In between start and end: August 2016

Okay lame fact: I am a noob at editing videos. For anyone who uses Sony Vegas Pro 13, how the hell do you work that software out?! I'm starting to experience so many setbacks. It's getting tiring.

Last time I tried Vegas Pro was in Form 4 so that was 2 years ago. But the video was barely a success. I didn't blame the software bcos my laptop back then exceeded the 3 years age already. It was a miracle alone that Vegas still manage to run on it. However, things have change now with my new laptop. At least that's what I thought.

Editing an-hour long video can be intensely frustrating when it comes to the preview lag. I had a video I was editing yesterday. It was a perfectly smooth-sailing experience and rendering took only about 2 hours for a 10 mins clip but figured it was real fast. And then, today happen.

I was editing another video which was recorded somewhat similarly with the same duration and file quality and all. BUT THE PREVIEW JUST WON'T PLAY SMOOTHLY. How can you edit something when you cannot see which part you're editing?! So, I hit YouTube up bcos visual over words anytime, any day. And is2g I at least watched 10 different solution videos regarding it and still couldn't fix it!!

Alright, here's my problem in extra detail. My raw video was lagging on the preview in Vegas Pro 13. Weird thing was its frame rate was not skipping any numbers. The numbers run almost perfectly. But when I watch the preview, the video literally was not changing frame. It kept pausing on certain frame. Its audio on the other hand, plays very smoothly. It got me what-the-helling. No problem was described as similar to mine that I could find online ugh.

Then as I was finding a replacement for a different editing software, I thought of something - conversion. On usual cases with videos, it can play well on certain device or software but suddenly cannot on some other. As if the file is corrupted... but that isn't always the case. My friend had this issue on her laptop before. An MP4 file was transferred from her phone thru a USB to her laptop. It cannot run on hers at all but when I tried with mine, it can. So, I helped convert it to another video format online. Then it work wonders.

This case was no different. It is weird that yesterday's video was fine though it uses the same video format. Oh well, at least I managed to solve it after a veryveryvery long day. So the next time you face a complication with videos not playing, try converting its format.

Here's a good link for short vids but for looong vids try this link instead. Yay to online converters! /nobigdeal

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

Dull post ahead!!

Credits to tumblr

Here comes the moment I hate most - packing. I will have to start packing my stuff to go back to Melaka huhuhu. Trust me, I'm whining inside. I don't wanna leave ugh this is depressing. A month break is probably ain't so fun on the last couple of days bcos you're rusty and rotten and lifeless... more lifeless than you were.

I'm leaving on Monday the 29th, which is next week. Saying 'next week' helps me think it's longer than it really is. Padahal lagi 3 hari. Sad that my next time I'll be home will be God knows when bcos I don't think I'll be having a long break during Raya Haji. If I'm rajin enough, I can go back on weekends but I doubt so. Travelling back and forth just takes too much effort.

I have so many pending personal projects that I planned to do. Sigh. Why can't I thought of this sooner? I would have more time if that were to happen. I'm scared that I won't have time to do the things that I wanted once Semester 1 starts. I feel like I'm at the age where life is starting to get scarier day by day. It makes me feel so old.

I wanna be active in sports and club. I wanna do well in studies. I wanna continue watching kdramas. I wanna try doing something new. I wanna ride penny board well enough not to embarrass myself. I wanna do heck a lot of things right now but I just don't think it is possible. Time restrain is one thing. Priority is another. Why do I suck at time management so much omg?!

It's like I have more thoughts and daydreams than the urgency and passion to make anything comes to life. Every single time an idea hits, it lingers for awhile but not for long until it tires me down and vanish. That is why my interests never last. Whenever I'm full over smtg, I think too much about it rather than putting effort into it. This is my weakness. The mature me already know this too well. So, whenever I want smtg I'd make sure I REALLYREALLYREALLY think it through.

All the things that is not a need for school or survival, I gotta pay myself. Simply said, luxury items. Therefore, most of the time all the things I thought I wanted never really lasts long. It's just a temporary crave. You know life is all about adapting. That's exactly what I do. I adapt myself... to my own situation. Using whatever I already have. Most of the time, it's not as good as expected. But if the interests still lasts, YAY NEW DISCOVERY!

There... I've used up my brain capacity writing this and now I'm already sleepy. Ahh jeongshincharyeo Amelynn!! (It means 'wake up' in Korean) This is the main factor why nothing works out as planned. Bless me, bless you, bless us and our lives!

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

This time, it's another kdrama review known for its bobbed-headed female lead! A drama called 미녀 공심이 or Beautiful Gong Shim starring Girl's Day's Minah, Nam Goong Min and On Joo Wan. It is a drama airing 20 episodes from mid-May until mid-July 2016 on SBS.

