Family "Tied"

I haven't been to any outings lately.
Don't get me wrong, I've been invited for some, but either it crashes with my original schedule or I'm just too damn lazy.
So now, the people I get to see during the hols are just my family.
And no, I'm not talking about my immediate family, because that'd be just sad, because my "immediate family" only consists of my mom and dad =_=
Well, anyways. There was this annual family gathering on my father's side. Again. (Note the word "annual". Great, now I'm just being repetitive. I'm such a bore, aren't I?)
It was my dad's turn to organize this year's gathering, and we held it at Lanson Place in KL.
It's by far the nicest place we've stayed so far, compared to the previous family gatherings. And believe me, there were plenty.
To be exact, 2011 is the 20th year we've had the family gathering. And by "we" I mean my dad's family, because (obviously) I wasn't yet born 20 years ago. (Like, duhh?)

So this is what the lobby of Lanson Place looks like. It's pretty great, isn't it?
It's labeled a "service apartment", but it can definitely pass as a hotel.
And the rates are cheap too!
For the studio apartment with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room and everything, it only costs RM 230 for a night!
And there's Astro, a gigantic stereo system, a video player and an awesome view of the Petronas Twin Towers (or as my dear cousin Zhong Zhen calls it: There.. Look for the two jagung sticking up from the ground -,-).
My dad didn't plan much for this year's gathering. It was all "free and easy", meaning there were no plans or events at all o.o
On the first night, more than ten of us cousins went to KLCC to watch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
The stunts were pretty cool, but I didn't feel that the storyline was particularly interesting. Just the typical "save the world from nuclear bombs" kinda thing.
And yeah, I still get creeped out by Tom Cruise's face. I know that's like, superbly weird.
But I just am. o.o It looks too unnatural, but that's just me. :P
By the time we got back to Lanson Place, it was already past 1 a.m. But hey, I wouldn't worry, our record was 5 a.m. xD

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng.

Eat My Thoughts

Hello, sad and lonely world which is at the same time so full of life.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'm slipping into a coma, so I guess I'm being emotionless again.
I know I haven't updated my blog for quite some time, but that's just me, I guess.
I suppose there is plenty to talk about, and I'll get on to that later.
For now, I'm just gonna write down how I feel. Well, a blog is still a form of a diary, so I guess this counts as... therapy?
So yeah, Christmas is almost coming, and I SHOULD feel happy. It's probably my favourite holiday of the entire year.
But this Christmas.. I can't help but think.. Why am I not happy?
Maybe I'm just too afraid. Too afraid to talk to that one person.
Constantly running away, in order to escape a painful rejection, knowing that maybe how I perceived that person was just.. a dream. A form of imagination. A listless wish.
Forever on my Christmas list, but so, so out of reach.
And whenever I muster up the courage, I ask myself: Is it worth it? What kind of reaction would I get? What if it causes more pain? More pain than I could ever bear, knowing that I thought I had something special.
And what if that "special something" was just another figment of my imagination, however real it may have seemed?
A few weeks ago, these thoughts didn't even bother to surface. I was perfectly happy, thinking "this was it".
And then I made the decision to come clean, tell the truth. And all I get so far is coldness.
I don't want to make assumptions. But for once, couldn't you try talking to me? Instead of me constantly trying to talk to you. Crying silengly, but you would never know.
Everything you do, everything you say, I actually notice to the point it's almost as if I can never get to you. Instead I'm just hanging off the cliff, hanging on to you, waiting for you to pull me up and save me.
But you don't.
Wow. This IS therapy.
So OK. I have decided.
I'm gonna go talk to you. And if I get a response, it's a good thing right?
And if I don't? Maybe someone's kooky way of trying to tell me that it's not time yet.

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng.

The Man of Water Droplet Photography

"Amateur photographer Heinz Maier is making a splash with his water drop art. He uses high speed photography to capture the moment droplets hit the surface of water. The factory plant operator from Stuttgart has only been taking photographs for less than a year and pursues his new hobby in the evenings, when his job and his family allow. But already, Heinz's work has been causing a buzz online, getting 600,000 hits in a matter of months." - The Telegraph

 This is what you see when you type "german photographer heinz maier" in the Google search engine.

