This Is Not A Stupid Blog Title

The Sorting Hat

2011-03-25T16:15:00.006+08:00

Yesterday Cik Tengku Farah gave everyone a surprise. It was more of a scare, in my opinion, I don't know what the others think.

So, Cik Tengku Farah held a meeting with all KI students. We thought it was just going to be one of those not-so-important briefings. Allowances not banked in, documents not completed, bla bla... Some did not even attend this briefing, most were not paying attention.

But we were clearly caught off guard.

She stood on the rostrum like how she did in every other briefing she had with us, hands clutching a few pieces of nondescript papers, cleared her throat, and started.

Cik Tengku: Hari ini saya nak announce placement kamu semua.

Everyone: *Gasps in disbelief, cogs in our brains whirring, trying to make out what this means*

WHAT???!!!

All of a sudden, everyone realised what was going to happen, and were starting to panic.

Come on, we were just weeks into KI! And last year the seniors got their placement in May, and that was after several disappointing delays.

When the names were read out one by one, it seriously felt like being sorted by the Sorting Hat in Hogwarts. Only that this is not a fantasy, this is reality.

I don't know about the others, but my heart was beating like it was gonna explode in any second.

Finally my name was read out, and I got Manipal College of Dental Sciences (MCODS). Worth celebrating? I seriously don't know.

When the sorting was over, the excitement in DU was so intense it was palpable. Some were happy, some cried, so were busy asking questions, some close friends were embracing, but I was still in a daze. I still couldn't accept the fact that I'm gonna be separated from my current and previous housemates...

Please, Sorting Hat, please tell me you've made a correct verdict this time. One mistake and my future is doomed, I tell you, DOOMED....

I Am Number 22

2011-03-11T21:44:00.002+08:00

I am Number 22 in the name list of KI 6.

Attendance-taking has never been more fun during KI lectures. The KI lecturers are having a hard time pronouncing our names. For instance:

Puteri --> Pu-teh-ri

Loon Han --> Loo Han

Amy Lynette --> Amy Lyn-teh

Karen Lui --> Kah-ren Lui

Michelle Debbie --> Michael David / Michel David

Lawrence --> Lah-rence

Eventually, they gave up and called out our numbers instead.

So, Kannada lessons by Mr Muthun Jaya are sooooooooooooo booooooooooring and annoying. Phrases he loves to use in class:

"Rewrite"

"Sit properly"

"Good luck"

"Don't make noise"

WTH. We are not kindergarten children.

Mr Dore Swamy has better handwriting can speak better English, so I definitely prefer him. And he is a patient lecturer although I keep bugging him with questions that might seem nonsensical to him.

Hindi lessons by Mr Prakash are nightmares too, partly because he expects us to read Hindi sentences which he has never taught us before. And he likes to "celebrate!" and clap when any of us pronounces/writes/does something correctly. And he is pretty fussy about us pronouncing our friends' names. According to him, we must say our friends' names loud and clear because our friends love to hear their own names being called =.= No comments.

And Mr Syamu!!!!!!!!!! My favourite lecturer! He is young, energetic, jovial, funny and can speak English fairly well. He gets along really well with all students.

Anyway, it is kinda weird because the subject I hate most is Hindi, but the lecturer I like most is Mr Syamu, who is teaching me Hindi.

Tamil is taught by Mr Siva. Kinda boring too, until he mentioned Tamil-dubbed Harry Potter movies, and my face lit up and I was bubbling with excitement the next moment. The same thing happened to Karen.

Anatomy and Physiology were dull. Slides for 2 hours . No cadavers pun. LOL

And yes I got to know my new housemates better. And FYI we are all getting along well.

I Learnt New Ways to Write "Lady Gaga"

2011-03-04T18:43:00.006+08:00

In fact you can write it in Hindi or Kannada, using the consonant "Ga".

In Kannada: Lady ಗಗ
In Hindi: Lady गागा

So, currently I'm blogging in notepad, all because I don't have a broadband and KTT's wifi really sucks as my netbook doesn't acknowledge its presence. Last year after much fuss, I managed to login to only one network. This time around, not even one was accessible. I'm stumped, really. Sometimes I think it's my netbook's problem, not KTT's wifi. And in the end I wasted RM5 buying a piece of prepaid "paper" (OMG things have changed. Now there's not even such thing as prepaid CARD!)

Some things never change in KTT, the way cats sleep for instance.

Well, among all KTT-ians, I think I brought the most things from home. I really optimized my parent's Naza Ria, and what I brought were to be used for just 3 months. I guess I just suck at packing. I brought every thing I could think of, but in the end I forgot to bring my cup. =.= No hot Milo this week then. Anyways, thank god my apartment is on the first floor (10-1-A3), or else it will be a Mt. Everest expedition to the third floor, like what happened to all my previous housemates.

10-1-A3 a.k.a. "home"

Yeah, you heard right, there has been a major reshuffle in housemates, not to mention that some guys got "dibuang kolej" to Taman Kenanga, which for me is downright inconvenient. Vei Hung, John Kiu and Alvin are not my housemates anymore. Replacing them are two Chinese guys from Sunway - Lawrence Tang and Steven Lai. And guess what, Shao Kang is my roommate! They are all very nice and we have the same interest - talking. And when Steven went through my pendrive, he wanted a copy of my 53rd Grammy Awards Show, without me introducing it to him!!! AND HE WATCHES GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!! I still remember how I persuaded my previous housemates to watch the Grammys, and how I failed to transform them into Gleeks.

10-1-A3 is not that bad actually, except that there was no water supply in our toilet for the first few days. Other than that, I'm pretty satisfied with my apartment. In fact, my room got bigger, and I also got a different scenery this time - my current apartment is facing the back of the college. OK I promise I will wave to the monkeys, dogs, cows, cats, dinosurs I see from my balcony and room window. Furthermore, Aunty Jeya is just living upstairs and the mini mart is just a flight of stairs away. HA! That's what you call perfect location. And most importantly, WE GOT LARGE TABLES!!!!!!!!!!! Why didn't we get those during last year? I suppose they would have been even useful if we got them last year.

Then: Small table

Now: LARGE TABLES!!!!!!!

My room

So, for the next 3 months I will be in KI 6, having Kannada class, Hindi class, Tamil class, Anatomy class and Physiology class with Amy, Victor, Viitya, Kesa, Manpreet, Bibiana, Bee, Jee Jen, Lawrence, Thaneer, Azim, Divagar, Syamimi, Jamilah, Cindy, Karen, Michelle, Adreanna, Aswad etc. At first I thought the languages would be easy and by no time I will be able to read, write and converse like an Indian (with the head shaking and all), but clearly I was wrong. The first week itself I sort of gave up on Hindi and Tamil. Now I'm focusing on Kannada instead. Don't give me that look I tell you, I'm just doing what my lecturer advised me. According to them, most of us will end up in a place where Kannada is frequently used.

The fact is, I like the Kannada alphabets so much that I could just sit down and spend hours writing them. They are like weird, beautiful cursive writings and the joy when your pen tip moves up and down the paper is indescribable. But man they are deadly, as in, trying to memorize them is so taxing. Some of them look so similar that the only difference between them would be only like a different direction of curl, or, with an extra dot. WTH, when I'm finished with the consonants, I forget the vowels. When I finish the vowels, I forget the consonants again. And we haven't even started forming words. I'm equally confused with the pronunciation. They sound pretty much the same to me but Mr. Prakash, Mr Syamu, Mr Milton (I forgot the spelling of the name for this creepy-looking-smile lecturer) and Mr Doresuamy think otherwise. Anyways, I'm trying my very best, and I even sacrificed my Narnia-reading sessions. And that really means something.

I enjoy writing them, but not memorizing

All three languages have their unique way of writing their vowels and consonants, but most sound the same. Hindi letters are easier to write. Unfortunately they are represented by 2 different symbols - dang. Tamil letters are kinda awesome too because Mr Siva's teaching. LOL

Thanks to Faruqi, I'm the new KI MPP Treasurer who doesn't have the faintest idea what his job description is.

And I really enjoyed the day when a few of us Tangga 9 close friends and also Lawrence and Steven, "climbed" Mount KTT (named by ever gorgeous Edwin), and later had dinner at Aunty Mira's place. I reckon we won't be able to do that in India in the near future, and the idea of that is sort of disturbing.

Surreal

2011-02-17T11:09:00.003+08:00

The ineffable joy I had recently was somehow familar. The fact is, that was exactly how I felt when JPA accepted my appeal for this scholarship when initially I failed the interview round.

So, one fine morning, my KTT junior Boo Chin Foong texted me, I was frenzied with excitement, but still highly doubtful. Then Shao Kang did the same, and I couldn't believe him either. Soon, Mr Siva called, and I almost cried when he broke the news.

Still remember the day after the AS results were announced? Some of my friends and juniors were expecting me to get Top in the World. But then all of us waited for weeks. Even Mr Siva was looking a little dejected when he asked ALU 5 whether any one of us got Top in the World but no one raised their hands. In fact, last year only one senior got Top in the World for AS Mathematics, thus further proving how difficult it is to gain such a coveted award. Naturally, I did not put high hopes.

Then weeks passed and I forgot about this matter when the unbelievably huge A2 workload started to pile up upon me. It was a time of immense struggle. When the A-Level results were finally out, and some friends asked me whether I had any luck this time around, I just brushed off their comments, thinking that if I hoped for something that most likely wouldn't happen, I will definitely be crushed. I mean, no use day dreaming when I already failed my lecturers during AS, right?

But it was revealed to me weeks after my A-Level results were announced, that I was wrong.

The feeling of getting something unexpected is just too surreal. And to know that I'm sharing this joy with some of my closest coursemates in KTT is even overwhelming.

Credits go to my family, lecturers and friends who believed in me all the while and stood by me through thick and thin. A big thank you from the bottom of my heart.

What Happened Today from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.

2011-02-08T18:31:00.009+08:00

I've been sleeping at 11 p.m. and waking up at 7 a.m. these days because I figured a change to a healthier lifestyle is bound to benefit me.

So, usually by 11 p.m. I'm a piece of dead meat already. But then yesterday I was so restless because I finished downloading the brand new Glee episode at 10.55 p.m..

And yeah this leads to another story. You see, no one can imagine how pissed off I was, waiting from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., just to download a 550 MB file. Then during the last 80 MB, the connection simply failed. I felt like strangling anyone around me during that time and I was extra moody during dinner. Obviously, everyone in my family noticed, and again I have to explain how terrible our internet connection is. By the time Unifi reaches Klang, I think I'm in India already. WTH

OK, back to the title, I watched Glee from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m., and I felt like a zombie like those in the new Glee episode. I was preparing to switch off my computer, but my finger was itching. I typed "Lord of the Rings: The Complete Recordings" in filestube, and to my surprise, a decent download link was just there. Just, there.

The room was dark except for the light from my monitor screen. I sat in front of it, with my eyes and mouth wide open. The urge to click the download link overcame my drowsiness.

I have only one explanation for this. Recently, I finished reading my 7 cm LotR trilogy, and then I watched the 12 hour movie marathon, and then I stumbled across Najwa's blog post about the score for LotR. That kept me thinking, I loved the book and movie. What's wrong if I love the music? Being in an orchestra has also been one of my lifelong dreams. And I always enjoy movie soundtracks, I guess it's high time to listen to movie scores. The thought of that simply set my heart racing. I thought, I will definitely download it one day, if I come across a download link. If, if, if - I was so confident that I will not get the download link that easily because you see, it has been like what, 6 years when LotR was first screened in 2005.

So there you go, the download link appeared to me at the most inappropriate time. But I had to do it. I already promised myself, for heaven's sake!

Hence, this was what ensued - a grueling night of downloading. I don't deny downloading movies at night, but during those times, I just left the computer on and let it run. But now, things get tricky when there are three separate movie scores, and each file is split into 2 parts. I usually avoid choosing these kind of links but now I have no other choices. And what I dread most is, after downloading each part, you will have to wait for, say 15 minutes before you are allowed to proceed to the next file. "Why did I use the same file hosting site?" you might ask. Same answer, the uploader only uploaded it in filesonic. Hence, no other choice.

A summary of what happened from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.:

12 a.m. Download first partfile for The Fellowship of the Ring. Sleep for 1 hour.

1 a.m. Wake up. First partfile for The Fellowship of the Ring completed. Download second partfile for The Fellowship of the Ring. Sleep for 1 hour.

2 a.m. Wake up. Second partfile for The Fellowship of the Ring completed. Download first partfile for The Two Towers. Sleep for 1 hour.

3 a.m. Wake up. First partfile for The Two Towers completed. Download second partfile for The Two Towers. Sleep for 1 hour.

4 a.m. Wake up. Second partfile for The Two Towers completed. Download first partfile for The Return of the King. Sleep for 1 hour.

5 a.m. Wake up. first partfile for The Return of the King completed. Download second partfile for The Return of the King. Sleep for 1 hour.

6 a.m. Wake up. Second partfile for The Return of the King completed. Get ready to go jogging with dad. That was the worst part. I should not have promised him yesterday.

Six hours of interrupted sleep plus a morning jog have successfully transformed me into a zombie without the makeup. But this zombie is currently enjoying his newly downloaded LotR: The Complete Recordings.

Personal favourites:

"Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All" (The Fellowship of the Ring, Disc 1).

Reason: I can imitate Cate Blanchett's airy elvish voice doing the narration.

"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air."

I think I'm crazy, period.

Next, "The Siege of Gondor". The music when the Nazgul comes swooping down is just epic. EPIC, I tell you.

Uneventful Chinese New Year

2011-02-07T13:52:00.003+08:00

Nothing special happened this Chinese New Year.

Except that my Cambodian maid wrote a note to my family wishing us a "Happy Chinese New Year" and "Good Luck" (OK, weird). Very unexpected, but it sure warmed my heart.

And my whole family was stuck in a massive jam on our way to Penang during the first day of Chinese New Year. In the end, it took us 11 hours to reach my hometown whereas usually it only takes about 5 hours. To make things worse, my Cambodian maid is car sick.

And I almost fell sick during CNY due to excessive cookie binge and the sweltering weather.

And we were so bored at our aunt's home that we decided to make vegetarian, organic, sushi. Great experience. My job was easy enough, to put the slices of cucumber, carrots, beetroot, asparagus (WTH, what an odd combination especially asparagus) on top of the rice. It took several tries to perfect our sushi before it is visually appealing. Most of the time it's either too much rice that we can barely taste the fillings, or too little rice that the edges fall apart when we slice the sushi into smaller portions.

And during our journey back to Klang, my family was so traumatized by the previous highway crawl to the extent that we woke up at 4 a.m., and we started our journey on the highway at 5.30 a.m. after a drive-through at McDonalds. This was the first time we started our journey so freakin' early. I only slept for 5 hours the night before. Being slightly sleep-deprived, I took a cold shower and drove from Penang to Batu Gajah, Perak, before my dad took over the driver's seat at 7.30 a.m.

A post that should've been created 4 days ago

2011-01-28T21:29:00.005+08:00

One would be thrilled if he or she got 4 A*s in their Cambridge A-Levels. And perhaps one would gush about it right away via Facebook or their blog.

I got to know about my 4 A*s on Monday morning, and I posted "Aal Izz Well" on my Facebook wall. Within minutes, there was a flurry of comments and likes.

And perhaps you might wonder why I didn't spread this good news in my blog immediately. But then, there was a reason behind the delay of this blog post.

As I was about to update my blog (Mei Ching's personal request) that afternoon, a few posts in my Facebook Live Feeds upsetted me, and since then I had no mood to do so anymore. Those feeds were from my dearest KTT friends who did not make it through the cut-off point although we had toiled for 1.5 years together-gether in the jungle college.

I tried to post words of comfort/concern on Farah, Melzie, Eshabell, Nurain's wall, but I gave up eventually. I'm not good at words, and everytime I type them, I feel like I'm sympathizing my friends and I know that they don't want my pity.

When you've spent 1.5 years, day-and-night together, it's so hard to accept the fact that they will not return to KTT anymore.

