Harry Potter 7 (spoilers)

Yes, I've finished reading the book on Monday night and sorry I can hardly contain my excitement. You have been warned. This post will contain a lot of spoilers and if you haven't read the book and you don't want to know, close this window NOW!
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KEY characters who died (in chronological order):

Hedwig (such a beautiful owl =( )
Mad-Eye Moody
Dobby
Fred
Lupin
Tonks
Severus Snape
Bellatrix Lestrange
Voldermort

Lupin and Tonks got married and they have a child named Ted (after Tonk's father). Harry is made the godfather of Ted.

The Deathly Hallows are 3 objects. The Invisible Cloak, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand.

The Deathly Hallows is a myth which started with 3 brothers, who "escaped" death, and Death gave them an object each. It is said that whoever comes to possess these 3 objects will become the Master of Death. Harry is the descendent of one of them. That's why he had the invisibility cloak.

R.A.B is indeed Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother.

The Horcruxes, where they were found, and how they were destroyed:

1st: Riddle's Diary- destroyed by Harry in Book 2 using the Basilik's fang

2nd: Gaunt's Ring- destroyed by Dumbledore in Book 6 using the Gryffindor Sword

3rd: Slytherin's Locket - in clueless Umbridge's possession - destroyed by Ron using the Gryffindor Sword

4th: Hufflepuff's Goblet - in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts - destroyed by Hermione using the Basilik's fang

5th: Ravenclaw's Diadem - in the Room of Requirement - unintentionally destroyed by Crabbe using the Cursed Fire

6th: Nagini the snake - always with Voldermort - destroyed by Neville using the Gryffindor Sword

7th: Harry himself - destroyed by Voldermort using the Killing Curse


Snape never betrayed Dumbledore. The reason why Dumbledore trusted him all along is because Snape had been in love with Lily (Harry's mother) since he was a child. He pleaded with Voldermort not to kill her but Voldermort ignored him. Hence, protecting Harry and working undercover is his way of taking revenge, and also not to let Lily die in vain.

Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him because he was cursed by his own greed (for wearing Gaunt's Ring which is also the Resurrection Stone) and did not have much longer to live, and at the same time, he wanted to protect Malfoy.

Harry survived the Killing Curse yet again as he unwittingly became the Master of Death. Voldermort was killed during a duel with Harry, and the Killing Curse he casted on Harry rebounded back on him and he was finished (finally), as all his Horcruxes had been destroyed.

The ending:

Harry and Ginny have 3 children. James, Albus Severus, and Lily.

Hermione and Ron have 2 children. Rosie and Hugo.

Malfoy and his wife have a son.

Neville becomes Professor Longbottom currently teaching Herbology at Hogwarts.

Well, it's about time I update my wishlist. Got mostly what I wanted already. =)

- digital camcorder
- laptop
- new bike
- Creative Zen Neeon 2
- Guess/DKNY analog watch
- Guess shoulderbag
- Guess wallet

The digital camcorder and Guess shoulderbag will have to stay. Haven't gotten those and they're things I'd really really like to have. I always wanted to have my own camcorder. I know people always say "nobody bothers to watch it" so taking photos is better. But well, I know I'd want to watch it and that's enough for me. If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video must speak a million words, so yep. I'd wanna let my audience feel like they've been to that place too, when they watch it. It's a great feeling, to be able to share those wonderful memories. =)

Alrightey, new wishlist (or rather, shopping list) coming up!

- digital camcorder
- Guess shoulderbag
- new specs
- more clothes!
- hair rebonding
- computer mouse
- laptop sticker
- Islander pass
- First subscription

Cruise: Phuket, Langkawi (Part 4)

According to Kh, Phuket is even better than before because of the tsunami. Reconstruction means newer and nicer buildings. And that's probably true. The Phuket I saw left no sign of the aftermath of the tsunami.

Despite all that, I still find Phuket a very overrated place. Lotsa people like to go there for short holidays. I'm not sure why. The beach is okay. It's not fantastic, it's just okay. Like a normal beach? The shopping is not good. Things are way too expensive for what it's worth (imitation goods mostly). The food is not really good and not really cheap either (tourist prices). So what's the attraction there? I'll say the beach is probably all they've got. *shrugs*









View from the Phuket dock. Beautiful....













Cool sign.













Parasailing. Really wanted to do just that but due to time constraints, we didnt.

Our dinner. Seemed like quite a popular restaurant but we didn't really like it.















Singapore's seafood is still the best.












Muay Thai

Cruise: Phuket, Langkawi (Part 3)

As promised...

LANGKAWI!!! A very beautiful place.