Credits to wowkeren.com

ROM-COM

Now this is a worth-calling 'romantic-comedy' bcos it's one heck of a good comedy. A lot of kdramas tend to focus more on the romance part than it does on the comedy. Ever since episode 1 and on majority of the episodes - if not all, it had been more than little chuckles for me. I was basically rolling on my bed seal-clapping bcos phew that was intense lvl of comedy and cringing.

Gong Shim is someone who self-claimed herself ugly and a person who has nothing much to lose. Damn, I love this character. She's very outspoken and straight up when talking which shows her sincerity. She dares to say her boss isn't funny when he tries cracking jokes... I mean c'mon 'honesty is the best policy' right? A scene where she rings bicycle bell to get herself out of the busy street was very smart of her haha.

Ahn Dan Tae on the other hand is such a simple guy. Who wears capri pants and flip flops 24/7 like he does?? His character is what Gong Shim calls "멍청이 (meong-cheong-i)" or dimwit. This is what makes them so fun to watch. There's a sense of laughter, stupidity, anger and sympathy on this character. But most importantly their chemistry was uh-may-zing! They don't need a hot passionate kiss to make it so romantic. This whole relationship already is.

CLICHE

I'm not gonna beat around the bush and say the plot is oh-so-great bcos it's a so-so. Predictable? Very. Hard to watch? Not. It's the kind where the acting overpowers the plot. The acting is so good that we anticipate it bcos we just wanna see it happen when truth is we know what's gonna happen. Nam Goong Min plays his role extremely well that people might really thing he's crazy. Goong Min is known for playing a psycho or antagonist in dramas so seeing him here being the hero was... urmm confusing(?)

There was a lot of scenes where Gong Shim was fed up with Ahn Dan Tae being his immature self. Her toleration on his dumb acts were very humane and expressive but honest and heart-warming. She showed her displease yet she still cares which makes their relationship to be an interesting one. They both are like cats and dogs and up until the end they still fight. A fun addition to this cliche-ness.

LOVE TRIANGLE VS. LOVE SQUARE

The second male lead - Seok Joon Soo is a dream man. He got the look, the money, the personality and basically the charm of a perfect man. The chaebol who kept his identity hidden and making friends with solely on his good personality is who Joon Soo is.

Having an interest in Gong Shim at the same time as Ahn Dan Tae, declares a friendly war between Dan Tae and him. He wouldn't disobey anyone even his mum, when she's a crime suspect. I thought he would back-stabbed justice but nope, he's just a charming character indeed.

The second female lead - Gong Mi however, is a bitch. She got the beauty, the body, the job but just not the heart. She's a very selfish person who rather save her career than her own sister. She acted fake too often for anyone to pity her character. She uses everyone and anyone just to get what she wants and that my friend, would never get you far... In the end, everyone is just too nice to her. Seo Hyo Rim did a great job acting as Gong Mi bcos well she successfully made everybody hates her.

She doesn't deserve Joon Soo in any way bcos it'll be like an angel pairing with a devil. Gong Mi's true self is when she is with Dan Tae. How badly she treated him was who she truly is. Gong Mi with Joon Soo was just an act bcos she controlled herself too much. She'd passed as a con artist.

ANTAGONIST

Uncovering the truth on Ahn Dan Tae's background was a lonely fight. Dan Tae himself had to discover all these clues and facts about his true identity alone. His challenge was only one person - Joon Soo's uncle. Even when we all thought Joon Soo was going against him, it's really not. Joon Soo was just confused. His own uncle and mother was involve in a crime how can anyone not be confused?

I'd say the enemy is pretty weak and stupid. He didn't try hard enough to cover his traces. He's just piling his own mistakes onto himself and burying himself altogether. When he kidnapped Joon Pyo and then his friend told him that he lost the boy, he didn't bother to really make sure of it. He simply believed that Joon Pyo's gone for 26 years. Seriously?! Or when he told his sub-ordinate to get rid of Dan Tae but got hit by Joon Soo instead. Lol WEAK!

Idk what else to say abt him. It was an easy fight. In the sense that, the uncle didn't make it complicated. He just exists bcos somebody needed to be the bad guy.

WELL-BALANCED

The background story and the on-going whereabouts between characters was a good back and fro. We're not just focused on Dan Tae and Gong Shim, but also on Dan Tae's family. Which relates back to Joon Soo's. As Dan Tae was figuring things for himself, Gong Shim also developed as a character. She gets to do what she really feels like doing. And when the mothers deal with their egos towards each other, we can see that it's not just about Dan Tae anymore.

OVERALL

I am pleased with this drama. For the good ratings and hyped during the airing time, I gotta say it was a satisfactory in the end. To me, the 20-episodes wasn't a drag bcos things wouldn't be settled for only 16 eps. It wasn't rushed, it wasn't draggy but it does somehow kept me waiting but again, which drama doesn't. The writer balances all the stories like laying a piece of cloth flat - smooth and widely ranged. The analogy didn't make sense but you get what I mean.

