Thursday, April 25, 2013

Voice of Hayley Westenra

HayleyWestenraWikipedia1.jpg
Hayley Westenra, born in 1987, Soprano




Recommended songs from her (ranking does not matter):




1) Never Say Goodbye




2) River of Dreams




3) Who Painted the Moon Black?




4) Hine E Hine




5) Dark Waltz




6) Beat of Your Heart




7) My Heart and I




8) Across the Universe of Time




9) Heaven




10) Wuthering Heights




11) Mummer's Dance



Friday, April 19, 2013

Bee-Eater

A pair of European Bee-eaters
Bee-eaters have slender bodies covered with vibrant feathers and are found mostly in Africa and Asia, with minor populations dotting in Europe and Australia. They are diurnal creatures unless their migratory path is interrupted by sea or unsuitable habitat.

As their name suggests, they prey upon flying insects, mostly bees and wasps. Honey bees turn out to be their favourite food and that alone constitutes 90% of all insects eaten. They remove the stinger from bees and wasps by hitting and rubbing the insect on hard surfaces continuously. Strangely enough, they only catch flying preys in the air, or "hawking". And once the flying insects land, the bee-eaters totally ignore them.

Dust-bathing
Bee-eaters always use 10% of their day having fun, or known as "comfort activity". These activities include sun-bathing (to heat up their body), dust-bathing (to clean their body of parasites) and water-bathing (to bath)



"Zero distance"
Bee-eaters live in colonies by nesting in burrows on the side of sand banks. Despite being in colonies, bee-eaters are strictly monogamous for one or more breeding seasons. Instead of pulling out a wedding ring, bee-eaters pull out their food to feed their mate, which is known as courtship feeding. After getting alone with each other, the pair begins digging their nest together by jabs of sharp bills and kicks from their tiny feet. Their home is rarely used twice and is considered unique. The love of these couple can also be observed by their "zero distance standing" where they stand so close to each other till their feathers touch.







"So, watcha lookin' at?"

*Pictures obtained from Wikipedia and Google Image Search


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Of Nowadays (Part One)

Maths is a dead subject now. No longer living. I gave my 13-year-old-and-scored-7As-in-UPSR cousin this question: One class as 30 students where 20 of them love Science and another 20 love Maths. How many students love both?
 


He stared at the question and quickly-as-a-matter-of-factly scribbled this:
 
 
30 - 20 - 20 = __
 





"Your question got problem," he frowned.



I looked at him. He was going to take the private school entrance exam and if this question cannot be solved, I have no hope for him to obtain at least a quarter-scholarship (of course there is no such thing as quarter-scholarship).

"Think," I commanded.

He gripped the paper and ran downstairs seeking help from a mechanical engineer father. "Pa, do this for me."

I stared at him ridiculously. "What? I asked you to solve and you turn to your father!"

They both ignored me. Then another shocking news reached my ears:

"Eh, you don't give him this question. You look carefully. Your question is faulty," he said.

*JAWDROPPED*

*
Diameter and radius, who would have not known? My cousin is peculiar. He claimed it was NEVER in his primary school syllabus. It was supposed to be a secondary school syllabus. When I directed him to revise his books, he found it.

"Oh, diameter is like this," he said, drawing a retarded circle and a line jamming through the point of origin. From a clock, it looked approximately like 12.30pm. Then he extended a line from the point of origin and touched the circumference, such that this radius is pointing at 3 o'clock. "This is radius." He smiled.

I took his pen, and drew a radius pointing to 5 o'clock. "Is that a radius?"

"No." He quickly replied.

"Why?"

"It wasn't pointing at that direction," he signified with his index finger pointing to his right.

I was totally surprised. I rotated the paper such that the radius I drew pointed to the direction he intended. "So, my line is it a radius now?"

He scratched his head. "Where got people rotate exam paper one?"

Don't tell me. You should know what your reaction is.

*

Creativity seems to be the latest horror story to any child. I remembered my cousin's face suddenly folded over several times and let out a disgusted noise, "Use my imagination and creativity again?"

I nodded. It was a question of drawing a 10-metre wide circle with only a pencil and a compass.

He quickly turned to his papa and mama, whining, "Pa, Mi, if I give you this and ask you to use imagination and only..." he paused and revealed the tools I have given him to his parents, "this," he said disgustedly, "to answer, can you do it?"

His parents glanced at it.

"I have no time for this. Your cousin gave it to you, so you do it on your own," the mother said.
"What is it? Let me help..." he stared at the question long enough. Then he said, "I don't know. You go ask your cousin."

Then his face glowed truimphantly as if he is the king of answers. He shoved me the paper and tools. "Nah! Papa and mami also can't solve it. How can I solve it!" Then he turned on his computer.

I sighed. My parents are not university graduates, but they are my powerful encyclopaedia. They sometimes can't help me on maths, but they open my minds. I am glad I have such parents.

*

One day, his sister came to me, saying that there's a word she can't understand. I looked at it and it wrote "fertiliser" in Chinese language. So I told her in English is "fertiliser". She stared at me as if I didn't explain anything at all.

"What is fertiliser?" she asked.

Being a 8-year-old toddler, I couldn't blame her much. So I said, "You know, mami has plants outisde? The flowers? Sometimes they need something like tiny fishballs to become bigger and healthier."

She stared at me even stronger. "Huh?"

"You go ask mami. Maybe she can show you," I gave up.

She ran to the kitchen, found her mum and did what I tell her. Her mum came to me, wiping her wet hands on her shirt, "Ah, sorry to tell you, we don't use fertilisers. So I can't show you."

I... collapsed.

*

"Gor gor, how you draw so beautiful?" my cousin sister tugged at my sleeve.

