LEGO Movie Sets

With all the new unique LEGO sets bombarding the toy stores, I envy those who have the resources to buy all these products. From the Superheroes sets to the LEGO Movie sets, deep down in my heart, I want them ALL!!! Nevertheless, I know I have my limits and I deeply appreciate the sets that I can buy. Plus, it just makes them ever more...AWESOME!




Alright, let's get to it. The first LEGO set I bought for this year is 70803 Cloud Cuckoo Palace, featuring Emmet, Wyldstyle and my personal favourite, Unikitty. I would say this set is the most colourful set out of all the other LEGO Movie sets. Based on the same place in the movie, this is the home of Unikitty where all the Master Builders would convene and release their imagination, hence, the multi-colour cotton candy-lookalike. I guess that's the market value - The brightness and the mere reflection of fun. Don't get me wrong, the other sets are pretty cool too, like the Lord Business Evil Lair, but Cloud Cuckoo Palace is unique in the sense that rarely has one LEGO set consists of this many coloured bricks.

Another thing unique about this set is Unikitty (original form). You can only find this form in this set. Plus, Unikitty is my favourite character in the movie. She's just so cute and full of happiness as well as a hidden dark side, kinda like me....hahahaha.

Moving on, other LEGO products that I bought this month includes the ever popular Minifigures - Series 12 which also features the LEGO Movie characters. The Minifigures Series also comprises of unique (I have used this word too many times) minifigures that usually cannot be found anywhere else. In conjunction with the LEGO Movie, LEGO decided for this series to feature some of the character we could find in the film. Of course, the line-up includes Wyldstyle and Lord Business (in alternate costumes) but minifigures like Marsha, the mermaid queen can only be found here. By the way, she's the rarest one in the whole set and I can't believe I got her.

Initially, I have three (as you can see in the picture). Then, I added one more member to my collection -  Larry the Barista who served overpriced coffee to minifigures. Out of the line-up, I actually wanted him the most as he came with the cute mini coffee cup. This is also good for my future LEGO photography.

Anyway, that's all I have to offer for now. I'm planning to buy some Superheroes sets in the future but alas, I could only limit myself to a few (I'm poor). There are indeed many great sets out there but I have my eyes set on a certain mutant group. As for now, I leave you with Larry and my coffee in the background.

Buried under the Bricks

I am literally buried under a pile of bricks. For this whole week, unexpected tasks were given to me on a platter like a waiter serving you a food that you did not order and expect you to finish it. I was swamped, bombarded, inundated and overwhelmed with things to settle, not to mention fatigue. In reality, I had couple of exciting things to post for the blog but due to the time constraint, I was only able to post one today. Plus, I was extremely exhausted.

It all started on Monday. The day went by like any other interning day until 8pm when I was told to go outstation to help the company with career fairs held in schools. It was last minute and none of us saw it coming. Of course, I couldn't turn down the decision as there was no other appropriate personnel to send to settle the task. So, within 2 hours, I went home, packed my bags and left for the bus station. One of the student ambassador from the company accompanied me and chaperoned a 18-year-old was not as easy as it seemed but it did have its perks. It took 3 to 4 hours to reach the destination and we only managed to check in to the hotel at 3am. To make matter more tiring, we had to wake up at 6.30am in preparation to go to another venue for the career fair which was held at 9am (it was far away). To summarize, we had two career fairs; both commenced on 9am; both were filled with obnoxious and loud high school students.

Nevertheless, both career fairs were fun but I was reminded how childish high school was. While outstation, I took some photos of the local attractions which will be featured in the next post.

The next unexpected task was meeting foreign delegates...again. This meant traveling to the airport...again and greeting them...again...and fetched them back to the hotel...again. The difference for this one was that I had to wake up at 4.30am and waited for one of the student ambassador who had to be the chauffeur. I kinda pity her on that. So, we were both uber sleepy and the haze did not help us at all (yes, haze...another thing I need to rant about).

However, the latest group of foreign delegates were the nicest so far that I have met. I was even given a job interview offer by them but chances of me participating in it are slim. Still, I was flattered by them and they were quite entertaining as well.

So, that was the summary of my week. Thank goodness I have my off day tomorrow without the likelihood of unexpected call to help out at work (finger crossed). 14 days left and I am preparing in my heart and soul that more unexpected duties will come about in the future. It's not that I don't mind performing these tasks but I really need the time to recover and they should not be set early in the morning. 

Other than these rants, I have other favorable topics to talk about in my upcoming post (as I said, it's been a busy week for me). Till then, see ya.

