Why I love Sailor moon so much.

OMGGGGG. Sailor moon is gonna get a new anime! I am just sooo excited, but at the same time afraid that I will not like the new show! I have yet to get the manga too! Ahhhh! The cheapo in me refuses to buy the books individually without a member card or discount. But I think I will cave in and buy the books and the member card in the end. I love Sailor moon that much! <3<3<3

Why do I love her so much? Everyone always give me that weird look when I mention that I super love Sailor moon. It was a show that almost everyone has heard of and know of or even loved to watch as a child. But as time goes by, they forget the feelings of excitement when they watch the show and began to look at it as a child's show as they grow up. Hence, the look of distaste.

To me, Sailor moon is a source of strength. It reminds me that nothing can ever defeat me and there is always hope. After all, Usagi-chan is such a klutz and she got her one true love in the end! Haha, not only in terms of love, but also friendship and life in general.

Usagi-chan and her friends

Whenever I feel upset or discouraged or just plain annoyed, I watch an episode or two of the show and I feel happier. ALWAYS. It is like my miracle drug for mental stress. She is just sooo adorable and ahhh. I lovelovelove Naoko-san for creating the best manga(in my opinon) in the world! Sure, it has its flaws, but I still love it! The manga, the anime and the live action show.

It is like a breath of fresh air that allows me to carry on in hard times. It also supplements my feminism side. HAHA. I quote from "http://graphic-novels-manga.suvudu.com/2011/10/sailor-moon-transforms-for-its-20th-anniversary.html"

"But there’s another reason Sailor Moon, and its availability, is significant. Aside from being important to anime’s history in the U.S., Sailor Moon also stands as a marker in the women’s rights movement in both Japan and America.Naoko Takeuchi, the writer and artist of Sailor Moon, comes as part of a line of female manga artists writing for girls in Japan — something that had only become mainstream a decade before; prior, the stories for girls were dictated entirely by male staff, once the market was determined to exist at all.

Making its way to America in 1994, Sailor Moon was one of the first series for girls in the States that included a female lead and empowerment of the female characters through fighting and action, something typical in male-oriented cartoons or exclusively allowed to male characters. Often, the token female character was billed as “the smart one,” but was forced to wait in the background while the action occurred. Moon is also significant as a story in which the characters live in a world that is not encumbered by sexism. When a girl goes to fight crime, she’s held to her abilities as her own person, not by the standards of being female as compared to a male in the same position. Traditional thoughts of girls needing to stay home from battle don’t even appear. In Sailor Moon, empowerment, grabbing destiny — both are possible to everyone, male and female, and who’s going to say “no”?

Even after six years off the market, a testament toSailor Moon’s influence is that it continues to be a household name, attracting new and old generations of fans alike, and working as a bridge between them. No doubt the Kodansha team is looking to maintain its year of No. 1 hits by courting Sailor Moon fans with a release that aims to maintain the author’s intent and the title’s historical significance. For all of those who ever uttered “Moon Prism Power!” in their backyard when no one was looking, with a stick as their Moon Wand and a golf ball as their Sacred Silver Crystal, here, finally, along with the release ofCodename: V, is the entire Sailor Moon manga universe, unabridged."

So you see? Can you see the awesomeness of Sailor moon? I admit, I also like the retro way anime used to look like. So I am really really afraid the artwork of the new one might not be the kind I like. I am picky much. I am really happy that the voice artistes are coming back so I will not need to adapt to new voices of the cast. Haha. I will miss the old song. Moonlight Densetsu. It just brings back so much memories. Of me rushing to my grandma's room to catch the show on AXN in the afternoons because she was the only one with cable TV and how she would record the show for me when I was not able to come home to watch it. 

I remember my friend in secondary school in sec 2 I think, Quek Li Yu, I have no idea where she is in now, but I would love to thank her for her Sailor moon cards which she gave me. It became my first ever collectable! Elizabeth, who also gave me a Sailor moon ruler. These small gestures which I think they might have already forgotten, but I remain very thankful. 

