Subtle clues when a party is lame

After preparing the bread dough, I went to an "international party" which took place at the university club. I only went because I got a free ticket after answering a questionnaire. I should have known that was the first clue...
When I arrived there at 11pm, there was the security in front of the building chatting, I went past them, went to the counter and handed my free ticket, and the girl said to who appeared to be hosting the party, "what do I do with this?" Second clue. I was like "why doesn't she know...?" and I asked if there is anyone in the place. The host said, "yeah there's plenty of people in there!!" He escorted me in there. There were two men drinking. Three women sort of dancing on the floor. One DJ miserably providing music. On the flier, I remembered the DJ was a London DJ. When I saw the state of the party, I stopped and thought what exactly was a London DJ... He's probably a regular DJ who just happens to come from London.

Anyway, this is the short conversation between me and the host.
Me "there's no one here..."
Host "People will come in 20 minutes! It's only 10 o'clock. Just wait and see!"
Me "It's not 10. It's already 11."
Host "Well, people are coming in 20 minutes. Do you want anything to drink?"
Me "No, I think I'll go to Arena (biggest club in the city.). My classmates will be there. (I knew this because they asked me if I was coming earlier, to which I answered "I'm going to another party.")"
Host "You'll have a better time here than at Arena. Here, I'll buy you a drink. (You know he's desperate if the host buys you a drink)"
Me "uhhh ok..."

So I sat there awkwardly with the two men drinking alchopop. Finished the bottle, walked out ASAP. Went directly to Arena. Met my classmates and had an awesome time until I came home at 4am. I love the Singaporean girls so much. They are sooo hot... *drools*

Matthew Ferry Review

I finished the 15 days of strategies to keep me inspired and in action toward my dreams now. Gee, I remember the whole title now! I didn't think listening to this would change me at all. I just started listening to be positive. I mean, it's free, what would I lose? So, as you could see from the previous posts, I've done some assignments of the course. I didn't do all the things Matthew told me to do. It may be coincidence but good things have happened to me since I started listening. It could be just luck or a matter of timing so I don't know if they happened because I took this course. That doesn't matter. What matters is, this course made me change my perspective on my life. I'm more grateful about things in my life than before. Not just "I'm grateful of everything I have," but "I'm grateful for this and this and this in my life." That's a definite change that Matthew did. I became overwhelmed with thankfulness the other day that I sent a "thank you e-mail" to my friend/life savor I wrote about on this post. I think I became overwhelmed because I was grateful. Conclusion: I recommend Matthew Ferry's 15day course. Note:It's been more than 2 weeks since the last e-mail of the course and after that, I expected to get advertisements. I've received 6 ads so far. Also: He didn't tell me to write a recommendation blog post!!!!! I honestly think it's worth trying.

Tattoo

Something that has been fascinating me lately is a Tumblr page dedicated entirely to people's tattoo photos. It's interesting to see what people decide to put in their body. Some are well thought out and meaningful to them and some are done just because it's cool. Those are the dumb ones. My favorites are the ones with description below the photo. It represents something that's significant in their life and I get to know how it is significant.

My current wallpaper

It's a simple picture but it took a while to actually get it. I think this is pure humor. Whoever came up with this picture is a comedic genius!!!!!!!!!!!!

Left-over pasta

I made this the day before yesterday, I think.
I used left over ham, parsley, mushrooms, Italian sauce, and clotted cream.
These had to be all used because they were all past the best before end date. (like most of the stuff in our fridge, apparently!!)

Lasagna

Last night's dinner took 2 hours to make but it was well worth it!! Just listen to that sizzling sound... Mouth watering, isn't it? I made the white sauce with success. The first time I tried to make white sauce at school turned out as brown sauce.

Sponge

I made this this morning because:

a) I wanted to use the blender. It looked fun. Turned out to be unexpectedly hard work to hold that thing up for 3-4 minutes.

b) My mum wanted to eat spunge with the strawbetties that came yesterday. She'll whip cream tomorrow morning. She's not going to out them all together and make a strawberry cake because she's too lazy. :D

Losing Weight

I've been trying to lose weight for 54 days now and look at the progress!! I've lost nearly 3kgs! And I know better not to go crazy about losing weight like my mum (ex-anorexic) did when she was young. I walk and kind of work out and try not to eat too much. That's all I do. I guess I succeeded because I have weight that can be lost. I have some chubs on my tummy. :-)

The reason why I started to go on a diet is because I thought the less fat I have on me, the better top surgery might look. I've seen chubby ftm guys and slim and masculine ftm guys have their top surgery and it honestly turns out better on the latter group.

Tonight's dinner

Sausage and Bean Casserole....
And I cooked rice without using the rice cooker so that I can cook rice in England too. But I think I put too much water in and it was all soggy just after it was cooked. It was OK by the time we were going to eat it though.And the big news is I got a day job at Jusco near my house!! I will be giving out fliers for the students that took the university entrance exam. It's from 2pm until 8pm and the pay is 900yen per hour so it's good. :-)
The manager who interviewed me told me that he would consider hiring me for the sale during the big time when new university students buy their commodities for their new dorm rooms. That's until April 20th. I will need to look for a job after April 20th but for now, it's looking good!!!

