FINAL UPDATE

8) Go go-karting  -  DONE (01/10/12)

25) Save £2 for every task I complete  -  DONE

48) Stay fit  -  DONE 

67) Buy 10 scratchcards  -  DONE

80) Give £2 to charity for every task I don't complete  -   In Progress

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection -  DONE

• Tales from Earthsea - 
• Howl's Moving Castle -
• Arriety -  
• Night of Taneyamagahara - 
• Spirited Away - 

99) Visit 3 people at their unis  -  DONE

Update

3) Donate blood 3 times - DONE


32) Get a 1st in my degree - DONE


58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [87/100]

• The Dictator - 
• Tyrannosaur -
• The Avengers - 
• Moonrise Kingdom -
• Attack of the Block - 
• Drive -  

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [8/10]

£2 paid. £2 won.

Update

2) Get a job - DONE

Contract sent off (eventually) and certain checks are taking place. Getting a job has always been a nagging worry at the back of mind all throughout university - especially in today's climate. As soon as I mention that I'm doing a Maths degree to family/family friends, 'accountancy' or 'teaching' seems to be the only words to leave their mouths. Jobs-wise, I was always aiming towards an engineering/mechanics based role. "But you do Maths, you don't  know anything about engineering!" is a common response I get. Well, Maths is not just working with numbers. In fact, it's not working with numbers at all which is 'numeracy'. I just thought I would make this clear to the many people who look towards me when working out splitting bills etc. "You do maths though". Yes but I'm not a living calculator.

Anyways, I digress.

The next 4 years of my life is now sorted but who knows where I'll end up afterwords. In the meantime, I am very much looking forward to this opportunity and to actually apply what I've been working my arse off to learn the past few years to real-life.

30) Go hiking 5 times - DONE
See below.

38) Actually complete a whole Scrubs marathon - DONE (06/04/12)
After an exhausting 6 days (see below), I could think of nothing better to do than to stay in bed all day watching Scrubs. And what a day it was.


39) Go watch Newcastle Utd win a Premiership match - DONE (09/04/12) 

After a couple of failed attempts (0-2 Blackpool last season and 2-3 West Brom this season) I started to believe I was a bit of a bad luck charm. A coursemate from Bolton made the trip up on Easter Monday and we took our seats in the Gallowgate end. An uneventful yet tense first half continued in the same manner for the second half. That was, until Ben Arfa's moment of magic which sent the fans into raptures. Cissé's celebration in the goal was pretty magic too. A great result but we were made to wait for it!

42) Do the coast to coast walk - DONE (31/03/12 - 05/04/12)
I knew this would be one of the most challenging items on  the list and boy, did it not disappoint. It was  a close uni friend and myself embarking on the Hadrian's Wall route. There's a lot to talk about, so I'll put it in a separate post.


58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [81/100]

• The Muppets - great feel-good film with the added bonus of Jim Parsons and music by Bret McKenzie. 
• Hanna - was recommended this and it didn't disappoint. Exciting and surprisingly has a great soundtrack owing to the Chemical Brothers.

63) Figure out what I want to do with my life - DONE 
As mentioned before, I want to apply Maths to practical situations and come September I get a chance to do so!


67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [7/10]

Another pound down.

 

Update

2) Get a job -  In Progress

Design Engineer at Thales Research & Technology. After many applications and many rejections, I wasn't expecting to get even a telephone interview with one of the biggest (although also being relatively little-known) companies in the world. But luckily I did and then got put through to the assessment centre in Reading. A very long day - an hour group exercise, 90 min written exercise, 15 min presentation + 15 mins questions, hour interview and then 3 aptitude tests. Exhausting but well worth it. Received a call the following day and was offered the job! Now I'm just waiting for the contract to be sent. A massive load off my mind and I haven't been this happy in a long time.

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [79/100]

• The Inbetweeners Movie - has taken me a long time to watch this but it didn't disappoint. Never has a series/film been so cringeworthy yet hilarious.
• The Foot Fist Way - no.1 of small film marathon. I know a lot of people are fans of Danny McBride but he's not for me. Film was nothing special and pretty yawn-worthy. 
• Machete - no. 2 definitely made up for the first. A classic Rodriguez film. 
• Grave Encounters - no.3. I'm not particularly a fan of 'horrors' or 'thrillers'. This built up very slowly, seemed like any other film in the genre and resorted to pretty standard scare tactics. They work though.
• Case Closed: The Lost Ship in the Sky - Typical Japanese anime detective story. I've been watching these since I was a kid, being brought up on  the typical Asian influences. The anime has been around since 1996 and I still can't understand how they can keep devising new plots and 'mysteries' to solve. Because of this, each film seems fresh even though this is the 14th one.
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Now to a slightly different detective. With Sherlock airing on BBC as well, detective fans were out in force, myself included. A lot more complex than the first but still compelling and exciting. A must-watch.

