Yet Another Drop of Tear Saved

The typical mongrel that I am,
Everywhere you see, I am there, because we all look alike
But you see, that's what I am,
The typical mongrel that you see on the streets,
The ones that are unwanted.

I am born on the streets,
Grew up not knowing who's my mom two months later, because you see,
She's just gone like that. I don't know if I've got siblings or not.
Left to fend for myself, I contracted illness.
Because you see, that's the typical mongrel that I am.
Hungry day and night, Cold and hot and yet, nobody cares.

Small humans threw sticks and stones at me,
Big humans swing their hands at me,
Some big humans even threw water at me and yelled at me.
Oh, did I mention, there's even some that threw me to the street,
When all I ever wanted was some scraps of their foods.
Or maybe love and attention perhaps?

As one of the lucky ones, I've been saved from the streets,
By a group of kindhearted people.
But you see, I'm still homeless in a way. I'm still sick and I fear humans.
They put me in a cage, fed me what they can afford to, hosing my waste off with me still in the cage.
I'm still shivering in fear, cold and hunger, not to mention pain as well.

One day they just brought me out of my cage,
To where I do not know. Perhaps to a walk? Play hopefully?
After some distance driving, they brought me to a place, put me in a cage again.
Why so many people? Where is this place? Are you going to bully me or beat me again?
But wait, you mean no harm to me, I can tell that much.
You going to bring me home? Pretty please?
I'm the typical mongrel, not your famous breeds of dogs or cute small sized dogs,
But I will love you as much as you love me, that much I can promise you.

Like any other dogs, I can be trained, love and get along.
Treat me well and I'm all about you.
Despite being the typical mongrel that I am.

Similar But Not The Same, WattPad vs Keitai Shousetsu ( 携帯小説 )

Previously, I've mentioned before about the infamous trend going on in Japan called the Keitai Shousetsu ( 携帯小説 ) where mobile phone users write using their mobile phone and their stories on each chapter is quite short but interesting. An American website, TextNovel.com, lets its user experience the same way as the Japanese does, only it's in English  (●´∀｀●) hurrah for me too!

Now this brand new site that I came across, is somehow similar to Keitai Shousetsu feel but different in a way, whereby, instead of writing short on each chapter, authors can write as if they are writing novels. Very western feel to it. （￣ー￣）I like this too of course. Wattpad is without doubt, a site filled with good story tellers. I've been hooked on to a few unknowingly and have been continuously following their story. Very addictive if you ask me. 

Unlike TextNovel which have an application that is available in iOS platform, Wattpad have application for both iOS and Android platform. Interestingly, it is also available on Blackberry platform. 

Another plus point for Wattpad is that, if you like the story that you are reading and you would like to share it to your other pals on other social sites, you can actually choose to embed them to your websites! Of course you can share them on Google +, Twitter, Tumblr and etc. Nice, isn't? I don't need to mention about Facebook as well, do I ? Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Pros and cons shared, I like both sites and am still following the stories from both sites. What can I say, writers from around the world fascinates me and the way they spin their plot out is even more interesting. That is what I like about these writers. Unlike those who had their books published, these writers are more raw and true, sometimes, writing out of their own feelings and fantasy. 

Get The Pee Stain Off My Bed !!

Ever since getting a puppy of my own, life was kinda busy and pretty much a different learning curve. Many thinks that getting an animal is of no big deal, just like pet fish. NO ! That is NOT TRUE. Even getting a fish means lots of commitments! If that's in your mind all the while and you want to get a pet, throw the damn idea off that wee brain of yours then. 

Getting either pet, whichever that tickles your fancy, means devoting your time, love, money and everything to them, like you do to your dear family members, because, the moment you get a pet, you add in an extra family member. In my case, feedings and clean ups are mainly my chore. Playtime? Leave it to the man to do it. 

So, back to the topic, the lil' dog, being the sweetpie that she is, sleeps with us on the bed at night of course.

This is my lil' baby ! Coco ! But like a human kid that has gotten used to wear diapers, they do not know when to NOT PEE on the bed. Yes, my little baby pees on the bed on and off. Imagine the horror in my face when I saw it each time. Having to wash the sheets is one small matter. The biggest problem, the mattress. The stains and the odor ! They are the main killer. So what do I do? 

