Saturday 6 December 2014

"Tadashi Is Here" Baymax's Word (Big Hero 6 Film Review)


WARNING: This review contains spoilers from the movie. If you don't want to be spoiled by the plot, it is recommended to watch the movie before reading this post. =) Ba-La-La-La-La!

Disney, you've done it again! There is a good balance of laughs and tears in this movie, and I love every single moment of it. But before I get to the story, I want to say how breathtaking the visuals of the setting San Fransokyo are! I mean, just look at the spectacular view of the city!


I guess another reason why I love the setting is because of the Japanese vibe in it =P. I just love anything Japanese...Anyway, first of all, I love how the movie opens with the dangerous but exciting Bot Fight scene. It's not like any other sugary sweet, sun-is-shining-and-birds-are-singing scene but more of a dark, adrenaline-rushing kind of introduction with Hiro Hamada as the lead. I like how it shows Hiro's  personality with a negative dream of becoming a Bot Fight champion. It's kind of like gambling, imagine a 14-year-old kid involved in such an activity...but then Tadashi, his older brother came to the rescue which is awesome. He is always there to protect Hiro even in risky circumstances, like when he and Hiro got arrested after the tried to escape from the Bot Fight people.

Hiro's goal changes from Bot Fight to "Nerd School" after Tadashi took him to the Institute of Technology. I love this part because I get to see the other characters of the clique and their characteristics are portrayed really well especially Go Go Tomago, she's my favourite among the group and I like her catchphrase "Woman Up" which sounds mature of her. I also like Honey Lemon's enthusiasm and energy.

Thanks to Tadashi, Hiro had a new future visualized in his mind as he works hard to impress the people at some sort of science fair in order to be accepted to the college. His "microbots" is a pretty cool invention, but somehow they remind me of a big clump of spiders. 0.0


When Tadashi courageously dashes inside the building which is caught on fire and suddenly it explodes, my heart feels like dropping down a waterfall. It all happens so fast!





And then when Baymax is activated once again after Tadashi's death, things got more serious and exciting. Baymax humbly helps Hiro to follow the direction of the tiny moving "microbot" in a small case (I forgot what the case is called, it has been a while since I went to a science lab =/) and that's when the antagonist makes his appearance. He wears a Kabuki mask which is pretty cool because that is part of Japanese culture.
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Ok, where was I..I got distracted by attaching clear quality photos =P. Oh yes, I silently squeal to myself when Baymax walks; it's just SO ADORABLE!!!! I want that giant, lovable, hug-gable marshmallow SO BAD! And I love how he automatically contacts Tadashi's friends to come over for Hiro's comfort. They come to the rescue when Hiro and Baymax was hiding from the enemy. My favourite part of this scene was when Go Go took the wheel and drove like a Fast and Furious racer. I mean seriously! Look at her mad skills! The way the car skids and flies until it crashes down into the sea is just epic, but then there's a little comic relief and wonder when Baymax becomes the life buoy, carrying the group up to the surface.


And I like how Fred's background expands a little more when we get to see his house, or should I say his mansion. That is just crazy! He is a comic nerd and school mascot, but he is FREAKING RICH!!! He even has a butler and a room full of his superhero figurines and other superhero collections! By the way...

Don't you just love this?? His fist bump is DOUBLE AWESOME! XD
Speaking of fist bump, I love how the friendship between Hiro and Baymax blossoms even more when Hiro introduces the fist bump.

Baymax's fist bump is like the cutest thing ever!!!!
                                             
And Hiro, you've made Tadashi proud. You've created awesome attires for your team to save San Fransokyo! The battle is pretty epic too. I remember one attack that caught every inch of my imagination when Fred's fire-breathing ability mixes with Honey Lemon's bombs. That is pretty creative and effective! And as for Go Go, she spins off like an expert, a total badass.




I like that there's a back story of the Professor Callaghan and the other guy (I forgot his name). It really takes the team's mission to a whole new level, not to destroy the Kabuki masked man but to convince him to drop revenge and forgive the person who caused trouble back in the past. At first I thought I know who's the man in the disguise is, but it turned out to be wrong. The twist is quite shocking; the professor has some tricks in his sleeves to get his to-do list done, including destroying the man who caused the death of his daughter Abigail in some sort of dangerous experiment.


