瞬間Emotions

Revival of the Silver Dragon

2011-04-06T12:57:00.005+08:00

Hey guys! ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ

I'm in the middle of 6 commissions for a small local production so I can't really draw leisurely that much until I finish those 6 but yesterday I finished my first one (YEAY!) and decided to relax with some leisure sketches before bed.

For those who have known me since way-back-when, they would know that my nickname is derived from one of my oldest OCs, Ryu, who I created onto paper when I was 12 after a series of dreams that lasted 2 - 3 months. m9(・∀・) From there I created the world she was in for a manga project called Ginryu, which I have been polishing ever since.

Though with the arrival of other major projects onto the same universe like [INTOXICATED], [Le Noir Pain de Miette] and [Ripple] (yeap, they're all in the same universe), I couldn't focus on polishing Ginryu these past couple of years and I had the sudden urge to revisit Ryu's world again last week. ( ﾟヮﾟ)

So here's my loot.

The 3 main characters of Ginryu; (from left) Ryu, Sakuya and Sekara. I saw one of my favourite artists, Demi-luv do a similar concept so I thought it'd be fun to try it out too. ( ﾟヮﾟ) Full credit of the concept goes to her. And I thought their brief "character descriptions" above them can be some sort of a tagline for the series whenever I do illustrations. (Kinda like Gensoumaden Saiyuki) So far, I'm pretty happy with them.

Bust shots of Ryu and Sekara. I was suppose to do one of Sakuya too (so they can form matching pictures saying each syllable of the Manga title) but I couldn't seem to get hers right so I left it like this haha.

A quick sketch and shading of Sakuya. She literally is a living God since her character is suppose to be an Arahitogami.

Was playing around in Photoshop with Ryu's lineart.

Anyways, I'm off again for now. Need to get back to drawing the commissions so バイバイビイイイ！★

Oh yeah!! check out my previous entry to help out a talented artist in need of help!

A friend in need of help!!

2011-04-04T00:41:00.005+08:00

Hey guys! （　ﾟДﾟ）

sorry for the absence as of late. Was busy but putting that aside....

A friend of mine needs help. She's going through some really tough financial situation right now and she's in need of money. She's still a student, majoring in Illustrations but in order to not burden her parents for any money (since her family is also in a rough spot where money is concerned), she decided to not loan money from them. And plus she won't loan or take money from her friends, (I TRIED LAWL) but... she did tell me that she's maximizing her illustration commissions (WHICH ARE GORGEOUS.)

So! to help her out further, I've decided to help her at least spread the word regarding her works. Here are some samples of her commission works:

Aren't fantabulously gorgeous? ( ﾟヮﾟ) These are just a handful of the gorgeous artworks she's got lying around her gallery, so please if you can spare a few extra bucks, head on over to her Commission Journal HERE and commission her.

Oh and since her internet was discontinued, she won't be able to be online but you can place commissions by commenting on this post with details of your commission and I'll pass it on to her as soon as possible via sms.

Any help you give will be a tremendous relief for her so please do consider! Thank you so much for taking your time to read this entry. m(_ _)m

Konpeito Dreams

2011-03-08T18:36:00.003+08:00

Hey guys! (`･ω･´)

Just finished another stress relief piece I did with color pencils. I haven't touched color pencils for a really long time and well since this is meant to be a stress relief piece, I didn't dwell myself with the technicalities of it all. Over all I was pretty happy how it turned out.

Though the scanner didn't do it justice though D; it's really hard adjusting it since even here the softer colors completely disappear. ┐('～`；)┌ oh well. If you guys happen to meet me face to face I'd show you the original haha. It's definitely less choppy than the scanned version lawl!

This is one of my few symbolic pieces as I wanted something that would reflect what I was thinking at the moment ( ﾟヮﾟ) For this piece, I was going through a huge moment of self doubt so I wanted to get it out of my system and drew this piece.

The konpeito (if it looks like them at all), represents other people and their potential, mainly it's to represent the people around me whom I admire always for their abilities in their personal and professional lives. Hence them being all in pretty colors and all. I wanted to also portray how much I adore them.

The boy (my OC, Leo), represents my views upon the world. He's at that age where he's old enough but still naive and influential towards others comments thus he decides to stay in the bottle and "grow up" a little more before he becomes a full fledged konpeito himself. Whilst he awaits for the time he's ready, he gazes at the other floating konpeitos longingly, awaiting the day that he too can join them.

The bottle represents the state I think I'm in now. And the red string that holds the bottle jar's cap represents fate. And the kanji sentence 「私の番はいつかな？」　means "When's my turn?".

I've always felt that I'm the last in the race against others so I don't like putting myself in that situation. I always like to focus on the race I have with myself more than anything since I believe that different people have different growth rates. I for one, am a definite late bloomer so I often think of myself as a living proof of that fact. So whenever I do compare or put myself in a race against others, it takes a toll on my self-esteem.

But lately, a friend on mine expressed his views on this subject. He mentions that if you're not winning the race against others, it doesn't matter since you'll miss alot of the jest in things and someone else would've achieved it first. But does that make achieving success redundant? I've been taught that success is success no matter how long it takes you to achieve them. He simply is stating his beliefs I know, but since I respect and look up to him alot I can't help but wonder if that is true? Would I always end up being the "loser" if I were to be in a race against my peers?

But I'm just holding it in until I know my potential for sure. I believe this year will be an opportunity for me to really test my abilities and see if I do or do not have what it takes to even compete with them. But sometimes I just can't help but wonder, as I put in the extra load of effort in, "When's my turn to shine?"

Hopefully that time will be soon ('A`) Hopefully I'll become a konpeito myself soon.

Anyways!! I hope you like it as much as I had fun doing this piece :D

Bai bai!

Aikagi

2011-03-04T03:17:00.003+08:00

hey guys ★

Couldn't sleep... it's 3.30 AM now so I doodled and got this;

One of my all-time favourite OCs, Rui at the tender age of 15 years old ★

He seems to be the only OC that I can write on and on about. This is him at one of the most important turning point of his life, so I wanted to put in that slight aura of distrust in him. He was being bullied badly in school so he often gives off that "don't touch me" aura.

Played around with my copic. I kind of felt happy at the end of this drawing haha. It's always stress reliving when I draw what I want when I want it.

I'm gonna try and go to sleep now. Oyasumi DEATH★

Sleep Abillities

2011-03-02T12:46:00.004+08:00

Iffah being cute as always （　= //Д//=）

I had this ability that even if I slept for 12 hours, I can put my head on the pillow and sleep some more.

It was an awesome ability ＤＥＡＴＨ★

But as of late, I think I lost it.

Been sleeping at 5 AM everyday for 3 days now.

I want it back (≧ロ≦)

What is and what is not

2011-03-01T13:20:00.003+08:00

Meiko-chan posing for you in today's motivational post (`･ω･´)

Hey Guys! ( ﾟヮﾟ)

Today's post is to talk about different perceptions between self confidence and narcissism. Now why the sudden urge to voice about this topic you say? Well I notice especially amongst artists I know, they often denote themselves on the note of not to be narcissistic. But I find this to be rather a misuse of the term "Narcissism".

I mean, what's wrong with being proud of your own works especially if you've poured your whole heart and soul into making it? I don't mean that you should gloat or anything but rather just acknowledge your efforts and improvement in skill rather than putting it down and treat it as scrap paper.

Okay, so to shed more light on the proper meaning of this topic, here's what wikipedia's definition for the term 'Narcissism'.

Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.

or an indifference to the plight of others.To further explain, the wikipedia page also listed down traits that are believed to belong to Narcissism which I took the liberty of including below:

An obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges
Problems in sustaining satisfying relationships
A lack of psychological awareness
Difficulty with empathy
Problems distinguishing the self from others
Hypersensitivity to any sleights or imagined insults
Vulnerability to shame rather than guilt
Haughty body language
Flattery towards people who admire and affirm him or her
Detesting those who do not admire him or her
Using other people without considering the cost to them of his or her doing so
Pretending to be more important than he or she is
Bragging (subtly but persistently) and exaggerating his or her achievements
Claiming to be an "expert" at most things
Inability to view the world from the perspective of other people
Denial of remorse and gratitude

Okay so we all have a tinge of Narcissism in us whether we want it or not. But where being proud of your own works are concerned, I don't see points above that contribute to reaffirming that being proud of your efforts is an act of Narcissism. So why is it that artists here think that by being sure with what you can or cannot do means that you'll be perceived to be someone filled with self-love?

It does saddens me sometime whenever I see a good artist whip up an awesome piece and you compliment their efforts, all you get is "EH! NO LA. this is scrap laaa". People are paying respect to your work and you. So by saying that it doesn't only make you rude but it's the same as you slapping someone's hand away when they want to shake yours. （　´_ゝ`）

That statement might seem much to most people but think about it, it's basic manners. We were taught that when we received a gift or anything else from other people, we should say "Thank You". So isn't a compliment a gift of words? Penny for thoughts eih?

And think about it; if we, ourselves are not proud of our works, who else is going to? You can if you think you can. It's all about self-belief. Do you believe in yourself enough to acknowledge the good and bad in you and work on them?

If it's for the sake of Humility that most people tend to respond this way, then I sorry to inform those who disagree that that is not Humility. As quoted from many, many books;

"Humility is thinking of yourself less not thinking less of yourself."

That means, it's simply putting others above yourself but not stepping all over yourself. Everything in moderation. So putting yourself down to the dirt isn't being humble, that's just you painting yourself with a big ol' red bullseye mark and calling yourself a Doormat.

To confess, I was guilty of being the fake "humble" when I first started out in the drawing community too so it happens to everyone obviously. I actually was very influenced by the artists I look up to in the community to the point that I pick up every single trait they have; both good and bad. But reading books about principles and self discovery has taught me many things and amongst those is being proud of who you are and what you can do.

Every one has things only they can do and things they can't, but hey. Isn't that what makes us individuals?Being special in our own way? So what's so demented about standing proud and acknowledging these things about ourselves? Aren't we taught to celebrate our differences?

I've been blessed enough to have parents that instill the right principles in me since young and they also taught me that knowledge is useless until you spread it to others. So here's small bit of what I've been taught;

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. People often compare their weaknesses to others' strengths so of course you'll end up "losing" in that argument. What we need to do is sharpen our strengths and work on changing our weaknesses into our strengths. Until you can differentiate and be sure of what you can or can't do, the only person you need to be in competition with is yourself.

That's it for today. ( ﾟヮﾟ) I hope this post gives you a few penny for thoughts the next time someone gives you a compliment of your efforts in anything. Have a great day guys!

Brand New Days & Playlists

2011-02-27T13:02:00.010+08:00

old picture is old haha. I even had my highlights back then. （　´_ゝ`）

Hey guys!! How are my little daisies today? （´∀｀）ノ

Okay so most of you who are on my facebook and twitter would already know about this and this would probably serve as extra spamage but......................

I GOT INTO NANYANG ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS HOLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CRUMBCAKESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (屮ﾟДﾟ)屮

YEAP!! I was SUPPPER surprised when one of the ladies in Nanyang called my cellphone and told me to check my email or the documents and on top of that, I GOT THE GOVERNMENT GRANT!!! (ﾟДﾟ;≡;ﾟДﾟ) what that means is that, by cutting my fees in half (which is a HUGE help for my parents), I'll get to work in Singapore for 3 years. HOW COOL IS THAT? Σ(ﾟДﾟ) Not only I get my fees discounted but I get a guranteed job the moment I leave University!! ★ I'm feeling ultra blessed right now, THANK YOU GOD!!

To tell you the truth, I was more surprised about the grant than me getting accepted into Nanyang. (((( ；ﾟДﾟ))) I mean, I'm like 10000% shocked for sure at my acceptance but getting the grant was such a far-fetched idea for me, I almost cried when I heard the news. I actually even asked Ms Hiedi (the one that called us and helped us alot with our preparations and all), "Are you sure?!" LAWL!!

But all in all thank you so much for all the numerous support I received for preparing for the exam and all. (´ಥωಥ`) Especially in my moments of self doubt, I managed to pull myself together at the exam thanks to the support of those around me ★

Which means, I'll be in Singapore by July so preparations for logistics, Student Passes starts now. ( ﾟヮﾟ) So from July on, blog posts will be coming straight from the land of the Merlion!!! Do anticipate them!!

On the other hand, I've been slowly getting back into groove of drawing illustrations frequently. （´∀｀）At one time, it seems drawing too much manga has distorted my illustration flow for some reason and I can't seem to whip out illustrations like my friends or how I used to. (´；ω；`) But thankfully as of late, it's slowly coming back. I think it might be thanks to the increase of new music into my iTunes lately.

For this picture, I simply got the urge to draw a "sexy" themed couple picture. I really do appreciate pictures that can emphasize sensuality without showing off more than needed. It's like beautifully written love story without unneeded scenes of you-know-what haha. And plus since I always draw milder couple pictures, I thought why not give one a go. It just so happens that I felt like drawing Nadjwa and Ethan again. They seem to be my favourite duo whenever I feel like drawing couples haha. ┐('～`；)┌

Though I often elate any doodle or illustration I draw of my OCs to the actual story I wrote them in, this picture has no place in 「INTOXICATED」's storyline whatsoever haha. So don't worry, no raging hormone scenes will be entering my mangas anytime soon.

Anyways, speaking of new music, whenever I draw I often have a playlist in my iTunes to match whatever I aimed to draw. ( ﾟヮﾟ) Like for example, whenever I'm writing or drawing Le Noir materials, I'll loop my Le Noir playlists where I have picked music I felt was suited for Le Noir's scenes and moods. SO of course, while drawing this picture, I put on my "too sexy for anythin' yo" playlist (haha YES that's what it's called). I've shared names of a few songs that are in that playlist below.

What about you? Do you have those mood based playlists? ( ﾟヮﾟ) If you do, what are they and what kind of songs you have in them?

That's all for today! バイバイビイー★

キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!!

2011-02-21T14:30:00.004+08:00

ITS HERE ITS HERE ITS HERE ITS HERE ITS HEREEEE!!!!! ⊂（ﾟДﾟ⊂⌒｀つ≡≡≡(´⌒;;;≡≡≡

It came so fast!!! I don't usually order (or buy pretty much anything, for that matter) figurines and anime oriented merchandises especially online since I'm paranoid that way （・∀・） SO ANYWAYS. I ordered a Sebastian Nendroid Figure from a local Figurine distributor website last week since I saw that they had the best price AND they seem to have a reputable customer service so I gave it a go ★

AND IT ARRIVED TODAY (ﾟдﾟ) I mean... that's less than 3 working days man. On top of all that jazz, it arrived in perfect condition!!!

（´∀｀）ahahaha.... hey sexy ★

The website that I frequent to; Animetsu.com has one of the biggest collection of original anime oriented figurines I've seen for Malaysia. They also update their figurine collection frequently with the latest of figurines from Japan for figurine enthusiasts here and Singapore. So far they're my number 1 internet shopping site for Anime goods d(*⌒▽⌒*)b

UWA I was so excited that my hands couldn't stop shaking when I took this picture!! (ﾟДﾟ;≡;ﾟДﾟ)

I definitely would personally recommend this website so far if you're interested in buying figurines online especially if you're from Malaysia ヽ(´▽`)/ For some reason, alot of my friends often have doubts when placing orders for their products online and since we don't get original products too often in Malaysia, I often urge them to buy them directly from the website of official distributors.

