Why Converse Sneakers Are My Favorite
4.21.2017
Coco Chanel once said "A woman with good shoes is never ugly." When I think about a good pair of shoes, I'll always think of something comfy and in the same time, not too old-fashioned. I must be comfortable in that shoes because I walk a lot, I swear. I often find myself using stairs when there are elevators and escalators available, I don't know why. I just love walking. I'm also a fast walker. Time is gold, they said, but that's not exactly why I walk so fast. I just walk fast. It's kinda like a habit, but the habit often brings advantage to me.
The only shoes that fits my criteria are sneakers. As much as I want to say I love high heels more, I honestly love my Converse more. I'll use high heels on occasion that requires dressing up but in my daily life? I'd rather wear sneakers. I've been using Converse sneakers since primary school and I have a lot of memories with my Converse; both good and bad memories. I use my Converse during school trips, I wore them a lot to my favourite place in town, I once almost got hit by a car while I was wearing Converse and a lot more. *I wonder why I suddenly get nostalgic with this Converse post*
I'm a huge fan of Converse sneakers, and here are some reasons why:
They are super comfortable.
As I mentioned above, I love walking and I'm a fast walker (even when I don't intend to be fast). I can walk around the places I want to without needing to have a break too many times. I can shop all I want in the shopping mall without feeling too tired because my shoes are soft and comfortable inside. It is so convenient!
Fun fact: I'm the only girl among my siblings. Another fun fact: It's not fun. One of the pros of being the only daughter is I don't need to share my things with anyone. I can have my clothes and things all to myself. The con? If I need something, for example clothes, bags, accessories or whatever, I can't borrow my brothers' stuffs. Their stuffs are all too boyish and their stuffs wouldn't fit me well. However, as Converse sneakers are unisex style shoes, I can always borrow my brothers' sneakers. They might be a little too big, but I can always tighten the shoes. No one can avoid me from wearing Converse.
They are very affordable
Compared to other sneakers brand, for me, the most affordable is definitely Converse. There are people who own up to 10 (or more) Converse sneakers, that's how affordable the sneakers are. The shoes are comfy, unisex, stylish and not too pricey. What's not to love about the sneakers?
I can design my own converse sneakers.
Who wouldn't love to have self-designed sneakers? Not me. I would really love it. You can also design shoes as a gift to someone, whether it's your friends, siblings or lovers based on what they like. Just go to their website, design, and you are done.
Converse go with any outfit.
I don't really have to burden my mind with the "which pair of shoes will fit my outfit" every time I have an occasion I need to attend when I have my converse with me. Whether I am going for a cute, modest, or sporty look, my converse will always match my look.
An additional fact about Converse: They are not all about sneakers. They also have many accessories to choose from. For the guys and girls who love the casual laid back style, chill out in Converse hats and bags. You can choose a backpack or sling bag depending on your mood. The sling bag is also great to bring on the plane where you can store important documents that you need to reach for without going through a big bag. Converse is a legendary brand.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater | Book Review
4.08.2017
BLURB: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before. (Goodreads)
She wasn't interested in telling other people's futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own.
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Magical realism, Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads rating: 4.05
Pages: 409
Publication: 18th September 2012 by Scholastic Press
Source: Book Depository | Amazon | BookXcess | Google Books
Reading format: Hardback
Review type: Non-spoilery
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
DISCLAIMER: I edited this book review in 2021, after re-reading the series. Not much of my opinion had changed, so I just added some things I did not notice from my first read in this review.
"If Blue was to kiss her true love, he would die. For a long time, this bothered Blue. The warning was specific, certainly, but in the way of a fairy tale. It didn't say how her true love would die. It didn't say how long after the kiss he would survive. Did it have to be a kiss on the lips? Would a chaste peck on the back of his palm prove as deadly?" (Chapter 1, The Raven Boys)
The whole idea of the book intrigued me. It involves a lot of paranormal stuff that isn't included in the books/shows/movies I consumed in the past. This book genre was very much new to me, it is classified as magical realism (you can read more about it here) and it sounds like something that I will love very much! I was hooked from the very first page, the very first sentence. Even the first chapter, as I included above, already shows so much promise.