No more Farah's signature high frequency, rapid hand wave. No more Melzie's bubbly presence. No more Ain's Q&A sessions in the library. No more Ah Hun's laughter at the badminton court. No more No.1 Gaga fan in KTT. No more Eric's E-wards. No more Joeffrey's occasional visit to our apartment in Tangga 9. ... ... ... ...

There are so many more that I didn't mention. Damn, I don't even know whether Hafiz and Shafiq made it or not.

I just can't imagine KI without them. I just can't.

I guess life would not be the same anymore for me, and for them. But still, I'm glad that they've not given up hope, and will soon be pursuing their University course locally or in Indonesia.

May all KTT-ians (fly or tak fly) be strong. I pray for everyone's success in the future.

I idolize anyone who cooks

2011-01-14T20:42:00.005+08:00

I've always wanted to cook but somehow I always find an excuse for not picking up this particular skill. But since now everyone is busy working or schooling and I'm left alone at home watching reruns of Master Chef and Junior Master Chef in Starworld, I decided to observe how my Cambodian maid cooks.

Her name is Aen. Her English is horrible, but her cooking is still OK if you are not Gordon Ramsay.

It took me 15 painful minutes and a Cambodian-English dictionary to express my wish to learn how to cook to Aen. Pleased that she finally understood me, I stood beside her and observed.

Unfortunately, as I expected, the 'watch and learn' technique I adopted is clearly not working. I don't get satisfactory answers for most questions I ask her. Usually the answers she gave were kinda vague. Below are some examples:

Me: How do I know it is already cooked?
Aen: You see... until like this... *points at meat*
Me: Colour? Texture?
Aen: No understand.
Me: *fail*

Me: How much salt to add?
Aen: A little bit...
Me: WTH. You could have just said 'some'.
Aen: Huh?
Me: Nevermind...

Me: How long will it take for the oil to heat up?
Aen: Little oil short time. Big oil long time.
Me: *faints*

Me: How long should we fry this?
Aen: You fry until cook...
Me: *gives up asking questions*

The possible explanation behind all these epic fails, other than Aen's horrible English, would be the way I look at things, the way I think while I cook. I mean, I'm a pure science student. I'm trained to weigh and measure chemicals meticulously to the exact amount required during chemistry practicals. I deal with numbers, not quantifiers like "a few" and "plenty".

After some serious analyzing, I finally figured out the problem: I'm not learning from a cook book, from which I can get accurate quantities of ingredients and step-by-step instructions. I'm learning from a person who doesn't even speak fluent English. A great challenge indeed.

After identifying the problem, I should devise a hypothesis and then stop the whole 'Steps in Scientific Investigation' crap. Ok, seriously, I have to solve this. I have to learn how to cook!! *panicking*

Nonetheless, worry not. I will not give up so easily. Perhaps I should just clear my mind, and start anew. You know, follow my gizzards. (Shit. Mental note: must not watch movies about Owls and Ga Hool anymore. This 'gizzards' thing is stuck in my head). I mean, follow my heart! I guess cooking is not just about following a set of rigid rules. I have to be creative, be whimsical. Yeah, I like that, whimsical. As long as I don't blow up the kitchen I think I'm fine.

My mum has one advice for me - 'trial and error' instead of 'watch and learn'. I couldn't agree more. Even science encourages 'trial and error' right?

P.S. Damn those kids in Junior Master Chef. Because of them I am so ashamed of myself.

P.P.S. Wait, I'm not entirely hopeless. I helped bake (even though it only involves tasks like pressing the 'start' button of an oven) a cheese cake with Eng Wee and Wei Ru. I'm so proud I can cry.

I'm in lesbians with this movie

2011-01-06T22:36:00.009+08:00

Do you miss Jimmy Wales' face in Wikipedia?

2011-01-02T22:53:00.007+08:00

Can't get enough of Jimmy Wales' face?

Here's the perfect Google Chrome extension for those who would do anything to see Jimmy Wales' face again. Well, ever since Wikipedia ended its donation campaign, Jimmy's face disappeared from the banner.

*gasps*

*shock*

I know right, how could they remove the "A personal appeal from Jimmy Wales" banner??? I mean, don't you miss Jimmy's face, staring at you every time you wiki something?

Well here's the solution, try out this genius Google Chrome extension! It adds a nice Wikipedia donation banner to EVERY SINGLE WEB PAGE. How FUN is that huh?

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/idkjdjficifbfjjkdkiimioljbloddpl?hl=en

See? Now you can stare at Jimmy's face all day. Finally, life has meaning, HOORAY!! Jimmy, you complete my life. I don't feel lonely anymore with you watching over me every time I surf the net.

Seriously, best invention E-V-E-R...

Now I'm starting to wonder why Lila Roja doesn't have her own extension in Chrome. Poor woman.

Oh, if thats not good enough for you, try this one. This one replaces Jimmy Wales' face with a picture of a kitten. My brother loves this.

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/fjkkghchgjelmdhhjoefkjhkeoipbigj?hl=en

P.S. If you donate, you don't get to keep the kitten.

Oh by the way, to all readers, please donate because Jimmy rocked my world.

Epic of epic epicness

2010-12-29T13:58:00.007+08:00

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Totally enjoyed the movie. WTH, I can't believe I watched it thrice.

Thumbs up for the video game + comic effects. Impressive. Somehow it reminds me of the frenzied-state I turn into when I see coins all over the ground after defeating some video game villian. And there are tonnes of LOL-worthy moments, unlike Get Him to the Greek, which was downright cheap and annoying. I swear I will never watch any movie with Russell Brand in it. Bedtime Stories was disappointing. Get Him to the Greek - a disaster.

From left: Scott, Ramona, Neil, Knives, Kim, Stephen

The story revolves around Scott, who falls in love with Ramona. However, Scott has to defeat Ramona's Seven Evil Exes in order to win her heart. It has a simple story line.

A comparison of the characters from the movie and that from the comic.

The whole movie is presented in a comic-videogame style. Awesome effect, I have to admit. For those who grew up reading comic books and playing video games, they will definitely enjoy it.

The director really thought of every tiny detail. For instance, the opening Universal logo is rendered in 8-bit graphics and sound. Watch this 22-second clip! Totally amazing.

Things were cartoony and outlandish. Sound effects were VISIBLE. Fight scenes were straight out of video games and whenever Scott defeats an opponent, that person bursts into a shower of coins and Scott’s score for the match is flashed on screen.

Narrator: Scott earned the Power of Love!!!

Scott says he’s “getting a life” right before he grabs a "1-up icon" floating next to his head. Cool!

Whats more, thuds and punches land with comic noises. HAH!

In keeping with the style of a comic book, the director actually utilizes written onomatopoeia on the screen. Eg. a phone rings and letters forming the words “riiiiing riiiing” emanate from the phone.

Sound waves coming off of a performing musical act

The "pee-bar", a striking resemblance to the "life-bar" in a video game, is my favourite.

And as the film ends, "Continue?" screen countdown appears, similar to games like Street Fighter, which counts down the last few seconds before the credits begin.

Scott Pilgrim uses his Pac-Man knowledge as a strange pick up line

Scott: Did you know that the original name for Pac-Man was Puck-Man? You'd think it was because he looks like a hockey puck but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed. They changed it because they thought Puck-Man would be too easy to vandalize, you know, like people could just scratch off the P and turn it into an F or whatever.

And Scott's battle with Todd was hilarious. Apparently, Todd has superpowers because he is a vegan O.0

Todd: I partake not in the meat, nor the breastmilk, nor the ovum, of any creature, with a face.

But Todd eventually loses his superpowers when the Vegan-police arrives and de-veganizes him. Todds claims that he is a vegan even after consuming gellato and CHICKEN, for heaven's sake!

Vegan Police! WTH

Random, funny, and even absurd at times, this movie is definitely an epic of epic epicness.

My first encounter with snow

2010-12-22T10:03:00.011+08:00

I was praying so hard that my first snowing experience would be in some idyllic European countryside. Too bad, it all happened in Guilin, China, last week. Still, no complaints.

So, before we went to China, the weather forecast for Guilin was 11 degrees C to 19 degrees C. Not even a mention of "snow" or "sub-zero temperature".

The thing is, if you expect snow, and it snows, you will be satisfied.

But if you don't expect snow, and you get to see snow, you will be ecstatic.

However, I was too cold to overreact like some of the kids did in the tour group I joined. It was -4 degrees C, for heaven's sake! My fingers were numb although I wore gloves. I even had to remove them as it was so hard to press the buttons on my camera while wearing a gloves.

Anyways, it was not snow-ING, the snow accumulated on the ground. And it was only cold for 2 days out of our 8-day trip. Sometimes, it was even warmer than the weather in Genting.

Ok, what do they have in Guilin and other cities surrounding it?

Mountain sceneries
River cruise to enjoy mountain sceneries
Caves inside mountains
Liu Sanjie songs
Mountain sceneries
River cruise to enjoy mountain sceneries
Caves inside mountains
Liu Sanjie songs
Mountain sceneries
River cruise to enjoy mountain sceneries
Caves inside mountains
Liu Sanjie songs

Somehow, the list aptly sums it all up. (In case you have no idea what Liu Sanjie is, and if you are Chinese, ask your parents or your grandparents or even better, your great grandparents. If not, just google it)

Wait, don't get me wrong, the trip wasn't that boring, there were other programmes as well.

There was this show - Impression Liu Sanjie, which somehow really impressed me. It is a live, outdoor show, performed almost every single night (yup, only at night, when it is not raining of course) in the whole year except during Chinese New Year holidays. The show is performed at the Li River of Yangshuo itself, using traditional bamboo rafts, amazing lightings, jaw-dropping choreography, the breath-taking mountain scenery of the Li River as a natural back drop, and ultimately, it is intended to portray the theme of Liu Sanjie. Directed by Zhang Yimou, who was also the genius behind the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony, you can actually imagine how awesome it is. I mean, for me, it is definitely a must-see if you have a chance to visit Yangshuo. The cheapest tickets are sold at RMB 218 (RM 109), and they can go as high as RMB 680 (RM 340) per ticket!!!

During our visit, it was freakin' cold! But the whole amphitheatre was still full of people - 3000 seats in exact! Throughout the whole show, other than the occasional shivering, all I uttered was "OMG, how did they do that?" and "How long did they take to rehearse?". I guess that was the same reaction I gave when I was watching the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Since it was performed at night, lighting was crucial. And for each and every audience to fully enjoy the show, the seats were arranged in a stadium-like manner. Nevertheless, the sound system was impressive. The highlight was the mountains which served as the back dropm and the theatre was strategically located so that all nine mountains were in full view during the show. Here I have a photo from the net to share, except that the angle is not wide enough - to the left and right, there are still mountains! Absolutely mesmerizing.

Before the show commenced, it was all pitch black. But then when the lights were turned on, gosh, it was beautiful - nine peaks all illuminated in white, the music sounds, and the Li River was alive with twinkling lights and fishermen on rafts doing complicated formations. It was magical, and I was speechless, in awe.

These are some photos I found on the net.

I Don't Want Ke$ha on Glee

2010-12-20T21:08:00.000+08:00

Oh great, no facebook in China

2010-12-12T17:37:00.005+08:00

In less than 6 hours, I will be boarding a plane to Guilin, China, a place where Facebook is banned.

Great.

Erm... Not so great actually.

You see, life outside KTT is just damn boring, but relaxing. These two words do not contradict each other, last time I checked.

Boring in a way that I have nothing to REALLY REALLY study. Well I do read. Newspapers, books that I have bought a long time ago but stacked away in a corner due to my exams, downloaded books... I'm not much of a reader, compared to some of my friends. For instance, when Eng Wee offered to buy me books from UK because they were damn cheap in London, I racked my brain, but had no titles in my mind.

So, one way prevent boredom from setting in would be Facebook-ing, other than hanging out with friends and watching movies of course. Facebook is such an awesome invention that if "friend-ing" Mark Zuckerberg was allowed, I would do it right away. And I already bought The Social Network.

Basically, this post is about what I have been up to recently, other than reading and facebook-ing.

Yesterday, I went to Cheau Yin's birthday party. Today is her birthday, so, Happy Birthday, pornstar!

The birthday girl who started the cake fight

Last week, I went to Bukit Cahaya, Shah Alam with a few of my friends. My last trip to Bukit Cahaya was more than 10 years ago. I like the place nevertheless. It has confusing jungle trails. And it is also confusing enough to have more than one name. Bukit Cerakah (my brother reckons "Celaka" is a better name) and Taman Pertanian are some of them.

When my mum sees me lazing around, she advised me to do some light reading regarding dentistry. She insisted that she still has her university books chucked in an unknown corner in our house. My friends who are currently doing medicine and dentistry in UM say otherwise. According to them, this is my last chance to enjoy my holidays before I suffer in India.

And yes, I have a Skype account. But no, I rarely use it.

Eng Wee and Mei Ching are back from UK!!! In fact, I just phoned Eng Wee. He just left KLIA after a 13 hour AirAsia X flight from London. Too bad I won't be able to meet up with them this week. But, never fret (Melzie's face pops up in my mind), we still have plenty of time.

Justin Bieber is my mum's new found lover. And when I say "I hate JB", she replies "Thats because you are jealous of him as you are not as talented as him". I almost blurted "But I'm talented enough to be your son". Anyways, I don't care. My siblings just hate to see JB perform 'Pray' in the AMAs.

It's like Chinese New Year in my house recently, because two of my aunts came down from Penang. I won't mind sharing my bed with my brother, because now I have Tong Shui (dessert in Chinese) to drink every night. Hah.

SPM is almost over. And my brother is running wild, literally.

Watched Paranormal Activity 2, thanks to Najwa NS. Likes the prequel/sequel concept. And Hunter is just adorable.

Seriously, I must stop downloading albums and movies, and start looking for an external hard disk!

It's 8.40 pm, and I'm turning in because I have a midnight plane to catch.

Bye peeps.

I witnessed the building of a freakin' three-level human pyramid

2010-11-28T15:08:00.006+08:00

It all happened in Kem Bina Negara, Meru, where I had my 5-day 4-night BTN course. It was just fun, dispelling all rumours saying that BTN is boring and a place to suffer. And most importantly, the toilets and dorms are clean, thank god.

My dorm - Iswara 2

The dorms are clean when we first arrived, a mess when we left. I slept above an Intec guy. It was also my first time sleeping on a double decker bed.

The compound is green and clean.

Sleeping at 12 something and waking up at 5 something for 5 days was fun. The fact that we didn't have enough sleep was well justified, because there was this line in the official song for the BTN course (Menara Bangsa), which sounds like this: "Kita sudah tak perlu tidur".

It was also damn cold in the morning. I slept at the top level of the double decker bed, with a fan aiming directly at me. I couldn't just switch off the fan as doing so will cause those sleeping below to sweat and stink. Despite the cold weather and still I insist in taking cold baths at 5.30 a.m.. I enjoy the thrill when icy cold water falls on my skin, washing away all those mosquitoes that were busy sucking my blood.

Taking bath was also fun because it is so exciting when you see water coming out from the shower head, and it is also very exciting because at any time, without prior warning, the water flow will become so small that you will have to practically "attach" yourself to the wall to allow water to trickle down your body. I myself experienced the same thing. With shampoo still on my hair, I wrapped myself using a towel and changed to another cubicle. Obviously, I'm not the only victim. When the shower gets crowded, the terror starts, and you start hearing swears and curses in different languages - truly 1Malaysia.

The Malay boys enjoy the kolah VERY MUCH although the water looks brownish. When I'm brushing my teeth, they bermandi-manda and sing and shout and act like people who haven't bathed using water for 100 years. But still, the joy is indescribable.

Most of the time, we were busy feeding mosquitoes, which turned out to be fun because you must be strong-willed to not scratch those bites, but the itchiness is so intense that it is so hard to ignore it.

And then there were these aggressive monkeys in camp, which almost attacked Vinod, Vei Hung and me. And we even witnessed them having intercourse (FYI, that was what Ru Ren tried to say during his speech). Quoting Pak Rani: "Nanti kawan anda kena rogol oleh monyet di bilik".

