Bring on the KUH-CHING!

Okay, this time round, the holidays are actually quite boring.I think I'm on the way to fully turning my brain into mush by watching at least 8 hours of television per day... o.o I hope my eyes don't burn. -,-
Anyways, a few days ago, I watched a movie on Diva Universal (Astro 702 xD) called "The Bling Ring".
It's actually based on a true story but the characters are slightly different, but on the whole it's pretty much identical to a string of crimes that occured throughout 2008 and 2009.
When I watched the movie, it hadn't really occured to me that it was based on a true story.
Because, well, I thought these things were pretty impossible.
Don't know what I'm talking about? Lemme explain.
The Bling Ring, true to its name, was a group consisting of mostly teenagers who bulglarized the homes of several celebrities.
In total, their activities resulted in about $3 million in cash and belongings, most of it from Paris Hilton, whom they robbed several times.
First of all, I'd like to give some comments:
1. Ok LOL, these are teenagers we're talking about, and if they can break into celebrities' houses, in those kind of "high profile" neighbourhoods, what does that say? I mean, c'mon, is the security THAT bad?
2. Okay, is Paris Hilton or dumb or retarded or something? -,-

Okay moving on...
RACHEL LEE
There were a total of six ring participants, and the alleged ringleader of the group was Rachel Lee.
Lee is the daughter of divorced immigrant Vickie Kwon, originally from North Korea and David Lee, originally from South Korea. Both parents own successful businesses. Lee lived in Calabasas with her mother, who owns a franchise of Kumon, a tutoring company. Her father is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lee and her older sister Candace had a privileged upbringing, and she drove a white Audi A4 to school, where she was named "Best Dressed" in the 2007 yearbook. When she was in her early teens, her mother remarried, but she and her stepfather did not get along. She attended Indian Hills, an alternative school, because she had been expelled from Calabasas High School, and upon graduating was awarded a creative arts scholarship. A year after graduation, she was fined and put on probation for a petty theft incident in which she and Diana Tamayo stole $85 of merchandise from Sephora. According to Prugo, Lee was obsessed with reality television. Towards the end of the crime spree, Lee moved to Las Vegas to live with her father, which is where she was eventually taken into police custody.

NICK PRUGO
Nicholas Frank Prugo was reported to be a shy and friendless teen prescribed Concerta for ADHD and Zoloft for anxiety, who was transferred to Indian Hills high school after being expelled from Calabasas High School for excessive absences. In 2003, Prugo had a role as "Kenny" in Little Lost Souls: Children Possessed, a made-for-TV quasi-documentary about theexorcism of children whose parents believe them to be possessed by evil. Lee befriended Prugo after he arrived at Indian Hills, and introduced him to most of the other people who would eventually join the crime spree.^[7][9] The two initially bonded over their love of fashion, and Prugo claims to have been infatuated with her. After being accepted into her circle of friends and participating in their nightlife activities, Prugo became hooked on drugs, and began stealing from his parents to support his addiction. Their first home robbery together occurred during the summer after tenth grade, when he claims that Lee suggested they rob an acquaintance from Woodland Hills whom Prugo knew to be out of town at the time. Prugo claims to have been reluctant, but didn’t want to risk losing her friendship. During that first burglary, they discovered $8000 in cash hidden under a bed. They split the money, and the next day went on a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. Prugo and Lee began checking the doors of expensive cars parked in their neighborhood, to see if they were unlocked, on an almost nightly basis. They would take credit cards found in the cars, and go shopping the next day in areas like Melrose Avenue. They would be dressed well, and according to Prugo, merchants never questioned their use of the cards.

(Okay, wow. The storyline of the movie really matches the real incidents. Good work! )

ALEXIS NEIERS
Alexis Neiers had been part of Lee’s social circle at Indian Hills. At one point, she was kicked out of her home by her mother for, according to police, smoking OxyContin, which she denies. Prugo took her in, and she claims that although she knew her circle of friends were committing the crimes, she only became inadvertently involved when, while drunk, she unknowingly accompanied Prugo to what turned out to be a burglary of Orlando Bloom’s home. She claimed that police searched her home and found nothing. However, police reported that they found stolen items in the possession of Neiers, her sister Gabrielle, and their sister, (through adoption), Tess Taylor, and that she was caught on camera leaving the scene of the crime with stolen bags in her possession. She initially denied any wrongdoing, but later changed her plea in court to no contest.

