspcts Jean under his false name and identity. However, a twist is that they caught another man and took him in as Jean Valjean, and were going to punish him. The real Jean hears this, and is torn. He has worked so hard for his freedom, and is finally successful, only to have another man caught in his place. The tension is that if he were to leave this man and ignore the fact that the man would probably suffer tremendously for Jean breaking his patrol; Jean would be forever free as the police would think that he was caught. However, Jean understands the pain of slavery, and his good and honest heart forces him to confront the court and confess his true identity; saving the man but sacrificing his new life and safety, and threatening the vow of protection to Cosette. The police inspector finds and confronts Jean has to flee and start from rock bottom once again. (I keep typing Corsette...fml xD) Jean pleads to Javert for a chance to finish his vow to Cosettes mother before  turning himself in. However, Javert, being true to his duty and unempathetic, declines and pursues.

Jean escaping with little Cosette

(Sorry if this is too much recap, I'm just stating what I feel like =D)

Thus I think this beautifully illustrates moral, and how even the actions you don't see can still influence and change a person's life. And the power of promises and commitment is one not to be fooled around with, because I think they are one of the things that hold us humans as an intelligent species together, and alive.



Thus brings us to the third arc, which is my favorite. It is the love story between Cosette and Marius. What I love about this story is that there is the classic, (maybe even cliche) friendzoned one, who in this case is Eponine. Eponine is the con artist's inkeeper's spoiled daughter, who is forever friendzoned by Marius. Marius is your classic..fwaar french guy. He's strong, masculine, brave, and handsome, and is leading the rebels and the revolution. I think one of his best scenes is when he's galloping on his horse with a red flag, showing is bravery and pride and fighting for what he believes in. That was very attractive.

Eponine ends up sacrificing her love to help find Cosette for Marius (Marius fell at first sight when seeing Cosette in the city), and during the battle, she gives her life for Marius. She dies in his arms, and it's heartbreaking because she is so utterly happy to be embraced and loved by Marius for once in her life, even though it is without romantic intent. I think one of the most wrenching parts was when she started spasming due to blood loss as she was dying, and Marius held her tighter and reassured her that he was there for her. There for her to her last breath; although  he could not give her himself. . And it's so sad, because Eponine was the happiest she was, that Marius finally looked at her, and she would always be the tragic love story, who gives everything to the one she loves, and is happy as long as he his happy. :'( "The rain can't hurt me now". After being in so much pain and heartbreak, and dying, ofcourse it can't.

Marius embracing Eponine as she dies...bittersweetly

The movie also depicted Marius's loss of all his brothers and comrades during the final battle. Like can you imagine being the only one left to survive, when you all promised to fight till the end. I imagine he'd feel like he was a coward, and should have died with the rest of them...feeling like the jipped and chickened out. However, in the end he did win Cosette, which was something worth living. Then the rest of the movie was about Jean being and awesome father and finding peace. It was a good ending to the story.

[SPOILER END]

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Anyway, after that awesome movie, we celebrated Mike's birthday and had blackforest chocolate cake. :) I really commend Helen for being an awesome girlfriend; making sure her guy gets acknowledgement for his bday even though it was on Christmas, and even acknowledgement with unfamiliar friends was better than none at all:

Happy couple

Blackforest cake slice

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Oh yeah, I also bought Final Fantasy 13 (preowned). I personally love Square Enix, maybe not for their thorough plots, but their art and character designs are simple sexy and hot and amazing. They're always on the breaking edge of attractive cgi effects and art. If I even continue pursuing art in the future, they would be one of my dream companies to work for.

Final Fnatasy XIII

Then to finish off the day, sister and I made noodles for dinner because mom is away. I reckon food always tastes better if someone else makes it, but it was still good. =D Cooked noodles, made a soy sauce soup and had chicken and beef tripe and ham and veggies with it. Anyway, that's it for today, thanks for reading! =D

Dao Shao Mien, ham, egg, veggies

Eyeshadow is hard QQ

Fail fail fail. It looks like Lulu....how? And you can't even see the yellow because I am yellow. Sigh. xD

Failed look inspired by Shyvana from l

Merry Christmas!

