Update

5) Volunteer - DONE
My second year as a PASS (Peer Assisted Study Support) leader for the uni. the role involves  facilitating 1st and 2nd years in their studies whilst helping them settle in and provide a bridge between them and the lecturers. Well, not much of that actually happens and it really boils down to guiding through their weekly example sheets. Should be `fun' to relearn all past material that I've forgotten (which is a lot).


6) Climb a mountain - DONE (26/09/10)
Decided to join the Hiking Society along with Jack (and housemate Sam is on the committee) and the first hike of the year was Coniston in the Lake District. It started of steadily but the last half an hour was hell. Steep and after hiking for a good 3 hours beforehand, I felt like giving up. Eventually reached the Old Man of Coniston at the top which was a lofty 803m high; the general definition of the height of a mountain is 600m in the UK (although there is no real height definition).  


26) Shave my head - DONE (01/09/10)
Used to do it in my early high school years so I thought 'Why not?'. Pulled out the clippers and went for it. I forgot how round my head was. Kinda like a bowling ball. Safe to say I won't be doing this again anytime soon.

30) Go hiking 5 times - In Progress [3/5]
See above. Hopefully the start of many more hikes this year.


58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before -  In Progress [41/100]

• Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - With the second in the series out in cinemas, I figured it would make sense to watch the first...first. I'd never read the books but was impressed with the film which bodes well. 
• Ong Bak: The Beginning - Amazing fight scenes which are typical of a Tony Jaa film. Very enjoyable.
• Girl Who Played With Fire - The 2nd of the aforementioned series. Again, a good film but ended quite abruptly, leading onto the final instalment of the trilogy.
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Brilliant. Really enjoyed this and everything was pretty much spot on. Acting, music, effects and script were top-notch and makes me want to start reading the comics.
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine - I've never been an avid X-Men fan but have found the past films pretty good. This falls in the same category.
• Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind - See below
• Professor Layton And The Eternal Diva - I've considered buying a DS just to play the Prof. Layton series and I might still do so since this film didn't put me off. Quite far-fetched at times as opposed to say Detective Conan but was still entertaining. After growing up watching Japanese case-solving programmes such as Kindaichi and DC, this is another series I'll be keeping my eye on. 
• Grown Ups - A choice between this or Marmaduke and me and Katie went for this. Wrong choice. 
• 2012 - Great visuals but just your standard end-of-the-world storyline with not much substance. 
• Shrek Forever After - Same as every other Shrek. 
• The Other Guys -  I know people who hate Will Ferrell. Well these people are just fools. I was expecting another standard 'comedy' with 1-2 laughs across the whole film but I was pleasantly surprised to be watching a film on par with Step Brothers etc. Okay, maybe not as great as Anchorman but still containing plenty of dry humour and Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg complement each other perfectly. 

90) Read the 7 books I got from Borders 90% off sale - In Progress [4/7]

• Frost On My Moustache by Tim Moore
• The Lottery by Beth Goobie

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [5/19]

• Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind - the first in my list of Ghibli films. Released in 1984 and featuring the now classic animations and rich storyline showing that Miyazaki has been consistently brilliant right from the off.

101) Get back in touch with my artistic side - DONE
Used to draw a lot as a kid and I've missed that. Now, rather than pen and paper, I've been keeping up with the times using the laptop. Concentrating on studies seems to have suppressed my creative side and I hope I won't lose this side to me.  

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!

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. 

Update

22) Buy a DSLR -  DONE (28/03/10)
Buying a second compact camera in Hong Kong last summer was probably a mistake - considering it's not that good. Well, now I have a decent camera to use - the Nikon D3000. Anyone who knows me well will know that I love my photos so I'm looking forward to taking it out and using it regularly. It's probably not a wise idea to take it to a club though.

When I didn't know how to hold the camera properly.

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [17/100]

• Princess Mononoke -  See below.
• Kick-Ass - Well...after hearing all the hype I couldn't help but feel disappointed with this. Don't get me wrong, it was  still pretty good but I expected alot more. I thought it would just be a comedy which is why I didn't get as many laughs out of it as I expected - action scenes were great though; not bad for a 13 y/o girl.
• Hot Rod - Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but this is my kind of film. Kind of like Napoleon Dynamite meets Anchorman. Random, laugh out loud, with some more random thrown in. Cool beans?
• The Hangover - Now, this also seemed to suffer from the over-hype. I've been looking forward to seeing this for a loooong time but when I finally watched it, I tended to just drift along with the story, lol-ing a few times. Good but nothing special. "Funniest film ever"? No.