The great eagle of Langkawi... Very majestic. =)

Langkawi's Underwater World! 4th pic shows the Chocolate Chip Starfish (that's what it's really called) and next to it is the very famous Seadragon.

1st pic: Stonefish, 5th pic: The penguins you see in "Surf's Up". Can't remember what that breed it's called.

Go Kart! So fast, so furious, so dangerous... ooh I like. =)

Here's how I compare...

Escape's Go Kart: I can jog faster than its maximum speed pls.

Genting's Go Kart: Woohoo! Fun! But still I don't need the brakes. =/

Langkawi's Go Kart: Like I said, so fast, so furious, so dangerous. I don't just need brakes, I need seatbelts man!

According to our taxi driver/tourguide, this is the slower of the 2 Go Karts they have (where's the faster one? Ooh scary.). It goes up to 60-80km/h, and it's an international standard race track we were racing on.

Lucky for us, there was nobody there, so we didn't need to queue at all. There wasn't even a safety briefing or what. I just got onto my go kart, put on my very loose helmet, and was trying to find my seatbelt but I couldn't find any. I asked,"Where's the seatbelt?" That man was like,"No seatbelts." Seeing my horrified expression, he went on,"Don't worry, it's safe." Me, still horrified. This thing goes up to 60-80km/h, it doesn't have seatbelts, and this man here tells me it's safe! :O This is a go kart, not a car ya know?

Obviously, I didn't dare go too fast at the beginning. There were so many sharp turnings and all, you can't go at max speed and not use your brakes. It was way too dangerous. Not to mention, we were not driving on those nicely cemented ground fyi. It was the kinda normal roads you get in Singapore. Imagine how painful it is when you skid and fall. And, we were already feeling the pain when we were driving. Because we were going really fast and we were close to the ground, stones would fly into our legs and face, and a couple of times, it went into my eyes, despite me wearing sunglasses.

But after a lap or 2, I got used to the stone-rain and the speed, and I went faster and faster. Overall, really really fun. Would like to try again. =) Those pics above were taken by our taxi driver. Nice man he is. =)

Cruise: Phuket, Langkawi (Part 2)

For part 2 of my cruise trip, I shall show you guys more pics of the things onboard the ship. Will show the pics for Langkawi and Phuket for the next entry. Stay tuned. =)

Our cabin!














The Lobby! So grand eh?
















The Lobby









Palazzo.

This restaurant is very very posh! There are only 7 tables inside. Kh and I came here for lunch on the last day of our cruise as we still had 90 dining credits left. We spent all our 90 credits here. That's how expensive it is. That's how much you'll have to pay for 2 plates of spaghetti (S$90) if you don't use your dining credits.

(fyi, we were given 200 free dining credits to use onboard)

It looks a bit messy here cuz we're sitting at an oval table.








Pic 1: There's about 5 different types of bread with 3 different sauces. I know there was breadstick and foccasia in that basket. Not sure what the rest are called. As for the sauces, the red one is anchovies, green is basil, and yellow, I think it's garlic butter? They're all rather tasteless.

Pic 2: Cream of Mushroom soup. I liked Campbell's more. =( I'm guessing this is the really really authentic Italian food, cuz I'm starting to hate it by now.

Pic 3: My Linguini Marinara. Fresh king prawns, scallop and clams. Suddenly, I'm starting to appreciate Pasta Mania.

Pic 4: Kh's spaghetti. Forgot what it's called. There's lobster and clams in there. The pasta is green in colour, and it's filled with sticky and greyish stuff. Honestly one of the worst things I've ever put into my mouth.

Kh said,"Just admit it, we have cheap taste." =(








Another nice corridor.















The Lido.





The restaurants are all really really posh. Well, we didn't bring our camera on some occasions as we wanted to visit the casino, and watch some performances at The Lido (no photography allowed). Hence, I only took pictures of the places we went when we brought our camera.

Anyways, for the gala dinner, Kh and I chose Noble House, a chinese restaurant. Balcony class ppl have the previlege to book this restaurant for free, whereas for others, they'll have to TOP UP (not pay, but top up) S$48 just to eat there. Here's why:

1st dish: Hot and Cold dish (prawns, abalone, and some fried fish thingy)

Kh chewed the abalone and spat it out, saying,"This chicken sucks!" I said,"That's not chicken, that's abalone." He went on to finish all his "chicken".... including the one he spat out...

The prawn was so delicious though. We wanted to order an additional plate of those prawns to eat after our gala dinner. But the waitress advised us against doing so as a lot of food will be served later on and we won't be able to finish them. She's right.