The main premise is simple: there's a girl, and if she kisses her true love, that person will die. But there's more to it. It is not just about that. In this book, we get to learn about the girl's family, how she became friends with boys that seem unlikely to be her friends, each of these boys' personalities and a magical quest one of these boys is on. And as much as it sounds like 'just another teenage fantasy story', Stiefvater wrote the characters in a very special way, engraving them into my heart.
First of all, let me say that I freaking love Blue's family. Her family consists of only women, her mom, her cousin, her aunt and her mom's best friend (which already sounds like a dream to me because I live with 4 boys). Except for Blue, all of them are clairvoyant and each of them specializes in different kinds of clairvoyance. These women are so lively and each of them has personalities of their own and I JUST WANT TO LIVE WITH THEM. Imagine how much magic you can see every day in their house AND THE CHAOS.
They were written in a whimsical way but their personalities are very real if that makes sense. In the previous books I've read, fantasy characters ESPECIALLY the ones who can do magic, are written in a way that emphasizes their magical-ness, making it seem impossible that they can ever be real. But the characters in The Raven Boys are written in a way that makes me believe that they can actually exist, which I think is the whole point of the magical realism genre. And this also extends to the four Raven Boys, Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah.
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| Photo from here. |
It is almost impossible to not fall in love with all of the Raven Boys. For me, it was like falling in love with 5 Seconds of Summer all over again. I want everything from The Raven Boys, I want live shows, I want interactions on social media, I want to see fan edits of them (which is basically what fan art is) and most of all, I want them to be real.
Adam wasn't certain what came first with Blue--her treating the boys as friends, or them all becoming friends. It seemed to Adam that this circular way to build relationships required a healthy amount of self-confidence to undertake. And it was a strange sort of magic that it felt like she'd always been hunting for Glendower with them.
Gansey is the Dad of the group. He cares about his friends, will do everything for them and I have no doubt he will kill for them if he must. He is said to be oblivious and out of touch because he comes from a rich family, yes, he's not perfect, he sometimes unconsciously hurt the people around him, but the way he cares for his friends make up for it, in my opinion. The way he is passionate about his quest is also very adorable (how I wish I'm THAT passionate about anything in my life).
Then, we have Adam, the precious, precious boy I just want to protect. During my first read, he annoyed me so much. Only after my second read and four years of maturing did I understand him. He did not like receiving help and reacted so badly when someone did help him because he was not used to it. My take from it is that it is not easy to get used to receiving love when for your whole life, the people who should be giving you love and cherish you turn out to be the ones who hurt you all the time. My heart goes for him, and all of the Adams in the world.
Ronan is the mysterious guy of the group. More about his story and his background is told in the second book. Although he is introduced as the rude brat who secretly cares for his friends as much as they do him without showing that he cares, he is more complex than just that. And lastly, another precious soft boy that needs protection, Noah. I think that Stiefvater crafted his story so nicely! And what I mean by that is for me to know and for you to find out 😉
My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.
Stiefvater's storytelling is otherworldly. It is beautiful and poetic at times but not too intoxicating that the beautiful words become the one that grips the reader into the story and not the story itself. As someone with a short attention span, beautiful words usually intoxicate me (I call it reader's high) and if I read it for long, I will end up daydreaming instead of reading the story. In Stiefvater's narrative, the storytelling and the poetry of the words are balanced, so while the beautiful words tug at my heart, I can also be focused on the story at the same time. And that is why even after 4 years and hundreds of books read, I still gave this book a 5-star rating.
Recommended for people who love: magical realism, found family trope, friendship goals, lovable characters.
4 Reasons I Love Ezbuy
4.07.2017
As a student that's busy with my study, co-curricular activities and a lot of other things, I sometimes have no time to go out, not even for buying the things I need. It's so hard to find the time since my school scheduled a lot of things for the students and we barely find time to relax. The only person I can depend on to buy my necessities is my mother, and even her is so busy with the teaching and managing my little brothers as well as the household.
A few years back, we discovered a thing called online shopping. And we fell in love with online shopping instantly; it was love at first sight. We live in a place where the only sophisticated place to shop is Watson and the biggest supermarket is, well, Milimewa. Shopping malls only exist in cities and the nearest city to my hometown is 2 hours away. So online shopping is the most perfect option for us!
