Supposingly (Or the correct term supposedly) ...

Sad news, the word supposingly does not exist. When I was writing the blog title, those annoying red lines turned up, which lead me to do a google search and stumble on this painful truth. I've been using a word that does not exist for the past 21 years? Amazing! But apparently you can get away with it in the US.


Oh bother, I'm in the UK anyway. =/


Back to the blog post.


I was doing some research on CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and Fama-French model when I got bored and Facebook-ed. (Yes, in the middle of the night. Who doesn't anyway?). So was reading the update when I notice Zhen Xiang checked in at Simon's House Party. O_O Simon was organising a house party? So I went to Simon's profile (did a bit of stalking here) and end up watching a video which I commented with the word 'English'!


You can view the video here from Facebook. So one thing leads to another so I ended up watching 精装追女子 (Cheng Chung Chui Lui Chai) or the English title, Love Is A Many Stupid Thing which is a parody of Infernal Affairs.


Here's a trailer of it, I find it very funny!

I recommend watching it :) Something to cheer you up when you are feeling down.


*Note: As with all dumb parody comedy, there is a tendency to have your IQ being lowered after watching it.


Which leads to me saying this: Sigh, I can't write my essay now! I can't understand this!


Off to bed! Toodles!

Of Grand Prix London Trials and Coffee!

National Qualifiers was on Saturday and Grand Prix London Trials was on Sunday. What a weekend! Didn't went for NQ since I got a group meeting on that day but I went for GPT the next day. Bad idea though as I couldn't sleep the entire night on Saturday and could felt sleepy at 8am >.<, there's no way I'm going to wake up in time.

Did better than I expected though, managed to top 8 and qualify for a booster draft with my R/G Dinosaur Burn.  Got the typical Dinosaurs and one of each burn in SOM and MBS, cool isn't it? Drafted a horrible G/B deck in the quarter finals. I thought Blue was open but seem liked everyone thought that as well so ended up with a subpar blue half of the deck.

It was just 7 hours of non stop playing but Grand Prix London will be 10-11 hours? I wonder do I have the stamina for that, not to exclude the fact that it is the weekend of the Royal Wedding making the underground tube and London a busy place!

Anyway, found a song during my insomnia night called 'Coffee' sang by Atsumi Saori, the same singer who sang Mousukoshi Mousukoshi :). Its a very adorable an lively song but I couldn't find the lyric for it. Here is the song. Enjoy!

A walk around Manchester, down town.

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon and I felt bored. So after sleeving up my deck at Fanboy3 (bought new sleeves!), I went for a quick detour and walk around Manchester trying to find spots I would rarely walk on.

Of course I started at Piccadilly Gardens ;P, where else would it be? The Fountains were on and we had little kids running in it. Trying to make it through dry but I bet they love getting wet. Who doesn't?

This was a picture around Piccadilly Gardens. As you can see the sun is setting down. It was around 5-ish, so I don't really have much time. I find the blue evening sky (Wish it was scarlet!) very soothing.

Down to Market Street. On a weekend or in the afternoon, this place would normally be buzzing with people.   with street performers at the side and shop lots right and left of this street, it is indeed a market street!

Here is Cross Street, near Corporation Street or the Exchange Square, not a place I would normally venture to as I normally turn right towards Printworks or Victoria Station. But lets try turning left instead today!

Yes! Blame me! 2 years staying in Manchester and I didn't knew there was a theatre here. I only knew the one along Oxford Road and the one in Spinningfields. But never the Exchange Theatre. Should go inside for a show someday.

Oh yes! Pokemons are everywhere! They are invading UK as we speak! I thought of taking this pictures on my way (Since I have nothing to do). I played Pokemon a long long time ago (it was just 11 years ago, so I still think its long! Its been half my lifetime so far). Gave up on the cards when Nintendo took over. But its cute and interesting to see these adverts all over the place.

  

 

I always wonder about these bollards. Sometimes they are raised, sometimes they are lowered. Would really like to see them in the process of being raised/lowered.

Outdoor pub. Seems interesting though definitely not a place for a cup of tea. Need to go Teacup or Nexus for that. But on a cloudy day, having lunch here outdoor would be fine I suppose. 

 

Talk about finding tombs in the middle of the city! Seriously? This was at St. Ann's square, a place I knew to be home to fashion designs, art and cafes. This gave me an eerie feeling (even when it was in broad daylight!). The tombs are there and warnings are written so people don't trample over the dead. *shudders* I wonder who would.

