top 10 favourite love/romance movies!

since i don’t feel like studying nor sleeping. i' thought i’d make a list. cause well, i am a romance movie junkie. haha. =)

starting from the back!

10. Dear John (2010)

my number 10 favourite romance movie is dear john. in fact, it just came out this year. it features Channing Tatum as John Tyree, a soldier returning home during on leave from the army as well as Amanda Seyfried as Savannah Curtis who is a college student on spring break. They meet when Savannah accidently drops her bag into the sea and John jumps in to retrieve it. From then on, they spend a lot of time together as their relationship develops and they learn more about each other. Before John’s return to the army and Savannah’s return to college, they get into an argument which results in John writing his first note to Savannah. After they reconcile, Savannah and John continue to communicate by letters even though they are miles apart. John returns for Savannah’s graduation, but decides to return to the army when 9/11 strikes. They continue communication through letters but Savannah sends her last letter to John to tell him of her marriage to another man. Overall it was a good movie, i just wished the actors and actresses showed a bit more emotion.

9. Enchanted (2007)

Number 9 favourite movie goes to Enchanted. It’s actually a typical Disney princess movie which i love! if i had the chance i would include quite a lot of the Disney princess movies into this list, but then i would have to expand this list to top 20 or 25 favourite romance movies. Enchanted revolves around a damsel in distress names Giselle played by Amy Adams. Patrick Dempsey plays Robert Philip who doesn’t believe in fairytales and has trouble committing to relationships. Giselle slowly changes Robert’s mind as she talks about true loves kiss and happy ever afters, while Giselle slowly adapts to the real world until she decides not to leave and return back to Andalusia. slowly but surely, Robert and Giselle fall in love and face conflict through the appearance of an evil witch from back in Andalusia. Typical disney princess movie, who wouldn’t like it? =D

8. A Cinderella Story ( 2004 )

Yup, The title says it all. It’s a modern twist to the old Cinderella story. Sam Montgomery ( Hillary Duff ) would be cinderella while her prince charming is Austin Ames ( Chad Michael Murray ). Sam loses her dad in an earthquake and is then forced to live under her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Austin is a closet poet who is also the quarterback for the school. Sam and Austin meet online and communicate a lot as both of their goals are to go to Princeton and they have many similiar interests, Sam meets Austin at the halloween ball and drops her handphone when running away. Austin then searches for his cinderella in school. There is a happy ending though. =). I love this movie because it is realistic and could really happen, unlike some of the other adaptations to the cinderella movie.

7. Mamma Mia! (2008)

The movie centres around a mother and daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Donna (Meryl Streep) as Sophie struggles to find her father in time for her wedding while Donna tries to run away from her past. The movie includes many of Abba;s famour hits which tells most of the story through the lyrics. Pierce Brosnan acts as Sam who is Donna’s true love even after all the years spent apart. Instead of Sophie getting married, in the end Sophie decides to travel the world with her fiancee before they tie the knot. Instead, Donna and Sam get married during the ceremony that was actually meant for Sophie and fiancee. Love the music and dancing in this movie. especially when the super trouper song and money money money song were performed.

6. Made of Honour ( 2008 )

Tom Bailey (Patrick Dempsey) is a bachelor and wants to stay that way for a long time to enjoy as much as possible. While his best friend, Hannah ( Michelle Monaghan) is in love with Tom but he is painfully unaware of it. While Hannah goes on holiday to Scotland, Tom suddenly realises that he wants Hannah to be more than his best friend. However, Hannah returns with a fiancee and asks Tom to be made of honour for the wedding. Overall, i really love this movie. It’s funny, McDreamy is in it, and the scenery and architecture in it is quite pretty. the plot and story line is good, not to mention i was very happy with the ending.

