The Rookie Tries: Baking for Christmas

Ho ho ho!

It's actually been ages since we put up a Christmas tree. So to make up for it, I baked a cake! A chocolate chiffon cake, to be exact. I iced it so, so that it may somehow look like those Christmassy door wreaths that people hang during Christmas.

It was fun and hard at the same time decorating the cake. Well what did I expect...I am a rookie at these kinds of things, after all. Or was. Haha! Just kidding. I made a lot of mistakes. Good thing I was able to cover them up pretty well ;)

I wanted the pink buttercream to be red, but the supermarket that we went to only had what they called 'rose red' and orange. Turns out that rose red was pink, but oh well. The green icing was bought from my Singapore trip, and when it sort of dried up, suprisingly went so well against the softness cake and the pink buttercream :9

Not-so-Christmas-themed cupcakes made from spare batter :9

(Clockwise from top left: little roses, heart, daisy-ish flower, star)

My Christmas Eve

Hello world!

It's a bit late, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May good tidings come to you and all your kin!

May there be joy and peace on Earth!

I wish this was my Christmas tree, but no.

We went ice-skating on Christmas Eve <3 

We don't have snow here, but we do have ice. Everyone wanted to get in the mood though, so it was really crowded. If you plan on visiting Sky Rink at Mall Taman Anggrek, you may want to come on a weekday, not on a big holiday or on weekends. The rink is always crowded, but chances are there will be less kids falling over, and less reckless people zooming in and out. We didn't have too much trouble with the crowd though. So if you're a pro (I'm not saying that we are in any way ;P), you'll have no trouble finding your path around the ice. There's always people-free spots on the ice. Teehee!

In the morning, we went to a local beauty parlor and got manicures together. This was my first time getting a manicure. We all picked our designs from my friend's iPod. I went for tribal designs partly because I'm fangirling over a tribal video game character these days I think tribal designs are cool.



 

The End of the World?

Hi!

It is widely known that December 21st, 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar. Therefore people have been saying that in 2012, this wonderful world of ours will end (no sarcasm there; the world itself is really a wonderful place <3).

Of course, I felt scared. Petrified, actually. The first time I heard this, time froze for a few moments.

A million of thoughts floated around inside my mind. It was to be the end. Not just any end. It was the end of the world. When all life on Earth was to cease to exist. Including us humans. All the exotic floras and faunas that roam the face of our darling Earth. All coming to an end just like that. The world was to be forgotten (unless the Martians are willing to be witnesses of our existence later).

But witness to who else?

I was also wondering about HOW the world was going to end. Was I supposed to...I don't know...go poof? Perish while sitting on my desk? Fade away like a ghost? Disappear into thin air like a ninja? That would be cool though. I've always wanted to have ninja-like skills. So badass >;D

Why would it end in 2012? Why so soon? Because the Mayans said so, you say? That's okay, I won't argue against your beliefs. I would love to talk to King Pacal himself for his views on this topic. If only he's still alive...sigh.

But it's now December 21st, 2012. And I am still alive.

Singapore Getaway

Hello!

I haven't updated this blog in more than two weeks. Yes, I know that's bad, but I've a perfectly legitimate excuse. I went to Singapore for a week ;D This was my first trip to Singapore in the last two years.
 
Singapore is a really modern and attractive place. It's also widely known here as a shopper's paradise, especially its famous Orchard Road, which boasts a wide array of shops catering to many tastes. My friend declared the Gardens by the Bay a must-see, and surely it was.

Supertree :)

Language Learning - Listening by Ear

Hello again!

With this post, I begin my series of articles focusing on language learning tips. If you're in the process of learning or studying a language, whichever stage/level you may be in, I hope these tips may be of help!

This is my most effective method of picking up new vocabulary, sentence structures, common phrases said by the native speakers, and a few inside jokes - listening by ear.

What I mean is specifically the use of televised media (dramas, reality/variety shows and movies) and songs. I would never have gotten to my current levels (Japanese and Korean, especially) without them.

I would recommend learning the basics and pronunciation ways of the language first, so that the listening process may go more swimmingly. This way, when you listen and try to write the new word you picked up down, there will be less chances of misspelling it. Choose those with subs, because you will want to learn first, then test yourself with the raw (unsubbed) ones if you like.

Then at a certain point, cover the subs or simply don't look at them. Try to guess the topic of the conversation and then the point of each dialogue, even if the subs tempt you. Of course you don't have to do this for every dialogue you hear.

 

Drama: Seigi no Mikata (Episode 1)

Blog URL Change

Hi!

I've decided to change my blog's URL, because I feared that the previous one was too hard to remember and hard to spell out. So I've changed it to a much easier one. It's the same name as the title, and is simple as: The Linguist Rookie.