To me, Sailor moon is a show that is quite brainless (it makes me laugh effortlessly), touching(yes, I even cry while watching Sailor moon) and inspiring. It makes me a better person, I think. More cheerful and accepting of others because everyone is special in their own way. 

Awesome art:)

It also made me a fan of shoujo. I just love how the art is so fairytale like, which makes you feel a little bubbly inside. Because of you, I have chosen Japanese over French because I definitely wanna hear and understand the jokes in the show without having to read the subtitles. 

Okay, maybe I am babbling. But this comes from deep deep down in my heart. Of all the things in my short 20 years of life, Sailor moon influenced me very very much. I love everything about Sailor moon and will continue to be a loyal supporter! 

So continue to amaze me! Gambatte! I cannot wait for the new show and my new manga books(very soon!)

Rebecca<3

Guangzhou trip

Well, I am finally back in Singapore where I can see my precious blue skies and smell the solely missed fresh air.

OMG, the air there is really bad! I moment I stepped out of the plane, I could smell the faint stench of human and smoke smell. I was so repulsed by the smell at the airport, but I remained positive.  This was just the smell of people after long hoursof flight right? But no. When I went into the train, the smell was terrible when the people came in. Pheeeew. My poor nose. I think they only shower twice a week despite the horrible heat. So the smell of sweat is fermented or something(for a lack of a better description) haha. But I am a nice person, I can understand this is probably their culture. I shall bear with it for the shopping. Haha. I was very surprised by the hotel. It did not stink and it was rather grand. Well, it was good enough for me. Because I      refused to share a room with my brother and my brother did not wanna share the toilet and my mom had to use the other toilet. So all was well because I had the room to myself almost all the time. My mom just slept over at night. No one to snatch the tv with me too. Haha.  I stayed in Rosedale hotel by the way. It is on the interchange for line 2 and 8 for the Guangzhou metro. Totally worth the money and so convenient! 

    

We wandered around the hotel and explored the alleys of Cheenaland. It was interesting. They sold shoes on a garage bag piled up in a mess on the ground. Culture shock. How to shop? Oh well. It was ¥15. What would you expect? I also saw many of those Lok Lok stalls which I wanted to try, but my parents discouraged me from it. Highly unhygienic. Because they probably left the ingredients there for god knows how long...:/

Here's the map of the place around the hotel. 

Map taken from Google Maps.

So we went to the supermarket after exploring the area. I experienced another culture shock there. -___-|||

Pictures speak a thousand words so just look at the pictures and then tell me what you think. 

Chicken feet, duck feet, sausages, duck wings. 

All the exotic food that I like! But I don't really dare to eat those in the supermarket.

SEAWEED! 

 OMG. God knows I really really love seaweed. Wakame, Konbu, Nori, I loveeee them all. But This is a little repulsive. Don't you think? :/

The person who arranged this must have been bored. REALLY BORED.

???? I have a few thoughts about this. Was the fish monger(Do we call them that?) really really bored? Or these fishies are for decoration? Or they do this because no one buys them anyway? I really wanna know because this is just soooo WEIRD! Ugly fishie on top.

2 fishies got maried and 2 fishies divorced and got new partners. HAHA

 Would have been more epic if you arranged the squid in a heart shape. HAHA.

Liang ban. 

 I still don't know how to input Chinese on this computer with my tablet. FAIL. But it means cold mix.

Supermarket haul. Haha. 

If you think this is little, fret not. I think we went to the supermarket 5 times during our 5 days trip. Haha. <3 the supermarket.

View outside the hotel. I KNOW. I am bad at photography. Haha.

After marketing, we went back to the hotel and then out again for dinner. We had difficulty deciding what to eat, but my father wanted to eat the suan cai yu A.K.A sour veggie fish??? That we had to look for a restaurant which had it. We walked into one of those alleys and just chose one. Ha. 