Okay, there are a couple of moments that make me all teary. Even my youngest sister who watches with me cries. One of them is when Baymax;s tummy showed a clip of Tadashi's process of building Baymax. That was just..oh my gosh...the feels! And then, the other moment is when Baymax sacrificed himself for Hiro. At the end of the climax, Hiro and Baymax were in an activated portal of another world and Baymax's armour was shattered. He placed his remaining armour arm beneath a capsule (or something) where Abigail who was still alive was trapped in it. He then repeated "Are you satisfied with your care?" to Hiro so that he could let the capsule and Hiro go. Oh my gosh, why Baymax why you have to die??? ='(((




But then not before long, Hiro found the armour arm from a box and saw Baymax's chip card nestling safely on the palm. He then rebuilt Baymax, inserted the chip in, said the magic word (I bet you can guess it), and the robot is revived once again. =) NGAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! X3



Now, the only thing I'm curious that it's not shown in the move is how on earth did the gang got the USB drive of Professor Callaghan's (I mean the other guy's) hidden cameras? After the Tadashi clip is shown and Hiro finally comes to his senses, the rest suddenly comes by with the USB drive...I don't know, that's the only thing I'm curious about.
So I'm gonna end this review with this...
HAIRY BABY!!! XD

Thursday 4 December 2014

Change of Heart to Douglas College (What I Think About Basic Japanese 2 Class in Fall 2014)

Oh man! I have mixed feelings about this semester and I don't know why but I feel like crying right now. I'm really gonna miss Basic Japanese class; it's just so awesome being with the whole class!

Here's a confession and I know that I should have kept this to myself or in my sixth diary (yes, six diaries, I have them since I was in elementary school), but I feel like writing something on my blog since final exam is over for me and I'm done with this semester I decide to share this online. For the past two years, I had no friends at all. Literally. The only friends I had were from church and even though I got to meet up with them like every weekend, I still felt lonely and depressed. I didn't get to talk much and all I did for the past two years was sitting in a corner of the cafeteria and glue my eyes on my laptop screen. And a friend in Basic Japanese class reminded me of this because I was like him, avoiding from socializing and having a hard time with my courses. I took four courses in the beginning of my college years and they treated me like hell. And then, on my second year, I decided to take it slow and register for three courses every semester. But then, I still was a little depressed because I couldn't find anyone to talk to or to laugh with. And that made me secretly hate Douglas College because I always thought that no one was there for me.

But then, as soon as I took Japanese classes this year, something changed within me like a flower that was freshly blossomed. I got to finally make new friends and I was like all laid back and relaxed and laughing every time I practiced conversation with them. They thought that I was crazy but that's just me, I like to laugh. It helps me to be healed from depression and from thinking about my bullied at schools' past. And then, as my journey in learning this awesome language continued this past semester, I grew to love the language even more and I got to love the whole class even the instructors. It was normal to students for being strangers at first and friends in the end, but to me, it's special to become friends with the whole class and even though I don't know a lot about them but I love hanging out with them and practicing Japanese with them. Surprisingly, it had been a while since I get close to colleagues or even instructors. I've never thought of myself laughing a lot and helping them with their homework and don't mind them treating me like a walking dictionary (surprisingly I like being a walking dictionary XD).

Now that the class is over, I should be happy but my heart literally felt heavy as I rode the community bus home a few hours ago. I seriously wanted to sob like it was graduation day. I texted a friend about this and she said something like this "Learning a language is different from other courses, We had to talk a lot but we feel connected." I don't know if it's just me, but I did cry when I was cutting an onion for dinner tonight XD. It wasn't only the onion, it was my sadness of missing the class. And not only that I'll miss this class, but I'll graduate next semester and I can't believe I say this but I'll miss Douglas College because of this class!

I'll probably talk more about this but I'm gonna stop here because I have a list of things to do this winter break. Just a quick update here: I'll be writing a sequel to my fiction "Words Entwined", plus a new memoir chapter, hopefully a new chapter of my novel series The Magic Mimosa Plant, one or two new poems, a couple of new DIY arts and crafts projects on my Arts' Realm, and maybe a new film review on Big Hero 6...or maybe Dolphin Tale 2. Oh! And I just started this new cool website called DeviantArt where I'll be posting old and new pictures of drawings, DIY projects, and photographs of beautiful scenery. If you're interested, click on this link http://tmmpmich.deviantart.com/  and "favourite" my artwork for support!

So,,,for tonight, I'll be watching an episode of one of my favourite TV shows The Carrie Diaries and also Kurt Hugo Schneider's College Musical the Movie! And then for the rest of the month, I'll probably be volunteering for a couple of Christmas events with SHARE family and community services, plus hopefully seeing more of my awesome new friends.

See if you can read Japanese everyone =P
今学期は一番たのしくて、おもしろくて、大好きです!わたしのあたらしいともだちはわすらないです!