I have nearly ZERO critical thinking skills...

"You need to be able to reflect about it in a logical and objective way, recognising all the pros and cons that there might be."

My original definition of Critical Thinking was like "always disagree and bash the other person's opinion completely."

I think that's why I couldn't write something constructive in the previous China post. I read the comments after writing that post and was actually really surprised that there were lots of various opinions about the things that the speaker said. The smallest statement was examined and commented.

And I now know a partial reason why Elka and KC's podcasts are so interesting to listen to---because they critically watch the show and comment on it. They have opinions on most of the scenes and predict what's going to happen next. I'm a passive audience---they are active audiences.

This is probably one of the most important skills that should be taught at school.
And this is probably one of the skills I will gain in the UK.

And the lack of this skill is probably why the Japanese media sucks so fucking bad. (Start watching this from 4:30)

Tuna and Pasta Bake

The recipe said to put crisps on top but we didn't have any so I used senbei (Japanese rice crackers). I was correct not to also put cheese on top because it turned to be salty enough. I discovered that Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup is smelly.

Nicole's Nutty Brownies

Made a day before Valentine's day is my first brownies!! I tasted a tiny bit when I cut it in small chunks and it was very chocolaty (duh). I thought it was a little too sweet even though I put in less sugar than what was written in the recipe.
I was surprised that a delicious food like this can be made quite easily. I thought it would be more difficult.

What Japanese scholars don't understand...

"...it is the writer's responsibility to make their argument clear."

If those people knew that, then we wouldn't have to learn how to figure out what they are trying to say in all those difficult books. (Which only some achieve to do.) It's ridiculous.

China

I just watched this.

I have no knowledge whatsoever about the topic. I watched it to practice note taking which will be essential in the UK according to this site. I was trying to find out what preparation I should do because I'm just wasting time right now. And I've forgotten most of the stuff I've learned in high school like maths. Would I be in trouble for being really stupid?

Anyway, this is the note I took from the 20 minute lecture.

I never thought about the REASON why China is becoming more and more economically powerful. I just thought of it as just one of those things that will eventually happen. DevelopING countries grow up and become a developED country, right?

I guess China is growing rapidly because they have the right rare metal (which they are keeping to themselves, assholes!) and people are hard working.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to know why!! Gawd!!!!!

All I know is Lady Gaga rules my pants. Born This Way ftw!!!

Mulligatawny Soup

The name is complicating but the making was simple. Loads of veg and will keep for a long time. I think this is best during the busy weekdays. I could do without the chicken though. I'm vegetarian. Kinda........
I'm a SELECTIVE vegetarian. I like KFC's twisters.

Bacon and Egg Pasta

I made this yesterday. I thought it was the best dish so far although the pasta was a bit undercooked. The bacon was cooked well and the egg was just perfect!! I'll probably cook this often in the UK because it's easy to make.

I didn't make the salad by the way.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Today, I made spaghetti carbonara for dinner after I came back from the job interview at a curry restaurant. I probably won't get the job...again. This was the 3rd job interview so far. Nobody wants to employ someone who can only work until July, right?

Anyway, the spaghetti was pretty good but I didn't cook the bacon long enough. I'm kind of discovering that cooking requires PATIENCE. I can't even boil water without checking the pot 4 times! I keep checking everything for fear that it gets over cooked and stuff.

Reading and Understanding

I was reading a book that my dad bought me like 10 years ago. A Dr Dolittle book. The vocabulary is easy but the content wasn't amusing to me. So my mind wondered off like so many times it has when I'm reading. I started thinking what it means to be able to read and things you read actually goes in your brain. My eyeballs follow the line and I understand the words. But I'm not sure I understand the whole thing. Sometimes I have to read the sentence several times to understand it. I forget what it said in the beginning of the sentence when I'm reading the last part of it. Am I just lacking in concentration or am I dumb or something? I'm not even sure if I understand what understanding means.

Queer Muslims

I watched a documentary about transsexuals in Iran . I know that homosexuality is "illegal" in Iran but I didn't know about trannies. Apparently, surgery is OK because it's only a change. Like, changing flour into bread is the same as changing genders. I thought that's a very "unique" way to interpret sex change.
But in the documentary, being a obvious trans person attracts attention and has trouble for acceptance. I guess that's universal...

Also, I watched a documentary on Gay Muslims. Being a double minority must be very hard. The struggle must be beyond my imagination. I agree that only gay Muslims can really understand other gay Muslims. I'm so not a religious person and I just can understand why someone would want to keep believing a faith that rejects a part of their identity. The same can be said to gay Christians and other religions.
Adnan Ali (who kind of looks and sounds like Adam Lambert, I might add.) is apparently the first gay Muslim activist. I thought it's great that there is someone who stood up for both what he believes in and who he is.

Sausage and egg bake

This is what I made today. Sausage and egg bake... Ummm YUM!!! It has tomato, beans, egg on top, onion, garlic and sausages. I thought it was better than the last pasta thing. In the recipe, it didn't say to put cheese on top but I did, because cheese makes everything delicious, right?

One thing I know about onions.

They hate me.

They make me cry.