Uglies By Scott Westerfeld

Book Cover of Uglies

So I have just completed yet another book! Like finally! Hearts to that! ❤

Had brought this 1/4 read book on my Summer Vacation to Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) but wasn’t able to complete it, and then had to immediately returned it as it was way passed the due date-Oops! (If you haven guess already- it’s a borrowed national library book :D)

[Want to see more holiday excitement? Check out my travel blog at: http://traveldiaries2.wordpress.com/ And Check out my YouTube vlog at: http://www.youtube.com/user/traveldiaries2 ]

And just a few weeks ago, I managed to get my hands on it when I visited the library! Hooray to that! I’m telling you, this book keeps getting ‘snatched’ off the bookshelves! So popular I must say.

Alrighty, enough about all the boring stuffs- let’s jump right into the book about UGLIES!

What if you believe that you have a way too high forehead, way too big a nose, and not to mention, your nose ain’t even positioned in the center of your face!?! What if you eyes are way too big, like they are going to pop out of their sockets any moment?! What if you are way too skinny that you look frail and sickly? Or the opposite- big and round; and nothing you do or not do (eat) will help you lose the extra pounds?

And so basically, you are just NOT Magazine- Supermodel- Like. To put it bluntly, you are just UGLY; your friend is UGLY; everyone is born UGLY! What then? Let’s all sit around all day and weep? Or sing the Lady Gaga’ Song: Born This Way (And embrace it)! 😀

Well, the key way to break this ‘curse’? Going under the knife of course! Many people around the world have done it. And all these Liposuction, Botox Injection, Breast Augmentation, etc cost money! Ka- Ching! It’s all about the Price Tag.

What if I tell you that you, your friend and everyone in your estate can get the perfect body, the perfect face FOR FREE! Just turn 16, and you will be put under the knife and after that, you will love the person staring at you in the mirror. How awesome is that!

In this sequel, Scott Westerfeld starts off with the UGLIES (Book 1), where we journey with the main character in deciding if she wants to be pretty or stay UGLY for all eternity. But can one have the choice of staying UGLY? Or is it a MUST to be a PRETTY?

You may be confused- what is wrong with being a PRETTY? Only an idiot wants to stay UGLY. I mean, nice hair, nice skin, nice everything right? So what is the problem? Hmmmmmm……

Did I mentioned that the plastic surgery is FREE. So then, there must be a hidden cost involved.

YOU JUST HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT WHAT IT IS!  😀

I rate this first book of the sequel a 3.5/5 because this book can be a little too draggy. And it is slightly more difficult to read than the other books I have recommended- but still manageable. I love the intriguing story plot, and the adventures with the main character. It makes it wonder if I were in a world where everyone is given a chance to undergo nip tuck. Good or Bad?

Do you want to be an UGLY, or a PRETTY?

At this moment, after reading the book, I still believe I wana’ be a PRETTY. Being an UGLY is way too much work. Haha!

But maybe I may change my mind again after reading the next book of the sequel!

Drop me a comment if you have read this book, and tell me how to find it! I love to hear from you guys! 😀

Posing with Uglies!

Until next time,

Dee

Sundown 2012- A blind mouse

Part of the race pack- Participant’s guide

Many people think that the 2012 Sundown Marathon has 2 categories- 21km (half), and 42km (full). Not surprising, as the name of the event is called Sundown Marathon 2012.

Of course BFF and I joined can’t never possibly join a half or a full marathon! Come on, let’s be real here people, we aren’t exactly the fit type. We joined the third, LESS muscle exerting category: the 10km! And thus, the title for this post is Sundown 2012, and not Sundown Marathon 2012. Then why ‘ a blind mouse’? Well, you have to read on. 😀

My last so-called 10km ‘race’ was about 7 months ago, where BFF and I took part in our very 1st run- The Nike Run. Check out my thoughts on that at  https://alldayeverydayness.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/striking-off-an-item-on-my-to-do-list-before-i-grow-old/

Being the 1st time taking part in a Sundown event, I thought the run would commence in the evening, and the participants wouldl run until the SUN goes DOWN- thus a SUNDOWN event right? Well, call me ignorant, but that’s how I interpreted it! How creative was I right? 😀

Most admin stuffs like registration, and checking out for updates when the event was nearing was entirely done by BFF. I’m the lazy kind who doesn’t like checking stuffs like that. Well, luckily I have her to do the ‘job’ for me! Hurray for that!<3

While many people trained hard or at least TRY to train for the ‘race’, BFF and I were, I like to believe, the slackest participants! We never really train for the event. For me, I would just jog once a week. And for BFF? Well, I think she will kill me if I would to tell you how she ‘trained’, so let’s just say we were pretty bad when it comes to training. ;D

The flag-off time for the 10km category was at 10.30pm on 26 May 2012. I’m not really comfortable jogging at night, especially if it’s an unfamiliar place. I don’t wear glasses when I jog, and I’m not comfortable having contact lenses on. So I pretty much a blind mouse when the sun goes down, and I’m not wearing my glasses.