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Words Entwined (final Fiction assignment)

Aimee Tan stood in front of the counter with excitement racing in her chest. She ignored the blazing heat that overtook the city of Chiba in Tokyo, Japan.
Hai! Douzo! (Here you go!)” An old man in the counter who Aimee assumed to be the priest of the shrine smiled; he handed her a scroll of paper.
She felt lucky that she could speak fluent Japanese after minor the language for two years in University of British Columbia. And after she earned an ideal amount of money from her part time job as a Target cashier to fly back to Singapore via Tokyo, she couldn’t explain how happy she was for being there.
Arigatou gozaimasu! (Thank you very much!)” She replied while bowing politely.
Like a child who tried his best to hide a stray rat from his animal-phobic mother, the 22 years old tourist made a beeline to an empty corner of the shrine and scanned around to make sure that no one was around to peek at her fortune. The scroll she was holding contained not only the moment of truth but also a hint of hope for her future. Her fingers trembled as she unrolled it. It read,
Your words will be entwined with a stranger.
Question marks floated invisibly on her head as she confusedly stared at the paper.
“What does it mean?” she thought.
She shortly shrugged it off and stuffed her mysterious fortune into the right pocket of her denim shorts. Her eyes caught at the time shown on her two-years-old silver digital watch worn around her left wrist.
“Oh damn! It’s noon already? Flight is in two hours!” she gasped.
She fixed the strap of her white tote bag on her right shoulder before walking off to get a taxi.
Meanwhile, Jordan Hansen walked pass Aimee while heading to the shrine. He replayed a flashback when his Japanese friend, Tashiya convinced him to get a fortune.
“Trust me! You won’t regret of getting your first fortune! It’s like winning a lucky draw!” Tashiya grinned. His eyes glowed with excitement like the starry eyes of an anime character.
“Uh…I don’t think so,” Jordan disagreed, “I’m always the unlucky person who never gets to win any prizes or lottery.”
“Oh, come on! Don’t be so negative! You’re going to Tokyo and so I’m recommending you to make your trip a little more exciting by going to a shrine!”
“Recommending? More like forcing…”
Tashiya saw Jordan’s notebook on the coffee table in front of him. He immediately picked it up and smacked at Jordan’s left arm with its night-portrait hardcover.
“OUCH! What the f is that for??” Jordan snapped, rubbing his arm like a massage ball.
“Look, I don’t want to sound like your mother but you’ve got to give luck a chance! You have a life, buddy! Don’t just live it with…writing your blogs or watching a new episode of Two and a Half Men!” Tashiya said, “In fact, you’re lucky that you’re offered this assignment. I mean, writing an article about Japan? That’s amazing! Any writer would die to take this opportunity! And since you’ll be including a little bit about a shrine, why don’t you treat yourself with a fortune?”
Jordan inhaled deeply and stared at the wooden floor of the living room as he exhaled.
“What if I get a bad fortune, or curse as you Japanese call it?”
“Some people will get curses, but I believe that won’t happen for starters.”
“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”
“Look, don’t say another word about bad luck, okay? Just remember, this moment is your moment! You definitely will get a good fortune!”
The flashback was erased due to the blinding of the sun as he arrived at the counter. He fished in his jeans pocket for a 100 yen coin and gave it to the priest.
“I’ve never gotten a fortune before, so this would be interesting.” Jordan said.
The priest in front of him returned a smile. This made the 22 years old man thought that his British accent might have excited him in introducing this proud Japanese tradition.
He shortly handed Jordan a little scroll while saying in his best English,
“Good luck, sir!”
Arigato Gozaimasu, you fine gentleman!” Jordan replied.
Saying thank you was the only Japanese phrase he had mastered in his four days’ trip. He exited the shrine and immediately called for a taxi. After a few minutes, he finally got into one of those public mobiles and realized that the scroll was still nestling in his right hand. Slowly, he unrolled it and read the sentence silently,
Your words will be entwined with a stranger.
“What in the world does this mean?”
He reread his fortune four times before blaming himself for doing such a ridiculous thing before his flight back to London which was in two hours. Tashiya was also to be blamed for making him getting such a strange fortune. He then crumpled it into a marble-size ball before stuffing it into his pocket.

20 minutes before departure to London, Jordan stood on the right side of the travelator to rest his feet. Suddenly, Aimee was rushing down the human conveyor belt and bumped into Jordan on his back. The black backpack which was slung on his left shoulder slipped down and crashed like a ton of bricks.
“Omigosh! I’m so sorry!” she gasped.
The backpack, which was half zipped, had books and papers spilling out on the moving platform. She was about to reached her right hand out to pick up the things while suddenly her white tote bag slipped from her left shoulder and fell on top of the small mess.
“Japan Airlines flight 74 to London is now ready for boarding. Please line up at gate 65. Thank you.” A flight attendant announced from the PA system.
“Oh crap!” Jordan panicked.
“Singapore Airlines flight 100 to Singapore is now ready for boarding. Please line up at gate 87. Thank you.” The flight attendant made a second announcement.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Aimee apologized.
“It’s alright!” Jordan pulled a small smile. He tried not to lose his temper.
Aimee gathered her possession and stuffed them into her bag. Jordan did the same to his backpack. He had a glimpse of a night-coloured notebook peeking out of Aimee’s bag but he shook it off. He was sure that he took his notebook and put it deep in his backpack. Aimee flashed a smile before sprinting off like a cheetah. Jordan then slipped both straps of his bag pack onto his shoulders and arrived at the queue in front of gate 65.

