This and That

So, it seems like I'm an ex Singapore Poly student now heehee.

Nah, I just got that shirt from Saheed's place. It's so comfy and the laundry soap smells so amazing. I love the smell of fresh laundry.

In other news, I might have accidentally pulled a muscle in my right leg. It really hurts and feels so uncomfortable. Hurts to walk down the stairs.

Exams are looming up like some poisonous pollution cloud. First exam is on Saturday! 7th of May to be exact. And between you and me, I don't feel prepared for it at all. Cue Toccata and Fugue.

Just feel like blogging today. I didn't accomplish much, went to Saheed's and caught up with Season 4 of Big Bang Theory. Cos it's so much more important than some silly final year exam yea?

I have rocks for brains.

However! Sheldon is so adorably annoying! It's so hilarious to see a socially handicapped genius call himself the "life of the group" or the "whimsical elf". Love it.

Tired tired. Why am I so tired!

By the way, received some money for volunteering in a research yesterday. $115 in total for about 5 hours of sitting in an MRI scanner and performing tasks. It would have been fun if my stupid body would get better and not cough. You guys should try it if you're in need of money. The research is to find the causes of schizophrenia and you'll have to go for two sessions with a psychologist. For each session you get $50. Then there's the MRI scan which is $100 a session. They'll do the same thing every six months for two years. So it's...stable income?

Yea. If you're interested check them out. I personally did it for the money at first but now I'm really eager to know what happens when the research is all done. Here is the link to their Facebook page. If you're one of those odd people who don't believe in Facebook, here is the link to their official website.

Yep. Seeing as I'm so terribly tired, I'm probably gonna try to go to sleep now. Nighty night y'all.

MUSIC PAINTING - Glocal Sound - Matteo Negrin

This is just too good to not share. Sooooo good.

Diet Week 6

Again I haven't been gymming as much as I wanted. Due to laziness, and work work work. Exams coming up and I've been super super stressed! Who's the idiot who told me that uni would be a breeze?!

Anyway, Here're the measurements:

Weight: 76.4kg
Bust: 39.5 inches
Waist: 35.5 inches
Hips: 43 inches
Right arm: 14 inches
Left arm: 13.4 inches (-0.9 inches)
Right thigh: 25.6 inches (-2.4 inches)
Left thigh: 25 inches (-2.4 inches)

As of last post:
Weight lost: 0.7 kg
Inches lost: -5.7 inches (Maybe I measured wrongly, but still. YESSS!)

Total result:
Weight lost: 2.9 kg
Inches lost: 9.2 inches

Can't believe I'm close to the 75kg mark now! Awesome awesome! I think I might have measured wrongly for my thighs but still, I'll take my victories as they come. Heehee. So happy!

Coming Home Cover - Boyce Avenue

This song is so awesome, it makes me want to take a deeper breath and appreciate every moment life has to offer.

Fur Mites! :(

I brought them to the vet last Wednesday because I wanted to make sure they were in the pink of health. The previous week they seem to be squeaking when they poop which I take to be a bad sign. They've since stopped doing it, and I expected the vet to say they were ok. But instead, they have fur mites! I googled it at home and trust me, you don't want to go to google images for that. Because they're so small, they can't go for treatment till they're 2 and a half months old.

I can't wait for their treatment to start in June so I can get the bloodsucking bastards off my babies.

In other news, the babies have grown loads! Just compare the two pictures below:

Also, they seem to enjoy being picked up and held close to my chest. They also love chewing on the rubberband I wear on my wrist. So that helps haha.

I love them so much. Starting to give them sweetcorn leaves and silk (the furry part in sweetcorn) which they love, and they also love red peppers. I try not to give too much fruit. Don't want them to get too much sugar. Apparently carrots contain sugar too, and too much can result in tubby guinea pigs. I don't mind having tubby guinea pigs, I just don't want them to be unhealthy.

Let's end with an adorable picture:

They are my pride and joy ^^

Canary Island Sky Time Lapse

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Oh. My. Goodness!!!! So GORGEOUS!

Diet Week 5

I haven't been to gym as regularly as I would have liked for the past two weeks. Hence, I didn't lose alot of weight between the last post and now. Also, my measurements are all weird. Hmm...

Here're the measurements:

Weight: 77.1kg
Bust: 39.5 inches
Waist: 35.5 inches (-1 inch)
Hips: 43 inches (+0.4 inches)
Right arm: 14 inches (+0.2 inches)
Left arm: 14.5 inches
Right thigh: 28 inches (+0.8 inches)
Left thigh: 27.4 inches (+0.4 inches)

As of last post:
Weight lost: 0.1 kg
Inches lost: +0.8 inches (I sure hope it's muscle)

Total result:
Weight lost: 2.3 kg
Inches lost: 3.5 inches

I'm so close to the 76 kg mark now! Soon I'll be on the low end of 70! Better buck up!

