Sewn, Helicopter and Colder

Move over Tim Rice-Oxley, and make way for Fran Healy (and Chris Cron)!

Now, who is Fran Healy?
- He's the frontman of the band Travis (Yes it's the name of the band, not the frontman. The same goes to Keane. Savvy?)
- He's an adorable, and he's Scottish (Which makes him more adorable!)
- He's my new *celebrity* crush.

Francis "Fran" Healy
Photo from www.virginmedia.com

Another one of my *celebrity* crush is Chris Cron. He's the frontman of the *American* alternative rock/piano rock band Melee. This band is not as famous as Travis or Keane, yet. There are more to this band than "Built To Last" and "Can't Hold On" (although they are, I have to admit, probably the 2 best songs of the record), so people, keep your ears tuned!

Chris Cron
Photo from www.daylife.com

Lately I've been listening a lot to The Feeling's Sewn and Helicopter, and Travis's Colder (hence the title of this blog entry).

Sewn is The Feeling's first ever single, taken from their debut album Twelve Stops and Home. To date it remains the band's most successful single. The music is kind of mellow, heart breaking, and sentimental. From what I've gathered Dan Gillespie Sells (the frontman) wrote this song about himself, which can be seen from the first two lines of both verses:

First verse
Danny boy, don't be afraid to shake that ass, and misbehave
Danny boy, I know you got time, but what are you waiting for?

Second verse
Danny boy, don't be a fool, take upon to break the rule
Danny boy, you're looking so low, you're looking like the dead grown old

Helicopter is another song from the same album. The song is more upbeat yet the lyrics emit a gloomy aura. And... um... the words, they don't exactly fit together but they sound really really cool! It's not everyday you can find someone who can relate 'helicopter' and 'ocean liner' with 'unrequited love' (my guess). Just check out the quirky lyrics of the first verse:

My piano's out of use, I wish it wasn't
I wish that you were mine
I wish that my heart was stronger
My piano's out of use, I wish it wasn't
I wish we had more time
I wish that my world is softer
And I want a helicopter

Last but not least, Colder by Travis, from their fifth album The Boy With No Name. Quite upbeat, however not as upbeat as Selfish Jean, but mellow and sweet. Fran Healy sure knows how to work his charms on every single song with the combination of his pillow-soft voice and heart-touching lyrics. The chorus goes like this:

The sky is falling down
And there's an angel on the ground
It's getting colder
I'm standing looking down
But there's no sound around the town
It's getting colder

Also watch out for a harmonica solo at the end of the song!

2 Days To D-Day

I can't believe it's just a mere 2 days before my first paper! I have been unproductive this past 5 days. VERY unproductive. I don't really know what's gotten into me but the lazybug have bitten me so hard in my arse.

I AM SO DEAD

This sem was soooo hectic and I only had little time, or, should I say, I spared myself so little time, to catch up with my studies. I was so busy with Annual Dinner that I had to stay in uni from wee hours of the morning to late in the afternoon. I only came back home for dinner and to sleep. All the hard work and all the time sacrificed did pay off, though. The Annual Dinner was the highlight of the year. Yeah, I know that most people think that the Annual Dinner is just a huge cam-whore convention, but let me tell you it's more than that. People pay a little over RM100, you don't expect them to ignore everything that they've already paid for. Just wait until the event is over and THEN people will shower you with comments on the food lah, on the venue lah, this and that lah...

Luckily for me, and the rest of the committee, this year's Annual Dinner went smooth as satin! I even couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all the programmes running just the way we wanted them to be. Me and the others were like "If those people give us negative feedbacks, screw them... This is the best Annual Dinner ever!". And surprise surprise, we received almost none! Most of the students who went gave us positive remarks like "The food is not so great, but it's okay lah. Better than last year!" or "JASON LO ROCKS!!!". Well, to sum it up, they all agreed that this year's Annual Dinner's improved by A LOT.

After the Annual Dinner left us in awe, it's time to get back to reality.

