Back in November

Catch Up Post #3

Back in November 2012

BTOB as Guest Group for 2012 Asia Super Showcase in Malaysia

Which Melody [Note: Melody is the official name of BTOB's fans.] wouldn't get excited over this?  Malaysian Melody, I mean, considering that it's a showcase in Malaysia.  First, the fact that BTOB would be in my own country was intriguing itself.  Second, that would be BTOB's first visit to Malaysia.  Third, BTOB is just awesome~~!!!  I had not decided whether or not I was going to go to the showcase at first.  As time went by, I made up my mind that I was going.  So, I bought a V.I.P. Zone ticket, priced at RM600.  The showcase ticket wasn't the only thing that I had to think of.  Since I live in East Malaysia, I needed to travel to West Malaysia by plane.  Therefore, I had to get flight tickets and book a hotel too.  I didn't get it all figured out at first, so I just told my mom about my intention to go to the showcase and I was going to pay for the showcase ticket on my own (and I did!).  We already had a confirmed plan of visiting KL in November as a family trip and all out tickets and accommodation were booked.  Lucky me...'cos mom gave a green light for me to have another (short) trip to KL in December for the showcase.  And guess what?  My other family members were going to KL too!  Are they crazy or what?  The same thing happened last time when I was going to DiGi Live K-pop Party where BEAST, 4Minute, and G.NA performed.  Thus, it was no surprise to me.

My receipt of the showcase ticket purchase 

As one of the projects to celebrate BTOB's first visit to Malaysia, BTOB's Malaysian fanclub, MYBTOB, collaborated with MY-CUBEFAMILY and CUBICBEATZ to create a photobook for BTOB.  I contacted the organiser of the showcase, under MYBTOB's name, to inform them about it and the organiser confirmed that they would pass the photobook to BTOB on our behalf.  The photobook project was called Project WOW.  'Wow' is the title track of BTOB's second mini album.  There's an official pose for 'Wow'.  It can be written as "W'o'W" and there's a meaning to it.  The two W's at the sides represent three fingers at both sides.  The small letter " o " represents an opened mouth.  The inverted commas represent eyes.  So, we had to do the W'o'W pose and submit the photo along with our messages to BTOB.  I got my sisters to participate too.  ^^

My W'o'W pose 

Camy's W'o'W pose 

Carina's W'o'W pose

Family Trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL)

So, my family and I went on our trip to KL.  My grandma, uncle, and cousins went along.  We booked one hotel room and all nine of us fit ourselves in it.  Somehow, my sister, Priscamy, and I always got the best, most complete bed.  Yea, I feel bad for that but since the others are okay with it, I'm okay too.  ^o^  During this trip, I polished my map-reading and public transport-riding skills.  I didn't even know that it wasn't hard to read maps (actual paper maps, not digital ones like the Google Maps or the navigation apps in the phone).  In fact, it can be fun, especially when you're able to find the places that you want to go to and the best routes to get there.

At Kuching International Airport, on the way to KL 

I blurred the faces of a couple of those in the picture because they're total strangers to me and I need to practise internet ethic by not making their clearly shown faces go public without permission.  *Good girl* 

Our dinner on our first night in KL was at a food court in Sogo KL.  We walked on foot to the mall because it was not far from our hotel.

 

We walked inside Sogo KL after dinner to shop (or window shop).

 One of the days, we went to my mom's cousin's house.

Guess what?  Since there were nine of us, my mom's cousin, who insisted on having us over, sent three cars to our hotel area to pick us up.  It was kind of mind-blowing in a funny way. ^^

We took pictures with Dwayne, the young son of my mom's cousin.

Then, we were sent back to our hotel. 

We also went to Genting Highland theme park.  I missed the chilly atmosphere and the rides there after not going there for several years.  It wasn't so cold on the day that we went there, though.

 We went on a number of different rides and I even bought a watermelon shaped lollipop for my younger cousin.  I actually bought another candy and a couple of DVDs there too.

 We spent our last couple of days walking here and there to shopping malls.  With the existence of light rail transit (LRT) and monorail as intergrated public transports around KL, it was easy to commute without spending too much on transportation.