This is THE monkey that tried to attack us. It climbed up a tree in front of the girls' dorm.

The LDKs (Latihan Dalam Kumpulan) were fun. You get to voice out opinions, debate, play games and perform. For the first time, I realised that the game "Simon Says" can be THAT tricky and exciting, kudos to the Facilitators. And then there was also the climax of the BTN course - we played a game, which ended up requiring us to build a freakin' three-level human pyramid. Seriously, we were acting like a bunch crazy people, and being someone who was blur throughout the game, I just followed the crowd. As long as I'm not the only one who was blur, I'm fine with it. However, the important thing is, I learnt a lot from the last game. It was really one heck of an experience.

A few of the LDK rooms. If only air-conds were installed...

The ceramahs were boring, but fun when you get to catch Shao Kang doze off and then wake him up in different ways. It was also fun to sing the Menara Bangsa song which has really weird lyrics. There was one penceramah who is damn bersemangat. I forgot his name, but I will always remember his "special" voice.

Marching was fun when the Ketua Kumpulans "melaporkan kekuatan". Clearly, Ru Ren enjoys it very much.

Repelling was even fun. It's fun to see people screaming while sliding down without even touching the wall. But when it was my turn, I was so afraid, really. I looked down from the top of the tower and was horrified to realize how tiny the people below appeared to me. But no choice, everyone had to complete the task, so I did my best and I'm glad it's over. It was just surreal. Given the chance, I would try it again.

Meal times were fun too. You get to taste "different flavours" of teh susu although they all look the same to me. IMO, food is scarce. You have to eat fast or else the vegetables will be finished in no time and you will be left with nothing. Besides, the cloth that is used to dry plates stink, and yet everyone still uses them.

One major thing I learnt from this BTN course is the Constitution (Perlembagaan). It was really an eye-opener. Now, whenever I see anyone complaining about Form 5 Sejarah, I will warn them about what they will face if they ever make it into a BTN course.

I was in Kumpulan 6 and my facilitator was Pak Murad. To add or not to add him in Facebook, is one question that has been lingering in my head. Don't take this wrongly, he's a great guy, really. He can talk about sensitive issues without acting like a racist. And whenever he gives examples, he makes it a point to involve the 3 main races in Malaysia, which I think is really fair. So for me, the BTN syllabus is not that biased after all.

Performing "Malaysia Tanah Airku" was fun too. Because no one in my group have the faintest idea how the melody goes. Even when the facilitators played the music for us, we still couldn't get it right. Of all song choices, we got the slowest one whereas all the other groups got those upbeat ones. WTH, some even got "Keranamu Malaysia" and "Jalur Gemilang". When we were practising, all I could think was: where's Edwin when we need him? Damn. During the performance, my head went totally blank, I forgot most of the lyrics. Funny thing is, the whole group forgot the lyrics simultaneously, and after each line, there was ALWAYS a short pause and during that time we were actually waiting for one of us to recall the next line. It was so obvious to the audiences that I couldn't help but laugh. Hence, I think we did very badly compared to the other groups. Frankly speaking, I didn't try my best, so I deserve the humiliation.

The Trainers were very funny too when they speak, especially Pak Rani.

When BTN ended, it ended so abruptly. But if you ask me whether I would want to repeat the course, my answer is still a "no". Yes, it is an unforgettable, wonderful experience, but I would prefer my room and my handphone and my laptop and my toilet and my 10-hour-sleep. So yeah, no, thank you.

Thanks to all KTT-ians, INTEC students, Trainers and Facilitators for all the pleasant memories in BTN. Trust me, they will last a life time.

Kumpulan 6 - Mark (Ketua), Sarah, Jing Ying, Tasnim, Mizah, Adeline, Alvin, Jasper, Afiq, Faiz, Asyraf and me, posing for a photo in the canteen.

Me and a bunch of close KTT-ians.

Hours before I left 9-2-A1

2010-11-19T15:21:00.004+08:00

The gap between the inner and outer wall of the water filter became a nest for the ants. I shuddered as I watched them crawl out of the base, and cringed at the thought of us housemates drinking this water for 1.5 years. Anyway, it should be harmless as the ants weren't in the filter, it's the gap between the walls that is disgusting.

Bookshelf - gone. books - gone.

Fridge - gone. Table supporting the fridge - gone.

This photo was taken at 3 am, 17th November. I spent 4 hours packing and cleaning them, including the clothes hanger (top right), the shoe rack and the dustbin at the balcony. And that is not including the fridge and table. At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to fit all this in the car, but I was wrong!

To whom it may concern

2010-11-15T16:29:00.003+08:00

To my room
The one without a window, the one which looks gloomy when I first moved in, the one that I've shared with my roommate for the past 1.5 years, the one with a door which can't be closed due to a long bed, the one with the faulty fluorescent tube which caused quite a scare, the one with two U-shaped beds.

To Kiu, my roommate
The one which sleeps later than me most of the time, the one who never keeps his clothes in the cupboard, the one which spends time in front of the mirror doing his hair, the one who has to tolerate me waking up early and making so much noise, the one that listens to me sleep-talk, the one that cares for everyone in the apartment, the one that always gets the teasing, the one who can't pronounce Deepavali properly, the one behind Kiu's Law, the one who has a typical taste for music, the one who has gone crazy for S.H.E., the one who selflessly allows me to use his water heater for 1.5 years, the one who used to study on an exam table, the one who can't stand spicy food, the one who taught me how to play Left 4 Dead.

To Vei Hung
The one who sits beside me in my apartment, the one who can't stop talking with me when we are studying, the one that knows that the only way to make me stop whining is to remain silent, the one that has been to my house before, the one who shares a same hometown with me, the one who sleeps very early, the one who likes to play DOTA, the one who goes to the library only to read the newspapers, the one who is the tallest but the youngest in our apartment, the one who likes to play badminton, the one who has never celebrated his birthday in KTT before, the one who teams up with me to tease Kiu, the one who provides me with Zaini's notes, the one who hates pink.

To Alvin
The one who likes to straighten his hair, the only one in our apartment who dyes his hair, the one who I have to wake up if there is 8 am class, the one who sleeps late, the one who wakes up late, the only one in the apartment who appreciates Glee (though not all episodes), the one who jogs every evening, the one who has slimmed down after 1.5 years, the one who used to like Aunty Mira's mee-hoon, the one who likes to watch movies with Shao Kang, the one who recently won Suok Ling's heart.

To my toilet
The one with the two hangers to hang my plastic bags, the one with the stubborn stains on the wall, the one with the residential cockroach, the one I wash once every two weeks, the one with the ice cold water after a rainy day, the one with the sink I avoid using, the one with the toilet bowl which gets filthy every two weeks.

To my apartment
The one with four study tables arranged in a line, the one with CNY decorations still on the door, the one I decorated during CNY, the one with a chair in the balcony, the one which I mop once every two weeks, the one with a water filter which I can't live without, the one with heaps of unused Giant plastic bags, the one who gets visited by flying bugs occasionally at night, the one with a spoilt glass door.

I will miss you when I leave KTT.

4 weeks and still counting

2010-11-03T15:32:00.001+08:00

Haven't gone back home for 4 weeks straight. It's a feat for me, but just "kacang" for most of my KTT friends. So, I better stop bragging, or else, I might kena slapping by Doris again. My plan is to stay put in KTT until A2 finishes.

And I say this at least once a day to my room mates

"We are gonna go back (i.e. leave KTT) soon!"

Seriously, I hope they are not annoyed.

My whole family (including my grandfather!) stopped by at KTT last Saturday to feed this poor malnourished kid in the wilderness of Sepang. We had sushi at Sushi King, and the service and food sucked. This is my second try at Sushi King and I swear I will never eat at that place again unless someone pays for it.

Alvin's birthday was like a de-stressing routine because 13 of us Dentistry close friends (boys and girls alike) had dinner at Ice Room. The seating plan was kinda wierd because boys sat in one row, facing the girls, and we looked like a bunch of hormone-raging teens going for speed dating a dinner party. Spent a whopping RM234! $.$

Sat for 2 days of exams and I actually finished my A-level maths and half of all my papers. Wow. Time flies. Can't really complain about the exam timetable. With such long breaks in between papers, it is just a relief for us candidates, especially when we have to juggle between maths and the 3 sciences. But then, I can't wait for the exams to be over!

Well, the fact that I can't wait for the exams to be over recently cost me many sleepless nights because I kept thinking of what I'm going to do after my exams. I just can't contain my excitement, like now when I'm typing this in the library, I'm giggling. Even Kiu noticed that I sleep talk almost every night during and before the A2 exam period. Problem is, whenever I close my eyes, images of my stress-free days after the A2 exams come streaming into my brains, and I become hyperactive, and I talk while I sleep. Freakish. yeah.

Oh ya, no Glee this week. Bored. Najwa NS, happy la you.

Watched Paranormal Activity 2's trailer again. Wondering when can I watch it. I don't understand why people just don't like Paranormal Activity. IMO, it's like a breakthrough for horror movies. At least now they look original. Without all those CGIs and makeups, the movie is still awesome (causes vertigo though).

The baby is missing in the mirror image

Waiting eagerly for a Paranormal Activity spoof. Wait, is there one already? It will be hilarious I bet.

And I don't care if I win some POWER ROOT contest. Please stop sending me those stupid sms-es!

For heaven's sake, it's "Masquerade" not "Masquarade"

2010-11-03T13:53:00.004+08:00

What will the juniors think of us when they see the spelling on the Graduation night notice? *digs hole to hide my head*

Now great, because it's confirmed that we have to pay RM50 for the graduation dinner and doing so will secure us a (perhaps nonexistent) certificate that is necessary (I doubt that) for our placement in India. Previously we were assured that the maximum fee would be RM50 after the RM80-per-person-rumour caused quite a scare among the seniors. Well, at least the planning committee kept their promise, right? Right?

Now comes the problem. What if I have plans with my family, or even worse if I fall sick after exam (which is extremely likely if one spends nights watching movies and vegetating in front of the lap top) and I can't attend the graduation dinner? Doesn't that mean I'm paying RM50 to buy a certificate which I should get for free? That's just downright unfair. Or perhaps if I produce a medical leave I would be exempted to pay? Hmm, worth pondering.

And this is the first time (I have to stress here, FIRST TIME) I'm worried about what to wear. I can't believe my ears when Melzie suggested me to wear what I wear to class. *smacks head*

And then there's this mask, which is totally pointless. I swear everyone can recognise me even if I wrap my whole head up like a mummy (LOL. Now that's exaggerating. Or am I?). In fact, I tried covering my eyes using both my hands and asked my housemates whether they recognize the person behind. And guess what, they could! And not to forget that the real harlequin masks would come with 2 holes for our eyes obviously. So I guess everyone would recognize everyone during the masquerade and then everyone would be wondering again: What's the point of having the mask? I always ask that when I watch reruns of Phantom of the Opera.

Gawd, graduations are supposed to be a time to relax after the exams, not worrying about god damn MASKS!

Now, I will stop whining (because Melzie doesn't like it) because I am obliged to thank the outgoing student council for organizing a Graduation Dinner which I bet would just blow my mind.

Currently, my status would be: I'm going.
And don't blame me if I keep vacillating.

2 am

2010-10-16T01:59:00.004+08:00

It has been like 3 weeks (or more?) since my last post. And now I'm breaking the hiatus in my apartment, using my own netbook and my own KTT wifi account. Unbelievable, especially when I've stayed here for 1.5 years...

For those who are interested in what I'm up to lately, do read:

Watching Glee once Eric downloads them. (thanks Eric)

Downloading Glee songs.

Doing Statistics past years, like for the whole week. (P.S. the probability that I'll go crazy is certainly 0.99)

Avoiding Razib because I'm not attending Maths class.

Skipping Chemistry Applications.

Spotted by Siva in mamak.

Skipping Physics (occasionally).

Ran into Affera before she went up Tangga 3. Dang.

Joining Zaini's application class almost every night and glad that it's all over.

Acting like a fool trying to convince my friends about the existence of "Michael Jackson drink". I swear I didn't make that thing up!!!

Studying Biology past years in slo-mo. Will that actually help to retain my memory till the 27th?

Received Eng Wee's and Mei Ching's phone call. Aww... All the way from UK.

Sleeping at 1.

Waking at 8.

Attended Raya open house by upstair's aunty.

Played "Bobby's World" with Edwin and Shao Kang. Shao Kang figured it out. Edwin still blur.

Outsmart Mark in "How many sheeps jumped over the moon".

Outsmart Edwin in "Is this rotten or un-rotten".

Baffled Kiu using my little trick with Vei Hung.

Wanted to go Sushi King but don't have membership card!!!

Tip-toed in library because the carpet is so filthy. Imagine a flooded library drying up indoors.

Attended my first ever Majlis Restu Ilmu. (Razib actually said "I give you all the bless you need.")

....

ok.

really tired.

sleep.

No Odd Hand Movements While Singing Please, Charice

2010-09-26T12:39:00.004+08:00

Watched Glee season 2, episode 1 yesterday.

The Ben Jacob Israel opening was hilarious. "Empire State of Mind" was nice. "Telephone" sucks. "Billionaire" showed us how good Chord Overstreet can imitate Bruno Mars (next time please at least improvise). The story behind Mike and Tina's first date was funny. "Listen" minus the odd hand movements by Charice was so-so. Beyonce's was way more powerful. "What I Did for Love" is a nice song that I haven't heard of. And Rachel was just pure evil. Finn "danced". HAHA. And I don't know why I find the scene, when Quinn wore her Cheerios uniform and walked out confidently, funny. Perhaps it's because of the background music.

Thanks Eric Fenandez and Joeffrey for the download.

Now back to my Math books.

What If You Have XXX Days Left

2010-09-09T10:15:00.008+08:00

What if you have 2 more days left in Malaysia?
That's referring to Mei Ching obviously. She's heading to Nottingham, UK. Pursuing law. And yes, I'm curious regarding what she's up to these few days. Perhaps last minute packing? I heard from Eng Wee that she's all bubbly during the day, but turns into an emo queen at night. That's kinda unimaginable for a person so out-going like Mei Ching, really. Anyway, if everything goes alright, I will be sending her off.

What if you have 13 more days left in Malaysia?
Now it's Eng Wee. He's my buddy since kindergarten years. And it pains me to watch him leave for London (Economics in LSE actually). Judging the way he's speaking in the phone, he's already depressed. Well, he said he is a homesick kinda guy, but more importantly, he is constantly lamenting me for not being able to send him off in KLIA (damn those KTT curfew hours), and for not bringing a laptop to KTT so that I can "Skype" (is that even a proper verb?) him whenever he's homesick. Sorry bro, really.

What if you have approximately 3 years left in Canada?
My Onion (Kay Xin) is currently "planted" in Waterloo, Canada. She just left Malaysia a few days ago and fortunately I'm able to send her off. Thanks to Eng Wee, his Rexton, and his GPS of course (KTT is damn isolated, you know). Well, she didn't cry (in front of us, that is), but her mum did shed some tears. It was heart wrenching. Imagine living separately with your first daughter for 3 solid years. Well, Kay Xin, be strong in Canada, study hard and study smart. Imagine yourself going for a long holiday and you won't feel so bad.

What if you have about 1 month left before your A2 exams?
Then I would definitely not be sitting in front of the laptop, wasting time updating my blog, especially when I haven't even finish my syllabus yet. Haha. But I am, now. Who cares! HAH. So, yeah, October 27 (Biology Paper 4 and Pure Maths 3 on the same day - Dang.) is the first day of my A2 examinations. The day would definitely come, I am completely aware of that. And I'm working extra hard to prepare for it. By the way, has anyone ever noticed how time passes extra quickly when something you dread approaches? That's how I feel every time. Ok. I'm crapping. Now I should really stop typing and continue doing my physics past years instead. Ok. Stop.

Wait.

I can't leave my post ending-less.

Ok. Here goes the conclusion.

Time really flies. It seems that it was just a few days ago when I was still enjoying a light-hearted banter with my Form 5 classmates in school. Then all of a sudden I'm enrolled in KTT. And now, I have 1 more month left in KTT, and a few days more to hang out with my friends before they leave Malaysia. Oh that's devastating.