<3 Kazoku desu ne

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Wow. It's so freaking hot. T_T. I feel like doing stuff but then I don't. Like I even feel like eating ice cream but little part of my head is like, if I eat more ice cream and get more insulation, I'll be even hotter. So no. xD
Am eating a superduper tho. =D
Btw, it's funny watching people playing xbox kinnect. Watching my mom jump around and crouch and shake her butt...lololol.

But yesh, have a look at the Christmas haul this year: 

Afterglow wireless headset =D from Mom and Erica

(review later on in the post)

Xbox Kinnect! (this wasn't really a gift, more of a collaboration purchase from my sister and me. My monies. :d)
I can't wait to play final fantasy on it. =D 

Dinner pics (con'td)

My choice in fabulous napkins and decor

Whale and atashi.  I look weird in this photo. ._.

Coles marinated chicken. Dude this stuff is so good and joocy.  $11.56 for this platter =D 

Christmas dinner. Ham, Chicken, Beef tripe, veggies, corn, and prawns. 

After dinner we played a few games of monopoly deal and I got kinda bored so I started texting people. LOL. I dunno, it's so bad. Sometimes I know I should be like...completely focused on family, but like, sometimes it's so boring. ._./I'd rather chill with my friends.

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Afterglow Wireless Headset Review: 

Headset fresh out of the package

Design: 8/10
Sound Quality: 7/10
User friendliness: 7/10
Comforty: 7/10

So I got the Wireless Afterglow headset by Pdp. It has a 2 year guarantee and arrived at the games shop yesterday. =D

So the main selling points of the headset is it's durability, cool LED light design, and it's moderate pricing. Bought the headset for $108 on sale (original $138). I do like the design...those shocking blue LEDS are very visually appealing and it's cool how the headset lights up. (Reminds me of the razer keyboards). It has a mute function, 3 modes that emphasize bass, audio, and game sounds, as well has the capability to connect to your xbox or ps3 controller.

It's interesting how the headset is designed, as it draws most of it's strength from the large, thick, flexible strip of plastic that connects the two sides. Underneath is a snug black piece that fits to your head, with the soft side speakers around your ears. The black piece looks a lot more fragile than the plastic piece, but it isn't really exposed to any damage or abrasion, or harassment from the environment and when you're putting them on, so the design is quite clever-> As you can see on the box, it is that flexibility and strength of the plastic that attracted me to this particular headset. With every strength comes a weakness, and the weakness of the plastic would be it's contribution to the overall formality and appearance of the headset; as the headset actually looks slightly cheap with a giant piece of plastic dominating the dorsal. That being said, originally I had a sexy turtle beach headset, and although the audio quality was much nicer, the plastic of the turtle beach reminds me of maybe two or three layers of eggshell. So I decided to try for durability over formal appearance this time.

The microphone on the headset tucks nicely away, and is flexibly and adjustable, and my skype buddies say that the audio quality is fine, although an online review said that the mic quality was like that of a cellphone. The mic changes color in correlation to the 3 settings. However, the ironic part is that the mic is slightly too short for you to be able to see what color the mic is, so even if you do change the setting; you have to strain to see what color it is out of the bottom left corner of your eye.

Box side that describes all the main functoins

Front view

Close up of the side and mic

The usb part of the wireless headset seems alright. It looks like a fine computer chip encased in plastic, and again, the bright blue LED light makes up the main attractiveness of the usb. The only drawback is that the usb looks slightly bulky and it has a wire set underneath it so you can't place it flat on the table-you have to hang it off the tabee; thus more susceptible to being run into or damaged.

The wireless component of the headset is pretty good in terms of audio. I play something on my computer and walk around the to the farthest parts of my house and listen to it. Apparently distance microphone quality  deteriorates exponentially with distance, but I haven't had a situation to test it out so I cannot confirm with that particular online review.

Sound quality is alright, though I do find that the turtle beach headsets offer a fuller, more dimensional sound in comparison.

In terms of user friendliness, the small manual did say the main functions of the wiring and the headset. However, it was not fully detailed; i.e. the colors corresponding to the modes were found on the box, and I am yet to figure out the '3 lighting settings' which are described on the box.

Battery-life seems alright at the moment, I haven't had to charge the headset. Although another lacking aspect is that there's no sort of notification or measurement of the battery that's visible on the headset/when it's charging. According to the manual, you'll hear beeping when the headset is on 10 minutes, but besides that, there's no visual measurement.