89) Print off HK09 photos and organise into an album - DONE (08/04/10)

Spent £20 getting 400 printed off and a good few hours organising them into one photo album. I could've printed off alot more (I did have almost 2500 to choose from) but I found it difficult to even find a 400 pocket photo album; well...I didn't look particularly hard to be honest, but that's not the point. The point is, the photos show what a hectic, non-stop holiday it was and I'm still amazed at how much we fit into a month. Now to look forward to writing up my journal which will no doubt smash the 54,000 word count on the last one I written.

90) Read the 7 books I got from Borders 90% off sale - In Progress [2/7]

• Bobobo-bo-Bo-bobo Volume 2 by Yoshio Sawai
• Trauma by Patrick McGrath

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [3/19]

• Princess Mononoke - Well I certainly wasn't expecting this; far from being a typical light-hearted Disney-style affair, Miyazaki has managed to create a deep, epic story which centres around saving the forests. It isn't clear though who the real 'bad guys' are in this film and ends somewhat ambiguously - which I thought was beautifully done. Visually brilliant as usual  and miles above any animations out nowadays in terms of the message and the lessons to learn from it. I'll have to see the original Japanese version  at some point - I'm still not so sure about the english dubs.

Update

9) Go to a festival - DONE (06/03/10)
Holi - a Hindu 'Festival of Colours'. This wasn't what I had in mind when writing the task (mainly thinking of Leeds/Reading), but I guess it still counts. I didn't even register in my head that this was a festival until on the way back from it. But it was a good laugh - there's something oddly satisfying about rubbing paint onto a stranger's face. Washing my hair afterwards was almost psychedelic. I'm still wanting to go to a music festival at some point though.

28) Be part of a flashmob - DONE (14/03/10)
There was a Flashmob arranged for a few months ago in Sainsburys but, for some reason, it never happened. But then I was surprised to be invited to a new Flashmob, in the same place with the same aim (stand completely still for 5 minutes) but on the weekend coming. Over 200 people were put as 'Attending' but I could forsee it being...well...a big failure frankly. Needless to say, me and Harry still went; and also needless to say, we dressed up as Mario and Luigi.
...Wait. What?
Yeah, it was an interesting experience standing in the pizza section each posing holding a pizza. Shame there were only about 5 people in total taking part. Big failure indeed.

32) Get a 1st in my degree - In Progress
Got my results a few days earlier than they said...and it was still a week after everyone had theirs. Averaged 74.5% which I am very pleased with considering I was expecting a 2:1. I suspect that everyone was marked up though but I'm not complaining.


41) Win Premier League with Hartlepool... - In Progress
Hartlepool are now in the Premier League! After 2 successive promotions, Mr. Drunkenmo has propelled this lowly club to the dizzying heights of the top tier with star players such as Bjornsson, Liddle, Brown along with new signings Moses, Kightly, Mched...michyle...Michy among others performing admirably. This season will be tough but the players are ready for a relegation dogfight. Bring it on!

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [13/100]

• Boat Trip - A film about two straight guys thrown on a gay cruise. Hilarity ensues surely? Well, as long as you're not expecting a clever film then you will get some laughs out of it - mainly through the many predictable clichés.
  
• Finding Nemo - I still don't know why it's taken until now for me to see it - I probably didn't believe the hype. I mean, I could pretty much quote half of the movie before even seeing it thanks to Danielle and Aarti. Still, a great animation with good laughs.
  
• Up - Disappointed that I didn't see this in 3D but an enjoyable film nontheless. It amused, entertained and managed to deliver emotion at the same time. Impressive.
• Walk The Line - Great film even though I knew nothing about Johnny Cash beforehand (except Ring Of Fire). Brilliant acting by Joaquin but I wasn't so sure about Reese - I'll always just see her as a ditsy blonde lawyer. Anyways, as the great John Dorian once said, "Yeah, I know I'm not exactly the jockey type, but I watched Hoosiers last night and I like sports now." And I like Johnny Cash now.

