Life in the fast lane

Wow! Everything's moving so fast! I'm posting from the hotel room in Hamilton, Canada right now. According to the locals, this is a cold spring. Pfhst... Heck yea! It's dropped to 6C since I've been here. Today the sun set at 8pm but it only got dark around 9pm. Freaky! From Malaysia to this! How am I ever going to get back into the system?

Well, plans have changed 5 times since we arrived. For the last 4 days it hasn't changed so that's good. Only thing is now when I get back to school, or for that matter, Malaysia, I'm gonna havt'a drop this whole new bombshell on everyone. Mum's gonna deal with the official parts, so I've just gotta break the news to my friends.

Hmm... let's see. Well, I just went onto another friend's blog, and she has labelled me the Renaissance Freak (probbly because of my hotmail account), therefore, now this blog isn't going to only be about books, I'm also gonna post stuff about modern day cultures that can trace back to those olden days eras that we learn about in musty old history books.

Not in my next post to speak about
Shop: 1001 Nights @ Jackson Square, Hamilton
Clothes/Jewellery: especially that beaded cross.

Till next time...

Exams!

EARGH! Exams were made to torture people! I's been a long time since i even looked at this. What's new... I've been sneakily reading books when I'm supposed to be studying... I'm bogged down with hw n revision since I'm disappearing a week early from school... Yeah, don't feel like writing more.

My Obituary

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Random Meanderings 4

Yeah, yeah... I fell off the face of the Earth. Got a puppy, had a fall... no biggie. So, did I read anything new lately? Hell YEAH! My Chemistry text books BLEARGH! They leave bad tastes in my mouth! Well, I'm supposed 2 b goin to some French village in the next few days, hope my leg gets better. Next thing to plan is my outing with Sam... TO WATCH TWILIGHT!

Well... Let's see if i can get this down right...

There is someone who catches my eye
But I know not to even try
For the one thing I fear
Is that person to see me near

I'm not too pretty
Or ever so smart
But on occasion I can be witty
I hope I don't look like a tart

I know it's a phase
And eventually I'll see
It's best to come out of this daze
And just continue being me.


There, I got that down right. Well, cheerios for whomever reads this.

Homework:
Moral 12.5%
Math 0%
BM 0%
Eng 0%
Chem 49%
Bio 25%
+ Math 0%
History 0%

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Teen, romance, fantasy, modern
Published Date: 6 September 2006
Personal Rating: 4.4/5
Money's Worth: Better than it sounds.

When it first came out, I was skeptical about buying it. Everyone in school was reading it, and being a closet rebel, I purposely didn't read it. Everyone said it was nice and at first I thought it was a thriller. I purposely go out of my way to avoid the thriller section in bookstores.

Then there was a clearance sale at one of the stores and amongst the books marked 1/2 price was Twilight. This time I actually picked it up and read the back. I was surprised to say the least that it was about vampires and was a teen story. I bought it but never removed it from the packing. About 6-7 months later, the third book came out and within 2 days I had finished Twilight.

I couldn't resist, they were all talking about it and I had the book, so why not?

The story begins with Bella, the child of divorced parents. Her mother is sending her to stay with her father in a relatively obscure town. She goes though she needn't like it. There, she was so convinced she would hate everything.

Gradually she made friends and even had a relatively good relationship with her father. In school however, a group of students intrigued her. The Cullens were a group of five students alienated by the other students. Or rather the Cullens Alienated them.

Of the group was Edward Cullen. Her friends warned her that he was bad news, but how bad could he be when he saved her from being sandwiched between two trucks? VERY bad news, that's what, because he stopped the car from slamming into her with his bare fist. The body of the car was severely dented, but his hand and arm were unblemished.

Later Bella finds out that Edward is a vampire along with his other adopted brothers and sisters. So are their adoptive parents. Strangely, Carlisle Cullen(the father) is a vampire, but he is also the resident doctor. Over years, he had managed to practice the restraint with blood until he was able to treat people in emergency rooms without batting an eyelash.

Bella and Edward gradually grow closer than normal friends, and she is perfectly fine with the whole Cullen family. Her father seems to feel that as long as she's not moping nothing bad could be happening.

Everything is not roses as a new trio of vampires enters the vicinity while Bella was with the Cullens. One of the males sets his eye on Bella as his prey, regardless that Edward and the whole family have declared her as off-limits. The new hunter feels that all humans are cattle and begins stalking Bella.

Through an elaborately designed plan, Bella manages to lure him away from Fawkes (the town) with the help of the Cullens. With enough of wounds on either side, Edward manages to kill the hunter who actually managed to kidnap Bella, and all return home.

This book is relatively filled with humor. Not overflowing, but just enough for it to be well written. Though most vampire novels I read are usually leaning more towards the sensual, or horrific creatures, the Cullens are a good mix of both. The novel also tells the story of a girl, coping with the modern that almost every other girl faces with the exception of having vampire for a boyfriend.

Many modern issues are present such as divorce, peer-pressure, coming of age and the choice between friends.

It is a book all ages would love, though personally I still haven't seen an adult reading it. It is the type of novel guys would not be caught dead reading; in my school none of them even touched it. But girls... it has enough romance, but not enough to be smutty or fluffy. There's the vampire factor to consider and it's not too bloody or gory, but just enough to make it a read impossible to put down.

