'~WoNdErFuL 2 ThOuSaNd 6..

Monday, March 28, 2005
The Novice (Book 2 of Black Magician Trilogy)

Oh my..
It was so exciting till the last part..
If only i can get the third book of it: The high lord..
Wonder if Kinokuniya still have it..??

Well, i managed to finish this book by yesterday afternoon..
Was completely absorbed into this book that i only put away the book to eat my lunch at close to 1.30pm..
It really is an exciting fantasy book..Lots of twist and turns here and there..
But the story is gonna end in book 3..Don't think she got any other fantasy books written so far..
But i'm definitely hoping she would write more...

One of the most interesting part would have to be
the formal battle between Sonea and Regin in the Arena:

To cut the story short,
Sonea and Regin won 2 rounds each..
For the last round (excerpt from the book):
She closed her eyes, seeking the source of her power. It was a little dimished, but in no danger of depletion.
Yikmo has counselled against defeating Regin with sheer strength. "If you want respect, you must show both skill and honor."
I've shown them enough skill and honor, she thought. Whatever happened in this last bout, she was not going to risk losing again by trying to conserve her strength. If she won this bout, it would only be by lasting longer than Regin.
Which meant she would not win it by strength anyway, so why not end it quickly with one ferocious attack?
"Are you ready to begin the fifth bout?" Balkan called.
"Yes, my lord,"she answered, Regin echoing her reply.
"Begin."
She began by attacking with powerful strikes, hoping to gauge Regin's stamina. Regin nearly sidestepped all, her strikes flashing harmlessly into the Arena's barrier.
Sonea stared at Regin, who returned her look with feigned innocence. Dodging and ducking were considered bad form in battle, but no rules existed against them. She was surprised that he would resort to either, but that was what he'd anticipated. He had done it simply so that she used up her power in a useless attack. Regin smiled. The sand around his feet stirred.
A murmuring began in the crowd as the sand begin to rise from the floor of the Arena. Sonea watched, wondering what Regin was doing--and why. Yikmo hadn't mentioned any tactic that involved this. In fact, he'd said that projection was irrelevant in a formal battle.
Sand was whipping around the Arena now. It thickened rapidly, filling air with a thin wailing. Sonea frowned as Regin disappeared from sight. Soon she sould see nothing but white.
Then something more potent buffeted her shield. Judging the direction, she threw out a strike, but another attack hit her from behind, then a third from above.
He's blinded me, she realized. Somewhere beyond the sand, he was moving around the Arena, or directing his strikes to curve and hit from different directions. She couldn't fight back when she didn't know where he was.
But that wouldn't matter, if she aimed in all directions at once.
Drawing on her power, she sent out a spray of potent strikes. The sand abruptly dropped around her, forming a ring on the ground. Regin had centered the sandstorm on her. So that was how he knew where I was.
He stood on the other side of the Arena, watching her cafefully. Seeing him, she knew he was trying to judge how tired she was.
I'm not.
As she attacked, he dodged again. She felt a smile pull at her lips. If Regin wanted to waste her power, she would have him running all over the Arena like a frightened rassook. Eventually she would catch him.
Or she could curve her stikes around the Arena so he had nowhere to run.
Yes. Let's finish this.
She half-closed her eyes and focused on the source of her power. Drwaing on all but little of the magic she had left, she formed in her mind a pattern both beautiful and deadly. Then she lifted her arms. It didn't matter if she let her intentions show now. As she released the magic, she knew it was the most potent force she had ever let loose. She sent it outward in three waves of forcestikes, each more powerful than the previous.
She heard a low sound from the audience as the strikes rayed out like a bright, dangerous flower, then curved down toward Regin.
Regin's eyes widened. He backed away, but there was nowhere to go. As the first strikes hit, his shield shattered.
A hearbeat later the second wave hit the inner shield. Regin's expression changed from surprise to terror. He glanced at Lord Garrel, then threw up his arms as the third wave of strikes hit.
As they did, Sonea heard an exclamation. She recognized the voice as Garrel's. The inner shield around Regin wavered...
...but remained in place.
Turning to stare at Regin's guardian, Sonea saw him press his hands to his temples and sway. Akkarin's hand rested on the magician's shoulder.
Then a soft thump drew her attention back to the Arena. Sonea felt her heart skip as she saw Regin lying on the sand. All was silent. Surely he was just exhausted. He couldn't be...dead.
She took a step toward him.
"Halt!"
Frozen by the command, she looked up at Balkan questiongly. The warrior frowned as if in warning.
Then Regin groaned and the watching magicians let out a collective sigh. Closing her eyes, Sonea felt relief rush over her.
"Sonea has won the challenge," Balkan announced.
Slowly, then with more enthusiasm, the watching magicians and novice began to cheer. Surprised, Sonea looked around.
I've won, she thought. I've actually won!
She surveyed the cheering magicians, novices, and non-magicians: perhaps more than just the fight. But she wouldn't be certain of that until later, when she walked down the University corridor and heard what the novices were muttering, or when she encountered Regin and his friends in one of the passages late at night.
"I declared this formal contest concluded," Balkan announced. Stepping down from the portal, he joined Garrel and akkarin. Garrel nodded at something the warrior said, and began to walk around the Arena toward the entrance, his eyes on the still-proned figure of Regin.
Sonea regarded Regin thoughtfully. Moving closer, she saw his face was white and he appeared to be asleep. Clearly he was exhausted, and she knew how awful that felt. But never in all times she had been exhausted had she fallen unconscious.
Hesitantly, in case he was faking, she crouched beside him and gingerly touched his forehead. His exhaustion was so extreme, his body was in shock from it. She let out a little Healing energy flow from her hand into his body to strengthen it.
"Sonea!"
She looked up to find Garrel staring down at her disapprovingly.
"What are--?"
"Ngh..." the boy groaned.
Ignoring Garrel, she looked down to see Regin's eyes fluttering open. He stared at her, then his brow creased into a frown.
"You? "
Sonea smiled wryly and rose. She bowed to Garrel, then walked past him and into the cool of the Arena's portal.

