Japanese Singers

People who know me will know that I will find myself attracted to certain things at certain times. Like previously I just couldn't get enough of Taiwanese dramas. I'm at the Japanese phase now, so I listen to various types of Japanese music. I find that their music really piques my interest, maybe because I haven't really listened to Jap music much last time (other than Utada Hikaru) or maybe because their music is just different from Western music nowadays. I find that Western music nowadays are somehow quite similar and is without much variety, its either black-sounding music, R&B, or rock music. Most music arrangements don't sound as detailed and doesn't take as much effort as it should be. Me and another friend dub this kind of music as "instant music" (instant as in like instant noodles). And I really hate it when they go auto-tuning most singers even those that can sing really well without those additional tuning. The effect: it all sounds so digitalized and fake. There's even one Michael Buble album that the sound engineers compressed his voice so much, it sounded like he had a short tongue. I really hate that! I'd rather they let it sound more natural and have a few out of tunes here and there than everyone sounding TOO perfect and digitalized.

Anyway, enough complaining there. I've actually derailed from the main topic of this post. Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away!

In my Japanese music quest, I have found a few cool artistes that I want to share with you:

YUI - altenative/poprock music, she's only 21, cute and is a singer/songwriter
Visit her Official Site here
You can preview her songs here
Some nice songs I recommend 1) Che.r.ry 2) Goodbye Days 3) Help 4) I Remember You

ANGELA AKI - piano-based pop songs , has a really nice mellow voice and is a singer/songwriter
Visit her Official Site here
You can preview her songs here
Some nice songs I recommend 1) This Love 2) Kiss Me Goodbye 3) Kiseki 4) Kiss From a Rose

Meaning of a Name

Ever wondered what your name means? Being an inquisitive person as always, I decided to look it up on the net. As it turns out Sandie is derived from the name Sandra which originates from the name Alexandra. Alexandra in the ancient Greek language means "protector of mankind". Cool right? To think I'm the protector of mankind. Hahaha, maybe in the spreading the sunshine/humour aspect? :P

I took the liberty to find out the meaning for some of my friends' names and listed them below:
Reese - Ardent, fiery (Welsh); Enthusiatic (English)
Doreen - Gift (English); Moody (Celtic); Blonde (French)
Sally - Princess (Hebrew & Israel)
Adeline - Noble & kind (French) Pleasant, of nobility (German)
Stephen - Crowned once, wreath (Greek)
Scott - Wanderer (Scottish); Of Scottish origin (English)
Simon - It is heard (Israel); Obedient, little hyena (Hebrew)
Dolores - Lady of sorrows (Latin-America)
Kevin - Handsome, beautiful (Irish); Gentle (Celtic)
Ann - Gracious (Hebrew & Israel); Merciful (English); Priceless (Irish);

If you are curious about the meaning of your name you can check it out from this site called Meaning-of-Names.com

Do you think a person's name affects a person's character? I think it does to some extend. But more often than not I believe that a person's character is formed based on their upbringing and the environment they are exposed to throughout their lives. Friends also influence you in a lot of ways, maybe sometimes you don't even realise it yourself.

Despite all the differences in our names and our personalities, the most important point is that we live our lives to the fullest so we will not have any regrets later on. Treasure your family and your friends, spend your precious time wisely and most of all thrive to bring happiness to others more than hurt others. I always believe that it is better to make more friends than enemies. :)

Sweet Potato Doughnuts?

While I was bunking over at Cheshire's home the other day, we made sweet potato doughnuts. It was thoroughly fun to make together. I think it goes to say that whatever you do, as long as you it together with close friends it will turn out to be extremely fun. It tastes quite good too.

Check out these great looking homemade sweetie yummies.















We got a bit carried away with our creativity as well. :P

BLEACH

My current craze is watching the Bleach anime series. I am so psyched to have discovered this amazing anime. It has a really cool perspective on Soul Reapers (or Grim Reapers). In this anime, they are known as Shinigami and each of them possess their own Zanpakutou (literally means Soul-cutting sword) which they use to send good spirits (Pluses) and dispel bad spirits (Hollows).