DIANA TAMAYO
Diana Tamayo was, in 2008, the student body President at Indian Hills, where she had been voted "best smile", and been awarded a $1,500 "Future Teacher" scholarship after graduation. She was also known for getting into fights, and according to police was an illegal Mexican immigrant. However, she was apparently affluent enough to own a Lincoln Navigator. Along with Lee, she had been fined and put on probation for engaging in petty theft. According to Prugo, her entire wardrobe consisted of stolen items. Her small size was utilized during one robbery in which she gained the group access to a home by crawling through a dog door.

(WTH??? A DOG DOOR? SERIOUSLY?!! -,-)

COURTNEY AMES
Courtney Ames, whose stepfather is boxer Randy Shields, was a Calabasas High School student and an "old friend" of Lee’s. It was through Ames that the others met Lopez and Ajar, her boyfriend.

JOHNNY AJAR
Ajar, a former convict nicknamed "Johnny Dangerous", is not believed to have participated in the burglaries, but was recruited by Ames, his girlfriend, to sell some of the stolen items for cash. He was raised in housing projects around Reseda, outside of the group’s community, the son of a father who was a career criminal and drug addict. He had previously spent 2 years in federal prison, having been convicted for drug trafficking in Wyoming at age 22. Ajar first met Ames and her friends at a nightclub called The Green Door, and allowed them access even though they used fake IDs. At the time of the burglaries, he worked as a promoter for club Les Deux Café.

ROY LOPEZ, JR.
Lopez and Ames had worked together at a restaurant and bar in Calabasas. Ames had recruited him as a reseller, and he also participated in burgling at least one victim, Paris Hilton, from whom he is alleged to have stolen $2 million in jewelry, which he carried out with him in a Louis Vuitton bag. He was unable to sell off most of it.

Reported victims include Paris Hilton, Audrina Partridge, Rachel Bilson, Orlanda Bloom and Miranda Kerr, Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox, and last but not least, Lindsay Lohan.
Wow, these people sure have good taste.
Anyway, in the movie, Nick Prugo I'm guessing is a character named Zack Garvey, which by the way, is WAY TOO CUTE for the likes of Prugo, who is just.. ick.
But y'know, movies have to look good. -,-
Okay, that's it from me.

Yours with a cherry on top plus lovin' the luxuries in life,
Qi Cheng :)

Original Bling Ring



"Rachel Lee" and "Nick Prugo" but in the movie their characters are Natalie Kim and Zack Garvey.



TOXIC

Recently I've bought a book called Toxic Panda.

And yep, I have it beside me right now (:

"TOXIC PANDA is more than an extraordinary novel; it is a treasure map that leads you across Asia to a series of cash prizes without having to leave the comfort of your armchair.

AMAZINGLY, THIS NOVEL DOESN'T CONTAIN A SINGLE LETTER E."

On top of being an extremely mind-boggling piece of literary work to read, it also contains numerous puzzles that need to be solved to proceed to the next chapter where there is another chapter awaiting.

And if you manage to solve the puzzles, you can log on to the book's official website and submit your answers to win cash prizes. But only the first person to submit answers to each chapter will be rewarded.

So far I think almost half of all the chapters have already been solved, so I guess I'll be working them out just for fun.

I'm at Chapter A.

And I've already solved the first part of the first puzzle which is a nonogram

What is a nonogram?

Nonograms, also known as Hanjie, Paint by Numbers, or Griddlers, are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a grid have to be colored or left blank according to numbers given at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture. In this puzzle type, the numbers measure how many unbroken lines of filled-in squares there are in any given row or column.

It's actually quite easy once you get the whole idea of it, and it's been turned into some kind of leisure game by some people. Y'know, like Sudoku.

Anyway, I've solved the first part of the puzzle, but the second part says I'm supposed to put the letters into a matrix?

A matrix is a complicated mathematical object generally represented as a set of numbers.

Some people use it to make codes to send top-secret military information and that kind of stuff.

So softwares to create or inverse it are practically non-available just by Googling.

I found one yesterday but it's only really basic and purely for mathematical purposes, not for turning sets of numbers into letters for a coded message.

I've read the explanation of 'matrix' on a few sites, and I've got to say, it's quite a complicated mathematical operation.

So I'm currently killing my brain cells trying to figure out how to inverse the matrix code I've got in this book.

I think I would have no problem CREATING a matrix code, but decoding it is another thing, and INVERSING it would just make my brain crack into half.