And recently, when I was renewing my passport, filling the "age" column in the application form, it struck me that I'm already 19. Time, oh, time.

Warning: TWO TOTALLY UNRELATED PARAGRAPHS

Watched an episode of Ugly Betty yesterday, and recounted those days when I enjoyed the series with my siblings before I came to KTT. Well, Ugly Betty is ever so fast-paced - the characters exchange conversations quickly, and jokes come quickly and sometimes even go unnoticed. Damn, I just love the way Amanda and Marc speaks. HAHAHA

Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, Not Like the Movies, and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) totally rocks.

100 grams for RM10

2010-08-28T00:39:00.004+08:00

Apparently, that is the rate for leftover food.

[My stomach is about to burst as I'm typing this.]

Now here's the story:

ALU 5 went to a Thai Steamboat Restaurant in Giant Nilai for buka puasa. RM22 per head. (I wonder if someone walks in WITHOUT a head. OK. Random.) But anyways, it was obvious that we took waaaay too much food from the buffet line. And we can't finish it. Even after most of us went for a short walk and came back, there was still a pile of fishballs and miserable prawns.

Someone had to do the dirty job. This time it's poor Farhana and Aswad and Aswad's bag and a few Giant plastic bags.

First, we used spoons to transfer the leftovers. Then it dawned upon us that it will definitely take one more hour if we went on with this rate. Adikme is already waiting for us. And then Farhana started using her hands - 4 fishballs at a time. Her expression was precious. Kesian her.

Good thing we succeeded in the end. Or else we might have to fork out another RM20.

After a success like this, it calls for a victory photo shoot.

And yeah, I love peppermint-flavoured ice cream.

Happy fasting to all my muslim friends!

Two Steps Closer

2010-08-14T21:26:00.004+08:00

Thursday morning's Biology lecture was tormenting, well, for everyone in class. We were so anxious about our AS results that we kept looking outside the classroom (Duh, as if we will find our results pasted on the glass panel of the door...).

Then finally, we rushed straight to the overcrowded corridor in front of the office.

Squeezed myself into the crowd.

Looked for "1.5 years. India-bound".

Scanned for "ALL5".

Gasps.

Found "910710-10-...."

Allowed my eyes to move to the last column...

Squealed in my heart "It's a 20!!! Thank god!!"

Too happy to notice other people's shrieks and shouts, I double checked, and found my way out of the jostling crowd.

When I reached Aunty Jeya's place, I was clearly still in a daze.

Well, that was about how I got to know my AS results, unlike other colleges, whereby my friends were given personalized usernames and passwords to check their results in the net.

Which also reminds me of Eng Wee, my best friend. He took 5 subjects, got straight A's. And he also got 3 A stars! Sooooooo glad for him. Wishing him all the best in UK.

On the next day, Friday, there was another result waiting to be released - the one for IELTS. This one I'm not so concerned, as I'm sure I'm bound to pass the cut off point of Band 6.5. But, guess what? I got Band 8, which I really did not anticipate!!! Thanks Madam Izzati for guiding me all along.

Thanks also to Madam Azian, Miss Yanti and Mr Siva. You guys have helped me a lot in my AS period, and I'm so grateful to be taught by you guys.

These 2 days have been surreal. I should really work even harder to get all A stars for A-Levels!

I Don't Want to Die in An Inferno

2010-07-31T15:02:00.005+08:00

When I'm 5, daddy knows everything.
When I'm 10, daddy knows a lot.
When I'm 15, daddy knows nothing.
When I'm 25, daddy knows a little bit.
When I'm 35, daddy knows a lot.
And when I'm 45, I wish he was here and I could ask him personally. Daddy knew everything.

Notice how ironically true the cycle is. I read this in The Star one day before I was facing a situation of life and death.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN AN INFERNO!!!"

I was screaming this in my head 2 days ago, 7 a.m., Thursday morning, on the way back from LCCT to KTT.

The car temperature meter shot up to three quarters of the whole scale. And I was cursing and driving like mad, searching for the nearest petrol station.

I had to drive fast (as in more than 120 km/h), both in the highway and in BBST. Well, when you drive fast enough, the wind tends to lower the temperature a bit.

Anyways, it was freaking 7 in the morning! There was the usual traffic jam in front of the traffic lights and whenever I stopped, the pointer rises slowly but surely to a higher temperature. I was expecting the engine to blow up anytime!

I couldn't just switch off the engine too as I heard that, whenever the temperature of the engine is too high and you stop the car, there is a high chance that the engine won't start again. OMG. Decisions... decisions.... My heart was beating like mad.

Gosh. Why did this happen to me? Of all times...

Then, the traffic light turned green, and there's this Petronas that "appeared" in front of me. As I drove in, there was this ominous, high frequency ticking sound coming from the engine. Hesitating no more, I parked my car beside the water tap.

I sat alone in the driver's seat. Ignoring the other customers who were busy filling up their empty tanks. Eventually, I regained my composure.

Good. The car did not explode. I'm safe.

Something then dawned on me - what am I supposed to do? I vividly recalled what my dad taught me about opening the car bonnet and opening the radiator cap. Ok. Chill, at least I've got some idea on how to handle this.

And then, I remember the steaming hot gush of water spurting out from the radiator. And I cringed and gulped. Damn, I don't have the guts to do that.

I'm alone, helpless.

I tried to open the bonnet of the car thrice, but to no avail. I phoned my dad, and was told about a latch on the bonnet itself that needs to be pushed sideways. I slapped my head, and tried again. This time, I succeeded. Ok. I'm dumb, I admit. That was my FIRST time opening a car bonnet, in my whole life. Serious.

Then, I filled a pail with tap water, and poured it on top of the radiator and engine to cool it down.

First pail. Second pail. Third pail. Fourth pail. Still, I can smoke / steam (I couldn't tell) rapidly coming out from the engine.

I'm embarrassed, traumatized. Wearing an oversized T-shirt (my pyjamas, in fact), knee-length shorts and slippers, I could imagine hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at me.

Pushing that thought aside, I tried to recall how my dad opened the radiator cap, trying also very hard at the same time not to imagine what happened later (the scalding hot water gushing out).

Yes. I need a cloth, and I have one in the car. "Wet it, and put it on top of the cap, turn anticlockwise, and expect the worst", that's what my dad told me.

No. I don't know how to actually do it. I only knew the way. But I've never done it before.

Yes. I have to. Or else god knows I have to wait one more hour for the engine and radiator to cool down.

No. I don't want to risk my hands. Anyways, my class starts at 10 am.

Yes. What am I gonna do while I wait? Act stupid?

No. I'm gonna ask for help instead. Hey, the petrol station attendant looks kind!

"Kamu tunggu sampai dia sejuklah!", he told something that I dreaded most when I'm in distress. Damn. Where are all those bantu-membantu and baik hati thingy I learned in Moral?

Wait, there's a policeman.

Shy and embarrassed at the same time for not even able to open a radiator cap, I politely asked for help.

Oh, thank god. His name is Saiful and he agreed to help me. I was thanking him profusely. You're my hero... T.T

Deftly, he touched the cap and engine with his bare hands to estimate the temperature. And then he turned the cap. Funny thing is, there was no hot water gushing out. Apparently, 15 minutes have passed and the radiator thing is cool now.

So, I filled in the necessary amounts of water, gave the petrol attendant a I-don't-want-to-see-your-face-again look, thanked Officer Saiful again, and then drove off to KTT.

Upon reaching college, I turned off the engine, and I found myself thinking about the whole incident again.

That was my most harrowing driving experience ever, serious.

Seriously, New Moon was better

2010-07-24T12:04:00.003+08:00

IMHO, Eclipse was just weird. The director tried so hard to strike a balance between romance and action, but the effect was disastrous. In the end, it was neither romantic nor action-packed. Sorry, twihard fans.

New Moon was artistically appealing and the soundtrack was awesome. The camera work was just as perfect. Though it was not action-packed, New Moon was in fact "beautiful". Anyways, that's just my opinion. No point arguing with me.

Perhaps the reason behind me hating Eclipse is because I've put such high hopes on it. But still, I like the soundtrack. "Let's Get Lost" = my favourite.

IELTS is in a week and Mid Sem exams in just 2 days. Listening and Reading should not be a problem for me. But I tried out writing and the result was not very promising. We are allowed to write in pencil but I'm kinda used to writing and cancelling using pen. So what to use? Decisions, decisions.... (quoting the Jane the vampire). Btw, when you haven't written any essay for more than one year, your brain will rust and your writing skills will actually become sooooo poor. Speaking wasn't any better as I tend to "err..." too much.

Lots of things happened the past week. The most memorable ones would be my birthady celebration with college friends in Alamanda, and watching Predators, which totally sucked. Thanks to my friends including my house mates, room mates, tangga mates (is this even a word), and class mates (In fact, as I'm typing this, "someone" is standing beside me, forcing me to express my gratitude in this post). The cake and pizza was nice. But sad to say, the cat was let out of the bag before they tried to surprise me. "Someone" spilled the beans. Haha. That person's going to kill me.

Predators was like WTH. I don't even understand why is it on another planet anyway. Isn't it supposed to be on Earth? And srsly, the Japanese guy should talk more rather than flashing his samurai sword. The ending just made me felt like giving the director a nice good slap.

Oh ya, ICS held their charity night (themed Colours of Hope) recently at Akademi Audit Negara. Most seniors put on tradional Indian clothes, but not me. I was totally unaware of their plan until evryone stepped out from their apartments and they were like "why didn't you borrow one?" and I was like "excuse me, nobody told me!!!!". Anyways, being special means I'm standing out. HAH! The performances were great especially the one with the MJ impersonator. Had loads of fun although 5 of us guys actually forced ourselves into the backseat of a Persona. Luckily I didn't assume the role of a "cushion", unlike Gavin, John Hii, and Ah Wei. Valuable experience, that one.

Odd enough, I miss Chemistry class with Mr Siva.

Teletubbies (especially Po) are die-hard Bieber fans

2010-07-03T01:09:00.005+08:00

For those KTT-ians who don't get the title, have a look at the cute little kid below.

Familiar? Got that I've-seen-this-outfit-in-college-recently feeling? That's because our juniors are somehow dressed like this during orientation week's telematch and senamrobik.

Imagine 200 over ppl dressed in blood-red and white (i.e. dressed like Po) cross the road in front of KTT, heading towards the field. Picture them dancing to the tune of Waka Waka in Dataran KTT.

Well, the first thing that came into my mind was TELETUBBIES (no offence, because teletubbies are actually lovable) and I immediately told Melzie and she was like laughing non-stop.

Ok, teletubbies aside, this year's juniors are die-hard Bieber fans. "Baby" was used thrice in the closing performances! And that's excluding Ludacris's rap in choral speaking and Eenie Meenie in Choir. WTH!!!

The closing performance that really caught my attention was performed by Farah's group. Boys danced songs that were meant for girls and vice versa. And the impact was a great one. When the guys were dancing "G" and "Single Ladies" (and another Korean song which i don't know its title), the crowd went wild. Really wild.

Oh! And there was a bunch of guys clad in weird costumes (obviously Glee-inspired), dancing Bad Romance. That was unforgettable too. Ivan is so cute!

Anyways, congrats, juniors, you guys survived Orientation Week unscathed. Next week, the real challenge begins.

It's probably a good thing for me to pop this question to juniors next week - "Which chapter are you reading now?" - and I shall enjoy looking at their dumbfounded faces, before I burst out "Just kiddin'!!!".

Dang, as if A2 is still far away. Damn it, 3 more months!!

p.s. My heart sank when Madam Izzati told us that our hideous, keep-a-straight-face, strictly-no-hair-covering-the-forehead, no-specs-allowed, IELTS photo will appear on our IELTS cert. I can actually imagine my future employer flipping through my certs and upon looking at my IELTS cert, burst out "I WILL NOT EMPLOY A TERRORIST! For heaven's sake, did someone piss you off when you took that photo?". Poof! There goes my future.

!!!

2010-06-29T11:23:00.000+08:00

Someone is freakin' using an iPad in the library!!!

I have a goldfish memory span of 3 seconds, so here's what happe...Oh ya, I have a goldfish memory span of 3 seconds...

2010-06-17T20:52:00.010+08:00

Ha. There's this facebook site and it's my inspiration for this post's title.

Well ok, before I forget what happened recently, I'll just list them down.

Japanese food buffet at Shogun, Sunway Pyramid. Nice. But Tao in Penang was nicer. And oyster is another food that I would like to add to my hate-list apart from sea cucumbers. I was like, ooooh, they serve "Oyster With Cheese"! It looks so nice and everything! No harm trying one, I said to myself. And then I swear I almost barfed if my parents weren't there staring at me.

Argued with siblings whether to watch Karate Kid or Toy Story 3. Honestly, neither of them sparked my interest, especially Karate Kid. But since there are so many good reviews for Toy Story 3, I guess I'll watch it tomorrow.

Steamboat session with good friends at Eng Wee's house. The whole house was just awesome, and I like his bathroom the most. Anyways, his bedroom was like Edward Cullen's, a big window where you can hop out and climb a tree straight away. Sue Jean likes the sensor-activated dustbin. Lol.

yay, FOX in Astro. Not "yay, HD world cup in Astro". I don't watch football. But I still hate the vuvuzela nevertheless. Even professional football players hate it. Here's the proof.

p.s. Don't ask me who that guy is. I got this video from my friends blog. The main concern is THE VUVUZELA.

My sister was like "Why did they even ask RobPat to act as Edward? They should have called that Cedric guy from HP4." Me and my brother was like O.o WTH!!! My sis was "shocked" to know that RobPat played Cedric in HP4. I felt like smacking her head.

It is so hard to get my mum to sit still to watch a movie. She will either yawn and doze off, or she'll just walk away (that's the worst). But I succeeded. She watched The Proposal and Valentine's Day and totally enjoyed it.

Random as he always is, my brother told my sis that Galileo Galilei was a new hybrid species of Terrier, which has thick forehead, slanted eyes and neon-coloured fur. Guess what, she totally bought it. Poor Galileo and his scientific contributions!

LotR is my new favourite book. Currently in Book 3 Chapter 2.

No glee for me, yet. But I watched the performances in Youtube anyway. Likes how they synch-ed Quinn's labour with Vocal Adrenaline's "Bohemian Rhapsody", and also the regional's version of Don't Stop Believin'. Can't wait for Season 2.

It could be better, Alejandro

2010-06-11T00:13:00.006+08:00

I hate to say this, but the Alejandro music video by Gaga could be better if she just left out those obscene parts.

There were parts when she dressed up like a nun (and in the end she gave me a real heart attack -- what was that? Did she set her face on fire?), swallowed a rosary, went topless in the end, humped a guy, and there were lots of SM elements in it. Gosh, if she really intend to offend lots of people, well, no doubt she succeeded, and she's good at it.

And yes, I will not post 9 minutes of porn in my blog.

Just enjoy the song, guys.

Blogging about AS papers is boring, so I'm gonna add a little bit of Gaga and Glee

2010-06-01T17:04:00.015+08:00

Good thing Chemistry Paper 2 and Biology Paper 3 turned out to be relatively easy, or else, I will still be ranting about last week's Chemistry Paper 3. It was unbelievably tough, I tell you. It is set for the gods, I think....

Ok. AS papers aside. Lets talk about 2 topics that start with "G" - Gaga and Glee. Well, it's one topic actually, because Fox is featuring Gaga songs in Glee, which I think is super awesome!!!

Even before the episode was out, I listened to the leaked version from Glee's compilations of songs (Volume 3: Showstoppers). At first, I was like, well, Gaga's was better (because Kurt was totally weird in Bad Romance!). But then I told myself to wait and watch them perform on the episode, because I'm sure I will change my mind. Guess what. I changed my mind. The Gaga episode is one of the most successful episodes in Glee.

Somehow, I'm impressed by how the producers of Glee develop the story of Burt Hummel, Kurt Hummel and Finn. The message conveyed was strong and clear. But I wonder how Starworld is gonna censor the whole gay issue in Glee. Anyways, Burt is a great father.