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [6/10]

Another £2 down the drain.

72) Join a society and actually go  -  DONE

I was part of the Hiking Society last year but I don't feel like I made the most of that... This year, I've joined the Photographic Society to actually learn to use my camera properly...  I don't think I've learnt much new but at least I've met some cool people!

90) Read the 7 books I got from Borders 90% off sale  -  DONE (07/11/11)

• Innocent As Sin by Elizabeth Lowell

99) Visit 3 people at their unis - In Progress [2/3]
Edinburgh to visit a good friend's cousin, who is now also a good friend! It was New Year's Eve and we had tickets to the Hogmanay street party. Packed full of people as you can imagine and getting from A to B was a hassle but the live music and fireworks more than made up for that. The former were the best that I've seen, filling the sky and drawing a chorus of 'wows'. Friendly Fires then finished the night off before I headed back the next day. 

Update

7) Dye my hair -  DONE (25/07/11)

Hadn't done so in a while so I thought 'why not?' The typical Asian colour to go for is red (which I've had a few times) so I decided to go for something a bit different...purple! TBH I wasn't expecting it to show well since I didn't bleach my hair beforehand but I held hope regardless. Well you can tell when my hair's wet...or it's in direct sunlight. Otherwise...it's jet black. My fingernails were died purple due to the stupidity of not wearing gloves when washing the dye off. Fail.

9) Go to a festival - DONE properly (23/07/11)

I kind of cheated myself by claiming that throwing paint at people for Holi counted as 'going to a festival'. I fixed it though by going to the Ben & Jerry's Sundae Festival (which was ironically on Saturday). Bit of a last minute plan but definitely glad we went. £17 for many live bands (Gary Numan, Maximo Park etc.) and the best bit? ...Unlimited free Ben & Jerry's ice cream with every possible flavour. Only managed about 10 in the end but all in all, a nice chilled day with good music and ice cream. What more could you want? 


32) Get a 1st in my degree -  In Progress
As always, Maths results were not out on the day that they were meant to be - which happened to be the day before I jetted away to Malta. Eventually they were released as I was on the train down to Leeds. These exams were the worst I've taken, especially one in which I failed to even put a coherent answer down for 2/3 of the paper. The saving grace though was scaling. Massive scaling, all across the board (by an average of 20 marks it seems). So...averaged 77 this semester coupled with 82 last semester gives me a healthy total to take into my final year. I need somewhere in the 60s to overall average a First. Let's not screw this up now. 


33) Do a proper all nighter -  DONE (09/06/11)
Summer Pangaea 2011. Theme: Go Wild. An epic night dressed as a zebra. Walking out and down Oxford Road at 6am with the sun out, passing giant portable speakers blasting drum and bass with students still raving away on the SU steps, was a surreal experience. 


41) Win Premier League with Hartlepool... - DONE (28/07/11)
Eventually done. Fifa 11. World Class. Successive promotions from League 1 to the Prem then winning the league comfortably after 1 season. The lads should be proud of themselves. Star man? Aaron Chow of course. What a player. 

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [65/100]

• The Hangover Part II - Glad to see Mr. Chow having a bigger part in this. Comic genius. Like the first part, good fun but it was the photos during the credits which produced the most laughs.
• The Damned United - Brilliant. Even someone with no interest in football would enjoy this. Maybe.
• Taken - I was so looking forward to seeing this after many rave reviews but was left a bit disappointed. Pretty standard action and nowhere near as 'thrilled' as I thought I would be.
• The Informant! - Part of a pile of copied DVDs I had bought from Marmaris. Quirky little comedy. Left me slightly confused with what was going on though.
• The Last King Of Scotland - By recommendation. Such a great performance by Whitaker and I was stunned by the realism, story and the relationships developed between the characters. Fantastic film.
• Green Lantern - I wasn't expecting a blockbuster and because of that, I thought it was actually alright. Nothing clever; a glorified fairytale about having the will to fight fear.
• The Adjustment Bureau -  Had comparisons to Inception which I could see why, not that I necessarily agree with them. Still, great to watch but it would always be difficult being compared to (in my opinion) one of the greatest films of recent years.
• Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame - Mixes my Mum's love of detective stories and...well, being Chinese. A bit far fetched at times and CGI wasn't great but it was quite original and watch-able.
• Porco Rosso - see below
• Hobo With A Shotgun - Very Grindhouse-esque (infact, it is based on a winning trailer of the Grindhouse trailer contest). Lots of gore, violence and great lines make this a memorable film. Although mentally blocking out some of the scenes is probably for the best. 
• The Good, The Bad And The Weird - Possibly the first Korean film I've ever seen. Good fun though although a tad slow at times. 
• Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - Had to wait a while to see this although others who had seen it didn't really think much of it. Giant robots beating the sh*t out of each other on the big screen. What's not to like? 
• Black Dynamite - Brilliant. He really is one "super-n*gger". (Not nagger).