So for now, Imma just gonna wait for a while and check back to Google later >_<

I know I know, it's cheating. But the author of Toxic Panda, Adam Adams already released SOME spoilers in his book.

And oh, I just got a brainstorm.

But I'm not gonna say it here xD

So I'll just leave now. Hehe.

I've actually got loads to talk about and pictures, but I have to go off in about less than 10 minutes. So maybe I'll be back tonight.

Ciaos.

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng.

seconds.minutes.hours.days.weeks.years.decades.centuries.

As per usual, my life is not very interesting. So really, I don't see the point in sharing every little detail.

Ok fine. I don't know why, but I'm kinda down today.

I'm starting to find it annoying when people bug me on Facebook.

And well, as all things I find annoying, I feel like punching these people.

But hey, we can't all have what we want.

Especially if those people don't understand what kind of moods I'm in.

So yeah. Got a haircut today.

Shorter than I anticipated, but still hanging in there.

Probably gonna get another round of rebonding by December, 'cos all my 'rebonded' locks have already been chopped off. T_T

I don't know actually, I kinda like my new hairstyle.

It's short, but it just reaches my shoulders, so I guess it's not THAT short.

It's bouncy, and really fun to fling around, not that there's much to fling, but it's still fun. :D

Ugh, I just hope it doesn't become a nightmare when I wake up tomorrow.

My hair just doesn't really work well after a night's tossing and turning, dreaming and screaming ...

Gosh, I sound goth.

HAVE TO CHEER UP *forces smile* Okay, maybe not the best idea ever, but worth a try...

It's taking FOREVER to upload the photos of 11/11/11 on Facebook.

T_T

Apparently the leftover uploading time stands at 5 minutes now. ticktockticktock!

4 minutes.

I've just Googled interesting facts 'cos I was bored and I found this website and clicked on World Facts.

One that interests me is the topic Mystery Missing Dates.

Apparently, the days/dates between 2nd and 14th September in 1752 did not exist!

So that means, people would fall asleep on the 2nd, and wake up the next day.. and the date would be the 14th of September.

This actually happened because 1752 was the year that the calendar changed from the Julian (as in Julius Caesar) calender to the Gregorian (as in Pope Gregory XIII) calender and because the Julian calendar did not have any leap years, they had to cut out dates to make the years correct for the new calender.

So the people literally lost about 11 days of their lives. (But hey, they got a full month's pay from their jobs, so it's a good thing righte? Less work more money...:D)

But it seems as if this is not the only case where days or dates have gone missing.

Apparently dates have also gone missing in France in the year 1582, Austria in 1584 and Norway in 1700.

I tried Googling this but it kinda backfired.

Instead a song called Missing popped up, so.. FAIL. -.-

OH AND YES I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY SOMETHING.

Let's do it... xD

Let's Google Google.

I mean, like seriously.

If you are already on Google.

And you Google Google.

Google just pops up in your results list.

Which equals just opening Google again.

So what's the point of even Googling Google?

Geddit? :D

Haha, Imma just being random.

I should really paste this in the Random Team. xD

Yep, just did. :D

Okay, I think I've just about crapped enough today! (:

Catch you later ma bibbles!

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng

Happily Ever After

Not to say that I'm happy or anything, because I'm anything but.

Needless to say, this has been the best year of my life. (Not to say that I've lived a long life and all, but I'm just speaking the truth.)

I've laughed, shed tears, grown a little, lost a lot, but it was all worth it.(:

I know it's already at the end of the year and all, but I've JUST realized that sometimes... It MAY be lovely to fall into the dream of trustworthy people all around you... but reality is.. people fend for themselves.

I'm not saying that people don't give a crap about others (if that were the case, NO ONE WOULD DONATE TO THE POOR HUNGRY CHILDREN OF SUDAN!! OHMYGOSH!), it's just people think about themselves first, right?

Ok, everyone does something because they WANT something out of it.

Like.. Even if I do my best to save the children of the Sudan, it may not be because I want fame or power or money or anything..

But it doesn't really mean I don't want anything right?

I want to feel satisfied by saving them. That's what I WANT.

So there's a difference.

Okay, I've gone from theorizing to doing charity.. O_O Sigh..

It's always been hard for me to share my feelings and thoughts... and well, even though SOME people say that they're open about their entire lives... it's just. Not true.