And considering he's just an amateur and all links are about him, I say he's pretty much all the buzz on the Internet.

His water droplet photography is AMAZING.

All of his photographs are almost surreal.

Here are a few of his photographs.

Okay, it's not exactly a FEW, but yeah, this is work so far.

 



This last two are my absolute favourites of all. They're pretty stunning. And I love the mixture of the colours. :D

This is the setup for all of Heinz Maier's photography shoot:

 So my guess is that the bowl all the way down there contains water..? And from way up there, multicoloured water droplets are erm dropped (? Sorry, I really can't think of a suitable term for it.).

And in that split second that the water droplets hit the surface of the water in the container, he captures the moment. See? That blurry translucent piece of board seems to be the backdrop of every photo.

But that's just my guess.

I can't find any article that actually explains how he does it.

Until next time!

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng.

Jelly Belly Melly Delly! :D

Before I begin, you HAVE to watch this music video of the song "In Your Arms" by Kina Grannis.

Then only you can understand what I'm about to say. (:

And a little spoiler from me: This music video is Capital-A Awesome. You'll see.
If you're interested in how this video was made, you'll just have to scroll down further! xD On the way, why don't you check out my previous posts if you haven't done so...

Notice anything special about it?

"This video was made using 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans and 1 Kina Grannis."

Ok well, to be completely exact: This video was made using 288,000 jelly beans, 2460 frames, 1357 hours, 1 Kina Grannis... and 1 earring!

Yes, in the whole video, Kina was only wearing one earring.. wonder where the other one went..?

In all her videos and interviews, she always only wears one earring. Must be a belief system or something. Anyone wants a go at it? :D

It is absolutely AMAZING the way this music video was made.

In total, it took up nearly two years for a video that is only a little longer than three minutes. Now THAT is called dedication.

Now, WHO IS KINA GRANNIS?

Kina Kasuya Grannis (born August 4, 1985) is a Japanese American guitarist and singer-songwriter. She is of Japanese, English, Irish, French, Welsh, Dutch, and Scottish descent. (Wow, the best of uhm, 7 worlds.. Well, 7 IS a lucky number :D)

Grannis was the winner of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. As a result of winning, she earned a recording contract with Interscope Records and had her music video played during the commercials of Super Bowl XLII. She recently won Best Web-Born Artist at the 2011 MTV O Music Awards.

She has released a total of 6 albums since 2005 and has had 4 singles.

"In Your Arms" is the 5th track on her re-released 2011 Stairwells album and the 2nd track on her previous 2010 Stairwells album.

I've never actually heard of Kina Grannis before this, have you?

Recently, on the 22nd of November, she was interviewed by the E!News channel about this music video, and that's how I came across it.

So erm, credits to E! i guess... :D

It's really mind-blowing that everything in this video is not animated with a computer programme system or anything.

Real people actually handmade the sets for each frame.

"Some frames we can build in um 5 minutes, some frames have taken as long as 3 hours."

Wow, just wow.
So here's the video of the making of the music video "In Your Arms"! Enjoy!





And Kina is wearing only one earring again. xP

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng.

What the McMuffin?!

Seriously, this shyt is like, for real.. ?

The latest in Wii technology: video game urinals. o_____o

Visitors at The Exhibit Bar in Balham can now play one of three games every time they use a urinal. (For guys only, obviously. Sexism? *rolls eyes*)

The video game has been trialled in a bar in Cambridge since mid-July and it has proved to be both popular and profitable.. (uhm. how?)

One of the game's co-founders, Gordon MacSween, was not sure how the public would react to the game initially. But as soon as he saw the game on trial at a bar in Cambridge he knew he was on to something good. (T_T)

The game was designed to create a valuable media opportunity from the 55 seconds the average male spends while he pees just staring at a blank wall. (Technology -- Takes advantage of you when you're peeing .__. Is nothing sacred?)

