"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab and a white man has no superiority over a black man, nor a black man over a white man-except by piety and good actions"
- Prophet Muhammad SAW
On Saturday, May 7, 2011
I'm sure for many of you that you grew up reading DWJ as a child. Sadly that's not the case for me because I'm more of a Jacqueline Wilson fan. I've seen DWJ's books in a glance at MPH back in the days because of the special font they use for her name. That was like my only recollection of DWJ.
Anyway I'm sure that most of you have heard of Howl's Moving Castle. I'm a big fan of Studio Ghibli and when they made a film adaptation of the book...I was ecstatic! Mind you, I've never heard of Howl's Moving Castle (but the title sounds interesting!) before but I was super attracted to Howl. Not only just that but the idea of love that transcends age. That's just...romantic.
**Just some info for those who's never heard of DWJ and Howl's Moving Castle**
Howl's Moving Castle is about a wizard named Howl who is famed for being a lady-killer. And he's a great wizard at the same time too. Sophie is a milliner who got cursed by a witch who thought she was having an affair with Howl. Sophie turned into a 90-year old lady and the only way she could break the spell is by having Howl fall in love with her.
For a more elaborate summary, go wiki it or something.
**End**
House of Many Ways is the third instalment of the Howl series. It came out around 2008, about 18 years after the second book, Castle in the Air.
Back in Malaysia I have read Howl's Moving Castle and to be honest, I find it quite a difficult read for a YA book. Maybe because it was written in the style of a different era but the story got a bit complicated for me at the end. To this day, I am still trying to understand what HMC is really about. The whole Calcifer, Howl and Sophie thing just confuses me.
Just to pick up where I left off from HMC, I tried looking for Castle in the air but it is out of stock in Dunedin. So I ended up reading House of Many Ways.
I was expecting it to be quite a complicated read but it was surprisingly easy. In terms of genre, HMW is more of a children's book rather than for young adults. The narration is surprisingly simple and the writing style is a bit bland for me. I understand that this is common among children authors given their demographic but I bought this booking thinking it would be complex and intricate.
The plot is relatively simple and a bit bland. The lead up to the climax is quite disappointing and just doesn't work for me. I admit I was enjoying the book when I first read it but it gets a bit boring when nearing the end.
Is it just me or this is a trend I'm starting to see with DWJ?
Howl's Moving Castle was complicated and exciting at the start but it became a bit confusing at the end so the book ended a bit weird for me. House of Many Ways was engaging at first but bland at the end. It's either I have a problem with DWJ or she just sucks at endings.
One thing about House of Many Ways is that DWJ spends too much time on irrelevant information like how Charmain is having a hard time adjusting to the house. I mean it's okay to note this but it feels like it goes on forever. She fails to prepare me for the climax and it feels like the climax just came out of nowhere. Seems to me that the "meh" parts goes on for up till 120 pages while the climax+problem solving parts has like 30 pages.
House of Many Ways is scarily unbalanced for me.
Just a heads up for all Howl's fans out there, there's not much Howl action going on. The Pendragon clan functions as a cameo so if you expect to see Howl throughout the book, you will be disappointed. Although I'm sure DWJ made it clear about this fact when she started writing the other instalments of the Howl series.
What do I think of Charmain Baker?
Annoying know-it-all who eventually learns that everything doesn't really go like how they are described to be.
She's a pretty basic character for a children's book. Nothing special.
Despite my difficulty with Howl's Moving Castle, I still prefer the first book than House of Many Ways.
Will I read Castle in the Air?
YES.
Just because I could see Howl and Sophie fight again.
Rating: 2/5
On Sunday, May 1, 2011
Both Tim and I have never been to any of the beaches here so we decided to go to St Claire and Tunnel Beach.
Tim and Jie Ning acting as my parents as always. Well more like Nings because Tim and me are like bros yo. :D
The tide was high that day and nothing much was happening
The Ah Pek and Ah Moi
Since there was nothing much to do, we decided to go for coffee at one of the cafes lining the beach.
View from our seat. I wanted to sit closer so we can actually see the beach but all of them were occupied. The weather was nice, it wasn't too cold even though it wasn't sunny.
After that, we made our way to Tunnel Beach! We were just going to have a quick look because we wanted to go to gym but turned out that the trip down to the tunnel is like a hike! A 20 minute downhill and 40 minutes uphill. I pretty much died.
My Easter break was pretty chill. Hope for those who had the Easter break enjoyed theirs!
On Sunday, April 17, 2011
This day taught me something...the power of putting things in perspective. For some of you who know me, this year is a big year for me. I have two major goals for 2011; to get into Honours and direct a kick ass theatre production. Trying to balance these two proved to be a challenge but I'm proud to say that at this point, things have been going well for me.
Now that's not entirely true but I managed to put into perspective you see; things ARE going well.
I had an early class that day. I had to continue the second half of my microteaching during tutorial and it didn't go that well. Not up to my expectation anyway. I felt a bit bummed but I insisted that my day is going to be fine. Besides, I'm meeting the Otago polytech people about my gig as a volunteer tutor later that day. Things are going to be fine, I assured myself.
I had a two hour break so I (actually O_O) stayed at the library to work on my essay draft. It went alright but I still think I need to draft a better version later. I got bored and the microteaching thing still bugs me. So I decided to take some pictures.
If you're an Otago student, you will usually find me at the literature section on the 3rd floor at Central Library. I think the architecture is amazing. So modern. This is a view from my seat btw.
