The Sunshine Award.

One of the things I love about blogging is that it gave me opportunity to get to know of other bloggers across the world who may share some similar interests or topics with mine. Posting in forum discussion, giving comments or feedbacks on particular articles or write-ups, becoming blog followers as well as get nominated for some kind of blogging awards are some of the ways for bloggers to interact and share knowledge between each other no matter where they are from. This time around, I got nominated for the Sunshine Award. Thanks to Mr. Vui (Huy Tran) (his blog here: http://mr-vui.blogspot.com.au/) for notifying me of this nomination.

It is not literally an award, but rather a medium to link bloggers and have everyone of them answering several questions posted by the one who nominated him or her. Then, he or she will continue the cycle by passing the nominations to his or her favourite bloggers. For me, I will just end it here and won’t pass it around as I have no one on my mind at this moment to nominate. I have previously been nominated several times for some other blogger awards too. Some may find it annoying and pointless, but I will just take it as a chance for me to introduce myself further by answering those questions given to me. Answers below…

1. What is your favourite pet?

I have no pet currently. Many years ago, I have taken care of small tortoises for about a year. After that, I released them. If I could have a pet now, I would be wishing for a small cute white puppy. 
2. What is a song that describes you?

The first that pops into my mind now is Bruno Mars’ ‘Lazy Song’. Just got home from a very tiring day of work, and luckily it’s Friday. So, this weekend is going to be a perfect time for me to get lazy for a short while, and so this song best describes my feeling now.

3. What is the last movie you watched?

I just watched a movie called ‘Date Night’. Downloaded it yesterday and it is quite an entertaining comedy film back in 2010 starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. The two leads are hilarious.

4. What is your favourite tv show/series/drama?

I love many TVB series. Past ones I like are ‘War and Beauty’, ‘Square Pegs’, ‘Heart of Greed’, ‘Moonlight Resonance’, ‘Rosy Business’, etc. Recent one I like is the just-concluded ‘Black Heart, White Soul’.
5. What is an interesting fact about you?

Many people said that I’m hardworking, but I always felt I’m not. Many said that I do things very fast, but I always felt my speed is lacking. What happened? Is it my one-second equals to their two-second or what? Whatever…Ignore this please.
6. What is your favorite part of blogging?

Get to write type down many interesting or memorable stuff I encountered in some particular days and then in future, it would be great if all these are compiled together and have me gone through it again. Would be awesomely nostalgic. It is like my diary of knowledge/experience.
7. What is something that keeps your spirits up?

Able to online with great speed everyday. Haha… And holiday with no work. Who wouldn’t love that?

8. What would your superpower be?

I would love to be extremely smart,…perhaps a brilliant strategist that would allow me to uncover secrets to invincibility and invisibility, power over all elements, extreme speeds, etc…so that I will be the master of all superheroes. Opps…imagining too far. Haha…

Okay…that’s all.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Blog honoured with ‘Illuminating Blogger Award’ today

On February 7th this year, I have received the first ever award presented to my blog, which is known as ‘Versatile Blogger Award’. The award recognized my blog as one of the most all-round and dynamic blogs worldwide. Similar to Versatile Blogger Award, this latest Illuminating Blogger Award presented to me on this day, 27th May 2012, is basically a chain-letter award which the nominated is eventually awarded and get listed on the official website’s blogroll. To follow the rules, the nominated/awarded ones have to create a post like this one with all the required items, and are given responsibility to nominate at least five other blogs for this award.

Illuminating Blogger Award is a fabulous award that anyone can bestow on their fellow bloggers for illuminating, informative blog content. I get to be recognized by it from the comment posted on my blog by ‘Food Stories’, the creator of this award that informed me that I have been listed for this award. It’s also quite satisfying that my blog get listed not by secondary links (like in previous Versatile Blogger Award) but by the creator of the award this time. There would be no prize or a physical award given, but it is the recognition that every blogger wants. This is the badge given for the award’s winners:

‘Illuminating’. Well, according to that term, my blog does provides ‘light’ to many readers. Opps..a bit too proud of that….As usual, there are several instructions I need to follow on this new blog’s post to be qualified fully for the recognition. Here is the instruction:

1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).