There is an advert played before and after the game promoting a drink you can buy at the bar. (Is this really wise? I mean, you're in a toilet here =.=)

At the end of the game, players are encouraged to post their scores via mobile to Twitter and to a live leader board so they can compete with their friends. (Is this something to be proud of? :O)

The units will be officially rolled out in certain venues across the UK in 2012.

*NOTE: The words in brackets are my own personal thoughts. Hope they're not offensive in any way.

Turns out that SEGA had already came up with this idea in January this year.

In the early ’90s, Sega held 65% of the US video game console market, had millions of fans, and was considered one of the premier creators of modern gaming entertainment. Today, they are helping you play with your pee. The Japan branch of the multinational company recently announced that they are testing their Toylets male urinal game at select locations around Tokyo. Toylets uses a pressure sensor located on the back of the urinal to measure the strength and location of your urine stream. A small LCD screen above the urinal allows you to play several simple video games including a simulator for erasing graffiti and a variation on a sumo wrestling match. At the end of a game, the screen displays advertisements. Normally when I see something like this I would reach for my enormous "WTF, JAPAN?!" flag, wave it around a few times and then return to my life without giving it much further thought. However, I can’t seem to get Toylets out of my mind, because I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s secretly brilliant and maybe even a sign of things to come. Whether you find the concept hilarious, disturbing, or disgusting, urinal video games are simply another way that interactive media could invade every part of our lives. It also shows that no space is safe from digital ads.

Don't like graffiti? Who does? Use your urine to wash it away, and compete in this time trial.

First, let’s have a big round of honesty here. How many guys out there have never made a game out of peeing? (Liars.) Sure, it’s childish, but maybe it’s part of the male psyche. Now, look at Toylets. Very weird, very childish, but…c’mon…if it just so happened to be in the bathroom you were using you would play it, right? The game could be enticing to that silly part of you that finds peeing fun, and it definitely is trying to appeal to its (presumably) male audience. According to Sega and Akhibara News reports that the four types of video games on the Toylets include:

“Mannekin Pis”: a simple measurement of the urine produced.
“Graffiti Eraser”: where you move your urine back and forth to remove paint
“The North Wind and Her”: a game where you play the wind, trying to blow a girl’s skirt up. The stronger you pee, the stronger the wind blows.
“Milk from Nose”: A variation on sumo wrestling, where you try to knock the other player out of the ring using the strength of your urine flow (shown as milk spraying from your nose). The record of your pee is saved and used as the opponent for the next player. So the game is sort of multiplayer. Toylets even lets you save information onto a USB drive!

The Milk from Nose game lets you compete against past users for strongest flow. Pee, pee for victory!

Getting men to enjoy using a urinal is simply one side of the equation, however. Making money is the other. Digital signs are already in many bathrooms in major cities in the US. I remember seeing them in New York back as far back as 2007. Mostly these ads were ignored like all other things in the Men’s restroom. But what if that ad was part of a video game…you might pay more attention to it then. Making advertisements interactive is one of the ways in which the marketing medium is evolving, and you can see that phenomenon everywhere on the internet from Facebook to pop-up ads. The other big innovation, making ads personalized, is also creeping from the digital world into reality. Considering that Toylets allows you to save data to a USB, there are chances we’ll see the same sort of customization available there as well.

Oh, sure, you'd want to save your high score... WTF, JAPAN!

Shucks, I gotta get this outta my head... T_T

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng

Post-turkey Day

"The sun goes down
The stars come out
And all that counts
Is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came"

Love love love this song. It's a perfect mix of everything! :D
Today's Black Friday. All over Twitter, not so much on Facebook, but that doesn't change anything!
A lot of people think that Black Friday means Friday the 13th. But this time round, it actually means the day after Thanksgiving, when all the prices of almost everything are slashed and amazing discounts and offers are sploshed practically everywhere in shopping malls all over the US.
This year it falls on the 25th of November, which is today and some stores in the US are even opening at 4am to tempt bargain hunters.
Last year, more than $45billion was spent by American shoppers on Black Friday, and reports suggest 2011 could see record numbers hit the shops.
If you're hell-bent on being stuck at home, well them, do check out the online version, dubed Cyber Black Friday.
The US National Retail Federation expects 152 million people to hit the shops this weekend-up 10.1% from last year.
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".

