Maggie Chyi Chyi: 2016

Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Back Story Of "Phoenix"

Hello people!

Guess who's back, back again? (ME!)

I'd finally finished my A Level examinations and words can't express how grateful I'm for this temporary freedom. One year and a half of hell is more than enough for me, especially when it's a two-year-course crammed into 1.5 years. Exam was horrendous, so let's not revisit those horrifying memories, shall we?

Okay, let's get into the main topic today!

As you can tell, I finally recorded another song for my ~~long-abandoned~~ YouTube channel. I have no excuse for not doing anything for that channel in so long, but here it is! Another original song of mine.

Before I get into any details, I'd like to apologize for the barking noises in the video. My neighbors dogs just wouldn't shut up for a solid 5 mins for me to record my video, and I can do nothing about it. It's not like they'll understand me if I attempt to ask them to keep quiet (politely, of course; I'm an animal-lover), so there's no use in trying.

I wrote this song when I was 16 or 17 years old, and it's about 2 years ago. I was going through a hard time in my life, and so most of the songs I wrote then were self-motivating songs and/or self-depreciating songs. This song is one of the more positive song that I wrote, and I really liked the attitude 16-year-old Maggie had whilst writing this particular song.

I guess what I what I wanted to convey in this song is that no matter how hard life gets, I will still get through it eventually. I'm strong enough to brave through the storms and hurricanes in my life, and won't let my doubts bring me down.

Odd that I still have the same life motto/encouragement after two long years.

It is really interesting to view things from the perspective of my younger self, and see what she's going through and how she's facing life. Of course things nowadays are harder for me, but I won't begrudge my younger self for moaning about how hard life was back then.

Nostalgic would be the right word when I revisited this song, and played it on my piano for the first time in almost 2 years. A surge of old memories started to play back in my mind, and all I could picture in my head was that young girl in her blue uniform, talking and dreaming about her future with sparkling eyes, who always buried her head in her journal, complaining about small matters like how boring the assembly used to be, and also how she hated her piano lessons.

Those memories seem like centuries ago, and god, I do miss her.

I hope I grew up the way she wanted to be. I really do.

Okay, before I get all mushy and gooey, let's get into the lyrics, shall we?

LYRICS:

The echo in my head
The buzzing in my ears
Keep mumbling that I can't
Do it

Try to float underwater
Try to feel beside the fire
Try to find back the real me

#Hope that miracles do happen
Try to find the will
That I ball my fists tight
Brace myself out
I'm ready for it
Hope that miracles do happen
I gotta find my path
Let nothing consume me
Burning like a phoenix
I relive

Wipe the echo from my head
Stop that buzzing in my ears
There's a silver line behind the
Dark clouds

Not letting the currents swept me
They're only words that bring me down
It's only me that matters

#

I relive
I relive
Like a phoenix
I burn wild
Shine bright

#

Please do share and like this video if you like it, and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more!

Till next time people.

xx

Thursday, 21 April 2016

Reason On Disappearing + Updates

Hello people!

It's been months since I last blogged, and I'm really, really sorry about it. Life has been really tiring and I'm going to sit for my A Levels examinations in about two weeks time, and trust me when I said I'm so not ready for this. I guess this would be the first time I'm truly scared of examinations, because I feel extremely unprepared.

Enough of the sad and stressful event! Let's move on to something happy and worth blogging.

Okay, I guess it's pretty obvious I dyed my hair with blue and purple, since I placed it as the first photo of this blog post. But, LOOK. I'm so happy about this! I was initially very, very worried on how my hair's going turn out, because I've seen a lot of people who bleached and dyed their hair in bright colors can't seem to escape the fate of frizzy hair, or worse, their hair colors do not suit them (skin tones, looks, etc.).

Luckily for me, none of those happened to me! My hair is even smoother than before, if that makes sense (it doesn't, but it's a good thing so I'm not complaining). Also, I'm shocked that my crazy unicorn hair actually suits me. It goes with my vibes very well, and suit my everyday style. Well, I guess I can pull off most hair colors if they don't clash with my skin color because I wear all black almost every single day. One plus side on dressing in black is that my hair colors will look even more prominent and beautiful, because there is no other distraction that will "fight" with my hair.