Romance was at minor level. Comedy was equal. But family was major part of it. I'd recommend!

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

Last week, Leong told me about a radio event - Planet Radio, that's happening the next week. It was a hint she doesn't wanna go alone. She told me it'll be awkward. Even awkwarder bcos it's Leong we're talking abt. Considering right now we're both on our sem breaks, I was already thinking 'why not?' but hidden truth... she only had me at "It's free!".

Planet Radio's 5th annual event - Radio Today 2016 was held at MMU Cyberjaya and organised by Commercial Radio Malaysia. It was a joint event by more than 20 radio stations (seems like it) in Malaysia! Famous ones namely Hitz, Fly, Mix, Era, Hot.fm, One.fm, Melody, BFM, Thr, iM4U and Sinar.

At the registration table, I met my second cousin. Surprise, surprise! She was like "What are you doing here? Oh wait, you study here kann I forgot." Yeah, I tahu la we only meet once a year but at least pretend to know better pls. With my wth face, I went "WHAT?! No laa, I study kat Melaka" then we just laughed our way out of the convo. Lol that's what happens when you don't tryna mingle around your extended family.

Anyway, the event was scheduled at 9.30am. We arrived pretty early. So we were chitty chatting our way through. Checked my phone... 9.15 Good, almost time. Talk more... 9.30 Oh, probably starting soon. Talk some more... 10.30 Are you kidding me?!

It started an-hour late. But it begins with a sudden uproar from a group of kecoh people conquering the stage. They introduced themselves as the cruisers for different radio stations, self-promoting and bribing us with their goodies (not really). Me and Leong looked at each other not understanding what was happening. Really, we went there not even knowing how the program is gonna be like.

Then enough time, the MC took over the stage. It was Zher from Fly.fm as the MC.

There were 3 sessions in the event. Started-off with a forum-like talk show. It was among the behind-the-scene masterminds and the only person I remembered was Dato' Jake Abdullah (from Jakeman & Skeletor) as the guest.

Then continued with the same concept among the front-liners - the radio announcers aka DJs! Sooo many of them that the whole stage barely fit everyone. All I know was the one from Hitz, Fly and Hot.fm bcos those are the only radios I've ever tune-in to. Ryan Matjeraie (from Hitz), Guibo, Dennis, Hafiz (from Fly), Ikhwan and AG (from Hot.fm) are namely who were among the DJs.

Last session, Q&A. This is the most fun part of the whole thing. The climax. Here's some insight from the sifu that I was able to jot-down.

1. Be yourself. No fake voice, fake attitude bcos you ain't wanna try to be someone else.

2. Share great stories. You wanna be heard? Relate to what makes you... YOU.

3. Have a thick-skin (muka tebal). Fail and getting back up isn't easy. You get rejected so what? Doesn't mean you should stop trying.

4. Knowing your audience. Recognising your age group to find and make a content out of it.

5. A good DJ is defined by the attitude of keeping up with the trend and passion.

6. Keep information short but packed.

7. Nervous is good. It helps to make good preparation within certain time limit (e.g. in 30s or 50s). So use your skill and the power of intelligence.

8. No politics, sex, racial and other sensitive topics should be touch.

9. Be well-prepared. Good preparation takes a long time and practice. They are not spontaneous acts.

10. Jangan syok sendiri. Current with the world issues. Keep it simple.

11. If you be something good, people will come.

12. If fame is what you look for, be a DJ.

At the end, lunch was prepared and it ended with open photo sessions. I only took 2 pictures bcos let's just be honest, I barely know DJs.

I came out to Zher and she was like "Are you from MMU?" so I told her "No. I'm from Melaka" but I'm meant to say that I STUDY there. She misunderstood bcos who wouldn't and was like "Woah you came all the way? Thank youu". No Zher, I live in PJ but got thrown to another state I swear I wasn't tryna lie.

Then I wanna take a pic with Tini. Tbh, I forgot her name. I was thinking either Titi or Tina. So when I approached her I was just like "Tumpang sekejap" Smooth Amelynn~

She also asked whether I was an MMU student. I should consider enrolling in MMU. Why is everyone tryna start the conversation by engaging this kind of question? Ask la where I'm from without any assumptions. You making feel bad to say that you're wrong.

Therefore, that's the end of my day. The event is very "short but packed". An insightful event with a small audience of 500 people or so. An event that is worth attending for anyone who's simply wanna be a good speaker. Personally, I would wanna attend it next year.

Related: A video by Agung Hapsah (in Indonesian). Worth a watch!!

Dropping by,

Melynn.

2 comments

I remembered my mum saying,

"During the one-month break, make sure you practice your driving... especially your parking. Can drive only what's the use if cannot park the car"

In fact, I've been waiting. Waiting for the time I am needed to drive. I mean obvs I can practice going anywhere but taking the time (and effort) to leave the house just to go around the neighbourhood, hmm where's the fun?