(extracted from The novice by Trudi Canavan)

Well..that's one of the most interesing part I enjoyed..Hope you enjoyed too..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 12:12:00 PM

Saturday, March 26, 2005
oh my god..

Ya..The simple Life 2 ends its run tonight..
Sigh..i really enjoyed watching the two airheads doing jobs and ruining a mess of it..
It tells us how unlucky employers can get when they hired them..
Plus all the unexpected(or expected) outcomes of the job and family they stay put with..
ohh..i really am gonna suffer Paris-Nicole-syndrome soon..Help..
Really looking forward to Simple Life 3: Interns..
Definitely more jokes from their internship programmes..wahaha..
I was wondering if Mr Trumph would hire them as apprentice
and could only be eliminated at the last third rounds onwards..?
Now that's a wonderful twist to the two-in-one reality show, wouldn't it?
Haha, just a thot, anywayz, hope ch 5 can aire Simple Life 3 soon..
Oh and bring back Charmed..It's nice effects too..Go Go make everyone happy..
Currently still got Desperate housewives to keep me mind filled with humor..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:31:00 PM

Puzzling..??!! hee..not be..

Alright..
i'm sure most of my classmates becum very very perculiar about my behaviour when i decided to go home after the last paper on thurs..instead of joining them at K box for singing..
But i can't blame them for wondering since all ppl will want to enjoy after some stress has been lifted from them..i was home for something that gives me pleasure..
no not dirty stuff..
It's a novel that i had borrowed but not yet read due to exams..

The title is Novice by trudi canavan (Book 2 of the black magician triology)
The first book is The magicians' guild..
And the last book of this triology is The high lord!!
Well, it's a fantasy book that suits ppl like me..fantasy-manic ppl..

