New Layout.//.Graphics Overload #3

In the process of making a new layout! :D I finally found one that doesn't throw my graphics out of the margin. Now, all I have to do is restore my tagboard, and, um, re-link everyone. 0_0 OH NO.

- TOPIC CHANGE -

GRAPHICS OVERLOAD! Muahaha. No, I don't care if you hate it. BUT TAKE A LOOK. OKAY?

So, thanks to the "very inspiring" graphic works in my school magazine, I can't help but think, can we not use basic Photoshop filters without making the graphics look tacky? Filters are basically photo effects you use when you want to make your pictures looks "watercolour"ed, grunge-ified, or whatever. And oh my God, it's been misused so many times over it's getting annoying.

Check out Friendster and Facebook, tons of them here and there. I admit that I've used these techniques to prettify/uglify my pictures before, but now that I know better, time to change! I don't use FS or FB anymore, anyway. So heh.

Today, boys and girls, we are going to use these pictures of Ayumi Hamasaki (who else?) for our editing session:

So lets start with Photoshop filters:

Here's the picture with a layer using the filter "Dry Brush" after I adjusted the opacity and layer modes. (And after I did some colorazation and texturing, but that's beside the point.)

I like how it looks like a painting, with a layer of glass on top of it.

Now, let me tell you, we can put two pictures (or even repeating the same picture) together without using the damned Magic Wand tool!

Boys and girls, meet Layer Mask! And for the rest of it, go search for some reliable tutorials yourself. Type "blending tutorial" "photoshop" "layer mask" and whatever other things.

Sorry I'm not so helpful. I just wanted to rant.

*for any of the graphics above, click to full view*


kthxbai.

Now, on to my non-rant graphics part! Showing off for the sake of showing off is the worst. But never mind, I can only do this online anyway.

I personally love this JEWEL set.


They would just normally blend a few screencaps, with the background attached, like this sig I once did:


But thanks to the amount of free time I had to ponder on what to do now that exams are done, I decided to clear the background, to make it stand out among other JEWEL sets. Thank you, brain, for that spur-of-the-moment idea.







Haha, Ayu looks like a ghost here.



I quite like this TRALALA set. I don't know who the people in it are since I made it as a request, and since the pictures themselves are already stunning, I tried a different style, so this was definitely experimental. I love the outcome, and so did the person who requested it! ^^



Ayu had a new magazine photoshoot again, ViVi January 2009 issue. And you know what new photoshoots mean to graphic makers with graphic shops?

Mass requests with the same photos of the new photoshoot. *thud* YAY.







I could've said no :P But I guess I wanted to torture myself, how far can I go with the same thing over and over again. Man, I suck.



*giggle* Look at that. *giggle*



More sets using filters! See, toned down ones don't make it look too annoying.




Some wallpapers (2 Ayu, 2 hitomi, 1 Ayumu/Zwei):

Click on the thumbnails, people.


Sometimes, I wonder, why do I even post these here.

Well, if you've actually bothered to read this whole post and reached here, holler at me!

you and you

I taught Afiq how to use Photoshop yesterday! XD Or more like, showing him, or um, basically, me doing photoshop, him looking on? Yeah. I suck at teaching. LOL And Fadz came! Haha, we were all good settling down in the library, until, DUMDUMDOOOM (yes, I need to stop using that sound effect) KHALIILAH DOLRANI came. Haha, terima kasih, dang eh, sampai kami terpaksa menghalau diri kami dari library. XD

And I finished my plaster mould painting! Of a duck named Shu-chan. (Please, don't tell me you can't guess where that came from.) I'll try to upload a decent picture of it sometime soon. Maybe, maybe not. I suck at painting.