Moving on I found this parth way on the corner lot. Its actually a pathway through the buildings and was pretty dark when I walk past through it. Though there was a scent of pee in there. I guess some drunkards must have eased themselves there at night.

Further down the road, I only came here when it was night time in December due to the fact that this was a walkway for the Christmas Market. So I was less observant to what lies on the road. Seems like a fair place, more office and similar to those in the Deansgate area.

 Yeah, I decided to be a bit vain after a while.  See the blue sky behind me ;)

Then I ended up at our City Council. I really do love this building. I feel England-ish whenever I'm near these kind of buildings. St Peter's Square was behind this and Chinatown was nearby, so after admiring the City Council building for a while, I went to Wong Wong's Bakery on Princess Street for my Lou Po Peng (Literally Wife's Cake or Sweetheart Cake) which I adore! I just can't describe the taste though I think the ones we have back in Malaysia taste better. But beggars can't be choosers. I also bought Yau Cha Kwai as its another snack I like. However I ended up using it for Bak Kut Teh instead since I felt that it was a waste to eat it just like that :). Impromptu dinner instead of my usual soup noodles or fried rice!

Yum Yum! I still got 2 packets of Bak Kut Teh herbs so if anyone wants I can cook for them :p

And I shall let my emotions run wild

When its spring, you feel the gentle breeze brushing through you. You feel the warm heartfelt rays of the sun, shining upon you. You see dandelions growing here and there. Its a colourful season, and it should be filled with joy!

Or should it?


I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just could not be happy about it. I tried wandering the outskirts of the city, exploring new sights, looking at fresh blossoms and the occasional Pokemon poking out at some of the corner (Part of the Black & White advertisement), I've tried to be excited about Magic : The Gathering, about National Qualifiers, Elder Dragon Highlander, Friday Night Magic, happy that I can now converse better than before in Mandarin, that I know quite a lot of people around and I'm just not sticking to that just few friends, that my schedule is light even when it is heavy at the first glance, but I am not just quite.

Something is missing, somehow.


Yesterday, after a long time not dreaming, I dreamt. Not of love or romance, or mystifying mythics, but of...


Nothing, I can't remember my dreams any more. I've lost the concentration I've once trained to get it.


All I could remember that I was running. I'm not so sure if I was running towards something, or away from something, but I was running. Running, taking each step carefully, trying my best not to trip over.

'Maybe I'm sick of falling down?' I asked myself. Maybe, just maybe.

Spring normally heralds a lot of interesting events to me, but memories of what that used to be, and was, slightly haunts me from a new beginning. Try as I may, I'm trapped behind the chains of my own confinement. I try to try new things, to explore into the wonders, to gaze upon the beauty around us, the supernatural phenomena and the events that occur around us. Everything is taking a swirl, blend in complexity but I can see it all, see past all the veils of complexity, the thing its hiding.

Hiding deep inside.....


Do I? Or is that what I deem that I can see, a figment of my imagination? As we tend to believe what our minds want, we see what we want, we create images of what we want and ultimately it becomes out ultimate reality. I choose not to believe, and I ignore its rules and ordinances.

Did my life changed?


No it did not... 


Shall I proclaim it to the world?


Maybe, but perhaps it is not time.


I need more time and I need more proof, this lifeless soul of mine shall reach out to the sky, try to grab it and who know what will happens next?

Who knows, what will happen? 


When my emotions runs wild.

Mission accomplish!

Yay! After 5 months I have finally reached my target of 1700+ for my total ratings :) Next target should be Constructed to be 1700+ and it seems that I am 9 points away from it. I really want to achieve this target now .

However I felt like I want to play Pyromancer Ascension Deck =(. What should I do? Stick with Kuldotha Red or play Pyromancer Ascension?

There's twice that many stars

Tonight there's twice that many stars in the skies.

Spring has come but winter is very reluctant to go.

I can see daffodils blooming in the park, but the cold air is still rustling through the city on Manchester.

 Sometimes it feels hot in the afternoon, and very cold at night.

But spring is here and that's final. And the mysterious love chemistry is blooming once again around me.

And perhaps that's the reason why for the appearance of the stars in the sky?

Riding Kuldotha Red High and Low

Found this Picture on the MTG website, isn't it cute?

This week was back to back Magic (Again!) FNM on Friday, MBS Gameday 1 on Saturday and MBS Gameday 2 on Sunday.