So this week was me behind the wheels most of the time. On Monday, I wanted to go far and since my mum had a day-off after the Standard Chartered KL Marathon (the Sunday before) she agreed that we jalan-jalan to Subang Parade. As we were leaving the house,

"Mak, nak gi hospital eh? Pergi macam mana?" - mum

"Entah si Sri (our maid) dah call Grabcar ke belum" - mum's mum

"Takpe la. Meh, kitorg tumpangkan. Dah alang-alang Elin drive ni" - mum again

Therefore, I ended up driving all the way to the border of Selangor-KL. Bcos my grandma's hospital happen to be UM. Then had to follow the original plan and drive all the way to Subang.

Skipping to Thursday, Ms. Leong planned to come to my house. Problem is she didn't wanna susahkan her dad again (I think that was the case... I might mistaken it lol) so she asked if I could drive to her house, pick her up then drive home again. I was like OK, but my parents had a loooong secooond thought.

"If awak boleh convince nenek ikut sekali baru boleh"

Smh. Parents with their trust issues. /sweat

In the end, I dragged my grandma along. But we had a misunderstanding... the usual age-gap miscommunication prob like psft nothing's new. So I got sesat. Yeah I sesat around the area to my school, which I used to pass by every. single. day. Took me half-an-hour to and fro WHICH if I were still in school and was driving to school I might have to face Pn. Hams everyday. Thank God the fact that I'm not in high school and Pn. Hams isn't even the discipline teacher anymore eases the thought.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday... the days my dad went to Penang for a company event. Dad aka our family's driver. In his substitute, I drove to buy groceries, getting brunch and dinner, it feels somewhat like my weekend job yknow.

Today, I was driving to fetch my dad from his workplace at Subang and I almost hit so many people it's so dangerous ohmagawd. Found out; If making a U-turn NOT at the designated place, it's YOUR responsibility to be cautious of the passing vehicles bcos signalling to the direction doesn't tell people you are U-turning. Secondly, if a car is reversing from its parking spot and you are driving pass, HONK bcos drivers can't see their back if a car is coming. Thirdly, if there's a motorcycle in your lane in-front, leave some gap bcos the blame is on you if you hit him. Lastly, it's called a 3-point turn if you wanna switch direction but don't wanna or cannot go further on the current road.

The last one had my mind-blowing bcos it didn't cross my mind that 3-point turn on real road are defined by our own boundaries instead of only 'dead-end' like how driving school taught us.

P.S. Parking in front of open-air restaurants when no cars is around is embarrassing af. Bcos the people eating outside all look at you probably wondering "Normal tak budak tu? Nak keluar ke nak masuk?"

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

I made a little self-discovery back in my hostel; cooking and I aren't compatible. Like my phone and Pokemon Go. That is why I don't play it. But you can never find game apps in my phone anyway.

With the rice cooker my roommate brought, the only thing I cook dengan jayanya was... rice. Ofc when I beg my friend for her rice cooker, mere rice isn't the only plan I had. I did try cooking smtg else.

For example, instant curry! The packaging said I just needed to pour 250ml of water. That's it! How easy is that?? I scissored the packet open then poured the whole thing out into the rice cooker. I didn't have any measuring cup of some sort in the hostel. Do people even measure according to the instructions exactly?? Being the inventive me, I re-used the packet and filled it with water once and pour it into the pot. It looked so sikit so I add another packet of water... Dunno if that's a good idea.

When it started boiling, all my housemate turned to me asking what I'm doing. Imagine, those heads snapping at me. Haha no laa... but I did saw them sniffing the air. You can tell how kebulur we must've been. Using some of my common sense - if not cooking sense - to switch the power off after I figured it boils enough.

For the crucial part of it all; tasting. I scooped a spoonful of curry and was praying hard that it at least tasted something. Anything. And all I tasted was... oil. Bland scoop of oil.

Nobody else ate it. They tried and said "Tawar gila kari kau". Takpe janji sis cuba.

But today I bravely re-entered the kitchen. Obvs I go to the kitchen everyday to get my plates and cutleries BUT that's not my point. So, I was a baker - for the morning. All I did was bake. Only. All the mixing was already prepared by my mum yesterday mueheheh. We made cookiesss. We had two kinds - oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies.

Technically, I didn't exactly made it since ingredients pun I taktahu. Other than the ones stated in their names that is. Welp, I passed out back into the dreamland by noon. I really am not suited with culinary stuff. I hope I have some hope with IT...

Famous Am-- elynn maybe? :p

Dropping by,
Melynn.

No comments

Another kdrama review because this year is simply blessed with good dramas. As being the me who hates waiting, I chose another completed drama to watch and that is Mirror of The Witch. Known as '마녀보감' which literally is 'witch mirror' with 보감 also means handbook, manual or thesaurus. It airs through the cable network JTBC, from mid-May until mid-July 2016 starring Yoon Shi-Yoon and Kim Sae Ron.