The God that I pray to. The answers that this God gave me is, nonetheless, awesome. Why? I got the one best solution to get the stains and odor out of my mattress. Since it worked on kids pee stains, I figured it should work on pets too and voila! It does! Details below is all credit to: Inspired Housewife Blog 

So here's what you need to get started:

You need a measuring cup, tablespoon, funnel, and spray bottle.

8 ounces/237 ml hydrogen peroxide 3% (this can be found in a brown bottle in the first aid aisle of most pharmacies or stores. It's sort of an antiseptic for washing wounds. Best place to find it in Malaysia is the pharmacies.)

3 tablespoons/45 grams of baking soda

1 drop of liquid hand dish washing soap

Mix all ingredients into the spray bottle, do not shake the bottle, and use within 20 minutes.  Do not attempt to store the leftover solution. because it will leak out of the bottle.  The mixture only works if you use it immediately, because the cleaning byproducts are active for only a short time period.  You should see the stain lift and disappear within 5-10 minutes.  Once the mattress dries, if a baking soda film remains, then simply wipe or vacuum it off.

Here's my before and after result. I'm seriously glad it worked for me. It's a cotton bed by the way. 

After the whole thing fully dried off, even the watermark is gone. This solution really works wonder. So, moms at home and pet owners, have no fear on putting your kids/pets on bed with you!! Takes time to train them to pee on proper designated place, even for kids. 

Self Study for Japanese 日本語ですよ！！

Since sometime ago, I've gone to some Japanese classes. Later on, it was just due to timing problem or that I'm giving excuses to myself that I've not gone to continue. Nowadays, I ended up having to study on my own. Believe me, this really is not easy at all. 

After few months or even a year, I've totally forgotten some of my Hiragana and most of the Katakana. Now I have to continuously write the same word over and over, test myself over and over again without looking at those damn charts. 

*Image source: textfugu.com

The Hiragana that I forgot the most is always the 'ne', 'nu' and 're'. I either mixed them up or just totally forgot, somehow. So not fun that I've got to write a lot of time for a single word just to remember the strokes and the word.

*Image source: textfugu.com

When it comes to Katakana, this is even worse. I remember up to the 'M's but I keep forgetting some here and there. Those that studies Japanese says this is easier to remember compared to Hiragana but somehow, for me, I remembers the Hira more than the Kata. Beats me why. 

I found a lot of sources where one can do self study for the basics, but of course, you'd need some guidance and reference here and there as you proceed. Sites like these helps me a lot for practice in remembering the words itself:

1. Japanese-Lesson - You can download lots of worksheets for practice writings from this site. Learning the words doesn't just end at Katakana as you have Kanji to learn as well. 
2. Meguro Language Centre - This site here gives you optional either self learn or even distance learning, where you can setup a schedule to learn with some native speakers via Skype, e-mails and so on. 
3. Textfugu - This one is mostly self learn site, but yes, definitely in a very disciplined and hard way.

Of course, if you'd want to test yourself and depends on what you want to do it for, you can always test yourself at the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) that is held sometime in the year depending on your level. For me, it'd be best for me to take up this test so that I can do freelance translations :D Of course, it's look nicer for my resume too, don't you think so?

For those that is interested in Japanese, just some heads up on how long you'd need to take up to learn from Hiragana to Kanji, just purely on words, not conversations or grammars. Even I still have a long way to go for this...

Total Hiragana in modern Japanese : 46 words

Total Katakana in modern Japanese : 46 words as well

Total Kanji : maybe bout 50,000 ? But oh relax, commonly used ones are about 2,500 words. Japanese Ministry of Education specified 1,945 Kanji as the jōyō kanji (Kanji letters in common use).

Here's an example of how Kanji is :

It's your typical Chinese words but with mixture of Hiragana inside. Kanji is used when the word is kinda long written in Hiragana. Also, some of the words may not be exactly the same, I'm not sure since I've not much of knowledge in Chinese words. This is how long a person would take to learn Kanji...

*Source from Japanese-lesson

I'm not gonna give up in my Japanese, that's one thing for sure despite it took me quite sometime to finish this up :P

Keitai Shousetsu （携帯小説）Cellphone Novel

We all realized that in every manga or Japanese dorama, especially those that relates with high schoolers life, it will show the kids updating some novels or reading some novels using their phone. Adults included too, but they read mostly instead of writing them. This trend began for quite sometime already and it is indeed very popular among the Japanese and it has began to spread to the Americans, South Africans, and even Germans as well, I think.