They share what they're doing daily, but have they ever sat down and told someone what they FELT.. really felt at that time?

People rarely do.

And I guess that when the time comes when one is willing to open up, the other person freaks out and runs off.

So okay, I don't wanna be a bummer.

So let's recapture today's festivities!

2A1 FOREVER *heart*

Had a class party at 10 am this morning, lots of laughter, lots of fun, lots of scandals, and LOTS OF FOOD!!! FML...-.-

Yi Qiong and I ordered RM150 worth of fried stuff for about 50 people.. So yeah.

Hey I thought we could manage. I mean, technically.. Those kind of food is not really filling right?

WRONG. o_o

Okay, after stuffing down as much food as possible, we started playing Truth or Truth.. which is technically just truth.-.-

At first it was just us girls with nenma and nenba but then the other guys joined in.

Ohmygoshhhhh, first time the guys are willing to play this game! DAMN HAPPY! :D

Hahahaha, ZI HENG AND YEE TENG! *HEART*

Seriously we laughed until we almost suffocated today. Well, at least I did!

Hehe, brought my camera to school, though I was kinda afraid to use it :x

Damn shocked weih when Mr Sin came to our class and Wei Kee and I were using it.

Still, at least we captured some memories.

My most favourite picture would have to be the one where Michelle does her yeng pose... non-purposely! (yeng then yeng already... cannot say purposely also ...)

Then back in class we continued out game.. AnnQi HuiEr WeiKee YuZhen JiaYu YieRuey Zhendonq (: Ahahaha. Awesome right? :D

HAVE TO PLAY AGAIN SOON. AND THIS TIME MORE PEOPLE!!!!

Let's plan an outing!

I can't wait to see you guys.

Thinking back about today... I realised I'm getting less and less sad and more and more happy.

It's all about perspective I guess. (;

It's about wanting to look through to the smog to find the beautiful colourful rainbow (:

THE END...

And I lived happily ever after,

Qi Cheng

P.S. I STILL haven't found the sh*tholes that stole my notebook, be warned:

I'LL FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE! DON'T THINK I CAN BE EASILY FOOLED.

BOO your brains out, baby

Hi y'all! :DBack to school again today.. (: Nice to see everyone instead of being trapped at home everyday. Screw the horrid weather.Obviously it's Halloween today, so BOO to you too!
Wonder if y'all have read yesterday's Star 2. Well, if you have, good for you!
Ok, so not my point. My point is... (there is one), there's a report on this totally awesome+radical+cool Halloween bash in Ocean Park, Hong Kong.
During this time, the Ocean Park has been renamed as the Republic of Halloween.

Flag of the Republic of Halloween (way to take things seriously)

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Halloween is the unbearably beautiful but undeniably dead Lady Gwai Gwai (which is well... Cantonese for ghost).
There are a total of 8 haunted houses in this scary nightmare of a realm:
1. Fear Factory
2. Nightmare in 3D
3. Macabre Studio
4. Torture Chamber of the Dragon Empress
5. The Bloody Workshop
6. Paper Doll Paradise (though I'm kinda betting it's not paradise at all... O_O)
7. The Last Bus
8. Zombie Mayhem
It's almost unbelievable, but there are over 400 "spirits" that roam in the park on this spooky Halloween night, ready to scare you out of your wits and/or make you wet your pants. Nice thoughts. (:
I think the one I'd like the most (meaning the one that'd scare me the most T_T ) is the Torture Chamber of the Dragon Empress.
For some freak reason, I kinda have a thing for torture tools. LOL, hope I don't have some kind of fetish though.. Uh.. never mind.
Uhm anyways, my bibbles.
If you wanna know how Halloween came about. Just ask Mr. Google. He can answer ALL your questions, no problemo. (Uhm well, the ACCURACY of those answers may vary, so er.. subject to change then!)
Sigh. Not much time to update blog this time round.. So stay tuned I guess for my next post! Hehe, Happy Halloween everybody! :DD Don't get your pumpkin buckets in a twist. (:

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng

P.S. I am happy to note that my exam marks are good (: Ahahaha, ok enough! Haha, oh well, there's still the dreaded Kemahiran Hidup (along with the dreaded teacher) to face tomorrow. Wish me luck! Even thought that's really.. pointless, yeah.