 With sisters and cousins in one of the malls 

Oh, we bumped into some relatives at the mall.  What a pleasant coincidence!

We also stepped our feet on Pavilion's ground. 

The morning after our flight back home from KL, I had to attend a conference about entrepreneurship/ business corporations.  My friends and I promised each other to wear baju kurung, just because we wanted to.

Here are some of my closest friends.

Starcall Superfan Contest

For those who didn't know, Starcall is a smart phone application that allows fans to receive real-time (or close) video calls from K-pop idols.  When I got my smart phone, Starcall was among the first applications that I installed.  SK Planet, the developer of this application, held a contest called Starcall Superfan Contest to reward fans who have been supporting the idols and the application.  The co-organiser of the contest contacted MYBTOB to invite us to become the representative of BTOB's fans in Malaysia.  I took part in the contest but I definitely didn't expect anything like winning at all.  I just wanted to be supportive by participating.  One of the challenges that we needed to do was Photo Challenge, where we had to pose our most likely reaction when we receive a Starcall video call from our favourite idol(s).  Another challenge was Super Challenge, where we were supposed to do a one-minute dance cover of our favourite idol(s).  The Photo Challenge wasn't so hard for me.  I only needed to be me, you know.  For the Super Challenge, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the challenge because I haven't been practising my dances since....my freshman year in university.  But I did the challenge anyway just out of the spirit of being supportive.

My Photo Challenge submission 

This was taken just for fun.  Hehe...

My crappy Super Challenge submission
Don't watch if you judge people so easily!  Haha...

Twilight Finale - Breaking Dawn Part II Premier

I was never a real fan of Twilight.  My sister is, and it so happened that her school's brass band was doing a fund-raising event by selling movie tickets to the premier of Twilight - Breaking Dawn Part II.  Since it was for a fund-raising, I bought one ticket for myself.  I told my friends about the event and they bought four tickets.  I looked forward to watching the premier with my friends.  Even my family members were going.  And about the movie.....I loved it!

Our movie tickets

 Before the movie

Dad's Birthday

As a family tradition (or it seems so to me), we went to a seafood place for a dinner in commemoration of dad's birthday.

Dad and my youngest sister 

Mom and my younger sister

BTOB Eun Kwang and Min Hyuk's Birthdays

It's thrilling to me to know that Eun Kwang's birthday is just one day after my dad's!  Is that a sign, God?  *Wink wink*  It is common for fans to do a trending on Twitter to let the world know about their stars' special days.  Min Hyuk's birthday is only five days after Eun Kwang's.  Cool!  I took an extra effort to take a proof picture of Eun Kwang's birthday trending and not Min Hyuk's because I'm biasedly in love more excited about Eun Kwang.  Min Hyuk, I love and support you too.  Please know that.

Happy #LeaderKwangDay

Back in October

Catch Up Post #2

Back in October 2012

BTOB Il Hoon's Birthday Gift from MYBTOB Fanclub

Il Hoon's an October baby, just like me.  ^^  Nana, one of the staff members of MYBTOB, went to buy a plushie for Il Hoon.  She then posted the plushie to me for further actions.  I sewed Il Hoon's name on it and packed it before sending it over to Cube Entertainment in South Korea through mail.  Express Mail Service (EMS) to Seoul is expensive, especially when the parcel is larger that the standard size, but we could manage with the help of some fans and staff members who donated for the project.  We're forever thankful for fans' generosity.

Oh my!  Even I want this for myself. 

Il Hoon is the main rapper in BTOB.  He's charismatic when he performs but very adorable at casual times.

It took a few days for the parcel to reach South Korea.

My 23rd Birthday
So, I turned 23 on October 13th, 2012.  I reflected upon it for a quick moment and thought that time goes by without stopping and there's nothing we can do to pause it, rewind it, fast forward it, or slow it down.  It just keeps going.  We can learn something from this thing called "time".  Keep going no matter what the circumstances are.  Learn from the past, embrace the present, anticipate the future.  I celebrated my 23rd birthday with my family members in a simple manner.  I blew the birthday candles and we had some appetizers at home, then we went out to have dinner at a seafood place.