The summary of so far(till what i've read so far..):
Sonera is a slum dweller who discovers she has magic potential..But she is being pursed by the magicians' guild who needs to teach her CONTROL..To cut the chase, she was caught by them..
And learnt contol of her powers..but then, she was in a tough choice to join the guild or save her friend, cery..She choose the latter, but was relief when she saw cery being safed, then accuse Lord Fergun of forcing his will on her by holding Cery captive to make her abide by his instructions..well, she decided to join th guild and learn more about magic..and to keep one scary knowledge of the high lord..(to know what's that, read book 1)! As the summer classes for novices started, she was at the mercy of a kid, Regin, a kid who comes from powerful house..seems to like ridiculing Sonera..Now, Sonera has become the high lord's novice, a chance where many novices wish they could have..But if only they knew the real reason behind..Perhaps they would not be so envious...That's all i have completed so far..Seems interesting to me till now..

Now, about that Regin kid, why does he like to make fun of people, even going to the extend of making her life miserable? The story has really intrigued my feelings..making me feel excited, angry, sad, disappointed, fearful, and awe in a couple of hours reading..It reli is a wonderful piece of novel..Guessed it'll be hard to find another book as this..Sigh..
But i shall like this book as of this moment..

WiN =)

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 6:23:00 PM

Wednesday, March 16, 2005
A series of Unfortunate Events..

Foreword:
This is going to be an unfortunately long entry, and if you so desired to read short entries then I suggest you would like to skip this entry, but if you so wish to read, then by all means go ahead..But the ending may not be as pleasant as you might think. And if this bothers you a lot, it would be more fortunate for you to read some other blog entries.

Today, like any other day, is so full of ups and downs..
It is a really long day..
I had a term test and wasn’t quite able to finish all the questions.
Nevertheless, I still had a revision lecture to attend after a short one hour break..Not to mention that I have to complete my service reflection..

However, I decide to give myself a well-deserved treat: A MoViE..

I went to Tampines Mall to get the earliest ticket to Lemony Snickets’ A Series of Unfortunate Events..Unfortunately, there was a long queue outside the ticket booth..After about 10mins of queuing, I finally got my tickets to the show..How fortunate..

I must say, I’m pretty impressed that despite it being the second or third week of screening in the cinemas, the cinema hall is about full house for the 4.45pm show. Fortunately, I’m seated with some audience..Settling myself into the couch, the movie slowly screened on the silver screen..

The opening of the film is a bit bewildering..But nevertheless, the story continues…

A short summary of the film:
Their big mansion was burned to ruins while the three Baudelaire children were out playing. The banker informed them of the unfortunate news that both their parents and the house were gone. They were sent to live with Count Olaf, the closest relative to their parents, which they had never heard of. He tried to kill them to get his hands on their fortune, but did not succeed the first time. After going through several disguise and killing off the other guardians, he finally got his hands on the Baudelaire children, unfortunately. Much as they tried to avoid the clutches of Count Olaf, and warning their guardian to be aware of them, they still fell victim to Count Olaf.
Count Olaf is a scheming person who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the fortune of the Baudelaire children. Fortunately, the children escaped from him with wits and courage till now. But for how long, it’s not too sure.

The rating I give for the movie?? Unfortunately, I intend to give my rating only after some other comments.

I thought the cast were a rather perfect match. Violet, the eldest, is the innovator, Klaus is the avid reader, and Sunny, the baby is the biter. Their acting is so convincing and real that they grab hold of your attention almost immediately when they are on the screen.

Despite the bleak settings in most of the scenes, unfortunately, the actors/actress shines brightly..The look that Klaus give is so fascinating, the way violet looks and ties her hair up whenever she’s thinking hard is so marvelous and gorgeous and the way sunny speaks is so humorous..

Jim Carrey’s role as Count Olaf isn’t as funny and sinister as he could be. Jim is giving the character an overdose of the funny factor..Such that he does not seem sinister anymore..