Secrets *hush hush*

Okay. Head's up! If anyone asked me what my favourtie movie was, I'd probably say "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". (So for my birthday, just get me National Treasure 3 or something. Just saying)

Here's the plot (:

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth and Michael O'Laughlen, both members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, enter a tavern and approach Thomas Gates (Ben Gates' great-great-grandfather), a well-known puzzle solver, to decode a message written in Booth's diary. Thomas begins to translate the message. While he does so, Booth leaves to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Thomas solves the puzzle, a clue to a map to Cibola, the city of gold, but realizes the men are still loyal to the South and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure. He rips several pages from the diary and throws them in the fireplace. Thomas is shot, and the gunman attempts to retrieve the pages, but only obtains a page fragment.Shooting of the film in LondonOver 140 years later, Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is telling his great-great-grandfather's story at a Civilian Heroes conference. Black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) displays one of the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, with Thomas Gates' name on it, convincing everyone that Thomas was not only a conspirator, but the grand architect of the Lincoln assassination. Ben sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great-grandfather. He discovers a cipher pointing to Édouard Laboulaye hidden on the back of the diary page. He travels to Paris, where he finds a clue engraved on the torch of the scale model of the Statue of Liberty on the Île aux Cygnes, referring to the two Resolute desks. Ben then heads to London to look at the desk at Buckingham Palace with the help of his friend Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and estranged girlfriend, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger). Ben makes a scene by pretending to be drunk and starting a fake argument with Abigail, and they are both arrested. Thanks to Riley who had previously hacked into the security system, they escape the cell and reach the desk via service elevator. From the Queen's desk, Ben obtains an ancient wooden plank with ancient symbols carved into it.Meanwhile, Wilkinson clones Patrick Gates' (Jon Voight) cell phone in order to track Ben's whereabouts. Wilkinson eventually obtains the plank, but not before Ben manages to photograph it. At Ben's insistence, Patrick reluctantly asks his ex-wife and Ben's mother, Dr. Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren) for help in translating the symbols. She does so, but points out that some of the glyphs are partial, leading Ben to conclude another plank must be hidden in the other Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Ben and Abigail coax Abigail's new love interest, Connor (Ty Burrell), who works at the White House, into letting them into the office to see the desk. Ben discovers that the second plank is missing, but he does find a stamp bearing the seal of the Book of Secrets. Riley tells Ben that the Book of Secrets contains documents collected by presidents for presidents' eyes only, covering such controversial subjects as the eighteen minutes erased from the Watergate tapes, Area 51, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.Ben crashes the President's birthday party at Mount Vernon. He convinces the President (Bruce Greenwood) to follow him into a secret tunnel where he confronts him about the book; the President sympathetically warns Ben that his actions will be interpreted as an attempt to kidnap the president, which is a federal offense. The President reveals the location of the book, in the Library of Congress.In the book, Ben finds a picture of the missing plank from the desk and an entry by President Coolidge, who found the plank in 1924, had it destroyed, and commissioned Gutzon Borglum to carve Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks. Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick head to Mount Rushmore where they meet Wilkinson, who has kidnapped Ben's mother. He helps them find the entrance of a cave containing the legendary Native American city of gold, Cíbola. After encountering several traps, they eventually find the city of gold behind Mount Rushmore. However, in order to leave the city of gold when it suddenly begins flooding, one person has to stay behind to hold open the stone door to the drainage tunnel beneath the city, an action which would result in certain death. When Ben becomes trapped under the door, Wilkinson has to choose either to stay behind and sacrifice himself or everybody will drown. He chooses to give the others a chance to escape, and Ben promises to give Wilkinson part of the credit for discovering himself.Ben clears his family's name with the discovery and is cleared of all charges when the President tells everyone that Ben did not kidnap him, but actually saved his life when the secret passage they were looking at was accidentally activated. Everyone including Wilkinson is given credit for the discovery of the Lost City of Gold.

Well, for everyone's credit. It IS important to remember that this movie is fictional, but based on a real historical event.

Of course the Lincoln assassination was a real event, but does the so-called "Lost City of Gold" really exist?

Cibola is considered as one of the Seven Cities of Gold. Mythical, rumoured, but is there a possibility that it really exists?