So, my birthday wish was.....(?)

If you notice in the picture, we had some KFC food too.  Those were our appetizers.  Birthdays are good excuses to indulge in not-so-healthy food.  Yippie~~ 

Isn't the cake cute?  The little sheep is adorable! 

Birthday card from my family, which came with pop-up stickers 

Some of the food we had for our dinner outside 

Funny story!  On our way back from our dinner place, we stopped by at the airport.....to pee.  The airport was not far from the road that we took at that time.  After going to the washroom, we headed home.

Surprises from My Dearest Friends
I'm so blessed and delighted to have such thoughtful friends around me.  I received a number of surprises from my closest friends for my birthday.

First, it was from VC and Cal, my good friends from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. A week before my birthday, I received a mail.  I could tell it was a greeting card from the size of the envelope.  At that time, it didn't cross my mind at all that it could be a birthday card.  I mean, there was still a week to go.  So, I was surprised to see a birthday card in  it!  I felt grateful and was in joy because the ones who sent it over were very much busy with their lives as undergraduate medical students.  How I miss my friends.

Thanks again, VC and Cal!

Then, a day after my birthday, I went to class as usual.  After getting to my seat near my friends, Tina called me over.  I obediently went to her and she started to count "Satu...dua..." [In English: "One...two..."] and she and Vic pulled out pink plushies from their bags!  Those were for me for my birthday.

Cute, right? ^o^

The next day, I got another surprise gift from Marcy and Mijot.  Marcy gave it to me in class as well.  It was nicely wrapped.  I opened it as soon as I got back home.  I was very much delighted to see BEAST table calendar and a sticker!  BEAST, I'm telling you!  My non-K-pop friends gave me K-pop items for my birthday!  :')

Aren't they b2utiful??

About a couple of weeks after that, I got yet another surprise.  I made my way to campus to meet my supervisor for my final year project.  I was supposed to meet Marcy first because we're both under the same supervisor.  So, I met Marcy at my faculty, the Faculty of Economics and Business.  We both walked to the entrance-exit area of the faculty's lobby and I saw a number of my friends standing there.  They just finished their class for the day.  The next thing I knew, Marcy took out a box from the fridge at the kiosk of the faculty and everyone who was there gathered closer.  Marcy said that she wanted to make an announcement.  I had no idea what it was going to be about, so I just listened.  She opened the box and together with a few other friends who were there, she started to sing a birthday song.  I was a little dumbfounded and played along at first while trying to figure out whose birthday it might be.  *I started to feel bad when I thought that I might have forgotten a friend's birthday. ><*  Another friend of mine, Rachel, looked as clueless as I was.  Her birth month is the same as mine but it had already passed on that day.  Then, I saw the content of the box that Marcy was holding.  There were cupcakes inside!  Chel's name as well as my name were on a couple of the cupcakes.  So, it hit me that they were celebrating our birthdays (or belated birthdays, rather)!

The birthday girls (Chel and I) are at the far right and left in the picture. 

Cupcake with my name on it!

Relatives' Double Birthday Bash

My aunt and her nephew (NOT my first cousin since it's the aunt's husband who is my mom's sibling, not the aunt herself *Why am I even explaining this??*) had a double birthday bash at a hotel's ballroom.  How cool was that?  It was a nice hotel-style dinner with family and friends.  So, my whole family went to the dinner and we got to meet some relatives there, which was cool.

At our dinner table 

Waiting for other family members to head home 

They were still doing the 'Gangnam Style' dance inside the ballroom as the closing of the dinner. -.-

Back in September

Catch Up Post #1

Back in September 2012

BTOB's Comeback

BTOB had a comeback with their second mini album entitled 'Press Play'.  I preordered their mini album and was thrilled to receive it through mail.  There was a random photocard of an individual member in the album.

The album design is pretty creatively done, don't you think? 

I got Sung Jae photocard.  He's the youngest member in BTOB. A very playful maknae..

I traded my photocard with a Malaysian K-popper and got Eun Kwang photocard.  Eun Kwang is the leader and the eldest member in BTOB.  I love all of BTOB members but Eun Kwang is my favourite.  He's sweet and polite, but can be very random and silly at times.  My future soulmate...

