Turned twenty today and I feel ooooold Not old as in 'the end of my life here on planet Earth starts drawing near', but old as in 'Am I supposed to be an adult, right now?' It's not like I can't handle any responsibilities or that I can't take care of myself or anything, but it did have something scary about it. Like I no longer have an excuse to act younger than I am. I've crossed a boundary and I can't go back (Gee, sounds depressing )

All of my friends have entered the twenties long before me, but it still feels significant for some reason. I'm not making sense, eh?

Don't get me wrong though, I'm enjoying my special day just fine and I can't wait to get more prezziessss I'm just feeling a bit...different. Huh, weird that. Well, I hear the problem of over-thinking things can be easily remedied by eating large quantities of cake, so I'll be doing just that.

Here, have a slice


~Vyrilien

Well, I guess the title is pretty much self-explanatory.

But I sure take my time for FOUR (okay, five) deviations, don't I? I'm SO sorry it took such a damn long time (especially all you guys who were waiting for Suzaku) but even though they may not all be a succes, I'm still proud of each and every one

I've learned a lot, or so I try to believe I'm finally making attempts at doing backgrounds (which were practically non-existent in my pre-Four Symbols deviations) and I'm no longer relying on working my way with lines, light and contrast on a black canvas. I still like it (Cerberus is another example), but I can do without now.

Byakko remains my favourite one though. I dunno, he started the whole series and for the time spent it's the best-looking one A close second is Huang Long. I like him better than Suzaku, but that's probably my passion for dragons working in his advantage when I was painting.

I have PLENTY of stuff still to paint though. I owe/promised some people some work. I want to have another go at drawing my demonic horse, Fearl, I need to draw another tiger, just because I want to and some people have been asking me about drawing a Qilin/Kirin. Not to mention all the fandoms I need to do fanart for. I should be busy enough

And then the point of this entire journal entry...

THANK YOU! As said, I couldn't have done it without everyone's great support! I'm sorry I didn't follow everyone's suggestions for Suzaku, but I damn well tried That counts, right? In any case, I would never have come that far if it wasn't for you guys. Love you all

~Vyrilien

P.S.: I actually didn't like Seiryuu all that much when I finished him. Ironic that he should be the most popular one of all five. Oh well, maybe I'm doing something wrong

Hi everyone!

Well, I got back from HK and it's safe to say I had the time of my life Although it's good to be back, I really miss Hong Kong already...

It was great seeing my family again. Three years really fly by when you aren't looking. Unfortunately I didn't get to see my uncle much (only briefly on the very last day) because of some family feud going on between my Grandma and his wife, but you know how families can be sometimes. I also got to visit some very old aunties of mine -who are already far into their nineties- at their rest homes. My Mom claims they're close relatives, but as soon as she starts explaining exactly how we're related, I get very much confused. And I gotta warn you, don't get old in HK. Visiting the rest homes was...an interesting experience.

And if you want to visit HK (which I strongly recommend ) it's best to avoid the summer season. Everytime I stepped outside -fortunately they have airco's almost anywhere- it was like stepping into a mixture between a sauna and an oven. It was VERY humid and VERY hot. Also if you do, don't visit the Ocean Park theme park. By the end of the day you will have stood 4 hours in waiting queues to have been in exactly four rides -and you will sweat your own weight in water not to forget. Go to Disneyland instead, it's way more awesome.

But then there are the many good things about HK. Namely, the food. Thank goodness I'm not living there; it's one big all-you-can-eat buffet table over there. Everything is at least ten times cheaper than over here in Holland and a thousand times more delicious.

And you just have to love the enormously HUGE buildings surrounding you wherever you go and the small characteristic market streets where all the poor buy their groceries and chickens run amok. HK has so much atmosphere and unlike other big Mainland China cities, it's surrounded by beautiful mountains and the city sits right at the edge of giant forests. So if you want to take a break from the bustling city life, you just take the tram up to the peaks and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Or you just take the World's longest escalator (No joke, there's a giant escalator in the middle of the city that goes all the way up to the foot of the mountains)

I've also been to Macau this trip. It's a former Portugese colony and THE Las Vegas of Asia, as it's the only place in Asia where gambling isn't yet illegal. I've been to the big casinos (The Venetian and the Lisboa -ugly from the outside, gorgeous from the inside) there and it was awesome! Even my brother managed to get past the security checks and see the gambling halls (he's seventeen, but a whopping 1,93 meters/ six foot three tall). I didn't gamble a penny; I've seen how fast those machines swallow money. Let alone the amounts I've seen people lose at the BlackJack tables.
Oh, and I've been in my first mini tropical storm. When we got back from the Macau Tower (home to world's highest bungee jump platform) the skies suddenly turned very dark and before we knew it we got knocked back by some heavy wind and got soaked to the bone by all the rain that suddenly fell from the sky. Trash cans and heavy branches were rolling all over the place. It was pretty interesting.