Btw, the costumes are fantastic.

Vocal Adrenaline - Gaga's 2009 VMA outfit

Brittany - Philip Treacy lobster hat

Mercedes - Gaga’s “infamous” hair bow (Mercedes' wig was inspired by the Billboard magazine cover). And she wore the glittery bodysuit from the live performance of Poker Face.

Tina - Hussein Chalayan-inspired bubble dress

Kurt - Alexander McQueen outfit Gaga wears in the “Bad Romance” video

Rachel (outfit 1) - Gaga’s Kermit the Frog dress

Quinn - Armani Privé orbit dress Gaga wore to the 52nd Grammy Awards

Rachel (outfit 2) - Gaga’s silver mirrored triangle dress

Finn- Gaga wore this when meeting the Queen of England, her Queen of Hearts rubber dress by Atsuko Kudo

Santana - Jeffrey Bryant lace bodysuit and black rose Charlie Le Mindu hat.

Source:

http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/Theatricality

http://ellib.tumblr.com/post/638285293/fuckyeahladygaga-gleeks-glee-where-the

"The" Scholarship

2010-05-23T12:23:00.004+08:00

It's not the MOST coveted scholarship in Malaysia, neither is it the easiest one to secure. And if you somehow miraculously manage to go through all the form-fillings and interview, and you're awarded the scholarship, you are still not allowed to choose the country you want. Even if you've got the country you want, you can't choose which university to enroll in. But then, there's still a catch, for those applying for courses such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy (and many others which I'm unaware of), be ready to serve the government. Anyways, despite all the complaints and negative press coverage (which is bound to re-surface within this few days), face the fact, it's still one of the (if not, "the") most popular scholarship that is applied among students who have just finished their SPM.

Ok, cut the crap, last Friday, the results for the JPA scholarship were finally announced. And I can still vividly recall how anxious I was, frantically refreshing the page, which simply refused to be refreshed, only to get my answer at 12 something, midnight. My whole family was beside me in front of the computer, and all of us were devastated when I told them I failed.

The appealing process ensued, and I was so grateful to be given a 2nd chance.

Hence, I ended up in KTT, which happened to be nicest place on Earth apart from my house in Klang.

I'm satisfied, really. Maybe those who were awarded the scholarship during the first round don't understand why. But I'm sure Edwin and Arun do. I mean, I did not expect to be given another chance, but then, when it appeared, I grabbed it so tightly, and I swear I won't let it go again. (Damn, that is such an awful and desperate description of my feelings)

Btw, one of my junior is coming to KTT. And yes, I'm excited to see someone from my previous school in KTT. Well, people from Klang are like the minorities in KTT, hence I'm excited to meet someone from Klang, and even thrilled if he/she is from my previous school!

So, for my juniors who got the scholarship, congrats. For those who failed, appeal. No harm trying. Who knows, you might be lucky enough to be reconsidered. It happens you know, I'm an example.

P.S. Can't wait for next week's Gaga-themed Glee episode.

We Won

2010-05-14T23:56:00.003+08:00

Well, not in the match. But somehow or other, we Malaysians have portrayed the true spirit of 1Malaysia. We 'won' in terms of unity and camaraderie. That is priceless compared to the Thomas Cup itself.

I told myself not to watch the THE semifinals, but well, I couldn't just bear to watch Datuk LCW enter the battlefield alone. Hence, I started of with live tweets in the car. And the feedback was just awesome: words of encouragement and results were popping up every time I refreshed the page! And though I did not actually watch Datuk LCW play the first set, my father and I were cheering and bouncing up and down IN THE CAR. Really. We just couldn't contain the excitement. And yeah, #thomascup became a trending topic. LOL.

As our car entered the basement parking of Ah Yat Restaurant in PJ, 3G service was temporarily unavailable. Damn it, I thought, the match, the match, THE MATCH!!! I've got to get myself a TV, like NOW!!! I rushed up the staircase, and thank god there was a TV in the suite we were having our dinner. So, there you go, I was sitting on a chair, my Physics textbook resting on my lap (untouched), and I watched the match until the end. I am definitely not an ardent badminton fan, but I kinda enjoyed this match, perhaps because I was hoping Malaysia will win.

The stadium was full of Malaysians. OMG. All citizens of different races and religions were there cheering for our country. Patriotism has never been so intense (not that I can recall). When was the last time we Malaysians did that? The cheering was just wild, especially the RUNTUHKAN TEMBOK CHINA part. haha.

Frankly speaking, I have always enjoyed Ah Yat's food. But sadly tonight I just couldn't concentrate because I was so engrossed in the match. I guess I've made the right decision to watch the match live despite the fact that I've neglected my poor Physics textbook. Although my prayers were not answered, we Malaysians have definitely learned something more valuable than the Thomas Cup - unity.

"I'm proud to be a Malaysian!" I said it out loud whole-heartedly.

And btw, the traffic was exceptionally smooth in the highway for a Friday evening. Perhaps everyone's eyes were glued to their TV sets. I like that. It feels like Hari Raya eve/Chinese New Year eve.

Alejandro

2010-05-09T12:51:00.000+08:00

Mall Phobia

2010-05-09T11:18:00.003+08:00

I admit. I have Mall-phobia. I always have a bad feeling I will bump into my juniors, peers or seniors in Klang shopping malls. Klang is sooooo small after all (but yet, so big at times, when you are stuck in a jam). So basically the chances are high that you will get a tap on the shoulder when you are wandering aimlessly in a shopping mall. Damn it. It happens all the time. Especially in Jusco Bukit Raja. The mall is just 15 minutes-walk away from my previous school.

It's kinda embarrassing when you see them in hip clothes, high heels, whereas you are still in shorts and slippers. They've changed, what about me? So what if you secured JPA scholarship? You're still stuck in that jungle college for 2 years. Oh, the humiliation... No one will ever understand.

Months have passed in KTT (in fact I will be sitting for AS next week), and I feel more comfortable in college than in Klang. In KTT, we greet each other jovially (some wave frantically. BWAHAHA). We eat at mamak in shorts and slippers. We banter at CRs instead of studying. We knock on each other's apartment for no reason. We celebrate birthdays at Starwalk. We wait for Aunty Mira's food every evening. I love this way of life. It's so carefree. And I don't find that feeling in Klang anymore. Subconsciously, my self-esteem is lowered in Klang. I don't know why.

Maybe that's the reason why nowadays I prefer to stay back at KTT. It's a wonderful place to spend the weekend. After all, your classmates, housemates, roommates will always be there for you.

P.S. I was pondering about all this when I'm making the finishing touches on my Mother's Day card. It's the best I've ever made in my whole life. It's also the first one which contains many photos. Anyways, wishing my mum HAPPY MUM'S DAY!

Sue should sing and Kurt should model

2010-04-30T23:26:00.005+08:00

Well, that was my first impression when I watched the 15th episode of Glee, The Power of Madonna. IMO, that was the most freaking awesome Glee episode ever made. Well, I hope the to-be-aired Gaga-themed episode won't disappoint me!

For those who haven't watched it yet. Let me just say this, Sue singing "Vogue" will just blow you off. And, Mercedes, Kurt and the Cheerios made a stellar performance in "4 Minutes".

Episode 14th was rather depressing. Finn and Schuester made out with so many girls, and that was definitely unhealthy. Brittany just got dumber by suggesting that "dolphins are gay sharks". O.o

Episode 16th was so-so (maybe the Madonna-episode has set a new standard for Glee that I can't help but expecting something even better). Anyway, I still like Schuester and April singing "Fire".

That was basically, what I did when I'm stuck in KTT for the past two weeks, other than studying and attending workshops. Well, all thanks to Daniel, my Glee-provider!

Cool Telephone Remake

2010-04-16T07:38:00.000+08:00

These little monsters sure made Gaga proud. She even tweeted about it!

I Love My Awesome Exam Timetable

2010-04-14T20:58:00.003+08:00

Because it allows me to end my exams one day early. And because I get to go home earlier (yay!).

Yeah, I know. ONE DAY earlier -- big deal for me.

The excitement was so intense that it's almost tangible in LH4. Well, everyone inside LH4 will end their exams today. You should have seen our gleeful faces before we entered the exam hall - we were so eager to finish that last 1-hour paper! (Gosh why don't they just reschedule it earlier to, 11 am perhaps?) When it ended, Miss Yanti told us that we have to rearrange the foldable table-chair-s. I guess everyone was in such a good mood that we finished it in seconds.

The point is, I just finished my Pre-AS!!!

It ended abruptly, just, like that.

So now it's time to enjoy myself before I face the real AS.

Cloaks in Hogwarts, Lab Coats in KTT

2010-04-09T19:46:00.003+08:00

Well, strictly speaking, not all the time. But in view of the current Pre-AS exams, one can easily spot groups of students in white lab coats, waiting eagerly outside the library or in front of the science labs. Of course, you will also see Madam Hazlina, with a box labelled "UNAUTHORIZED MATERIALS" clutched in her hands, repeating the pre-exam briefing over and over again for every session. Occasionally, there will be some late candidates who will be reproached by Madam. Worst still, there was this girl in my session who wore a skirt. And Madam Hazlina was like: "For god's sake, you're sitting practicals!! What if the concentrated sulphuric acid spilled on your legs? Are you willing to lose your legs just for this Pre-AS?" Sure enough, there was no way Madam would allow the whole group to start the paper and we had to wait for her to change.

I have 3 practical papers. And currently I'm still left with one, Biology. What to expect, then? I bet it's going to be something not found in the past years, as this was what the other candidates got (they did the first session Bio Paper 3) . Anyway, I'll just cross my fingers and do my best.

Physics practical was just swelteringly hot as we were not allowed to switch on any fan or air conditioner. The annoying ping pong ball was just reluctant to rebound in a straight path. Crossing over was kinda unfair for those who were doing the 2nd question first.

Mention chemistry and my face will droop in disappointment. Well, first, I drew a graph that was smaller than half of the are provided; second, I put 4 significant figures for a question that clearly asked for 3 significant figures. Damn it, I just don't know what was in my mind at that moment! These are mistakes I would NEVER EVER make in normal lab sessions. But still, luck was not with me and somehow my mind was clouded at the particular moment when I was drawing the graph and calculating the enthalpy change. Anyway, if I was lucky enough to read through the October/November 2009 paper, as both questions were from the same paper. If I failed to do so, I might not even finish the paper in time! One thing that I realised: dissolving a solid with minimal amount of nitric acid (and heating, if necessary) was not as easy as imagined.

Pure Maths 1 was a disaster. I've never felt so dejected after a Math paper before - I have no idea how to solve a 6 mark Geometric Progression question. It was just awful. I feel so stupid right now and it is as if the question is still jeering at my stupidity even though one week has passed. Fortunately Mechanics was relatively easy.

Had some minor problems in Biology paper 1, but luckily Paper 2 was a breeze for everyone (I think). It was 99% past year questions! Goodness, IMO, even the final semester paper was tougher.

Chemistry Paper 1 was 100% past years (as expected....). Paper 2 was kinda shocking for everyone because there was no past year questions. FYI, all the while Chemistry papers in KTT are so "un-original". Mention chemistry internal papers and everyone can confidently say: "Close both eyes also know it's from past year la..." So, one can roughly imagine the look of disbelief we gave when we did paper.

Physics Paper 1 was slightly better than Maths, but still, most students find it tough. Paper 2 will be on next week, and speculation is rife that the paper will be prepared by Sir Zaini. The rumour alone sends chills down my spine.

P.S. This is the second time I'm staying back in KTT during the weekends. As of now, Nasi Goreng Black Pepper is my favourite food in KTT.

Time to Panic

2010-03-27T10:36:00.002+08:00

Because Pre-AS is next week and AS is looming around the corner!

Seriously, I feel that time is just insufficient (smacks own head for still sitting here typing) for this pre-AS. I totally underestimated the workload I'm about to face as during previous exams, we were only tested on a few chapters. But now, the whole AS syllabus is making me sick. SICK!!! I tell you! I can finish the textbook and past years alright, but I didn't re-do any questions from other revision books. That feeling of guilt just hits me without mercy. It's like: I'm able to do all those MCQ and Paper 2 questions for the previous exams, WTH is happening to me now?!!

Ok, time to chill, I guess the FESNI and CNY celebration thing just looted 'some' time away from me.

Well, the whole A-level community is now busy downloading the latest October-November 2009 papers. And though I've had all of them printed and I tried every paper of every variant, the fact that I'm not well-prepared for Practicals gives me goosebumps. You can't really blame me for that. This Pre-AS will be out first timed, no-discussion-allowed, DIY, practical session. Well, according to Puan Azian (our pregnant Bio lecturer), it'll also be the first time where we will have all the reagents and solutions, all on our own. For me, that's just a huge relief. No more sharing, contaminating and sir-not-enough-silver-nitrate-lah.

And I just found out that there are just 5 students with the surname Tan taking A-levels in KTT (Juniors only of course), thanks to the lab arrangement which lists out all our names in alphabetical order. And yeah, the whole lab will be practically filled with Tan-s. LOL

Skipping FESKOTT closing ceremony. But I'm not feeling guilty. Hey, I'm one of the few pathetic supporters standing under the hot sun at the opening ceremony ok! BTW, I wonder Mei Ling knows that her face is pasted all over the college because she was photographed holding the Green Teams flag.

OMG, I'm wasting so much time here. I'll continue my panic-routine. Ciao

Lets Make a Sandwich

2010-03-21T15:02:00.010+08:00

Yoga in IELTS

2010-03-20T15:01:00.005+08:00

IELTS has never been so fun. In fact, I actually enjoyed the last few lessons because of the 'show-and-tell' thingy.

My personal favourite was the Yoga topic done by Nadhirah. I still recall Miss Izzati's expression of disbelief when Nadhirah and Carol demonstrated a Yoga pose, which supposedly will help in slimming the body. And judging by her facial expressions, poor Carol was struggling to become Nadhirah's "model". Lots of videos and photos were taken, but since by merely typing this sentence I can already imagine Carol's face go berserk, I will certainly not post them in the net. Most of my classmates laughed throughout the session. I guess it's better if I keep it as an ALL 5 secret.

Well, Hamizah gave lots of 'interesting' facts. Despite the fact that most of them were rather grim, it was quite relieving to know that right-handers like me live a longer life.

Zhafrina's interpretation about moles was an eye-opener. And I bet she has been busy observing our moles behind us. That definitely explains why all of a sudden, she gave so many examples of moles at different regions of the face, of my fellow classmates. Thank god, I'm spared the humiliation. Shao Kang wasn't that lucky though.

Apparently, Jane's drawing on Malaysian species facing extinction wasn't drawn by her. It was Judith's masterpiece.

Mei Ling was sort of "sobbing" when she talked about rape cases and women's right. Perhaps that was due to her flu. But still, her emotions, whether they were sincere or merely "flu-induced", it suited her topic. LOL

I never knew more than 50% of Britons sleep naked until Azleen revealed the fact.

And I think Jamilah was the only one who didn't refer to her notes during her speech. Seriously, her facts were well-memorized.

Looking forward to the next IELTS lesson on Monday 8 a.m., though this serves as a painful reminder that my pre-AS is around the corner!

Happy Studying, guys! And Happy FESKOTT-ing, crockers!!!

I Joined Choir

2010-03-13T15:29:00.003+08:00

yeah, you read that.

Besides,

Loon Han broke his record of going back every week from the jungle-college.

Loon Han sprayed his hair green.

He did all that for choir.

We sang:

during the first round,

Jaya Diri (the compulsary patriotic song)
Imagine - Glee Cast
Bad Romance - Lady GaGa (it's true!!! my favourite!)
Generasiku - OAG
Asmara - Anneke Gronloh

during the finals,

Jaya Diri
Fallin' For You - Colbie Caillat
Imagine - Glee Cast
Bad Romance - Lady GaGa (yeah, because it's a crowd favourite)
Bila Larut Malam - Saloma
Generasiku - OAG
Asmara - Anneke Gronloh
Please Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna
We Will Rock You - Queen

OMG. I was devastated when we got 2nd. Imagine the effort we put in. Come on, we practised every day since last week. I was so eager to go for every practice, really. And I can't sleep every night after practice. When we got into the finals, we changed our dance moves, added songs, and practised even harder..... Well, I was hoping that our effort was acknowledged. You know, a pat on the shoulder by the judges would have sufficed, really...