Poster credits to DramaFever

It had been a roller-coaster of feels watching this. Now, it's time I let it out. SPOILER ALERT!

Love:

At first, I contemplated on whether I should watch this drama because for a fact it's an ancient drama. The drama sets within the Joseon era so the obvious difference is the way they speak and dress. For me, I don't watch these kinds of drama. I tend to avoid myself. However, I did started to like hearing how "baku" the Korean language was or to notice how srsly beautiful hanboks really are. The female lead's hanboks are sooo pretty I tell ya!

Look at dem pastels omo

Photo credits: Dramabeans

Next, the fairy tale feels. This has got to be one of the best well-written fantasy drama in my opinion. The female lead - Yeon Hui, is born cursed so within the early episodes we know her hair can turn white. Remember the movie Tangled? That's how it kinda remind me of when she transforms. Remember Snow White? Instead of living as her, Yeon Hui lives as the witch... without the mirror. At the end of episode 8 though, her 'mirror' is unstatedly revealed. It's the man who is destined to protect her *cue an orchestra of tadaa*

Moreover, the mission. Yeon Hui lives to break her curse. This drama have an aim and that's what keeps things moving... differently. She needs to light up a total of 108 candles before the Polaris disappears within 5 years. The candles are lighted up by granting people's wishes through the making of elixirs based on the Grimoire of Curse. Unfortunately though, the candles stop burning after the 100th when the latest wish-makers die one-by-one from the murderous act of black magic. Damn, never know lighting a candle can be so intensely tough.

Additionally, the romance. This might not be your kind of sexually-pleasing dramas... You'll know why in a bit. But I still really like the romance it provides. It's suffice and not over-done. The kind we people call 'innocent love'. I love how they meet twice (before and after she appears witchy) and how fate glued them together (by turning him into her 'mirror').

One and only one problem - black magic. That's where it starts and will always re-starts. Black magic means spirits and spirit means ghost, ghost means spooky and spooky is scary. Conclusion is this JTBC-produced drama is sometimes an adrenaline fun. Not too much of horror but mystical, definitely.

Hate:

Tbh, I watch this solely bcos the female lead is Kim Sae Ron (playing Yeon Hui). I'm glad that all the casts were fine-looking after I started watching. But there's a shocking fact I figured later... the age gap. I couldn't be more surprised ~~and a little disgusted~~ by how huuuge Sae Ron is with her love interest. Not only that, all the 3 males around her is about double her age. She's 16, the man playing her love interest is 30, the man playing her brother is 31 and the man playing her guardian is 27. So yeh, don't mind the G-rating. Good thing they all look young (wild and free) #professionalismatitsbest

Another thing, this is a 20-episodes drama. My usual watch are mostly 16-episodes bcos things are either draggy after or the ratings must've suck badly if it's lesser. One of my rare acts of wanting to watch a lengthy drama THOUGH I am glad it is fairly proportioned. Just that the additional 4 episodes might be a second-thought to some people.

Furthermore, talk about disgraceful royalty. The drama occurs within the royal family and for being barren, the Queen started using black magic to produce an heir. Is2g things would be much less complicated if the characters aren't so dumb for wanting to use black magic to solve all the world problems then suffer the consequences with another whole lot of black magic, like seriously when will it enddd -_-"

Second lead syndrome DOES NOT EXIST. Not that the syndrome is good, but the fact that he (the second lead) exists and the syndrome doesn't is what bothers me. If you are an avid kdrama fan, you know this is like a requirement in kdrama world. It gives the feeling that something is missing. The reason why is bcos the second lead is just so weak I kenot. He loves her to the extend of harming her?! Bruh, that is just crossing the line.

Aand that is it.

Now, for my thoughts on the ending. MORE SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Such a bittersweet ending. Episode 20 is by far the most intense episode and also really that is when all the true love acts happen even with the light romance, it still got me good. The ending was hella twisted. Truthfully, it isn't the kind of ending you can foresee or predict before watching.

Their love was heartbreaking. The sacrifices he made for her and she made for him at the end really touched my heart. Wait, no. It broke my heart. Seeing the smiling face of Heo Joon (the male lead) assuring the love of his life safety even when he had to give up his life was achingly beautiful. His willingness to sacrifice way til the end had me falling hard for him. Yeon Hui's sacrificing herself to break her own curse was a serious shocker.

