You are fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. You are also kind, considerate, and understanding; always cheer people up and help them out.

I don’t think I’m fresh, lively, charming or amusing, and certainly not constantly in the center of attention. In fact, I think I prefer being in the background. And you know, I’m really bad when it comes to cheering people up.

I thought this one suited me more, minus a few parts:

You are sensible, cautious, careful and practical. You are also clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. You don’t make friends too quickly or easily, but will be extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. It takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

Maybe there are some things about myself that I’m not seeing, so for those who know me, which description suits me more?

I was going home from work earlier this week when the bus that I was on broke down. The bus driver printed out these complementary tickets from the ticket machines, and handed them to each passenger as we alighted the bus. The ticket allowed us to get a free bus ride anytime within a month.

I used my ticket when I went out earlier today. When I showed it to the bus driver, he nodded in acknowledgement, indicating that I could board the bus. He didn’t keep the ticket, or just tear it before returning to me to show that the free ride had been used. I’m not sure if there’s any standard practice when it comes to these things, and in the past I’ve also seen drivers just look at the complementary tickers shown to them by their passengers without doing anything to them. But how then does the bus company ensure that passengers who are holding these complementary tickets to not cheat and use them only once? There’s just no way to tell if the ticket has been used before. If the bus drivers are not required to keep the tickets or tear them, then such a system depends on the integrity of the passengers to make it work. A passenger with the intention to cheat can actually cheat the bus company up to a month’s worth of bus fares! It does add up to quite a bit, especially for those who take long bus rides, but maybe even if there are really passengers like that, the bus company is already earning so much from us that they are still able to more than cover their losses? There should still be a better way of handling this though.

Click here to view the embedded video.

君がいれば、私は強くなれるよ。だから、君にずっと側にいて欲しい。

Agnès b. 2010 spring/summer collection e-mook

The Agnès b. 2010 spring/summer collection e-mook was released last Friday (19 Feb), and my copy arrived in the mail today. Mooks (magazine books), as far as I know, a pretty much a Japanese thing, and the term refers to publication in the format of a magazine but sold as a book. Many well-known brands have published mooks, including Marc by Marc Jacobs, YSL, Paul & Joe, Jill Stuart, Agnès b., and the list goes on. Fashion mooks usually feature a catalogue of the brand’s upcoming collection, as well as other contents that probably differ in each one. The Agnès b. one, for example, features the brand’s history and development.

What’s most attractive about these mooks though is not their content, but rather the supplement that comes with it. This is usually an item produced just to be sold with the mook, and of these, tote bags and pouches are the most common. Compared to the usual price of the items sold by these brands, mooks are very affordable (the Agnès b. one costs only 1200 yen for example), so to the interested buyers, it’s like getting a branded item for a low price. Given the low price, the quality of the supplement certainly cannot be expected to be top-notch, but it’s still reasonable for what you’re paying. If you like a particular brand, it might be worth checking out their mooks.

Tote bag with Agnès b. mook

As far as I know, the Agnès b. mook is sold out at Kinokuniya, and they have stopped taking pre-orders until further notice. I guess whether there will be a reshipment of the mook depends on whether there is still extra stock in Japan? It seems to be sold out on a couple of Japanese sites though, and I don’t know if it means that it’s also pretty much sold out in Japan. There are some people selling it online, but check the price before getting it, because lots of people are jacking up the price. (It’s only selling for 1200 yen in Japan!)

Whenever we meet, it feels like time has stopped for the moment, and we can talk about whatever we want, however long we want to. But when it’s time to leave, I realise that those few hours had gone by too fast. The days that we spent in school will never come back, but we still have all these occasions when we meet up to look forward to and treasure.

8 years and counting… I’m so blessed!

YW went for her TA duty yesterday, and for this particular class, the experiment that the students were supposed to do spans over about 3 different lab sessions. After the first session, they were supposed to hand over their samples to be kept until the next session. When one of the groups had finished their task for the day, one of the students came over to ask YW if she was to just keep the samples in the lab coat of her pocket, bring them home and then back again the next week. YW, thinking that the girl was joking with her, joked in reply that she could do so, and then to her shock, the girl did just that! It was only then that YW realised that the girl was serious when she asked the question, and stopped the girl and told her to leave the samples in the teaching lab.

I guess that when it comes to helping out in the practical sessions, no matter how ridiculous the question seems to be, it’s better to assume that the students are asking it seriously, because things that are obvious to us might not seem that way to some of the students, who don’t have much lab experience. And I guess for the students, if you’ve asked the question and the TA’s reply sounds like he/she might be joking with you, it’s better to ask again to make sure. (Sometimes we forget, and assume that you know more than you actually do.)

Valentine’s Day might just be over, but if there’s any show that this holiday reminds me of, it has to be Tokyo Marble Chocolate. The anime comes in 2 half-hour OAVs, which tell the story of Chizuru and Yuudai, who had both experienced failed relationships, spending their first Christmas together. The first part, Zenryoku Shounen, is about Yuudai’s story, while the second part, Mata Aimashou, shows the events from Chizuru’s point of view. While the running time is not long, the story is developed nicely, and the characters are not difficult to identify with. It’s not often that you see a show that tells the story from both the protagonists’ point of view, so if you have some time, do give it a try (links are under the cut).

Zenryoku Shounen

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Mata Aimashou

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Sometimes I do wonder why boss gives me all these things to do instead of someone else. I’m not complaining, but just wondering whether it’s because she trusts that I can handle them and she’s happy with what I’ve been doing so far, or because she things that I’m too free? Hopefully it’s not the latter. In any case, if it’s the former, then what makes her think that way? I’ve only been here for slightly more than half a year, and far from experienced as compared to the seniors. I don’t know what kind of impression she has of me, but I just hope that I’ll be able to live up to whatever expectations she has.

Work aside, I’ve also been thinking a lot about other stuff lately. “What is life all about?” is one of those questions that seem to be popping up rather frequently, along with “What do I hope to achieve?”. As a student, I guess my primary concern was with my grades, and at church, with whatever responsibilities I had in the different areas that I was serving in. But now that I’m out of school, the grades no longer matter. So what now? For most people who have just entered the working society, I guess one of their main priorities would be to do well at work, and perhaps for the ambitious ones, to climb the corporate ladder as fast as they can. Some people work for the recognition, some for the money, and others for various reasons not listed here. For some, work becomes what their life is all about, and in the lab, it’s not uncommon to see some people appearing 7 days a week, sometimes even during public holidays. But this is not how I want my life to be like. Yes it’s important to do your best at work, and if I need to go back during a weekend for something important I will, but work is not going to become all of what my life is all about… so then what am I working towards in life? Someday… I hope the answer will come.

Nevertheless, a big thanks to everyone who celebrated with me yesterday, and for all the birthday wishes! It’s so nice to wake up to all the happy birthday messages sent during the night, and getting more of these messages coming in during the day. Reading all these messages from people I haven’t seen in a while just gives me the nice, warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Gotta catch up with some of you soon!

pika pika pikachu!