Any way, so glad that Mahsuri and Boria won. And Miss Yanti must be really relieved to know that Green Team wasn't disqualified in the modern dance category

Well, I'm so sorry we disappointed Miss Yanti. She was like putting such high hopes on the choir team...

Any way, great experience. Met new friends, and I really enjoy the whole thing.

Go Crockers!!!

Describe the Most Awesome Event You've Participated

2010-02-25T19:34:00.006+08:00

If this question comes out for IELTS speaking, I would have no problem talking about it, as I had just been to one yesterday. It was my college's Chinese Cultural Education Society's first CNY celebration.

It was PHENOMENAL...

From the time we held our first ever CCES meeting, toiled under mountains of red packets, spent countless nights with scissors and glue, tied knots on red threads, missed prep classes to finish tonnes of decoration work in LHs, surfed the net looking for info, rushed here and there searching for food caterers and lion dance troops, practised wushu behind closed doors in LH 1, choreographed the seemingly easy but actually demanding chinese fan dance, untangled red ribbons, sang our hearts out during every practice session, wrote chinese couplets on red paper, climbed up and down hanging lanterns, moved heavy boxes of mandarin oranges, danced till our legs can't withstand the pain, sewed and adorned the clothing for God of Prosperity, carefully pasted pink papers on the all the walls of the hall, cut and pasted thousands of cherry-blossom flowers of every size on the walls, carried chairs and tables from library, hung the backdrop up with much satisfaction, suffered sore neck because of spending hours putting up red cloth on the plaster ceiling and covering the lights in the hall with trasparent coloured papers, memorized song lyrics last minute, strutted with our best samfu-s and ceong sams, panicked when we got a false alarm that the VIPs are arriving earlier, grinned from ear to ear in front of the audiences, clapped for our own friends, put on our best performance from 4 to 10pm, cheered for Mr Zaini and Mr Razib, picked up red beans using two miserable chopsticks, taught visitors how to play the Chinese Yoyo, played funny and "exciting" games, screamed like Joshua did when Mariah the maid appeared, took millions of crazy photos, till we did all the cleaning-up after the event ended, everything was just splendid, memorable, fantastic, despite the fact that most of us didn't get enough sleep.

Gosh, feels like I just finished a "summary".

Photos click here!!!

Glitter In The Air

2010-02-19T22:40:00.004+08:00

Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face
And said I just don't care?

It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn
The thunder before lightning, the breath before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
Your whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?

It's only half past the point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table, the walk before the run
The breath before the kiss and the fear before the flames
Have you ever felt this way?

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

There you are, sitting in the garden
Clutching my coffee, calling me sugar
You called me sugar

Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight
Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself
Will it ever get better than tonight? Tonight

A song by P!nk, which I wouldn't have noticed, if it were not her stunning performance at the 52nd Grammys. It has beautiful and meaningful lyrics, which kinda pictures mesmerizing images in my mind.

Confused

2010-02-17T21:45:00.011+08:00

I admit:

Some melodies are just so hard to ignore that it keeps repeating in your head.
Some songs are always appearing at Billboard and I can't resist but to download them.
Some songs have boring lyrics that are always talking about fairytales, stalking boys, sneakers, high heels, cheer leaders, bleachers, rain, tears, and yet I always listen to them.

source

Gosh, I'm one confused guy -- I dislike the person singing those songs, but I kinda like those songs.

Help!!!

A Stroll Around iCity

2010-02-13T23:24:00.004+08:00

wow. I never knew Klang itself has such a nice place.

Monday to Thursday Nights

2010-02-11T20:23:00.002+08:00

The library counter is thronging with people every night ever since the "compulsory" prep class and PGC (Peer Group Counselling) programme commenced. Signing in and signing out eventually morphed into "hey, you there, help me forge a signature ya!"

Seriously, I have no idea why I ended up in prep. But anyway, studying in LH1 wasn't bad either, with the air-conditioners switched on, of course. Nevertheless, it's kinda unfair for those who are taking maths, and are facilitators at the same time, but are compelled to attend prep at the same time. WTH, no personal time meh?

As for the PGC thing, lets see how the college authorities plan to make this thing success. I bet months later, the PGC thing will virtually vanish if the absentees keep on increasing at the current rate. Well, at least Shafiq and Hafiz came, I'm so touched.... T.T

I Watched the Whole Thing Twice

2010-02-07T00:56:00.003+08:00

I meant the 3-hour Grammys.

And that doesn't include the countless times I clicked on Youtube links to find one after another of crappy videos, before finally realizing that there's a fine one of Gaga's performance in Najwa's blog. *smacks head*

So, setting aside her wacky outfits, Gaga comes first, Beyonce second, Swift (or Squints, whatever...) comes third. That's me judging their talents, songs and live performances.

Well, all three of them are really talented. But Gaga's performance was better than Beyonce's and Beyonce's better than Swift's.

And Pink's was just mesmerizing and neat. Bravo...

So, Swift just won album of the Year. Yeah, big deal.... Whatever. And here comes the epic expression that comes with every of her award receiving moments. 'O' 'O' 'O' 'O'

Well, back to Gaga's performances. Poker face, Speechless and Your Song (a duet with Elton John). The lyrics of the mash up is creative. And I kinda like the Fame Factory concept, whereby Gaga is being thrown into the REJECT section, and then appears again with Elton for a duet. And then Gaga yelled "TAKE MY PICTURE HOLLYWOOD!!!". nice one.

And yeah, this is how the 2-in-1 piano was custom-made. COOL...

As for Beyonce's If I Were A Boy, the army concept is quite creative. And boy, she has a powerful voice, not to mention some serious hair-flinging and most probably she trains her neck muscles frequently.

Pink's one was just..... nice. Ineffable. The lighting just made the show even more memorable. You'll have to watch it for yourselves. Standing ovation, man...

I like the water-splashing concept.

And yeah, Green Day and the American Idiot cast with their wierd Broadway-version of 21 Guns

P.S. I admit it. I listen to Lady Antebellum. And my brother predicts Swift's next album to be named "Fearful" LOL.

Chamber of Secrets

2010-01-29T16:51:00.003+08:00

Weeks have passed since my last post.

And I still vividly recall how Mr Siva related Chamber of Secrets to ethanol production (yeah, that's how the title came by), how he asked my fellow Malay friends whether they've had Shandy before, and yes, not forgetting how he dropped a bomb in our chemistry objective questions (who would bother to pore through the Fuel and Polymers chapter anyway?). It's all about Mr. Siva, isn't it? I have a weird feeling that he's gonna end up to be my favourite lecturer after all, for no obvious reasons.

Speaking of Chemistry paper, yeah, for those who are not KTT-ians, i just finished my Mid Semester Examinations. WO HOO, yeah, big deal.... It merely serves to remind me that AS is around the corner. Anyway, practically breezed through some of the papers, and sweated throughout the others, especially Biology (salutations to Miss Syaza) and Pure Mathematics 1 (we should have noticed something fishy when Mechanics 1 paper was unexplainably easy).

Hmmm. I hope it's not too late to congratulate my best friends Eng Wee and Mei Ching for their excellent results in their AS, and also to my fellow Poland-, Czech- and Indon-bound KTT-ians , who of course also did very well in their AS, despite the fact that they spent less than half a year to finish their course. Well, it's worth-while poring over countless revision books, burning the midnight oil, and constantly occupying the usual cubicle in the library, judging from their tears of joy.

So, what have I been up to these days? Other than the usual library-routine (as some of my KTT friends call it), I enjoyed Ke$ha's new album -- Animal. "Blah Blah Blah" and "Your Love is My Drug" are some of my favourites. Perhaps my recent excessive interest in music was due to my dad's new iPhone, because ever since I started downloading album covers and tagging music (thanks to the software Media Monkey), just to enable me to enjoy the effect of "flipping through" music albums using the iPhone (that's one of the features I like most). Currently after 4 weeks of doing the same thing (i.e. "flipping through" albums), boredom sinks in and well, I think that's pretty lame. LOL

IELTS was fun because I had the chance to listen to my fellow classmates introduce themselves. Seriously speaking, this is the 1st time I gained deeper understanding about them because I'm transferred from ALL 6. When I first entered ALL 5, they were already all mingling together as the ice-breaking had been done previously, so I sort of blended in and hey presto, ALL 5 is my new home.

Currently feeling bad for not watching American Idol and Glee. But thanks to Eng Wee and my siblings, I've got some updates about the auditions. As for Glee, I've known about the show since last year, but never bothered to watch it, unlike my fellow college mates (Judith, Jane, Jeanette...). Since like October 2009, I've started to download their songs, and I'm a big fan of their music (I have like 15 Glee songs in my mp4), but sad to say, I've not even watched an episode. However, now the papers are all about Glee, I'm tempted to have a go with Glee. Let's see how the situation transpires....

And, I'm kinda pissed off how the general public and my friends reacted to Paranormal Activity. They say it's never a good horror movie if no one dies. And I say they are never going to mature if they continue watching those gross horror flicks. So be it, Paranormal Activity should be proud to have a fan like me.

Now that I've decorated my apartment with some CNY decorations, I'm all set to welcome the year of the Tiger. Roar!!!

So, that roughly sums up my recent activities and finally I've did my blog some justice. And to Mei Ching, I'm definitely not abandoning my blog. Anyway, I deserve a hiatus, don't you agree?

Faking a Smile

2010-01-29T16:38:00.004+08:00

This post has nothing to do with my family members, relatives, and Klang Friends.

It sucks to be kept in the dark about something big.
It sucks to know that everyone, except you, knew about it.
It sucks to pretend to know about that thing, in front of the very person who should have told you about that thing earlier.
It sucks as Chinese New Year approaches (don't ask me why).

Enough.

and now it's time to put on a fake smile to enjoy the post-exam fun.

Edward + Jacob = Edcob / Jaward

2010-01-07T13:39:00.000+08:00

Lol-ness

Life, a series of intersecting lives and incidents

2010-01-02T16:52:00.005+08:00

Sometimes we're on a collision course, and we just don't know it. Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it. A woman in Paris was on her way to go shopping, but she had forgotten her coat - went back to get it. When she had gotten her coat, the phone had rung, so she'd stopped to answer it; talked for a couple of minutes. While the woman was on the phone, Daisy was rehearsing for a performance at the Paris Opera House. And while she was rehearsing, the woman, off the phone now, had gone outside to get a taxi. Now a taxi driver had dropped off a fare earlier and had stopped to get a cup of coffee. And all the while, Daisy was rehearsing. And this cab driver, who dropped off the earlier fare; who'd stopped to get the cup of coffee, had picked up the lady who was going to shopping, and had missed getting an earlier cab. The taxi had to stop for a man crossing the street, who had left for work five minutes later than he normally did, because he forgot to set off his alarm. While that man, late for work, was crossing the street, Daisy had finished rehearsing, and was taking a shower. And while Daisy was showering, the taxi was waiting outside a boutique for the woman to pick up a package, which hadn't been wrapped yet, because the girl who was supposed to wrap it had broken up with her boyfriend the night before, and forgot. When the package was wrapped, the woman, who was back in the cab, was blocked by a delivery truck, all the while Daisy was getting dressed. The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, the last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends, who had broken a shoelace. While the taxi was stopped, waiting for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend came out the back of the theater. And if only one thing had happened differently: if that shoelace hadn't broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier; or that package had been wrapped and ready, because the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend; or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier; or that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee; or that woman had remembered her coat, and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would've crossed the street, and the taxi would've driven by. But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control - that taxi did not go by, and that driver was momentarily distracted, and that taxi hit Daisy, and her leg was crushed.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I'm not Going to Write Anything Bad about KTT

2009-12-31T19:03:00.002+08:00

Because I'm not Sang Suria.
Because I'm prohibited from doing so.

and also
because KTT is such a nice place!
because my apartment is heaven!
because ALL 5 is the coolest!
because i can't live without my college friends!

178 days and counting.

Who says Americans can't make good Horror Movies?

2009-12-24T20:19:00.005+08:00

previously, i always had the impression that the american's are far better off with their killer slasher films, while the Thais, japanese and koreans were better horror-movie-makers. well paranormal activity proved me wrong. it is helluva great movie, i say!

what's in "paranormal activity"? no spoilers here, just to give you an overview.

no sound effects (and i mean it! not a single movie soundtrack!)
no annoying, disfigured ghosts or zombie appearing during the most unexpected times just to scare the viewers
no sex scenes
no characters who are stupid enough to approach a dark corner or a haunted place when deep in their mind they know perfectly that ghosts will be there waiting for them. (i'm sure you can find that in most horror movies)

just raw video footage!!!

and yet you can certainly expect the best from this movie. that's just how perfect it is. i rate it 10/10.

the reasons behind the success of this film, i think, is because of

its sheer originality
the way it makes you feel that it could also happen to you too
the way it makes me paranoid
the way it heightens my senses (especially the hearing part)
the lack of gory scenes, special effects and makeups.

well, the whole story is a fake, according to the net. but still, for a fake video footage to look soooo real, to connect with my innermost fear, that's pretty awesome, i think.

damn it, i should not have watched it yesterday night, cos i was really paranoid after that, really. For a person like me who is usually "immune" to horror movies, to have a sleepless night after watching Paranormal Activity, you can bet that it's good!

p.s. i'm soooo gonna recommend this movie to everyone i know!

What they do Late at night

2009-12-17T21:41:00.001+08:00

what shao kang and alvin do late at night

what cats do at night

And Then There Was Light

2009-12-17T21:18:00.004+08:00

yeah... after 1 solid month of darkness and monochromatic madness in my apartment room, me and kiu got a shock of our life when our fluorescent light flickered on.

OMG, you should have seen my expression. I was like: OMG, my cupboard is brown in colour! thank goodness...

hey, you can't really blame me for being over-excited. everything was black or grayish throughout the whole month, ok? i just wasn't used to my normal, colourful, bright bedroom.

anyway, the entire wait was dreadful. 1st time i lodged the complaint, they said they lost it. and i lodged another one, and another one. kiu lodged another, i think. so, it takes 4 complaints to get a fluorescent light fixed. WTH.

anyway, thanks for fixing it, maintenance man. i'm still grateful.

p.s. even after the repair, the starter isn't working very well. sometimes i need to give it a nudge before the light turns on.

Bananas, 2012, Farting and Aunty Mira

2009-12-17T16:05:00.013+08:00

an interesting chemistry class consists of the above elements.

so, we were learning about Fuels in organic chemistry. and Mr Siva suddenly had the whim of sharing his "predictions" of earth's grim future. Since when he became such an environmentalist, i really have no idea.

so... first, it was the 2012 premonition. according to him, 2012 is possible. and it's not because of god, but we humans. perhaps he was influenced by the movie. nevermind that, anyway if the world really ends in 2012, i'll remember Mr Siva told us about that in an ordinary Chemistry class.

then, he went on about crops/plants that are on the verge of extinction. if rice, maize or some other foodstuff are going to be extinct, i would have panicked. but, Mr Siva shared with us an even shocking news :

BANANAS ARE FACING EXTINCTION

WTH, at first it was kinda funny, but then there's this news from BBC i googled (it's the real BBC ok? so it's reliable stuff). i swear i will spend more time savouring that yellow fruit next time.

Bananas could split for good

A treat for some, a staple for others

Edible bananas may disappear within a decade if urgent action is not taken to develop new varieties resistant to blight.

A Belgian scientist leading research into the fruit loved by millions, and a staple for much of the world's poor, has warned that diseases and pests are steadily encroaching upon crops.

One thing we can be sure of is that the Sigatoka won't lose in this battle

Emile Frison
plant pathologist

The problem is that the banana we eat is a seedless, sterile article which could slip the way of its predecessor which was wiped out by blight half a century ago.