OH SH*T... Reality struck me like a blazing thunder sent down by Zeus! I've got 2 courseworks due AND 1 test the following week! Thermo coursework went just fine, also me (and of course, my comrades) rushed until the very last minute because there had been a slight misunderstanding on one of the bleeping questions. Maths test, let's just say I screwed it. I did good, but not up to my standard. And my standard is high, for most people, to be honest. Lastly, my PEP report. I completely SCREWED it! One day prior the due date I almost didn't sleep at all! I was trying to get bits and pieces of the report together in such short period of time and I...uhm... managed to write some crap. Crappy crap, not the type of crap that usually gets me high marks. Ah hell the crapping parts only make up about 30% of the report anyways.

All the stress triggered an outbreak of pimples on both of my arms. Yes. Pimples on my arms. If you don't believe me you can Google down "body acnes".

And here I am now, 'preparing' for finals. I don't know HOW THE HELL am I going to cramp in all the 12 weeks worth of lectures (multiply them by 4 1/2). So I'm down on my knees, begging you to PRAY FOR ME so that I could save my own ass. I've got 3 things at stake: 1. my scholastic award grant (BIG money), 2. my uni 'scholarship', and 3. MY MOBILITY PROGRAMME APPLICATION. I emphasised on the latter because I want to go to UK reeeeeeeeeeeal bad!

It was nice having had a chance to catch up with you guys. It's time for some shut-eye. Ciao!

I Am Tagged...

This is my first post in... uhm... more than a month now :P

Real name: Maria Stephanie

Nickname: steffi, tepot, tepi, stef, step, maria (i dislike this one very much thank you)

Married: not yet

Male/Female: female

High school: SMA Bopkri 2 Jogjakarta (Indonesia)

College: The University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus (don't you just hate the last 2 bits?)

Short or long hair: SHORT HAIR RULES! period.

Are u a health freak: yes.

Height: 172cm/5'7"

Do u have a crush on someone?: Yes

Do u like yourself: More than anyone else

Piercings: Nil

Righty or lefty: Righty


First....

Surgery: When I was 3

Piercing: 4? 5? I completely forgot.

Person u see in the morning: Po Yoke.

Award: 1st Runner Up, STTB-LIA English Listening Comprehension Competition (what a competition!), when I was... 17?

Sport u join: Swimming

Pet: A dog

Vacation: Singapore and Bali, when i was 2

Concert: None yet

First crush: ANP, when I was in 4th grade


Currently...

Eating: Potato buns I was forced to buy because Trixie took three packs, while I asked for none!

Drinking: Water

I'm about to: Snooze


Your future...

Want kids: None, if possible. Our growing population is a serious threat to mother nature. And she needs a serious break. I dunno, I'd probably opt for adoption.

Want to get married: Like DUH

Careers in mind: Eco-warrior.


Which is better?

Lips or eyes?: Eyes

Hugs or kisses: Hugs

Shorter or taller?: Definitely TALLER. Given that I'm already tall, for Asian standards.

Romantic or spontaneous: Spontaneous

Sensitive or loud: Depends on the situation

Troublemaker or hesitant?: Something in between :P


Have u ever....

Kissed a stranger?: No

Drunk bubbles: No

Lost glasses/contacts: No, I'm not that stupid.

Ran away from home: Yes

liked someone younger: Kind of

liked someone older: Most of the time

Broke someone's heart: Yes

Been arrested: No

Cried when someone died: No


Do u believe in...

Yourself?: More than anyone else

Miracles: I'm a living proof

Heaven: Yes

Santa Claus: Once upon a time there's a jolly old fellow called St. Nicholas. And once upon a time later, someone twisted his life story to make it look as though he's a supernatural being with the ability to fly around the world in one night, from one house to another, to distribute presents to decent (read: nice) little kids. I'd like to belive him as a normal human being rather than a mythical creature.

Magic: Yes

Angels: I'm one :P *lame!*


Answer truthfully..

Is there someone u want to be with right now?: Yes. Badly.

Do u believe in God?: I believe in a higher power. That's about it.

Single Awareness Day

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Being single most of my lifetime means that Valentine's day is nothing special for me. I went through 1 Val's day with a guy, whom I dated for all the wrong reasons. That was the only time I 'celebrate' Val's day not alone.

Val's day is celebrated with roses, chocolates, romantic dinners, yadayadayada. Or so they say. I once used to give out chocolates to my close friends and my crushes for Val's day, but then I got tired of it. Well first, I think it's just a waste of money :P, second I just don't see the point in celebrating love only on this one day of the 365/366 days a year!