Marching into March

Without a blink of an eye, February passed (fine, there are alot of eye blinking involved). Anyhow, we are stepping onto the third tier, March, which for me is a big month because I will be finishing my internship and unofficially, my Degree. YAY! I have exactly 20 days left but hey, who's counting.

If you remember my January review post, I have decided to do a review/reflection for every month of 2014. It's just like a recap of all the major events that happened to me in the month and how I can improve myself by looking at them. Honestly, February wasn't as "happening" as January for me. Basically, my daily activities involved trying to recruit people to join the center I am interning at. It may seem simple but it's not.

The only few good things that occurred last month was the premiere of The Lego Movie. #everythingisawesome Ok, that's becoming a bit overrated but still, the film was what most LEGO fans' been waiting (I know I was). It might seem kiddish on the surface but there was a moral value that adults could relate to amidst the colorful and fun theme. As such, both kids and grown-ups (like myself) would find the film enjoyable and memorable.

Rating: 5 out of 5

In other news, Cyren left for his fieldwork this morning. It was bittersweet. On on hand, I'm glad that he's enjoying his fieldwork whereby he's closer to nature which is something he's always wanted. On the other hand, he will be gone for a few months this day. The first trip was merely two weeks, that was nothing. Now, the big challenge comes and not to be dramatic, but it will be a test for both of us.

Ultimate question: Could we handle this brief yet seemingly long separation?

Nevertheless, I always look at the bright side. The fact that I shed a tear or two this morning when he was on the way to the venue showed that I really do love him. I even thought of going on a nice vacation upon his return. Any freaking country will do. Lolz.

As of now, if you are reading this, Cy, safe trip bee. Come back home soon k. I will always love you <3

Comic Book Update: Magneto

The other thing that I like more than LEGO is comic book. Since the day I was exposed to the comic universe, I have immersed myself the ins and outs of comic book characters - their profile and details (including origins but these are usually messy). So, when LEGO renewed the deal with both Marvel and DC in 2012, you can imagine I was elated, overjoyed to max. Of course, given that LEGO could only do so much to feature the comic book world and given that the comic book world is constantly changing (bad guys are becoming heroes, heroes are becoming anti-heroes etc), I have decided to write about the LEGO comic book characters that LEGO has featured so far. I'm doing this to inform the readers what the heck in going on in the comic world as well as keeping myself updated.

For my first post of such feature, I will talk about the classic X-Men villain-turned hero (or anti-hero), Magneto.

FYI, I actually took this photo a while ago and I posted it on Instagram as a short feature with the same intention as I have here with the current post. Well, it's always good to update again.

Anyway, let's begin.

As mentioned above, Magneto is a classic villain/rival of the superhero group X-Men. Possessing the powers to bend metals as well as controlling magnetic fields, his ideals consist of designating mutants as the sole ruler of the world, the next step in evolution. Of course, this is radical and the X-Men are always there to stop him. In retaliation, he led his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to fight off the X-Men but in the Golden and Silver age of comic, villains' plots usually don't succeed.

However, Magneto had a love/hate relationship with the X-Men founder, Professor Charles Xavier and his villainous role originated from his horrifying childhood experience. He was a Jew in a Nazi-dominated land and he was separated from his parents as a child. As such, he saw Homo Sapiens as a threat to the mutant survival and the vision of a concentration camp for mutants was not so far-fetched. That is he is hell-bent to make sure that mutants will not be discriminated or prosecuted based on their genetic structure. Professor X does have the same ideals as him, ensuring mutants' survival are not threatened but Magneto preferred a bloodier path.

Throughout the years, Magneto had had a change of heart (like too many times). He joined the X-Men to help the students and left them for his villainous path. He was once a headmaster as well but as I said, his villain side took the best of him. At one point, he did obtained his wish for mutant supremacy. The story arc was House of M when his daughter, Wanda, altered reality in such that mutants were the dominant species and Magneto was their kind/president. The story arc was also one of my favourites.

After that, he renounced his villain role...again..and joined forces with X-Men, led by Cyclops who apparently, began to accept Magneto's extremist views. While Magneto lived in peace with the X-Men (some even looked up to him or fell in love with him), others were wary of his actions as he wasn't exactly trustworthy. Nonetheless, he proved his worth by saving a fellow X-Men, Shadowcat, from a jumbo space bullet (check it out yourself, if you don't believe me).

After the event of Avengers Vs X-Men, his powers became erratic as he was in contact of the Phoenix force. He later donned a new White costume and joined Cyclops's rebellious X-Men team. Currently, I'm not sure what's his stance on Cyclops's team as he had his own agenda, like dealing with Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. His main priority is still ensuring the survival of the mutant species.