View from my table

Let me side track a little. Notice that my mom has a straight nose? I have too! But mine is a roundish straight nose that wrinkles up into a round ball when I smile. Sad:(

First dish, stir fried potatoes.

I lovelovelove potatoes. I like them grilled, fried, boiled, baked, well.... you get it. But this is pretty much the Cheena's version of their potato dish. Fried with dried chilli and I guess chicken oil, the aroma was awesome. If they would just add a little vinegar....nomnomnom. Of course, I have tasted better, but I liked this dish well enough to give it its own picture. HAHA.

Our first meal in GZ.

 Anyway, the bill came out to be about S$20. Very cheap considering that we had a whole fish and a whole chicken for dinner and drinks.

 Something gross I saw while eating.....I was gonna order the sugarcane drink and the staff were eating their dinner when I spotted the lady cleaning her mouth ON THE TABLECLOTH!!! Oh god. -___-|||

Guess what I found when I was washing the cups?

Okay, I have to be reasonable. We can find this in Singapore too. But....this is not a very good first impression. Haha

This was what I saw on my way up/down of the building. 

Okay, this is the rooftop, but where is the prince??? Haha. Just a joke you might not understand but NEVERMIND :D

Okay, so this was all I did for the first day. I am sleepy already. I shall continue again soon:) Ciao!

#EDIT: I killed my hard drive which had all my pictures in it. So I cannot have any more posts on Guangzhou. :(

Rebecca:)

Tutorial: Phone cover decoden!!!!

Well! I finally did more decoden after a really long while! My first pretty big project in a while:) So, presenting the phone cover decoden!!! I do see phone shops selling pre-made decoden cases, I am am very unimpressed by their work. Firstly, they tend to use acrylic rhinestones, which does not shine as much as crystals or the ones I am using. I am too poor to afford to deco my cover with swarovski, but I bought these resin rhinestones and cabochons from Sophie and Toffee! Loveee them. I am so happy they are based in Singapore, but their shipping is not that expensive anywayyy. I get 99% of my materials from them.

First, I had to do my shopping! I went online to make my purchases. I wanted something floral-themed, so I bought quite a few cabochons. Okay. This post is gonna be filled with pictures! So here goes:)

 Package arrived in the mailbox! I was so excited to start on my project!

Very nicely wrapped with bubble wrap(popping time!)

After carefully removing all the tape, the package inside! YAY!

This was what I got! Roses, ring blanks and pin blanks! Oh, and one packet of rhinestones, clear.

Working table. Looks neat huh! If you are a complete beginner, go here! This is an old post of the materials on the table. Hope it will be of help to you:) I got a new thingie since then. The triangle tray. It allows me to flip my rhinestones to the correct side for me to pick it up with tweezers. Haha. Amazing stuff.  I used SGP phone cover. I wanted a pink one, and you know it is soooo difficult to get a hard pink quality android phone case! I found this in Sim Lim Square for $8. Totally worth it because the quality is awesome and it is pink! Most of the rhinestones in the box are from Sophie and Toffee, and the box is fully filled. Says a lot about how irresistible the stuff there are. 

Plan where the big guns go! It is important to vaguely know what you want! If not.....your design will look amateur, like mine. I am that bad at sticking with plans-___-. Haha For me, I wanted to make my roses more secure because the surface of the cover was not flat. So I used "industrial strength" E6000 glue and waited for 24 hours before doing the next step.

Add the smaller gems, I decided to use my tear-drop shaped gems to create a heart shape. These are swarovski crystals okay! You can get these from Arab street. They are expensive though. Be prepared to pay a lot if you want to use the crystals.

Added pearls around the flowers to give it an elegant look! Haha. Pearls are also from Sophie and Toffee.  

Started blinging! Haha! I always like the do it inside out because it makes more sense! If you do it outside in, you may not have the rhinestones to cover the space left. UNLESS, you plan carefully. HAHA. 

With the sparkle effect on my camera. SHINY! I decided to create a moon shape at the bottom! I should have thought of the moon earlier, but it just popped in my head AFTER I put on the roses. 