The story follows a high-school boy names Ichigo Kurosaki who was unwillingly turned into a substitute Shinigami, how he manages to juggle between protecting his identity from his friends and at the same time protecting the people he cares from Hollows and other baddies. It is so interesting to see how his character grows to adapt to the changes. Also, you'll get to find out more about his friends and rivals alike. Among my favourite characters are Ichigo, Rukia, Kon, Nel, Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Byakuya, Toushirou, Renji and many more. I enjoy watching Kon and Nel, they are both so entertaining and adorable!! Nel is so annoyingly cute!!! I'm not gonna tell you any spoilers so if I have managed to perk your interest, check Bleach out on any of those video communities. You can find those with the original Japanese voices and also the English dubbed version.

*Image courtesy from www.madman.com.au

Gathering for Siew Kheng's B-Day

Busy busy busy! Many apologies for not posting anything for while. :)

Let me start off with Siew Kheng's birthday dinner gathering. It's a bit delayed thought I lost the photos but apparently because I not. *Whew* Nowadays, seems pretty rare to have a gathering with all 5 of us (me and my 4 close buddies from uni). Normally, one person will be unable to make it. This time around, Cheshire and bo-boy couldn't make it. So it was just me, Doreen, Pey Shen and hubby, Siew Kheng and hubby.

We decided to go for Kajang Satay at Damansara Uptown. Here are some photos of us spending some quality time together. We gotta do this more often. Especially our dear Do-do will be leaving next year. *sigh* Doreen, why do you have to go so far away??

I must say that the satay is still as tasty as ever and mmmm the peanut sauce. Yum yum yum! Take a look at these scrumptious looking beauties.

Check out the photos below. :)

Sleepy Zzzzzz...

I'm the type of person who feels it's such a waste to sleep early because there's still yet so many things to do and sleeping kinds of takes up so much time. But early in the mornings, I will find it very hard to wake up because it just feels too comfortable and my soft fluffy pillows, comfortable and bed just makes me feel like staying in my bed. Plus I always blame it on "gravity"! It really is gravity's fault, you know? :P

Weird right? Hahahaaha... that's just me. That's just contradicting huh? One side of me wants to sleep less, and the other just wants to sleep as much as I can.

Nowadays, it so hot and humid at night. Sweating in your sleep is not exactly fun. Eckkk... so eeky!

Hello August!

Goodbye July! Hello August! Time really flies by so fast. The next thing you'll know it'd already be 2009!

As usual, I'm always missing my hometown in Penang. *sigh* I miss my parents, my brothers, our fat Chihuahua and of course the food! Mom and dad looks like they have aged a bit and that really scares me. It really does. Makes me feel scared that I will regret not spending more time with them. It's like I have this permanent home-sick feeling. And I miss bickering and having fun with my two brothers. Nothing beats watching a movie or series at home in the living room with everyone. And not forgetting our oh-so-adorable Max the dog. He is so cute, naughty and entertaining! Doesn't he look WAY too proportionate for a Chihuahua?!














I love the food in Penang. Maybe it's because I'm already so used to the taste and the styles of the food there. There's so much variety and everytime I go back I feel like there's so many things to eat. So many things to eat, so little time! Among my favourites in Penang are the Hokkien Mee (known as Prawn Mee in KL), Fried Koay Kak, Fried Koay Teow, Cendol, Char Hor Fun, Char Yee Mee, Hokkien Char, Yong Tao Foo (it's slightly different in Penang, there offer a lot of piggie spare parts!), Jawa Mee, and many many more. Here's one of my favourites, the famous Penang Road Cendol. So yummylicious!!















Everytime I go back to Penang I wish that I could stay longer. Hopefully I can catch a trip back to Penang end of this month. :)

A little Monday hello

Good monday? Hope you're not suffering from Monday blues. I couldn't really sleep last night probably cause my monthly thing is here. *sigh* I was practically tossing and turning the whole night. Now I feel a bit dizzy and there's this nasty pain at the back of my head. Hope it goes away soon.

Everybody in my office seems to have caught a cold. I can hear a symphony of coughs, sneezing and stuck noses towards my right side. Hope I won't catch their virus. *shudder* I've got to strengthen my immunity because I can't afford to be sick.