But Dr Emile Frison, who heads the French-based International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), says the biotechnology and genetic manipulation it might take to save the fruit could put off consumers with GM concerns.

The Cavendish banana now being eaten across the globe lacks genetic diversity, he argues in an article in New Scientist magazine, and its survival is threatened by:

Panama disease, caused by a soil fungus, which wiped out the Gros Michel variety in the 1950s
Black sigatoka, another fungal disease which has reached global epidemic proportions
Pests invading plantations and farms in central America, Africa and Asia alike.

New Scientist compared the current threat to bananas to the potato blight which caused the devastating Irish famine of the 1840s.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2664373.stm

Ok, so, i think the banana news made me slightly hyper or something, cos i kept talking crap to shao kang the rest of the lecture.

for instance, we all know that human activities contribute to green house gases, agreed? and i don't know what happened to my brain, because the word farting and flatulence kept popping up. When i told shao kang about my opinion about farting contributing to greenhouse gases, he gave me this expression =.= which was kinda appropriate.

not long after that, Mr Siva told us about food packaging, and damn it my mind started to wander again. i was thinking about Aunty Mira's polystyrene food containers and i again i told shao kang what was on my mind, and there was silence and this =.= again.

Flatulence is often blamed as a significant source ofgreenhouse gases, owing to the erroneous belief that the methane released by livestockis in the flatus. While livestock account for around 20% of global methane emissions, 90-95% of that is released byexhaling or burping. Only 1–2% of global methane emissions come from livestock flatus.

Since New Zealand produces large amounts of agricultural product it is in a unique position of having high methane emissions livestock compared to other greenhouse gas sources. The New Zealand government is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and therefore, attempts are being made to reduce greenhouse emissions. To achieve this anagricultural emissions research levy was proposed, which promptly became known as a "fart tax" or "flatulence tax". It encountered opposition from farmers, farming lobby groups and opposition politicians.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence

fart tax. you fart, you pay. nice one.

anyway, it's kinda fun to set your mind free, let it relate to things that are unrelated.

p.s. I'm like thinking about Lady Gaga's Bad Romance dance moves now.

C-C-C-C-C-C Can you please stop?

2009-12-04T20:25:00.002+08:00

seriously, one whole week of organic chemistry is driving me nuts. and the past year questions are tougher than what we are taught in the textbook.

1st week of semester 2 is crazier than usual. good thing is, the library is almost empty, for once i can utilise the computers in privacy, i.e. facebook-ing and blogging. this kind of opportunity is rare, i tell you.

So, first few days are quite free cos some classes are cancelled. and there are rumours about RANJI 2 (the sequel to the blockbuster RANJI). that was so funny, just like SAW 2... lol. and it's compulsory for us to buy another RM20 IELTS book. all in all, RM60 wasted for not even touching the book.

Siva's hyper this week, dunno why.... maybe he's into organic chemistry, who knows? or maybe he's making up for not marking our papers.

Bio was an eye opener as we realized that Viitya and Harjir are both heartless. lol. nah... stop "the stethoscope wasn't working!" and "the class was too noisy!" crap.. face it, "how could you be so heartless.....[breaking into song]. and btw, alvin, a stethoscope is not for you to listen to your stomach. or is it?

i have a feeling that Christmas is gonna be super-fun in KTT. in fact, Mark's, Edwin's, Shao Kang's and Arun's apartment have their own decorated christmas tree. All that is left is a star.

My bro is abusing his new phone's (Sony W508) slideshow feature, taking photos of my sister sleeping and displaying them in a slideshow ("Nostalgic" mode).

for a list of reasons to hate Edward and "abandon" the twilight saga (movie version, of course), refer Najwa's blog. enjoyed them. Nice gif-s.

P.S. eating Chocolate Temptation now. celebrating sister's belated birthday. it's always the cake-and-candles tradition in my family. lol. anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sis!

Hello, Biceps

2009-11-30T10:21:00.003+08:00

Robert, it's unwise for you to do that with Taylor around, u know?

Bella: Hello, biceps. You know anabolic steroids are really bad for you.

LOLness...

ok. just watched New Moon. erm.... not bad... quite boring, but at least the audience made me laugh. cos' during the whole movie there are soooo many cat calls, oooohs, and aaahs (especially when jacob first took off his shirt to wipe Bella's blood.). And throughout the whole show my parents were like, "what's the point of screaming when edward came walking slow-mo towards Bella", and "who is a werewolf", and"who is a vampire".

anyway, i've always hated edward (more precisely, Robert Pattinson), and Taylor Lautner "looks" pretty impressive at the age of 17, so, yeah, i'm with team Jacob.

However, some of the characters which i'm more interested in are Aro, Caius, Heidi, and Jane. (Jane's "PAIN...." was kinda lame)

oh yeah, a scene that kept me in stitches was Alice's vision of Bella and Edward frolicking in the woods. WTH!!! not forgetting Jessica's line : Movie night with Beeeellllaaaa! [rolls eyes]

of course, in the end, the screams were even louder than before when Edward popped the question "Will you marry me?". and then my parents were asking again : "when will they marry? how soon?" sorry mum and dad, you will have to go through book 3 before they tie the knot.

p.s. 1st time blogging in KTT library!!!

It's all right. It's in Heaven now.

2009-11-28T16:05:00.009+08:00

[Esther and Max walk up after Daniel has shot a pigeon with his paintball gun]
Esther: Did you kill it?
Daniel Coleman: [crying] It was just a paintball, I didn't think it'd hurt him...
[She picks up a big rock and holds it out to him]
Esther: Put it out of its misery.
[off his look]
Esther: It's in pain. And it's your responsibility.
Daniel Coleman: It was just an accident.
Esther: If you walk away now, it'll starve to death. Is that what you want?
[pause]
Daniel Coleman: I'm not doin' it...
[after a moment, she smashes the pigeon with the rock]
Esther: [to Max] It's all right. It's in Heaven now.
Daniel Coleman: What's wrong with you?

yeah, Esther, there's something wrong with you. You're a freak

A Rain In the Drought

2009-11-20T13:18:00.004+08:00

ALL 5 students should be all smiles next sem right???

Madam Azian for Bio- perfect

Mr Razib for Maths- superb

Ms Yanti and Mr Siva - don't worry, still the best!

IELTS - ??? (a mystery. hiak hiak. LOL)

I couldn't be more thankful, really.

5 months of ordeal will be over, brighter days await ALL 5!

go go go! work hard, classmates! everyone must fly to India!

looking forward to next sem =)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

See You 5 Months Later

2009-11-19T19:58:00.003+08:00

envy. envy. envy.

but someday that's gonna happen to me. patience is a virtue.

Seniors have completed their A2 exams. Some juniors are completing their AS (one more chemistry paper 1 to go). Seniors, in other words, are FREE now. super duper FREE.

sigh...

seeing them pack their bags.

seeing them scrambling to sell their books.

seeing them struggling to find junior's apartment to temporarily store their belongings.

it's just sad to know that I've got 1 more year (plus 1 month) to go.

our apartment is piling up with more and more seniors' hand-me-downs (scraps included)

November Babies

2009-11-19T19:19:00.006+08:00

cheese-cake-flavoured Mark

Exam month plus a little twist in it --

a month with a freaking lot of birthdays AND midnight birthday celebrations. The KTT guard must be having a tough time every week shoo-ing us up to our apartments.

midnight birthday celebrations are really necessary if you are studying till you're about to vomit. When numbers, formulae and definitions make you sick, head down to "Bintang Walk" and have some fun, even if it involves cake-fights and water-ambush.

OMG. it reminds me of how sleepy I am when singing the birthday song, how excited I am when we were gonna surprise the poor guy or gal, how "guilty" I am after the celebrations, how freaking tired (but still have to clean myself) before i turn in (all thanks to mark who applied "cream" to both of my cheeks.)...

anyway,
Happy birthday to my exceptional room mate, Kiu, Mark, Jeanette, Ru Ren, Elaine, Nurain, Viitya and many others whose birthday parties i did not join (but i can hear shrieks and laughters every now and then from my balcony)!

Failed attempt to study Physics

2009-11-14T00:02:00.003+08:00

I have a feeling that I've not worked hard enough for this final sem.

2 days to go before i take my physics paper 1 and 2, followed by Bio 1,2, Maths 1, MPW, Chemistry 1,2...

and I'm free.

for one week.

dang.

some formulae are reminding me about their presence in my head.

P=Fv.... P=Fv.... P=Fv....

power... power.. power...

speaking of which, i wish i had the power to strive on....

oh shit. crapping again.

bye.

The Observer Observed

2009-10-29T20:15:00.008+08:00

I see people poring over books in the library

I see people disappearing for the whole week, hiding under their books

I see people wearing white lab coats, heading to their respective labs for Chemistry Paper 3

I see people wandering in front of the labs, trying to see what came out for Paper 3

I see people heading to DU clasping calculators and stationeries in their arms

I see people rejoicing although only 2 papers were done

I see people dropping maths

I see people moaning about their spoilt doorknobs

I see people get sick

I see people skip class

I see people leaving KTT for better job opportunities

I see people lying

I see people playing badminton

I see people rushing to finish the syllabus

I see people knocking our apartment door to collect their clothes dropped on our balcony

I see people waiting in a lecture hall for a class that wasn't even going to start after all

Mr Siva saw my face on a banner in Teluk Panglima Garang.

lol

Of Cats and KTT-ians

2009-10-24T10:09:00.006+08:00

Cats love physics.

notice my lecturer's reaction at the end of the video (00:29 - 00:31)

cats read the notice board

cats are the stars in KTT, KTT-ians go crazy about them

KTT-ians are in peace with cats

before cat poo was cleaned

after cat poo was cleaned

A cat joining us during dinner.

Bug Season

2009-10-24T08:54:00.002+08:00

There are a few notable seasons in KTT. examples include the freaking-hot-and-dry-season (whereby during the afternoon, the library is the only place you'll wanna be even if it's pay-per-entry), the exam season (ironically, this is an all-year-round-season), and recently, the BUG SEASON...

for every night in one whole week, my apartment has been full (i mean at least 50 to 100 if them. frankly speaking, i lost count due to the large numbers) of those flying bugs. those that appear out of nowhere especially when it's about to rain, and god knows why, they swarm around the nearest light source available.

and it's irritating.

you do revision, they appear at your books.
you use your laptop, they appear on your keyboard.
you brush your teeth, they appear on your toothbrush.
you go to toilet, they appear at the toilet bowl.
you sleep, they appear at your bed.
you walk, you accidentally squash them under your feet.

that's excluding all the times they nonchalantly stand on your body when you're so absorbed in doing something, and then you get a shock of your life.

once, it was so serious that we did not realize they were entering our apartment from the balcony through the opened sliding windows. by the time we realize that, it was already too late. the floor, the flourescent lamp, the toilet, the kitchen, (literally every where) was already full of them. I swept and shoo-ed tirelessly with the broom to no avail. in the end we had to move our washed wet clothes from the drying line into the apartment (it's like 10 bugs standing on your clothes and the most freakish thing the bugs did was invading our underwears. OMG). then, we closed the sliding doors, switched off EVERY light in the apartment except the balcony lights, and observed through the glass windows.

what we saw was just horrible, freakish, disgusting, gruesome.

hundreds (yeah, i really mean it) of them are frantically beating their wings and ramming their heads on the glass panels. some are squirming helplessly on the floor. and to our utmost horror, many are attempting to enter our apartment through the gaps below the glass windows. we opened a gap to see what was happening beneath the metal railings and it was oh-so-disgusting -- the bugs are crammed into that small space, moving, creeping, crawling, squirming....In fact, typing this sends the chill down my spine.

well, it was only 10 p.m. that night and we can't continue doing revision in the dark (and we certainly couldn't switch on the lights either!!), hence, all four of us turned in really early that night, of course checking whether there are any of those bugs on our bed.

Next morning, all we could see outside the balcony was heaps of body-less bug wings. and inside our apertment, we found dead bugs feasted by ants.

It was just GROSS.

Bio Lab = French Fries + Culinary Art

2009-10-15T22:51:00.006+08:00

All hail Edwin the chef, who has the knack of making nondescript, yet-to-be-fried, cacat, potato strips to arrange themselves obediently to spell out his name.

bravo!

all in all, one great cooking experience and interesting bio lab.

Explosion !!!

2009-10-15T22:13:00.001+08:00

Correction - “explosions”

Thrice my apartment’s water filter exploded. During the 1st two times, we tried to “save” it, but to no avail. During the last, it’s officially cracked and spoilt.

Sob…

The entire process was quite fun actually. Screwing and unscrewing the whole filter. Admiring the oh-so-pleasant residue in the filter’s interior…

However, what ensued was unbearable – rusty water for brushing teeth. OMG. Luckily the water dispenser downstairs is working.

I’ve gotta buy a new water filter this weekend.

P.S. recently a number of things were ruined in my apartment i.e. my speakers and my room mate’s laptop charger. Oh… the bad chi….

Wearing Something Different From Others

2009-10-15T20:56:00.005+08:00

Wore formal shirt plus black slacks plus slippers (ok.. i admit it's an odd combination) during KTT's Mega Raya (some sort of a raya feast held by my college). The consequences -- you could say I stood out among the others, or you could also say i was branded "the wierdo".

anyway, it's not entirely my fault ok? my malay friends have already worn their baju melayu-s, hence even if i wanted to borrow it from them it would be impossible. But again i'm wondering why some of my chinese friends got hold of these baju melayu-s. Perhaps they pre-ordered before the event? Perhaps they really took the initiative to look for a Baju Melayu? Oh shit, now it's my fault again...

So, it seems that i'm the only one in my apartment who liked the food -- lemang, rendang, kuey tiaow, mee, fruits, teh tarik, some yellowish-green curry... Which i totally understand because i'm a big fan of malay and indian food. however, the thing is, most of my friends kena diarrhoea after eating the food, except me. I wonder why...

I Already Know What You Did This Raya

2009-10-09T20:29:00.004+08:00

so puh-lease, wahai kucing-kucing yang kiut-kiut and comel-comel, there's no need to repeat what you did!!!

ever since the mattresses are dumped outside, the cats are making it their 'toilet'. maybe it's because the mattresses are so soft, warm and comfy... ugh... hence, the number of cat poo is obviously increasing day by day. and the wonderful smell is slowly getting into my head, so much so that i'm getting used to it (OMG, i did not just say that!).

what's worse, they are defenseless little kittens. and they are so adorable with their big watery eyes. aw...

but their poo is still very smelly. ish!

gotcha!

random:

KTT Raya dinner next week. wo hoo! food! yum!
the Binomial Theorom states that if you do miscellaneous excercise for 5 solid hours you'll go gaga.
it takes a miracle for us to have IELTS.
Le Chatelier's Principle states that if you ever try to finish reading Chapter Equilibria one shot, you will definitely lose ur brain's equilibria.
chemistry class turned into bio class recently, with never-ending calculations of 'BONE' enthalpy and electrolysis of 'BRAIN'.

Please watch this funny NEW MOON trailer if you're a big fan of the book

2009-10-03T10:39:00.006+08:00

that was sooooo funny. I can't stop laughing.

I Know What You Did "This" Raya

2009-10-03T09:27:00.006+08:00

Dear cats of KTT, no use lying there pretending to be innocent. I KNOW WHAT YOU THIS RAYA!!

look at the damage you guys've caused:

KTT-ians living on the 1st floor of Tangga 9 were somewhat flabbergasted.
KTT-ians living on the 2nd floor of Tangga 9 were in shock.
KTT-ians living on the 3rd floor of Tangga 9 were in disbelief.
KTT-ians living in Tangga 9 were disgusted and annoyed.