GYA. (≧▽≦) ORIGINAL GOODS ARE AWESOME! At first I couldn't choose which expression to use but I decided at last.....

Remember; it is always better to pay slightly more to support original goods than pay a little less to buy bootleg products which usually are not even close to how the original is ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ We gotta support the industry! If we truly are fans than we should be the first to support the people who help bring so much joy in our lives ★

THE NEKO-SUKI FACE ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼ Note: Takuya Nagaoka peeking in the background.

So guys, buy original kay? (`･ω･´) The reason they don't bring in original anime goods into Malaysia is because there is no demand. If there is demand, they'll start paying attention to Malaysia as an invest able market and bring in more goodies. Much like how they're with Singapore now ( ﾟヮﾟ) But we as the consumers have to change our habits first to reap the benefits.

Anyways, have a great day ahead guys! (｀-´)>

BARENNNN TAIIIIIIINNNN ☆

2011-02-15T14:05:00.004+08:00

や、みんな！ヾ(＾∇＾)　げんきかい？☆

I'm a day late but HAPPY VALENTINES to those who enjoy it with another (family or not), and HAPPY S.A.D day to those celebrating being single proudly haha.

For those who are living in Malaysia, we've all heard of the "Valentine Day Trap" campaign where several Muslim Departments rally together in campaigning against celebrating Valentine's Day for Muslims since they rationalized that it's a Christian based celebration (or in some cases, Greek based) and that it promotes pre-marital sex at the end of the day especially amongst the younger generation. Not to mention, they claim that it's a way for the Christians to pull Muslims into committing sins and embracing Christianity. (I know right ;;; )

As a young Muslim today, I definitely disagree with this. I was initially extremely appauled at the deplorable state of mind these departments have for other religions. I mean c'mon. It's VALENTINES.

Sure, yes, Valentines is based on the Christian priest, St. Valentines but it's to celebrate his love for his religion and the fact that he helped alot of people during his time in prison. Today it's not like people go to churches to celebrate Valentines. And not everyone spend it with their boyfriend or girl friend. (` q `;;) I mean, like I always spend it with friends and family. It's to celebrate our love for each other.

I mean isn't that what Islam is all about too? Love and embracing everyone regardless of who they are? I know at least the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W embraced others regardless of how he was treated. Aren't we taught to exemplify him?

Over all in all I was disappointed on how the departments were portraying Malaysian Muslims. Now people in and out of the country has a certain perception if you're a devoted Muslim. (.__.;;)

REGARDLESS! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ I spent Valentines mainly drawing and doing work. Since my parents went out for lunch and all, I kept at my schedule. Oh and also spent time playing with my 3 year old sister ♡

I also took the time to do a quick doodle to relief stress. IT WAS AWESOME! so here be my loot. Featuring Alois Trancy from Kuroshitsuji II. He's not my favourite but I love love love his designs! Done in a little over an hour with Pens and COPICs. haha it's refreshing to do it in a messy sketchy style ♡

I'm signing off now so see ya in a bit guys! ☆

After the Rain

2011-02-12T18:01:00.003+08:00

Hey guys! ヾ(＾∇＾)

It seems that lately all I've been tied up with is manga work and being cooped up in the house. There's nothing much to report since things have been less than colorful for the beginning of February. I wonder why? (` q `;;)

It's not that I'm complaining, but rather... these days I don't feel like doing anything. Even drawing or positive books don't really give me that much of a kick in the butt anymore ｶﾞ━━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━━ﾝ!! GAH, THE TRAGEDY. I don't feel like my usual energetic self these days.

Maybe it's because I'm anxious about my Nanyang results? Ｏ(≧x≦)Ｏ They only come out end of this month or in March. Or maybe it's because I miss my friends? I haven't seen some since Comic Fiesta 2010 and some I haven't heard of from for weeks already. (; q ;) Or is it because I've run out of new anime to watch? LAWL

It could also be because I'm kinda slacking in my manga work. Ｏ(≧xO;;)Ｏ It seems that recently I and Oyabin have come up with a schedule for all my unfinished manga work which is awesome and all. I mean if you don't plan to finish it, it won't finish. But I tend to feel very discouraged if I don't finish that day's quota and it makes me wanna finish it less and less. (.__.;;) oh dear.

GWAH! all in all maybe I just need a tight slap to the face and snap out of it. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ I mean I'm 20 for goodness sake this year. Most kids my age are already in their second year or final year of college /sigh. and I'm not even in one yet. oh my goodness.

Come to think of it, most kids my age have something going for them. Singing, or drawing or entrepreneurship. (.______.;;;) .........................................oh man.

ksbdjfsbdjh OVER ALL IN ALL 8D I'm just gonna lay low and just...... relax for a bit. or do work. or something /orz haha I'm a mess 8D;;;;

Fight On!! : Kazuya Minekura Tribute

2011-02-08T11:39:00.003+08:00

Bus Gamer (c) Kazuya Minekura

Amongst all the power figures in the manga industry, one of my all time hero(ine) is no other than Kazuya Minekura-sensei. I first fell in love with her copic works when I read her classic series, Gensoumaden Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload. She very well inspired me to pick up copics instead of any other medium and with every new illustration she makes, it propels me to push my skills further than I ever believed they could go.

I often frequent her blog, Nitro to glimpse at the products she makes since I can't get them here and all and I haven't get the chance to go there in a while. So I updated myself with all the entries and to my dismay, read about her bone tumor surgery at the End December.

My heart just....collapsed for her. My kanji isn't too good so I had to use and online translator for alot of the kanjis. She talked in detail about her tumour and what I got to translate was that her bone tumour was on the right side of her face which caused her whole right side to collapse. That and at least 3 long paragraphs of her description of her illness was more than enough to just tear up.

Even through all these, her main concern was her work. She was worried about not being up to par and mentions that there are other people who have gone through worse and still was able to do more. She also apologized to the readers that was looking forward to her manga in the magazines weekly and that she'd disappoint them for a while since she's not allowed to overstrain herself. Even with that she managed to complete 8 designs for the life size cutout and 4 limited edition (detailed) stickers of Saiyuki Gaiden characters.

More than a month later, she updates her blog with saying that the surgery was a success but she'll take some time to get back on track where her work is concerned but she was touched by all the support she received before her surgery and after. It seems a large region of her fans got together and did more than a thousand cranes and sent it to the editorial department of the magazine where she works and they sent it straight to her hospital room. She even commented that the doctors and nurses said that, that was the most cranes they've seen for one person ever. haha. She thanked all the people that worked together for that and those that chartered her back and forth from the hospitals so she could work.

Since I'm pretty late in doing anything I though I should at least do a tribute for her. I mean, I can't imagine if she didn't make the surgery. I think I'd have been devastated and probably go through a huge art block (yikes!). So I acually wanted to draw for her but I'm pretty tied up with work I can't dismiss (.____.;;) so I thought why not post up a cover that I did with my fellow Mass D members last week? (*･∀･)／♡

So here's the Mass D (Iwashi, Me and Oyabin)'s tribute to Kazuya Minekura-sensei. This is for inspiring us through our childhood in Life and on paper with your strong will, determination and wonderful art. So here's the insert song for the Gensoumaden Saiyuki animation series: "Open Up Your Mind" by Mirai.

(sorry in advance fo the pitchiness gaiz haha (` q `;;) we're still learning~) Hope you enjoy it anyhow!

Have an awesome day gaiz!!! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

Singing fun

2011-02-06T14:28:00.004+08:00

hey y'all ヾ(＾∇＾)

Had a blast of fun when my GAR partner, Iwashi came over for Chinese New Year and we did the one thing we always do when we get together; record songs. haha we looove singing together with Oyabin. We literally sang till we couldn't and when the other two was resting, I decided to take the opportunity to play with Iwashi's awesome microphone and recorded a ton of solo songs ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

It's nothing professional sounding, but I was pretty proud of em. I'm always nervous and self conscious when someone is around or when recording so my singing tends to flail haha. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ So I was just happy I didn't suck in these past few recent ones. haha so I thought I'd share it with you guys! (*≧▽≦)♪ Hope it doesn't bleed your ears or anything haha.

I'm not gonna upload them all at once since there's so many of them, but I'll put them bit by bit as I feel like it. ♥

For this post, I uploaded "Kimi no Kioku" by Yumi Kawamura from the Persona 3 Soundtrack. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ It's one of my favourite from the soundtrack. And since I don't have the instrumental fo the track, I recorded it without music (well, it was a spur of the moment thing). So please excuse the fan noise and my pitchy-ness and all haha. Still learning how to use the Audacity Program (not to mention singing in general). anyways let me know what you think! (*･∀･)／♡

Air Wavveeess

2011-01-30T18:08:00.004+08:00

Heyyyyyyy thar y'all funky people~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)

Okay so I made it through the exam relatively breathing, though the results are only coming out either February or March so I'll be dying till then thank you. oh and finished up all the Chinese New Year Hamper orders so I haven't had that much of a chance to come online and all.

Right now I'm busy preparing new badges and stickers designs from a few series. ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Need to bring in 'em moolahs soon.

Though I'm just gonna update with a few scribbles and sketches that I did and scanned recently <3 Enjoy~!

my two OCs, Nadjwa and Ethan from Intoxicated cuddling up all nice and warm. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ did this before bed yesterday.

Naoshi Haruki from the Otome Game; Starry☆Sky~in the Autumn~ as per requested by my Ototou-kun ☆ Did this in between sketching the chibis for the new badges / stickers.

haha a mashup of Rui's all around and a tiny Shinjiro peeking at the corner. I sketched these Ruis after I did all the prints for last AFA X as a stress relief under bout 2 hours or so. I'm particularly partial to the working Rui on the left Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

3 moar days

2011-01-21T13:38:00.001+08:00

MY EXAM IS COMING DAY AFTER TOMORROW. o(>< )o ｏ( ><)oジタバタ

ksdjbkszdhjd,bgjdfbg,jdh /dies.

my fate...

2011-01-19T00:03:00.004+08:00

haha this pic cracks me up everytime 8D

Heyyyyyyy ~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)

well, minor minor updates ♥ anyways, as most who has been up to date with my current plans, I have applied into the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore not too long ago for enrollment in this year. After surveying and alot of Colleges and Universities in and out of the country and weighing the price of living and whatnot, I've decided on Nanyang for several reasons:

1) It's not too far from home.
So if there was an emergency and my family needed me, it wouldn't be that much of a hassle to get back home.

2) It's reputation.
Nanyang has had one of the most impressive reputations for Art Colleges in the South East region so why not!

3) but most of all; It's facilities for the 2D Animation Department is ASTOUNDING!
I don't think I can find any other College with this much facility in 2D Animation with the price it's offering! ｶﾞ━━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━━ﾝ!! The rest around this price is offering more towards 3D and this is like a once in a lifetime thing so OH YES BABY HIT JACKPOT YEAH. yes. 2D Animation is my second biggest passion other than Seiyuu and Manga haha.

But there's a catch; I have to pass their entrance exam. Yeap. they have one. Well the school isn't too big and I guess with the huge amount of applicants coming in every year, they had to have a way to filter the applicants.

But I'm extremely nervous to say the least. In fact I think I'd be decaffeinating bricks any moment now. o(>< )o ｏ( ><)oジタバタ I've never had my art evaluated in such a manner and neither had I had classes in art. So I'm pretty worried if I'd even be on par on the normal standard other applicants would've receive.

Neither have I been frequent in competitions either. The last time I was in an art related competition was a Junior Manga Competition and I merely got an "honorable" mention for "Best" concept. But that was highly due to the fact that I was the only 1 of 2 contestants out of 500+ contestants that submitted a shounen piece. But that story is for another day haha.

If you're wondering when the entrance exam is, take a wild guess ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

...........it's this coming Sunday.

HAHAOMG. I just feel like running in a hole somewhere haha. My hand trembles everytime I think about it, BUT!!!

I want this. really bad. I believe, by getting through and entering Nanyang, I can renew myself with the knowledge and new environment. It's a chance for me to really strive and focus solely my passion. I really want this, I mean to the point I can't imagine what I'll do if I don't pass. So I'm just gonna keep my chin up and do my best!! 八(＾□＾*) ﾀﾉﾑ I hope I make it through! I've been practicing with my sketches everyday, so hopefully it'll pay off. Wish me luck guys!!(*･∀･)／♡＼(･∀･*)

on the other hand, to keep myself relaxed, I stumbled upon the PERFECT therapeutic tool when I'm, stressed out or doing work. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

TADAAAAAAAAAAA! (￣▽￣)ノ＿彡☆バンバン！!
the ultimate Hanaji fangirlism tool; Hitsuji de Oyasumi CD Collections!!☆

I stumbled across this ultimate relaxation tool whilst browsing through a few Otome Review Blogs and I think this is made of PURE GENIUS. Why and what actually is this you ask? Let me tell you hoho. (*≧▽≦)♪

The Hitsuji de Oyasumi Series is a series of CDs compromising of famous seiyuus (mostly male), counting sheeps (YES. SHEEPS.) To aid you to sleep better! How cool is that! I was very excited after hearing about it and was even more ecstatic to the fact that the first volume is of my two biggest seiyuu hero/crush to date; Akira Ishida and Hoshi Soichiro. I mean, these guys are responsible for making me so interested in seiyuu in the first place!! To have them actually lull me to sleep whilst counting sheep in the most SEXIEST of ways? AWESOME.

And not to mention, in between the 150th and 200th sheep, the seiyuu responsible of counting will ask if the listener is still awake and according to the type of character played, he will either tease, or tell you sleep soon. Where Akira Ishida is concerned, he played the yasashii character so he kept on counting even if the listener was awake, commenting that she tried her best in sleeping so praised he for it haha. But oh my lord, his voice was...........MAGNIFICENT to say the least.(*≧▽≦)♪

So far they've had an amazing cast joining in the fun including Daisuke Ono, Hiroshi Kamiya, Hikaru Midorikawa, Fukuyama Jun, Mamoru Miyano and many more!!

I haven't tried it when sleeping but I will try it later. So far it's never failed to relax me haha. I'm replaying it over and over and it actually helps me focus more! (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ Supposedly it's a sleeping aid but so far all the reviewers often comment that with such sexy voices, they ended up rolling in a pool of nosebleed rather than sleep haha!

This will definitely be on my list of things to buy if my trip to go to Japan comes through at the end of the year. Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ I'm a firm believer of supporting original goods so I always buy the original goods once I have the money especially if I download. It's important to support the people that inspire me daily! So JAPAN, HERE I COME ☆

Anyways, wish me luck guys!! I'm gonna do my best and think positive for the Entrance Exam and hopefully I'll be updating here in February with AWESOME news!! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏがんばります！ファイト・・・・・・・・オオオオ！

Starry☆Sky~in the Spring~

2011-01-17T14:23:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I've had the opportunity to experience my first Otome Game; Starry☆Sky~in the Spring~. Since I'm a game n00b and all, installation and patching took ALOT of effort and probably half of my life haha but I managed to pull through.