Tra la la. Blinging in progress. I took a span of about three or four days because I had work. Which means only doing the blinging at night. I like doing this though. It is therapeutic. 

Almost done!

It looks so gorgeous even when it is ALMOST done right? Sigh...Cannot believe I did it from scratch <3 Decided to add another rose on the side because it can be ergonomic(??!!) Haha. I use that rose for the finger to ''hook'' on. But the overall look can be made better if only I planned. So ya. PLAN. 

Donedone! A tip? Take your time! Enjoy the process and anticipate the product! Ta-da! Okay I am gonna go out of point for a while. I just went to the toilet and realised I locked myself out of my room. Thank god the my mum was not asleep yet so I asked her for the key. See! Bad point about locking your door... Okay, back to topic!

Really need to get a better camera!

Canyouseethemooncanyouseethemooncanyouseethemoon?  Really love this part of the phone. Me and my obsession with the moon. Haha.

Middle part...

I like the top! 

Sooo, ahem. Posed with my rose ring(also made my moi) and my rose themed manicure from Batam and my rose themed phone cover attached with my phone. OMG. I am girly! Haha.

The front still looks like boring black. But it is okay. The back is shiny enough for the magpie in me. :)

It looks nicer on white background right!

Even nicer on my hand. Haha.

Okay, so that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you are interested in decoden, why not look at my other decoden tutorials and start shopping in Sophie and Toffee! Not so many as of yet, but more to come:D Ciao!

Rebecca :D:D:D

All is well. Thank you so much.

Well, as the title states, all is well in my life and thank god for it :) I just received a letter from NTU for sociology. I am really grateful that they accepted me. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I almost applied for SIM. Not that it is not good, but I want to work in the government sector and NTU is more recognised? Sigh. I am just feeling so gratified and relieved now.

It has been a long journey. I have gone through 3 interviews. More than a normal person would have. But then again, we all know I am not really normal in a normal way. Haha. I always go through a detour. Somehow. But at this point of time, I am truly happy. I have a job which I like, my driving lessons seem to be going on well, I enjoy my trip to Batam a lot(post on that should be coming up), I have been crafting, and I have my tuition work which I enjoy. I am busy. I like it. I am also working towards my goal.

How I wish I could remain like this for a while. But you know and I know, it is impossible. Reading a book on Buddhism  really opened my eyes to the things around me. I felt that the book was not really talking about Buddhism as a religion, but it really tells us about the reality of life. I reminds me that sometimes we are so caught up with the things in our lives that we fail to appreciate life itself. Happiness will not last, but this experience will stay with me forever. Feeling so dejected every day as I check the Joint Acceptance website, feeling the stress when people asks you where will you go. It is an unforgettable experience. The professors I met during the interviews. They taught me some things.

From the book, I learnt that there is really no good or bad thing. Goodness and Badness are concepts. Why let yourself be trapped in the world of concepts? My results, was it a bad thing? I would have said yes immediately if you asked me a while back. But now, I will not say anything. Having that results showed me the support that my friends and family gave me. It also disallowed me to easily get into the course I wanted. But it gave me the experience I would never have experience otherwise. So on what grounds can I say it is good? And on what ground can I say it is bad? It is neither good nor bad.

Life is really a weird thing. I dare say it is weirder than me.

That's all. Ciao! This is a really weird blogpost. Oh well. I wanted to get it out of my system before I forget because god knows I am really forgetful.

Rebecca ^^

Oh, happy foodie day.