Singapore Flyer

Last Saturday I went to the Singapore Flyer with Saheed and his family again, this time we're reviewing the new Interactive Room. Basically it's this very science-y, techy room where you get to see super space age stuff and get to read random facts about the Flyer.

What impressed me most was this HUGE screen, which took up nearly a wall, and it's got lots of stuff projected on it. This one has turning wheels, the rest has like cherry blossoms in bloom, looking at animals in the forest that kind of thing. It creates this sense that you're in another world. I was totally mesmerised by it.

After that, you go through a few other rooms and corridors, which I will not touch on. Really, the first room is the most impressive. The rest of the rooms just didn't really catch my attention.

Getting onto the Flyer was pretty impressive. It takes about half an hour to go one full round, and it may seem like it's going reeeaaallly slowly, but in actual fact it goes pretty quickly. Slightly faster than an escalator. Right, so here is the Flyer as I see it from the cabin I was in. At night they have lights lighting it up and the light slowly fades into different colours. I think it's to add more variety, cos to be honest there's not an awful lot to look at during night time.

It would probably have been more stunning if we managed to come during sunset. Here are a few night pictures. I'm quite proud of them heehee.

My favourite picture is the second one. It's easily the best night scape picture I've ever taken. Ever.

Universal Studios Singapore!

Went to Universal Studios with Saheed and his family on Friday, and it was pretty awesome!

First we went on a few rides, first one was at Ancient Egypt. It was part haunted house, part roller coaster. Ahhh so scary. They had fire and stuff inside which was cool and because it was completely dark, you never know what's coming. So every acceleration and drop felt so much more scary.

Second ride was the one that made me feel pretty sick. I went on the ever-insane Battlestar Galactica ride in the Sci-Fi zone. In Human mode of course. The drops were CRAZY! It was so shocking, I forgot to scream and I kinda felt detached from my body. Weird. I heard Cylon was good though. Saheed said it wasn't as scary, but I don't believe him. Think I'll try it next time I'm going.

After the stomach lurching ride, Saheed's sister, mom and me went for the sci-fi version of the teacup rides. We all got really giddy haha.

Then after walking around lots, we finally went to Far Far Away. Easily my favourite part. Cos I'm so child-like and whatnot. We went to a 4D movie which was GREAT! Then to a kid roller coaster which was not SO kiddy that it didn't contain any thrill. I loved it but Saheed thinks it was pretty boring. We were all laughing because compared to the Battlestar Galactica ride, this was nothing.

After the rides we pretty much felt like we've had enough, so we went to fetch our bags from the lockers and took pictures with a few iconic cartoons.

Went into random shops without buying a single thing. Things are SO expensive there. Even the food, they were selling turkey legs at $10.80 each!

After that, we went to watch the Monster Rock show. We thought it was a REAL rock concert and got pretty pumped up. But it turns out, it was a bunch of people dressed as legendary monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, She-wolf and stuff. They were modernised and they sang and danced to rock hits. Fireworks and pyrotechnics were great. But in terms of rock and roll, abit of a let down.

Even more pictures before we go, too bad we didn't think if taking our cameras with us and just checking it into lockers before the rides.

Just outside of Universal Studios is easily my new favourite place. It's the Hershey's shop! Saheed loves this bar of chocolate heehee. It was 6kg! World's Largest Bar of chocolate apparently.

Aaand I got my Reese's Peanut butter Cups! Awesome stuff. The mascot was so nice. There was this one girl who just hit the back of the mascot's head. Awful person. She should be slapped a hundred times.
And so ends my day at Universal Studios. Think I'll go again one day after 6pm, just to take pictures and watch the fireworks at 9pm. Should be good!

Diet Week 4

Because of stupid projects and presentations, I have not been able to go to the gym till Thursday. However, I still lost weight! Though not as much as I would have liked. But still! Awesome stuff.

Here're the measurements:

Weight: 77.2kg

Bust: 39.5 inches

Waist: 36.5 inches (-0.5 inches)

Hips: 42.6 inches (-1 inch)

Right arm: 13.8 inches (-0.2 inches)

Left arm: 14.5 inches

Right thigh: 27.2 inches (-0.4 inches)

Left thigh: 27 inches (-0.2 inches)

As of last post:

Weight lost: 0.7 kg

Inches lost: 2.3 inches

Total result:

Weight lost: 2.2kg

Inches lost: 4.3 inches

YES! I'm nearly hitting 76 kg! Come on now, don't lose hope! I went to the Singapore Flyer today and had Popeyes Chicken for dinner. Sooo good. I love fried chicken. Also I haven't been exercising on the days I don't go to gym but I am watching my diet most of the time. I think eating a little more is helping to boost my metabolism too, cos that means my increased metabolism actually has something to burn. Yes!