In the 16th century, the Spanish in New Spain (now Mexico) began to hear rumours of "Seven Cities of Gold" called "Cibola" located across the desert, hundreds of miles to the north. The stories may have their root in an earlier Portuguese legend about seven cities founded on the island of Antillia by a Catholic expedition in the 8th century. The latter Spanish tales were largely caused by reports given by the four shipwrecked survivors of the failed Narvaez Expedition, which included Alvar Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca and an African slave named Esteban Dorantes, or Estevanico. Eventually returning to New Spain, the adventurers said they had heard stories from natives about cities with great and limitless riches. However, when conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado finally arrived at Cíbola in 1540, he discovered that the stories were lies and that there were in fact no treasures as the friar had described — only adobe pueblos.

Okay, so now we know that Cibola DOES exist, but not now much of the "gold" part. So how did the rumour come about then?

How exactly does a rumour about an entire city of gold start?

"In 1539, Friar Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan priest, reported to Spanish colonial officials in Mexico City that he’d seen the legendary city of Cibola in what is now New Mexico. It was an electrifying statement—Spanish explorers who were scouring the New World for Native American treasure had heard persistent tales of the fantastic wealth of the so-called Seven Cities of Cibola.

“It is situated on a level stretch on the brow of a roundish hill,” the friar said. “It appears to be a very beautiful city, the best that I have seen in these parts.” The priest acknowledged, however, that he had only seen the city from a distance and had not entered it because he thought the Zuni Indian inhabitants would kill him if he approached."

But we already know that this mythical city doesn't really exist, so...

What did the friar REALLY see?

"For five centuries, scholars have debated what de Niza saw when he claimed he’d found Cibola—or whether he simply told Spanish officials what they wanted to hear.

The great wealth the Spaniards took when they conquered the Aztec of Central America and the Inca of South America only fueled beliefs that still more riches lay somewhere in the interior of what is now the United States. So when Friar de Niza said he’d seen Cibola, Spanish officials were eager to believe him.

“We don’t know what he saw or why he said what he did,” said Denise Shultz, a park ranger at Coronado National Memorial in Hereford, Arizona. A generous interpretation of de Niza’s vision is that he saw the pueblo at dawn or dusk and was fooled by the flattering sunlight at that time of day, which bathed the city in a glow that made him think the buildings were made of gold, she says.

Flint is less charitable about de Niza’s statement. “He probably did not see [the city],” Flint says. Instead, he says, the priest probably only passed along a tale he heard from Indians.

Coronado’s men were furious when they saw the Zuni village. “On beholding it, the army broke forth with maledictions on Friar Marcos de Niza,” one of Coronado’s men said. “God grant that he may feel none of them.”

Instead of returning to Mexico City, Coronado pushed on. For months, his expedition followed an Indian guide hundreds of miles farther to present-day Kansas before giving up the search for Cibola.

“It’s very difficult to say that another person would have done anything different,” Flint says. “But people lost a lot of money, so they weren’t happy.”

“By Spanish standards, they needed a scapegoat,” Shultz says. “He was the captain, so he was the one who wound up taking the brunt of the blame. That’s my interpretation. He failed miserably.”"

What a blow to treasure hunting huh?

Well, if you've read this post, and suddenly have the nagging urge to go jump of a cliff (uhm ok, WHY? Don't ask me), then go treasure hunting!

Here are 10 places that you can DIY hunt your own treasure :D

1. If you're looking for Thunder Eggs/Geodes,
Deming, New MexicoScanning New Mexico's soil is a profitable pastime. Rockhound State Park is a prime spot for hunting thunder eggs aka geodes. Thunder eggs look like muddy rocks and can be popped open to reveal valuable crystals such as amethyst, rose quartz and hematite. To distinguish a geode from a regular rock, look for a spherical external shape, often cauliflower-like in texture. You may need a hammer or chisel to break open the rock. Visitors are allowed to leave the park with 15 lbs. of rock to add to their personal collection.

2. If you're looking for Opals
Denio, Nevada and Lakeview, OregonPlan your hunt for fire opals at the Bonanza Opal Mine in Denio, NV. This mine has been in operation since the early 1900s. The mining season runs from May to September, and the weather can get warm and very arid. Water bottles, sun block, a hat and gloves are suggested items to bring with you. Rock hounds should also bring a small rake and buckets for collecting their finds. Many opal mines are located in remote areas, so be prepared to camp and bring all necessary food. Visitors can camp near the mine and hotels are less than 30 miles from Virgin Valley. Also be sure to check out Juniper Ridge Opal Mine in Lakeview, OR, if you're looking hunting for opals in the Pacific Northwest.