=== I have visited the award site and left a comment. 
2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.

=== I now thanked ‘Food Stories’, the creator of this award who nominated my blog and the website is http://foodstoriesblog.com/. 
3. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.

===One random thing? Hmm…I like to travel around the world to explore and experience the different places, cultures, backgrounds from historical to modern sites that I believe would adds a certain useful knowledge to me in the end. My next destination would be Vietnam on this upcoming August. This is my one random thing about myself that I can think of at this moment. 
4. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award.

===The list of five other bloggers that I enjoy reading sometimes:

(a)  Sarcasm? Puh-leeze! (http://leonhart90.blogspot.com/)

(b)  Architecture Moves Us. (http://www.yangsquare.com/)

(c) ArchDaily. (http://www.archdaily.com/)

(d) Dezeen Magazine. (http://www.dezeen.com/)

(e) A Daily Dose of Architecture. (http://archidose.blogspot.com/)

That’s it. Thank you once again for nominating and awarding my blog with this ‘Illuminating Blogger Award’. It’s my blog’s second award and third honour overall with the first being listed by WordPress as one of the top growing blogs back few years ago. Hoping more to come soon!

Blog’s header of this month…something about blogging.

‘Blogging’ is not found in the English vocabulary, but then it becomes a recognizable term that describes the activity of the people writing blog which becomes a popular culture nowadays in this modern world. I am part of the ‘blogging’ world and I am producing the blog’s header for this month based on that. ‘Blogging’ now somehow replaces the culture of writing diary which is quite popular in the past. I myself did wrote diaries, back when I was in early term of secondary schooling. I wrote for about two to three years. Then, I stopped a year to concentrate on my SPM (last year in secondary school). Then, I started to follow the popular culture of blogging by starting my own blog on my first year in university, back in 2008…and this is the blog.

At first, I had a hard time to think of what to put in for my blog’s header for this month to replace the previous one that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic in April 1912. There is no big event or things going on in this May, and that delayed me on creating the new header. Finally, I thought of, why not creating a header based on the culture of blogging. Ahh, and there comes my work for that 18cm x 5cm header at the top of my blog, which I have to work on a new one every month. That’s an extra work for me as a blogger to provide a new refreshing header appearance to my blog’s readers every month. Below, you can see another copy of my header of May 2012. Click on it for larger version. Anyway, the header is already uploaded to the top of the blog.

It’s a simple-illustrated header with a very clean white background which is in contrast with most of my previous headers which are in darker tone and backdrop to correspond with my blog’s black theme. So, this new header in white captures much more attention, and I would like to highlight the fun of blogging to my blog’s readers through the use of playful font of words and arrangements in the design. Those words scrambled all over in one piece on the right side of the header are all associated to ‘blogging’ that reminds people that ‘blogging’ is more than what it is actually. That whole header kind off represents my mind, full of stuff, which is a bit kinda messed up. But then, there is one huge portion of white empty space in that header that represents part of my mind, of what I see, of what I hear, of what I smell, of what I touch, of what I taste, and in overall, of what I experience, that is being brought out (cleared out) of that header and presented through my posts below. This kind of symbolism sounds great, right? Haha…

Blogging for me, is part of a journey, a journey that grants me experience and memory when I grow. I believed this aspect would be seen similarly with the other bloggers around the world. So, my blog’s header for this month is in dedication and honour to the blogging society. It’s not easy to blog actually. You had to have the passion and effort to make it. And so, I appreciate all the hard works by the bloggers out there. Enjoy blogging and one day, you would find yourself contented on what you have written or produced from your blog. That’s a very good feeling.