Well, I do hope I won't regret it. I do know I'll regret it if I don't do it now. Even now, I think it's a bit too late, since the search engines have already indexed my blog and the previous URL. Now I have to wait until the search engines realise my new URL :S

I'm sorry for being such a noob at this.

buuut...I believe this is easier for others to remember, so yeah. Fingers crossed that this change will bring me more readers.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy your visit to my blog. I will keep on updating (at least once a week, sometimes more often if I'm not too busy with my book).

Another post is coming up soon!

アリシア

Now listening: Back in Time (시간을 거슬러) - Lyn (How I wish I was back in time, then I could have made this change earlier :P)

Traffic Jam Survival

Hello!

In this post, I shall tell you how to survive a traffic jam ('macet' in Indonesian; it literally means 'congested', 'stuck' or 'blocked'), or simply when you are stuck in an immobilised contraption for an average to unacceptable amount of time. 

I live in a place where your patience is regularly trained. I myself can't understand how we Jakartans have been able to put up with this ongoing problem that has been haunting us for countless years. I don't drive (yet), but I've been through my fair share of idle road time. Some people may gone through worse, though. Like a whole day getting to Puncak, and sleeping in your car for the night. This may seem like an unforgettable adventure to some,  With all the horrible traffic jams happening nowadays, we barely go out of our area! -__-"

Sadly, no matter how much you believe in luck, it's never guaranteed that you won't ever meet with this...

 

Or this.

Simply Garlic Bread

Well, I'm back with a really simple recipe :D

I know this recipe is basically omnipresent in the Internet. But this was actually my first time, hehe. I've always been a big fan of Italian food, and garlic bread has always been one of my favourite side dishes.

We decided to buy a baguette on a sudden impulse. We haven't eaten this in ages (I mean like, a decade or so). We were skeptical about the taste after all those years, but it definitely didn't disappoint. My brother especially loved it! And my brother is one heck of a picky kid. He's one of those people blessed with an excellent metabolism; he can consume a bag of chips and as much Coke as he wants without gaining a single kilogram. He rarely exercises, must I add. Stays glued to this computer seat for hours. Okay, enough of me ranting about that. So, here's what we did:

Cadeaux de Corée et Japon :)

Hello again, world!

It still thrills me to think that I have my own little space in the humongous worldwide network of webs that is the Internet xD I feel like a person! I wonder if that actually makes sense since nobody is a real human online. Lately I've been thinking about what else to write besides random rants about my interests and life, and honestly it's a bit difficult for me to focus on just one thing. I will focus this blog on one very broad topic though - art!

Speaking of writing, I'm having a hard time right now. I just got another idea for another book, even though I still have like, six others waiting in line to be written. One of the six is the first part of my trilogy. I'm not even sure if it's a good idea for a first-timer to be attempting a trilogy. Anyway I'm on Chapter 11, and moving on to the climax pretty soon, so it's too late to turn back now. Haha! Maybe I'll write down the details of my book here, but I'm not sure. I'm purty shy :P

I've recently received a letter from a wonderful aunt (my friend's mother's friend) who lives in Japan :) My cousin just came back from Korea around a week ago, and she gave me these wonderful souvenirs. I totally wasn't expecting these, and needless to say I was oh-so-very excited upon receiving them. I've always wanted to go to Korea! Like, so so badly! One of the things I'm going to do if I go there is to go and eat the real 짜장면 (jjajangmyeon - Chinese-style noodles in black bean sauce) and see if it really does taste like the instant ones, accompanied by a nice little portion of 단무지 (danmuji - pickled radish/daikon slices). I think 단무지 is the only pickled food I like.

The Rookie Tries: Abstract Painting

The title says it all! The main reason I decided to do this was because I still had a reasonable amount of acrylic paint left from my art class in high school ;P That painting, and a few others belonging to my friends, never returned to the hands of their owners. It's vexing, because it was my first painting on a canvas and I spent a reasonable amount of time on it, so I really wanted to treasure it. Ah, the sentimental value it had despite its lack of neatness! Haha! Another reason was that I wanted to see just what I could do with my nooby painting skills.

I made my first ever canvas painting for art class, so this is my second. To be really accurate, this also isn't my first try at abstract painting; it's my second. I made my first one on a canvas without a frame in 2007, following a manual. The colour scheme I used for it was purely blue, but on this one, as per my brother's suggestion, I decided to use all the colours related to mint. I'm really loving mint lately. My brother loves green and I love blue, so no debates were involved. Not that my brother actually had anything to do with the making of this painting, but it's good to ask for suggestions from others :P

Before I began, I stole (read: temporarily borrowed without permission) my brother's brushes and acrylic paint tubes. He won't be using them anytime soon anyway, since he's practically always glued to his computer. I had my own remnants-of-art-class paint, but I peeked into his, and to my surprise, he had two tubes of different shades of green. One was phthalo green, a dark shade of green, and the other was light green, a grassier hue.