And 2007 school magazine is released. And it's boring. SO thin, so little info. But the section that I took the most "interest" in is the "Graphics Section". Dayyyyyum. And that, is a bad "Dayyyyum". I don't want to sound mean, but I wonder what the hell have they been doing with Photoshop? From what I can see, it seemed like they mostly only used the "Magic Wand" tool to crop out the images, and paste it on some random texture that they merely use as a background. Whut. Photoshop has more uses that that. You guys might as well use MS Paint if that's all you're doing! There were some with cool effects, but the way they used it makes it look like what we would call "corny" visually. XD

Okay, shouldn't criticise that much. I should try to work on my own skillzzzzz first.


Ciao, bebeh!



-ZOMG-

SINGAPORE, lah!

This will be the second consecutive long essay I shall call a post. XP

Many of you don't know this, BUT I JUST GOT BACK FROM SINGAPORE!! Had a two-night stay in Melitus Mandarin Hotel, which is awesome, because it was just opposite of Takashimaya! I didn't really bother to take pictures of the hotel, or anything at all, in fact, because this time, I came to Singapore as a shopper, not a tourist! If that even means anything. So yeah, words are all I got in this post, except at the end of this post!

I looked forward to going to HMV the most, and some big bookstores that Singapore has. I warned my dad that I have a really long shopping list, and guess what? He gave me B$600~ Liek, OMG riiiight? With another $100 from my mum and $50 from my grandfather, I thought I got more than enough money to spend on. Besides, I am a cheapskate, a "rational consumer" if you must. I normally can control myself with money. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case then.

I remember when we almost reached Singapore, there were some thunderstorms which was really scary. And the ride was pretty bumpy at one point that I think I would have been at least pushed out of my seat if it wasn't because of my seat belt. That was fun. XD

After checking in, we went to POPular Bookstore. OMG. Two-storey bookshop with EVERY FRICKIN TYPE OF BOOK YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE. Well, I was speechless.

I felt rather....drained after looking at those books. I don't know, so much money spent on all those. And it wasn't because of my aunt's membership discount card, I would have to pay a much higher price. Miserable as I felt with all the money that has flown away so quickly, I was so happy that I bought all these books! I finally found WILD ADAPTER VOL. 2, since Best Eastern didn't have it here. And I waited for such a long time :/



And there's Alice's Adventure in Wonderland! I've always wanted to own a copy of the book, and now I do! I also finally have Russell Lee's TSGS vol 16 and vol 18! <3 style="font-style: italic;">The Last Empress" and Freakonomics because they both reminded me of Ms. Jess. XD Ms. Jess gave me a "Last Empress" phone-chain, so I thought what the heck. And the last book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", I bought it for aesthetic values. XD

Total money spent = $168.77

Then, we went to HMV, which was, luckily to us, was also close by our hotel. Apparently, my aunt said we spent a total of 1.5 hours in that shop, but did you think I would have noticed? She said she had never spent such a long time in a Music store, but what do you expect when there's so much to choose from? XD AND I NOW HAVE Ayu's A COMPLETE! I resisted from downloading any material from that album, and it's totally worth it, because now I have a hard copy of it! <3 style="text-align: center;">

I also bought her Mirrorcle World single with YOU ~10th Anniversary version~ and her Countdown Live 2007-2008 ~10th Anniversary~ *swoon* I actually already downloaded both of these, but I decided to buy them while I still have the chance to! When I opened the CDL booklet, and I saw Shuya, you know what my first reaction was? "OMG, he's real! REAL!" LOL, pathetic little fan girl, I am. It's not like I thought he never existed before, but yeah, things are different when you see it printed than on a screen, I guess. XD

I got Koda Kumi's KINGDOM, because...I like her song, FREAKY. And that's about it. Stupid reason to buy a whole album, but again, what the heck. And then there's Kanon Wakeshima's Still Doll single. I love her, love love her. Even my sister is falling for her! Her cello music is so awesome *_*

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG I have Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory! I don't care if it's an old album. It's Linkin Park, and many of my all-time favourite songs came from that album! I know it's weird to see it among JPOP albums, but never mind, I have a wide range of taste in music.

Total money used = $163.75.