These days, we'll find a lot of medium to shop online. However, we'll rarely find an online shop that fits almost all of the good criteria of an online shop. Nothing is perfect, but today I'll introduce to Ezbuy, the online shopping website that I just discovered and love and I'll make you fall in love with Ezbuy as well.
To all of you who aren't familiar to what Ezbuy is, well, Ezbuy is a dedicated provider of professional online services, which has evolved to now include their own global shopping platform. Ezbuy provides shopping service from China, Taiwan, the USA for Singaporeans, Malaysians, Australians and Thai people.
The reasons I love Ezbuy:
REASON 1: IT IS WAY EASIER, CHEAPER AND FASTER
It is sad when you're separated with your lover by South China Sea but when it becomes a barrier from you and the things you want to buy, it's so much more upsetting. No worries, folks, because with Ezbuy, you can buy all the trendy goods overseas without having to take a plane or do anything that requires your energy! It can be on your phone, laptop, as long as it is online. In addition, the shipping fee is very much affordable even when the things you order are from other countries.
With Ezbuy, the shipping cost would be cheaper because Ezbuy inspects the product you buy to ensure its quality and repack the parcel by removing excess packaging to make it less bulky, hence lowering the cost of local postage fees borne by us. When buying things online, I usually forget about the wallet-emptying shipping fee; I just put everything I want into my cart because they all look so cheap! In the end, during checkout, I need to untick a lot of things that I put into my cart before just so that I can afford the shipping. With Ezbuy, that is not a problem anymore!
REASON 2: 3 MAIN LANGUAGES
I had a countless experience of needing open a shopping website with Google Translate opened on another tab, especially shopping websites that originated from China, Japan or Korea because they don't provide English version of the webpage or even if they do, only half of the words on the webpage are translated. It is very time-consuming and to be honest, is not my ideal online shopping atmosphere. If you experienced this same situation before, worry not, because Ezbuy provides 3 main languages which are Malay, English and Mandarin.
REASON 3: YOU CAN GET A PRIME ACCOUNT!
Prime is a membership programme which guarantees your shopping fee to be fixed at a flat rate of RM8.80 no matter how big or how much it weighs and the quantity of items bought per checkout. So convenient! You can get a trial for prime account for 5 days at only RM18.80. For a 1 year membership, it is priced affordably with only RM188!
REASON 4: COUNTLESS KOREAN-ORIGIN PRODUCTS AVAILABLE!
I'm pretty sure that almost 70% of Malaysians are obsessed with Korean products, just like me. Maybe it's skincare products, their fashionable and comfortable clothes, cute stationery or anything, really. Maybe you're a fan of Ulzzang fashion, maybe you're aiming for that glowing face just like theirs or like me, is curious about some Korean foods. On Ezbuy, the Korean products that are available are not just skincare products, but also range from foods, cosmetics, clothes and a lot of other things! Now all of you who are Korean products obsessed, just like me, go to their website and register!
Not to mention, when you register, you will get free RM15 voucher! Isn't that amazing? And after you register, whenever you invite your friend to register, you will get RM15!
'DON'T PLAY/SING THIS AT ANY WEDDING' Playlist
4.05.2017
Hi! Hello! Bonjour! I am currently listening to Desi Ratnasari's Tenda Biru right now. I used to listen to that song a lot during my childhood because my Ma loves that song. And apparently that song was played a lot of times in a lot of weddings I went to. Now listening to the song and understanding the meaning, I wondered... why did they play this song at a wedding?
Tenda Biru is a depressing song especially for weddings. And Tenda Biru wasn't the only depressing songs played at most weddings I went, there were a tons more. Hence, to avoid a disastrous choice of songs to be played at a wedding, let me list some songs that are in my mind.
I got the idea for this post from my English teacher's post that I read long time ago when I stalked her (that happens when you have a very beautiful and attractive woman as an English teacher and I wasn't the only one who stalked her)
The 'DON'T SING THIS SONG AT ANY WEDDING' Playlist (Unless it's your ex's wedding and you want to ruin it)
- Tenda Biru by Desi Ratnasari: "Tanpa undangan kau diriku kau lupakan... Tanpa putusan diriku kau tinggalkan... Tanpa bicara kau buat ku kecewa... Tanpa berdosa kau buat ku merana... Ku tak percaya dirimu tega, nodai cinta, khianati cinta." Yup. Depressing as heck.