The day I dyed my hair.

My mother initially wouldn't let me dye my hair, as she said, I quote "It's a want, not a need. You shouldn't just give in to your temptations." I basically grew up with that quote, and it's actually a very good advice in order to be thrifty. However, ever since I was around 16 to 17, I've always wanted blue hair very, very badly. I'm the kind of person who lives by my mom's quote every single day of my life, and I clearly know that dyeing my hair is definitely not a need, but lusting over blue hair for years is definitely some dedication.

Long story short, my mom eventually realized that I'm 18 and I've every right to dye my hair without asking her permission (I insisted that I will only dye my hair once my mom agreed, partly because I don't want her to be upset at me and also partly because I respect and value her views. That's how things work with us as she is my best friend) but I respectfully waited for her "yes" before doing anything. I guess she's kinda touched that even though I'm fully legal to do anything I want, I still view her opinions very seriously. She then agreed to let me dye my hair and sent me a very touching message saying (it was in mandarin, this is just a rough translation): "Go and dye your hair, you have my blessing for it. I just tend to forget my daughter is already an adult and I respect your decision *smiley face*."

TELL ME THAT ISN'T THE SWEETEST THING YOU'VE EVER READ.

Okay, maybe not the sweetest thing ever, but it is to me. Trust me, growing up in an Asian background, trust and freedom from my parents mean a lot to me, as they represent that they trust me and respect my decision, and will stand behind me regardless of whatever I do.

I'm a lucky potato. I really am.

Just before I finish off this post, I just wanna tell you guys that I'll probably disappear for at least another month or so because typing or thinking up a good blog post other than just random updates take quite a bit of time, and I don't have much time on my hands.

However, I'm more active at my Instagram (or Bookstagram) which is @maggiechyichyi. Come stalk me and my aesthetics if you want *wink*. I'll just leave some photos from my IG down here for you guys to look through.

Till next time people!

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Thoughts On Girl Online & Girl Online On Tour

Hello people!

I actually wrote my thoughts on Girl Online earlier last year (HERE), but since I'm going to give my opinions on the second book, I feel like it wouldn't hurt to review it once again.

I only bought the first book because I'm a huge YouTube fan, and the author of this book is Zoella, who (if you don't know) is a famous YouTuber with almost 10 million subscribers on her main channel. I watch her videos constantly, and when she announced that she's going to come out with a book, of course I was excited and determined to buy it. The rest is history, and what really matters is I bought the book and read it.

Zoella actually started off as a beauty blogger and even though I'm not terribly into beauty stuffs, I still read her lifestyle or recipes blog posts. Therefore, I'm quite familiar with her style, which is a little quirky, bubbly and she has a very positive aura around her, all smiles and shiny blue eyes. So it is completely safe to say that I expected how the book's going to be like, and I was right. The first book, which is Girl Online, is more to a bubbly tween read, which involves a lot of pure, silly romance between two teenagers. It is an easy and light read, which doesn't require a lot of focus or brainpower whilst reading it.

The story is about a girl named Penny which lives in Brighton, who has an anonymous blog where she blogs about her feelings and her panic attacks that's affecting her life. When the panic attacks get worse, her parents bring her and her gay best friend to New York, and there, she meets a handsome boy by the name of Noah. Well, of course there's a lot of romantic stuffs in the middle, but what Penny doesn't know is, Noah is actually a pop star in America. When she gets back from New York to Brighton, that's when she finds out that Noah is actually a well-known singer, and then all hell break loose when she loses her anonymity on her blog and the media discovers that Noah and her are dating. And well, as for the ending, I don't want to spoil it for you, but there's a book two so I guess you can pretty much guess it.