"I'll savour the days that we spent together... days that we'll never have again. I'm sure that if your memories of the time we spent together translate themselves into an ardent-enough longing, we will meet again" - Yeon Hui

I love the touch of history towards the end gave a little meaning towards the character Heo Joon. Fyi, in history Heo Joon was a royal physician known for his great contribution in the medical field through the Dongui Bogam (clickable). I get that the writer wanted to show Heo Joon's achievement here, HOWEVER they made him waited too long before the main characters reunite. It bothers me that 40 years had past until they finally meet again. I'm glad they eventually did, just isn't quiet happy with that fact. Wish they could've shorten the wait or let them live their lives with each other, I mean HOW ARE THEY LIVING WITHOUT EACH OTHER WHEN THEY MEAN EVERYTHING TO EACH OTHER?? 😩

Truly a love hate drama. I love the plot and I'd recommend if fantasy and horror is more of your taste without leaving a lil' romance behind. Happy ending? Yes. In the way I hoped? No. Great watch nevertheless.

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

Guess what I got?

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y.

It's been 3 years since I wished for this. Even though it is not much of a trend anymore, I still reallyreallyreally wanted it.

A ~~fake~~ penny board!!!

The colour of deck is blue,

A little touch of purple slightly below my shoe,

The thought of naming it Sulley,

A little inspiration given by Disney.

Story Time!!

Back when it was Raya 2014, I placed an order for an inspired penny board on an Instashop. It seemed like a trustworthy shop with good reviews, frequent updates and response so I thought the account was legit. I've been contacting the owner on whatsapp and she told me the pre-order will roughly take 3 weeks. Since I was able to customise it according to my liking, I didn't mind waiting.

After muuuuch consideration from both my mum and I, I banked-in and so I thought I just needed to wait. BUT after 3 weeks had past, I started getting less and less response from the owner whenever I ask regarding my long-awaited order. 3 weeks turned into a month, a month turned into a couple of months and months turned into a year and yet still no news. Both regarding my penny and the owner.

Later, her Instashop was filled with spam from dissatisfied customers. I knew then, that I wasn't the only one. The inspired penny cost me RM175 which I thought was reasonable with shipping and customisation on a friggin glow-in-the-dark deck. GLOW-IN-THE-DARK I TELL YA!! I couldn't do anything to her other than filing a complain. Well I didn't, but I figured someone must've done it. She deleted all the pics on her shop and uploaded pics of her refunds later on. However, that didn't last long until she stayed quiet again.

It was my first experience on buying stuff on Instagram. Tbh, I was traumatised. I told myself, I ain't buying shit online anymore. Especially on a baseless platform like Instagram where no guarantees are given. My mum told me to find one with a legit physical shop next time. Bcos only then if this matter happens again, we know who to blame or to look for.

Therefore after a loong research and observation, I landed my eyes on an Instashop dedicated on selling penny boards - @penny_msia (which is a sub-account of @fass_sport). Back when I first discovered it, they are just like any of those online-based Instashop. I didn't have much faith in them but I decided to just follow up with their updates at that time. Somewhat late last year, they finally opened a shop in PJ. I was like THIS IS IT! THE ONE I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!

Recently (early August 2016), a new batch of improved boards are in. They said to have improved the gears on all their penny boards - local and imported. Better trucks and wheels with more choices of colour. So I finally hit up the contact number for more info about the new arrival, and shizz this is what they got:

The prices are vvv reasonable bcos they also include free items like T-tool or a penny bag and stickers. If you're looking for a Penny board - fake or ori, do check out Fass Sport! A Malaysian local skateshop selling cheap and affordable stuff. I highly recommend! You can easily find 'Fass Sport' on Waze and even google knows it.

ABOUT MY CRUISER BOARD!

Brand: Fish Skateboards

Price: RM150

Warranty: 2 weeks

Free item: T-tool and stickers (no free bag for the latest new & improved board)

The colour in this pic is a bit underexposure tho

Girly much?

Don't mind the wheels... KL roads are vvv dirty.

THE ORIGINAL VS. KNOCK-OFF

Original Pastel Penny Australia

Pastel Fish Skateboards

Credits: Picture comparison above are from Google

Pretty similar huh? The only difference between my actual Fish board and the picture is the colour of trucks but the rest are very much the same.

Here's to more sleepless evenings... Soon.

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

Results are out and I am ~~beyond~~ happy! It's the kind of result I doubt myself will ever get again. You know like for March test, you didn't have to study much so you scored really well on that test BUT when mid-year exam came around and you realised how dumb you really are. That's exactly how I feel rn.

At first when the first subject is out, I got A and then another A aaand.... an A-

Then when I tried counting my GPA online, guess what? It's a 3.9 >.<"

WAAH SO. FRIGGIN. CLOSE... TO A PERFECT SCORE #watisdis

Welp, but then again I didn't really expect such a score, so getting 'straight' As was good enough, Alhamdulillah. I told myself, I ain't so dumb after all.

Back during UPSR and PMR, I've been getting pretty nice straight As. I knoow those are such low-level of success though. However, that was the last straight As I've gotten in high school. Legitly. In form 4, I was too busy being active in koko that I subconsciously put aside all my study matters. So in form 5, even after being placed in the 'last' pure science class, that didn't help me buck-up to improve on my grades at all. In fact, I slacked-off more.