5. Armageddon ( 1998 )

i for a fact know a lot of people who have not watched armageddon before. After reading this,you should! =D. An asteroid is headed for earth and Harry Stamper ( Bruce Willis ) is called in to help save the earth by burrying a bom inside the asteroid. A. J. Frost (Ben Affleck) is included in the team that Harry picks to bring along on this outer space trip. However, A.J.Frost is at that moment in love with Grace Stamper (Liv Tyler). Before leaving, A.J. and some of his friends do this really nice rendition of i’m leaving on a jetplane. The plot for the movie is good, the acting is good, and the soundtrack is good. what’s not to love? =)

4. Sweet Home Alabama ( 2002 )

i like this movie cause its a slightly different spin on the usual love story out there. Melanie Smooter ( Reese Witherspoon ) is a up and coming designer in New York, but she has a past that she hides from everybody in New York. She is still married to her husband, Jake Perry 9 Josh Lucas) back in Alabama. When her New York boyfriend, Andrew Hennings ( Patrick Dempsey ) proposes to her, she returns to Alabama to convince Jack to sign the divorce papers. She is reminded back to her life in Alabama before and realises she still has feelings for Jake. I like the ending to this movie, the storyline was somewhat unexpected and the humour was good as well.

3. The Notebook ( 2004 )

The movie actually revolves around two love stories. Both love stories actually being the same people except when they are old and young. The story starts with Duke (James Garner) reading from a journal to Allie ( Gena Rowlands) about a love story revolving around Noah ( Ryan Gosling ) and a younger Allie ( Rachel McAdams). The older Allie has developed Alzheimers and only has momentary flashback to her past. Duke reads to her almost everyday to try and help her remember her past. both sides of the love story is touching and entertaining for when they are younger, as Noah and Allie fight and quarrel all the time but still their love prevails. Duke’s dedication to Allie is heartbreaking and makes all of us wish that we had it too. D=

2. A Walk to Remember ( 2002 )

love love love this movie. I like the movie more than the book i gotta admit, Shane West plays Landon Carter, a trouble maker in school while Mandy Moore is Jamie Sullivan, a preacher’s daugher. Landon gets into trouble at school and is assigned to community service in the form of acting in the annual christmas play and also helping out at an orphanage. slowly but surely, he falls in love with Jamie. but Jamie has a secret, she is dying of luekemia and only has a few more months to live. the movie is realistic and so sweet. i cried after watching the movie! =S

1. Titanic (1997 )

Who could forget the ultimate love story of all time? yeah i totally love this movie. Jack Dawson ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) is an aspiring artist who wins his ticket onboard the Titanic through a lucky hand at cards. Rose DeWitt ( Kate Winslett)  is a rich young woman trying to escape a life of being prim and proper all the time. As Rose is trying to jump off deck from Titanic, Jack spots her and saves her from jumping. they then develop a friendship and from then on fall in love. i don’t really need to give more of a synopsis, cause everybody knows the story right?

haha. so thats my top ten list. my reasons for doing this blog post? i was trying to escape studying for a few hours. haha. but no la, my main reason for doing this blog post was i wanted to share my fav love movies with people out there and i want you to tell me what your favourite love movies are. =).

xoxo

Joanna

P.S post a comment about your fav romance movies! =D

firsts and lasts

this year really went by so fast.

in the beginning of the year my only objective was to make as many friends as possible in SAM and also get some good results.

mid year i was just trying to stay afloat with all the work and assignments and also still trying to get the top grades in all the subjects while trying to balance a social life and also leo activities,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now this year has almost come to an end. today marks the last two months of 2010. my main onjective? to get the results that i want for finals. and also to keep the friends that i have made and to cherish the relationships forged with everybody. and also to enjoy my last few months in Malaysia( if my finals results are good enough that is).