Taming my Babies!

After I got them to eat out of my hand, it was time to pick them up and start having 'cuddle time' as I call it. Basically I pick them up and place them on my lap and pet them. When they're comfortable with that, I moved on to putting them at my table.

And I got them a new toy! It was messy at first, but now it's ok. They're not crazy about it but it's something to entertain them with when I'm away.

They love sitting in the hay when I put fresh hay into the litter tray! It means that I might waste some hay, but at least they're happy :)

Sweetpea on my table. She solved this! Hahahaha. Now they're really tame when they're on the table. Sometimes they can be really hyper and start popcorning on my table, exploring all the nooks and crannies. But sometimes they'll settle down and start cooing or looking sleepy. I love it when that happens.

And here they are starting to explore. They're so adorable! I get my daily overdose of cuteness from them. Heehee!

Diet Week 3

I haven't been as conscientious as last week. Temptation is starting to overwhelm me! I had friend chicken on Wednesday, and then KFC on Saturday followed by a heavy dinner. The diet is definitely working though. My appetite has decreased and even a small amount of food can bloat me. This is not good when I get my nibbly moods, but I just chug down water and bear with it. Let's get on with the results shall we?

Weight: 77.9kg

Right arm: 14 inches

Left arm: 14.5 inches

Right thigh: 27.6 inches

Left thigh: 27.2 inches

Bust: 39.5 inches

Waist: 37 inches

Hips: 43.6 inches

As of last week:

Weight lost: 0.5 kg

Inches lost: 1.1 inches

Total result:

Weight lost: 1.5kg

Inches lost: 2.1 inches

I can't believe I have gone below 78kg! I'm in a precarious position. The next time I weight myself I might be 78kg again (NOOOOO!). So happy :)

This week, I shall be strict with my diet again, and also snack on almonds with I have my nibbly moods. Heehee.

Paper Mache - Drainage container

So as I mentioned not long ago in this post, I have been working on a paper mache drainage container for my little Hoyakerrii. Here is how I did it.

So, after I bought their little shelter for the babies I was left with two boxes that I won't really need, so I decided to make a paper mache container out of it. Cos I can't really bear to throw good cardboard away (I'm odd like that) and I haven't done paper mache in a while.

First of all I drew out the net. I had a 3 inch square as a base, and the sides are about 1.5 inches high. I made it a little bit slanted so it won't look so weird.

Then I cut out the cardboard and stuck it together with masking tape. It doesn't really matter if the masking tape is old, or if it doesn't stick very well anymore. It just has to keep the thing together till you put your first layer of paper mache on.

Now cover all the plastic-ky sides with masking tape. This will help the paper mache stay on.

Get out your newspapers, make your paste and get messy! I used rice flour and boiling water to make a paste for this one. But it doesn't work as well as plain flour and water. Just mix plain flour into water till you get a smooth thick paste. Like cake batter. (Yummy) Stick on the newspaper strip by strip.

Till you get something like this. Let each layer dry completely before you put on the next layer. I did it on different sides. For example, I'd layer the inside with newspaper and let it dry for about a day and then layer the outside. Do this for about three layers on each side.

Now it's time to paint it! To make it water proof, use acrylic paint. I suggest using white paper as the last layer, or putting a few layers of your paste mixture with white acrylic paint over the container before painting (let each layer of paste dry before putting another layer). To cover the newspaper, it took me about 5 coats of yellow acrylic paint! My pot of yellow paint is now half gone *sigh*.

Now it's time to decorate it. I used some of my nail art stuff to decorate the container, simply because I am terrible at painting.

Just to make sure it's extra waterproof, I spray-painted the whole container with about 3 layers of clear varnish. Again, make sure each layer is dry before spraying on some more. I didn't do that and my varnish got really sticky at one point.

After spray painting, you're done! Look at my hoyakerrii, isn't it just so cute! This took me about a week to make. But it could have been done alot faster obviously. There was no time to paint because of school and stuff. And also I couldn't just sit at home waiting for the varnish to dry, so I just did it in the morning and at night.

BAD DAY!

Today was a normal day, and it turned out badly. First of all I woke up at 8am which was all right and good. After I cut up the veg for my babies and put fresh food onto their bowls and watched them 'popcorn' a little, I set up a behavioural shaping program. Which I will expand on in another post.

Anyway, I had tuition in the afternoon so I had a few hours of play and then it's off to tuition with me. Tuition was bad. In all sense of the word. My student would not listen, he'd been dropping the F-bomb on facebook and I am not happy with it. So, during lesson, he copied answers for a few questions which was not cool. After that, I realised that he still had school work to do. So I had to sit there and wait for him to finish or till time's up for tuition.