But this night, me and my friends did something a bit special. At first we wanted to watch Jumper. But then we figured that the cinema will be packed with people celebrating Val's day, so we put the idea behind. Just 2 days ago me and my classmates agreed to have a "singles only" dinner at my place.

The 6 of us singletons had a lovely steamboat dinner this evening. And I have to say this is the best Valentine's day I've ever experienced! Here's a pic of my friends doing the steamboat

Left to right - Roey, Dexter, Riccardo, Po Yoke and Trixie

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Heya! It's been *quite a while* since the last entry! So how's everybody doing? Alright?

First and foremost, I'd like to greet you all (the ones who are celebrating, of course) a VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

GONG XI FA CHAIPicture © www.TravelaChina.com

So um, I'm in the middle of a week-long (1 week + 2 days actually) CNY break. I haven't done anything and haven't gone anywhere except for KLCC+Pavilion (last saturday, with fellow Indonesians Patricia and Bila), and Kajang. Yes. KAJANG. K-A-J-A-N-G. Why the hell did I go there, you may ask? Well yesterday I went there for a bit of grocery shopping in Tesco, and today I went looking for a dentist who can do crowning 'cause one of my molar teeth needs fixing up. And o yeah, forgot to mention! Mummy's here!!! *Yay*

So back to CNY. Half of me is Chinese, which I got from my mum (hell yeah, sing the song people! I got it from my mama! *ROFL!*). Despite being part Chinese, I (read: my family) don't really celebrate CNY like others do. Well anyways, my family isn't into any festivities at all... not even Christmas! But we try to keep up with the holiday hype when we need to :P

My mum used to give me ang pau when I was younger. But she stopped when I was still in junior high, if I'm not mistaken. It's kinda unfair, 'cause most of my Chinese friends still get ang pau from their parents and senior relatives! Hey, even one of my non-Chinese friend gets it, just because her dad's got loads of Chinese connections/business partners/yadayadayada.

One time, my auntie gave me an ang pau. When my mum found out about it, she was a bit angry, because we're not used to receiving things from other people, our own relatives even. My mum was like "Why did you accept it?". I couldn't say anything. And before you know it, my mum told me "Ok, here's what you gonna do. You're gonna save the money you get in your bank account." I was like WHAT??? T_T

I don't know how it's gonna be this year. But I really doubt that my mum will give me any ang pau for CNY. But hey, she's here... So if she doesn't give me ang pau, I won't mind... I can still take her for shopping anyways (read: she's the one paying!). And that's exactly what I'm gonna do tomorrow! Me and my mum are going to Pavilion tomorrow. Since she's never been there, and since I'm in the mood for shopping, it's the perfect place to go!

More to come! Ciao!

It's Ranting Time!

Friendship is all about respect, trust, honesty and openness. But suddenly I feel like I'm not getting all those from this particular lot of people which one of them used to be my confidant. They are so fucked up right now. Almost all the Indonesian students here in my uni used to be so friendly to each other and we always go together as one whole group. But suddenly some people decided to make a group inside a group. Lately they've been going out together and have been very secretive about it.


WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH YOU GUYS??? Since when you guys decided to behave like high-school students? Pre-teens even? Are you guys scared that we would get in your way? Grow up, people! You're supposed to act like adults by now!


And I guess it's safe to say now, that there's something horribly wrong with you guys. News flash: I'm not the only one who's pissed off with you guys. A whole bunch of people noticed that there has been a slight, no, a HUMONGOUS change of attitude from you guys. First you act like you don't know us, then you ditch us like we're a bag of scum. What did we do to deserve this? Have we ever treated you like fucking rubbish? Did we ever hurt your fucking feelings? Oh, wait. I just remember. You don't have any!