Once Jordan arrived home, he made it into his apartment and left his luggage on a couch. He grabbed a bottle of apple cider from the silver LG fridge and poured himself a full glass.
“Ah! Home sweet home!”
He grinned to himself as his eyes were fixed at a sunset any artist would die to paint which stood in front of him. The orange ball sank little by little between two tall skyscrapers. The glass-to-ceiling windows were the ideal binoculars for Jordan to indulge in the picturesque view. He walked towards the windows and leaned against the back of a cream couch, admiring the orange and yellow painted sky that left a soft shadow of the Big Ben.
“Jordan! My man!” Tashiya suddenly barged in through the front door.
Jordan spat out his second sip. His eyes grew the size of baseballs as he turned around to see his goofy buddy trotted in.
“What the heck are you doing here?” Jordan asked.
“Why I’m here to see you, duh!” the dentist-in-training replied.
He helped himself with a glass and walked to Jordan’s right side.
“So how’s your trip?”
“It was great! I’ve gathered enough information about the iconic places in Tokyo.”
“Did you get your fortune like I’ve told you to?”
            “Yeah, I did…but the fortune wasn’t something I…or you expect.”
            “Well what does your fortune say?”
Jordan then realized that he hadn’t thrown his fortune away. He took out the balled paper from his pocket and smoothed it out before showing it to Tashiya.
“I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. The word “entwined” kind of kills me.”
Tashiya looked up and commented, “Maybe it’s a good thing.”
“How can you tell?”
            “I don’t know! I’m trying to be positive here!”
            “Anyway, I have an article to write.” Jordan sighed.
He took the fortune back and unzipped his bag pack. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out the notebook. His fingers pressed on the hard cover as he imagined his soon-to-be-published work got printed and distributed to the entire city. He slid his index finger through the middle of the pages and pushed it open.
            “I was in Vancouver when this happened...wait a minute…since when did I write about Vancouver?” Jordan stopped.
He flipped through the pages; all he saw were lines of small, pretty handwriting and little drawings of flowers at the corners.
“This is not my notebook!” Jordan panicked.
He kept on flipping until he stopped at the last written page where a black-ink signatureAimee stood out.
Meanwhile, Aimee arrived at her house in Singapore. She flopped on her bed and cuddled her plump purple pillow. Her tabby cat, Nugget, tailed after her and jumped onto the bed next to her.
“Oh! How I miss my bed!” she giggled.
From her bedroom window, she could see Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s well-known resort, standing tall and proud with its mega-brilliant lights.  She then fished in her bag for her notebook and flipped to the middle.
“Didn’t I draw a rose here this morning?” she asked herself.
She remembered clearly that she used her red gel pen to doodle a small rose on the top right corner of the page. She then spotted the handwriting which was slightly bigger than hers.
“This is not my notebook!”
She read through the notes just to make sure. They somehow caught her eye in fascination, but her heart was still praying for her “lost” notebook. As she scanned briefly through every page to find the name of the owner, she was a little disappointed that there was not a single name written on it. She then settled herself at her study desk where her iMac was placed, ready to be used after a year of abandonment. Once she logged in to her Facebook account, she was surprised to see a bright red notification popped out on the message icon. 

Jordan: Hi! I know this is random but I think I have your notebook. I don’t know how to explain this but do you have my notebook?

  Aimee placed both hands on the keyboard and replied,

Aimee: Hi! Yeah, I think so…I happen to have this notebook with no name on it.

Jordan: Can you tell me whether the notebook you have now has my notes about Japan on the last few written pages?

Aimee did as he told, and sure enough, a long list of notes that included words like “Tokyo Tower” and “Tokyo Disneyland” were scribbled on what seemed like six full pages.

Aimee: Yeah, I see them! 

 Jordan: Oh, thanks goodness! Is it possible if you mail the notebook to me as soon as possible? I need those notes for my article.

 Aimee: Hmm…or maybe I can take pictures of your notes and send them to you.

There was a short pause.

  Jordan: Oh! No, there’s no need to! I prefer us switching back our notebooks through mail.

 Aimee: It takes long to do so! I don’t know whether Singapore’s mail service is fast enough.

 Jordan: Singapore?? Wait…you’re in Singapore??

 Aimee: Why you sound so surprised?

It took five minutes for Jordan to walk around his apartment, gulping the rest of his apple cider like a shot glass, and taking deep breaths to calm himself down. The sunset from his windows sank into sleep as a glittery obsidian sky replaced the light. Tashiya, who was sitting on one of the stools at the marble white countertop of the kitchen, looked at him with a this-is-going-to-be-interesting-grin.

Jordan: Because I’m in London and I have no idea how could my notebook end up in your hands! 

From the other side of the globe, Aimee could felt anger exploding from Jordan. Her mind immediately flashed back the accident at Narita Airport. Her jaw hung open as she realized that their notebooks were switched from the mess.