3. If you're looking for Meteorites
Glorietta Mountain in New Mexico and Brenham Township, KansasGlorietta Mountain in New Mexico and Brenham, KS, are prime spots if you're hunting for treasure falling from the sky. Deserts and dry lake beds are key places to hunt for meteorites. A metal detector or similar tool will help you discern a meteorite's location because it is partially composed of iron-nickel. Use a rock hammer or shovel to unearth your finds. A magnet duct-taped to the bottom of a walking stick will attract the hidden space rocks so you don't have to bend over to during your search. For more information on meteorite-hunting expeditions, visit Meteorite Adventures.

4. If you're looking for Jade
Big Sur, CaliforniaEnjoy the beauty of Big Sur while hunting for jade. Dive in the ocean or comb the beach at Jade Cove to seek one of the most precious gems in the world. Underwater, jade is fairly easy to distinguish from other rocks by its almost luminescent color. The best time to find jade is while diving in the ocean during the calm period after a winter storm. A rough undercurrent usually exposes many hidden gems. You don't have to be a diver to be a jade hunter. You can find many small jade pebbles at low tide between the boulders and in piles of gravel along the shore. Search under large rocks and overhangs. Typical tools for serious jade hunters include scuba gear, a flashlight and a sack to hold your finds.

5. If you're looking for Emeralds
Hiddenite, North CarolinaTry your luck at Emerald Hollow Mine, located less than an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway in Hiddenite, NC. This is the only emerald mine in the US open to the public for prospecting. Amateur rock hounds can take educational field trips to learn more about emeralds and other gems found on-site, including sapphires, garnet and tourmaline. Prepaid permits are available for creeking, sluicing and digging. Emerald Hollow is only closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Hotels, restaurants and other accommodations are available in nearby towns of Statesville and Taylorsville.

6. If you're looking for Dinosaur Fossils
Devil Hills, South DakotaRelic hunters frequently head to the Badlands region in South Dakota to hunt for dinosaur fossils. The Devil Hills area has been a prime spot where rock enthusiasts have uncovered huge pieces of bone dating back to the Jurassic period, 145 million years ago. Common tools to take include a digging knife, X-acto knife, brush and a small pick. After finding a fossil, you must carefully free it without damaging it, using trowels, hammers, whisks and dental tools. A quick-setting glue can be applied to it before removing a crumbling or fragile fossil. Then the fossil can be removed from the surrounding rock. Visit the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. for more information about dino fossils.

7. If you're looking for Diamonds
Murfreesboro, ArkansasCrater of Diamonds State Park is the only diamond-producing site in the world where the public can search for diamonds. What you find is yours to keep. It's the perfect place for a family vacation and features an on-site water park and camping facilities. A gravel walkway through secluded woodland allows visitors to view and photograph deer, turkey, squirrels, birds and other wildlife. Tools aren't necessary for diamond hunting. It's possible to walk around and look for diamonds lying on top of the soil. Items for rent on site include a wooden box screen, shovel, bucket and knee pads. The professional treasure hunters at the park's visitors' center offer a free service to help determine if your find is a diamond or a dud.

8. If you're looking for Gold
Pine Grove, CaliforniaRoaring Camp is an old gold-mining camp on the Mokulmne River. It was a camp for gold prospectors (49ers) during the California Gold Rush from 1848-1855. Visitors can visit the operating gold mine and mine their own gold by panning, sluicing, dredging and dry-washing. Roaring Camp provides fun family activities, including rafting, camping, swimming, fishing and hiking on trails used by the original 49ers. A Saturday cookout, museum tour and lessons on how to pan for gold are also offered. Gold pans, gravel bags, rocker boxes and more are available if you need tools to search for you golden nuggets.

9/ If you're looking for Aquamarine
Spruce Pine, North CarolinaTravel to the gemstone-rich Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to dig for aquamarine. Spruce Pine is a prime spot for aquamarine mines and gemologists. Gem Mountain Gemstone Mine provides a covered flume line for treasure hunters to sift through sediment and find all kinds of precious stones. This mine is a one-stop shop for not just aquamarine, but garnet, moonstones, rubies and more. Stones are inspected free of charge. Experienced gem-cutters are also on-site and available to transform your stones into jewelry. Jerry Call, a Spruce Pine gemologist, can help you out if you're looking for a more exotic location to go gem hunting; Jerry owns a home in Brazil and organizes trips to Rio Doce Mine.

