Fast and Furious February

Lol, okay, sad title. But anyhoo, it is true. Most of February has already passed, and I didn't even realise! Haven't posted in quite a while. *le gasp*

However, it is not COMPLETELY my fault. After all, first I had exams and then there was my birthday (HUZZAH!) So yes, have been busy studying, drinking copious amounts of chai, getting fat and procrastinating. 

But a lot of stuff HAS happened. And things. (Lol, Walking Dead reference- started getting obsessed with that show too recently.)

For starters, exams were horrible but the results were..well..not bad. Well not as bad as I thought they would be anyway. Which is good.. I guess.. right? :P

Anyhoo, after that I had my birthday on the 21st. And I got two presents from my sis- one being the present she owed me for last year's b'day :/

But it was K-pop. And it was good. 

So much love! Lol, and a Molang phone charm too, hehe.

  

Woot! Got my bias's- Onew's card in the SHINee album! :D

My other present (for this year) was a supercute satchel by Accessorize, D'oh!-whose picture I forgot to click! :C

And this was a super lovely bouquet from a friend who came visiting me on my b'day when she realised I was alone on my actual b'day! :')

In other news, I also created another diary to keep track of my daily finances, etc. 

The front- cut up pictures from the SM pamphlet and the ZE:A album extension.

And the back- also ZE:A's album extension :P

Also, in other news- I have gained weight. A LOT of it. As a result of exams I guess. So I have resumed gymming and I hope I get into shape soon! I need my brain to be alert and healthy for the upcoming finals! :O

[I was actually considering having a separate weight loss and health section on my blog where I could post about stuff like my progress and new things that I have learned about being healthy.]

Anyhoo, more posts shall be coming up now that  I am relatively free! :D 

On another random note, have you heard LED Apple's cover of Mr Taxi by Girl's Generation. It is way more awesome than the original! ~ <3

Exams. Urgh.

Okay, so even though I'm really supposed to be studying right now, i just HAD to post! It has been more than a week and I feel.. dead. 

Though I have been overdosing on chai like crazy, making me some kind of a caffeine driven robot. (not yet a zombie- that was the case last semester)

Exams aren't really going too good since I'm finding it hard to get my study mode on. And K-pop really doesn't help my cause.

Lol, by the way, here are a few pics of stuff around me while I was studying (because I have been leading a hermit's life for the past 10 days or so)

Simplex tables. Nothing that simple about them.

Random sketchy attempt at Donghae in my second year Stats notebook :D ( I was obsessed with SuJu-M's Super Girl back then!)

When my kpop obsession had just begun in late 2010 :D (wow, I get really distracted in class)

Yes, I just ordered my Econometrics book from Flipkart. I always love their free bookmarks! ~

Flip side of the bookmark. Lol, do read!

Bought a new bag, mainly for the geeky print! More about this later ^_^

Seeing all my random doodles in my notebooks really brought back memories! It's strange how my obsession with K-pop still remains, but its just become more developed and mature (haha, I think I just made it sound like some teenager!)

But on another note, I should go study now. I hope I do relatively well! My finals are yet to come! (>.<)

Wish me luck!

Also, on another note- Clazziquai's released a new video! Huzzah! I love these guys- they were probably my first favourite Korean music artists (even before I knew what K-pop was!) I love their music, it's very different from mainstream K-pop. ♥

Yay! I have bangs!

My sis gave me a fringe after much bugging her! Lol, she's like my makeup artist AND my hair stylist!
I love my new bangs! Got them again after like what- 15 years?

Heehee, the one standing is me and the one with the ":P" is my sis~

By the way, here's her blog- Beauty and the Cheap. SHE IS AWESOME!


YAY! I have ulzzang/ Taemin-from-Sherlock-like hair now! :D

"Bish, I have extensions and my hair is STILL better than yours!"

On another random note, I was rookie hunting on YouTube and look at what I found! It's SO stuck in my head! By the way, I love the blondie~ <3

Do check them out! I like supporting the new guys! Hope they make it! (and I hope they get rid of the autotune! )

Handmade notebooks + 2PM = ♥

Hello beloved online community,

How art thou today? Hope thy life’s been well.

Lol, okay I’ll stop now.

So anyhoo, today I shall show two mini notebooks I made from paper around the house. I made one for my sis and one for me.

Here is the first one, made for my sis, and which is super kawaii ne?

It’s EXTREMELY simple to make.

1. All you need is a bunch of blank paper, some thread, and a needle and decoration stuff.
2. Then fold the paper into half and simply stick it in the centre.
3. Then find a thick coloured paper to make into the cover and just stick it to the back and front of your pages.
4. Decorate your cover however you want and voila, you’re done!
5. (OPTIONAL) You can even stick a ribbon near the spine, between your back cover page and last page to create a bookmark.

Or better yet, you could just follow this tutorial (it’s a bit lengthy but it’s awesome if you want to make one of those pretty, hardbound notebooks) 

Here are some more piccies of it:

The owl and heart stickers are from Accessorize and were my sister’s idea. The pink polka dot stickers are from Crawford Market (30 or 40 bucks for a 1000 of them!~)

And also, here’s mine:

 I LOVE 2PM and all their beastly hotness~! (Okay wait, that sounded disturbing. But you know what, I am a creep at times. >:D)

So here are some more pics of this:

My bias(es)~

back cover

So yes, I am a kpop (+ 2PM) fangirl AND a very bored dorkus who has better work to do (like study regression analysis!)

By the way notice the “Fly to Seoul” reference *wink,wink*

In case you don’t get it, here’s what I am talking about:

It’s the ad for Korea Tourism which made me fall in love with kpop in the first place! (Alhtough technically, my first favourite Korean artists were the Clazziquai Project)

This jingle/song was so stuck in my head, I would just keep singing “FLY TO SEOUL! ...*doesn’t understand the Korean words*...DANCE DANCE, DANCE...*more Korean words*...BOOM BOOM BOOM!" *does the dance*

Dear Korea tourism, if I ever go to Korea, I expect to spend a day with 2PM 
DO YOU HEAR ME?

A DAY. BEING BACKSTAGE. SHOPPING WITH 2PM.

 AND DANCING WITH THEM.

 AND WALKING AROUND WITH THEM.

 AND WHATEVER OTHER EPIC STUFF THE VIDEO PROMISES.

*makes intimidating gestures*

Schoolyard bullying and the fight for equal rights

Hey guys! So this isn't exactly a rant here. Okay, maybe it is. It's something that's been going through my head for quite some time now and that is this whole system of school hierarchies. Back in school, I remember there was this whole categorization system on the basis of your looks, wealth and grades (much like when you grow up huh?) 

But what I'm trying to say is- this entire system of categories and stereotypes really pissed me off. Not only because it was illogical, but because it was downright unfair.Especially to those of us who are more heavily built. 

When you're a kid- not even 13- other kids would be picking on you for being chubby, or skinny, or getting better grades, or for losing in games. This is acceptable up to a point. I'll give them some things for being young and of underdeveloped minds. After that, it just gets outright twisted. You see kids as young as 8 years worrying about their weight. Kids crying about the fact that they can't run as fast as the others.

I have been a victim of pointless bullying. Although not to a creepy extent. But bullying nonetheless. Being an English speaking kid in a Hindi speaking area wasn't exactly very comfortable. First I was called "Angrej" (similar to being called foreigner). Then later I was bullied for being chubby. I was called fatty for a lot of my life (whether as an insult or sometimes, even in fun, it hurts us you know?)and this pissed me off the MOST. Because this one aspect of being "fat", sidelined a LOT of the achievements I had,like being good at art, or writing. In fact, I think getting better marks made it even worse in some ways. So I was the fat nerd now. Though I didn't care for it a lot of the time, but after a point, the bullying just got to me, and something in my brain snapped. 

When I was a teenager, I hated being called fat so much, I went onto this whole "hostility mode" where I'd restrict my food intake and be hostile towards anyone who even looked at me funny. Although strangely enough, this was also the time I had some of my most intellectual moments where I discovered "non-conformity" and how and why it was hated by our society. That was the time I realised - I was meant to be a logical human being, with the same rights as any man out there. I had the right to speak my mind and be myself, whether society liked it or not. I had great intellectual potential going to waste because I cared about what others thought. I then fully saw a picture of peer pressure which I had not seen before completely.

How I looked at the society around me ( and often, still do), except the Spencer Tracy bit

I noticed that the girls around me were more susceptible to criticism. More likely to change themselves to fit in. And I realised I was becoming a part of them by trying to lose weight. And that was when I decided, "I am taking a stand! Screw you and your sexist, misogynistic expectations!"(And this applied to girls and boys, both) And so, for the second time in my adolescence, something snapped in my brain again. And this time, for the better. 

Being a fat kid in South Asia isn't really easy and being chubby isn't as widely/easily accepted among women. So taking this stand was hard. Very hard. But I stuck to it. Although I must say, a lot of people in school were really narrow minded when I tried to explain gender equality and its importance to them. It's like they REFUSED to believe that such a thing existed, especially the guys. All the same I stuck by what I believed and even developed good friendships as a result too. [And by the way, it's not like all guys are jerks, many of them can be pretty understanding and nice too. And even women can be sexist by supporting things such as "size zeros", etc. ]

So anyhoo, I am happy now. In fact after entering college, I discovered even more people who thought like me and found enlightenment in sociology, which showed me an even more logical approach to the matters that bothered me about society. (It's awesome when you read a book which talks about stuff which you always thought of for years!)