 

 

 

 

 

 

the week before last marked the final day as a SAM student, nope i don’t count exams. how i felt? i felt like a major part of my life was ending. a new part of my life? not so much. felt a bit empty. it was the first time that all the P3 students who were present went out for lunch together. yes, even though we’ve spent 9 months in the same classroom, we still have cliques that we stick to, making it hard for us to even share a meal together. don’t misunderstand, we all get along, but the topic of conversation is vastly different. after lunch we even skipped maths and psychology to go shopping together, not all of us, just a few of us. it was fun as we can all accept each other’s style of dressing and fashion sense. =)

today was the first day of exams. i can honestly say i was panicking before the exam. i kept going up to people and going like, what if i cannot get an A, OMG, i;m gonna be stuck in malaysia for the rest of my life. then they’d give me that omg, ur a nerd why are you worrying about your studies look. ==. although my friends do give me support and try to motivate me before exams. =). i need some serious motivation to get me through the rest of the exams. =s.

sorry, this post a bit messy, cause i just woke up from a nap and felt like blogging. hehes.

xoxo

joanna

P/S last sunday or saturday i was a bit bored then i put this hit counter in my blog. i am very surprised by the amount of readers, like i only expected one reader a day or something. so here’s to all my readers. thank you very much for taking the time to read this. =). me luv luv you banyak banyak. hehes!. =D.

P/P/S this bird came into my house the other day and decided to visit my brother’s room. it was hilarious cause the bird kept heading to my bro’s bed. see pic above, in the end my bro had to chase it out with a broom cause trying to lure it out with bread crumbs wasn’t working. lol!

secret to long life

got this e-mail the other day from a friend. so see how many of it you do ok. =)

The Nine Habits of Highly Healthy People
by Jonny Bowden

1.  Eat your Vegetables. No kidding. And I'm talking at least 9 servings a day.. Unless you're following the most stringent first stage of the Atkins Diet, you should be able to consume 60-120 grams of carbs a day (depending on your weight and exercise level), and you'd have to eat a stockyard full of spinach to get to that amount. Every major study of long-lived, healthy people shows that they eat a ton of plant foods. Nothing delivers antioxidants, fiber, flavonoids, indoles, and the entire pharmacopia of disease fighting phytochemicals like stuff that grows.

2.   Eat Fish and/or take Fish Oil. The Omega-3's found in cold-water fish like salmon deserve the title of "wellness molecule of the century". They lower the risk of heart disease, they lower blood pressure, they improve mood and they're good for the brain. And if you're pregnant, they may make your kid smarter!

3.   Connect. And I'm not talking about the internet. In virtually every study of people who are healthy and happy into their 9th and 10th decade, social connections are one of the "prime movers" in their life. Whether church, family, volunteer work or community, finding something you care about that's bigger than you that you can connect with and that involves other people (or animals) will extend your life, increase your energy, and make you happier. Only always.

4.  Get some Sun. At least 10-15 minutes three times a week. Interestingly, a recent study of four places in the globe where people lived the longest and were the healthiest noted that all four places were in sunny climates. Sun improves your mood and boosts levels of cancer-fighting, performance-enhancing, bone-strengthening vitamin D, a vitamin most people don't get nearly enough of.

5.  Sleep Well. If you're low in energy, gaining weight, grumpy and looking haggard, guess what?- chances are you're not sleeping nearly long enough nor well enough. By sleeping "well", I mean uninterrupted sleep, in the dark, without the television on, in a relaxing environment. Nothing nourishes, replenishes and restarts the system like 7-9 hours sleep. Hint: start by going to bed an hour early. And if you've got a computer in the bedroom, banish it.

6.   Exercise Everyday. Forget this 20 minutes three times a week stuff. Long lived people are doing things like farm chores at 4:30 in the morning! Our Paleolithic ancestors traveled an average of 20 miles per day. Our bodies were designed to move on a regular basis. New studies show that merely 30 minutes a day of walking not only reduces the risk of most serious diseases, but can even grow new brain cells!

7.  Practice Gratitude. By making a list of things you're grateful for, you focus the brain on positive energy. Gratitude is incompatable with anger and stress. Practice using your under-utilized "right brain" and spread some love. Focusing on what you're grateful for- even for five minutes a day- has the added benefit of being one of the best stress-reduction techniques on the planet.

8.   Drink Red Wine or eat Grapes.The reservatrol in dark grapes is being studied for its effect on extending life, which it seems to do for almost every species studied. (So does eating about 1/3 less food, by the way.) If you've got a problem with alcohol, you can get resveratrol from grapes, peanuts or supplements. (And if you're a woman, and you choose the alcohol option, make sure you're getting folic acid every day.)

