L: Change The World + 우리, 사랑했을까 + Alba Step Up recycling program + Twoofus live with Potato + haircut + Fishmart Sakuraya with Potato

I actually bought the "L - Change the World" DVD some years ago, but haven't watched the movie yet. Thought I should before I sold it to Cash Converters.

In the last 23 days of L's (Kenichi Matsuyama) life, he takes on one final case involving a bioterrorist group that aims to wipe out much of humanity with a virus. Maki's (Mayuko Fukuda) dad, Dr Nikaido created an antidote to the virus, but had to destroy it together with the virus as his evil assistant, Dr Kimiko Kujo was revealed to be the one who created the virus. 

Maki ran to L, and together with a young Thai boy (named "Near" by L towards the end of the show) who escaped from death in a village, the trio began their escape as L planned to take down Kujo and her team of villains. 

I remember enjoying "Death Note" for its plot and L's weird poses and addiction to sweets. The storyline here reminded me of Dan Brown's "Inferno"... to wipe out human race for the sake of "rebirth".

Rating: 3.5/5

"우리, 사랑했을까" (Was It Love?) is coming to an end soon, and I reckon the ending is predictable.

노애정 (송지효) lives with her daughter and mum. Her husband was not revealed until 14 years later, when four men appeared/re-appeared in her life at about the same time: novelist cum ex-boyfriend오대오 (손호준), actor cum ex-senior류진 (송종호), former gangster구파도 (김민준) and teacher cum junior whom liked her, 오연우 (구자성).

Quite amazing how all four likes her, except maybe for구파도whose ex-lover담자이from Hong Kong resembles her a lot.

Some might think she's lucky, but omg the dilemma she's in... Anyway, 노애정should end up with the father오대오unsurprisingly la.

Rating: 3/5

Waste management provider Alba W&H Smart City rolled out a Step Up Recycling App this July to encourage Singaporeans to recycle! It seems to me you earn a minimum of 50 CO2 points everytime you recycle those recyclables by scanning their QR code on their bins and sending the photo of your items via the app. The points earned can be exchanged for Grabpoints etc but the rewards are not as attractive yet. Still, it's a good initiative and I have been recycling all my old CD/VCDs, books and bottles in there.

20/8/20 Thurs: Enjoyed Twoofus's one-hour live performance on their FB and Potato was part of the band that day too! He was on the drum most of the time, and also the guitar for one song. *Very proud of my hubby!*

21/8/20 Fri: Prices of haircuts have increased after the CB. The salon I used to patron last time has increased their price from $5 to $8, any a few other salons at Jurong West market are charging around the same range too. Mum took a discount coupon ($4.80 after $2 discount) from one salon that's newly-opened recently, but the moment the receptionist saw my hair length, she said mine would have to be $8 after discount. I decided to walk around the market and to my luck, there happened to be another new salon called "fleek salon" that was having a promotion of $3.80 for haircuts.

Chatted with the Chinese hairstylist and he thought I'm from China too because I spoke mandarin "too fluently" lol. Judging from the current situation, I decided to sign up for their $68 10 sessions-haircut package (no expiry) which could be shared among my family members. *It's really much easier to take care of untreated hair, so I haven't dyed my hair in a few years now.* 

To my surprise a few days later, mum told me she walked by another new salon in the area and haircut was only at $3... aiyoh what's with理发店雨后春笋般地出现呢？

22/8/20 Sat: Not a sweet-tooth person but once in a while, I do indulge with the family. Spent $56 on 10 mille crepe cakes delivered from First Love Patisserie... they arrived pretty chilled! Tiramisu, cappuccino, lavender and matcha are the best. Oreo, french vanilla, belgium choco are sweet but it’s okay when shared. Forget about their yuzu, strawberry and corn-flavoured ones. 

28/8/20 Fri: Potato treated me to dinner at Fishmart Sakuraya at West Coast Plaza! *Ooh we both love yellow tail and salmon sashimi!* Bought some chia seed konjac and a melon bun too. The melon pan was sweet, but cannot be compared to the piping hot ones we had in Kyoto, though it was not bad as a choice for breakfast once in a while. I like the chia seed konjac too~ shall buy more in future! I also wore one of my favourite dark blue pants from Reckless Ericka. I used to think even their smallest size S was a little loose for me, but it somehow still fitted nicely at the waist. *Thank god my hips are wide enough so it doesn't drop haha!*

29/8/20 Sat: The Xiaomi Body Fat scale I suggested for mum to buy on Shopee ($26) arrived. One can use the Mi Fit app to assess and estimate the above (might not be entirely accurate besides mass). My muscle mass is just that bit away from "insufficient" haha. Took measurements for my parents and Potato too.

Took a short video of Yuki too... she's always very lively the moment she sees me, and later on just sleeps in Gideon's air-con room while tuition goes on.

1/9/20 Tues: Managed to sell off some old dvds and movies at Cash Converters for a mere $2 but they would not take my old laptop as the battery and keyboard are spoilt. So, I dumped it at a e-waste bin at JCube. Booked my half-hour slot a day before to enter Jurong Library and I put Chinese poetry books I had during university days at the book exchange corner. The library was very quiet, especially so at the Chinese books corner at level 3. Regretted eating pho with shredded chicken slices ($7.90) at Pho Street, in which I chose level 2 for the spiciness... too hot to drink even though I managed to finish the pho. Luckily, I had a $5 coupon for Gongcha so I grabbed the large earl grey tea with 3J yay!

One tuition assignment of mine came to an end recently. The mum cited "personal reason" for the stop. In my 15 years of experience as a part-time tutor, I came across bad/lazy students, one that did not pay up towards the end, Korean mother and daughter that suddenly "flew home"  after only a few lessons with them without notifying me nor the agency. I have not really had an issue with parents, besides the occasional late payments (and also because I'm not in the position to tell them how to discipline their kids too). However, it seems to me that communication is a big problem between this mum and me, and I cannot agree with what she reasoned most of the time. The one time she cancelled class a day before with no reason given even after I asked... that's stepping on my tail. This only goes to show that she is not serious about the commitment and does not think of others. 

For me, this less than 6-months' assignment started on the wrong foot, but I wouldn't want it to end on a bad note. I'd jump at her ridiculous texts on the days I see them, but I'd also tell myself time and again to learn to let go and not bother with people not worth my time and effort.

Of course, I have had hardworking students whom made my life easier and happier too somewhat. Ultimately, I wish that all of them would continue to use mandarin in their life and come to realise the importance of it someday.

Anyway, this self-defense video by严岑师傅of北少林reminded me of the days when some STC staff learnt self-defense techniques from Janet... oh man I have forgotten them all!