 

An empty 20cmx20cm square canvas, brushes of various shapes, a palette and tubes of acrylic paint. I love and hate the fact that acrylic paint dries so quickly.You can't see it in the picture, but I had thinly sketched random quadrilaterals in a mint colour pencil to aid my colouring.

The finished result?

Highlights of My Week

Hi! :D

Last week was a great one, with a new addition to my maternal family, a gift of chocolates and a former homeroom's wedding. I can't stress enough how happy I was to see all my friends again. They haven't changed at all, and spending time with them was gold. Glad we weren't getting rusty and awkward just yet, since we talked about our current lives. For me, life will be the same as it is for a while. That is, my fate will be decided by the university I'm applying to. I literally check my application status every day, wondering when they will update it.

My cousin just bought my grandma a dog. She was initially named 'Tart' (as in cakes) after the name of the cousin who gave it to her. My grandpa changed her name to Desi (I'm not sure how it's spelled, but it's pronounced like so). And yes, she is a chihuahua! She was so tiny I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen a chihuahua in awhile, the last time was the one that belonged to my friend Josie. Hers is male, so I've been discussing with her about possible marriage plans. Hahaha I kid :)

Here she is! All I could do was squeal when she came out of her pink carrier. She didn't bark at all during the visit, and was very calm. My aunt brought her here, and told us that she's actually really hyper at my grandma's house. Likes to run around and enjoys carpets - she must have been disappointed to see none at my house :P

Japanese Meal Time: Curry Rice

Today's curry rice day! My whole family is a big fan of curry rice. It's also going to be the last one in a long time, because we've finally run out of curry roux :(

For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, kare raisu (カレーライス) is the Japanese take on India's traditional spicy curry. It's mostly sweet and very thick. The Japanese curry comes in a variety of spiciness levels and flavours (I have heard of cherry-based curry, and it's pink!). You can buy them in the form of curry roux blocks but there are also instant pre-cooked, already-in-liquid-form ones in a package, ready for consumption (just heat it beforehand).You could probably find a 'library' of instant curry packages if you go to a supermarket in Japan. 

Curry rice (kare raisu, カレーライス) is one of Japan's most popular 'comfort food'. One of the reasons being its long storage period (hooray for refrigerators and microwaves!). It's definitely not the fastest food to prepare, but the method itself is pretty easy. You can just follow the descriptions on your curry roux box and bam! You're got yourself a Japanese comfort meal :D

Logophilia: Words Have Ancestors

I've spent this weekend writing. But I still use a great fraction of my time to research about various things I don't know. I don't want to write anything incorrect, so I spend quite some time abusing the Internet and taking up a lot of the bandwidth at home. :) Also I've told some friends about this blog, and the fact that they may be reading stuff that I write fills me with so much joy :3

I rummage through my labyrinth of thought every night, at times this causes severe insomnia. I think many Earthlings would find this habit familiar. When we try to go to sleep, we are surrounded by tranquility (hopefully this is true for others) after a long day, our brain contemplates everything for us. Sometimes our brain goes wild, that's why we have dreams. I don't think I could live without having dreams. Even though I know they give unnecessary hope sometimes. So, ideas come faster than I can write, which is totally annoying. Plus, I'm barely one third of the way :P

Anyway. I have quite the obsession with words, particularly those that start with vowels (because few words can do without a vowel but a vowel on its own can become a word). I am not a nerd though; just ask my friends. I could spend ten minutes just lying down while staring at the ceiling, thinking about why words are spelled and mean the way they do. We all use words in our daily lives. I do, and you do too. Unless you want to try not speaking for a day (not even to yourself).

My 'Foolproof' Gap Year Plan

I have mentioned once that I'm in the middle of my gap year. Honestly though, I don't know if I'll have a gap year, because whether or not I'll be having a gap year depends on whether I get accepted into uni for 2014 (not 2013 because I won't be old enough to live at the residential halls by then and I don't want to get in during the second semester). Getting in at the first semester is mainstream, but I want mainstream when it comes to uni schedules.

Gap years however are not so maintsream. A good friend of mine (let us call her Seesee Spongebob) once told me to use my time wisely. This was a simple yet precious advice. I don't know anyone else in my batch of graduates who are having gap years (I only know one or two souls who are keeping half a year vacant at max).

As for me, if I do get accepted into uni directly, I will leave for school in 2014. Which leaves me with a 1.5 year gap. If I don't get accepted into uni directly, I'll have to spend around eight months at a college for foundation. I would have to leave at 2013, and then I would have less than a year vacant. Even now, I do not know what will become of my fate in 2013. I have no idea if my documents have safely arrived at the university either (screw the mail tracking system for attempting to kill me by curiosity/nervousness overload). So right now is a very nerve-wracking time of my life. For the very first time my future will be decided by a third party :X

Until then, this is how the linguist rookie shall spend her gap year!