Overall I'm happy with the headset, but would also be keen to try out one of the more expensive headsets out there to see if I can find a more comfortable/better audio quality in the future. Maybe I'll look at the razer ones when this one reaches it's time. =D

That's all for today. Happy holidays people and hope everyone is keeping cool ! Hope everyone is getting some good presents or quality family/friends time over these couple of weeks. Thanks for reading, till next time! <3 

Lack of Exercise, Happy Holidays, Karma

Hello Readers!

Ohai!

So the past few days have been one of those sort of static eventful ones.

First of all, yesterday, we found out that my Mom's Mom, aka, my grandma passed away in the morning. I had just woken up and was like...groggy and mom was like..."Anita, I'm going to Taiwan asap, your Auntie just called and told us that grandma passed away".

Pretty sky today =)

I was like. Oh. This is serious.

Yeaah. Iono. I think I shut down unpleasant things or go out of my way to avoid them. Like the logic side of my brain will do what is necessary to keep me in the 'acceptable behavior zone', but besides that, I'll go out of my way to avoid things. Like apologies as well. Bad conversations. Bringing up issues. I have to mentally prepare and dedicate myself to the above before I can execute them...otherwise I'll just avoid to all extent.

So yeah, I kinda got annoyed at people telling me to be there for my mom. Like I know...but I don't really understand why I got annoyed.

And I was like, in a good mood and brought ice cream home from Mom, to find out she didn't want it atm and Erica was like "Anita, she doesn't want it right now, just go away.". I reacted really badly to that...and was like..whatever. I guess I'm the type of person to show someone I care through tangible objects rather than  dnms on normal basis (although I do like dnms =D). And just being shut down was like..fuak. So I just went to gaming and was like...black grey cloud over my head for the rest of the arvo. xD

But yeh, on a bright note, new frozen yogurt store opened. =D They had an opening two dollar special thing for regular sized ones. (I think the original price for the two came to be around 11 dollars something O_O) But yeah. I kinda felt bad for the people working at the shop.../ I feel bad for a lot of people working around Christmas hours. Although I'm also put on Christmas hours, it still kinda feels bad how service and customer interactions around this time are based on productivity rather than quality.

Regular frozen yogurts from Moochi, (3 toppings) $2.00 ea

Will got the coconut flavor and I got the original one. The coconut was really nice~ sweet but not too sweet. The original tasted like those Jahla or w/e natural yogurts...tasted healthy. xD

(Btw apologies for photo quality, I've been derping and forgetting my SD card in my computer, so I had to use my phone for this one >_<)

But yeah. Also bought x-mas pressies. I swear I combed every single shop for a nice teacup, but yeah. I'm somewhat content with these for will's parents. I saw the glasses one and was like...omfg. He's either gonna love me or think I'm a weirdo for lyfe.

Presents are as follows:

Awesome and maybe slightly creepy glasses stand.

Nice deep blue slightly Asian looking teacup for his Mom. 

 Oh what was really awesome was I met this Taiwanese random whilst in that particular shop. I was like... spazzing about how cool the glasses stand was to Will, and she overheard, and started talking to me. Then she asked me if I could speak Mando, and from there, we kinda partner shopped for half an hour. It was an awesome...random bond. We discussed how cool the glasses stand was, and from there, found out who we were shopping for respectively, and I told her how I was looking for a gift for Will's mom, and we both started combing the shop, and she'd call me over when she found something she thought was good.  I learned that she was shopping for Christmas gift for this guy she liked, but unfortunately he was living with his girlfriend.

Like although I don't really like her taste, her outgoing personality made her likable and she probably would be a good friend in a different time or place. And then we paid for our purchases and I don't know if I'll ever see her again. =) But if we do, and in the right circumstances, we probably would become good friends. =D

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So yes. It is Christmas holiday week...and all my sources of exercises have been declined. LOL. QQ. Dance is off, baddie is off; the most exercise I do nowadays is shopping and I feel like my stomach is getting squishier. Sigh. I need to get back to doing dance covers. =D Unfortunately Erica has decided to hog the living room as well, and I have to wait for her to sleep to use my 'mirror', but she sleeps really late now. I just feel increasingly more lazy in regards to exercise, and I think I'm lacking it to the point where I don't even feel properly hungry because I haven't used up my energies. (Don't get me wrong, I still eat because eating is fun =D, but I don't feel that satisfaction in eating without exercise...It's kinda hard to explain.) I need to be more dedicated to my exercise. =D This is usually the feeling I have in Taiwan where all I do is eat and sit and get fat so....yeah. Motivation!

