Chuckang's 2007 Blog - 1y Law: 2005.01

New Year, New Challenges (o_O)
Sunday, January 23, 2005

Ugg... I just got over a nasty cold that's been going around in my dorm.
I haven't gotten that sick in a really long time - I forgot how much it sucks (-____-)

Anyway, this term is going to be really different for me... I'm stockpiling on 3rd year polisci courses, which means that March is going to be one killer month. I have 4 research papers due around the same time in March, and they're all worth at least 40% of my mark. I definitely have to be really good with time management this term...

I'm also concerned about all these things that I have to get done in the summer. I'll most probably have to take some summer courses (also polisci (>_<)) and start preparing for the LSATs. I'll probably take this Kaplan course... but the hours are really inconvenient, they're either early in the morning or late at night. It wouldn't be a problem if I was still living on campus in the summer, but I doubt I'll be doing that (especially if they tear down my dorm o_O).

I also wanted to join my friends for a mission trip this Summer. It would be in Ecuador with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) most probably... hehe it'll certainly make me nostalgic of our grade 9 trip. I want to go, but it's difficult to figure out logistics six months in advance. I really need to get all this LSAT stuff done this summer, and I am sure that I will have to go to Philippines again ( this will be like my 20th trip to Davao ?? trust me, it's NOT fun.. ) God willing, I'll be able to find a way to get everything done and join the guys (and gals) in Ecuador.

I'm definitely starting to feel the pressure of getting into Law... I did ok last term, but there is definitely room for improvement ( the difference between and 81 and an 85 is HUGE ), so I have to find a way to do better. I have to make sure to keep on my readings, see the prof a lot about the essays and course material, and not have any regrets about badly using my time. That's easier said than done of course..

On a much different note, if you are into animation and/or art, you should try and see the korean movie Wonderful Days. The film has a really beautiful blend of 3D and 2D art... some of the lighting effects are just incredible.

The movie came out a few years ago, but I bring it up now since its coming out in theatres in North America, under the name "Sky Blue". They have movie stills and a trailer at the official site, found here. It will probably only be shown at Tinseltown or something... but it is worth watching or at least downloading (^_^)

Wah... this was a pretty long post...
Hehe, sometimes it is useful to own a blog to vent on...

Posted byCharles Ang at 8:09 PM 1 comments

GT4 Photo Mode with my car? Sweeeet.....
Monday, January 10, 2005

My cousin recently got the HK version of GT4, and its a pretty crazy (good) game. The best thing about it is that it has my car (^o^) ! I'm tempted to buy a PS2 just for this game, but i'd rather save my money for the PSP...

Anyway, GT4 has this new photo mode, that lets u take 'photos' of cars during a race or on specially rendered backgrounds. It's an incredibly thorough feature: u can control things like focus and shutter speed, and you can choose between 64 camera angles of your car at any given moment. The car models are more or less photo-perfect, and the new backgrounds are reallly reallly nice.

You can even stick in a USB Key and transfer these hi-res pics to ur comp.
Here's shots of my car (2003 Accord V6 Coupe) in Times Square, Arc De Triumph, Las Vegas and (i think) Brookyln respectively:

Too bad they didn't have the Honda body kit for the car.... then it would be exactly like my car (^_^)

Posted byCharles Ang at 1:28 AM 1 comments

Christmas Cruise 2005

Another Christmas come and gone... and another year come and gone as well (^_^)

I've never spent Christmas on a cruise before, and it was an... interesting experience. The worst part about the whole trip was how rough the seas were; I don't think i've ever been on a ship that was so rocky for such a long period of time (and we've been on quite a few). It was very unsettling at times... especially when you can see the waves crashing against the boat from your cabin (o_O). Luckily for me, my poor sense of balance came in handy, and I never really got seasick :)

There were only a few stops during this cruise, which was nice for a change, and I thought they were pretty good places to visit.

1) Half Moon Cay - Holland America's private island that has incredibly blue water
2) St. Thomas - All the moms and the girls in my family were severly disappointed as the shops closed at 1:00pm on the day that we were there (I was, of course, happy to have our shopping time cut short)
3) St. Maarten - An island that is actually half-French / half-Dutch. The whole island has an interesting look to it, with tons of shopping traps. Our tour bus went by a nude beach which was a NASTY experience (>_<)

It was a shame that most of my family got seasick for half of the cruise, but I'm glad that we didn't have to go to the Philippines again... the 14 hour flight back and forth really kills me :p

The dumbest moment of the cruise: On Christmas day at 9:00AM, the cruise director makes an announcement that 'NASA has spotted an unidentified flying object heading towards our ship'. Right now, that sounds pretty dumb, but when you're half-awake it sounded like a freaking terrorist attack was about to happen. She then said ' it seems that it is a bearded man on a sled'. Har dee har har. Next time make your lame jokes later in the day, or at least not on as a PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT. (-__-)

Anyway, for me, the cruise was actually pretty relaxing. I wasn't really very hungry thanks to the constant rocking of the ship, and my cousins and I got to use the gym pretty regularly. All in all, it was a good break... now it's time to hit the books again! ;)