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [6/10]
Another £2 down the drain.


88) Get into the habit of rewriting/looking at notes after the lecture - DONE...kinda
Started...but after a week or so I just didn't find it useful at all. More time consuming than anything. Not worth it.

90) Read the 7 books I got from Borders 90% off sale - In Progress [6/7]

• Who Is Charlie Conti? by Claus von Bohlen
• Rain Dogs And Love Cats by Andrew Holmes

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [7/19]

• Porco Rosso - A pilot pig. Strange enough as it is but throw in pirates and fully grown men asking to marry little girls then you have a Japanese film. Not one of Miyazaki's finest in my opinion.

100) Go on nights out in Liverpool and Leeds - DONE (16/07/11)

• Leeds - for MJs birthday at a farm/outdoor centre style place in Leeds. [This counts, right? If not then Leeds Fest surely does. Either way, I'm giving this a big tick]. Almost didn't make it there due to car trouble - the car I had bought only a few days earlier. Not the best start to a party having to sort things out with an RAC guy but thankfully the car managed to make it to Manchester the day after. Shame it broke down there a week later...

Update

3) Donate blood 3 times - In Progress [2/3]
The University recently had a big blood donation drive and opened up a building specifically to get new people giving blood. I went between lectures but didn't expect it to be so rammed! Had to wait quite a while but it was worth it for the free muffin/biscuits...and it was for a good cause of course.


11) Go skiing/snowboarding - DONE (02/04/11)
On mine and Harry's mind for a while when an offer of a whole day lesson for 2 people for £200 came up (pricey but a bargain compared to the standard prices) at the Chill Factor next to The Trafford Centre. We were in a group of around 7-8 and we picked it up pretty quickly. Only a few tumbles to recall, including a major 'snowball effect' style tumble at high speed. Exhausting though but definitely a great experience and would recommend it to anyone - they always have new offers, check them out below:

21) Use Twitter/Buzz - DONE (30/01/11)
I thought 'why not?'. I'm not a 'tweeter' though, mainly use it to stalk celebrities. That is the main use, right?


30) Go hiking 5 times - In Progress [4/5]
For someone's birthday, she decided to arrange a hike/BBQ at Edale. Nice to be in the great outdoors again. This time, someone had a map so, in theory, we knew where we were going. Ended up, sheltered from the wind, behind giant rocks setting up the disposable BBQ. I'm afraid that veggie sausages were a failure. Chocolate in bananas, however, were a great success. 


54) Be vegetarian for three days - DONE (08/03/11 - 10/03/11)
Not just 3 days...but for a whole week! Housemates didn't believe I could do it so they bet me a steak dinner on them if I complete it. This set off a '1 week challenge' throughout the friendship group with people giving up tea, wearing black, cooking ready meals etc. I cooked 1 meal the whole week. Every other time, I ate out (I didn't plan it like that, it just happened). It was a straightforward week but I don't think I'll be doing it again. It severely limited what I could make/choose which made me realise what a dependence I have on meat! Anyway, the steak dinner was well deserved.

The steak is there...somewhere

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [52/100]

• Memento - Confusing but what I could make out, it seemed a very clever film and one which I'll need to watch again.
• Black Swan - Caught a late night showing because we didn't have anything better to do. Dark and psychological - not what one would expect from a ballerina film. Very well done.
• Get Smart - I seem to be quite pessimistic about comedies nowadays but this was a good laugh and better than what I expected.
• 3:10 to Yuma - Couldn't understand anything that Bale was saying and turning the volume right up made the gunfight shots reverberate around the whole house. Never really watched a western before and this confirms that they don't really appeal to me. 

62) Spend over £100 on a shopping trip - DONE (23/02/11)
KFC, jeans, football trainers and socks, Focus mag, lots of DVDs and Blurays, headband for my sister and a few snacks conclude a productive shopping trip. 


67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [5/10]
Won £1 back again. Double woop!


92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [6/19]

• My Neighbour Totoro - the classic. The most memorable film of my childhood and watching it again brought back the memories. I remember someone writing how it is one of very few children's films in the world which doesn't have a 'bad' character in which is difficult to do in itself, never mind creating such a rich and sweet storyline based on a simple premise - family move house, little girl gets lost. My housemates were impressed although they found it stranger than Spirited Away. Really? 