That was the end of my first day in Singapore. Of course, we had little stops in between, but nothing significant, to me at least. We also went to Takashimaya, but bleh, I couldn't concentrate on other things until I got all those stuff.

Oh yeah, before we went back to the hotel, we walked all the way to Concorde Shopping Centre to get some playing cards which my sister asked me to get for her. Turns out that place was filled with Karaoke lounges, night clubs, massage palours, omg so scary leeehhh.

But at least "The Magic Hall", the shop that sells the cards, was pretty decent. I just gave the list of names of the decks to the guy who was working there and waited til he got all of them. We just went straight out of that building.

Second day, 11th Nov 08

I decided to stop buying things for myself, and get some for my family, Takashimaya, here we go! I think we almost spent the whole day in Takashimaya, and iSetan too. I got my dad a smart collared-shirt, a brooch for my mum, a collared-T for Udin, Keroro Gunso toy and Ben 10 vest for Hafiz, and High School Musical calender for Izzatul.

And then I saw a section with a brand called Myuk, and OMG, I fell in love with the designs, and the wordings~ I couldn't resist. So, I bought myself a bag to use for school, a phone pouch, and a wallet. 8D~

00

They also had a place at the central area with small stalls selling mostly toys and stationery. I found some notebooks with awesome front covers. I couldn't choose which I would want to buy, and guess what, I bought all of the notebooks with different designs.

Total money spent (including the ones I bought for my family): $218.08

Then my aunt brought me to Kinokuniya, but I thought, what for, I already got what I wanted. Yeah, that's what I thought, until I saw....BLEACH. It's BLEACH, man! How can anyone resist that? I know I haven't read BLEACH for such a long time, but that was because I was so tired of downloading! But I just felt like I had to own at least one hard-copy volume of it, so I did! And I also bought the "Soul Character" book which is basically filled with infos of the characters from BLEACH. And I chose to buy Vol. 22 although I already read it because it has Ulqoirra on the cover. And I still don't know how to spell/pronounce his name.

I actually tried to stop myself from buying it, since it's TokyoPop and costs more than Chuang Yi. But um, I just did.

Total money spent: $40.27

And then she just had to go to Borders, next! I was so exhausted, physically and mentally! I kept fighting with myself the whole day about what to buy and what not to buy. T_T But somehow, I was automatically lured to the manga section (yeah, as usual) and saw the greatest creation of all!

The Bleach artbook, All Colour But The Black! And it's around A4 size, meaning, huge-ass pictures of them hotties in colour *_*



Actually, I just don't remember the order of the shops we went on the second day. But never mind that!

I do remember that after Takashimaya, my aunt wants to go to Kinokuniya again, and she gave me and option, to come with her or to walk back to the hotel alone. Thinking of all the money I used that day, I decided to just go back to the hotel, alone if I must. So I did. We were leaving early the next day, so I packed that night. Thanks to all those books, my luggage which initially weighed about 2kg with only clothes in it, it weighted about 15kg after all that, so can't use it as a hand-carry luggage anymore. XD

Day 3, 12th Nov 08

Byebye, Singapore. Thanks for making me finish my money. I still had around $80 in my pocket by the end of all that. But you know, having $80 left after two days when I initially had $700, it ain't good.

I bought some Malay kuehs at the airport for my grandpa. That was when we saw another Bookstore, Times. OHMYGOWD. It has "The Little Prince". In colour! I previously saw one in POPular, but the illustrations were black-and-white, so I couldn't be bothered. But this time, it was in colour. *_* Great. Just great. Resistance really is futile. Even though I managed to stop myself previously, I just had to see it again. And the book was $23.90. *sigh*

Finally arrived in Brunei around 1PM. The flight back was pretty smooth. My MP3 player was dead, and we had to spend 2hours in the aeroplane. That is boring. D: But I tried to think of it as a jhourney to Belait and back, with the outside view of nothing but mist. XD I got window seats back and forth, so it's still awesome. I love looking out of the window of an aeroplane! <3 style="text-align: center;">

My book rack. It actually has a third rack under, but I cropped it off since it's filled with books that I never read anyway. I put the DVDs and CDs I bought in a drawer, since I don't have a permanent place for the original ones I bought yet. (Yes, I have so many pirated copies. XD)

Also, I'm sorry for the excessive usage of "XD"s in this post. You should try it too. It's fun clicking X and D, one after the other.