From the time of flag-off, I was a semi-blind jogger, jogging in the city- on the roads of Singapore! Oh boy, how dangerous!

I could barely see what was ahead of me, when there were’t street lights. And even with street lights, I totally missed 7 of the signboards telling me how many kilometers me had run!

Not knowing the distance I had covered, whenever I felt like giving up and slowing down, I would always assumed that I was completing soon. And of course, my hopes collapsed after jogging an extra 5-10 more torturous minutes!

The only 2 signboards which I saw indicting the distance one has covered was the ‘8km’ and ‘9km’. I felt like I nearly died when I first saw the ‘8km’ signboard. My legs were killing me, especially the muscle on my left foot, and I still had 2km more!

Seriously, I had no idea how I even managed to complete this event. But I’m glad I did! I mean, those who completed get a medal! My very first outside-school-medal! Nice! 😀

And sharing the experience with BFF is one thing that will always be cherished!

My 1st finisher Medal!

My Run Score! Was slower as compared to my previous Nike Run.

Getting ready to board the shuttle service back home. It’s probably 40 minutes pass midnight!

Group Shot!

Water Marbling with Bro

About a week ago, I stumbled across a blog site that showcased different nail colours and varies nail colour brands. The site also showcased nice water marbling medicure! So what is water marbling?

Marbling comes from the word Marble. Like the patterns on a marble, water marbling medicure imprints the random marble patterns on my nails! Like this:

An example of water marbling medicure, taken from the net

I was fascinated by the video tutorial on water marbling. The lady in the short clip make the all process seems easy, so I wanted to try it out on my own. The lady in the video had sticked scotch tape around the skin of her cuticles to prevent the polish stain around the skin of the nail. But I feel it’s a little troublesome, so I browsed through other videos on YouTube to see what other people use or do to prevent stain of the skin around the nails in the process.

In a clip I saw, the girl use Vaseline, apply a thin layer around her cuticles. I think that’s less troublesome. The oily texture of Vaseline makes the removal of the nail polish stain much easier to remove. Before we start to do this water marbling process, the items we need are:

Clockwise: Nail Polish Remover, Any nail colour that you love (need not just be 2 colours), Vaseline (IMPORTANT ITEM), a cup of bottled water or filtered water, lastly toothpick

So with all the necessary items, we can start water marbling. Basically I watched the water marbling tutorial like a few times before I got into the hands- on action. I believe the tutorial is pretty self- explanatory, so here it is:

This lady use scotch tape instead of Vaseline, so it;s up to you- whatever you are comfortable with. 🙂

Tips when doing water marbling:

1. As mentioned in the video tutorial, use filtered water, so the polish can be spread easily.
2. Always clean the surface of the water after using it. By cleaning, I mean drip a layer of polish and wait for it to dry. Remove that layer. (As seen in the first few seconds of the clip) Cleaning the surface would make the polish spread easier- by my experience.
3. If cleaning doesn’t help, maybe you might want to change a new cup of water.
4. Change the toothpick after it’s stain too much with the polish, the dirty toothpick may hinder the pattern making.
5. After you lift your finger from the water, quickly use a paper towel to wipe off the excess polish on the skin around the cuticle before it drys. With the Vaseline on, it make removing much easier. If you have scotch tape on, just peel it off.
6. Don’t do your water marbling under a fan. It will quick dry your polish surface, leaving little time to design the patterns, and makes designing it harder too

Honestly, I did not do the water marbling by myself. I had external help by the person least expected to partake in this process-my brother, yup UNEXPECTED. I reckoned he is just trying to get away with the fact that if he helps me, he need not do his schoolwork. But I have to say he did a great job is creating the patterns, and all. 🙂

Here are the final products for water marbling- my ever 1st designed DIY medicure with help from my bro:

Left column: Left Hand, and Right column: Right Hand

Water marbling can be fun! A nice DIY medicure that you can do it at home with your girlfriends or sisters. Just remember to have lots of paper towels at the side, because you are definitely going to need them. I know I did!

Peace.