2011

The year is almost over. It's been quite a challenging twelve months, but for once, I'm not going to focus on the negative. There's been a whole lot of good happening in my life in 2011, so I'll list them instead:

• I've been able to see Go Radio and Yellowcard live

I've loved these bands since I was a teenager. Their songs have been with me in a very difficult time of my life, and seeing them perform live was one of the best things that have happened to me this year. I even got to talk to Ryan Key (got him to sign my Smartrider) and to take a picture with Jason Lancaster :) It's still all a bit surreal.

• Chlollie is endgame!

Smallville ended after 10 seasons. All my friends know that this TV show's one of my ultimate favourites. The last seasons were nevertheless VERY disappointing. The show destroyed what Clark Kent was supposed to represent. By the end, all he was for me was a giant douche who took all the merit of his friends, who were the real heroes. Anyway, while trying not to stop watching the show, I was shipping Chloe and Oliver (Green Arrow) real hard. Those two blondes were so badass and perfect for each other... And in spite of not being mythos, by the end, Smallville did one thing right. Chlollie ended up together and even had a child! Woohoo!

• I graduated from university

I wasn't too sure about including this in the list. I'm happy to be done with uni, but now I'm experiencing the woes of finding a job in my field. Anyway, I guess it's on the list because I managed to complete my whole academic life without ever failing once! woot, I guess.

• I turned my mother into a Kdrama addict and made my siblings appreciate kpop 

I'm actually quite proud of this! While I was back in Mauritius in August, I kinda forced my mother to watch Secret Garden with me. She loved it so much that she's watched it six times since then lol Then, we had a kdrama marathon when she came to visit me in Australia a few weeks ago. We watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Protect The Boss, City Hunter and The Greatest Love, most of which she really loved (she didn't really like the guy from Greatest Love). Making her share my kdrama obsession has kinda made us closer.... I wish we could have started watching dramas together way earlier... Hm, yeah, I also got my sister into kpop! She's now a fan of 2NE1 and of Big Bang, and my brother's got a JYJ song on his phone! Go me for spreading the hallyu wave among my family! :)

• Found back my faith

I actually never stopped believing... but in a way, I guess I was too self-centered and focused on my own problems to really open myself to God. I stopped going to Church a long time ago, and with everything going on in my life, I kinda just stopped talking to Him and recognising His presence in my life. But He's always there, you know. You just have to let Him in. That's what I did. I was bordering depression, thinking about how my life was meaningless and how I would probably be better off dead, when I started going back to Church, all thanks to an amazing friend. And then, everything got better for me. It's like He made me realise that even if I hadn't found it yet, I really had a purpose on this planet. He opened doors I believed were forever closed and gave me back hope. He made me realise that even if I'm often alone, I'm never lonely, because He's always here with me.

• I can stay in Australia!

One of the reasons I was really down this year was because of that stupid IELTS test we have to pass in order to be eligible for a visa allowing us to stay in Australia. I took that test 4 times, and each time, in spite of my awesome results - I got the higest score in 2 of the 4 components and got waaaay above average results in the rest - yeah, in spite of this, it was never enough for me to qualify for that visa cause they recently changed the law and made it super hard. Anyway, I got my visa thanks to my brother who sponsored me! It's not a permanent one, but I'll be able to apply for a permanent one after 2 years. So, I guess I just need a little patience. Bro, if you're reading this, I LOVE YOU! Thank you and I'll be forever grateful to you!! (sis, if you're reading this, don't be jealous, I LOVE YOU!)

• Big Bang won the EMA award against Britney Spears 

It's a bit silly to be happy about that, but they're my favourite Kpop band, and they've suffered a whole lot during 2011. Daesung's accident and GD's scandal made them go on hiatus for a long time and their fans (including myself) voted like crazy to make them appear as 5 in that show. And yeah, our votes didn't go to waste since we also made them win the award. It was so crazy and amazing to see them on that stage, as 5, a smile on Dae's face, accepting the award, and making a speech in Korean. Big Bang was BACK! :)

OK, that's all folks!! It's not much, but that was enough for me to be thankful for in 2011. I hope I have more stuff to be thankful for in 2012!!

Syfy's Alice

I've been wanting to watch this movie for ages and I've finally been able to. It's a modernised adaptation of the classic tale by Lewis Caroll.

I've never liked Alice in Wonderland as a child. The story was just too confusing for my small brain. haha. And while I went to the movies to watch the Tim Burton movie, I mostly did so to see Johnny Depp on big screen. In my opinion, it was just an okay movie.

I really wanted to watch this movie, though. I saw some scenes on youtube and instantly knew I'd have to watch this. The movie didn't disappoint. Not even a little.

Alice was well developed and totally relatable. Hatter wasn't as mad as what I had come to expect with the other versions, but much more lovable. I also really loved Jack - Alice's boyfriend. The other characters were also very well portrayed.

The costumes and the visuals were also amazing. The numerous outdoors shots, the Casino which was basically in form of a tower made of cards, were simply perfect to make us think she really stepped into another world .