SSEAYP '08 ♥

LONG-WINDED REPORT WITH PICTURE OVERLOAD. Read at your own risk, and if you care.


SSEAYP. Have I ever mentioned that in my blog before? I don't recall any, especially since the last one was two years ago.

Brief info: SSEAYP stands for "Ship for South East Asia Youth Program" which is basically a home-stay program for individuals from 18 to 30 years old from all 10 S.E.A countries and Japan. And they use a ship to travel from country to country, instead the more common and conventional mode of the transport, the aeroplane. WHICH IS SO FRICKIN' AWESOME. I hope one day I can join it too! o:

This year is the third time we became a host family, the first and second time in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The ship didn't land in Brunei last year. :( So anyway, this time, we took four of them to "home-stay" with us! I think the one from Indonesia has the most interesting names. Her name is Antartika, but you know what her height is? She only reached up to my shoulder. *roflmao* So much for having a name of one of the world's largest continent.

L-R: Alia (Malaysia), Sun (Vietnam), Anti (Indonesia), Romy (Japan)

In the car, they were so amazed at how...empty Brunei streets are. And about how many trees there were. XD

We went back home, where Kaka Amoi was preparing some Ambuyat (♥__♥) and other traditional food. I don't know about them, but I finished almost the whole bowl of Ambuyat to myself before it turned out all dry.

After an hour of rest, the time for FUN begins. As typical it is with tourist attractions, we took them to Kampong Ayer. Haha. But it's okay, I LOVE KAMPONG AYER. I don't know, I just love travelling in the boat, looking at the houses, just basically, relaxing. We even got to go to see Jong Batu. The islet with the legendary tale of the man who betrayed his mother and was cursed? Yeah, that. Even until now, I am so amazed with the shape of that islet. It really looks like a half-sinking ship which just really freaks me out.

After all that, we went home around 6PM. Fast forward: Around7, we went to my aunt's house. The car was quite packed. (Boring jua cerita ku ani ah.) Anyway, we went to my "favourite" aunt's house. Haha, let the teasing begin. XD They served satay which really excited Alia and Anti who longed for malay food. Sun and Romy tried as well, and they said it was delicious!

So Unchu then told them how to say "delicious" in Malay, which is "nyaman". Romy kept repeating it the whole night! Every food thatw as offered to her, she said "nyaman, nyaman!" Then there was a time when my aunt asked them how old they were, and she asked in malay, I guess she kind of forgot that Romy wouldn't have understood, and Sun was somewhere else with my mum. So the conversation went like this:

Unchu: Berapa umur kamu semua?
Alia: Dua puluh tiga.
Anti: Dua puluh.
Romy: ? ...dua puluh?

We laughed because we realised she didn't get it. And then before we got the chance to explain, Romy again went, "Ah! Nyaman! Nyaman!" LOL

In the end we did tell her what we were actually talking about, and she realised her mistake. And dude, she may be petit, but her apetite must be double her size. XD We offered everything, and she accpeted all of them. From kebab to pasta to satay, and the malay kuehs, she just ate them all. And of course, "Nyaman!" I commented on how much she ate, and she said, "this is normal for me." =____=;;

Like, seriously?

Day 2

I had to go to school. T_T But have no fear, because they also have to stay at home! TO COOK! My dad's programme ever since the first time we became the host family is to have them cook a local delicacy of their own!

I only remembed Sun's and Romy's cooking, Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Japanese Curry, because I especially loved them. I think Alia's was something egg-related, and Anti made something REALLY spicy with minced chicken. Don't remember the names. XD

My grandfather was also invited, so he came with two other of my aunts. Good thing he knows English. Funny incident (involving Romy again XD) was when she was introduced to my grandfather.