In fact, I will add to that and say I am a happy, self loving individual who hold my rights and freedoms very dear to me. And any person who thinks they are superior in any way due to their sex, IQ or whatever other shit they can think of, all I can say is: 

Oh chai, how I love you, let me count the ways~

Just finished a big cup of chai and the world is good again. No matter how crappy my day is, no matter how sleepy/tired/depressed I am, chai is like some kind of Prozac-in-a-cup which fills my mind with images of sunlight peeking through trees, and long bus rides on empty roads, with your favourite song playing in the background. And the world seems like I'm seeing it through Instagram *cough* rose-coloured glasses.

And just so you may know, I am NOT a hipster! I have been drinking chai since I was 7, because I hated milk as a kid, so my grandma introduced me to chai as a way of getting me to drink some milk. Got addicted to the stuff eventually. Can't imagine life without it now.

Have you ever tried chai, like REAL chai, not the stupid liquid-ey goo people call "chai latte" or whatever- I am talking about real Indian chai. If you have then, you obviously haven't looked back at chai lattes. And if you haven't, then what are you waiting for, grab a cup now! Taste the happiness! ~ (´ω` )

If you don't believe me, then here are some commonly known but cool facts about chai tea:

• It is rich in antioxidants which protect against cell-damaging free radicals.
• Ginger in tea is good for digestion and soothes the stomach.
• It has less caffeine than coffee and yet, restores happiness levels.
• The ginger in tea also has anti-inflammatory properties.

So HUZZAH FOR THE CHAI!

Don't know how to make it? It's simple. Though my method may sound retarded, it works! For one cup, all you need is:
3/4 cup water (in case the water evaporates a lot while boiling)
1/2 cup milk
1 tspn sugar
3/4 or 1 tspn of tea powder (depends on how strong you want it; I like mine strong with less sugar)

1. Boil the milk and water in a saucepan and add the sugar and tea. Keep stirring now and again till the milk starts turning brown.
2. When the milk boils, lower the heat and occassionally bring it to boil in between
3. Once the milk has started turning a deeper brown and it looks strong, switch off the stove and cover the tea.
4. After a minute, pour it out through a strainer! And ta-da, chai is ready! I like having my chai with digestive biscuits. :D

OPTIONAL: You can add a small piece of ginger (crushed) to the saucepan after adding the tea. Just make sure the milk doesn't curdle! Ginger tastes awesome because it gives the tea this extra warming effect which feels like heaven during the winters and during dreary rainy days! It soothes sore throats as well!

You may even add crushed cardamom ,though not one of my faves; or some chopped Holy Basil (Batman!), gives it a nice herbal taste~<3

Or just ask some nice Punjabi neighbour/friend to make you a cup! (Punjabi chai is the best!)

And then be like,

Screw you, societal perceptions!

So this is something that I keep getting worked up about now and again, and I am sure most of you do- societal perceptions and their ridiculousness. Our society is very unjust in what it perceives as acceptable and what is looked down upon. 

For example, an overweight man will usually be seen as "jovial". But on the other hand, see an overweight woman, and you'll hear comments like "whoa, she needs to lose weight!" or "she's really let herself go".

Men are given more leeway when it come to looks. While a woman who may be, for example, intelligent but chubby- is still not given as much favour as compared to the doe-eyed girl standing next to her. Women are expected to possess good personalities, wit, intellect AND gorgeous figures. Plus they are often expected to meet certain height requirements too! As if THEY decided what height they wanted to be right?

This SYSTEM in itself is totally UNACCEPTABLE!

And another thing- when an overweight girl mentions this, it's because "she's jealous". Because pretty girls wouldn't care about body image and societal perceptions right? Also, feminists are often perceived as man-hating, unattractive females or women with lesbian tendencies. That's like saying all men who pay attention to their looks are gay. 

And the most irritating thing is how rampant this sexism and stereotyping is in South Asia!(For example, chick wearing deep-neck shirt suddenly walks past; random person:" look at her shirt- showing off her boobs like no one's business!" *her integrity, dignity,etc is questioned after that*). Though that's not to say that it doesn't happen in other countries. 

And as much as I would like to say that I do not practise stereotyping, I am sorry to say that I do. Though its not in the same way as most people, I do find myself judging people and creating impressions about them in my mind. Like I'll think that dude on the bus with shifty eyes is a creep. It's inevitable. But I never like to voice them out. Not unless they are proved right anyways.

Ultimate point- don't judge people on the basis of their looks alone. Thin women aren't always bitches and fat guys aren't always nice.

And to all you people not happy with your looks- give yourself a hug, your physical and mental being needs it. It' s the only body you've got and it works hard 24/7 just to keep you living. And to all the crap that people may say, your reaction should be:

EXACTLY LIKE THIS

-Rant over-