  Aimee: Omigosh! You’re that man whom I bumped into at Narita Airport! I didn’t know that we have the same notebooks! 

It was like a spark ignited in Jordan’s mind as he recalled the scene.
“I feel like killing myself right now…” Jordan mumbled, disappointed for not checking his notebook in the first place. He covered his eyes with his hands and squeezed his eyelids.

  Aimee: Look, I know that this is urgent to you, so I would like to help you by sending you pictures of your notes. Besides, I owe you for what I did back there.

 Jordan: Are you really sure? I don’t mean to trouble you… 

 Aimee: I don’t like seeing people stuck in their problems. Trust me, I really want to help!

Jordan was about to respond when Aimee attached photos within a minute or so.
            “Well, that was quick!” he said.
He clicked on one of them and was satisfied by the clear quality of it.

  Aimee: Oh! Btw, you have some really fun details about Tokyo. Your notes make me want to revisit Tokyo. :)

Jordan stared at the message box for what seemed like forever. He could felt a tiny drop of warmth growing in his heart like a good chocolate bar on a stressful day. He had never felt anything like this before; he had never received such a compliment from a stranger, or even a girl, in his whole life.

 Jordan: Oh! Uh…thank you…

 Aimee: So you’re writing an article about Japan? What is if for?

 Jordan: It’s for The Times. I’m a journalist there. 

 Aimee: Oh, wow! That’s so cool! Maybe if your article is published, I would like to read a copy.:)

The conversation lasted for three hours. Jordan had never felt this close to a stranger before. Tashiya held a thumb up in the air, saying,
                        “I told you something good is gonna happen.”

The next evening, Jordan returned home an hour early from his usual shift. He had the smile of a Cheshire cat, a countenance he never had for a while. The first thing he did was to drop his business bag on the couch and opened his Macbook. Once he logged on to Facebook, he sent Aimee a message:

 Jordan: Hi, Aimee! You won’t believe what happened at the press this morning! My boss liked my Japan article so much that he wanted to put it first in the travel column of tomorrow’s issue!

Jordan waited like a child eager to get a snow cone. To his happiness, a green dot automatically popped next to her name.

  Aimee: Really? That’s fantastic!

 Jordan: I can’t thank you enough for helping me out last night. 

 Aimee: No problem! :)

Jordan:  Oh! And…about the notebooks, I’ll be sending yours to your house in Singapore tomorrow. Is that okay?

There was a short pause. It didn’t feel casual, it was more like deadening.

 Aimee:  I don’t think that’s necessary

 Jordan: Why? Something wrong?

 Aimee:I’ve just received an email from my boss. He wants me to fill in the shifts of a worker who just got fired. I’m going back to Vancouver tomorrow morning.

 Jordan: Oh! No problem, I can just mail it to your Canadian address then. 

Aimee: I don’t think this is working, Jordan…we’re so far away from each other…

Jordan’s heart dropped like a stone dragged from the sky.

Jordan: Don’t you want your notebook back?

Aimee: Of course, but I don’t know any other convenient ways to get it back…

The aura of happiness which overtook every inch of Jordan’s body that whole day diminished like an extinguished flame. He immediately logged off Facebook and slammed his laptop shut. His eyes caught a glimpse of Aimee’s notebook from his unzipped backpack and he gently pulled it out. As he opened it and stopped at the middle, he read,
“I was in Vancouver when this happened. My heart was shattered in chandelier pieces after my recent breakup, but the city itself had brought me back to the light of hope…”
His light brown eyes were magnetic to Aimee’s story that he read the entire thing till he forgot to eat dinner. Her words sent him to an emotional state; tears trickled down from his eyes as he felt on how hard she had tried to stay strong. Without hesitation, he flipped his laptop open once more and Google-d his new favourite website.
            Back in Singapore, Aimee waited anxiously for Jordan to reply, but there wasn’t a new bubble popped in the message box. She couldn’t hold back her despair for not staying in her hometown a little longer or even enjoying the only vacation overseas she had afforded. Her world of worry was interrupted by Nugget’s meow. Surprised, she looked at the striped furball who was sitting nonchalantly on Jordan’s notebook.
                        “Nugget, what are you up to, boy?” she asked.
Her voice nearly burst into a giggle when she noticed the cover. She gingerly pushed her cat away and flipped the notebook open. She stopped at a couple of pages; a draft about The George Inn where two of her favourite inspirations, Shakespeare and Dickens, swept her off in a whirlwind of wonder. Instead of diving into her bed covers, she kept her night light on and read all of Jordan’s article drafts.