Nini Aki: Ah, so you a japanese?
Romy: Yes.
Nini Aki: How do you say this, aaa....aaa... Ah! Ohayo gozaimasu!

I couldn't stop laughing! XD My grandpa is 90, and it's already afternoon. Not that those two are related, but well. For those who don't know, "ohayo gozaimasu" is Japanese for "good morning".

Even when he left, he said "ohayo gozaimasu" when he meant to say "arigato gozaimasu (thank you)". LOL, how he even knows Japanese, I have no idea. Probably remnants of the 1940s?

We then went for a short visit to Jame' Asri Mosque. Turns out we could actually enter the mosque to explore it, except we can't bring in cameras and we have to wear these black robes, especially for those with tight-fitting clothes. Not that I was wearing any, but I wanted to feel the experience of wearing them, so I did! XD

After the visit, SHOPPING TIME! Where else would we go, if not the Mall? The Gadong Mall, that is. Kiulap Mall and Airport Mall? Pssssh. We ate at the food court before we went out separate ways. Sun went with my mum to a souvenir store accross the street. Dad went with my sister to somewhere else. Azzah and I were left with Alia, Anti and Romy. They wanted to finish their Brunei dollars XD Alia and Anti stopped at one of the gadget stores while Romy wanted to buy a baju kurong. Since Azzah was more "knowledgable" about the gadgets, I left with Romy to find her baju kurong. Unfortunately, we went here and there, from the second to the ground floor and up again, looking for a baju kurong in vain. And no, there was no happy ending, we did not find it.

In the end, Alia and Anti didn't buy any mp3s as well, so all three of them decided to use up their remaining dollars in Body Shop.

Day 3 - Good Byes.

Woke up extra early that Sunday. We had a small gathering in our living room, the last one EVER. We exchanged gifts with each other. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sun's gift. It was a dragon fly made of wood, and it can balance at the tip of your finger by the end of its "nose". IT WAS AWESOME AND SIMPLY ADDICTIVE. I don't know, probably for someone who studies Physics like me, it really is a simple wonder. Especially since Sun said the toy existed since in the past.

We then headed over to Kaka Amy's house for a light (actually rather heavy) breakfast.

Dad was wearing his Arsenal jersey because Arsenal won the night before in a match against Manchester United. So yeah. XD And at Kaka Amy's house, we saw Sakura, my 3-month-old niece! Romy was surprised to see someone named Sakura here, and she was so excited by it. Alia and her kept going "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Sakura is so lucky to have a japanese name. T_T

It's because her grandmother wanted all her grand-daughters to have flower names. Her first grand-daughter is Yasmeen (Jasmine), second is Aleesya (Rose) and then we have Sakura (Cherry blossom). I suggest the next grand-daughter to be named "Rafflesia".

We went to Royal Regalia for a short half-an-hour. Um. Yeah. I don't know. I'm getting tired of Royal Regalia. XD

And then.

*sobs*

It was good-bye.

We went to Muara Port to send them off. We were all separated for a while before finally finding each other in the ship when it was open for us to come in. We had a tour in the ship, and I just can't get tired of it. Who knows, one day I might be in it too! I hope one day I will be able to join SSEAYP.

They were put into groups of their own countries. We were closest to Romy and Alia, but Alia was busy being the press, so we only managed to have a chat with Romy. Took a picture with her; Azzah, Romy and I. And I dubbed it "Saigo no Sasshin. (The last photo)" Jiwang jua eh. XD

Finally, it really was time to say good-bye.

No more delays.

They had to go to their ship. SSEAYP has this tradition, where the participants will throw ribbons to their host families from the ship and by the time the ship moves away, they will release it. I'm pleasantly surprised to find a "thank you" messages at the other end of the ribbons when it was released. That was when I started tearing up when everyone else was already sobbing waterfalls hours ago.

.

WE ARE FAMILY♥

I want to see all of you again. We will, right?