Well, the past two days have been quite exciting! Exciting day started with yummy lunch. Yummy lunch consisted of overnight food. From left, Danish egg!(the kind of half boiled egg we ate in Denmark eons ago. That's why my parents call it Denmark egg). It is pretty much the same as the normal Singaporean ones, just that the surface is like hard-boiled eggs but the inside is soft and runny. Yum yum. It was served cold with dark sauce and pepper. If you think it is eeky cold, oh well, put it in lukewarm water so that it is warm but not hot enough to cook further. I am fine with cold eggs. Egg salad is also served cold. *shrugs*. Next to the egg, salted veggie and pork soup! My dad is quite crazy over this salted veggie soup. It is not the 'light airy' kind of soup if you know what I mean. It is more like those double boiled soup taste. Yum yum. My mom is currently experimenting cooking the soup with fish/pork/chicken/duck. Me thinks it tastes the best with kamo(japanese for duck). Next to the soup is Japanese rice with minced meat sauce. I put in Martell in this meat sauce. My mom was just telling me how expensive Martell is and how I am wasting it. Boo. I did not know. I just thought it tasted real nice when I add it into food. I feel quite guilty now. But I like Martell. It is very nice even raw(do you even use this word with liquor?) Haha. Lastly, a royal gala apple to complete the meal! You see, overnight food can be really good right? Yum.

 Went for BTT. I think it boosted my morale too much. I feel quite proud of myself now. I completed my test in <10 minutes and even checked it. Was the second person to leave the room. Haha, I got my Provisional Driving License even before the test was supposed to end. Haha. But then again, DRIVING IS SO EXPENSIVE D: WHYYY! Why is learning to drive so expensive :< Oh well. It is worth it if I get to drive my daddy's Volkswagen when he is out of town right? ;p Must look at long term benefits!

I went home really happy and wanted to be hardworking. I looked up for a recipe for no bake granola bars. 

Ta-da! Looks yummy right? I used chocolate buttons and dried cranberries for decoration and taste. 

Getting ready to chop chop chop it up....

Nom nom time! It was so good, I sort of ate a lot of it. And had to make a second batch so that my dad can bring some for my cousins to try. :) 

Let the sugar, honey and butter caramelise.....reminds me of the caramel popcorn I made last time. But this is so much less of a hassle though. Popping corn is not as fun as it sounds. 

Spy dried cranberries, oatmeal and rice krispies? All the good stuff. I sneaked in 2 weetbix too because 1) I need to finish it 2) somehow the mixture covers the cardboardy taste and smell of weetbix.  

 My second try was not as pretty as my first but oh well. Less chocolate chips means it is also healthier right? :D I think I need to improve on this recipe further though. Especially if I want to add weetbix. Because the bars are too dry(they do not stick so well) but still yummy. I hope my cousins like it! After all, kore wa oishii desu!

That's all the updates for today. First driving lesson is scheduled on the 19th of May. Hope it will be a good one! Ciao!

Rebecca:)

5 cool DIYs to try.....#5

Well, it has been a reallyyyy long time since I did a post of thing I wanna try huh? Blame Pinterest. I just pin everything to keep it in mind. But then, there are just some that are on your most wanted list right? Haha. These are on mine!

http://merricksart.blogspot.com/2011/10/polo-refashion.html

I really really really LOVE this! Looks so good and easy. But....my dad does not wear striped polo tee, and neither do I. Looks like I will have to try this with a plain tee! I need to raid my father's wardrobe. Haha.

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/lion-stuffy-toy

This is so awesome and cute, I am so totally making this! I need the correct coloured yarn and thread though. Sigh. I have too many novelty/funky yarns at home.

http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet-Sweaters/Lightweight-Zen-Jacket#

Definitely making this. But I need to get my cotton yarn from Guangzhou first. Imagine wearing this in Singapore if it was made from wool.

http://www.duitang.com/people/mblog/9700472/detail/

Wrapping a present and need something to jazz it up? This is the best idea ever because you can just use the  wrapping paper left from wrapping the present! Cool right!

http://www.inspiredtoshare.com/page/9/

Nice right! I just need the inner string to make one of these. God know I have too many skeins of embroidery thread at home ;D

Okay, that's all for today. You know, almost all these are from my Pinterest account because I already saved everything there! Ciao!

Rebecca :D (eating korean ramen at 10.30 pm is not good for my belly, but I am doing it anyways. NO WONDER I am getting rounder. What happened to self-control?)