Well I'm no game expert since I've haven't had much of an opportunity to experience /that/ many games throughout my years but this would be my review :D

----------------

Starry☆Sky~in the Spring~

Gameplay / plot : ☆☆☆
Originality in concept : ☆☆☆☆
Dialogues : ☆☆
Characters : ☆☆☆☆
Art / Background : ☆☆☆☆☆
OST : ☆☆☆

Overall rating: ☆☆☆

Well since this is my first, I'm still not biased about it. As most know, I'm very critical when it comes to Shoujo materials; I tend to repel it if it's overly sappy or cliche. Or rather it depends on how cliche are the materials presented. I'm a firm believer of "Its not where the idea comes from, it's how it's used"

Overall, Starry☆Sky~in the Spring~ offers a tad more originality in the concept department than most Otome or Shoujo themed games (or materials) I've stumbled across so far. I love how the Constellations and Western Horoscopes are used to give the game a theme. I notice most Shoujo materials tend to deviate from the concept and theme once the shoujo scenes start rolling in and Starry☆Sky tends to keep those two well balanced.

In terms of characters, I'll give it slightly above average. There's so much you /can/ do I guess in terms of character building in an Otome Game. But at least the characters didn't reallly leave me saying "Ugh" or out in the cold so that's something. Usually I tend to barf in the sight of shoujo characters haha. I guess same can be said for the dialogues. In terms of originality the dialogues wouldn't be what I'd call original but I guess in terms of presentation, the cliche shoujo lines are executed in a manner that fits the given characters so it doesn't make you feel like rolling around in laughter or barfing yesterday's dinner haha. So props to HoneyBee for that.

Where the Artworks, Backgrounds are concerned, I'd give them a thumbs up. The backgrounds were stunning and character designs by the awesome Kazuaki were extremely drool worthy haha. Nothing for me to complain there. In fact I hope they'll have an artbook out so I can buy it haha. The art for the game is simply GORGEOUS.

Well over all I'll give this game 3/5 rating. It's pretty much sligghtly above average in terms of shoujo material for me. It's not below average either I feel, it just lacks the overall UMPH I usually look for in Shoujo material. After finishing the game, I didn't get that feeling of wanting to revisit certain scenes for it's awesome-ness or anything. I just felt like "Oh.... it's over" but that could be just me haha. Any previous games I've played with an Otome influence were often RPGs and all so the plot was heavier and longer. So probably that influenced my judgement in plot and whatnot.

But overall would I recommend this game? Yes I would. It's an awesome game to just sit back and relief stress from daily life. The easy feeling pacing of the game will help you relax and indulge in the graphics.

I hope to play the other 4 parts soon. Hopefully the different range of men in the other games will give me a broader perspective of the game. (￣▽￣)ノ

this irks me...

2011-01-13T19:11:00.003+08:00

My Deviantart Account has been giving me problems these past few days. At first it was denying me from entering my own page (wth right?) and now it's giving me this:

graaah. it's getting on my nerves lawl ;;;; I was editing the KAMCAO devART page too ... (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ

polka and jazz

2011-01-12T15:23:00.003+08:00

hey guys~( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ｺﾝﾊﾞﾝﾊ

just thought that today was a beautiful day as I'm sitting down reading my motivational materials and my Baccano! soundtrack playing the smooth jazz rifts in the background so my hand itched to update on that haha. a few snapshots of my desk and stuff around it ♥

what I'm currently reading and listening to. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ Loving Baccano! soundtrack to pieces! It's extremely relaxing. I'll be sure to add that to my collection of ost someday. I do this everyday to prep myself for work and relax my mind. Oh and this book is awesome. a definite recommended read ☆

my mum bought me this brown polka dotted water tumbler! (*≧▽≦)♪ Too cute for words. Though I think it was quite pricey so thanks mum!

I'll leave you guys with this chibi Shinjiro I'm drawing haha. Thinking of doing Persona 3 Portable Stickers or badges. (either 1 not both). Which ones you think I should go for? (*･∀･)／♡

Red Wine

2011-01-10T22:42:00.004+08:00

hey guys~! ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ｺﾝﾊﾞﾝﾊ

currently going through a HUGE Baccano! phase. Initially watched this series in Japanese then rewatched the whole thing in English. I LOVE THEM BOTH TO PIECES <3<3 both sides had a marvellous and sexy cast! I was definitely blown away at all the seiyuu ear-candy present in the short 16 episodes. (WE NEED MOAR LAWL!) Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Even though the story circulates around the concept that "no one is really a main character of the series" thus having a cast of characters rich with individual concepts, it didn't make it hard for you to relate or like them. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ In fact mine would definitely be Claire Stanfield aka Vino aka Rail Tracer aka Felix Walken. LAWL. you have to watch the series to get it BUT HE'S TOO AWESOME ♥

I was initially kinda sad that his character didn't get too much fleshing out (I mean, it /was/ meant to be a 13 episode series and it had a HUGE cast), but I was thrilled to discover that they released an extra 3 episode OVA with the DVD release (on the TOP of my to buy list now). (*≧▽≦)♪ And needless to say Vino had a huge chunk of the limelight this time. ♥♥

Anyways enough with my fangirlism ranting haha. （￣ー￣）ニヤリ For those who haven't watch, it's a huge recommendation. Though be forewarned, it's no mainstream material so alot of talking, character exploring and plot development. So not too much fancy moves, intact characters and whatnot. But a definite recommend if you love Mafia themed stories. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

Here is my current wallpaper decorated with Vino's Rail Tracer mode. HE'S TOO SEXY IN THIS MODE OKAY. lawl!! oh and ignore the little fujoshi joke at the bottom there. oh and no, this pic does not belong to me (*･∀･)／♡＼(･∀･*)

Though I hope I get to whip up a few Baccano! themed sketches soon! ♥ Have a great day guys!

my sexy baby. TELL ME HE'S SEXY OH YAH (*≧▽≦)♪

ぬくもり

2011-01-06T21:49:00.005+08:00

a little something I did for the KAMCAO website some time ago.
Background image is credited to: 憂雨

Good Evening Guys! ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ｺﾝﾊﾞﾝﾊ

Firstly I'd like to thank all my wonderful friends and GAR members that commented on my previous post and even hand me some good old advice that got me looking forward and running again. (*≧▽≦)♪ I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends that kick me in the butt and pat my head at the right moments. YOSH! I shall do my best!! Thank you to all my senpai-tachis for surrounding me with your warmth!

So how you guys like the new banner and color scheme? ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉAfter reading through all the heart felt comments yesterday at my previous post, I thought that the theme ”ぬくもり” or "Warmth" would be a wonderful theme to start on for the year 2011 ☆

So I picked out an illustration that I did that fits the theme best and played around with it in Photoshop and VOILA! Not too shabby right? Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ Oh and the Banner's extra brush is also the same as the background used for above's illustration so credit goes to the awesome artist. I even edited the Font Colors to match the illustration and feel ♡

Other than that, I also added new songs to the playlist on the right so feel free to play whenever you like! ☆ The first song is put as commemoration of the website's current theme and one of my current favourites; "ぬくもり" (Nukumori) by HOME MADE KAZOKU. This song never fails to keep me calm everytime I turn it on. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ It's simply wondrous, the effect of the right songs has on your mental state. Other than that, I added "Hello Again~昔からある場所" by JUJU, "Break a Road" by Mamoru Miyano (a recommended listen!) and kept "ふたりごと" by RADWIMPS because I love it too much still. (*･∀･)／♡

I'm slowly getting productive again. I found some Gurren Lagann fanart that I did last year and gonna plan to complete a few before I go to KL again next weekend so I can scan them and upload them here 八(＾□＾*) がんばります！

Let me know what you think 'bout the new look of the blog yeah? (*･∀･)／♡＼(･∀･*)

バイバイビイイイ☆

Hello Again, this place I Used to Know

2011-01-05T01:14:00.004+08:00

The Zhang Brothers and Nadjwa having fun on new years days. Happy New Years guys! :D

Hey guys!

slight rant entry so long words and no pics sorry :X do turn away if it annoys you yeah?

been piped up and busy so barely managed to have much time to myself. :D things didn't stop getting busy from weeks before AFA X ; with the prints and preparations. Not to mention had a slight dilemma with having less than RM50 travelling to Singapore haha. Anyways, with the excitement over the weekend of AFA X, the moment we touched down in Malaysia, I found myself with a 3 day fever haha.

Thanks to my good friend, Germaine and "changing shifts in having fever" with my sister, I recovered soon but dived again into work when I heard about a certain publishing companies' Audition announced just 1 month before the deadline. It was an audtion made for manga and opened for international artists. I didn't think twice and dove right in. I didn't even hesitated in the short time period given.

But a chat with a good friend of mine did make me questions my methods in diving into work so fast. He did mention that I was "taking the world on my shoulders" by doing this and frankly, I didn't think that it was that big a deal. If I get it, I get it. If I don't better luck next time...right?

Well as weeks rolled over, I speed up the production process. With the help of my sister cum manga assistant, we were doubling our work pace but the window of opportunity is closing fast. We even had a local convention that weekend so we shifted our work place to our KL apartment. It was treacherous, draining and very taxing on our physical and mental state.

Everytime I feel like throwing in the towel, I'd remember what many told me about my current state in work and I'd burn with a feeling to succeed. To prove them wrong. They'd always mention how when I plan something big, it'll always fall short before coming to light. Well I was determined to prove that, that isn't the case. After all no matter how much effort I put into something, if the result doesn't show, there isn't much to be proud off right?

With these thoughts in mind, I tolled myself to finish the 42 page manga, with the undying support of many of my gar membered friends like Germaine, Iwashi and my sister. Even with my family granting us to stay in KL for an extra week and more to get it done, chances of finishing it slowed down more and more. And as the days passed by, so did the pressure built with the manga.

I had to get everything done in KL before heading back to Ipoh to courier the finishing product since I don't have a scanner big enough to scan my manga papers because of the size. The only place I knew that didn't charge so much was the printers we visit everytime we print stuff for conventions.

And plus, since the deadline was so tight, I was left with only a strict amount of days to ink and scan then return home to ipoh to do minor editing and toning then ship it off to New York in time for the deadline. Apparently the courier needs maximum of 5 days in case of delay to get it there in time. Which means if I don't get the manga done by the 27th or 28th then I won't have enough time to get it there. Even though we had more than half to go, I and my sister refused to give in. The thought of defeat was far to bitter for us to taste even though it seemed all to likely.

On the morning of the 27th December 2010, I and my sister tirelessly inked all night long. Our hands hurt from applying pressure onto our inking pens. The pain shot up all the way to our elbows and without a wink of sleep from the night before, our heads start to scream in pain and our eyes feel heavy. 27th December by the way was the birthday of my youngest sister. And for those who knows me well, I do adore her very much.

As the clock in our living room tolled onto 8 AM, I turned to my sister who was tirelessly inking a page on a carton box on the living room floor. her hands were moving vigorously despite the obvious tire on her face.

"I think.. it's enough" I finally croaked. My sister looked at me with a solemn look on her face. I was thinking she was probably far to tired to show any range of emotions at that point. "It's Iffah's birthday. I think, we should go home." I could see that she was going to object, but she stopped at the sight of tears streaming down my face. She simply hugged me and say "It's ok. let's go home"

I'm not too sure why I cried much myself but I'm not the sort of person to easily tear up when it comes to things like these. All I knew was that I set out a goal for something I really wanted and I failed. It's not so much the contract of the publishing company I wanted so much but rather the fact that I've completed something that I've put my heart and soul into. But I guess somethings are not meant to be.

So we returned home to Ipoh where we enjoyed my sister's birthdays but currently I still haven't drawn anything worthwhile let alone touch the manga since then. I'm not sure if it's the post battle worn blues or just the fact that I drew too much in such a short period of time but for now it's getting harder and harder to draw things. Its as if I'm being hit with an artist block but not quite. like.. a half block.. if that makes any sense haha.

And by not being able to draw, I discover I'm pretty much useless everywhere else. I don't have any other skill I can seem to use to benefit others other than drawing. Made me think though, if I can't achieve my dreams in drawing, would I be as loved and reliable to others as I am now? I mean, I'm no Mother Theresa to be sure. But even to the handful of people who depend on me, would I be dependable to them as little as I do now?

I have my entrance exam to the Nanyang Academy in a couple of weeks and in my current state I'm not sure if I can score, let alone pass. I've never tested my skills is one and I doubt my level of art is equivalent even to the normal standard there.

So I'm slowly letting my head cool for now and figure things out. I don't know anyway else to handle it other than that now haha. Would appreciate some suggestions tho m(_ _)m

For now it seems, reading motivational books and keeping myself calm with new songs and positive messaged shows and videoclips tend to do the trick. I'm slowly pep talking myself into finishing the manga. now with 10 pages to go and plenty to beta, I hope it comes soon.

Hopefully I can finish the manga before my exam though I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with it now that the deadline is way passed. My parents and several friends suggested that I send it in anyways but I'm rethinking about that. We'll see. I mean, I know it'll be a 0.0000006% chance that they'll consider or even take a look at it if I send it this late but who knows. We'll see.

I do miss my friends though. Dearly. It seems that as I got to see them once for the past 2 months has only served to make me miss them more haha. It seems I depend too much on the little time we spend together in motivating me in my daily life haha. But I guess that's how much I love them (;´ρ`)

Well over all in all, I'll be doing my best to get back on the bandwagon and improve further for 2011!! がんばります！ファイトオオオオオオ！！( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

here's a little reward for you who stuck through my post today haha. here's the list of songs I use to relax myself lately <3 Hope you guys enjoy it ;DDD

"Hello, Again - 昔からある芭蕉 - JUJU"

"ぬくもり - HOME MADE KAZOKU"

"君が暮らす町　－Shouta Shimizu"

象徴を待ちください

2010-11-21T18:30:00.003+08:00

Removal of Fever Bug Virus in Progress.

Please await the updates for AFA X.

Thank you for your patience.

How to Deal with Racial Slurs... Otaku Style

2010-10-29T00:54:00.004+08:00

Taken from the Sankaku Complex Article

Okay, so we know that the whole Racist War that exploded across the internet between Japan and China that increased rapidly via the incident involving the Chinese Fisherman and the Japanese Coast Guards.

Ever since then, it seems all there were between Japan and China were Racist articles by activists protesting in their respective countries or going on a rampage. Frankly speaking, it's rather demotivating and tiresome for the eyes to say the least, seeing such blatant stupidity being plastered everywhere in cyber space.

Then finally something awesome came out of it! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ Using the Chinese propoganda, 日本鬼子 / rìběn guǐzi (read as “nihon onigo” in Japanese),

Japanese otaku have fought back against Chinese propaganda by turning the favourite anti-Japanese insult of the Chinese into a moe character.– “Japanese devils” (literally, “Japanese devil children”) which is a traditional Chinese racist insult towards the Japanese, having come into common currency during WWII and been maintained by anti-Japanese propaganda -- with something that only the Otaku can do;

Moe Art

Japanese artists on 2ch decided to use moe to appropriate the term and “turn the Chinese into moetards,” creating “Hi-no-Moto Oniko” based on an alternative reading of the 日本鬼子 characters – the characters for Japan, 日本, mean “origin of the sun” (Hi no Moto) and 鬼子 can be rendered into a female name, “Oniko.”