As mostly can't read Japanese but liked the idea of having their novels published or read by others, regardless it's nice or not, those Americans have given talks, educated their people and even made a page and further developed a mobile application, similar to maybe what the Japanese have, of this 'Cellphone Novel'. Being the blogger that I am, after a little researching, this phenomena is indeed a wonderful one. I mean again, who don't like to have their works reaching out to many? In real life, being a novelist is not easy. You write hundreds of pages and try your luck in various publishing house. If you're lucky, you'd hit jackpot of being a famous writer. If not, you'd just end up hitting walls. 

Cellphone novels are just 70-100 words per chapters in Japanese sites, but then again, some may go up to lengthy ones per chapter, just like your normal novels. People download their favorite novels and read them up and they can even communicate with the author by commenting or maybe drop them a private message. 

This website, called Textnovel.com which is further developed into an Apple Store only app, eMobo, is in English and meant for those who'd want to do the same with the Japanese. From what  I gather, it's an American site as its carrier is all American carrier. AT&T, Verizon, Virgin and etc. Irregardless, you still can create an account and write your own stuff to publish in this website or even via the app. Interesting, isn't? This method of literacy is indeed a good way to spark students interest in reading and writing and I personally, loved this and am following quite some writers in textnovel.com as well as thinking of my own novel to write :)

This whole thing, in its own way, is no different than an e-book. Only difference, it comes in various genre and you don't know the author and some may be silly. 

Untitled

For people who reads, which I doubt much will even do so. Just a little imagination running in my mind so I decided to unwind it into a little story.

A little story of a girl who's constantly being that brave little one, no matter who is the bully or how big is their size, she'd stand up against them, protecting the bullied ones. This resulted in people looking at her in a weird way, girls not wanting to hang out with her since they figured she is boyish, I mean, she's strong in her own way. Guys hang out with her since they think she can fight like a guy too. Then again, in this little girl mind, all she want is just to protect people who she can call, "Friends."

As she grows, she kept on doing the same, irregardless who was bullied. She's everyone's protector in school and all the way until college. But life takes a turn when she felt that she's being left out, unable to love since hey, all guys treated her like a "brother". Girls feared her and stayed away from her since she's kinda too vulgar for them to be able to accept. So who is "friends"? This question keeps popping into her mind every now and then. 

Finally, when one day a group of people who accepts her for who she is appears, one by one, forming a big family for her, so she thinks. Blending into it for years, she had never felt happier than before, I mean, come on, she finally finds someone who she can love properly, "friends" that she can rely on, call on, talk to, have fun with, love at and protect. Little did she know, it's all just her. 

So one fine day, this kid just had to go and make a stupid little mistake. A little mistake that costs her the "family" that she built. Choosing the wrong path of life I would say. Again, this kid comes to think of the same question again after so many years (sigh* aren't you bored at the least?), "Who is friends?"

Strong as she may be on the outside, she never fail to break down every now and then when she is alone especially in the shower. Think about it, who could tell why is your eyes all puffed up after shower? You can always give the excuse of, "Oh, shampoo got into my eyes bad." 

So technically, when I thought of it, I laughed at the kid that is in my imagination, then again, I truly did pitied her. I still hadn't been able to come up with an ending for her, seems like it's too early, something like that. Maybe I can elaborate it into a long story? I don't know. 

Festive Eats !

I know it's kinda late in blogging about this but heck, I always believed in better late than never right? Enough said, in my country, Malaysia, last week was a week of fun, eats and play as we have a time called Hari Raya for the Muslims in my country. It's a time where family get together, eat together, and other wonderful things after a month of fasting. The best thing about these two month is that, FOODS!! Never ending of wonderful mouthwatering foods!! 

Most of the foods are without doubt, very sinful, and very delicious. I would say it is all a must have. It's undeniably fattening, but hell, which awesome food is not? That's the reason why they are awesome right? The top picture is what we have, called Lemang. It's sticky rice cooked in bamboo and believe me, together with the curry, it's fabulous! I'd never have enough of that.

 This one, I believe most knows it. The infamous satay ! Depending on your choice, you may have various type of meat to cook. My personal favorite, beef and chicken! Some even comes with rabbit meat or camel meat. Ohhhh, ostrich meat are delicious too. Juicy and tender! Together with the curry that's mixed with nuts, it's an awesome treat that one can have for dinner and yes, just by eating this alone, you can be actually very full. Price vary but cheapest of chicken meat it cost about RM0.30 per stick. Totally worth it. 