Reminds me of basics of human nature. Laziness. Like for example, the mob of people buying last minute presents, the procrastination for assignments, I personally procrastinate showers. =D.

Then again, if you have the motivation from doing something, I don't think anything can stop you. Like in the middle of dance season, I felt so much motivation, and all I wanted to do was practice, and somehow my brain found ways for me to practice. Then once dance class stops, I know in the back of my mind I still want to do it, but I'm engulfed by some shietty laziness. >>

So another phrase I kinda go by is "Out of sight, out of mind." I think a lot of people can relate to it. Some examples include people you know...i.e. if you see someone often, you're more likely to talk to them or invite them to hang out, or get to know them better. Whereas if you never see someone...maybe it's the uncertainty about the relationship? Whereas if you see someone constantly, you know the status of the friendship/relationship and are more confident in asking or questioning...etc etc.

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But yes at work. I decided to try one of the peppermint cookie drinks from Gloria Jeans.
Omitted the cream because I wanted to be...sliiightly healthy. xD Logic side of my brain.

Fruit mince tart, Comet's peppermint cookie chiller $4.95 for a small. And my awesome phone. =D 

It was nice. Although I don't I was completely in the mood for it because of my lack of exercise, thus I kinda felt bad for eating junk. =D 

Oh oh oh. I also found the most awesome thing at work. I was ruffling through the drawer trying to find stuff and stumbled upon this: 

...wtf

"Blood syringe. Wtf. This is clearly out of the health and safety regulations...I could get AIDS or herpes out of this syringe if I accidentally had poked myself when digging through the drawer. Is this from one of the hobos from around town? Oh dear...and why is there still blood."

-...were some of the thoughts that went through my head. But then I looked carefully at the tip...and behold!

Trololol I am I pen. 

It was a pen. And not only that, it had red ink in the pen, but when you write things out, the ink turns black...which I found super cool. =D
Oh and strange but...somehow worked out thing that happened today was because it's so close to Christmas, I actually voluntarily went down to start my shift a half hour early, only to show up to find that boss actually did roster me for half an hour earlier. I think it was his mistake, but hey, I'm not going to complain about the extra pay...for the work I did. =D
Although we did also stay behind an extra half hour to sort some things about because we were so busy that we couldn't finish everything that we were supposed to do. 

Happy holidays!

__

Ohh. Which brings me to my other job that I don't think I'll be returning to till next year Christmas maybe/maybe never.

Well basically what happened was that I was told I'd be receiving 13 dollars an hour, but on my payday, boss decided to change it to 12 dollars and said, "Well I'll give you 13.00 next year as incentive so that you definitely come back."

I was kinda dumbfounded. I was like, "What? Wait so it's just 12 then?" And she was like "Yeah." 

She's a relative so I didn't want to start anything, and I really wanted my pay...but I was like...okay.....

I feel like I've been taken advantage of. Like older and more experienced family should be setting an example right? But instead, I was slapped in the face with an example of not holding to your word and dodgey workplace terms and conditions. In addition to the one dollar difference, said boss said she was going to pay me an extra hour for my 1.5 hour commute time into the middle of nowhere...which was not followed up either. 

To be honest, if she just promised $12.00 an hour, I don't think I would have minded, but dangling something that wasn't true just isn't cool. I guess it's the whole expectations thing, and when someone yanks away you hope and expectation, you feel...jipped to say the least.

I dunno. That slight situation makes me wanna say next year, "Is it really $13.00, or is it going to be like last year, where you pretend it is but then change it on payday?"

In addition, I did not get paid for 3 weeks...which is kinda long in regards to the amount of shifts I did.
Just...the situation makes me want to find another good job that pays well, gives me more shifts and isn't so dodgey.


One thing I've learned is that you really shouldn't work for relatives. This is because:

• A. The are likely to take advantage of you (i.e. make you work a little bit longer, do extra favors, etc) 
• B. It's difficult to bring up issues in the workplace (i.e. it will/would affect the family relationships), even if the issues are really important/mandatory ones. 