FNM I went 3-1 finishing 6th out of 23
Gameday 1 I went 2-3 and place 16th out of 25
Gameday 2 I went 4-0-1 and placed 2nd after I dropped out in the finals and let David Baldowski take first place. 2nd out of 14

Gameday 1 didn't really went so well as I made so many mistakes on deciding the right call for my turn. So I went back and tweak the deck, change it into the all in build and totally Mirran deck and forgo playing Boros on Sunday. (And this was my only chance of playing it before I return those Stoneforge Mystic to Jem!)

Gameday two I went 2-0 for my first two game against Henry Kay's Knight deck and Jack Rowley's CawBlade with a splash of Red (Gerry Thompson's build). Henry couldn't find his sideboard so I lent him 3 Kor firewalkers, 1 Divine offering, 1 Revoke Existence and 4 Journey to nowhere to be his sideboard for the day, which I later learn to 'almost' regret. More on this later.

Jack was playing a control deck so round one was an easy game for me since I WON the die roll (Loss every single one yesterday). Game two he was on 8 when he slagstorm me clearing my board. I dropped a signal pest and kicked it with bushwhacker bringing down to 4. (At this point someone sitting next to me joked, you thought the assault was over once you cleared the board didn't you Jack?) He then played Stoneforge Mystic to fetch Sword of Feast and Famine. I attacked for 2 (Bushwhacker with battlecry) and he took it, and then played a rebirth my signal pest. I had Contested Warzone in play. He drew for the turn, the concede as he had no outs to it.

3rd game was against Kieran (Valakut, yay for him beating Mark Riley in the mirror!). We ID (since we only need to have two wins and a draw to guarantee ourself for a top 8 spot.) Might as well guarantee to get a Full Art Black Sun Zenith. I explained to it that we will definitely be in the top 8 and will be paired down since we are only on 7 points. He nodded to my reasoning and we just ID (Intentional Draw). We played two games though with him winning game 1 due to a slightly less aggresive hand by me and I won game 2 despite getting slagstorm. We decided not to play round 3 and leave it as it is otherwise one of us would be regretting that we had  ID.

Game 4 was against a mirror match, David Baldowski. He was on 3 win and in order to get to top 4, I needed to win this match. (Its just to get some extra booster).  He won first match due to a more explosive hand and him starting first. I had exactly the same hand except he went first and I was swarmed by Goblins. Game two I had him on 2 life and me on 14. He tried alpha strike me for lethal by casting a Hero of Oxid Ridge with Goblin Chieftain, Goblin Bushwhacker and Memnite in play. He casted it , tapped and say deal 14 damage to you. I calculated the damage and pointed out it was 12 damage and I survive and asked can we go to the third game then? Since I will be swinging for lethal the next turn. He look, untapped his lands and return the Hero to Oxid Ridge and said, okay I decide I don't wanna attack after all. Of course I wasn't letting him win since this would mean he would have won 2-0. So I called for the judge and say he attacked, it wasn't lethal and I pointed out to him and now he wants to retract it. Judge rulled that once we enter and declare combat, we can't reverse anymore.

I felt like a prick for doing this but well, I just don't want to lose. I promised Kat that I won't lose to anyone today.

So we went to top 4. David, Kieran and I secure our spot but guess who was in as well? HENRY! The Knight Deck I fought in my first round. I was paired up against him and so this was his opportunity for revenge and this is also a point where I kinda regret lending him a sideboard that works so well against my deck :p.

He lost the die roll so game one went to me, game two was tricky as he resolve a hero of bladehold and I still had to bring him down from 8. I managed to cast my Masticore but couldn't survive the onslaught and needed one extra turn.

Game three was tricky with him having 3 5/5 indestructible knights and me having mere 1/1s and 0/1s. He was on 2 so I just need to top deck a burn spell. I manage to get 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge instead so they gave my 0/1 Signal pest +2/+0 due to battle cry and since he doesn't have any flying creatures. I was in for the win!

David Baldowski won his match up against Kieran , an easy match up for us since it was Valakut so we were paired for Finals. Still feeling guilty for enforcing the rule on him I conceded and game him the win :). At least that made up for my guilty conscience.

*And only later in the night I realised he actually had 1740+ points so it wasn't really worth it. I could really knocked some points out of him to get my 1700+ ratings goal. But mirror match is really like a coin toss and I did feel guilty...

So my deck behaved for the day :) I'm loving it when it does!

Now its 4am, and I'm gonna do my Foundation of Finance coursework and CSCW Blog essay coursework. Payoff of playing during the week.