My draft. As you can see, it's not going so well. I barely had any idea what to put in the essay and it is due in a week.
My pretend stressed face
Rows of literature books. My idea of heaven.
If I turn to my right, this is what I see
About 2 hours later, I went to my tutorial. Despite the crappy start of my day I had a very interesting tutorial. In fact, it sort of made my day.
Afterwards I went to meet up Adeline for lunch and basically I poured my heart out about the list of things that are worrying me about my goals. Some parts of the production is killing me with worry and I have so many assignments due before and after Easter. Yeah, a pretty chill talk over lunch. Before I know it, I had to rush to my interview with the Polytech people.
Now this was crazy. I literally ran from town and all the way to Polytech. Despite the cold weather, I was sweating like crazy. And when I got there, straight on the dot...I was greeted with disappointing news. Apparently the lady sent me an email claiming that they had changed the tutorial times to morning. They figured I couldn't make for the job seeing I have to attend classes (which is true). I was really disappointed and the fact that they "emailed" me during class hours on the day itself was stupid. SO pretty much I just ran halfway through Dunedin (hiperbole) and they freaking cancelled on me. At this point, I was still trying to catch my breath.
It took me nearly 20 minutes of running to get to Polytech and I'm out within 3 minutes.
I was disappointed. Frustrated. Worried. Tired. Nervous.
Actually I was really tired of walking so I decided to take a short rest in front of St David. What made me rest was what is engraved on this monument.
Take time. Rest.
Something along those words lah.
That night I did research on my assignment and studied for my upcoming test
That day didn't go very well for me. But I've managed to put things into perspective.a) Microteaching: It's okay that it didn't go well. It was my first time teaching. SO what the heck, I can't expect things to go super well. If it did, alhamdulillah but I'm still a student. I need to learn. Besides, it's not like I failed.
b) It's okay that I didn't get to do the tutoring job. Maybe it's a way of Allah trying to tell me that I have other things to focus on and maybe tutoring is not the focus now. Besides, I'm busy with theatre and studies.
c) It's okay that I was super tired from the run. At least I managed to get some exercise.
d) Despite my shortcomings, I'm living a great life right now. I'm living in an awesome country, majoring in what I'm passionate about, surrounded by good people, losing weight and get the opportunity to direct a full theatre production!
e) I'm studying hard and it's fine that I have so many things due. I'm working towards Honours year! And so far, my results have been kick ass. I just have to work harder from now on and manage my time properly!
f) It's fine that I'm constantly worried about my production. But I have to take things one at a time. It's normal to have problems. Adat la tu. Besides, you can't rush art. ;P
This bad day turned out to be an excellent day after all. I managed to learn how to put things into perspective!
Later that weekend, I attended one of the choir practices for my production. I managed to get a little snippet of the practice.
They're practising on Anuar Zain's Lelaki Ini intro.
Bismillahirrahmanirahim. Please let things fall into place eventually. Pretty please. :)
On Monday, April 11, 2011
Alia and I managed to fulfil a childhood dream. To run among the green hills and sing Sound of Music songs (this is me). But you know what, despite the beautiful green hills...it's filled with deer and cow dung. That's reality for you.
The first half of the video...regarding my behaviour...I can explain. All of us were so into the ANTM behaviour that I just can't help but be very the diva. Haha. (=_=)
On
Last Saturday, I went on a farm trip (organized by OMSA) all the way in Milton. That's about a 45 minute drive from Dunedin. I was supposed to study for my midterms but then again, I thought that I needed the time off from the work and when again will I get the chance to visit a farm anyway? For the price of $30?
It was an impromptu and I guess it was worth it. Y'all know I'm not the most nature-lovin' kinda girl so yeah...most of the time, I just didn't know what to do with myself. Haha.
Me and Alia on the way to Glenedi Farm
The farm is owned by this Swiss couple, Thomas and Regula. Very very nice people. I managed to talk a bit with Thomas and we were talking about the difference between Swiss-German and German. Yeah, linguistic stuff. I'll spare you the details. :P
Fun Fact! Glenedi Farm is about 1700 acres. SO FREAKING BIG!! They're an animal farm and specializes in wool. But they also have cattles and deers.
Sheep shearing demonstration.
Wool. I think these are the rejected ones. They smell btw. D:
Jin Lin!
Sheeps waiting to be sheared.
Apparently sheeps are sheared once a year. Based on my understanding, they will either sheared a bit of the wool in the middle of the year and shear the rest of it at the end of the year. To make profit of course. Majestic view of the farm
Me and Hafiz
Saila and Shiou Yii!
OMSA committee picture
It's kind of sad how much of my life revolves so much around OMSA. :/
From left: Li Ling, Alia and Me
Meet Azrin. He's my costume designer for the play I'm directing. It was so funny how he and Alia were conducting their own photo shoot ala ANTM around the farm.
Regula and Thomas were too nice to let us use their house's toilet. Ever wondered what a farmer's house looks like?
Kitchen
Living Room
Some cattle
A bunch of wild deers
Alia: Yang I didn't know these farmers are so rich!
Me: What made you say that?
Alia: I used Regula's toilet and she uses Estee Lauder make up!
Me: Haha. What do you expect? Just because she wears gumboots and dirty clothes all the time doesnt deter you from the fact that she owns 1700 acres of land.
Alia: She's...rich. Whoa.
Do you snoop? :P
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