I know there's a lot of controversies on this book (go Google if you want to find out) but I'm not going to address those in here. I just feel like the writing isn't that smooth, and the whole book feels a little bit too cheesy and childish. The plot is very predictable and almost every character in the book is kind, even the bad characters, you can hardly hate on them because you can't really "feel" that they're the bad people. The writing style is more to a children's book style, as the sentences are often very "essay-ish" and that's why I say it is very easy to read if you're a keen reader.

Although the book has it flaws, there's a lot of pros to it, too. I think one of the reason that lots of teenage girls and tween love this book is that apart from the meeting-pop-star-in-real-life-and-get-together-part, which is unrealistic, the book discusses a lot of issues that most of the youngsters are dealing with today. One of it must be the main theme of the novel, which is the panic attacks that Penny gets. This surely is relatable to most of the people who have panic attacks that affect their lifestyles. Zoella herself also suffers from panic attack, therefore she is able to empathize and include those experiences into the story. Another issue that is also relatable is cyber-bullying, or bullying in general. It shows that any form of bullying can break down a person, and make the person extremely vulnerable and depressed, which is a good exposure to lots of the readers, telling them that they're not alone in going through these things in life.

Now, let's move on to the second book.

Girl Online On Tour is the continuation of the first book, where Penny spends her summer break touring around the world with her boyfriend, Noah, and discovers that touring life isn't as fun as she thinks it'll be, and that Noah doesn't have time for her like before, as he's very busy trying to improve his career. I feel almost the same thing about the second book as the first one, that it is easy and light to read, but it's targeted to a younger audience, so if you don't like reading storyline that's bit cheesy and involves lots of teenage romance (or what teenagers hope their romance is like), then don't read this book. Or if you want to broaden your horizons and try out, you're most welcome to read it! Even though both books are little bit too "adorable" for me and most of the plots are stuffs that don't even stand a chance to happen in real life, it's still enjoyable to read them!

For the second book, what I really like is that Penny starts to stand up for her rights more, and learns how to protect herself. Also, that she's getting braver and braver each chapter, and starting to chase after her own dreams and follows her heart. The ending of this is a little bit surprising, as it kinda left off as a mystery, so I'm guessing there must be a book three. If there's a book three, I think I'll most probably buy it. I don't mind the first two books too much, and the covers of the books are so pretty and photogenic! Also, I hate not knowing what happens next, haha!

I've actually seen a lot of people hating on these two books, critiquing them really badly; yet I've also seen a lot of people loving on these two books, saying how they brighten up their days and make them feel good about themselves. The reactions are poles apart, and I do respect both sides. I'm somewhere in the middle ground, where I don't love it too much, but I don't hate it, not even a single bit. I guess all the drama somewhat also stems from her being a YouTube celebrity. What I have to say is, it is totally okay to express your opinion on books, whether you like it or dislike it. It's completely fine, but please do so in a polite manner. Do not leave foul words and drop the F bombs all the way and also judge people who love these books! That is very unkind, as different people have different tastes in books, and one shouldn't judge the other just because they prefer different genre! I've actually been told why did I read this book as it is so "poorly written", and I politely replied that because every book has its bad sides and its good sides, and I'm seeing more of the good sides than the bad sides.

This world is too judgmental, and that shouldn't be happening. So to whoever is reading this blog post, if you dislike these books, please express your opinions politely, so the fans won't get hurt. On the other hand, as for the fans, if you see any hurtful or bad comments about the books, don't get all defensive and start a whole new shitstorm, as the author would not want that to happen either!

These are my honest opinions on the books, and I don't like rating books, but maybe both of the books will be 2.5/5 for me. I do like the light atmosphere these books bring me, and I hope you like it too! However, do keep in mind I'm not a professional book reviewer, so if I wrote anything inaccurate, just tell me in the comments below! Also, if you do not like my opinions, feel free to voice out yours, too! I welcome and respect your comments, but let's just be responsible, mature people, shall we?

This is the end, I suppose. Stay happy and keep reading guys!

Till next time people.

Friday, 15 January 2016

Bookstagram

Hello people!