            The arrival area of Narita Airport was flooded with passengers and flight attendants. Jordan was the first to run out of the Japan Airlines aircraft and straight to the direction where connecting flights were located. This time, both of the straps of his black backpack was slung onto his shoulders and Aimee’s notebook was clutched in his right hand. He was about to charge towards a travelator while suddenly he bumped against a woman with long, straight, black hair, and a familiar-looking white tote bag. She was about to fall until she quickly regained her balance and lifted her bangs that covered her dark chocolate eyes.
                        “Aimee?” Jordan asked, surprised and relieved.
                        “Jordan? What in the world are you doing here?” she asked back.
                        “Well, I don’t know where to begin,” Jordan said, “I…uh…well…”
He could feel his heart thundering wildly against his chest and his cheeks tainted with shades of red. He finally inhaled deeply and explained,
                        “The reason why I’m here is because I’m looking for you. I figured that since you’re flying to Vancouver I have a sense that you would stop by here in Tokyo.”
Aimee stared at him blankly before a cherry lip smile was slowly formed.
                        “And I don’t know anything about you until I read your…wonderful poetry and stories in this notebook and I’ve never felt anything like this before but without any of this, I wouldn’t have met someone like you, someone who captures me through words.”
The chatters that resonated with the sound of feet stomping were interrupted by Aimee’s sudden laugh.
                        “What? What did I do?” Jordan stared in shock.
                        “I’m sorry!” she choked between her laughter, “I just thought that your reaction is just adorable!”
Jordan could feel everyone was watching them. But all he focused was Aimee’s beautiful laugh.
                        “I have no idea that you would come all the way from London just to see me. Ever since we chat online, I’ve never felt this close to a person for a while. I’ve always tried to stay positive but I’ve never felt so enlightened and different since I get to know more of you through your writing. Reading your works is like looking through you in a mirror. Even though we haven’t met thoroughly, I sense that there’s a chance for us to face in person.”
Jordan and Aimee seemed to lean closer to each other. Their eyes locked and they gradually held their notebooks in front of each other. At the same time, their hands brushed together like silk as they switched back their possessions.
“So…Aimee…you wanna go for lunch?” Jordan asked.
“Sure! I like that!” Aimee agreed. She was blushing too.
“Are you gonna miss your flight?”
“It would be a pleasure to be here in Tokyo with a perfect stranger like you.”
Jordan grinned. They found themselves holding hands as they walked towards the exit. 

Thursday 23 October 2014

Here I Go (story assignment based on "Innocent Feathers" and "Sailor Jupiter Moves Out" scene assignments)