Upper secondary is the time where I face real failure... an F. Truth is, I've never been the kind of person who people would be looking for to solve a problem on a certain subject. Someone would be asking around class a question but you know, you aren't on that level of intelligence when that person didn't even bother asking you but she asks all those around you. Or the kind of person teachers or anyone would give compliment for your improvement on a certain test. Because really, such compliment isn't worth the slightest improvement that I've achieved. Things like that cast me aside, when talking about grades.

Therefore, by obtaining such result I am in shock. Well, I know it's just pre-sem but yknow, a good start always makes it better. For SPM, my worst subject (other than the Sciences) is Accounts. I srsly suck at it. Be it the concept and principles or transferring data or even balancing accounts, it was confusing shit. Obvs because being too active in form 4 made me skip 80% of classes after school and not going for tuition made things worse. Form 5 made me realise so I started going for each and every tuition classes but my grades still were just extremely bad. I've failed. Multiple times. Not only that, my kerja kursus wasn't even handed-in. I remember clearly my accounts teachers telling me to be serious and patiently waited for me to submit both form 4 AND form 5 kerja kursus. P/S: Those who didn't submit form 4's wasn't supposed to continue the subject in form 5 but I managed to keep going by being silent about it.

In the end, I guess things are just meant to be for me to get an A- for accounts. From either an E or F, an A- was sure a HUGE ASS IMPROVEMENT. Yet nobody realised. It was because of this very reason that SPM Results Day became quiet ugly for me - look wise lol.

My uni might not be all that glam or recognised but I ain't chasing the spotlight bcos as long as I'm making worth of every penny my parents sacrificed, then that's all that matters. I also ain't gonna aim for Dekan or any fancy title as such, but I am gonna aim for smtg as satisfying as this. Self-satisfactory always win one way or another. More than the mere attention from judgmental people.

With this, I really hope Semester 1 that soon will start after this break will do me good - mentally, physically and spiritually. InsyaAllah.

Dropping by,
Melynn.

No comments

There's just something about kdrama's logic that just ruins my fantasy. It happened too many times as I was watching this kdrama entitled 'Oh Hae Young Again' or 'Another Miss Oh' or in hangeul '또! 오해영' starring Eric Mun (Shinhwa's Eric not After School Club's Eric) and Seo Hyun-Jin. It airs on tvN throughout May and June 2016 with 18 episodes.

In this drama, the female lead is always unlucky in the sense that her life is always tangled up in misery for having a common name - Oh Hae Young. Ever since high school, she is either getting compared to or being bullied because of a prettier and cleverer girl with the same name. In adulthood, when she thought everything is finally working out for her, it's not. Her fiance broke up with her a day before their wedding. Trying to avoid embarrassment, she announced to everyone that she was the one who dumped him.

The plot got mixed up when the female lead later falls in love with the man who accidentally ruins her wedding while trying to take revenge on his fiancee for leaving him on their wedding day. His bride-to-be was ~~the other~~ Oh Hae Young...

This drama portrays some logic that are just illogical in reality...

1. In kdrama, you WILL either end up living together or become neighbours or somewhat living close by your love interest. The logic is that as long as you aren't that physically close, you won't truly be in love.

2. In kdrama, you will need a cast simply by just falling off a chair while drunk, but would never have broken bones even if you're kicked, punched and slammed brutally.

3. In kdrama, something about running in heels just seems so blissful.

4. In kdrama, people always meet at cafes but always end up not taking any sip of their drinks.

5. In kdrama, your house is never clean when your parents come barging in when you're at work BUT forever clean when you came home with a man.

Lol that is all I could think of for this one. This drama is soo funny especially when the female lead happens to be the silly and reckless type. Also, such friends and coworkers with their non-stop witty remarks are always entertaining. Family game is strong in this drama. The progress of this drama was fast as well. Ending didn't disappoint though quiet draggy with the additional 2 episodes. Rating was worth the hype, I guess. I won't rate but I do recommend.

Btw, the cameos are also 😍

Gong Gi Tae (from tvN's Marriage, Not Dating) as Gong Gi Tae again omo

Related update: Check out some great lines featured in the drama!

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

"Wait, you're on sem break already?"

"How come you're on your break now?"

"So weird la your uni"

Hahahahaha yeah tell me bout it. Truth is, my pre-sem had officially ended a week ago!! If you've been following my ig, you'd know. Therefore I now have a month to kill before our next registration on 29th August for the real orientation.

Since I've seen a glimpse of uni life thru this pre-sem, I thought I'd share the

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY

There are not many stories about Msian-based university on the internet especially about mine (Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka aka UTeM) so kinda hard for me as I was finding more info abt the uni. Therefore, I'm making a post to share the experience aha.