Welcome to the first *official* blog post of the year 2016! I know it's already in the middle of January, but I'd still like to wish you guys a very happy new year! Wishing you to have a wonderful year ahead, full of amazing adventures and great blessings!

My last post — if I'm not mistaken — was in October, and it was about my song "Bully" (you can check it out by clicking HERE). The reason I claimed that this is the "official" first blog post of the year is because I did upload a post few days ago, sharing my new mashup of Troye Sivan's songs (HERE), but that was just a really short post which includes the lyrics of the mashup and the video itself, so that doesn't count.

I was thinking about starting the first post of 2016 with something typical, such as reflections of 2015 or resolutions for 2016, but then I realized if I'm about to write these blog posts, I'll have to volunteer a lot of personal information and history, which I'm not too comfortable in sharing. Whilst I was thinking what to write, an idea hit me: I can write a blog post on my newly-made #bookstagram! This is a decent idea, since I never ever tell the readers of my blog about the existence of my bookstagram. I was inactive in my blog since last October, due to a lot of events in my life, and those events aren't at all pretty, needless to say, I was (or still am) having quite a rough time. Therefore, I didn't have the energy or heart to be active over here.

It was actually those overwhelming events that lead me to transform my personal Instagram into a bookstagram, where I upload photos of my collection of books, or share which book I'm currently reading and some little thoughts or reviews on books! To be honest, I never thought of making a bookstagram at all. I love photos of books and always visit other people's bookstagram, and I'm satisfied with just admiring others' photos. Then after a long time of just snooping around the hashtag #bookstagram, I start to think why don't I try it out? I can take photos of the book I'm reading, and it kinda serves as a record for me, that I'll be able to look back and see which books I'd read.

(These screenshots are from a few days ago, so it's not the latest look of my bookstagram now)

I started this off tentatively last mid-November, where I started to post more bookish photos instead of personal or daily lives photos. I just think of it as a form of therapy during hard times, and as a new-found hobby which I enjoy too much. I never expect people to like my photos, but surprisingly, they do. I met a lot of new people who share the same interest as I do (reading, duh) and the people in this community are amazing. They all have something nice to say to each other, and most importantly, we all agree that books are the most important thing in the entire world (books > oxygen), which is awesome!

Even though we all prefer different genres, everyone are still nice and not too judgmental on what others love to read. Personally, I don't prefer any form of genres, any good books are sufficient enough for me. I mostly read books which have interesting summaries, great reviews, bestselling authors or through recommendations from other people. Sometimes I do read books just because their covers are gorgeous (shameful) but most of the time, those books with epic covers are great, so I'm not just judging the books by their covers (I think, haha). Though most of the time I avoid to read overhyped books during the time frame where everyone's obsessed with them, as I don't like that feeling of disappointment when those overhyped books aren't as good as others claimed them to be. I always save those overhyped books after the hype is over before I read them, so I can appreciate those books without any harasses. Weird habit?

I'm not an extremely picky reader, as I read a variety of books — from children's books to chick lit and also crime reads, I read them all. I think the perks of not being extremely constrained reader is that I get to enjoy different plots and writing styles, and also get to learn a lot from them.

The majority of the bookstagram community is awesome, though there's a slight minority who are a tad bit judgmental of what other people read. This is slightly an issue for me, as I don't judge people for what they choose to read. I believe that everyone has different taste in books, and we should all respect others' choices and decisions, and not put others down because their reading materials are different from us. Maybe it's because I'm not bounded by what kind of books to read that makes me more open and acceptable to different people with different choices, but I really do think even if you think that particular book the person loves to read is "really bad in both its plot and writing style", you shouldn't judge him/her, or telling how he/she should not read the book. Reading is a personal choice, and the most important thing about reading is the joy that it brings! The genres or types of books shouldn't matter, as long as the person is having fun reading.

Overall, I really enjoy this lovely community full of books and compassion! If you're a bookstagrammer or you love to view aesthetic books photos (and sometimes food), do give me a cheeky follow on Instagram! Click HERE to go to my bookstagram and have a jolly visit *wink*.