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [2/10]
I am now starting to regret having this as a task - it seems to be a bit counterproductive. This one brings the total to -£4.

78) Dress up as Mario - DONE (14/03/10)
It wasn't for the Flashmob that we dressed up for - that was just a coincidence (if you can call it that...). The main reason was for Debbie's birthday. Heroes and Villians. All we needed now was a Princess Peach, some goombas and a Bowser. Many ideas came up - mostly ludicrous like paying a hobo to shuffle sideways slowly whilst we jump on his head, or making a shell, putting it on someone random, and beating the sh*t out of him. Okay, maybe not so much ludicrous as demented. Anyways, it was an...average night, mainly due to the fact I wasn't drinking. I mean, who's going to want to hire a hungover plumber in the morning?
92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [2/19]

• Kiki's Delivery Service - Realised I had a few of these films on video back in Newcastle so thought I would watch a random one during my 'surprise' visit back home. This is such a simple, charming film which many people could relate their childhood to - not a small feat by Miyazaki since the main character is a witch. One of Miyazaki's finest.

101) Get back in touch with my artistic side - In Progress
A lazy sunday morning culminated in a session on Paint doing what I used to love best; drawing random things. I was only planning on drawing the one thing but it became a pretty good template so I just kept going; spending 5 minutes average on each one.

Update

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [9/100]

• Tropic Thunder - why did the Vietnamese speak Mandarin? Other than that, a good laugh out loud (or if you prefer, 'lol') film.
  
• Ponyo - see below
  

82) Go to a Morecambe match - DONE (23/02/10)






A cold Tuesday night consisting of trams, drunk Mancs, snow and a burnt mouth from eating my Balti pie too quickly. The football? League 2 standard. But I definitely wasn't let down by the atmosphere - something that Jack had told us about. A constant stream of chants, songs and war cries were accompanied with a bass drum for the whole 90 minutes. Even a chorus of "Shoes off, if you love Morecambe" left a group of people balancing on one leg. Shame I wasn't able to celebrate a goal. Maybe next time...when the sun's out.

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [1/19]
The number is just an estimate since a quite a few are TV spots or are Japanese only (some of which I've included anyways along with soon-to-be released films). I've seen about 5 already from when I was much younger so I am definitely looking forward to bringing back these memories.

• Ponyo - It annoys me when people are so closed minded when it comes to experiencing anything different - hence only four of us went to see this at the AMC. I wasn't disappointed and left the cinema with a big smile on my face humming the tune played over the closing credits. The animation was amazing but something which I've come to expect from Miyazaki with many similarities to his previous films. To those who would only watch a film if there's explosions or gore then, believe it or not, this isn't the film for you. This is a kid's film. But a brilliant one at that.
  

Update

3) Donate blood 3 times - In Progress [1/3]

Thursday 9th Feb - My first time
along with Danielle. Pretty straightforward and I was surprised how normal I felt afterwards considering I have had quite a low blood pressure since childhood. I'm not going to say no to free biscuits though. Giving blood has been high on my list for a few years but I've never gotten round to it. If you're the same then I urge you to book an appointment...now!

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [7/100]

• No Country For Old Men - a very long...and slow...film... But good nontheless.
  
• Funny People - even longer. It felt like a full 90 minute comedy film...with an extra hour drama thrown in. I'd rather Sandler stuck to Zohan-esque films.
  
• My Name is Khan - Could a film possibly be longer than the previous two? Yes, but I didn't mind one bit (except for the numb arse). This was a brilliant feel-good film with bags of emotion and an ounce of humour. There was an abundance of overacting but what else can you expect from a 'Bollywood' film.
• The Island - Rubbish.
  

75) Find 10 'Space invaders' around Manchester - In Progress [1/10]
First one found on Sackville St. ...which I've walked down many a time and never noticed it before. Ah well.

101) Get back in touch with my artistic side - In Progress
My 'leave-it-too-late-to-get-a-decent-costume' t-shirts for Chloe's birthday night out. Shame I didn't have any fabric pens. Sharpies didn't do it justice.