Update

12) Get fit - DONE
Playing 5-a-side every Monday for Snake Face (awesome name, I know) has been the real kicker. It started off with me being knackered after 10 minutes (competitive 5-a-side is bloody intensive) to being able to finish the whole match easily and not ache the day after! Training sessions midweek helped as well and now I feel the fittest that I've ever been. Let's hope I keep it up.


13) Pass driving test -  DONE (05/11/10)
After learning over summer, I tried to book in for my test before coming back to Uni but there wasn't any available slots. This meant having to come back over Reading Week, have a couple of lessons then hope for the best. The day came I felt fine - no nerves whatsoever. Sitting in the car at the start of the test was a different story though. Didn't help that my examiner was a intimidating figure (6' 6"?) although having a Rhod Gilbert look to him. Breezed through the test though and ended up with 6 minors - most for going too slow! Not planning on getting a car though, but I'm glad it's over and done with and the pink driving license is on the way!


17) Go to 5 gigs - DONE (15/11/10 - 27/11/10)

• Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem
• Anberlin
• Paramore
• Jimmy Eat World
• The National

and also Biffy Clyro (3/12/10).


LCD Soundsystem were fine but by the time Hot Chip came on, I had lost interest. Anberlin were troubled with the sound balance again unfortunately. Paramore and Jimmy Eat World were both top notch and I was pleasantly surprised by The National - great gig! Biffy Clyro, however, were amazing. Best gig I've been to.

51) Perfect the yorkshire pudding pizza -  DONE (18/11/10)

With help from housemate Josh with the Yorkshire pudding recipe, me and Harry finally perfected it! About time too. Great reviews all round from my housemates and me and Harry blew a sigh of relief, probably with a mouthful of tasty tasty pizza. 

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [48/100]

• The Social Network - A film about Facebook. A film with a surprisingly rich background and storyline. Aaron Chow like this. 
• Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 1 - I'm not a Harry Potter fan. Not read any of the books and only seen the first film (vaguely). Cousin had a spare ticket though so I thought I may as well. I'm guessing I would've enjoyed it if I knew the background. Maybe.
• Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Third of the series and like the others, enjoyable and exciting to watch. Encouraging me to read the books.
• 3 Men And A Baby - A 'classic' apparently. Good fun though but would probably not bother with the sequel.
• Hairspray - The second of an unplanned late night film marathon because no one could be bothered to get up and go to bed. Enjoyable. Had to replay the end because of a set of drunken Santa Claus (Clauses? Clausi?) interrupting. 
• Sweeney Todd - Been meaning to watch this for a while and it was great. Not been much of a fan of musical films but the past two say otherwise...
• Back To The Future - Can't believe I've not seen these yet. It was on in the background whilst we were having a family get together/meal and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and now understand where many parodies were derived from! Will need to watch the sequels.

61) Invent a food - DONE (18/11/10)
Yorkshire Pudding Pizza - see above.

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [4/10]
Won my pound back. WOOOOOO!


81) Buy christmas presents for friends/family without being told what to get - DONE
My parents always insist on choosing their own presents - I guess I can see the logic in it by not having to return it if/when they don't like it but it's not really in the spirit of things. Anyway, this year I decided to do things differently. A success as well apart from someone buying my sister the same book as me. Dammit. 


86) Sell my first year maths books - DONE (30/09/11)
Found a website which gives students the opportunities to buy/sell course books so I stuck mine on. A week later and the 2 books I had were gone with a healthy wad of cash in hand. 

Overdue Update

It's been a while since this blog has been touched. Bit of a stressful couple of months after Easter but I've survived and now I'm ready to, once again, captivate the minds of my eager readers(!)


13) Pass driving test - In Progress
First lesson quite recently (this morning infact). An intensive course which I would've preferred seems unlikely but I have the whole summer I guess. Now to disprove the age-old myth that Asians are bad drivers...


27) Go for a bike ride - DONE (18/06/10)
Pulled out the trusty mountain bike out of the garage and gave it a quick dust, pump up of the tyres and I was good to go. Not bad considering it hasn't left the garage in over 4 years. Just a chilled cycle down Seaton Burn Wagonways then here and there. Manchester made me forgot how much I used to enjoy cycling; Oxford/Wilsmlow Road is not the ideal place for a relaxing bike ride.


32) Get a 1st in my degree -  In Progress
6 two hour exams in the space of 3 weeks. Doesn't seem like much but it wasn't nice to say the least. Some went better than expected, some not; I'm just glad I'm done for the summer. This semester, I took a slightly different approach to previous sets of exams; i.e. do work more than a few days before the exam. It paid off, I think. I shall find out on the 9th July. As long as it's not an Asian fail I'll be happy.


Speaking of Asian fail... 
43) Learn to read/write chinese - In Progress
My mum discovered some of my old work from 'Chinese class' when I was 6. 14 years on and I wish I was as good as I was back then - which is saying something considering I was probably bottom of the class. Well, I'm slowly being taught the basics again starting with my name 周沛樑. This'll be a challenge...


51) Perfect the yorkshire pudding pizza - In Progress

Attempt 2. Well, technically 3 but the one before was a complete failure. Still improvements to be made.

57) Score a long range screamer on Fifa - DONE

I'm just going to claim I've done this - I've had quite a few screamers before but I've always waited for a better one. I probably wouldn't have stopped until I score a overhead kick from the halfway line into the top corner. It could happen...

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [20/100]

• The Adventures Of Baron Von Munchausen - Very Monty Python-esque. Weird, wacky and wonderful.
• Ironman 2 - Not as good as the first. Sequels rarely are but it was a decent attempt nonetheless.
• Couple's Retreat - Pretty average but then again, I wasn't expecting anything great to start with.

66) Use/own a Polaroid instant camera - DONE (22/05/10)

I've always wanted one, and thanks to eBay, I finally have one. It's a shame that they stopped producing film and the two packs that came with the camera were, unfortunately, too far gone to produce any decent shots. Well, I still have the camera and will be waiting for 'The Impossible Project' to lower the prices for their film - £18 for 8 shots? I like cameras but not that much. 

75) Find 10 'Space invaders' around Manchester - In Progress [3/10]
Although not technically a 'Space invader', the Mario mosaic in the Northern quarter (near Afflecks) counts. Also, this one on Oxford Road.

85) Win cash playing poker - Almost

The night of my birthday we all settled down to a game of poker. However, as with almost every poker game, tedium set in and concentration was lost and the night grew long. It was down to me and Hannah and by then, it was late we just couldn't be bothered any more. We decided to split the winnings which would mean that I could still tick this off the list. Well, that would've been the case if only we cared enough to sort it out. Which we didn't.  

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [4/19]

• Laputa - a classic along with My Neighbour Totoro - the 2 most prominent SG creations from my childhood. Such a sweet yet haunting  film; a truly engaging storyline with brilliant animation as always.

94) Dance the robot with Paul - DONE (10/06/10)

Unfortunately, not to Electro but to some Carnival vibes at Pangaea instead. Not really fitting, I know, but it was nearing the end of the night and there wasn't any suitable music. We put Crouch to shame. 

97) Buy a print of the HK skyline to put on the wall - DONE (18/05/10)

eBay to the rescue for this. Prints are expensive. Very expensive. Luckily I found a decent 'shop' and got one for a decent price. I'm hoping it'll add a bit of class to my student room next year. 

98) Buy a PS3/Wii/Xbox - DONE (18/06/10)

It was a tough choice but I figured that after 2 years of playing on the Xbox, I fancied a change. Plus going online for free and the Blu-ray player made the decision easier.