On the whole, I still pretty much enjoy the movie..Not that it is a series of unfortunate events of the children but because I have learnt something from it..Be fortunate that you aren’t as unfortunate as them, first impression is always very important, live everyday with alertness, wit and courage as you never know when you would need it..

And last but not least, the unfortunate rating of the movie
A Series of Unfortunate Events: 4 out of 5 starZ..

Unfortunately, that’s all the time I have and I shall have to end here. But if you were to be so upset/unhappy with anything in this blog entry or to be so unfortunate to spot any spelling errors, would you be so kind as to ignore it and read some other fortunately grammatically correct blog entries.

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 11:33:00 PM

Tuesday, March 08, 2005
A very very BAD WIZARD??!

Someone came up to me yesterday and tell me..
U've been hurting me..do u know that..??!
Upon receiving the news..I was shocked..
Shouldn't it be the other way round??

U've confused me now..

After long moments of thinking & recalling..
I realized that i did offend ppl at times..
Sometimes even without my knowledge of it..
(until thay told me about it, that is..)
Perhaps its becos i'm too mad to actually think over what i had said..
and just talk like a no-brainer..
But no matter what, i'd still hurt someone's feelings..
And i dun like that..i really don't like to hurt anyone..

The pen is mightier than the sword..
Words can harm one person more than a sword..
Words can convey a meaning deeper than it is
and cause emotional wounds..
But all the sword can do is to cut the flesh up..
leaving ugly scars on the skin..
I know physical wounds can heal,
but emotional wounds will leave a scar even after it has heals..
Why would i want to leave emotional scars just becos of a matter??

Perhaps apologizing may not be enough..
but i can't think of any other way
to express my remorse for hurting u..
unless u can tell me, perhaps we can figured a way out
that won't hurt u or me or our friendship..

=WiN=
The Wizard who is feeling real bad about what he has done
and hopes he has a chance to repent..asked for ur forgiveness..
Please tell me what i should do =_(

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:34:00 PM

Friday, March 04, 2005
YiaN PiN..

HappY BirthDaY Yian Pin..
May u be happy, pretty,
youthful and so smart always and ever..
Haven't been seeing u a lot..
haha.. glad to know i can still recognise u..
after so many years of not seeing each other..

Was feeling a little happier these dayz..
never been like that before the new yr settles..
somehow seeing YP has made me much happier lotx..
Was it her smile? Maybe..
But definitely becos she's my good good friend..

The PA quiz today was a lot less scarier than last pa quiz..
kinda read up a bit be4 i had the quiz u see..
so sort of know where to search for answers..
It seems like the best way to prepare for open-book test
is to read thru the notes b4 test..
and to have an alert mind..No matter wad, dun panic..

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 11:21:00 PM

Thursday, March 03, 2005
-_-''

Thanks for the compliments friends, and pals..
for complimenting that i look really good today..
Really thanks alot..

Well, i dress up for the presentation becoz,
my entreprenuership presentation requires it..
but what the tutor does is look at the report and
hear wad my group as well as the other groups are presenting..
well, since u're not gonna look at us..Y bother we wear formal??
nevertheless, our presentation went on smoothly..
and thanks to Kevin U John for lending our group the lab top,
as well as Ying You for her help..

Then, on the bus heading home,
i was chating with my friend when all of a sudden,
this ill-mannered creature crawls towards us
and start to bark at me and my friend..
Since my friend dunno what IT's saying..
It naturally just bark at me..
Giving me a piece of its Sh**Y mind..
Telling me to move inwards to the rear of the bus..
It doesn't make sense to me
this creature shouldn't be telling me this when
the next stop is my destination..He may feel better barking at me..
but i dun really care about it at all..So why am i writting this??
It's just to let everyone knows that there's the existence of these crude creatures everywhere and even thought the percentage of meeting them is 0.001%, i actually got it..
So beware of these crazy barking creatures around..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 7:43:00 PM