9.   Get the Sugar out. The number one enemy of vitality, health and longevity is not fat, it's sugar. Sugar's effect on hormones, moods, immunity, weight and possibly even cancer cells is enormous, and it's all negative. To the extent that you can remove it from your diet, you will be adding years to your life and life to your years.

xoxo

Joanna

fear

i am a jealous person.

simple enough sentence, but the weightage it carries is enormous. what am i jealous of though?

i’m jealous of everyone and everything. i’m jealous when a classmates gets better marks than me. i’m jealous when a friend can spend and spend and spend on clothes while i have nothing left in my wallet. i’m jealous when people eat as much as they want and still don’t put on any weight. i’m jealous that some girls get more admirers than other. i’m jealous when a girl i see has the perfect body that turns heads. i’m jealous that a person is much more atheletic than i am. i’m jealous that some people have perfect families. i’m jealous that other people are so popular. i’m jealous that some people can just multitask and the projects are always successful.

yup, i’m a pretty jealous person. but then, i’m a procrastinator too.

instead of doing something to change my current situation, i rather think about it and fantasize of what could have been instead.

i lack dedication and motivation when doing things. only the fear of failure keeps me going at the best of times. i blame my spm results on the fear that i wouldn’t get any scholarship at all for my college life. i blame my beginning of the year results on the fear that i would not get accepted into uni. and i blame my current results on the fear that the uni would take back my offer.

it’s time i did things not because of the fear that i might never succeed in life, but because it helps me become a better person,.

i’m determined to do the best and be the best person that i can after reading a good story today.

this marks the day that i start doing things for myself and not for the fear of failure.

 

 

xoxo

Joanna

homemade pizza

mama and i went to cold storage one day, we saw this buy one free one naan bread cause it was gonna expire in two days time. so i thought we could do cheat pizza the next day since we haven had pizza in a long time. =)

so cheat pizza consistes of

naan bread (can use pita or pre-prepared pizza dough)

onions (about one)

tomato paste ( half a small tin can liao)

pepperoni (can substitute with other meat products)

mushrooms (any kind, be adventurous )

mozarella cheese

parmesan cheese

mixed herbs and oregano. can put in some pepper also

1. spread tomato paste on naan bread, thick enough so you can’t see the bread beneath it. put 2 pinches of mixed herbs, oregano and pepper each

2. lay the ingredients according to your imagination, excluding the cheese.

3. once finish laying, spread loads and loads of cheese. this helps to keep the pizza together

4. bake in oven at 150 degrees for 20mins – half an hr

5. enjoy!

the cheese a bit fail cause i forgot to defrost the cheese in the freezer. so when i put it on the pizza it was still a bit frozen. thats why it didn melt. lol!. dun make my mistake =p

be creative. make a pineapple chicken pizza! or olive tomato one. its an enjoyable process, so take your time doing it. but plan ahead, otherwise your gonna be starving if you just do it 30mins before your supposed dinner time. =)

xoxo

Joanna

P.S i miss you

stress indicators

hello pretty people who still read my blog even though 'i;m a terrible blogger. i had this idea for a blog post, and its the first time i haven’t forgotten an idea right after thinking about it, that i thought i might as well blog about it then only study. heheh. confusing? =)

so my idea of today’s blog post is stress indicator.

so let’s get the scientific part set first. stress refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Physiologists define stress as how the body reacts to a stressor, real or imagined, a stimulus that causes stress.

confusing much? in other words, stress is what you feel when u do not respond correctly to emotional or physical threat whether real or fake. clearer? =)

so i’m not going to do into much details about the stress part. if your in SAM psychology, you should know by now what is GAS and all. if you do not, there are many ways to classify stress, and to see how our body adapts to different stressful situations. but they’re more confusing, so i’ll just mention the indicators that i came up with after research. =)

the following are stress indicators, mental and physical   

Mental

1. Problems with memory
2. Inability to concentrate
3. Poor judgment
4. Racing thoughts
5. Moodiness
6. Agitation
7. Irritability
8. Sense of isolation/loneliness
9. Constant worrying