The illuminating eye rested between two islands. It was draining its energy bit by bit as it sank down beneath the horizon. Nothing got better than chilling at Tanjung Aru beach on a Sunday evening.
“Daddy, can I have some more of the coconut water please?” I asked.
Peter grinned and handed his six-years-old daughter a big, green coconut with a straw inserted through a rough sliced opening. I sat the delicious fruit on my lap and took a long gradual sip of the sweet, refreshing fluid from its inner shell. My taste buds leaped to paradise as the honey-like flavour, colourless water traveled from the tip of the straw to my mouth.
“It’s a beautiful view from here, isn’t it?” my mother, Helen smiled.
She gazed at the calm ocean in front of us. After the sip, I breathed in the rich salty air and wiggled the soft brown sand off my toes. The sun was a pale lemon with amber shades painted the sky; the waves were a glossy reflection of the sunset’s hues. This was where I wanted to be, lying on the wooden beach chairs with my beloved parents while indulging in the Malaysian awarding scenery…
BANG! The sound of a gun wakes me up from my dream. Reality immediately hit against me like a tidal wave. Instead of looking at the evening beauty from the same spot, I turn my back to where the resort is located. Another gunshot echoes from the first floor of the hotel.What’s happening? That doesn’t sound like fireworks! A warm breeze suddenly whooshes against me that carry my high ponytail to float in midair. It is fast and rough like a charging stallion; it sends my back tingling like an electric shock.
I immediately sprint to the hotel and up a spiral staircase. As I reach to the second floor which is the lobby, I feel like the building is going to collapse into a cluster of debris. A woman in a purple T-shirt and a white maxi skirt lies motionless on the marble floor. The shirt is stained by a heavy crimson colour; it travels down onto her skirt before ending into a pool on the floor. I recognize the length of the woman’s hair from the back. Spikes of a hedgehog begin to crawl on my back as I get closer to the victim. Once I walk to the front, I can’t believe my own eyes. Helen Lin, my dear mother, has lost her next second of life.
From my back, I hear a sinister laugh. Mason, my stepfather is leaning against the concierge desk with a black gun in his right hand. His eyes are a demon black.
“I thought you’re in jail!” I exclaim in disbelief.
The psycho twirls his gun playfully before tucking it into the pocket of his brown trousers.
“That’s partially correct,” he replies, “but I didn’t end up in those shitty police cars.”
“What are you talking about?” I gasp, “I saw you got arrested with those men behind my school yesterday.”
“You were there, weren’t you?” he frowns, “I didn’t expect you to ruin my match.”
“Listen, Mason! I don’t know what you’re up to but you’ve done a whole lot of crap. You use animals as violent entertainment and you quit your job just to go to clubs every night.” I spill out, “I even see you slapping my mother and asking her to give you her allowance just to buy beer.”
“So what? I don’t even give a damn about everything.” He fishes into his other pocket and takes out a thin bundle of purple 100 Malaysian dollars, “Thanks to your soft-hearted mother, these babies belong to me now.”
He waves the pile of cash in the air as if he has won the lottery. He stops in his sixth wave and spots a note sticking in the pile. I watches him taking it out and reading it with a numb expression.
“I knew it! It’s just a piece of junk!” he says and tosses the paper towards me. Without hesitation, I pick it up and read,
            My dear Pheline,
            You’ve grown into an amazing young woman. Now it’s the time for you to find your own journey. No matter what happens, Peter and I will always be by your side and we will be cheering for you as you strive to conquer the mountains and the oceans. I’m glad to say that I’ve finally can save this amount for your new school. Take care and good luck!
Mom
My sight melts into a cloudy view as I struggle to hold back my tears. I wish that this won’t happen so that I can thank her and hug her and remind her that I love her very much…I don’t blame her for marrying Mason in the first place, I am just grateful to see her all smiling and spreading her love constantly to me and my dad. If only she can be resurrected…if only I can see her precious, reassuring smile again…
Blood race madly in my veins as I stare at Mason, feeling like a grenade prepared to blast his hideous, horrible smirk. He pulls out his gun again and points at me. He is about to shoot when I suddenly dodge away and grab hold of his hand. With a quick move illustrated automatically in my head, I kick him in the stomach and punch him in the face. Behind me, a semicircle of bewildered foreigners are staring and gasping like spectators in a circus.
“I bet you don’t know that I have a black belt in karate, asshole!”
As I am about to reach for the gun he has dropped, he grits his teeth and snatches it from his side. He aims his weapon at me, ready to fire.
“Hold it right there!” a policeman approaches from nowhere.
A few more policemen run up from a flight of stairs with guns rested on the top of their shoulder.
“You’re under arrest,” the policeman says, “Drop your weapon please!”
Mason raises his hands up for half a second. He suddenly makes a dash away from the concierge table and down to the spiral stairs to the bottom floor. The lead policeman gets his weapon ready and successfully shoots right at Mason’s back. Seeing the enemy got defeated has caused the cloak of shame and misery to be taken away from my body.
“Pheline! Are you okay?” another voice startles me.
 As I try to lift myself up, my peripheral vision catches a girl with familiar dark brown eyes and silky black hair that reaches to her waist. My best friend, Solange runs towards me when she sees me grasping the table for support.
“Solange! What are you doing here?” I exclaim.
“I was tagging along my uncle Benjamin while suddenly he got an urgent message from his walkie talkie! I’m glad that we arrive on time!” she replies with a relieved smile. I then remember that her uncle is the chief policeman of the Tanjung Aru police headquarters.
Solange helps me to get up. She notices my mother lying in the middle of the lobby and shares the same sorrowful face as I have.

I don’t know whether it’s just me but I can feel Mom’s embrace surrounding me. The world looks better than the episode last night; the sun releases fantastic ribbons of light that automatically heals the small crack in my heart.
Solange shortly walked towards me to give me a comforting hug. It reminds me of how blessed I am to have her who loves me. Her hilarious make-up stories from Big Bang Theory will be my ideal remedy, and I can’t beg for anything better than going away from home with her. Dad is the one who told me first that no matter what situation I am in, there are always people who care for me. After he passed away due to stroke when I was nine, I would always visualize his face to draw his presence in my soul. And now that mom’s gone too, I know that she’s joyfully reunited with dad in the spiritual realm and she’s watching over me to see me hunting for a milestone.
“Ready to go? You wouldn’t want to miss your flight!” she said.
I return her gaze with a smile, “This is it! My own story is about to be written!”
“You already are writing it! You just haven’t got to your real adventure yet!”
She’s right, my story has started but the part where I paint myself with new colours hasn’t arrived.
The sound of an airplane roars behind us. We switch our view from the islands to a Malaysian Airlines mechanical bird which glides above the resort, heading to east. The international airport which is in this direction and fifteen minutes away from the resort signals me to get ready for my trip.
Before we head to the parking lot, I am stopped by a sudden gust of air. This time, the breeze that blows against my face is cool and generous. I look at the nostalgic live postcard, realizing that my parents are saying “good luck” through this natural messenger.  Maybe the warm breeze I felt yesterday was Dad’s warning…
As we walk away from the beach, I swear that I hear sweet laughter chimed from Dad, Mom, and the six-year-old me.

Thursday 9 October 2014

Do I consider myself an adult? (My first thoughts of being 21-October 14 2014)

Life is hard. Living is hard. Even being a human hard. I'm not being negative here, I'm just a little troubled with what people had said of me turning 21, the age of adulthood. I'm not sure whether that's a big deal. I remember a few friends remind me that age is just a number. Age makes me think that I'm getting older and I'm doomed, but that's not what life is about.