Frankly speaking, this etched a smile on my face. Finally there are people who can take something so negative like as a racial slur into something we all come to know and love; Art. And I had so much fun reading some of the response from the opposing side. 2ch really can do something positive when they put their minds to it (￣▽￣)ノ＿彡☆バンバン！!

This is way more effective than any nuclear bomb you can drop on any attack haha. Read and view the rest of the awesome collection of the moe art in the actual article HERE.

Keep up the awesome work moe artists!!

Futari Goto

2010-10-27T12:43:00.002+08:00

"Fine...but you owe me BIG time."

hey guys~♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

This entry shall be dedicated to my current fandom; Aragaki Shinjiro x FMC from the PSP game, Persona 3 Portable. I've been meaning to sketch a few shots of these two for a while now but I've been preoccupied with my other drawing work. What with major cons are close and whatnot.

But today I got up early (i woke up before my alarm rang..mmheh. haven't done that in a while.), so I decided to do some leisure sketches to warm up before continuing my Angel Beats! products.

The first one above was done last. actually. ( ﾟﾍﾟ ) I aimed to do a detailed sketch as fast as I can and timed myself while I was at it, thus all those anatomy and lighting mistakes. Overall in all I finished it in 2 hours and slightly more (ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ But this is my favourite of all the sketches I did since I love drawing Shinji in his butler suit and that expression hoho so cute.

well enjoy the rest :D

ohooo~ Shinji's sleeping face ;9

drawn in a set. :3 inspired by a scene made in a fanvideo of this coupling.

sketch of their first encounter. Not to fond of this one mmhheh.

random Shinji lawl 8D

Lemon Tea Part 2

2010-10-26T23:22:00.002+08:00

Disappointed and rather exasperated with their motions, the Penguin started to lose focus and motivation in her everyday routine. She wasn't much up to looking forward to a day that would end with her feeling as small as a mite next to her idols' lectures of commitment and what-should-you-be-doing talks at the knock on her front door.

But she loved them too dearly to push them away from visiting her and plus, loving someone is all about sacrifices. If she had deny them from visiting her, it's like taking the easy way out. And the Little Penguin never takes the easy way out.

So she decided to confront them.

As usual, the Baroness came and visited the Penguin, along with her daughter of course. They entered and had tea.

Then as predicted; the mention of switching passions. But unfortunately, what the Penguin thought would be a rational and problem-solving discussion turned to an ugly mess. The Baroness accused her of being far too narrow minded and that she will definitely regret leaving her tea making hobby. It turns out the Baroness herself has felt that regret.

Peacocks were born royalties and as a result of their high ranking status in society, they had a strict upbringing. The Baroness herself had an interest in tea making and often requested to make it her specialty. But this notion was denied by her father, who insisted that making tea was not for the likes of them but rather for the common folk. Sad and disappointed, the Baroness pushed her emotions deep under and never spoke of it again.

And everytime she frequent the Penguin's Cafe, she's often filled with nostalgia and a sense of content with the sip of that tea. And because she was so close to the Little Penguin, it was as if she, in her own way, achieved what she has always dream to do.

But with her switch in priorities, the Baroness felt that same pang of regret overwhelming her once again. As if she was denied of her dream all over again. She was forced to count her misfortunes again and again.

The Little Penguin didn't seem to grasp that particular frustration that the Baroness held against her. The Society now is no longer divided into ranks as it was before. The Aristocrats and the Common Folks now can mingle and socialize. What both sides had with restrictions no longer exists. Why didn't the Baroness simply pick up tea making now? After all, one is never too late to learn. That was something the Baroness told the Penguin herself over and over.

But her plea fell on deaf ears.

"You will look back when you're older and you will wish you didn't do this."

"Maybe, but it is a risk I was willing to take with this choice."

"Mark my words. You'll end up like I said you would. Like me!"

......... futile.

"But I'm not you." was what the Penguin thought of replying. But saying that probably wouldn't have made a difference.

The Baroness left in a huff. Disatisfied that her argument didn't reach its destination and even had setbacks in form of the Penguin's replies. She slammed the door behind her with a loud thump. Her daughter trailing not far behind her.

The Penguin was left with feelings of disappointment and sadness. Disappointment that the Baroness refused to listen to her opinions or even take them into consideration. Sadness for having the one person she looked up to since her childhood to think so little of her abilities and her self-worth.

Quietly in the silence of the night, the Little Penguin cried bitter tears. Tears no one saw and sobs that no one heard filled her little home as she wept alone.

Lemon Tea Part 1

2010-10-26T22:38:00.003+08:00

Once there lived a penguin. She wasn't a special penguin or exceptional in any areas but she wasn't below average either. She was basically nothing remarkable in any way. But she did have something inside of her; an enormous belief in charting her own course.

You see, she lived in a world filled with so many types of animals with many talents. There were the Wise Wolves; always filled with leadership, the exquisite Cats; with beauty and curves like no other. There were even the Song-filled Crickets; always in a symphony with the singing birds and spreading beautiful music wherever they went.

But the one that the penguin looked up to the most were the Majestic Peacocks.

Like the peacocks in our world, they were utterly a sight to behold. Their long feathers with all colors of beautiful gems strung together, their dainty heads and beautiful green crowns were made as if to compliment every single attribute they had on their bodies. But unlike the peacocks in our world, they had big wings. Large, strong wings that spread out elegantly when opened. Needless to describe, this made them one of the highest animals to soar in that world.

Long has the little Penguin dreamed of the day she too will be as elegant and awe-inspiring as them. Both beautiful and kind those peacocks were, they often stop by the Penguin's little home on their commute to their grand parties or royal obligations for a small chat or a cup of lemon tea at her humble Cafe in the pit stop island in between the Palace route and the Main Land.

With every stop the peacocks bring, it filled the Little Penguin's firm belief that she too one day will be as majestic and be able to serve in the Royale Palace across the seas and maybe inspire other animals as the peacocks had inspired her.

Of course, she was thankful for being born into what she is. She never once wished that she was a peacock or any other animal. She was an optimistic child, believing that there was a reason to everything. If the High Heavens wanted her to be a peacock, then she would've been so when entering the world. But no. She was a penguin. And she was more than happy to make things work for her.

So the Little Penguin worked hard in polishing in the one skill she has that no other animal has; swimming. You see, on land, our Little Penguin can't elegantly or fast for that matter. But once she entered the endless place of the liquid filled land, no other animal can match. She was graceful, and elegant. She knew this to be her greatest attribute and spent every waking hour polishing that skill. After all, the Royale Palace was preparing for the hunting season in the underwater palaces; It was the perfect time for her to catch the eye of the King and earn her spot in the Royale Palace.

Her friends, the Peacocks, the Wolves, the Rabbits, even the grouchy Ground Moles gave their fullest support. The Penguin never felt happier or blessed with such supporting individuals in her life.

But as her passion for swimming grew, her passion in making tea lessened. It wasn't as if she came to hate making tea, its just that she now knew where her main focus in life lies at; Swimming. As the days went by, her time in making tea lessened.

After a few moons, her decided to give her Cafe to the Honey Bears who do well with creating masterpieces to fill the hungry tummies of the by-stoppers on the Island. She focused her time solely on her skill in swimming and made her occasional living by selling the treasures she find on her daily commute in the underwater towns. She still makes tea, but only for her close friends when they came to visit her or when she felt like indulging in some.

The Little Penguin felt that it was the first time in her life that she found her reason in living. What she was born to do. Why she was born. She felt so filled with Life and was living her days to the fullest and she was as chirpy as any little Penguin in her position would be.

But not everyone was as enthusiastic about her drastic change in focus as she was. The Peacocks weren't against her passion for swimming but they harbored an opinion that she was the better tea brewer they had in that Region, so seeing her handing her tea and Cafe over to the Honeybears irked them. But they said nothing of it since they thought it was better not to.... though that motion didn't last long.

On one of their visits to the Penguin's home for a cup of tea, The Baroness Peacock and her daughter, the Little Penguin's two most loved individuals in her life, stated their opinion and slight frustration regarding the Penguin's lack of commitment to her tea making skills as they admired that skill of hers rather highly. The Penguin, rather taken aback simply explained about her new found passion with Swimming and that she was certain that this was her path to thread. The Baroness and her daughter said nothing more at the subject.

But the Baroness and her daughter started to frequent the Penguin more and more. And each time, relaying their frustrations over and over. The Penguin, taking high regard to her idols' opinions, was more than happy to make as much tea for the two as they wish if they had miss it that much, but apparently that wasn't enough for the two.

Ikebukuroers

2010-10-20T12:39:00.003+08:00

Art, concept, CG done by: yours truly, Reryu
Linearting: Sakura0104

TA DAAAAAA!!! a week filled with no sleep and hand trembling first time CG that it feels like a test of courage emotions paid off!! :DDD what you think? (*≧▽≦)♪

well initially I was in doubts with my badge making skills since my first attempt before didn't end up as nice as I wanted them to be ( ﾟﾍﾟ ) But I braved myself once again to pick up my faithful tablet and to tell you the truth, I'm pretty much happy with the result! honestly I thought it'd end up worse than this LAWL.

frankly speaking I had fun doing this batch of badges ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ especially Shizuo and Izaya's matching badges lawl (and no I don't support the ShizuoxIzaya shipping). I prefer their relationship to remain enemies because that's what makes DRRRR! tick lawl.

I had my doubts with Mikado's design since his was the last to be made of all 5 and I had NO FREAKIN' IDEA how to do his pose... (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ The pros and cons of Mikado is one and the same; he's too plain LAWL. Though I love him for that （￣ー￣）ニヤリ

whereas Anri and Kida's design went smooth sailing. They're not the easiest to do (especially Anri when it comes to inking her) but their certainly not the hardest. I enjoyed Kida's color selection especially.

Oh and those who are interested in owning these babies, please head over to the さくらのショップ's page HERE to pre-order and purchase them. Your support would be a tremendous source of motivation for us!

well all in all, I'm satisfied but I can't sit down and rest just yet! I've still got a whole line of product design to be drawn all lined up perfectly for me to do ｶﾞ━━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━━ﾝ!! Though I'm loving every bit of it. Nothing beats being productive and seeing your fruits of labor bear fruit!

Next up, ANGEL BEATS! (*･∀･)／♡＼(･∀･*)

Pushing Forward

2010-10-18T12:47:00.002+08:00

Man....

These past few days has been productive for me. Focusing on getting 9 seperate designs and 2 types of products for printing next Friday kept me busy enough. not to mention with my parents leaving for a few weeks to go abroad, makes me and my older sister incharge of the household. needless to say things can get pretty packed most of the days. If I'm not around the house helping out, I'd be at my laptop along with my tablet, scribbling away whilst my random rock music blasts in the background till 5 in the morning.

but man oh man.....

Reading Bakuman never ceases to give me the needed kick in the butt. Just finished reading chapters 104 & 105 and man.... I thought I'm hardworking already but Mashiro-sensei really REALLY is the exemplary example when it comes to portraying a hardworking mangaka. I've always thought the Ashirogi Muto duo has always strived to push themselves forward more than anyone in the series (yeah well... i mean they -are- the main characters) but man oh man.... the few latest chapters really made me believe that is so.

Just when I thought "hey, not bad. being productive today. proud of me" then I see Mashiro-sensei timing his sketches and I'll feel like................................"okay back to the drawing table" lawl!

in fact I don't even have to read Bakuman to feel like that. :D I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by hardworking peers that always strive to be their best even though (to me) they are at the spot where I feel like they can at least ease up a little. (i mean they're super good. I worship them lawl).

Anyways I'll be attending Animangaki and AFA X with a few new products <3 All I can say now is that they are DRRR! products ;D so please do look forward to them <3 Until then, Jya ne~!

Throwing vending machines never felt so light

2010-10-15T18:39:00.003+08:00

Guess whooooo? 8D

lawl a W.I.P of my DRRR! products in the making ;D will post up a few when I'm done with them

Btw, addicted to the band RADWIMPS now D: darn. they've got good stuffs

P.S... I Love You : Part 3

2010-10-12T23:34:00.007+08:00

Read Part 1 & Part 2 first?

Situation #3 : Sacrifices

For the final part of this post, I'd like to share about a fictional relationship. Yes, a relationship of two fictional characters portrayed above by the multi talented illustrator, Runia on Pixiv. Meet one of the Canon pairings of Persona 3, Aragaki Shinjiro and the Female Protagonist (known famously as Hamuko or Minako). I thought they are the perfect example for me to use to portray the importance of Sacrifice in a relationship.

The two are one of the better preferred pairings by many fans compared to the other cast of available men for the Protagonist. In the game, when you play as the female protagonist, you may choose 1 out of 3 men at the end of the game and majority of fans prefer this coupling right here. Initially I was surprised as well, but when I decided to experience the game myself, I understood why.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Aragaki Shinjiro had the least amount of time to spend with the Protagonist (one month to be exact) compared to the rest but it seems that his bond was the deepest. He was portrayed as a street thug initially, often gruffy and fouled mouthed, he uses these attributes to push away others as a fear of hurting them. He left the S.E.E.S group when an accident occured with his Persona, causing him to accidentally kill a by stander. this bystander later revealed to be a member of S.E.E.S' family member. That member is Ken Amada.

Blaming the accident purely on himself, he left S.E.E.S and wandered on the streets for a few years until he was forced back in by his childhood friend and ex-S.E.E.S comrade revealed that Ken Amada voluntarily joined S.E.E.S. Though this did little to his scary demeanor and attitude to life.

He started out being cold to the Protagonist but as she gets to know him more, she shows different sides of him and even come to slowly but surely rely on the Protagonist for emotional support and comfort. She helped him regain his ability to interact with his comrades and this influence his look about his own life as well. The once ready to throw his life away Shinjiro was now looking for ways to stay by her side longer. But things didn't go exactly as planned when he was shot twice when protecting Amada.

He ended up comatose up till the end of the game where he regain consciousness and his memories of the Protagonist. But he was far too late in reaching her when he dashes to her side at the school rooftop, only to know that she will compensate saving the world with her own life. As they exchanged their final words, her tiny life slips away from the her body that was in his arms.

[/SPOILER END]

You see, the main difference I spotted with Shinjiro compared to the other male choices wasn't that he had better lines or he was better looking (in fact, he may well be at the bottom for looking presentable), it was that during his brief relationship with the Protagonist, it was he who strived the hardest at leaving his comfort zone for her. He cooked for everyone even though he found it annoying, he was concerned on her well being more than his when he thought he was dying. These are all signs of commitment. He did these things not because he enjoyed it, but he did it because he wanted her to be happy.

Whilst yes, the Protagonist may have given up the most important thing to save the world but it's the why that's important. She did it to save the world that he was in. She did it for him.

They both understood very well the meaning of Sacrifice and in turn that made them understand what Love truly is. That and nothing else made them one of the strongest couple I've ever seen on any fictional material I've stumbled upon thus far.

Sacrifice in a relationship doesn't have to be dramatic all the time in real life. You don't have to end up with 2 bullets in your chest to proof your commitment. It's in sacrificing the things that you love the most for the right things that proves whether you are truly committed of not.