10. Viewing everything as negative
11. Restlessness
12. Quick temper
13. Sense of being overwhelmed
14. General unhappiness
15. Loss of objectivity
16. Always being fearful
17. Anxiousness
18. Indecisiveness
19. Inability to relax
20. Feeling on edge

Physical and Behavioral

1. Headache
2. Muscle tension
3. Nausea
4. Insomnia
5. Acne breakout
6. Diarrhea or constipation
7. Loss of sex drive
8. Frequently being sick
9. Dizziness
10. Weight gain or loss
11. Change in appetite
12. Procrastination and neglect
13. Alcohol, tobacco, or drug use
14. Nail biting or pacing
15. Excessive spending
16. Tooth grinding
17. Excessive exercise
18. Overreactions
19. Sleeping too much or too little
20. Starting fights

so if you have one of the above indicators? DON’T WORRY SO MUCH.

deal with the stress in a way that would help you the most, e.g relaxation methods, exercise, social activities, or if your restless go do some charity! deal with the stress before it gets to you, you either become a very depressed person, or a nervous wreck. =p

btw, the indicators are very partial, some of them also apply to how we feel during a normal day. so it might not be stress.

didn’t know stress was so complicated until i started blogging about this, then all the information came flooding in. before i end, i wanna tell you about my stress indicators! the first one is. ZITS. i know everybody gets them, most of the friends i have who see me on a daily basis always scoff when i say i have a pimple. but its true! photographic evidence,.

see nose! i have a zit. i can roughly estimate where my zits will turn up on my face. if i draw a line to divide my face into half, my pimples would be along that line. yes, my pimples like to be geometrical. hehe

second indicator? dandruff!. when i get stressed, i get loads of dandruff, like im shedding skin like that. no fun. TT. thats why i don’t really wear that much black nearer to exam times. hahaha. =)

xoxo

Joanna

P/S time to nerd now. =)

P/P/S next post, how to make quick and easy pizza. =)

Question : is it possible to like 2 people at the same time?

empire state of mind

hi pretty people!

wish i remembered what i wanted to blog about, but since my brain doesn’t want me to remember, imma just update you, pretty reader, about my life atm.

so finals are in 26 days. yes im counting down. TT. trying to motivate myself but doesn’t seem to be working, i’m as lazy as ever. =s. got back my trial results.i didn’t fail anything! but i thought i would get better results than the ones i got. whatever it is, im grateful with what i got i guess, i think i kinda deserved it. totally learned my lesson about studying last minute. so imma try to work harder! the thick think books of past years are super daunting anyways, cause im lazy to put them in my cupboard as i’ll use them almost everyday, they’re in a pile beside my bed. TT.

hmm what else, been spending more time with friends. super enjoyable. especially board games with en, drew and long the other night. and also lunches with the classmates. we’re boycotting prom for karaoke and steamboat yo, u can join us too! haha. =)

leo pretty busy this month. this sunday the 10th is blind leading the blind. 17th is blood donation drive and health screening at subang avenue. 23rd is visit to SPCA. let me know if you wanna join! seriously go for the blood donation and health screening. more info on facebook. =p

been feeling pretty mixed up about how i feel. been so unsure and weighing the pros and cons. confession to make : i dreamt about you the other night. and honestly, it was quite pleasant. =), hahah! except it will never be i guess. =). a girl cant help wishing can she. =p anyway, you don’t even read my blog, cause you don’t know this exists! LMAO.

errr. i don’t think theres anything else. oh yeah, im super undecisive about which uni to go to. seriously, weighing the pros and cons. and of course im scared i cant meet the academic requirement. whatever it is though, i’ll probably be leaving good old malaysia in 4-5 months time, man, i’m gonna miss the food!

okays, i should go finish some more work while waiting for the gossip girl stream to load. oh yeah. i’m totally addicted to the new songs by the new season of glee. =p. they’re pretty awesome!. haha

i’ll update again soon. =).

xoxo

Joanna