For this comeback, BTOB went retro and relived the 90's era with the title track 'Wow'.  The song has a funky and upbeat feel to it.  It's really interesting.  I like it.  Watch the music video and enjoy the song.

Coming Up Next: "Back in ___" Catch Up Posts

Hello.. hello!  How have you been doing?

This is a little shameful but my last blog post was in September last year!  That's like four months ago!!  I've always loved to write and compose.  That's why I decided to start blogging in the first place.  Now, I still enjoy writing BUT time (or lack of it) has been a challenge, followed by post-daily-tasks energy (or lack of it, also).  As a result, I didn't even bother to log on to Blogger and write something witty.  Or lame.  But I'm back now!

So, I've decided to write a number of catch up posts on what I had been involved in since I last wrote my September 2012 blog post.  I hope I can recall as many events in as much details as possible.  Be ready, bebeh!

On a side note, I've embedded a new music player on my blog page.  I used an audio player called Billy.  If you want to put Billy the audio player on your blog page too, you can assign up to five songs.  You'll be needing the mp3 URLs of the songs, which you need to upload on any file hosting site first.  Of course, there are a number of sites that already provide some mp3 songs with URLs.  If you see what you like, grab it.  In my player, I've included four songs altogether from (of course) BEAST and BTOB.  Hehehe...  The songs are 'My Girl' by BTOB, 'Beautiful' by BEAST, 'I Stole Those Lips (Irresistible Lips)' by BTOB, and 'When I Miss You' by BEAST.  Those songs are among my favourite songs by the two K-pop groups.  I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I do.

Okay, see 'ya in the next post!

승이, 힘내세요! Please.

It's funny how one occurrence can make the rest of the initially okay day become disheartening. You'd say that it's the circle of life and everyone faces it sooner or later. I know that. Still, I feel so down right now. The smiles and laughter I had in class earlier today are just by gones now. At least, that's how it seems to me for the rest of this unfortunate day. ㅠㅠ I'm so sad right now. It isn't related to my own family or relatives or friends but the person involved is very dear to me.

You know how much of a BEAST's fan I am, right? That's my #1 group. Even though I love all members so much, I have a favourite member and it's Jang Hyun Seung. And it's his father who passed away today. He had a heart attack.

According to reports, the whole Jang family was taken aback by the sudden passing because the father was healthy and no symptoms were shown. It was said that Seungie (the nickname I affectionately call Hyun Seung as) was in the state of shock. The rest of BEAST members cancelled their scheduled activities for the day to join in the mourning. Being an idol singer who lives with his group members and not his family, Seungie hadn't been seeing his father so often. Plus, he's been extremely busy with work like the other members. One of the occasional meetings between Father Jang and Son Jang that fans were aware of was when BEAST's fathers made a surprise appearance on a talk show that BEAST guested on. I remember thinking that Seungie looks like his father. Even my dad saw them and agreed. I also thought that Father Jang was quite a good dancer after seeing the fathers dance to a BEAST's song during the show. Ah! The sad feeling is coming back to me! ㅠㅠ I'm really worried. It's not that I don't believe in Seungie's willpower and perseverance. In fact, I'm confident of how persevering he can be. But having to cope with a family member's death, especially a father's, is not even close to easy no matter how you look at it. Now, Seungie has to continue to persevere and move on with his mother and younger sister. BEAST is getting busier as a sought-after group of singers. I don't want Seungie to feel overwhelmed. Just be strong and stronger, Seungie! ㅜㅜ

I got the news once I got back from campus. As I was entering the car while still at campus, I received a news notification. I could only read part of the title preview that read something like "BEAST cancels activities after Jang...". I knew it was about Hyun Seung because that'a his family name but I couldn't read the rest of the news yet at that time. I was quite in a rush to go back because the weather was turning dark all of a sudden. It was sunny earlier on. In the middle of my journey back home, it rained heavily. Water puddles on the road are always a challenge when driving in the rain, especially for a driver like me who doesn't like to go slow for too long. Impaired view is another. Of course, extra care needs to be taken since the road is slippery.