Things I've learned from this Couple:

1. Love is never a feeling. It's a commitment.

2. Always focus on the 'Why' instead of the 'Who'. Often times people fight because they think assigning the place to blame will make the problem go away; it doesn't. Focusing on the person's intentions also tend to make you see things in a different perspective.

-----------------------------------------------------------

These are my views on Love. The pointers that I've shared here today are not only derived from my own observation but also by the many books that I've read regarding this matter so do know that the things that are said here are not mine alone, but by many who have spent years of their lives in attaining them and I hope you have found them to be of your benefit.

These are merely penny for thoughts for you to ponder by the next time you come across topics concerning today's topic. Am I in love or is this infatuation? Am I committing enough to say that I love this person? Am I putting the other party first before myself? Am I doing enough to say that I'm improving myself? Am I stepping out of my comfort zone and etc.

So my only advice with these last 3 posts is that; the next time you're open your mouth and you are about to nonchalantly use those 3 words however you deem fit, I hope you'll remember what you read here and rethink your actions. Because sometimes, words don't physically hurt you but they stay with you. They can make or break a person, like explained in the 1st Couple's situation. People may not remember what you say or what you do to them, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Words are powerful indeed so use them wisely.

Last but not least, thank you for reading one of my longest posts till date. :D I hope you have learned a thing or two, as much as I have during my observation periods.

Until my next post, I love you all. :3 I bid you all a goodnight.

P.S... I Love You : Part 2

2010-10-12T22:34:00.005+08:00

Continued from the previous post: P.S...I Love You : Part 1

Next Post: P.S...I Love You : Part 3

Situation #2 : Love Often Comes Softly

This next featured couple that I'll be talking about is living proof that True Love exists and it'll last as long as you want it to, as long as you do it right.

She was the popular yet sweet one. He was the quiet admirer. Both were good friends, as in genuine friends. The type of friend you'd call 4 AM in the morning if you need help or the one that you'll know won't leave you out to dry in dire situations. He had feelings for her, but she had no clue. Despite his strong affections for her, he decided to hold off his confession for her until he graduated from his studies. [Note: Priorities]

They were both students abroad at the time so while he waits for Graduation Day, he had to play the role of the best guy friend that lifts her back up whenever she was left devastated by other men. Everytime a guy breaks her heart into pieces, he will be the one she called and ask for advice and comfort. He tells her often that there will be someone better whilst secretly hoping that the said someone will be him someday.

Graduation Day came and he invited her to attend. She recently going through a giant hurdle in her life then, so she refused; saying that she'll meet up with him after. But for the first time in years of being friends, he demanded her presence there. Curious as to why the sudden change in attitude she attended anyways. He proposed. Nothing romantic, he proposed her from behind a cushion in fact.

At first she was going to promptly reply "No". It was at the tip of her tongue but it never came out. She thought about it. He was a good man. Not much of a looker, but kind and sweet. He also proved to be a good son by sending money monthly to his father in his hometown without fail. He was also a good Muslim and a good friend. But she just didn't feel anything for him in that way.

Her heart was telling her no, but somehow her head is telling her that he'd make the perfect husband. And plus noticing his ears all beet red just like the cushion he held in front of his face as he said those words made her realize that this wasn't an easy task for him to do. He was way out of his comfort zone that his comfort zone was practically no longer visible to him. So she told him that they'll try dating first, if they manage to initiate sparks in the course of the time they were dating, she'd marry him.

Today, 22 years and more than a dozen children later, they're still going strong. He still buys her a bouquet of roses and customary chocolates every Valentines. She still irons his clothes and gaze at him with genuine feelings. I'm not going to say that they ended 'Happily Ever After' since that does not exist in relationships. They do fight once in a while, but when they do they learn from them and emerge stronger than they were before. Anyways, a relationship without conflicts would mean something is seriously wrong there.

Things I learned From this Couple:

1. Infatuation doesn't have to happen first for a relationship to work. Sometimes using your head more than your heart is better. That's not to say you don't need your heart. Feelings like empathy or intuitions are not something your head can produce. Finding a balance between your mind and your heart is the right way of doing it. Moderation in everything.

2. The price of Delay Gratification. Sometimes when you pay up now, Life rewards you 10 times more later.

3. A good person will make a good spouse. When choosing a partner, take into consideration of how he treats others other than you. If he's courting you, he's sure to be sweet and nice, but he cannot hide his true nature with his habits and others.

P.S... I Love You : Part 1

2010-10-12T20:14:00.006+08:00

Art not mine lawl. Found it randomly over various DRRR! fansites.

Hey there! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ Its quite a big gap between my previous post and this one. Much has happened in between then.

If you're wondering if the title signals that I'll be blogging about my all-time favourite Love Story of the same title....you guessed wrong. (sorry!) Though the title was derived from that said movie's awesome soundtrack which is also by the way, looping in the background as I type. Today I'm here to blog about my views about Love.

As the title suggests, saying "I love you" to someone has been taken lightly by many and often left unnoticed of the gravity it brings with. So what does saying "I Love You" really mean when you say it to someone?

In the recent weeks, I've had the front row seat to view Love or in this case, non-platonic relationships in a rather interesting perspective from various cases, both in fiction materials and also real life situations. From a decent age, I've been educated by my parents that Love is always misconceived as being a feeling entirely. When it is in actual fact a commitment. So what is it you feel when you're in the courting stage then you ask? that burning desire to claim your person of interest entirely or that shot to the heart when you first laid eyes on he/she or many more examples that are often used to portrayed love throughout the years by media and the public? Well, apparently that, ladies and gentlemen would be the feeling of Infactuation.

This is perceived many by relationship researchers (yes, there are people work day and night to specialize in this), as the number 1 reason for such high divorce rates that graced most parts of the world in our generation. Why would that be, you might wonder? Well, as we go back to the topic of Love being a commitment, we see that the word commitment defined by most sources would be:

"Commitment would mean performing your duties and responsibilities long after you lose the feeling of wanting to perform them."

Meaning, loving someone would mean that you do the things you do to provide and support (in all definitions) even when you don't feel like it anymore. Doing them long after the infactuation dies out. Even when you have to do things that are uncomfortable for you so that you can do right by your partner. Even if it would mean to do something for your partner just to see them happy, or it would result in them being happy but not necessarily with you. That, is the ultimate demonstration of Love.

So why bring this up you ask? Well, I'll share with you 3 couples and their stories that has happened to me in the recent weeks that has shaped my guides and principles in making the right decisions when it comes to relationships; platonic or non-platonic alike.

Situation #1: Victim Ego vs Doing What's Right

Recently an affiliate of mine went through some rough spots in her relationship with her "other half". Even though the relationship was started not too long ago, they got into fights often and being on of the people both parties opens up to gives me a huge look inside what was going in their relationship. They fight big and very frequent too.

One party will always on the offense while the other will remain on defense but often times, after the offense party has said his piece, he'd end the conversation dead right there and leave, leaving the defense party with multiple severe damages to her self esteem, emotional and mental stability. They meet often but usually they fought through the phone so it was easy to end conversations in a way. And being close to both of them leaves me with the tiring task of lifting either parties back on their feet. Usually then they get back together again after the offense party does his customary apology by saying 'he didn't mean it' or that 'he let his situation the better of him then'

As the offense party is often the man of the relationship, it really didn't sit too well with me. Not just that he was on the offense, but also how he was when he was on offense. He often use vulgar words to name the girl but always rationalize it by saying it was a 'heat-of-the-moment' thing. If he can verbally abuse the lady whenever he is in 'the-heat-of-the-moment', what would stop him from raising his hand to his wife and child later on? Abusers are often derived with lack of control in anger and vulgar words. Now this is not saying the girl has no faults, absolutely that is not the case here.

Everyone has flaws. And the main flaw that the girl has done was that she made herself a total doormat with him. (Note that she is no way like this with other people. In fact she was absolutely the dominant one every where else.) She gave him one too many leeway and space that it crippled him to the point of him being fully dependent on her in making any decisions. And that, resulted in him blaming her when the wrong decisions were made and with her blaming him for his inability to make a decision at all, much less the right one.

Both of them loved each other without a doubt, but obviously here, the feeling alone was not sufficient for the relationship to work. After things go too much for her mental state to handle, she told him that it was over.

Right now, it's been less than 2 months since she made her decision and she is slowly coping with it. She has always been great at masking her true feelings which is my ultimate worry, but so far she's been truthful about her progress. She's slowly regaining her confidence and self esteem and seems much healthier emotional and mental wise compared to the last few months of the relationship.

The guy, however turn completely wimp, if you'd pardon me saying. The once proud man is now messaging her dozens (literally) of messages a day to convince her of his regrets, (sometimes even literally beg her to return to him once more) and even calling her during the wee hours of the morning. She tried to rationally discuss with him about the outcome but he is incapable of concentrating on whatever it is she has to say to him because he argues that "he doesn't know where to put his pride if he has to tell his friends that their relationship is over." and many more voided arguments regarding how he feels as oppose to how he should be concerned of the effects the relationship has damaged her with.

Things I learned from this Couple:

1. Infatuation or the "feeling" of love is not enough in sustaining a relationship. Tremendous effort and principles play a vital role in helping you through the rough patches.

2. Relationship is a two way street. It's not enough if only one party fulfills the needed commitments and requirements, it has to be equal efforts from both parties.

3. Sometimes the ultimate act of love, is helping the other party grow, even if it means he/she going through extremely difficult situations. As long as it doesn't effect his/her life literally or against the law, it will help him/her grow. Character building requires a few tears and sweat. Without character building, you cripple the one you love the most. The bigger the pain, the bigger the victory.

4. Never make courting your number 1 priority. Having something else to focus on keeps you living if the said relationship doesn't work out. But if you make him/her the center of your universe or you'll have a difficult time getting back when it all goes supernova. Set your priorities straight. If you can prove that you can take care of yourself, then it'll give you the confidence to take care of someone else.

Continued in the next post: P.S...I Love You : Part 2

Kitty Cat Charms

2010-09-22T09:47:00.005+08:00

*Credit of the photo book photos to their rightful owners. Found most of them through Image Google since my camera and phone camera are giving me probs lawl. ( -- ε -- ;)

Cover of the book that has brought me joy just by flipping through the pages.

Books have always been a huge part of my life and continue to play such a role even today. I used to occupy my childhood days with reading encyclopedias as long as I'm not out causing mischief. My first passion were animals and in the 3rd grade I aspired to be a veterinarian and I often read books and drew animals as a way to express it. And my supporting parents made sure I was often surrounded by pets to practice and expose myself to them at a young age.

Though as soon as I hit 12 years old, my passion and aspirations changed altogether with the appearance of Manga in my life and soon abandoned my veterinarian ambition for ink, paper and adventure stories. My aspirations have took a different turn but my love for animals remains, especially for cats.

Ever since my passion for Manga kicked off, I cease to buy books that are not drawing or Manga related (with the exception of Self Motivation books since I can't function without them), and yesterday I broke my 7 year record by purchasing a Rachael Hale Photobook titled "101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats" for a whopping RM16.90 bargain only. I fell in love with the first turn of the page and immediately proceeded to the counter for payment.

Rachael Hale is best known as an animal potrait photographer and looking through the pages, I can see why. 101 Cataclysms is not simply a cat photo book filled with cute cat pictures, but rather their artistic beauty and character as well. Her ability to make the cat look Angelic or Cheeky or even Sensuous astounded me. It has even inspired my parents and me to go out looking for a kitten of our own today!

Anyways enough with me rambling, here are some previews of the book. I fully recommend this book if you see it anywhere in bookstores. (I bought mine in Borders MidValley Gardens). Especially to all cat lovers and enthusiasts out there! Enjoy!

The cheeky Scottish Earfold Kitten, Merlin dozing off after a play day with his wizard's hat.

The feisty 11 year old Birman Cross, Saasha. This is one of my favourite in the entire collection.

2 year old Ragdoll Cross, Honey portrayed her namesake with this shot with bees. Ms. Hale picked out bees that died naturally in the hive and use adhesive to attach it to Honey's fur. I love reading the notes about each photograph.

A cute shot of 2 year old Domestic Shorthair, Guiness, who according to Ms. Hale was incredibly tolerant of having his vision temporarily obscured with his beanie.

A characteristic potrait of Charlotte, 8 year old Red Self Persian. Despite her snotty image portrayed above, Ms Hale describe her as "A fluffy bundle of cuddles and cat kisses." and "The most affectionate feline with the cutest squeak of a meow that melts your heart"

Fearless and in fact keenly, 2 year old Domestic Tabby, Cougar enjoyed his shoot with him in a tub of warm suds.

Two steps back for a leap forward

2010-09-19T01:34:00.003+08:00

Well, Raya has calmed down now and a lot of people are moving back to their respective states to resume working life and the roads are starting to clear up.

Over the month of Raya alot has happened but not so much recently especially regarding some significant matters with my family. As a result of the recent series of events, I've decided to move back to my humble hometown of Ipoh as soon as I can. I don't mind, in fact I'm looking forward to being in the same roof with my sisters again until I go study abroad next year or so. :D

Though my only worry is that I can't get enough money for my yearly trip to Anime Festival Asia in Singapore. I planned to work extra hours when I get back but as the situation demands I can't do that at the moment. I've already forked up 80% of the needed so it's just a few hundreds more. Well I guess I'll just scrape my way through. >:3 Though that's a definite "no" to the concert though. .___. I really wanted to go since I've never been to a concert before and this time they managed to bring in SCANDAL, one of my all-time favourite bands. At first I thought it was possible to go for one day (since it's a 2 day concert) but I guess next time..huh. X"D

Ah, and my efforts to submit an entry to the OTACOOL 4 contest is apparently extinguished since I'm only returning to KL by Monday so only then can I scan my illustration which would leave me less than a day (since I'll be working for the last time at my part time), to CG it and for a completed piece according to my track record that's not going to happen haha. I've tried to locate a scanner to use here (since I use B4 paper) but the cheapest costs up to RM5000+ alone so I guess not now. So for now I'll be relying on the printing shop I've always frequent for scanning TwT

BUT NONETHELESS! none of this dampens my spirits in doing my best! >8D FIGHTO FIGHTO OOOOOOOUUU!!!!!! *slaps tummy*

Daruma Doll Effect

2010-09-14T19:38:00.003+08:00

Do I have the best group of friends in the world or what?

Just when I'm down face flat on the ground, I'm picked back up and kicked in the butt to run again. This is why I feel I have the best people around me physically and spiritually TwT They make me into an invincible Daruma Doll; just roll myself back up when I'm turned upside down~

I LOVE YOU GUYS. LIKE. ALOT RIGHT NOW. TwT

Mmhehs and urghs.

2010-09-13T15:40:00.004+08:00

My current desktop. Wallpaper courtesy of Danny Choo from his Wallpaper Pool.

Don't ask. Just feeling below the weather by alot of things (mainly just a few). I'm not the sort of person who likes being shoved and pushed around by people who don't care the effect it has on me. -___-;;;

Anyways, my desktop wallpaper right now describes my current fandom: Rillakuma. No, I'm not kya-kya-ing over it like some twitchy 6 year old but I find myself drawn to them everytime I see one. I think it's my female instinct taking over. My phone wallpaper is the face of Rillakuma as well. What is happening to me /orz. Though it does have a calming effect on me.... (I need it so bad right now).