I can't tell about all the things I've done, of course (this journal is already getting ridiculously long) but having been able to go back to HK was a really happy thing for me. And I'm not coming back empty-handed either, not with their mega-cheap prices. I got a new Wacom tablet!! It's A4 sized and four times bigger than my crappy old one! Plus, it's so incredibly pretty... I'm really happy with it!

One last bad thing though. The return flight wasn't so good for me. You know how sometimes, when the plane drops in altitude in a relatively short span of time, you can feel your ears pressured from the inside? (No idea what it's called in English) Well I had that. Normally you swallow and it goes away. But this time I had a bad cold -to be blamed on the constant switches between extreme heat and extreme cold I got exposed to in HK; for some reason they set their airco's to a chilling 15 degrees and while a nice change when stepping inside a restaurant, it's gets REALLY cold after ten minutes.
Because of that cold, by nose was blocked and I couldn't properly relieve my ears of the pressure difference. It was agonizingly painful and I had to go through it twice because we were flying a connected flight. The rest of the day I had a tremendous head-ache and my hearing had gone all hay-wire, plus I looked like crap. It's better now, but I'm still stuck with the bloody cold.

And now, you'll have fallen asleep reading this. Sorry it's so long and don't feel obligated to comment or anything. It's mostly for myself and if you're interested to read this, that's an added bonus. I'm aware I sound like I'm advertising for HK, but it was just that awesome for me. Now to save up for the next trip...

~Vyrilien

P.S. Does anyone else really HATE those stupid Olympic Maschots they came up with?? (If you haven't seen them before, this is how they look like [link] ) Maybe it's my aversion to everything cute and cuddly (with the rare exceptions...)

Tagged by:

Wow, first time I ever got tagged by anyone. This is not an invite for more tags though

* 1. Post these rules.
* 2. Each tagged person must post 8 things about themselves on their journal.
* 3. At the end, you have to choose and tag 8 people and post their icons on the same journal.
* 4. Go to their pages and send a message saying you tagged them.
* 5. No tag-backs

Okay, 8 facts. Sorry if they seem random; I couldn't come up with anything good after number 3

1. It took me two or so years of stalking deviantART before I finally gathered enough courage to make an account of my own. And even then it was mostly my brother forcing me to make one.

2. I'm a halfblood. I'm half Chinese (my Mom's side) half Dutch (Father's side, though that's obvious) but was born in Jakarta (Indonesia). However I look like neither (well mixed apparantly) and people have been mistaken me for being Greek, Italian and even Indian. And oh, I've got a French surname -don't know where it comes from.

3. I'm a gaming freak. I've been gaming almost forever and worked my way from Super Mario 1 to Metal Gear Solid 4. I think we have 8 consoles at home (PC and Gameboys not included) I couldn't miss gaming for the world. (I've even been addicted to World of Warcraft for a year or two -but I was never any good at it)

4. I know 7 languages but I'd like to take up another one when I get the time. Russian's always sounded cool to me. And knowing Japanese would be REAL handy...

5. I LOVE company but fare just as well being on my own for long periods of time. I have enough things to keep me plenty busy. It does mean I can be neglectful sometimes and I know I need to work on that.

6. I tend to be very critical, but overly protective over the people I love.

7. I love singing, but not everyone thinks I have the voice of an angel... Damnit. I do believe I have some sort of musical talent (for instruments), but I never took the time to develop it. My brother, however, is sceptical

8. I have never been injured badly. The worst thing I ever had happening to me was some sort of mini-hook cutting into my leg which needed three stitches. But that's it; I've been lucky so far I guess.

Okay that's it; this was pretty fun actually. Sorry, I won't be abiding by the rules of this tag; I tag no one. I hate the feeling of having to bother anyone

~Vyrilien

P.S. I will get back to commenting on everyone's works as soon as I get back which will be third of August

Hi everyone

I'll be going on holiday to Hong Kong tomorrow morning, so I won't be coming on at deviantART for the remainder of the trip, which is 'till August 3rd So apologies in advance if the replies are a little late. Unless of course I manage to get internet there and find the time to reply. Chances are small though, I think I'll be plenty busy

So well, that's it. This is just so you know

Have a nice summer everyone!

~Vyrilien