When I reached home, I checked the related news and my jaw just dropped. "...Jang Hyun Seung's father passed away.." ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I don't personally know him even though I'd always wanted to meet him. However, I felt really sad. I told my family members about it. They were surprised too. Mom tried to make it sound okay by saying that everyone will someday have to deal with such a thing. Yes, mom. But it's still sad. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

I didn't even feel like updating MYBTOB with new pictures of BTOB (BEAST's junior group) on Mnet M! Countdown. The group was having their 'Wow' performance on that music show as part of their promotional activity. There were a number of adorable and eye-candy pictures but I only posted one, which was a group picture, on MYBTOB page. I live-streamed to watch BTOB's performance. I was so proud of them but no voice or shriek of cheering could come out of me. I just smiled for a while because BTOB did awesome as expected.

God, pour Your love and grace upon the Jang family and the people around them. May Jang 아바님 rest in peace. Everyone, be strong!

On 승이 Day

Yesterday, September 3rd, was 장현승's birthday. We were born in the same year, so he's only a month and 10 days older than me. He used to have a Twitter account but it was deleted some time ago. So, fans just wished him happy birthday through the other BEAST members or CUBE.

I had to be on my way to my university campus to get several things done for the new semester. To tell you the truth, I never liked this part of being a university student because it can get really troublesome and frustrating sometimes. But it's necessary, so just suck it up.

MYB2UTY gave a few Raya envelopes as free gifts for preordering 'Midnight Sun' album.

I made use of the envelopes to keep the cash that I had to bring with me to pay for my fee.

I was then on my way to campus after two months not going there.

 As usual, I brought CDs with me for entertainment while driving.

This time, they were BEAST's 'Midnight Sun' and BTOB's 'Born to Beat' Asia Special Edition.

Woohoo...the CUBE boys~~

So, I arrived at the campus. I had to first pay for my semester fee at the Finance Unit.

It's located on the left side of the ground floor of the building in this picture below.

There weren't many students at the time I arrived.

Thank God! So I didn't have to wait too long for my turn.

For those who have never been to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS),

let me tell you that the landscape is pretty eye-catching.

Plain water was given to me after I answered a survey by the management(?).

 At first, I thought of stopping by at a mall or a shop to buy things but I headed home instead.

I was starting to feel tired as I hadn't slept yet.

My head feels 'hanged' since I haven't properly slept yet and it's almost 6.00AM right now. So, I'll end this post soon. Come to think of it, some people have to stay up as part of their jobs. Artists are examples of this. In fact just a day ago, BEAST completed their 'Midnight' Japanese MV filming at around this time. I know they must have felt exhausted. Even 요섭, BEAST's main vocalist, tweeted about it. He mentioned that 막내 동운 was considerate enough to volunteer as the first and last one to shoot his parts. He's so dependable. They're working really hard. And they're the perfect definition of perseverance. If you know what they had gone through as well as how tough some days can be for them, you'll understand what I'm trying to say. That's why I'm such a fan and I always try to contribute in the supportive role of a fan. Plus, they're good at what they're doing.

Oh, that's right! BTOB will have its comeback this month! Yay! That's what Papa Hong stated. I'm so looking forward to it. Their talents are no joke and I want more people to see them perform their best.

Alright, have good days ahead!

Time to Step it Up. For Real!

Woah...it's becoming more and more real! I have only one year left before earning my bachelor degree! Hopefully, things will go well and I'll get to graduate as originally planned. I kind of gave myself a scare a few times before when thoughts that are similar to "What if I get tired of studying before I even get to graduate?" lingered in my mind. They're just thoughts, though. And they came several times only when I felt very very tired after sleepless nights due to assignments or revisions. I used to be very studious when I was younger. I'm thankful to God for giving me a good enough brain and willpower to have interest in academics since young because I believe that early stage education is crucial. But then again, I also believe that learning is a lifelong process. We never stop learning about so many things as long as we live. That's a good thing, definitely, because it keeps our minds sharp and functional.