Personally I don't understand how these people can come out of their houses just to get squashed by thousands of people in a limited amount of space and breathe the humid, de-oxygenized air.
Doesn't sound like an ideal holiday to me.
Hmm.. maybe that's not up to me to comment on anyway (:
So.. Happy Black Friday everyone!

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng.

APPLE (:

Hello, old world.

I miss my own lonely banter, considering the fact that this blog is still kind of a newcomer, so it's just mostly me and my thoughts... (:

I'm currently rediscovering Twitter now, so if anyone has a Twitter account come, search me at @qicheng9481. Thanks! :D

And oh yeah, just watched "You Are the Apple of My Eye" yesterday.

I would give my comments in Mandarin but this computer doesn't have the right software for that.

So I guess I'll just be doing this in English then (:

For one, I've never actually finished the book.

For two, I don't actually HAVE the book.

For three, I'm currently reading it from an iPod/iPhone app (:

For four, so far it's really really good.

For five, there is no for five, I just wanted to keep the momentum coming...

Anyway the movie is rated 18+, but aside from the masturbation scenes and some fairly mild cursing, it's actually quite harmless and quite romantic.

You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) is a 2011 Taiwanese romance film based on the story of the same name by Taiwanese author Giddens. Giddens also made his directorial debut when he self-directed this film. The film stars actor Ko Chen-Tung, who plays Ko Ching-Teng, a prankster and a mischievous student who eventually becomes a writer. Actress Michelle Chenalso stars as Shen Chia-yi, an honor student who is very popular amongst the boys in her class. 

This movie has broken records in China's movie box office, beating CJ7 which previously topped the list.

There's lotsa buzz flowing around about this movie, basically because it really is THE movie, the one that makes people stop and think: HEY, I DID THAT ONCE!

It's something that we can all relate to, simply and beautifully etched out onto film.

This movie mainly revolves around the lives of a group of teenagers who go to school, worry about exams, fool around, rebel against teachers and fall in love (and masturbate .___. , but let's not talk about that...)

Personally what did it in for me and made me cry the most of the second half of the movie where the conversations between Ko Ching-Teng and Shen Chia-yi.

Some of the things they said were epic and really tear-jerking, so kudos to Giddens for the stuff (:

Here are some of my all-time favourites...

1. 我想成为一个很厉害的人, 让这个世界因为有了我而有一点点的改变。而我的世界，不过就是妳的心。

2. .沈佳宜: 谢谢你喜欢我。

柯景腾: 我也喜欢当年喜欢著妳的我。

3. "沈佳宜，你相信平行时空吗？或许，在另一个时空，我们是在一起的。”

4.  “你不懂了，如果你真心喜欢过一个女生。你就会发现真心祝福她跟别人永远幸福快乐根本是不可能的事。——对啊，像我们这种背后放箭的才叫做真爱。”

5. “我错了，原来当你真的真的真的非常喜欢一个女孩。当她有人疼，有人爱，你会真心祝福她永远幸福快乐。”

6. 分手，只需要一个人同意，但“在一起”，可是需要两个人同时认可才能作数。恋爱就是要这麽不确定才有趣，不是吗？

And my absolute favourite...

沈佳宜：“柯景腾，你特地办一个比赛，把自己搞受伤，你怎么会这么幼稚阿!”

柯景腾：“对幼稚，就是幼稚，很幼稚!”

“我就是幼稚，才会喜欢你这种努力用功的女生。”

“我就是幼稚， 才有办法追你追这么久。”

沈佳宜：“那你就不要追了阿! 笨蛋!”