The lovely darling here, is the traditional nasi lemak ! The name itself mean fats. But then again, it's delicious!So, who cares! Really, when it comes to this one, it's also another must have during this wonderful season. It's a must have, cannot be missed, MUST EAT meal. I do so insist. You can practically find it everywhere and I personally like those that is served like this. Brings out the tradition in it and yeah, for some reason, it taste better served on banana leaves. 

This is like an extra, but also one of my favorite. It's called Ayam Percik. Not sure how to translate this into english but it's chicken meat with some awesome marinated sauce. Seeing it with the sticks, yes, it's meant to be grilled. It's definitely a huge piece, with each stick enough for a person, especially if you're a small eater. Mostly, during the fasting month, this is sold in the market and the aroma of this would overwhelm most ! :D I do miss this the most as I can only find awesome ones during the fasting month. Other than that, it's not so nice. 

Of course, another perks of having these sort of festive season here in this country is that, in town, it's usually empty and there's no traffic or whatsoever. We always look forward to such festive seasons as it gives great foods, smooth as white tofu traffic, family gatherings and of course, away from work and classes. It's a get fat and lazy moment, but, everyone loves it.

So The Wise Says

Regardless how many times you hear people say words of motivation or whats not, by the end of it, it is always easier said than done. Take my situation for instance, I feel like shit right now and a dear friend of mine told me this, "Complain about it also one day, fretting about it also one day pass, so why not just smile it off?" I know that, but again, easier said than done. It's kinda hard to control emotions, ya'know? 

Words like these are sweet and motivational, isn't? How many of you really live this off? What about when you are discriminated, looked down at, bullied because of various reasons?

That's what they said. But everyone needs a daily dose of this to get things going I think. Nobody is born awesome, perfect, genius (OK there's quite a number with this one), or heck, even saintly. All right, I'm exaggerating but I think in truth, nobody is truly perfect, so yeah, we do need a daily dose of this thing to get our self going. 

We are what we are. We are just humans. We feel, we think, we critic, we hate, we love, we cry, we laugh or even worse, we kill. We're made of flesh and emotions, we're not robots. Don't blame others or even yourself when the negative mind comes. It's just there for a moment, don't dwell in it. 

Regardless of type it's for, I think it applies to most situation, even mine :) So really, get over it, stop dwelling in the past, walk forward, shall we? There's more of these everywhere, so we all just need to google it up :D

It's the Life !

Pretty much everything has changed for me and I'd say, a hell lot of things changed in fact since the last post. Undeniably, I was lazy, now, I might as well a pick up my pace. I half considered closing this blog down and carry on with the new one elsewhere. That will be discovered soon. As of now, I'm going to keep on using this site for my blogs. Technically, for now, I'm lost at what to post, thus the constant delaying on updates. I'm no longer the one going out for parties and clubs or whats not. Rather, the life has gotten really dull. Maybe it's what most people say, part of the process of growing up and sacrificing for something else. 

 True enough, I am indeed sacrificing most of my time for something else. That's to be announced when it's all done :D On a side note, I'd like to point out to all that stop expecting party pictures,hot chicks, hot hunks or whats not in trend. I don't do trend. I set my own trend. Look at it this way, people are crazy about minions right now, here, in my country. Minions as in those mini yellow guy who speaks alien language in Despicable Me.

Yes, these little yellow guy in jumpers with goggles on. People rushes to McDonald's and queue up from midnight or whenever to it's open just to get their hands on these little guys. See what the crazy queue and traffic it caused? Both caught at different state in my country.

These two pictures is sourced from my friend, Shuffler Kenneth. Notice those long ass queue? I'm probably dead asleep while these people try to get their hands on the minion toy and throw the foods away, untouched. Now that's truly despicable. But, hurrah to these bunch of people! 

These guys collected the unwanted meals from those hobos that bought the the meal set for the minion toy and donate them to various homeless and orphanages. It seems like they have taken down their Facebook page or  I'm just purely lousy at looking up for people/group in Facebook. Whatever it is, if you don't eat them, give them to those who can't have proper meal, damn it. Don't go wasting foods and just cuz we're not living in Bosnia or Africa, doesn't give you all the damn right to waste foods.