"Come, I show you. You see this...?" then I began how my father and mother taught me about observing power. How the size and perspective matters. How shadow shifts under light. How things must be balanced. How object must be logical.

"Can you fold paper swan?" she meant paper crane.

"Yes."

"Can show me?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"Later."

"When later?"

"Till you know how to draw," I gave an evil grin.

You know what's best about an innocent child? They will give whatever it takes to get whatever they need. I soon saw her struggling to draw and ask me about the pictures. But I pitied her because she had to draw on newspapers.

"Meimei," I called her. "You don't have papers to draw on?"

"No. Papa mami din buy also," she shook her head with her sorry eyes.

I reached my file and gave a stack of A4 papers. "Nah, draw for me, every day."

She gladly took it.

Creativity is something to be explored. Seriously. If you have the tools, you make wonders. Don't ask your children to read, read and read. That's not learning.

*

One day we went to Sushi King. Me and her mami craved for baby octopus. So I grabbed a plate.
"Gor gor, what's that?" my cousin sister words glued together, sounding like "wazzat".

"Baby octopus," then I added before she put any wild imaginations on it, "it tastes very nice!"

Her papa suddenly said. "You don't eat one lar. Really one, you don't eat."

I ignored him and cut a tentacle for her. She cautiously put it in her mouth and grinned. "Nice lo."

Sometimes, as a parent, you have to give chance to your kids. Don't go laying conclusions when your kids have no exposure on them, unless it is not beneficial.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Thank You Notes

I hope you are truthful enough. I have given you the colour and please check your notes based on your given colour. No dishonesty please!












BLUE
Don't be so blue, like me. Be happy! Nah, just joking. I thank you for being my coursemate or faculty mate although I didn't do much on your life, except my serious face problem. If you are an enemy to me, I thank you if you become my friend (if not, ignore this part. LOL). All the best in your future undertakings yeah! Belanja me OCHADO during convo and I buy you Sushi King's Bento Set! I promise!




RED
You are like a family to me. Your presence in my life has changed me. Seriously. I am very happy to be with you and sad enough to leave you because of graduation. I know I have no internet connections, but please, do contact me when you are bored, OK? You are my primary colour that taints my tertiary life! Keep tainting me!




ORANGE
You somehow, hmm, doesn't "fit in to either category". Don't be sad. You are unique. I wish to know more about you, but time doesn't allow. Or maybe I am too shy. I will work hard on it, OK? Maybe someday we will have a great chat under a Mamak restaurant or something. But do look out for me always! Thank you for being a tiny presence in my life. Don't take it as a prick; in fact, having you is better than losing you!




PURPLE
Unique. Like the colour suggest. You are one-hard mysterious object. I know you but I don't really know you. We are best friends in a sort, but maybe because distance is better in playing a part of strengthening bonds. I guess if I grow too close to you, disaster will strike! Thank you, peep! Send me letters, if you want to! I will give you my address! It's been a long time since I collect letters and stamps!




YELLOW
Always cheerful, I think. That's how I look at you. You brighten my day up! Don't you have a sad moment or something? Playful and cheeky. But please, sometimes don't be too self-obsessed. I wish I can be as bright as you! Thank you, although we didn't know each other long enough, but I believe the moment we had walked together would suffice! Danke!




TEAL
DANCE CLUB ROCKS! See? I purposely put up a Dance Club section. You guys play a serious role in transforming me, especially Angeline Tan. Because of her "You can laugh or not?" question, I am able to change myself. Though, some of you still are strangers to me, but I love you guys. For me, Dance Club really is a club! It progresses, adapts and grows together with members and members' interests. A good family to be with. You can go ahead and read the RED section if you want to.


FUCHSIA
Music and similar interest bonds us. I am very very happy that I know you! Through events, maybe, but most importantly, music and interests! You are the one big fat fuchsia colour I cannot miss. If only we can meet earlier, we could have been a gang or something to dominate the campus. LOL. Anyway, thanks. Had it not our interests, I don't think we are friends. Right? Rhetorical question, though. I wish I can do something for you!

GREEN
I don't know you. SHOOOOOOOOOO. Haha. I am sorry, next time PM me more. I can't just say THANKS to a random stranger without knowing their deeds, right? But thanks for being my FB friend though. Harrass me with your wonderful PMs!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

[MESSAGE]

Hey bloggie!

[Copy & Paste]
I just found out this cool thing about "tossing a bottle into the sea" by using Blogspot. You write your whatever-it-is message (be it cool or sad or nostalgic) and post it as a blogpost with an additional tag of [MESSAGE]. When others drop by and saw your post, they will forward it on their own blogs! See whether the world is round when you will pick up your own bottle!


OK, so this is it. This is my first time tossing a bottle into this "Blog Sea", hope anyone would forward it and carry my message far beyond.

I am going to talk about something not of emotions, I think. So I hope you are patient enough to follow me. ;)

Do you know somethings are not supposed to be completed? Like, when you bake a cake, you don't put it in the oven and claim it complete. Sounds crazy, right? But wait, hear me out, I have this cool gift from someone. It's a music box! The song (I dunno what song is that) ran for 5 minutes, as I was told.

And...

I didn't finish listening to it. Till now, 12 years has come to pass. And my gifter had gone away, somewhere in Europe I think and I can't get in touch with him till he comes back, which will be another 8 more years, if he had enough money.

I didn't want to hear the ending of the delicate music because it feels sad to end it. I want to hold that music on forever till I meet him once again and let the music continue.

It's... sentimental, I guess.

I don't have his address or contacts, but I do wish this message would reach him by the help of Sea Bloggers!

PS: Maybe you can toss your own bottle too! Who knows I will pick it up and forward it on my blog?


Cheers,
Linji.