To 'H':


I am so fucking mad at you dude. I felt and still feel really disrespected by you. That day I told you nicely that we have a meeting TODAY at 5. You told me that you probably can't come since you've got replacement class. Hey. I'm not stupid okay. This is the fucking first week of school. Why the fuck should any lecturers replace any lectures, I bet the lecturers are too bored to lecture anyway. Ok, so maybe there is a fucking replacement class. But still, I am not that inferior. I know that replacement classes won't go up til late in the afternoon. And why the fuck did you try to stall like that? By asking "Who's coming to the meeting? What's the meeting about? Is it going to be long?" Don't try to sound like you're interested in the matter if you're not anyway! If you've got somewhere to go or something to do then just tell me! Instead when I told you to give a good reason for your absence you just said "Ummm, hehehehe."


And don't even try to deny what I’ve just written above. I've got the chat log still in my computer.


Yesterday I texted you about the meeting. And seconds after my text got delivered, you bumped oh so coincidentally into me in SA. You acted like nothing's happen.


And today. You've got the nerves for telling me that you're going to the airport. Just an hour before the meeting starts. That is so cowardly. You didn't just get me mad, brother. You've got someone else's blood boiling too. You gave us stupid excuses like "Oh we just decided to go to KLIA this afternoon" and in your text you wrote "... I've business finance replacement class on 2.30 to 4.30". And you had the fucking nerves to tell us that you want to fucking resign from your fucking post just like that. And what's the fucking deal with the English, dude? You are fucking Indonesian. And we are Indonesians too. Indonesians talk in Bahasa Indo to each other. Not some other foreign language. I know your English has fucking improved, don't you think I fucking know already?


Please do remember that you always return to us when you have problems. Remember that day we went to KLCC to buy Kiki's birthday present? You were having problems with that housemate of yours. Who were there to listen to your stories? Who were there to give you advice? Who were there to comfort you? To make you feel appreciated? Who were there to ask you to be strong?


I just want you to know, what I wrote on my text was and still is true. I'm still going to treat you as my friend and fellow committee. I don't care what you think about me and I don't care how you're going to treat me. I'm a bitch, face it. But at least I still have some respect for my friends. If I'm going to end up like your two former friends and that Korean guy, I'll take the risk. It’s not my fault to begin with anyway.


*Sorry for the excessive use of the F word.*

The Dawn Of A New Semester, Part II

Hello again people! Tis time for me to continue my previous entry! Ok, so after Elvin got his haircut, the five of us waited outside the cinema 30 minutes before the movie starts. And, as always, we took MORE pictures. Our philosophy is the more pics, the better. So please don't be surprised to find that most Indonesians are cam-whores (ie.

Elvin and Widya

Elvin, me, Kiki and Widya

As I told you guys earlier, in the previous post that is, we agreed to watch Sweeney Todd. It must be one of the goriest and cruelest movie I've ever watched in my whole life! At the beginning, there were all these singing, dancing, and flashbacks. I kind of enjoyed them (the singing and blablabla), although the story itself is not a pleasant one. And when it got to the part where this Sweeney Todd character started killing people... OMG. I wished that I had not gone to see the movie! I don't want to give out the details about the movie because I know some of you haven't seen it yet. But this I can tell you: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT WATCHING THE MOVIE IF YOU'RE HAEMOPHOBIC (Haemophobia - fear of blood).

Later in the evening, the whole bunch of us went to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to see Widya and Elvin (and some other business students) off. Before they depart, we had supper at McD's, and um... took some more pics :P

Me, Muchtar, Oliver, Widya, Elvin and Kiki

At 1 something AM, we said our goodbyes. When I hugged Widya I couldn't contain my sadness so... I cried a bit :P It didn't last long though, thankfully. And then, we all went back home. Going back home is another different story because we didn't go back the same way we came. In the car there were Kiki (the driver), Priscilla (the navigator), me (the hopeless passenger), and Oliver (just another passenger). Kiki is ROAD BLIND. At at that time, Priscilla was half asleep. But earlier she told us to just follow whichever way that leads to Kajang. So we did. But then we arrived to this fork that branches out into two directions, left and right. There was absolutely nothing there save for a signboard that has information on which direction to take if we want to go to Kajang. At first Pris told Kiki to go right. But it led us to this smaller road in this kampung. So we turned around and took the other direction instead. Thank heavens we did, because we were finally in the right direction!!!

Check this page for the Joint Birthday Celebration pictures. Jusco and KLIA pics will be coming soon.

And I've also uploaded a couple of pics to my deviantART account. You can check them out here.