1. Living all-over

I had my share of surprised moments when I first got my room key. I found out I am staying off-campus. And that wasn't in a dorm... but a house instead. There was 6 flight of stairs up to my place and I am forced to see filthy-filled bins while climbing all the way. I thought life was gonna be unbearable then.

Well, in UTeM there are a total of 6 residential areas for graduates as of this date. There's 2 on-campus hostels called Al-Jazari (AJ) which is an all-boys residential and Lestari. From these hostels to class, (differ for each faculty) but to the furthest faculty I believe takes approx. 15-20 mins by feet. It's quiet far.

There's also Seri Utama (SU) which ~~I heard~~ is an all-girls residential. As SU located off-campus, it's quiet accessible to the urban but I never have an experience living there yet so I ain't so sure how 'urban' it is. I do see many shop-lots nearby when passing by though. SU is the closest to the Industrial Campus (Kampus Industri) which is one of UTeM's 3 campuses - Main, Industrial and City Campus. It's also quiet a new residential area somewhat 4 years or so since it had its first residence.

Bunga Raya, Emerald Park and Makmur is considered the 3 further residential areas with Makmur being the furthest as it takes approx. 35-40 mins by bus while 30 mins for Bunga Raya (BR) and Emerald Park (EP) residences. They're all situated close to the city. Makmur is located vv near to Melaka Central. Meanwhile, BR and EP are both in Bukit Beruang and located pretty close to one another. All these hostels consists of residences from both genders. Bunga Raya is an apartment-like concept with students living in a house with 5-7 housemates with 2 people each room. If you're lucky, a room happens to be attached to a toilet. Like mine. Yeah, I lived in BR during pre-sem.

2. Expensive study books

We are all asked to buy books but little did we realise how extremely short the time of usage for those books. For my pre-sem it was only like 2 months?! Lesser bcos my books were untouched all the while before exam week. Such a waste, I know. I spent RM70 for 3 books that is to be used shorter than 3 months. #regrets

No matter how new books always seems better. NO. They're a waste and trust me, you won't need them as much as you think you would. Buy second hands (check out websites like Carousell) or get it from seniors. You'd save a ton by doing this. It's all up to your study methods and the adaptive way to make use of your study resources. Some books are published by your respective university but some are from unprivate publishers like Oxford and Longman. These aren't a big deal because the syllabus wouldn't be so different. But I'd consider getting a similar one.

3. Students' wifi

Ok I learnt getting this the hard way. I end up over-using my family's internet data pool due to hotspot. The thing is, the wifi is always available but how do I use them?? Been stuck in that situation for some time. #newkid

I later found out that laptops and phones needs to be registered at Pusat Komputer before the students' wifi can be use. They will need your laptop to insert all those student's requirements for the public wifi but for phones, you can access it by yourself once they registered your ID in the system. You can ask your FELO (those adults at your residence area) how the system works there or anyone who might know about it.

Not sure anywhere else but in UTeM, wifi in campus auto-connects meaning no authentication approval is needed when using. However back at the hostels, you NEED to enter your student ID (nombor kad matriks) and password every single time you wanna use it. I didn't know that and thought smtg was wrong with the wifi bcos it was connected yet still no access...

Tips: Once you got that authentication portal open on your browser, bookmark it! You never know when that thing wouldn't wanna show up.

4. ATM machine

This is essential af. When you live 3000 miles away, you will need money for your food and student's stuff and whatnot. Figuring where are the available ATM machines in and off-campus will make your life easier. Also, know which bank they have for the ease of transactions.

In UTeM, the main campus have ATMs opposite of co-op at Pusat Persatuan Pelajar (PPP). There are ATM for banks like CIMB, Maybank, Bank Islam and Agro Bank.

5. Laptop

In universities, it's an obvious thing to be owning one. Many when I first came in, did not. They either didn't bring or have. If you're living close, this probably isn't such an issue. However, most Malaysian public university enroll students from all around the country so chances are many are living far. In my situation, thank God there's Raya break after a month so many started to realise the need and brought it along after that. But if you're coming in unprepared, there's always PC at the library.

Keep in mind, if you're not yet in uni or college do plan on sparing some money or make sure your parents have some to buy a personal laptop or notebook for your study purpose. There's also monetary help that you can get from your uni if you aren't so financially stable. Not everyone can afford so PLAN.

For your curiousity, the most used laptop brand in public university are ~~probably~~:

#1 ASUS

#2 Acer

#3 HP

#4 Lenovo

#5 Dell

This is what I see people use around campus. Might not be accurate at all but the most frequently one seen is obviously ASUS.

There ya go a lil smtg I discovered in uni. It has been from my own judgement and experience, hope it helps.

Dropping by,

Melynn.

No comments

In between start and end

About me

Labels

Popular Posts

Song Inspo 🎶

Come Drop By

Followers

Blog Archive