Hmmm. I have a lot of work sort of thoughts and rants I'd like to elaborate on sometime, but I feel like I'm writing an essay atm so I'll probably leave it to next time/ when something happens again. I leave you guys with some awesome pictures of the clouds from today. They were so beautiful and felt so surreal...I felt like I was in an anime where I was flying. And the sunset was gorgeous as well because of all the contrasting tones to the beautiful blue, whites, reds, oranges, etc. 

Shopping

Hoi guy(s) and girl(s).

Went to a shopping center with Will today. Saw some pretty neat stuff. I think the best stores are the different ones that aren't in the city or aren't franchise because they have new stuff. =D 

So from the games store we have this awesome set from kingdom hearts. There was another set with Cloud's buster sword parts from Advent Children, but I'm not posting the photo because there's this ginormous reflection of my legs on the glass that Will pointed out. T-T. 

Mini keyblade models at a game shop. So kewl. If only they were in color. 

And from the pet store, I present you: super ultra lazy kitty.

Daww. Scho coote. 

Then...around 4 ish we decided to have lunch. I think I was past the point of hungry to like, famished. Like you know that feeling when you get reaaally hungry and you just want to eat everything and then even after you finish a portion, you could probably eat even more but will probably feel bloated or overeat half an hour later?

Lunch Specials options

So we went to Hogsbreath and had their $9.90 lunch special. Will got a smoked bbq beef wrap and I got their grilled ranch chicken burger or something. Will's one was pretty good, but I found my chicken burger quite dry. Like the bread was nice and soft, but it was really dry/ not really that fresh, and then paired up with overcooked dry chicken breast, salad, and not enough ranch dressing to balance out all the dryness. The chips/ pig tail or whatever they call them (aka curly fries for Americans =D) weren't amazing either. Chips were kind of overcooked and tasted like they had been left out for a bit. Portions were okay for $9.90 at a sit in restaurant though.

(btw random thought, I love the auto-save function on this blog. It's really useful- i.e. I just accidentally closed the window after typing that long paragraph, and it was still there when I reopened <3)
(But in contrast, I really hate the image placement though. T_T. So un-user friendly.



So here are some pics of the food:

Grilled Chicken Ranch Burger. I
dont really understand the
knife in the middle....

Will's Smokey BBQ beef wrap. 

Whale and moi

The afterwards I was having a sweet craving and dragged Will along to Gloria Jeans because I wanted to try some of the new Christmas drinks that are out. Atm there was the peppermint mocha and comet's Christmas chiller...which was like cookie frappe or something. Chose the peppermint mocha and a tiramisu cake. =D The cake was nice but really creamy,and the peppermint mocha was really good at first, but at the bottom of the cup it was concentrated peppermint syrup which didn't taste that nice.

Tch Will took a sip of the peppermint mocha before I got to get a proper pic, but yes, Tiramisu (left) and Peppermint Mocha (right)

So then we bused back and Whale went to his ninjitsu thing. I decided I should fix my headset for my lame gaming ambitions so I scouted around for some cheap hairbands, and ended up buying a pack of them for $3.00. That with electrical take, and like, a wrist/ mouse pad protector thing, this is my new headset. =D I'm actually kind of happy with how the repair turned out. LOL. Usually I'm impatient with repairs and things turn out really crappy, but I forced myself to slow down and do it properly. I showed mom and she actually didn't realise that I had repaired the headset; she didn't notice the hairbands and thought the pad thing was part of the quirky design as eyes or sth. Yesssss success. =D

This is the Turtle Beach...Z6a for those who are curious. I wouldn't recommend it because the plastic is very cheap and breakable. Although the sound quality is excellent.

Side view of the broken side. 

New headset xD

Close view of the triple hairbands. =D 

But yesh, that's all for today. Sigh, near Christmas...means baddie and dance are both off. Nooo where will I get my exercise. And holidays is a lot of effort lolol. And still waiting for my pay. Sighhh. xD Whinge whinge whinge. 

Oh yeah, and boss is lame because he wouldn't let me swap my Sunday and Saturday shifts because he wants 'Someone strong to work Sunday'. Which is a compliment to balance out the fact that I'll be missing out on Seaworld with my baddie noobs. :( So lame. Lame lame lame. I really hate it when I miss stuff due to work. Money is good and all, but I'd prefer to have fun with my friends who I actually won't be seeing that much rather before I back to Taiwan, than working.

Cherish what you have~ and don't take things for granted. People and friends >>>>> Money.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Till next post!