2nd dish: Shark's fin soup. It's such huge bowl. We were a little bloated by now already.

3rd dish: Vegetables with scallop

4th dish: Cod fish with egg white

5th dish: Pork ribs

6th dish: Mango cream with pomelo

7th dish: Chef's dessert

NDP'07

Went to the rehearsal yesterday. I've got the tickets cuz 2 of my cousins are performing. Anyway, don't expect anything much from this year since it's held at Marina. The stage is so tiny, so that's a huge disadvantage by itself already. It's quite boring in fact. I dozed off halfway... Yeah, believe it or not, I really did. Even under such hot, noisy and uncomfortable conditions... But well, I guess they've already tried their best to make this as good as possible. Love the pyrotechnics, the use of the riverwaters for extra space, and of course the fireworks.

Pic 1 & 2: The simulator for Asha. What an embarrassing job. =/

Pic 3: Juz B & Sheikh Haikel

Pic 4: Tang Quartet

The Red Lions

I think this is one of the more interesting parts of the show. zzz
5th pic: the cannons!

7th pic: the Chinook almost on water!

8th pic: members of the elite force repelling down the ropes

9th pic: super fast speed boat. way too cool.

The use of water space... Guess that's Sang Nila Utama's boat, and "floating" jellyfishes.

Cruise: Phuket, Langkawi (Part 1)

I shall let the pics do most of the talking...

1st July 07: My 21st bdae, 50th-mth anniversary, onboard SuperStar Virgo













A surprise gift from StarCruise. Found this on our cabin's dressing table.











Spotted a Chinook on the deck! Must be on its way to Marina Bay.












The Parthenon Pool! Aw man, we missed Monday night's poolside BBQ dinner!











The Aquaswim pool.
Free for all balcony class ppl (that's us). I tried it, it's quite fun. Like swimming against the current. But it's very tiring!






We also tried the suana and steam bath which is all located in the changing room. It's HOT HOT HOT!!! I like the steam bath more though. It makes your skin feel smooth. =)

Well, I thought the changing room would be like a bathroom ya know. Didn't expect to see lockers (water and towels provided inside), sofa, tv, suana, steam bath, showering rooms, massage rooms, dressing tables equipped with hairdryers, shampoo, soap, ear butt, moisturiser and so on. Now, this is what I call a spa!






Neptune's Wet and Wild.
Children's play pool.













The ice-cream bar! We had Swensens chocolate and coffee ice-cream here and we took the picture below from our seat.










This is how high and how big the ship is. The view of the dock below from Deck 12. Highest floor is deck 13.

The Captain's Bridge!

It's very high-tech!

The helicopter landing pad!












Deck 12 corridor. Look how grand it is! At the far end you'll see the entrance to a bar (pic below).









The Galaxy of the Stars bar.
We come here quite often to drink/listen to live band, and for Bingo, gameshow or just to relax. Great view from here. Better yet, it's only directly above our cabin! One reason why we don't get late enough to miss their programmes.








Will post more pics soon. =)

Happy Birthday to ME

I'm back! First and foremost, I'd like to thank ALL who wished me a happy birthday and/or given me gifts. I really appreciate it a lot.

Especially to the following people:

To Ms See and Ful, thanks for making the trip to Settlers to accomodate my busy schedule though Ful, you were not feeling well. And thanks for the presents too.

To Pris, thanks for the Guess wallet (now that's another strike off my wishlist! =) ), for driving to my house just to pass me the wallet before I leave for my cruise, and for coming down to visit me at Settlers too. That's so nice of you. =)

To Amy and Jf, thanks for coming down to Settlers (again to accomodate my busy schedule), for the wonderfully planned birthday surprise that totally caught me offguard (I forgot it was to celebrate my birthday. Thought we were just meeting up to chat. =\ ), and for the lovely presents!

To my family members and Jeremy (sis's bf or should I say.. ahem.. fiancé) for the sumptuous dinner at SAFRA and of course the very nice birthday surprise. Really wonderful presents. And a great big surprise from Gerrie. 1. You didn't buy me anything from Watsons. 2. You got me a Roxy bag. Unbelieveable. And yes I love it. ^__^

Last but not least,

To Kh, for the all-expenses-paid cruise trip, for the 50th-month anniversary gift, for a Converse jacket which I've wanted for so long, and for all the effort made into planning all my birthday surprises. =) A great big THANK YOU to you! =)


Alright, I shall blog about the cruise trip soon. Lotsa pics to share, lotsa things to say. Will need quite some time to get it published as I'll be having lectures and work almost everyday from now on. =(