10. If you're looking for Turquoise
Tonopah, NevadaGo hunting for the blue-green gem at the Royston Mine in Tonopah, NV. The Otteson family, who owns the mine, is one of the few remaining mining families in Nevada. In addition to the mine, they also own a jewelry store that will transform your turquoise into jewelry. Treasure hunters will need to bring sunscreen, gloves, a good pair of shoes, water, food and digging tools. Visitors are not allowed to go down into the mines, but they are allowed to observe. Rock hounds can also pay to go through tailing piles, which have close to 1,000 lbs. of material. Digging is limited to 3 hours and only one bucketful is allowed per person to ensure there is enough turquoise to go around.

So, is your interest perked up?

Go right ahead. :D

The treasure is ALL YOURS.

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng



MAFIA?! :S

My goodness, these pickpockets are HORRID! :(

I thought Italy was supposed to be one of the largest city of romance and love or something?

CITY OF STEALING? :O

Nothing can ruin a vacation faster than having your pocket picked. One minute you're enjoying the sights and sounds of a new city, the next minute you're on the phone canceling credit cards.

Unfortunately, pickpocketing is a fact of traveling life, and several popular cities have earned themselves a reputation as a place where wallets go to be snatched. Our sister site, TripAdvisor, just released a list of the World's Worst Pickpocket Destinations. The list "based solely on TripAdvisor site data calculating the number of times travelers use the term pickpocket in their TripAdvisor reviews in the last 12 months." Take a look and see if you agree:

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Rome, Italy
3. Paris, France
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Athens, Greece
6. Prague, Czech Republic
7. Costa Brava (Alicante Province), Spain
8. Lisbon, Portugal
9. Tenerife, Spain
10. London, England

(Wow, what's going on in Spain?)

What we have here is a case of cities suffering from their own success. The list includes some of the most popular destinations in the world, full of attractions travelers flock to in droves. And nothing gets a pickpocket salivating like a throng of enchanted tourists.

So what is a concerned traveler to do? The good news is that utilizing simple common sense is 98 percent of the battle. Here are a few basic tips to protect your wallet:

Carry as little as possible: The less you carry, the less someone can steal from you. In most places, all you need is a debit card and maybe some ID. Leave the passport, credit cards, and any other sensitive documents or cards in your hotel safe. Even better, just carry cash.

Don't put anything in your back pocket: Your back pocket is an easy target, especially in crowded areas like subway platforms and escalators. Assuming you're carrying as little as possible, put it in your front pocket.

Wear a purse or bag that goes across your chest: It's much harder (though not impossible) to make off with a bag when it's strapped across a person rather than hanging from a shoulder. Sling it across your chest and hang on to it in crowded spaces.

Secure your bag when sitting: Whether you're dining al fresco or simply resting on a bench, make sure your bag is attached either to yourself or your table or chair. A bag sitting on a table can be easily snatched by a thief running past, and it will be long gone before you're out of your seat.

Pay attention: Pickpockets prey on distracted travelers, so be aware of your surroundings. Make sure your belongings are secure and accounted for before you enter a crowded space. Watch out for obvious schemes, like if a stranger comes up and pretends to be brushing something off your sleeve, because his or her buddy is probably trying to grab your wallet.

Don't overdo it: The flip side, of course, is you can't let paranoia over pickpocketing ruin your vacation. The goal is simply to be smart about your valuables, and not take any unnecessary risks.

Prepare for the worst: If 98 percent of the battle is common sense, the other 2 percent is luck. Even well-prepared travelers can fall victim to an experienced pickpocket. Make sure you have contact information for your bank, and bring photocopies of important documents, such as your passport.

Anyway, went to Hard Rock Kuala Lumpur with parents.

The Hickory Bar-be-Que Smoked Beef Ribs are AWESOME! (Y) Highly recommended by me (:

Can't afford dessert though, RM32 for a brownie O_O BROKE.

Apparently there's a live band playing every night at 10:30 p.m., but apparently, you need to be at least 21 years old to get in T_T

Probably 'cos of all that talk about rock n' roll and booze not working well together.

And yeah, that's kinda true. :x

Brought back a rib for Zipper (my doggie :D). We're probably gonna give it to him a little later.

Last time we brought back ribs for him was on Mother's Day a few years ago. Zipper LOVED them, but then later I read an article saying that rib bones are bad for dogs 'cos they can injure their throats O_O oops.

Sometimes Zipper would bury the bones, so we couldn't really find them >.<

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng