Monkey see, Monkey do

Very happy with the results!

few days ago i googled how to select the best watermelons, and with my new found skills yesterday i went to my local grocery store, and picked out this lovely gem in the picture. i can confirm that there are no white crates deforming the redness of this fruit, and the taste is heavenly!
so how did i do it? keep reading my young apprentice! so the first thing is to look for the creamy yellow area where the watermelon was exposed to sunlight (as you can see in the picture) - the more yellow, the more sweet the melon would be. also look for dark green stripes - a melon with dark green stripes indicates that its been allowed to mature - means less white crates to likely appear in the edible parts. don't be put off by skin grazing like the picture as they don't influence the taste/melon. also pick up the melon, it should be alarmingly heavy for its size (no kidding i had to walk home with this one and my arms had a hell of a workout). when you pick it up, slap it. you should be holding it away from your body, not hugging it! what you're looking for is a thump similar to slapping yourself on the UPPER chest (not boobs! i know you were thinking it >.<) slap a few melons, and when you find one that matches the sound as closely as possible, that's your baby.
to make the taste even better, stick the watermelon in the fridge for about half a day to allow it to cool. watermelons used to be my best friend back in iraq when the electricity goes out and its super hot outside, i'd slice a melon and enjoy the lovely scenery of the river Tigris on the swings. today i woke up 2 hours ago (3am) excited to tear this one in half, like a little kid waking up to open christmas presents lulz it was seriously worth it. i can't stop smiling, this melon brought back so many wonderful memories <3

Montemartre, Paris

Feeding pigeons at Montemartre, Paris

this was most likely one of the highlights of the trip - so as i whipped out my crêpes au sucre and fed a little to the pigeon, soon there was an invasion of pigeons swarming across the floor, following me and yasmin as we donated our food to them lol it was fun - heres a clip of it when my lil sis started feeding the pigeons, enjoy :3

paris trip

last week i was away and isolated from internets, i was in paris. it was a bit of an unexpected trip, but somehow on short notice everything came together, and organised (to a certain extent! the majorly of the trip was improvised very well). the only disappointing part was that mum decided against coming along. other than that, it was most definitely an amazing trip. for 3 days, me, dad and yummie went exploring, plenty of walking, and driving. i took so many pictures and never once did my camera fail me in both battery life, quality of pictures and capacity to hold all the movies and pictures i took on the trip. i really really really love my camera, its like the best ever purchase i ever did. i love it!
the places i visited included Eiffel tower, Louvre museum, Champs-Elysee, Place de la Concorde, Jardin des Tuileries, Montemartre, Notre Dame, latin quarter. considering that we only spent 2 nights there i think this trip was very productive and we got to see so many amazing attractions and sample the culture and cuisines of paris. i really loved the people - they were all so polite and friendly despite the fact that we were tourists, it really made the trip so much less stressful and distressing when exploring the city.

Results day

over the past few weeks leading up to today i had been dreading the outcome of my results. every time i think about them, i get a sour taste in my mouth and the urge to throw up. i don't want to face the outcome for i know i will be severely disappointed, and will drown in regret. i didn't deserve to pass, and even if i did, i cannot suppress my deepest regret for this year. bad luck wouldn't even describe how this year turned out. this year was a curse, i was doomed to fail and i tried everything in my power to prevent it, but my efforts were insufficient. i got my results today, and it said, 'lower class second'. this means that i can't pursue my dream career, this also means that i can't apply for any scholarships, graduate schemes, or apply for a PhD. i feel so worthless right now. every time i'm left to my own thoughts, the regrets flood my mind leaving me in an emotional breakdown. i burst into tears. how can i break this vicious cycle? why is it that whenever i have a glimmer of hope, the world crushes down on me? i'm not like all the other girls, i don't date, i don't drink - why is it that i could help others but can't help myself? or more specifically, why are my good deeds never repaid? why do i have to suffer? isn't it written in the qur'an that a believer is protected from life's and eternal sorrow? why am i being punished? what am i being punished for? i worked so hard this year but my efforts have all been in vain. i hate myself. i hate myself so much. astaghfur allah alatheem... astaghfur allah alatheem... astaghfur allah alatheem.

self-proclaimed injuries & nike trainers reviews

few weeks back i asked a question over at yahoo answers:

I dropped hot water on my hand now i can't play zombies! HELP?

as stupid as that sounds i got replies to my question haha check them out >> here <<

yesterday i spoke about going to town walking right? well things didn't turn out as quite as i had planned. i did indeed reach town centre by walking, however not only was it raining all the way, but i also developed fat-ass blisters from my River Island boots :( so theres me in town limping around for like 10 minutes then i took the bus back home to change my shoes and attend to those blisters with sticky blister plasters to numb the pain. fortunately, my mum few weeks back got me some really comfy sandals from Turkey which came very useful regarding these blister. despite having my feet exposed to the roads and whatever bare feet get up to down there, i managed to explore town the whole day, and also try some nike trainers! so heres my verdict on those:

Nike Air Max 2011

these trainers above were extremely stiff, i am a size 6 and so i tried a pair in my size and my heel was constantly being pushed up and down the shoe as i walked despite these shoes being comfortable, the rigidity of the sole, or under-layer in addition to how tightly fit they were makes these trainers a big no no for purchasing. i score these 3/10 because i really was not impressed with the trainers in terms of both value for money, and usability. they were very pretty though, very very pretty...

Nike training range: poor sole at the bottom, they were extremely flat, and to some extent, very easy to slip in if its raining. it has virtually no grip at all, and therefore despite the attractive trainer design, they cannot be used for any other purposes.

Nike Air Max Tailwind+ 3

these were far more comfortable, in fact they had a spongy feel to it. the shoe itself didn't feel high quality, and it felt like my foot sunk into it despite being light weight and so this makes them unideal for running. i wouldn't recommend these trainers - they may look nice in the picture, but they were very chunky and unattractive when worn... manybe its because they're supposed to be for men? LOL meh. score: 5/10

Nike Air Free Running - they looked very promising however, they only had them in men sizes 8+ so i cannot really be sure how good they are as there weren't any female versions sadly...

sports soccer was pretty much the only shop in town which sold a wide range of male and female nike trainers, however they were limited in sizes, and range. their staff were also very unfriendly, unapproachable and quite honestly i just wanted to get out of that shop asap it wasn't good >.<

to add to my injury list, i also burned myself at work on my left arm, now i'll look emo with emo scars from the emo bakery oven. i'm emo like that.