It's getting more nerve-wrecking for me now that I'll be in my final year. It's not just the academics. Yes, academics is indubitably a vital portion but that alone is not enough if I want my days to be perpetually fruitful. This is about my future, after all. I don't always like to be all serious about things but it's necessary sometimes, right? Just don't add unnecessary stress. Stressful situations will come and go. We just need to be strong when they come and loosen up when they go away. Go with the flow, as some would say.

Alright, so the final year in university is probably the most crucial for everyone, right? True enough, there are some things that must not be taken lightly. I haven't gone through my final year yet but I have some ideas how it's going to be like. It won't be all glittery and glamorous (although I think that senior students deserve some of that >.<) because of these reasons:
1) We have two semesters left to either maintain or improve our cumulative grade point average (CGPA).
2) We need to give our best effort in completing our final year project (FYP).
3) We are required to go through an internship for a few months prior to our graduation ceremony.
4) We should be envisioning more vividly where we want ourselves to be as career individuals.
5) Let's face it. We've got to think about settling down and starting a family sooner or later. [If mom reads this, she'll nag something like "People these days are getting more modern and career-focus. You can think about getting married when you're over 30." Okay mom! I get that. I'm just listing out the things that we're getting closer to as we get another year older. It's not like I'm planning to get married right after I graduate. Unless 승이 puts aside his celebrity status and suddenly proposes. But do I have to be 30? I mean, I know I look younger than my age but....really?]
OMG I feel like a real adult! That's just....a little weird. A little.

A macro that I made to sum up how I'm feeling now

Alright, I'll write out my elaborations on the five items above.
-Item 1-
Semester by semester, I've been busting my butt off (*Not trying to sound inappropriate here by using a word that refers to a particular body part. It's a metaphor, okay? I know you'd get it.*) to get worthwhile results. Let me admit this - I could have done better. But I'm grateful that I didn't do so badly. Plus, I have this personal issue with perfection where perfection freaks me out a little bit, so a perfect set of grades might not suit me well. LOL.. I feel like I've put on mediocre effort a few times before. *Sigh* Frankly, my result for the 4th semester is the worst by far. >.< I promise to be more disciplined and motivated, okay? God, grant me patience and wisdom, alright? It's only going to get tougher but as the saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." Very true.

-Item 2-
Oh, FYP! I know it was created for the sake of the students but I would be lying if I said that it's not a burden at all. Just like in examinations or assignments, I don't like it when I get mediocre results. If I plan to do well, I should go all the way. Let's all do that! So...for my FYP, I had been thinking since the beginning of last semester. If possible, I would rather do a topic that's a little unconventional than typical Finance topics but it has to still be related to my major. That's just how I am. If there's a way to be different (in a good way), why not? Plus, I want to do something that's quite close to my own likings. Therefore, my proposed FYP topic is about Korean pop culture! And since Finance is my major, I chose to relate it to stock performances. Truthfully, I have some doubts every now and then on whether or not I'll be able to pull it off. It's not easy to make certain people get the significance of your own ideas and beliefs, you see. But this is part of it. If there are people who are skeptical about what you're doing, stand by what you believe in and try your best to convince them. Just try and try. That will make your experience so much more meaningful.

-Item 3-
Now.....I also need to think about internship. It's one of the requirements in order for us to successfully complete our degree but I don't want my internship to be just an internship. I can't predict how it's going to be but I want to somehow enjoy it, or part of it. Well, I'm the kind of person who can be a little bit of everything, so it might be harder for me to see what really clicks with me. Therefore, I need  to wisely choose from the options that I have and stick through it once I've made my decision. This is another thing that makes me feel a little anxious. Ahh...it must be the high-achiever side of me from the time I was younger. As much as I like to be carefree, I must not take this lightly.

-Item 4-
My career option would depend on the opportunities that I see at the time when I need to apply for a job. I don't know where I'll end up at but I hope I'll learn to like what I do and be very good at it. Taking chances can lead to greater outcomes but I must be reasonable too. So, we'll see.

-Item 5-
I'll leave this part to destiny for now.


25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
(Matthew 6:25-26)

Best wishes to everyone!
BTW, hello September!