Well with AFA X coming around the corner and their official announcements of what and who will be available, everyone's bustling around for money and whatnot. Not to mention the concert this year provided all 5 sensational favourites JAM Project, Aniki, SCANDAL, Angela and MAY'N. Don't even say about the concert, I'm still struggling to come up with accommodation and traveling fees. And I'm already skimping out on the food by smuggling in instant noodles. Not to mention the TTGL Fanbook printing.

Nonetheless, I proceeded to ask my manager at my part time place for more hours when I get back in order to make some extra bucks. And I'm prepared to sell off alot of items in my closet in order to scrape whatever little I can. >___<;;; I don't mind working hard. I have no frets about that, I'm not under the weather about the money (well kinda, but that's not the main reason). I'm just a little down with the people I thought would support me in working hard when their half heartiness in supporting me. Oh well, I guess they're all just pieces of the puzzle for me to solve, as Danny Choo would say. Things could be worse.

>_______< *slapself* RIGHT! No more sulking around~! Shall do my best to make money and at least have some extra cash to spend if I can't make enough for the 2nd day concert. いつもどおり、がんばります！SCANDALまっててね！

Practice makes perfect

2010-09-11T19:40:00.004+08:00

CG practice. Lineart NOT mine. MACCO (c) respectively.

after my long abandoned hope for CG style of coloring determination these past years, I decided to give it another shot. Partly inspired by my fellow peers after signing up at Pixiv, I downloaded the program SAI and decided to dig up for some linearts in my reference folders (since I do everything traditionally and I don't photostat them anymore, I don't have linearts of my own to kill) and stumbled upon the awesome MACCO's lineart of Hatsune Miku and Rin. Check out MACCO's awesome gallery at Pixiv here.

So far it's hardly progress and was experimenting with more of a cellshading thing but...... I dunno :"/ I find my color selection to be too dull for the skin.... it's not "popping" enough for me. And I'm kinda having trouble with maintaining a paint style for the eyes. But I guess nothing is achieved overnight or with just one try so I'll do my best to increase practice time. (￣ε￣ ;)

Anyways hope you guys are spending your Eid celebration happily and safetly!! :D Can't wait to see my girls when I get back to KL. <3

Collecting Life's pieces of puzzles

2010-09-07T20:25:00.003+08:00

"Life is a jigsaw puzzle. You don't know whats going to go where, you don't know where the pieces are but you do know that you need to keep looking for the pieces and figure out where they go. All events that happen to you is a piece of your puzzle. if you are stuck in a rut at school or work and keep asking yourself the "what if" question then its a sign telling you that there are no more pieces of the puzzle to be found where you are."

-Danny Choo

Those were the words that I read on one of Danny Choo's post regarding Living Life to pursue a Passion on his utter famous blog. I now have new found respect for Danny Choo (not that I didn't before) but more so as he's proven to be more than a pop icon in the Otaku Community.

In his post "Pursue Your Passion", Danny talks about living more than today fulfilling the puzzle that Life has given each of us, some sort of what we were born to do; our destiny, so per say. How when you hit a brick wall of repetition and void-ness in our lives that we must reach beyond what we feel is comfortable for us so we can reach out and be more than we are today.

It's funny... the things that I read in that post were things that I know consciously and subconsciously. But it suddenly I see them in a whole new light.

うん！なんか今・・・ドンドンがんばれなくちゃ！

Piling Up

2010-09-01T19:15:00.004+08:00

It seems that hampers are all that are occupying my days that it's sending my drawing works to take a back seat (￣ε￣ ;)

Well, usually every year when hamper season comes along, I and my sister would gain at least RM500+ per person. We get paid RM5 for each hamper we do. We were overjoyed this year when our father agreed to raise our pay to RM8 each but it seems that this year we're getting less orders of the hampers than we usually do (￣Д￣ ;)

But I guess I can't really complain. As of now I'm a few dollars richer than I was before I came back to Ipoh. I just hope I can get enough for the printing of the Fanbook by October is all. (.___.;;) I guess I'd have to count on my part time job... which will pay less than 50% .. darn lawl.

But on the bright side, I'm getting great ideas for the Fanbook illustration and also for my submission for Otacool 4. ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ So I just have to work it out so I have enough time to put it all down on paper~! よおおおおおし！がんばります！

Hopefully I get to do an entry for Raya, but until then, Selamat Berpuasa to all my Muslim friends and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all~! (*≧▽≦)~♪

19際

2010-08-26T14:03:00.004+08:00

Yes.. I can feel my youth slipping away from me as I type... (ﾉ￣∀￣*)ﾉ

Anyways, yesterday my 19th birthday came and passed without a hitch. I actually forgot about it to tell you the truth until my mother wished me at 12:10 AM. It was basically a very normal day for me since it was a weekday and I told my mum that a birthday party wasn't necessary, though that didn't stop her from organizing a small get together this Saturday with my granduncles. （￣ー￣） Oh well, I guess I can't complain since I haven't seen my granduncles in a while and I kinda miss them.

Well mostly I don't have much to report to tell you the truth. After showering and whatnot, I came down to do some hampers (it's festive season and festive season means hamper making time for our family.) but my sister and my mum went out to the bank so after copicing till 3PM or so, I napped on the floor until 6PM or so.

I was mostly online tough on my Facebook account and it was fun, receiving all the birthday wishes. And I was really touched by the number of wishes I get... well it's mainly because of the Birthday Notification that they did I believe but I was really touched nonetheless. In fact it kind of made me tear up at the fact of being remembered. I guess everyone wants to know that they exist somewhere in the minds of those they know huh...

Well other than that, my uncle dropped by and hang around for a bit later that night. He gave me RM30 for my birthday gift! YAY! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉMy mum bought me the Glee soundtrack which I wanted. Though she wasn't suppose to give me a present since I got my present in advance this year when she bought the second hand mint green PSP for me. Thats my mum. Always the giving person. Oh and my dad treated me to a late night street stall burger (my favourite :9 ) and free ice-cream~

So overall, I'd say that it was a breezy birthday for me. I kinda liked it being slow and steady like that. Well I guess party's over and it's back to work. Hampers are starting to pour in (so is the money) and I'm busier than ever preparing alot of things for this year's Anime Festival Asia 2010. Not to mention I'm already late in the season for scouting colleges for next year and so on. Overall, a special thanks to those who wished, called and hugged me on my birthday. I loved every single one of it. Thanks from the bottom of my heart! Love you guys! (*≧▽≦)~♪

All pumped up! (photo heavy)

2010-08-21T03:30:00.012+08:00

hey guys! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

A few weeks back, I decided to do a mini Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Fanbook to dedicate to my favourite series of all time and this past week, I've been busy drafting them all up! (*≧▽≦)ノ♪

There's a high chance the book will be available in AFA2010 so keep you eyes peeled as i'll announce them here when it's done!

I was planning on showing the drafts to my friend, Germaine who is also working on her drawings for the Fanbook so I took photos of them using my handphone and camera so pardon the slight blurryness. I'd scan them but I drew them all on a B4 manga paper and my scanner is A4. I guess time to buy a bigger one D: ANYWAYS! The previews:

The draft for the cover featuring Nia

close-ups

Nia's skirt. Was pretty proud of the way it turned out

an illustration featuring Kinon and Yoko in the Goverment Uniforms

close-up of Kinon

close-up of Yoko

A piece inspired by Episode 27 and the Song "Futari" by Yuya Matsushita. Nia and Simon

Had fun doing the roses, her hair and the hairpins

Viral with Sunflowers

Close-up. Wanted to recapture his expression in episode 26.

Sunflowers

pish posh talk

2010-08-03T01:41:00.003+08:00

Have you ever got the feeling of when a series of peaceful days hits you, you can't help but feel something big is going to happen soon? Haha or maybe it's just me ;;;

Well anyways, it's been a month since I started my new part time job at a close by Juice Shop and things are pretty much going well (too well that one might say that it leaves you rather gray), though not that I'm complaining. I tend to enjoy slower or lazier days since I'm not into hectic ones. And I think things are about to get slightly more rushed right after Ramadhan month is over.

Well as of right now, I'm in my hometown of Ipoh for the Ramadhan month and Aidilfitri. And not to mention, I took a week of early since my dad is participating in the Foreign Student Exchange Program as a Host Family so we're housing one of the Japanese Students for their one week stay. We just had the pleasure of meeting the girl who is staying with us, Yamamoto Mizuki-san today and she seems friendly enough. It's refreshing to have someone to converse in Japanese with. It sure puts all that Intensive Japanese Classes to good use.

Other than the usual humdrums or life, I'm currently also focusing on improving my skills in CG and increasing my work pace for Le Noir and a small personal project for AFA2010. I wish I can scan some WIPs, but since they're all on B4 paper and my scanner is A4........ mmheh lawl. maybe its time I start drawing in my PC straight...? or not. haha we'll see.

I'm also considering full time courses for my Japanese to speed up the process of me studying in Japan.... but so far intakes are for next year so that leaves me another 4 months or so to collect some extra cash and finish my manga projects. Yikes! Lets just hope I make it!

bbbaahh~! Ishould really try and go back to sleep again. Its actually 2 AM already and I need to get up by 6 AM tomorrow lawl ;;; I bid you all good night!

self motivation

2010-08-01T03:19:00.003+08:00

Reprograming yourself to not say "I wish.." or "if only..." is so darn hard. Even if it's a "I wish I'd improve faster". *slapself* Sometimes I wish my brain stop thinking and focus more on the doing :P Oh well. Puasa month coming = money making time and less sleep time. Can't wait.

The Spiral of Evolution

2010-07-09T01:56:00.008+08:00

"Life truly is like a Spiral of Evolution..." was what I thought as I was rewatching the 27th episode of my ever favourite series, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. What started out as a mere fangirling session between me and my good friend, Germaine, turned out to be somewhat of an 'Aha' moment instead. Germaine, who shared my passion in FUNimation's English Voice Casts brought along her 2 Disc Tengen Toppa DVD set she just bought recently over to my place to watch together. ~~Since we were both fans of Yuri Lowenthal, who played Simon.~~ But aside from our gleeful laughs and fangirl screams that occupied every scene with adult Simon and Viral, we also started discussing about the core values and the concept of Gurren Lagann; The Passion of Believing in Yourself.

One of the scenes that became subject of conversation was the scene in episode 27, in the final battle where the Anti-Spiral, shocked by the immense powers of the Gurren Brigade questions Simon regarding their growth in power. Simon's reply left an everlasting impression to me and even managed to teach me something new... or rather remind me of it. ~~despite the fact that I have watched the series up till the 7th time already.~~

"We are evolving and growing stronger than we were in the minute before. With one revolution, we shall move forward a bit! That is what a drill is!"

To strive for the better... to strive on improving yourself with every passing minute... was something I never thought of possible doing. Since lately, when I start to get the feeling of Time passing by so painfully slow that it just weighs down my morale to do anything at all and as a result, my productivity rate would decrease rapidly and to which I would start blaming everything else around me but me. Be it uncommitted members of the team, Finance, Family problems or anything that my overly creative brain can come up with. But excuses are just there to shade you from you acknowledging on what you should really do; own up to what you need to do and do it. Simon's quote made me reprogram what I believe to be true when it comes to mistakes: that you can't make them. When all I needed to do was learn from them, and grow stronger than I was before, like a drill.
ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ That scene alone left me all pumped up and ready to fix my mistakes and work better.

Then, another scene in episode 26 also lighted up my idea light bulb where Kamina woke Simon up from the Delusion Labyrinth and he says:

"Don't be caught up with the 'What Ifs', 'Should Be's and 'Could Be's. The only thing you need to have is your belief in yourself and in what you do."

I was almost tearing up when he said that. It was like he was lecturing me about my actions and decisions. Sometimes as human beings, we tend to complicate alot of things with the "What Ifs' or 'Should Be's like Kamina says. When all we have to do is simply believe in ourselves and what we do best and when we achieve that, that's when we start to do things the right way and things start to roll in Life. Sometimes I guess something so simple needs reminding of from time to time.
（￣ー￣）

"Life is a Spiral of Evolution". It all comes down to how well we improve everyday and how we learn to live by falling down or making mistakes, getting back up and running forward again. Just like how with ever turning of a Drill, it's powers are multiplied.

Grah! I feel so refreshed!! Watching Tengen Toppa never fails in being therapeutic and educational for me. Even after 7 times of watching it all over, it never fails to send me to school. (*･∀･)／♡ And I'm loving every bit of it. I think the quotes mentioned in this post will be my daily anthem and my motto for self improvement and Belief. To Strive higher everyday! Pierce any Ceilings limiting my skies! And if I'm lucky enough, I'll achieve them with the help of my comrades. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

So a special thank you to Germaine for reminding me of what's important today and lending an ear to my worries today. You will forever be one of my life's Kaminas (*≧▽≦)~♪ Love you hun!

Right now...

2010-06-30T01:44:00.003+08:00

I feel like doing that *points to pic above* to someone =___=;;; honestly... 4 illustrations in the span of 2 days and now I have less than 7 hours to complete the Le Noir Name. Not to mention, I have my part time in the morning until 5 PM followed by a trip to the printers and the Name meeting. That is if I can get the name done in time. *sigh*

This is a slow and painful way to die. （￣へ￣;; ）

Far Beyond the Sky

2010-04-20T23:06:00.004+08:00

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. (￣▽￣)ノ My wonderful 100%-oh-so-truly-Malaysia-Boleh internet line has been failing me by being tsundere with me 80% of the time.

Soon after fellow GAR member, Kat took off to continue her adventures of exploring manga in the land of the rising Sun, I was further motivated to pursue my own path in the industry and the past few weeks have been surveying more scholarship programs and been taking Intensive courses to take the necessary steps to further my studies in Japan myself. (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ

Initially I thought I'd have trouble with remembering a majority of the syllabus since languages aren't really my strong point, but somehow with the help of the educators at the Learning Centre I'm going to and my colorful cast of classmates, so far it's been smooth sailing where classes are concerned. ヽ(≧▽≦)ノ♪ It's been hectic and tiring but my dear classmates have always managed to keep it interesting and fun that I don't mind the weariness studying came with.

Fellow GAR member, Iwashi has also been a huge help for preping me in reading and speaking/writing grammar haha. And for those who know me, my grammar and reading "skills" are enough to make even the sane-est of Teachers vomit blood haha. ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ Thanks a million and I LOVE YU BBY.

Other than studying again, I've been juggling my responsibilities and duties for my manga groups and company as well which often keeps me busy and preoccupied enough through out the days. And Thank the Heavens above, my will and ability to draw has somewhat return as I'm already working on different projects and all, including KAMCAO's Le Noir final Project. Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Well I'll post up works soon if I can, until then I hope everyone stays happy and healthy! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

蒼-iconoclast

2010-04-12T02:38:00.005+08:00

Yeap! you guessed it! Its the new, fast paced fighting game that graced the market last year for PS3 and now PSP (yeay!); BlazBlue! (*≧▽≦)ノ☆

Last week, a dear friend of mine left his Playstation 3 and a handful of games at my place overnight so I and fellow GAR member, Saku can give it a go and amongst the stash of games he left was the Fighting Game "BlazBlue", all wrapped in it's blue cover glory ＼(o￣∇￣o)/

I can't say much about gameplays and all since I'm not a very experienced gamer but I've been wanting to give this particular game a go ever since I heard that it was out in the market. Mainly it was because I saw the reviews, designs and above all it was because it was promoted as another franchise from the creator of Fighting game "Guilty Gear". I'm a huge fan of his and has been able to keep up with his works thus far (despite the fact that I don't get to actually play his games, I do follow his designs and all).

The fact that my friend spent close to RM200 additional just for a HD cable worked out very well for all of us as the colors, sound and movements were set perfectly on the LCD television and Home Theater System that dominated our living room. As we proceeded to play the game, my friend (who I will call 'Kim' in this entry for convenience), carefully and patiently tutored me on how to execute basic commands on several characters since Saku was kicking my butt all the way despite it being her first time as well. After trying several characters I find the character Taokaka and Ragna the Bloodedge to be most suited for my usage.

But as I only had the chance to play it for 2 days, I didn't really get my fill. But fellow GAR member Peecee told me of him owning the game on his PSP which I was pleasantly surprised by since I own a PSP.

so currently I'm hitting a few bumps with installing the game into my PSP but I'm really excited to own it on my PSP. God knows I hardly get to play video games when I was young so I'm really game starved haha. Can't wait !!

Shipatttsu!

2010-04-06T18:23:00.005+08:00

Yes indeed! (*≧▽≦)ノ♪

The past week or so, I have been discussing with my folks alot regarding my future education and such. For most who knows me, why I'm currently not in any university or college is due to the fact that I'm working to pay my own way since the subjects that interest me are not available locally. Which means I can only do it overseas and that would cost too much for my parents to bear if they were to pay for me. （￣へ￣;; ）

But I forgot all about scholarships!! ♪(ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ Yesh! How can I forget about that! After discussing it with fellow GAR member, Iwashi and Saku, all three of us have decided to take the necessary steps together to ensure we qualify for a scholarship program that reopens next year in March, courtesy of the Japanese Embassy.

I'm currently eyeing alot of Voice Acting or Seiyuu courses in Japan but mainly the ones offered at Toho Gakuen and Nihon Kogahakuin. ｏ( ><)o But to qualify for the scholarship, let alone the actual schools themselves, I'd at least have to attain a Level 2 JLPT Test certificate. So after much discussion, Iwashi agreed to teach both I and Saku the basics whilst we take a part time course offered in Teikyo University so we can try and score the JLPT Levels as soon as possible. Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

I like feeling productive, so I always tend to keep myself busy but lately I've been feeling really pumped up about virtually everything! (*≧▽≦)~♪ From my drawings all the way to my private franchising. Things are really starting to pick up, so I have to buck up ~!

OSU!! Time to take off!! ＼(＾▽＾*)

Songs & Stories of the Down Under

2010-03-26T02:16:00.007+08:00

When I flipped the channel on my TV and decided to watch the epic romance 2008 production, "Australia" to fill my time in between shows, I didn't expect for it to leave such a huge impression on me.

And truth to be told, it wasn't because of Hugh Jackman （￣ー￣）though most would've reasoned that, that would be the reason I'm so touched by it. (well.... maybe a little)

The story tells about the trials and tribulation of Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) when she left her England home to Northern Australia to persuade her husband to sell his dying cattle station, Faraway Downs and return home. There, she was guided by independent cattle drover, simply known as "Drover" (yummeh Hugh Jackman) to Darwin and transport her to Faraway Downs. Shortly after her arrival, she finds her husband murdered by an aboriginal elder but of course, that was far from the truth. As she slowly uncovers the truth, she came to care for a young mixed Aboriginal and somewhat whimsical child called Nullah (Brandon Walter) and developed a relationship with Drover as they prove that Love truly is a powerful weapon in a time filled with hatred, war and prejudice.

To tell you the truth, I'm not a huge sucker for romance films (yes even if it includes the yummy Hugh Jackman), so I was surprised that I even sat through the first half of the film let alone enjoy one so much. To see Ashley and Drover's dedication for the love of their family and for a child that's not even blood related in such trying times is something that even someone with a heart of stone like mine can take. Tears were falling from my face non-stop when the credits rolled.

I may not know much about romance but I do know a thing or two about love. Love for people that share no blood relation, of different backgrounds, beliefs, ways of life... yes, despite all of this, we call them family. Watching this movie reminds me of all the people that have made my humble life all the more richer and it made me thank my lucky stars at how I've manage to grasp them. This truly is a Love Story. :D

To those who haven't watch this movie because of other's reviews of it, I advice you to judge it for yourself. I regretted listening to those who told me that this movie wasn't worth watching. Judge it for yourself and who knows, you might learn a thing or two from it. You have my personal recommendation.

Goodnight everyone. To those I love, goodnight and sweet dreams.

Doramamama

2010-03-25T19:15:00.009+08:00

homg I feel like this everytime I see one exploding across cyber space in the art community (屮ﾟДﾟ)屮

Recently, everytime I log into my deviantART or Facebook account, there'll always be disputes being displayed and spattered across the web page in forms of journals or status and such. Sometimes it's about this person saying things about the other or the occasional typical Ego measuring War between Community figures or on some occasions, something so petty blown out of proportion that in the end it just makes everyone look like tantrum throwing 3 year old children.

To tell you the truth, usually I'd just close the window or move on to whatever it was I came online for, but as of late as another new dispute involving a artist I follow, exploded across the deviantART community, it seems to be harder and harder to avoid all the 'Dorama' that is happening around here.

After reading about what was actually going on, I felt even more assured that it's just a waste of time to even reason with either sides let alone take sides (which I notice most people are doing after following their disputes). This particular dispute wasn't exempted from all the disputes and DArama that has happened all the years before and could definitely be cut short if either or both sides decide to actually deal with it like adults by taking it into a private talk (like msn or email) or just ignoring the other party entirely. By fueling each other with rants via journals are not only meaningless but it also simultaneously make the artist like a hormonal 13- year-old.

Personally though, I pity those who got themselves involved with useless drama like these. （￣へ￣） It's different if both sides actually could genuinely learn something from it, but most of the time the only thing that's battered in cases like these are their Egos, and if it doesn't contribute to your success in whatever you do or more importantly as a human being, it's a waste of time. You're better off doing anything but that. Read a book, help a friend, call your parents if you haven't talk to them this week. Anything. Why can't people focus more on Love rather than Hate most of the time when things like these happen?

Final GACC 2010

2010-03-24T16:13:00.005+08:00

Yes... yes they do ;;;

hrmm nothing much to comment on really. As usual thought they can do better, sloppy organizing, but not bad of a crowd. Though I was surprised for the the "S" word being frequently said on stage ... （￣へ￣;）Not that I mind it much but I don't think majority of the visitors found it very pleasant.

Well either way, I don't think the final GACC was much of a success but I guess all that matters is that to the committee members that are graduating, it was a memorable one for all of them. （;;´ 3｀）

For me? personally I simply had fun because I got to enjoy the company of my friends that I haven't got to enjoy in a long time. It was hillarious haha... Car sickness, almost puking incidents, Narration of The Lord of the Rings （￣ー￣） yes.. I'm talking bout you. haha

Anyhow, just wanted to update my blog on something since it's been a whiles. Jya ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥

Honestly......

2010-03-19T18:09:00.005+08:00

WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T I NOTICE THAT BEFORE? D:

.... it saves so much of my time ""O|---|_

The End of an Amazing Musician

2010-03-19T13:48:00.008+08:00

I am literally tongue-tied out of words at this news that I just saw on my friend, Ifa's blog....

The great Seba Jun or better known as "Nujabes" by anime and music fans alike for his one-of-a-kind contributions for hit anime, "Samurai Champloo" has passed away last February from a car accident in Tokyo. He wasn't a very public man, so his death was only announced yesterday, March 18th 2010.

At the age of 36 when he passed, Nujabes was founder of Hydeout Productions and the proud owner of two Record Stores in Tokyo; Guiness Records & T Records.

Truth to be told, to have such an inspiring artist leave the face of music forever really impacts me in a way. I first heard his works when I was into "Samurai Champloo" where he provided the soundtrack and it was the first time I was interested in Hip-Hop so I dwelled further into his works. So to me, he is without the doubt the first artist that made Hip-Hop attractive to me and up till today, some of the only Hip-Hop Artists that I can listen to over and over again.

Life is too short for some and one of them is Mr. Nujabes. Rest in Peace and Thank You for inspiring us and future generations with your music. A moment of silence now.

Captured Moments

2010-03-18T18:28:00.012+08:00

The Zhang brothers, from oldest to youngest; Purdie Zhang (bottom Center), Michael Zhang (Left Center), Nobunaga Zhang (Right Center), and Ethan Zhang (Top Center).

Yeap~! Once again a brand new look for the blog ヽ(･∀･ )ﾉ I apologize if it's making the loading of my page lag, but I think this layout will b sticking for a while haha. So don't worry, this will be the last time in a long time it'll lag haha (hopefully).

As you all might notice, a new art from, yours truly, has donned the header space, replacing the Ranka banner （;;´ 3｀）Yesh, my artblock has been broken!! The sketch was done last year but I never got around to color it so to break my artblock I decided to do something not work related, so I copiced it.

Overall, there are alot of mistakes I can see that could be improved (anatomy mistakes, composition etc) but I decided to not focus on those points since I wanted to just thoroughly enjoy doing this one, which I did ヽ(o￣∇￣o)ﾉ so yeah~

The characters are my own originals from the "INTOXICATED" Project about 4 brothers that runs an old bookstore but does side dealings as Information Brokers where they trade in, and sell information about anything in the world with anything that's of equivalent value. The inserted pages are the tester pages for "INTOXICATED" that I did for a local comic competition. I didn't win but I did get a special mention as "Best Original Concept" with it. (; ￣Д￣) mmheh... oh well.

It's an old project of mine but these boys hold a special place in my heart as Original Characters. They're some of the few that I never grow tired drawing or writing about. The illustration simply came as an idea of a scene I had in my head, where Purdie (or fondly called Dai by his brothers), came home from a haircut for New Year's and as commemoration, wanted a photo to go along with it so he pulled the rest of the gang in for a shot which shows all of their personalities.

I'll post up more stuff of them in the future but for now I'm just gonna end it here while I can haha. I can talk about them forever (￣ε￣ ;)

Oh and the new gorgeous background was something I found on HOT bliggity BLOG's free backgrounds corner. Have a look if you guys are interested. They're easy to install and use. Give it a little peek ( ´/// 3 ///`)

Well till next time~! ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥

Job Vacancies

2010-03-15T14:07:00.006+08:00

I feel like everyone is making me choose between the ozone layer and cheese spray can if you catch the drift （￣へ￣）

Hey guys~! (￣▽￣)ノ

Yeap! as the titled above, I'm now looking for work that pays to keep me afloat for now. I mean, I'm practically leeching off poor Saku everytime we go out (sorry saku ;;; )

Weellll~ In actual fact, after I quit my part-time at the bookstore I approached a few local publishers with my comic works (mainly Gempak and such) and after a few back and forth emails, they stopped replying. And after officially 12 days of waiting, I've decided it's a good time to start searching somewhere else ヽ(･∀･ )ﾉ

Now, I'm sure most of you reading would just say "well just get a part time at McDs or something." but the fact is, I don't want a job just for money. If I can, I'd like one that can give me experience where my drawings are concerned. Even a part-time at a Printing Shop would do.

But my dad told me to try approach a few more local publishers before I resort to anything else than comic drawing as my main income grabber. But unfortunately, I don't know any other local publishers that'd accept manga styled comics. ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

So I'd really appreciate any insights that you guys can give me right now. Any suggestions?

A little tweak and.....

2010-03-11T00:48:00.004+08:00

Voila~! ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥

What you guys think of the grungy polka dot background I got from Webtreats? ♥ I decided to step outside my comfort zone and research about editing HTML and CSS templates. Though the ones I got are basic (like adding background and editing templates), so I thought what the heck, just give it a jab~

I needed a lot of help from "A cheats guide to customizing Blogger Templates" by bloggerbusters.com but frankly speaking, I'm kind of happy of the way it turned out. I honestly thought it'll turn out worse since my website editing skills are close to zero haha! I'll definitely be replacing the header with a new image soon when I make any new art, but....

What do you guys think about the font size? Do you think is too small to read? Let me know what you think ;D

Walking Before You're Flying...huh?

2010-03-10T00:49:00.008+08:00

Hey guys ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥

Yes it seems that I've successfully changed my header yet again. The previous header was ticking me off so much i had to put up another one, despite it being an old art as oppose to the previous one being from a new art. Why was it ticking me off, you ask?

Well right after completing that picture, I hit a dead artblock that has knocked me out cold for two days already and even though that art was meant to be a giftart and more of a technique practicing piece, I found it profoundly lacking in majority of areas so I started to see it as an eyesore haha..

Well, usually when I do a piece, I'd aim for originality in poses (mainly in the lineart) and such so I don't usually get to experiment with different techniques, especially with the coloring. But the previous header's piece was an especially rushed one since I was attending the birthday party the next day, plus I already done 6 drafts that looked worse than the last. So in the pressure of the small time I had till the deadline, I referenced heavily on the last piece (which I don't normally do).

So i guess that just leaves me with a sense of false achievement and guilt since it was done for a friend. I felt like I didn't really give it my all since I always strive for my next pieces to be better than the previous ones. And to have the thought that I gave something that didn't have my 110% effort in it to a good friend, just disgusts me. And he's such a good friend too, I felt he should receive second to none.

On top of that, after several critiques that pointed all the facts that I noticed earlier on which just rubs the those feelings way deeper than it was before and also reassured me of the fact that the said piece is indeed one of the worst I've done. And.... I gave it to a friend. Some friend I am right? Well I'm just simply glad my friend who I did it for loved it. But then he also loved that small platypus keychain I bought from Australia too ;;;; he's too nice so he's not too hard to please... I guess? haha. Neon you rock.

In a nutshell, I notice that especially where my art is concerned I am very much a perfectionist and am often very critical about it since I, many a time relate my art to who I am as a person. Like for instance, the previous piece I referenced heavily on made me feel like I rely too much on other people for guidance, which to me is the same as being weak and dependent. Or when I'm the only one in my circle of peers that can't do a certain technique on paper (or screen, if it's digital), I'd consider myself the most inexperienced and void of knowledge amongst them therefore sometimes leading me to question of my right to be around them as a fellow artist.

I've always been taught to aim high and all, but am I aiming too high? Most of the time I find myself working half to death just to stand on a level everyone says "Average"... Am I setting my goals to high, too soon? Am I learning how to run when I should learn how to walk first?

I'm not too much of a judge when it comes to myself since alot of people have pointed out to me that I'm too biased and critical when it comes to me being me. So how should I go around doing this? What do you guys think?

Death by The Lens and Tablet Pens

2010-03-09T17:08:00.001+08:00

After a whole day marathon of the whole 24 episodes of the 2005 hit anime by Gonzo, Speed Grapher, (something has to keep me awake when I'm doing 1 week's worth of laundry lawl) it wasn't really the story nor the animation that really snatched my interest but rather the character designs and ending song artworks that did.