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flannagan

Title: Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan
Author: John Flannagan
Published Date: 16 June 2005
Genre: Teen, Adventure
Personal Rating: 4.2/5
Money's Worth: At first it doesn't sound very interesting but by the middle of the book, it keeps you at the edge of your seat.

When I first saw it in a bookstore, I thought it was a book solely for guys, then through a program in school, where we get the books at a discount, I decided in a fit of recklessness, to buy it.

Imagine my surprise when I actually got hooked on it. The story starts off with five children, 3 boys and 2 girls who have come of age. In the fief where they live, once the orphans come of age, they are dividede into different crafts.

Will is a scrawny young boy and dreams of entering Battleschool as he was old his father was an amazing warrior. But being of slight build has put a wedge in his dreams. He was rejected from Battleschool and Horseschool. Then, amongst the Masters assembled, Halt the ranger steps forward and gives a letter to the lord.

That night, Will tries to gain access to the office where the letter is stored and gets caught by Halt. Will is then accepted by Halt to become a Ranger's apprentice. He studies hard and is an apt learner.

Then one day, Halt says that there will be a Ranger's meeting as an ancient evil is rising. Along the way there are some problems in the plan and Halt and Will have to go off and start first while they wait for backup. In the terrain where they're traveling, there live 2 monsters that the evil has created and Halt takes them on while he tells Will to stay back.

In the end the back up does come, but not before Halt is gravely injured. Will is initiated into the Ranger's core without a formal testing because he actually managed to kill one of the monsters.

My summary may not seem much, but it truly is a good book.

The Princess and The Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux

Title: The Princess and The Captain
Author: Anne-Laure Bondoux
Published Date: 5 June 2006
Genre: Adventure, teen, romance
Personal Rating: 5/5
Money's Worth: Worth it. Very hard to put down.

Princess Malva of Galnicia is about to be married of. She rebels against her frigid parents and escapes with her handmaid. They board a ship aided by the Archont, Malva's tutor. Unknown to them that the Archont has plotted to murder her so he can sieze power from her parents the Coronador and Coronada. Malva believes that her disappearance will have no effect on her parents as they have only been detached towards her. However as soon as their daughter is missing the Coronador and his wife are disraught and the Archont seizes power. That is until one day that a letter reaches the monarch telling him of the Archont's treachery. The Archont's flees the Citadel.

Meanwhile, Malva and her handmaid were on the ship, but the captain who was in league with the Archont wrecked the ship saving himself. They wash up on the shores of Elgolia and from the sea, Malva has susatined a terrible bite to her calf. A medicine woman there heals her as best as she can and Philomena and Malva set off again. They are then confronted by the inhabitants of the Steppes. Then once again, Malva is abducted by Amoyeds and sold to the Emperor of Cispazia while her handmaid was saved that fate. Taken into his harem, Malva befriends Lei, a girl who has an amazing way with medicating herbs. She completely heals Malva's leg. But her trials are not over as the Archont has found her again.

Then there is Orpheus McBott. A full grown man, he still hid in his father's shadow. Thouh the McBott line were proud seafaring men, Orpheus had never been to sea. On his deathbed, Hannibal, Orpheus' father reveals his own treachery. Then the Princess goes missing. Along the way, Orpheus befriended a young messenger boy named Hob. Oppressed by the gloomy environment because of his father's death, Orpheus wishes to leave the Citadel. But because of the edicts issued by the Archont, all ships were grounded. Then the Archont fled and the Coronador summoned for a brave crew to retrieve his daughter from the Emperor's harem. By credit of his name, Orpheus is taken on as the Quartermaster of the Estafador.

The crew does retrieve the princess from a fate worse than death. But then they are thrown into a gale and most of the crew perishes except for Orpheus; who assumes the post of Captain, Malva, Lei, Finopico; the cook, Balilas; a giant of a man, Zeph; Orpheus' St. Bernard and the twins Hob and Peppe. They find that they have been pushed beyond the border of the known world and to escape they have to face their worst fears and their deepest desires and conquer them. The catch is that they must do it within 16 days or suffer a dark fate as most other sailors. Danger doesn't stop there as the Archont is there as well. Following an encounter with him, Orpheys takes a sword to the stomach and nearly perishes. Along the way, Malva and Orpheus develop feelings for each other.

When they emerge from the accursed place, three companions are lost and Malva and Orpheus are hesitant to do anything about their feelings. They return to Galnicia to find that while only 5 months have passed for them, 10 years have flew by for the rest of the world. Malva's mother died and her father realized his mistakes and became much softer towards his daughter. Many Galnicians return after hearing their beloved Princess has returned.

Finally when we think that all will be well for Malva and her beloved, the Archont reappears. Orpheus is not around to protect Malva who runs through the palace trying to hide. When he does go to help, he has his musket trained on the traitor but because of sneezing fits, the bullet deflects and the Archont takes this oppotunity to drive his sword through Orpheus' heart- irreversible damage. Malva kills him, but Orpheus dies in her arms. In the end, Mlava is reunited with her friends and tells them what has happened.

The story ends with Malva- who has always loved to write stories, who decides to write the story of 'The Princess and Captain'.