96) Get a double chicken burger with cheese from Geminis - DONE (19/03/11)

Everyone else ordered Chinese, I jogged down to Geminis. This one had cheese in, thank God. 

100) Go on nights out in Liverpool and Leeds - In Progress

• Liverpool - Surprisingly nice city. I would even say it was beautiful. I guess I had the stereotypical image of council houses and scouse version of charves running riot (it's not just me who thinks this, right?) which I feel bad for now. Anyway, went to see Russell Howard at Liverpool Echo Arena (he was hilarious) then went for a drink in a pub after.

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. 

Update

1) See a film at IMAX - DONE (07/08/10)
Inception at the Odeon at Metro Centre. Is there actually any difference between the IMAX and a normal screen? Seriously underwhelmed; it was a good thing that the film itself was amazing, otherwise I would've felt hard done by after parting with what seems to be an unreasonable amount of money. 


30) Go hiking 5 times - In Progress [2/5]
Met up with Jack and Sam at Lancaster Station then set off to Kentmere (after a quick stock up of munch). It took us a while to find a decent route, but when we did, it was a decent hike. Weather was great, scenery lush and plenty of great photos taken. Lunch in the shade by a stream, countless sheepish sheep, skipped stones at a reservoir, admired deep chasms and climbed mountains of slate. Decent hike indeed.

47) Win a bet on the football - DONE (07/07/10)
£3 at 22-1 on Spain vs Holland in the WC final. A few other lost bets on the WC brought the winnings down to £50. Not too shabby.


58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [30/100]

• Avatar - One of the first films I have seen that lived up to the hype. Watched it on Blu-ray with my American cousin Hugo, his wife and two kids, and my sister; all of us crammed into my room. Visually stunning and a story which actually had a soul.
• District 9 - A film which my cousin's kids had to miss out, much to their dismay (although they had 'Where The Wild Things Are' to entertain them). Not what I was expecting but still entertaining. Fookin' prawns.
• The Princess Bride - An unknown gem recommended by Hugo. A simple, yet sweet fairy tale which had the kids sound like a stuck record afterwards. Inconceivable! Inconceivable! ...(many hours later)...Inconceivable! I didn't mind one bit.
• Three Kingdoms - Resurrection Of The Dragon - Pretty much your run-of-the-mill traditional Chinese war story. Nothing special.
• The Pursuit Of Happyness - Beautiful, powerful and inspirational. One of Smith's best.
• Karate Kid - I had almost forgotten about Jackie Chan but he returns in a 'remake' of the classic. A less familiar role (in Hollywood) allowed him the opportunity to show what a great actor he is - along with the kicking arse bit. All in all, I didn't expect it to match the original; it didn't.   
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - A parody of Walk the Line, a parody on so many levels higher than say Scary Movie or the like. Very funny without the use of idiotic gags and overall very entertaining.
• Disturbia - Me, Kevin, Hamish and Andrew in a hotel room in Birmingham with nothing to do but eat pot noodles, drink beer, play cards and watch Robot Wars. Disturbia came on in the background but we were soon giving our attention towards it. Decent thriller but I just can't take Shia LaBeouf as a serious actor after Even Stevens.
• Inception - As mentioned above, this film made the extortionate amount I paid worth it (just...). After being warned to pay attention the whole way, I can't see how else I would've watched it. I was captivated throughout and thankfully rarely got lost amidst the intricate plot. Would definitely watch again.
• The A-Team - I had never seen the original series so I can't really compare it to that. Entertaining nontheless.

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [3/10]
£1 scratchcard on the plane to Marmaris. Since when did planes start doing scratchcards?? £1 lost. 


68) Sit in a sauna - DONE (17/08/10)
In Marmaris we decided to go for a full-on Turkish bath with the works which we booked from one of them random excursion stalls on the street. A couple of hours later at our hotel, we were warned not to book one there and to go for the hotel package instead. We didn't have the heart to tell her that it was too late...(we still booked one with the hotel though). But I digress, the sauna was painful. Who would've thought they would be so hot! The heat itself was alright but I made the mistake of rubbing my eyes as sweat dripped from my forehead. God, it burns. It was an experience though.


84) Buy a Newcastle shirt - DONE (11/09/10)
As a reward for passing my theory (see below), I decided to treat myself to the new Toon home top. It just so happens that if you buy a top this weekend, you get a name and number on the back for free! It took a while to decide between the home/away then even longer for the name. So much so that I plucked for Nolan...then after waiting in the (massive) queue for printing, had a change of heart and went for Lovenkrands. Value for money right?


91) Pass theory test - DONE (11/09/10) 
50/50 on the multiple choice and 57/75 for the hazard perception (which I was a bit disappointed with but a pass is a pass! Incidentally, 44 was the pass mark). Now onto the practical!