It was really all fine and good for me, considering I took my lecture notes out with me to revise for the exam I had tomorrow. But still, I would like to know that I have made some form of progress.

So I got home, to find that my sister has been messing things up in the babies' cage for me.

For one, she had put the shelter back over their bed. I had taken away all shelters except for the one above the toilet so that they'll be encouraged to use the toilet. Also, this is to ensure that they're used to the open space so they can tell that there is really no danger here in spite of what their instinct tells them.

Secondly, she has swept up all the poop. I know it sounds like a good thing, but I've been trying to toilet train them, so I deliberately NOT sweep up the poop when I saw it before I left. So that I can tell if the toilet training regime has been working. Geez!

Thirdly, she took all the fresh veg that I have put in the middle of the cage, and placed it in the litter tray, where they like to hang out. This is just encouraging them to stay in the shelter at all times. The hay and pellets are already right by the litter tray, they have to know that even if they come out to eat yummy carrots, an eagle would NOT swoop down and pick them up.

Yea. I'm annoyed. I have faced so much resistance from everyone when I first said that I wanted guinea pigs and now that I have them, they're all over them. As if I have not been the one to pay for EVERYTHING. I'm sorry. I sound materialistic. But the fact of the matter is, I have fought hard to get my babies here. My babies are to be trained the way I want to train them, and be handled only when I allow you to do so.

In spite of the smell, I love my babies. That is why I am acting like such a She-Hulk.

How can I not love them?

To top it all off, I just did my nails in hopes of putting myself in a better mood. It looks horrible. I hate it. Frigging icing on the frigging cake.

Progress!

Don't they look so cute just sitting there? At first they won't come out of the sleeping bag, so according to the suggestion from the seller, I took away all the shelters except for the one above the toilet during the day so they will get used to the open-ness and also be encouraged to use the litter tray.

I must say first day is pretty successful? They basically didn't really poop anywhere except around the hay dish and in the litter tray. As for pee, I can't really see but I do know they peed at the side of the hay dish. (because I accidentally touched it when clearing poo for them)

Also I got Sweetpea to put a paw onto my hand when eating. I find the she loves apples alot more than carrots. I have been trying to feed them carrots (which are what they're used to), caixin (a local green leafy vegetable), peppers and apples. Sweetpea adores apples. She's a more adventurous eater. She tried the caixin but wasn't too keen. I guess it's too bitter for her?

I have decided to name the brown one Toffee. She is more tolerant when I pet her, but somehow she won't eat from my hand today. She seems to only accept food from me at night, and Sweetpea accepts food from me during the day.

After I got Sweetpea to eat from my hand I tried to pick her up and pet her, after which she started to struggle. I put her down immediately and she was really frightened and won't take food from me again. I feel so bad! Have to try again tomorrow. *sigh*

After I took the shelters away, this is basically where they stayed the whole day sorta. I hope they're not plotting to escape.

Babies are here!!

My babies are here! Aren't you so excited! I sure am! The people who brought them here were to nice, they came and they help me to set up the cage, everything! She even taught me how to look after them and told me how much to feed them and stuff :)

This is Sweetpea, she ran into the bumblebee sleeping bag thing. I took her out eventually because Brownie (her temporary name till Saheed names her) looked really lonely just sitting in the cube.

See how lonely Brownie looks? She's much more friendly (or more tolerant of what I do). But when Sweetpea left, she was just sitting there not moving for AGES.

Both of them abit earlier, Sweetpea seems to like sitting in the hay dish. Ah well. Little joys. It must be comfortable.

So now, this is kinda what they're doing. I think they're tired. I'll continue making friends with them tomorrow heehee.

I love them so much. They're simply adorable.

The Awesome Four Chord Song

I was a little upset, cos there was no one here to share the excitement of my babies' arrival with me. But my lovely friend Aarthi posted this video on Facebook and it literally made my day. Oops! Babies are here. I'm so excited my heart is pumping so fast!!!

Accidental Incest

By Matt Mulholland. Do not watch if you are easily offended. Nice music though ^^

Guinea Pigs' Cage!

The view of the whole cage. Doesn't it look adorable! Check out the furry bed on the inside of the cube. I love the colours, it just makes the whole cage so vibrant! All I need to do now is lay down the bedding and put up the grid for the water bottle.

Here is the litter tray and their little dishes. The shapes of the dishes are so cute aren't they? I'm planning on toilet training the babies, so wish me luck!

Their little beds! See the furry bed? You can flip it inside out and you can have a 'cool' side for the guinea pigs so they don't get overheated! I will have to buy another one and extend the cube when they get bigger.
I can't wait for my guinea pigs to come tomorrow! This is all so exciting I shall take pictures of them and put it up. Also I will be working on the drainage container. Think I shall paint it in a really cute way. It feels like I'm somehow making up for all the lost time of being a little girl.