I remember an inspirational quote from my favourite fitness instructor Cassey Ho, the Youtuber who is the creator of Blogilates. She says "change is coming". It takes time to improve in something, something I want to commit myself to make the best out of myself. Change plays a big part of life, and it may sounds scary, but it helps me to take steps to a new perspective in discovering myself. To me, change may mean that I've made new friends and forget about my old friends or adapting to a new country and forgetting about my roots. That's not going to happen. Even though I'm in a new year, a new home, and a new chapter of my personal memoir, I'm trying my best to improve myself but also to maintain my personalities and character. It sounds hard, but I hope that I won't be forgotten and to be respected by the new people I meet and connect.

So ask yousrelf, what does the word "change" means to you? Is it good or is it bad?

There are some surprises that approach to me this year. I don't know whether this is a blessing from God or is it his secret to show that something good is happening to my last year of Douglas College.

-My memoir chapter "Rooster Alarm" was shared by five random Google followers! I was super surprised when I first found this out on my dashboard.  This is the first time I got recognition from strangers online (readers who like my work and share them to other people). I would like to say thank you so much to those who are the followers and please keep sharing! It means a lot to me!
http://towardsthesun-beneaththesnow.blogspot.ca/2014/08/rooster-alarm-new-memoir-chapter-about.html

- There is a surprising result of my fiction writing assignment "Innocent Feathers". Turns out that my class loved my piece that I received positive comments with a little bit of feedback about the time jump at the end. And my instructor gave me a full 10 out of 10! I was like...WHOA! How did that happen? This was the first time I got a high mark in creative writing! Like ever! The highest grade I've gotten in my writing courses was an A-! So this A+ gem got me a little flabbergasted but it's also a boost for me to make a good impression on my first full story assignment which is due soon.
http://thetruemichelehii.blogspot.ca/2014/10/innocent-feathers-setting-and-imagery.html
And then, when I took a photo of the result and posted it on my Facebook page (I didn't post it on Instagram because my phone has crappy amount of space), I never knew that I've got the highest number of likes in my entire Facebook history. In just two to three days, my photo was thumbs-ed up by forty plus friends, and I couldn't imagine how supportive my friends and family are. Usually when I post something, the updates are ignored. So when this new phenomenon of my life happens in the blink of an eye, I realize that there will be a time for me to shine. I'm not forever silent or forever isolated. I always feel isolated, but I keep reminding myself that I'm not invisible. If the people I've met pull me off the dark, then I'll remember that I'm loved and needed.


- Surprisingly (again), I've made new friends. Not like acquaintances who I only say hi and say one of two sentences in group work, but people who I can sit with and help out with homework and laugh off at jokes and having a blast learning together. These are the new group of people I'm looking for in Canada, not racism or prejudice or discrimination, but a community who is colour blind and take in one another as family. In Japanese class and Communication class, I've found people who I can push myself to talk. It's actually not a bad thing. Once I'm letting my aegis to crack and hopefully shatter, I'll no longer feel insecure. Sadly, those people comes and goes. Every semester, new people comes in and that makes a whole lot harder if we got separated after four months of seeing and sticking together. I haven't found a new group of people who I call friends for more than a year or even a long period of time like my friends back in Malaysia, but I think there's a chance when I can see those people even when we got separated. I don't like separation, I prefer connection.

Something tells me deep inside that this age is a traditional stereotype that I want to break. I mean "You're 21, that means you're an adult" belief my mother told me...is not entirely true! I'm still having a blurry mind on what's hidden behind the harsh reality. I may be a late bloomer and I don't know when will be the time for me to survive, but I have faith that one day I'll become a shooting star, gliding my way through independence and freedom. I have to admit, I'm still a kid. And here's a guilty pleasure, I hate growing up. But that's something I can't rewind. This is life, and that's how it is. Time is ticking, and I can't possibly beg Peter Pan or Tinker Bell to use magic to turn back time. The only thing to get out of this is to accept where I am and see where time take flight.

So here's something I think it's important in the world today. Don't think in an old-fashion or traditional way. Don't stick to one culture or one norm or even one thing. There are various things to explore and the world is for us to expand our minds and to change our perspectives. When you're in a new environment like me, learn to adapt to it and accept the culture. You'll never know how many years you will live or how much change you've become. Try involve in the "cultural identity search" because different norms or beliefs or even matters can blend in to become your own definition of culture, or even a new version of yourself.

I hope you like reading this new post, and don't forget to live this day, live this life! =)

Btw, thank you all for your birthday wishes! I didn't exactly have made a wish while blowing the candle because I was still too sleepy after cramming with assignments and Japanese exercises for tomorrow's midterm. But if I get to make a wish, I'm looking forward to a new change in myself as well as making the best out of my last year in Douglas College.