The Artworks and Designs were done by Mangaka and Illustrator, Kozaki Yusuke who was, at the time rising through the anime and manga industry scenes and little is known about him till today. (Well maybe except the fact that he owns a Small Dog and a Cat at his apartment haha).

His first Artbook, titled "Shutter Kill" was released on January 2007, two years after the release of the hit anime. The artbook contains 114 pages, 32 colors, A4 sized with soft cover along with the colorful and lush colored illustrations and designs he did for Speed Grapher.

Following the success with "Shutter Kill", Kozaki-sensei also released a compilation artbook on June of 2008, of all his artworks done in various series including Kyoko Karasuma the Detective of Asakusa Police Department, Speed Grapher, The Digital Anthem, just to name a few. The artbook, titled "KYMG - Kozaki Yusuke Illustrations" was received well by his fans and put him amongst other revered illustrators in the industry.

I would order it if I knew how to work online international orders and apparently the scans are really hard to find. (_　_|||) But looking at his illustrations makes me want to give Digital Art another go. I have a flair at failing where Digital Art is concerned and even now, my traditional art leaves me in question. Looking at my peers who can whip up awesome art works with Digital Media in a matter of hours often leaves me in question about my own skills and self-worth where art is concerned.

Anyways! enough of ranting, here are a few previews I found online on various sites of the Artbook <3>

The cover of Shutter Kill.

Art for Speed Grapher. I love his strokes and color choices.

yes you lolicons. the book is filled with 15 - 16 year old girls in school uniforms ;9

grah!! I WANTS *A*/

I love how he creates an atmosphere through his pictures... Like this one really oozes of the tenderness and feelings between the two characters. (IMHO)

I could go on and on about his art as you can see haha.

GRAH! posting up the previews makes me want to get the 2 books even more! Not to mention makes me re-evaluate my art learning (and maybe even make me feel like chopping off my own hands haha). I think I'll check at Kinokuniya in KLCC to see if it's possible to order it.

I notice I've been doing alot of image heavy posts (sorry guys =3=;; ) so I'll be sure to tone done image heavy posts in the future haha.

Till next time, take care~!

Sunday Bakeries

2010-03-08T22:55:00.007+08:00

well yesterday, my sister, Iwashi, and my other GAR comrades went out for a concert by Pop Sensation, May'n and since I"m not so much of a big fan of hers I just couldn't bring myself to shell out RM200 for the concert ticket (nor did I have any at the moment to spare), so I decided to stay home and mind myself with home duties. (￣ε￣ ;)

But fellow KAMCAO member, Joshua or as we all lovingly call "Onii-chan" (meaning big brother in Japanese, in case there are still people who don't know) and his colleague, Carol who we all dubbed "Mama" heard of the plan so they decided to keep me occupied for the day and came over.

We did slight groceries and decided to give cookie baking a go which ended up...... questionable in the end (; ￣Д￣) However we spent the day at MidValley Gardens, walking around but mostly at home playing Persona 4 with Onii-chan's Playstation 2 that he brought over.

Carol Mama's BJD son named Hyung-Su. I've always wanted one but none really did catch my eye like this one did. I call him Bo-boy haha.

More closeup shots of Bo-boy <3 class="entry-content">( ￣//Д//￣) He initially had alot of girl clothes since he's second hand ;;;; His previous owner loved dressing him in girl dress ;;;

grah. I want one lawl

Our batter for chocolate chip cookies~ <3

Haha ;;; yes, Onii-chan might be deadly with a pencil, but when it comes to cookie batters, only our eyes bleed 8D;;; oh well I'm just as guilty lawl

LAWL okay it's not totally burnt. We ate all of it and it tasted kinda good. But we mistakenly set the oven setting for Upper Moisture so it turned out more like a Choco Chip Muffin... cookie lookalike thing LAWL. It was fun though!

A little gift I, Mama Carol and Onii-chan bought for my sister and good friend, Kim whilst walking around in MidValley Gardens at a shop called "delectables". And inside the box iss......

MUFFINS! aren't they cute 8D yes I don't really eat sweet things but I do like buying them for my sister who is a sweet food enthusiast. I hope she likes it <3 class="entry-content">( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥ Take care till then!

Snapshots of a normal Life

2010-03-08T22:13:00.004+08:00

hey guys ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥ I have a couple of things I want to blog about today so I'll post up another post or two later. For this entry however, I want to share a few snapshots I took for the past few months using my handphone that I believe, describe my daily life. ( ´/// 3 ///`) I'm no photographer but these are some shots I found dear to me~ <3

This here is my adorable youngest sister who is 2 and a half years old who commands my constant attention. ( ´/// 3 ///`) miss you bby.

A shot of a sunny day outside of my room in my hometown. I thought the sky was exceptionally beautiful that day.

A shot of an eye-catching sunset I took on the way to Kuala Lumpur from my hometown, Ipoh. Despite my sister's fast driving, the camera managed to capture those shining rays.

Yeap that's me taking a shot of my trusty, W508 Sony Ericsson that I use often to take the shots around me.

One of my favourite shots of my recent Melbourne, Australia trip in February. This is one of the 4 main train stations in Melbourne. We were waiting for the City Tram.

The COPIC airbrush cans and set I was drooling over at Art Friend, MidValley Gardens. lawl

A notebook my younger sister made for me. Doesn't it look like it was professionally made?

A shot of a rainy day from my desk in my room. I always love rainy days. It keeps me very calm.

An interesting mannequin display I saw at Sunway Pyramid last week. I have no idea why but this amuses me alot.

I................

2010-03-06T05:02:00.001+08:00

I CAN'T SLEEP GRAH! ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ GIVE ME MY SKIPPING-THROUGH-A-FIELD-OF FLOWERS-WITH-SHEEP-OVER-THE-FENCE-POWER-OF-SLEEPING PLEASE!

First Impressions

2010-03-06T04:42:00.004+08:00

Sometimes I swear my sister is Hitler *slapself*

Jokings aside however, today I was discussing with my older sister and fellow GAR member, Iwashi about how majority of society today judge by how we dress or look. It is human nature when you meet someone for the first time, you will (subconsciously) judge that person with 80% on physical appearance alone. While the rest will be based on mannerisms and such. However, I'm not too keen on the fact that most people rely too much upon it these days.

From my observations, the younger generation tend to do less and less of that. Well, at least the ones that I hang around with. (￣ε￣ ;) I met most of them online so could it be due to the fact that we met in a virtual world where you can't afford to judge by appearance? In a world where you can fabricate "physical" appearances that you can't help but judge by character instead? I'm not to sure myself but... penny for thoughts.... don't you think?

Sentimental Moments

2010-03-05T22:55:00.008+08:00

The awesome latest addition by "The Most Powerful Japanese Girlie Pop Rock", SCANDAL titled 瞬間センチメンタル (Shunkan Sentimental; meaning Sentimental Moment) that hit the charts recently as the 4th Ending Theme to the hit anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

I somewhat find the lyrics interesting and deeper than their previous song, making this track my favourite from them so far. The melody is more stable and stronger compared to before as well. As promised in my previous post, here are the lyrics and translation. Enjoy! ヽ(≧▽≦)ノ

------------

Romaji Lyrics

Kawashita hazu no nai yakusoku ga
Kyou mo bokura no mirai o ubaou to suru

Hoshigatteita mono o te ni shitemo
Sunao ni umaku waraenai no wa naze darou

Afureru namida wa yowasa ya koukai janai
ITAMI ga unda KAKERA de

Donna shunkan datte unmei datte
Hitotsu dake tashikana mono ga aru to shitta
Hitori de kangaechatte ima o mayou yori
Ashita o mukae ni ikunda

Zutto mottetai kokoro no jirai SUICCHI wa kittenai
KAWARANAI MIRAI KOWASHITAI
Itsumo boku o miteru arifureta MERODY ga

Kudaranai to hito ni warawaretemo
KIRAKIRA naosara kawayaku no wa naze darou

Nani ga hontou de uso ka RIKUTSU janakute
Kanjiteitai KOKORO de

Kitto aijou nante gensou datte
Gomakashitakunai yo kizutsuita to shitemo
Wakariaitai to tsuyoku negau hodo
Butsukaru koto mo aru kara

Nakeru kurai aozora kousaten de te o nobashita
Juu nen go mo konna fuu ni irareru kana isshouni

Donna shunkan datte unmei datte
Hitotsu dake tashikana mono ga aru to shitta
Genkai datte konran datte akirametakunai yo
Kono mama hanasanaide
Kataku nigirishimeta kimi no migite no nukumori
Koko ni aru kara

English Translation

There’s no need to exchange a vow,
Today,
We’ll capture our future
Things that we wanted, we’ll get it in our hands
Honestly, wonder why can’t I smile wonderfully

Pouring tears,
Its not being weak
Its not regret,
Its pieces from my pain

No matter how time goes, the fate goes,
I know there’s only one thing for sure
Thinking to myself, from being lost in this moment,
Tomorrow, I’m going to go forward.

Always wanted to think,
How my heart is after all that,
I can’t switch it
Always ruined the unchangeable future
I can see, the unsurprising melody
That useless person, even when he smiles, he’s shining bright
All the more, why does he shine?

Is it really a lie
Don’t give me an excuse
My heart wants to feel it

Definitely love, fantasy
I don’t want to deceive it
Even if I’m hurt
I want to understand it and its a
Strong wish
There’s also time when I fret

When the sky sheds tears,
I spread my hands
In another ten years will this wind still be around

No matter how time goes, the fate goes,
I know there’s only one thing for sure

Even if we fight, even if there’s such thing
I will not give up
Just like this, I wont let go
Strongly grasping your right hand’s warmth
I’ll be here

Kanji lyrics

交わしたはずのない約束が
今日も　僕らの未来を奪おうとする

欲しがっていたものを手にしても
素直に　うまく笑えないのはなぜだろう

あふれる涙は　弱さや後悔じゃない
イタミが生んだカケラで

どんな瞬間だって運命だって
ひとつだけ確かなものがあると知った
ひとりで考えちゃって　現実(いま)を迷うより
明日を　迎えにいくんだ

ずっと持ってたい　心の地雷　スイッチは切ってない
カワラナイミライ　コワシタイ
いつも僕を見てる　ありふれたメロディが

くだらないと　人に笑われても
キラキラ　なおさら輝くのはなぜだろう

何が真実(ほんと)で嘘か　リクツじゃなくて
感じていたい　ココロで

きっと愛情なんて幻想だって
ごまかしたくないよ　傷ついたとしても
分かり合いたいと　強く願うほど
ぶつかることもあるから

泣けるくらい青空　交差点で　手を伸ばした
10年後もこんなふうに　いられるかな　一緒に

どんな瞬間だって運命だって
ひとつだけ確かなものがあると知った
限界だって困難だって　あきらめたくないよ
このまま離さないで
かたく握りしめた　君の右手のぬくもり
ここにあるから

Credits : J-POP Asia

New Look and Feeling Pretty

2010-03-04T10:13:00.003+08:00

Yeap I'm talking about the blog haha （￣ー￣）

Added a new header and changed the name. The header I think will stick for a while but I'm not so sure about the name. 瞬間 or Shunkan means 'Moment' if I'm not mistaken, so the blog title means "Emotion Moments". Not that I want to use this place as a rant corner, mind you but since I've always find it hard to express my true emotions without sounding radical or Emotional, I want to be able to learn how to express myself maturely and rationally. So that's kind of the goal I've set for this place; to express thoughts and emotions without sounding overly emotional. Well... most of the time 'cause sometimes emotions are needed in some entries （;;´ 3｀）

The title is also partly due to the fact that I have the song Shunkan Sentimental by SCANDAL stuck in my head so I wanted to incorporate part of the song into the blog somehow. I'll post up a youtube link, the lyrics and translation later if I can. ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥ it really is an awesome song.

The header... ah! yes, I did it myself from scratch (thank you), and it is actually a gift art for a friend's birthday which is today. It took me 9 hours to complete the full illustration and overall, I can say I'm quite happy with the result. ( ´/// 3 ///`) I'll post up the full illustration later since I don't want him to see it just yet.... just in case he comes to the blog haha.

Oh and thanks for the 84 hit on the visitor counter~! (●￣▽￣●) whoever that's coming in haha.

Cheers till Next time!

Sometimes....

2010-03-04T09:52:00.001+08:00

I wish this happened in K-ON then maybe there'll be a plot development (￣ε￣ ;) *slapself* Nah I'm kidding. K-ON is K-ON coz of the non-plot development factor haha.

On the other hand, good morning everyone~! ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥

Everything's Going to Be Alright

2010-03-03T15:46:00.002+08:00

Well I thought what the heck, might as well keep the ball rolling while I have something to blog about. (●￣▽￣●)

I'm sure everyone around the world has heard of the church arsonists here in Malaysia a couple of months back that nearly shook the nation of it's core. I'm not a very politically aware (so per say) person as I find it hard to keep my spirits up if I dwell too much in such avenues like politics and I like to keep my head up in my daily life, but I do keep up with the times. And of course, something as big as the church arson(s) is something even I can't escape from hearing about.

But as big as the headlines about the arson were also the article about a group of youths, from all walks of life that gathered at the heart of the nation the day after the disheartening events to pass out flowers to the community. Carrying the banners and signs with the words, "Everything's Gonna be Alright" at the Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, the youths were also joined by various figures from our local community like social activist Datuk Paduka Marina Mahathir and Independent filmmaker Chi Too, who initiated what the STAR newspaper dubbed "the goodwill gesture".

Inspired and touched by these youths' courage, determination and act of what I would dub chivalry, I did the piece above in commemoration of their actions despite what some of the "adults" have done due to the fact of ignorance of one of the most important values in life; Love Without Prejudice. I hope more and more youths these days will strive to make a difference in others because as the books I've read have endlessly say; "The only Rent we have to pay for Living on this Earth is our deeds to others."

Those who participated at Bukit Bintang, you have my utmost admiration and support. To inspire and spread to the younger generation about peace and Goodwill at such trying times is all Malaysia needs to rise stronger than ever. Thank you for reminding everyone that even handing out flowers to total strangers can remind us all of such simplicity in Life; Making a Difference.

First Time to Everything

2010-03-03T15:22:00.001+08:00

....Though truth to be told, this isn't my first time blogging. (_　_|||)

Greetings and salutations~! I've had a few blogs ever since my internet venture started at the tender age of 15, but none that I could find myself dedicating to preserve due to the fact that I am easily distracted and often times not internet savvy enough to maintain one.

But I for one, am a firm believer of overcoming weaknesses, so here I am! ( ﾟ ▽ﾟ)/ ♥ What am I going to fill this blog with you ask? Well, most of it will conceive of my daily life (it's not all that exciting but I do try to find excitement in even the mundane), my animu and manga interests and maybe a few philosophical insights on events that happens everyday. Maybe even a few art techniques and work in progress to share with whoever stumbles into my humble page.

Over all in all, I'll be sure to make this one a living, updated page rather leaving it to rot like the rest haha. (; ￣Д￣) Cheers till next time!