- Breakeven by The Script: "Her best days were some of my worst. She finally met a man that's gonna put her first. While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping. Cause when a heart breaks no it don't break even..."
- When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. It might be tempting to show off your ability to belt a strong note in front of everybody else, but not this song. And this song is too depressing to be played at a wedding.
- Ku Tunggu Jandamu by Irwansyah. Seriously? Ku Tunggu Jandamu? It's a fun song, but the groom might not find it fun. At all.
- Putuskan Saja Pacarmu (P.U.S.P.A.) by ST12
- Ku Menunggu by Rossa. The melody might sounds suitable for the wedding, but the lyrics and the meaning behind the lyrics? Totally unsuitable. "Ku menunggu, ku menunggu kau putus dengan kekasihmu. Tak akan ku ganggu kau dengan kekasihmu. Ku kan selalu di sini untuk menunggumu." You don't want to send a message like this to any of the newlyweds. They are supposed to be happy with their wedding, and not worrying over someone that is praying for them to split.
That's all from me today. This post was fun to write, I hope you'll enjoy the post as well 😊 Do you have any song in your mind that fits this playlist? Comment down below to let me know!
Love,
Pypaa. xoxo
Quick March Outro X April Goals
4.02.2017
I've been wanting to write this kind of post for so long, but I didn't have the time. Actually, I still don't have time to do anything on the Internet other than searching for information for pantun or my SPM speaking test. But sometimes, writing is too tempting and I can't hold myself back, so here I am writing my post.
It was a frantic month. With the exams, and the one week holiday I spent with house chores and worrying over my sick Granddad, the pantun competition at the beginning of the month, everything was just so, very hectic.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH...
- Ron Weasley's birthday (March 1st) - Ron turned 37 this year yay 🙆
- Pantun competition (March 9th) - which we won *yay* but I put the team on risk of losing when I used the wrong words in my pantun.
- Exams with weird schedules - my exam result was shocking because it went down drastically. I blame myself for my lack of revision and the school for a weird schedule of exam. Imagine! 5 subjects a day for the exam? That was insane.
- First-term break - which I spent with house chores and worrying over my sick Granddad. Since I was the only girl left in the house because my Ma was at the hospital taking care of Granddad and my brothers were being my brothers, I was obliged to do all the house chores instead of relaxing (like how I planned my week before the holiday).
- SEGAK test - SEGAK test is a physical fitness test that all of the students need to take and we need to do sit-ups, push-ups, naik turun bangku and jangkauan melunjur. And now my body hurts everywhere.
- Koo Jun-Hoe's birthday (March 31st) - June turned 20 today💞
CURRENT FAVORITES...
- Book: The Raven Boys - I will do a review for this book later.
- Book: Isla and The Happily Ever After - I finally finish the trilogy! You can read my short review of this book here. It was a very short review.
- Book: To Kill A Mockingbird - It was a really good book. I adore Atticus, his belief and what he fought for. I love Jean-Louise (Scout) and Jem and everything in the book.
- Music: Death Of A Bachelor (Album) by Panic! At The Disco
- Music: ÷ (Album) by Ed Sheeran
- Booktuber: A Clockwork Reader
- Youtuber: Conan Gray
"Excellent time management is a source of energy, enthusiasm and a positive mental attitude."
Cikgu Windralela, our Biology teacher put this on our Biology papers. It was her way to tell us to do better in our time management to have a better result in everything.
APRIL GOALS...
APRIL GOALS...
- Stop procrastinating. This is actually one of my 2017 goals and I'm still struggling to do this since I'm always too busy and when I want to do things that I need to, I am already tired. So. Stop procrastinating.
- Read more books. March was a hard month, and from the school's takwim, I heard that April is going to be busier. Save me, please! I want to read more. There are tons of books in my TBR-list and it's so painful to see the books untouched.
- Reduce my caffeine intake. I think I'm addicted to caffeine and I hate when I'm addicted to something. I hate being dependent to something or someone. I hate it when I get migraine whenever I don't drink a cup of coffee.
- Be more organized. I found a hairbrush in my school file last month. Yup, that's how unorganized I was. I'm going to change that.
- Drink more water.
So that was my March wrap up and April goals. I can only give my best effort, pray and hope that everything will get much better in the next month. How was your month? I hope it is much better than mine.
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