For my personal view on Magneto, I respect him in some ways. He does make his point about saving his own kind and sometimes the only way to do so is to take the path no one favours but everyone knows is a surefire of succeeding. I have to admit that he does go overboard sometimes with his ideals and beliefs but he is definitely one of my favourite villain/hero in the Marvel Universe.

There will be a standalone series coming soon, featuring Magneto alone and his journey to save the mutant population. Do check it out if you can.

Special Valentine

Valentine's Day couldn't get any more special as it coincides with the Chinese New Year tradition of seeking a romantic partner in Malaysia. Custom holds that women would write their phone numbers on Mandarin orange and throw it into a river for men, who are waiting downstream, to collect and call the women out for a date. How this tradition came about, I have no idea but it's a fun activity (though it's environmentally destructive). Anyhow, today's VALENTINE.

The day didn't start out as planned though as I was called back to the office to help move some furniture, much to my and Cy's dismay and discomfort. I managed to come back in 2 hours time but I find the travelling a bit unnecessary. Bygones be bygones.

So, what did we do this year? Initially, we thought of going to a forest resort to spend some time away from the city but most of the hotels of the venue were fully booked (the ones which are good anyway). Lovers are flocking everywhere these days. In the end, we decidedly to just stay back in my room and play Pokemon.

Now I know, it's a major - WHUT?! Not even a dinner plan? A few years back, I would react that way. The thing is, we have become so comfortable with each other, we don't really need any plans or visits to anywhere. Spending time with each other was special enough to go through the day. I was devastated when I had to go to work for a while today but I was thankful that I was able to come back early. That itself told me that I don't need any special plans. Being next to the person you love was special enough.

Next time, if you feel the need to do something special for someone for whatever occasion, if the plan fails to happen, just spend time with the special someone doing whatever. That's the unique thing about love. True love doesn't require much. 

And, I will leave you with the comic relief below.

You must be from another planet (literally) cuz you are out of this world.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE!

Soaring Away

The thing about flying is that time seems to slow down, especially when you are alone and you have no distraction to occupy your mind. Thank goodness I don’t have to worry about the latter with my laptop in front of me. Anyhow, I was flying back to Selangor this morning and I was lucky enough to have the two seats next to mine empty. So, I got enough leg room to relax for an almost 2 hours journey. However, I’m not exactly looking forward to go back as I have to continue onwards with my internship on Tuesday. Well, I need it to complete my degree so I should really clam up about this.

Now, there is another reason why I chose ‘Soaring Away’ as my title. Today is second day of February and it wasn’t long ago, we all were just celebrating the new year of 2014. Now, the first month of 2014 just flew away and we moved on to the second. Thus, I dedicated to this post to reflect a little bit on what had happened in January 2014.

Firstly, I started my internship on the 2^nd January. It was something exhilarating yet nerve-wrecking. Although I can’t say my expectations were met while interning, I must say that I did enjoy meeting several people, some of which are exceptionally nice. Then, my BeeBuu (Cy) hosted a birthday party for me and it’s one of the few birthday parties I had in my lifetime. Hence, I couldn’t thank him or love him enough for what he did. Of course, he had to move away for a while to start his fieldwork but I’m glad he had a good experience. He will do so again in March and this time for almost a year time. I view this as a test for our relationship. Lastly, meeting my relatives from Singapore for Chinese New Year was another highlight of January. I can’t say I bonded well with my cousins but there was hope with my youngest cousin from that family, Janielle (what can I say, I like the attention given to me by my young cousins).

It was a tiring journey, especially with the whole internship. Yet, there is no stopping for me. It’s time to disembark and board the second plane to a destination unknown.

So, readers, how was your January? 

Year of the Ponies

Today is the first day of the New Year - Chinese New Year to be exact and it's the year of the Ponies. Now, Chinese culture has its own version of the zodiac, represented by 12 animals. In order, they are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. Since it's a 12 year cycle, you can sort of tell a person's age just by knowing their animal zodiac sign. For example, it's horse this year so that means the person this year would be either 12 years old or 24 years old or 36 years old.

As for me, I am one of those special cases which even my elders get confused sometimes. If you follow the Gregorian calender (or Western calender), I'm supposed to be the goat. However, according the the Chinese calender, I'm a horse since my date of birth fell before the Chinese New Year. Regarding this matter, my grandmother would claim that I'm a horse but my aunties and uncles and even my parents would say I'm a goat. To a certain extent, I was even referred to as goat head, horse tail. As of now, I'm just getting comfortable to re-identify myself as a horse because Chinese customs entail it. There are a few times I reverted back to asserting that I'm a goat but old habits.

Regardless of the animal zodiac sign, I just want to wish everybody a Happy Chinese New Year and for those for do not celebrate this festival, Happy Holidays.