柯景腾：“对啦!我就是笨蛋啦!”

沈佳宜：“大笨蛋~~~!”

柯景腾：“对啦! 我就是大笨蛋才能追你追那么久!”

I mean, do guys like this even exist? o.o Okay, I'm sure they do, they just have husbands.

Y'know, the whole time in this movie, the girl is always the grown-up one, and the guy is the immature one...

But I'm starting to wonder, maybe the world's not like that anymore?

Sometimes guys don't feel so much, don't emote so much that they have the time to really think things through, and maybe, maybe they're the mature ones.

And girls well... me, maybe I'm the one that's living in the bubble of my own world, the one where I think everything is lovely and I smile and pretend to smile even though everything's so not fine.

Ugh, I'm derailing again.

I'd seriously recommend this movie to everyone who's anyone who knows Mandarin. Seriously, try it.

It may blow your socks off :D

It certainly did for me, not that I was wearing any socks. Figure of speech (:

And ohmygoshhhhhhhhh, the official soundtrack for the movie is beautiful. It perfectly describes the whole situation in the movie and can really be related to when in bad times.

又回到最初的起点 记忆中你青涩的脸

You hui dao zui chu de qi dian ji yi zhong ni qing se de lian

我们终于来到了这一天

Wo men zhong yu lai dao le zhe yi tian

桌垫下的老照片 无数回忆连结

Zhuo dian xia de lao zhao pian wu shu hui yi lian jie

今天男孩要赴女孩最后的约

Jin tian nan hai yao fu nuu hai zui hou de yue

*

又回到最初的起点 呆呆地站在镜子前

You hui dao zui chu de qi dian dai dai de zhan zai jing zi qian

笨拙系上红色领带的结

Ben zhuo ji shang hong se ling dai de jie

将头发梳成大人模样 穿上一身帅气西装

Jiang tou fa shu cheng da ren mo yang chuan shang yi shen shuai qi xi zhuang

等会儿见你一定比想像美

Deng hui er jian ni yi ding bi xiang xiang mei

**

好想再回到那些年的时光

Hao xiang zai hui dao na xie nian de shi guang

回到教室座位前后 故意讨你温柔的骂

Hui dao jiao shi zuo wei qian hou gu yi tao ni wen rou de ma

黑板上排列组合 你舍得解开吗

Hei ban shang pai lie zu he ni she de jie kai ma

谁与谁坐他又爱著她

Shei yu shei zuo ta you ai zhe ta

[Chorus]

那些年错过的大雨 那些年错过的爱情

Na xie nian cuo guo de da yu na xie nian cuo guo de ai qing

好想拥抱你 拥抱错过的勇气

Hao xiang yong bao ni yong bao cuo guo de yong qi

曾经想征服全世界 到最后回首才发现

Ceng jing xiang zheng fu quan shi jie dao zui hou hui shou cai fa xian

这世界滴滴点点全部都是你

Zhe shi jie di di dian dian quan bu dou shi ni

那些年错过的大雨 那些年错过的爱情

Na xie nian cuo guo de da yu na xie nian cuo guo de ai qing

好想告诉你 告诉你我没有忘记

Hao xiang gao su ni gao su ni wo mei you wang ji

那天晚上满天星星 平行时空下的约定

Na tian wan shang man tian xing xing ping xing shi kong xia de yue ding

再一次相遇我会紧紧抱著你

Zai yi ci xiang yu wo hui jin jin bao zhe ni

紧紧抱著你

Jin jin bao zhe ni

Repeat *

Repeat **

Repeat Chorus x2

I think my favourite line is is "曾经想征服全世界, 到最后回首才发现, 这世界滴滴点点全部都是你" (:

I raped the YouTube Replay button for this song .____. Seriously.

It's too too too too too good.

I'm trying to find the piano score for this song.

This is the nicest so far, posted by Isabel on Facebook (:

Time's running up! I'm getting going, if that makes sense...

Yours with a cherry on top and seriously in love,

Qi Cheng.