Translations: c'est moi (French): it's me; l'ordinateur (French): computer; mi sono perso (Italian): I am lost; 내가 제일 잘 나가 <naega je-il jal-laga> (Korean): I am the best (in reference to 2NE1's song)

First Hand at Photoshop

Huzzah! I've finally made a banner for this blog. That was the reason for yesterday's entry vacancy. This is actually my first achievement in Photoshop.

Before I started I didn't even know it existed on my laptop, let alone ever using it. So I searched in my laptop for anything called 'photoshop' (had my fingers tightly crossed) and to my delight, Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 appeared! :D

Still, I was a complete noob when I opened it. Needless to say, I searched my trusty friend Google for help countless of times. I don't think I've ever opened so many tabs at once. The Internet is just one of the things that make me glad I live in the 21st century.

With the help of some really helpful tips and guides online, I raided for free digital scrapbook papers. I can't afford to pay for anything I won't get in the real world, because I am just a humble student in her gap year. The selection part was fun and torturous at the same time. There were so many wonderful selections online, but to find the exact patterns I had in mind was difficult beyond words. Now I know I am not as bendable as I think.

One of the things I spent the most time on had to be globe with the infinity sign, which you can see right on top of the blog title. I've lost countless hours just working on this.

Ta-da! This is my globe of infinity. It also took me countless tries to get the infinity ring around the globe right. The idea of using the oil brush had to do with the cover of Infinite's (I love them and their music!) latest album, 'Infinitize'. 'Infinite' also happens to be my favourite word. It has inspired me in so many ways.

Japanese Meal Time: Sushi

Like any normal day, my mom and I were left to decide what to have for lunch. My dad wasn't present that afternoon, so this time, just before my brother comes down to the kitchen with an empty stomach, begging for food. Not much brainstorming was required for lunch, because we simply decided to make my favourite food - sushi! :D

It certainly hasn't been ages since we had some homemade Japanese food for a meal (hayashi rice!). But I, as an ardent Japanese food admirer, found it very hard to refuse. The fillings that we usually use for making sushi would be crabsticks, little tempura shrimps and egg. We've never made sushi with fresh raw fish at home, for various reasons like the cost and the availability. It's just not really appropriate for impromptu whipping up of meals, since it's definitely not there every single time we're in a pinch :P

 This was what went on at the kitchen:

Talking About Ribs

Okay, so yesterday I went to Tony Roma's for the first time in my life.

Some of my friends think that it's somewhat ridiculous that I've never been there.
They are big fans, after all.
One of them, who is also my lovely neighbour, claimed that I 'have not lived' if I've never tried Tony Roma's ribs. This saying had stuck to my head ever since it came out of her mouth.

Was it really that good? Was it really so delectable that I supposedly 'never lived' if I've never eaten it? I was overflowing with curiosity. In fact, I'm often so filled with curiosity that I think I'm abnormally inquisitve.

If anyone was good at advertising via word of mouth, it's my friend, the Pink Princess.
Pink Princess is my neighbour and the only girl in my 'clique' whose age is the same as me. The other three, Josie Buttercup, V-man Brain and Lady Agata are all a year younger.
Eloquent as she is, she managed to save me and my other friend, Josie Buttercup, quite a sum of money with her impressive bargaining skills. I wish I could haggle like her, but I lack the umm...persistence to do so.

Anyway, back to the topic. Here's what we ordered last night:

Initiation

Hello, my name is Alicia.

I'm Asian, 16 years old and a dreamer, 24/7.
I have a passion for liberal arts, but foreign languages interest me the most.
So far I can speak English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. I have a lot to improve on, though. Also, I'm learning French and Italian on my own, making very gradual progress.
I have a lot of pastimes, which include listening to music (all genres), reading books, surfing the Internet, cooking and sometimes, watching movies.

And I'm now back with a new blog!

I've just recently decided to delete my old blog, and properly dedicate my time to this one. I have a blog on Naver.com as well, written mostly in Korean. I think it's going to be a challenge for me to update this regularly, because I don't go out and experience very much lately :|
I'm going to be posting about all sorts of things that life offers, so don't let the name fool you. Food, art, traveling, music, the list goes on. C'est la vie! :)

This summer, I've graduated from high school and won't be seeing my friends regularly anymore (sob). It is saddening, but however tough life gets for us, I can always walk a few blocks to my friend's house and have a nice chat.

So, I guess that's all for the first post :)

アリシア (Alicia)
 

Now listening: Don't Say No - Yoon Gyeon and Seo Hyun