And the ending was just beautiful. It made me go all 'aww' even if I kinda expected it.

I'd give it a 4.5/5 if I had to rate it :P

The Day I Died by Polly Courtney review

I haven't reviewed anything in a long time, but this book was so great that I decided to share my love for it online. I bought it a few weeks ago but only started (and finished) reading it yesterday. Of course, it was not perfect, but it was a really really nice read.


It's a book about Jo Simmons (not her real name). She wakes up amist debris, close to a bombed nightclub with no recollection of her past. She has amnesia and doesn't know her own name. She flees from the scene and ends up in a rural village where she tries to start from scratch. She makes up a whole background, adopting the 'Jo Simmons' name and tries actively to solve the mystery of her past. She discovers some pretty bad stuff about who she really was and has to choose between adopting her new persona or going back to who she was. Of course, she meets an awesome love interest in the mean time :D

Okay, I'll keep it brief.

Pros:
1. It was based in England. I love England.
2. It was thrilling and gripping and totally captivating. I stayed up all night to finish it!
3. Made several references to popular culture. Facebook was a very important plot device!
4. Frienship and family were important parts of the story.
5. The romance was not what defined the main female character. She was so well developed. I could totally relate to her - well to an extent - and my initial negative opinion of her totally changed by the end of the story
6. It was not a chick-lit per se. It was really different (in a good way) from what I had read before.
7. Football!!!! :D (or soccer as Americans would call it.)
8. Amazing love interest for Jo. He was so lovable! :D
9. Many more but that's all I can think of right now.

Cons:
1. A little unbelievable. (Jo's able to find jobs with no/made up qualifications! I wish it was that easy in real life haha)
2. The love interest should have been developed more. He was a great character.
3. The ending was a little too abrupt. I wanted to read more of her life in that new City.

Anyway, despite the cons this book deserves a 4.5. I LOVED IT!! :D

The Cab EP : Lady Luck Review

I've got to say that I'm a huge fan of The Cab. Alex DeLeon has one of the loveliest voices I've ever heard. He's even on my list of voices I'd marry if I could marry a voice (second to Jason Lancaster from Go Radio, ex-Mayday Parade).

I absolutely loved their first album, Whisper War. Seriously, Vegas Skies has been my alarm tone for months, and I'm still not tired of listening to the song. So, it's needless to say that I was impatiently waiting for the release of the new EP.

As soon as i saw that the whole thing was on PureVolume, I went there for a listen. However, I must admit that I was kinda disappointed. I don't know, maybe I was expecting too much??

Not that I'm saying that the EP is not good. It's just that it sounds overproduced.

Okay, let's just start from the beginning.

Take My Hand (remix) for instance. It features vocals from Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday (a great band btw). Well, though they both sing well, I prefer the original by far. Why? I don't like how they've synthesised Alex's voice in that version. I mean, why did they even do that? Alex DeLeon's voice was perfect on the original version!

I am Who I am and Diamonds are Forever are quite goods tracks though. They have the original The Cab sound which I LOVED!

I'll Run (strings) must be my biggest disappointment on this EP. I'll Run was my favourite song on Whisper War. With lyrics like "Girl you're three times the lady I'll ever have", I must admit that I just fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. Now with strings, I was definitely looking forward to something very heartfelt. But I didn't really feel any emotion in his voice. I know it's harsh but I thought that this version was rather dull.

I want to break free (Queen cover) is a really fun cover. First thing that came to my mind when I heard it was : "Aww so sweet".

Lights is the catchiest song on the EP. It was love at first sound. Seriously my favourite.

All in all, the EP is quite good. Just a little disappointed that the EP was much more heavy on the production front... Oh well...

Score: 3.5/5

Mini review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why is a YA novel written by Jay Asher.

It's the story of Clay Jensen, whose life changes when he receives a package with no return address. On opening it, he finds out its contents; tapes that need to be passed on to 13 persons, recorded by his crush.

Hannah Baker, who weeks ago had committed suicide.

Those seven tapes --thirteen sides-- are a narrative description of what brought her to that point of no return.

But Clay can't understand why he's one of the recipients. What did he do for her to blame him as well?

As the story unfolds, the readers will be in for quite some surprising and unforseen events.


Thirteen Reasons Why is an interesting book. It was well written, with some very shocking plot twists. But did all that make me like it? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Maybe that's because I couldn't really understand Hannah.

I found myself hating her by the end of the book. It's like she was whining during the whole thing and well, I found some of her 'reasons' to be quite petty. Also, I think that what she did was really selfish. Suicide is already something very difficult to deal with. Now, by sending those tapes, she only makes it harder for some persons who were perhaps already blaming themselves. See how selfish she is?

On the other hand, I rather liked Clay's character. He's tormented when he receives the tapes, and can't help himself from feeling guilty. Poor him...

In any case, Thirteen Reasons Why was an okay read. Though I disliked Hannah, I couldn't stop myself from reading it because I really wanted to know about what brought her to that point. So yeah, I'd recommend it, because it was gripping and gives an insight on suicide...

Score: 3.5/5