Reason: Cat poo (i mean, YOUR SHIT) on some of the mattresses of those living on the 1st floor.

all the while, you guys rule in KTT. the college would not be called "KTT" without you guys, seriously.

but what you all did was really unforgivable.

and now due to the droppings you've so "conveniently" left there, you've caused the whole Tangga 9 to suffer. The "casualties" (affected mattresses) were dumped out beside the stairway. and during the day, when the hot, sultry breeze blows, we, the tenants of Tangga 9 get a whiff of the 0h-god-that-was-so-awful-stench. (hell, what do you cats eat anyway???)

to view the cat poo. click to enlarge.

anyway, i've got a surprise in my own room too. there was a toad in my bedroom. somehow, when we shoo-ed him away using our broom, he "committed suicide" by jumping off the balcony from the 2nd floor.hence, if you're dead, rest in peace. If you're not, please please don't go hopping into my room again. NEVER!!! I WARN YOU!!!

Happy Birthday-s

2009-09-24T22:55:00.004+08:00

Celebrated Dad's and Grandpa's birthday yesterday at a Chinese Restaurant in Centro.

MY favourite Blackforest.

Happy Birthday, Dad and Grandpa!

I Don't Sing

2009-09-24T22:36:00.002+08:00

But I go for karaoke sessions

and

UNFORTUNATELY, everyone who sings out there, I comment.
Love me or hate me, I'm Simon.

Venue: Green Box (Jusco Bukit Tinggi)
Date: 22/9/09
Time: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

We booked 3 rooms:
One for the young and vibrant and erratic and aggressive and thick-skinned.
Two for the old (but wise and graceful and elegant).

Me fumbling with the remote. I'm skipping all the songs I don't like. HAHA...

Me with a cheesy smile. OMG. padan muka

And it was helluva fun! All the "Mum-mum-mum-mah..." and "P-P-P-Pokerface-P-P-Pokerface..."

Annoying and Non-annoying Animals at Home

2009-09-24T22:01:00.005+08:00

1. Annoying Animals - Monkeys.

I won't mind if these two chimps pop up in my backyard

OMG. it's monkey season again behind my house. in fact, yesterday i spotted one cracking and eating three uncooked eggs from the kitchen. Freaky!!!

This afternoon i saw one walking ( on 4 legs) past my window sill. OMG. OMG. freaked me out, man!

this is what monkeys become when they eat too much

2. Annoying animals - Komodo Dragon

These creatures (I'm certain there are more than 1 because i've seen THEM!!!) roam in my backyard. and Gosh! don't underestimate them! they are huge, they are fierce, and they are FAST!

once any of my family members spots one, the wisest and lamest thing we could do is to shut the back door and close the kitchen windows. end of story.

3. Non-annoying animals - "the Duck" / "that duck" (depending on the situation)

Real picture taken by Loon Han: "the Duck"

yeah, reared by one of my neighnours, it has no name, so we simply call it "the duck".

he/she (god knows) strolls in our backyard to find food.

Although we've never "intertacted" before, one thing i'm positive is that he's/she's harmless.

the only thing that puzzles me is that he/she remains unperturbed although sometimes a piece of "sticky" newspaper gets stuck on his/her webbed feet or occasionally some vines gets tangled on his/her legs.

mental note: i should not be too attached to him/her, she'll be slaughtered eventually... T.T

Pre-Mid Autumn Festival Gathering

2009-09-24T21:43:00.005+08:00

minus the full moon.
minus the moon cakes.
minus the lanterns.

PLUS skype-ing with cousin brother in Poland!!!

everyone was thrilled to "see" him and hear his voice.
ah... the joy of huddling around the laptop on poor Yi Lin's bed, passing head-phones, exchanging excited screams...

=bliss!

Up

2009-09-24T19:28:00.007+08:00

there were 3 Up-s on 21-9-2009

Went up to Sunway Pyramid.
Watched Disney Pixar's Up
Went up to the roof top to celebrate Chiao Ying's 18th birthday

ok. lame...

ONE

It was really tough to choose between Bird park, Zoo or Sunway Pyramid. Occasion? to celebrate Chiao Ying's birthday. Apparently, the "bird park" and "zoo" idea failed to materialize due to transportation problems. And as on why we there was this idea of celebrating Chiao Ying's birthday in KL Bird Park or Zoo, easy -- Chiao Ying was, is and will always be the happy-go-lucky "turkey" among us close friends.

TWO

After having lunch at Canton-i (i love that place), we watched UP at TGV.

relax. this big white shark only feasts on carrot cake, dumplings, char sew rice. HAHA!
far left: Mei Ching babbling on and on about.... something i can't recall.

apparently, she takes photos too.
Mei Ching's unflagging enthusiasm in telling stories (plus her super explosive expressions and gestures).
Chiao Ying seems slightly annoyed.

all in all, I give UP a 9 out of 10.

funny.
heart-warming.
simple.
thought-provoking.

Honestly, i was impressed. I despise, detest, abhor, hate, abhor (and any other synonyms you can think of. http://thesaurus.reference.com/ helps) cartoons and Japanese animations god-knows since when. But for me to give UP two thumbs up (lol), it is really a big deal. In a way, it is suitable for kids (what do you expect, Loon Han? it's a CARTOON). But it will also be a whole new experience for teens and adults. Kudos to the producers as it's not easy to make a show (a cartoon, especially) that is understandable for kids, meaningful for adults, and yet altogether enjoyable. Bravo!

only a small problem in the show: Will children really believe that babies come in bundles carried by storks? Come on... it's all about the sexual education thing again. One day, somehow, somebody has to make a cartoon about sexual education. it's vital or else children will keep on questioning about how they came to this world and parents will continue giving silly reasons like "picked you up from the garbage bin". Perhaps children will stick to the "stork-theory" cos it's more appealing. HAH!

oh ya, the "cone of shame" concept was really hilarious. can't stop laughing.

Doug in his "Cone of Shame"

THREE

blowing off birthday candles in a restaurant is so un-cool and boring. One way of making it more memorable is by doing this on Sunway Pyramid's roof top, with the setting sun and city view as the backdrop. the only problem is the lighting of the candles, which is obviously an impossible task with the wind billowing. It is quite stupid of us for not thinking about this problem. LOL. Nevertheless, despite the fact that those candles were extinguished as soon as they were lighted, Chiao Ying hastily blew the candles, and TA-DA, it's official: Chiao Ying turns 18.

see!!?? i told you there was strong wind. notice Chiao Ying's hair (apart from her beautiful face and mouth-watering cake of course)?

In fact, initially we tricked Chiao Ying into believing that we only bought an egg tart (which was crushed and deformed under my and Meiching's "good" care. TQ) as her birthday "cake" (it's ok if you prefer birthday "tart"). Worst still, me, Eng Wee and mei ching bluffed her again for going home early, whereas in fact we were busy collecting the pre-ordered cake and preparing for the final scene at the roof top.

the miserable birthday girl with her crushed, deformed (CLICK TO ZOOM IN!!! no kidding!) egg tart (plus a candle).
Mei Ching idolizing Chiao Ying? that's something new!
location: ZEN by Secret Recipe (i didn't even know that this restaurant exists!)

anyhow, it was fun!!! ....and tiring (even Chiao Ying admitted).

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY, Chiao Ying!

and btw, chiao ying, you should be thankful cause i did not write anythinfg soppy here. HAH!

Unqualified Coach

2009-09-17T21:05:00.002+08:00

Dakshna, a senior from KTT, lent me his Chinese Yoyo during orientation week for my group performance. In return, i was supposed to teach him some trick or two.

Well, he's the 1st indian whom i know, who is so enthusiastic in playing the Chinese Yoyo.

He dropped by my house today morn, just to learn a few tricks! wow... 负笈从师，不远千里。how can i disappoint him?

anyway, i'm an unqualified coach, and most importantly, i've not touched that 'thing' for 3 solid years.

Hence, that was the first and worst class i've ever given (ironically, there were no comparisons to make), and i pity Dakshna to be my 1st student.

Anyway, he was really satisfied when he left, and even gave me and my bro a souvenir he bought from Indon (he's back from his university for the raya holidays).

he too told me stories in Indon that aren't supposed to be written HERE, besides giving reasons why it's unwise for one to admit that he or she is a Malaysian in Indonesia. Some were hilarious, really.

Good-Looking People Die Gruesome Deaths

2009-09-15T16:10:00.006+08:00

As portrayed in Final Destination 4. lol

yeah, i've been warned by Eng Wee and Soo Pei, but who cares, i like those kind of movies.

funny thing is, it turned out to be pretty lame, i.e. it's not as scary or disgusting as it seems. this kept me wondering: "What's wrong with you, huh, Loon Han? Other people are already puking their guts out watching Final Destination 4 and you still aren't satisfied. Are you a psycopath?"

Hiak hiak.. Loony's altered ego about to be awaken. Woe betide those who are good-looking, u'll die some day.

OMG... what's happening to me.

anyway, just kidding. i'm perfectly normal (hell yea...).

Nick: What've you been doing, Lori? Feasting for the past whole week? You're heavier than i thought.
Lori: Just PULL ME UP or i'll drag you down with me. Don't mess with Lori!!

Good luck to you two, you're gonna die anyway.

Bits and Pieces Here and There

2009-09-14T21:13:00.002+08:00

waiter, can i have a "Blair Waldorf"? lol...

exam timetable. imagine this whole piece of paper being cancelled and rewritten, rewritten and cancelled. and finally it's up again, but with loads of "slashes" and "crossing-outs". Maybe this is KTT's way of saying "yohoo... there's been an amendment to the exam time-table!!"

this is the cubicle i'll shut myself in during revisions. sometimes i do get distracted by this green piece of paper. the time when i'm taking this picture is one of them.

ah... breaking fast... Malays adore it. although Chinese don't really fast, but who cares if they are giving out free food. yum! anyway, in the spirit of 1Malaysia, we did give priority to our Malay friends, ok? However, it's obvious that Shao Kang and Alvin can't resist free food. The thing is, i still don't understand what "moreh" means.

Ants are a-frenzy towards KTT tap water. what the hell is going on here??

Just arrived home...

2009-09-14T20:25:00.005+08:00

and yet a little bird just told me tomorrow's physics class wasn't cancelled after all.

!@#$%^

they expect me get up 5.30 am in the morning, of course not forgetting to wake my parents up too, plead them to drive me to sepang, take that left turn into the wilderness, just to attend a one-hour class (8 am - 9am)???

Ish!!

nobody's fault, really. just me being over confident that classes will be cancelled.

mental note: i can't really blame myself cos this has been happening throughout the 1st sem. Meaning, classes are cancelled for no apparent reason (erm... Is "stomach pain" considered a reason?) What's more, sometimes u are informed a night earlier that tomorrow's 8 am class is still on (despite the fact that speculations and "premonitions" are rife that a particular class will be cancelled), and yet tomorrow 7 in the morning u'll be woken up by a sms bearing this news:

"XXX class is cancelled, spread the word!! *smiley face* "

!@#$%^&

anyway, i usually end up waking up (a big thank you to the sms) much earlier than usual.

so, back to today's uneventful event.

let me try to describe the situation in a better way... hmmm...
here it goes:

Since,

exams are just over, the college is almost empty as everyone's in sunway, midvalley, 1 utama etc. enjoying;
most of my friends are having "visions" of tomorrow's classes cancelled;
some teachers did "officially" (that is if u take sms-es as official) cancel their respective classes;
everyone is in the holiday mood ("raya mood" for my fellow muslim friends)
seniors are actually advising us to go back earlier;
some of my friends have already gone back home;
some of my friends have already made plans to go shopping tomorrow;

know-it-all Loon Han assumed that tomorrow's class will be cancelled.

And it turned out to be a "scam" after all.

ok ok. Lesson learnt. period. (And gosh it was one hell of a lesson!!! My dad took the trouble to fetch me back to Klang. this itself took him nearly 2 hours and god knows how much petrol. and i received the bad news only when i was back home in Klang. Got lectured for an extra 1 hour. It seems that "night lecture about 'responsibility and taking-things-for-granted' by professor daddy" wasn't cancelled after all.

conclusion: i feel so bad right now.

anyway, i'll "appear" at KTT tomorrow morning for 1 hour.

AHA! but this time i really hope that tomorrow morning i'll be woken up by an sms saying:

"XXX class is cancelled after all, spread the word!! *smiley face* "

The Holy Month of Ramadan

2009-09-04T23:09:00.007+08:00

Oh, there's nothing better than the holy month of ramadan.

the official announcement made by KTT:

every class is shortened by 15 minutes
classes end early everyday
longer break during "lunch hour"

But in the end, it transpired to be -- MOST of the classes are SHORTENED TO THE MINIMUM. (lol, if u get what i mean...)

In the name of 1Malaysia, i tink everyone in KTT loves the holy month of ramadan. right??

anyway, i'm not blissfully unaware of the exams next week. But this fact remains: the drizzle, the "favourable" weather (it's so windy and wet these days), the cancellations of class, the looooong break hours, the late opening and early closure of the library etc. didn't help much in my revision.

oh ya, and every morning abt 5 a.m. you hear footsteps and the usual buzz along the stairway -- sahur time is an all time favourite!! Breaking fast wasn't that bad either -- the shuttle service to the daily bazaar ramadan is always full to the brim. By 5 p.m. everyday the bus honks will be blaring throughout KTT. It was quite a scene - "tudung-s" jostling around beside the bus & students trying their very best, cramming themselves into the bus....

Btw, according to the Chinese Lunar calendar, now's the hungry ghost month. And i enjoy telling Alvin ghost stories. Hiak hiak

p.s. thx to Harjir, i have a new theme song, "looney tuney"

Happy fasting and selamat berpuasa!

Happy Revising to myself... dang. exams...

Happy Merdeka!!!

2009-08-31T00:00:00.003+08:00

proud to be a malaysian!!!

1 week, too short

2009-08-30T09:47:00.009+08:00

celebrated bro's birthday yesterday 29/8 (MJ's birthday too!!). had dinner at Monte's Bistro. escargots - yum! Brother wanted to go sunway for ice-skating, but i told him i hated, hate, and will definitely hate ice-skating. hence--- midvalley megamall!! lol. the Raya decorations are awesome, go see it for yourself!

bid goodbye (in my heart) to Johan, a Malay friend who can speak Chinese i knew since primary school. He's leaving for Beijing to study CHINESE!!! OMG, can't believe it. he must be very valuable when he returns. maybe he'll be the Malaysian ambassador for China or something else in the future... good for him. altho i wasn't there personally in KLIA to send him off, i sincerely wish him the best of luck in China. We will miss your cheeky smiles!

watched some episodes of Gossip Girl. gosh i have to admit : this show is addictive. i wonder why i've never watched when it was aired in 8TV. anyway, great show! altho, again, i hate chuck bass ( sorry netty :-P)

watch my new cambodian maid cook. her cooking not bad. but 1 weird thing is that she wraps up her hair with a red towel (i dunno why, but it's always that RED one) whenever she cooks. imagine a ninja turtle cooking.... lame. anyway, my dad says she looks communist-y when she does that. LOL

tonight i'm attending an Indian wedding dinner. I lurve Indian food.

packed my belongings, ready to go return to KTT (aka jungle). it was a sad moment. it was also a stupid reminder of how many books i brought home and how many books i DID read. anyway, blame it on the i-i-i-i-nternet and g-g-g-gossip girl. (quoting netty)

downloaded some nice songs. transfering music from my lappy into my phone via bluetooth sucks. can't blame anyone for not bringing the handphone cable from KTT.

watched Bride Wars, Miss Congeniality 2 and War of the Worlds. Emma and Liv literally made me rolling on the floor. Sandra bullock was hilarious with her "chicken" suit. and OMG, Robbie was in Dragon Ball.

Listened to FLY fm. i feel like cheating on Hitz. i hate it!!

Missed MTV world stage (m'sia)... i hate myself

and currently i'm wasting my time again. dang.

Of flu, fever, cough, phlegm and masks (yeah, masks, loads of them)

2009-08-21T14:35:00.010+08:00

H1N1 reigns in KTT.

but relax, i'm not 1 one the victims of H1N1. But even IF i am, "I WAS" would be more appropriate. Currently i'm getting better, except for some "residual" phlegm and intermittent coughs.

wearing a mask for 5 whole days is damn uncomfortable, but it was a necessity. period.

luckily my house mates didn't shun me. my classmates were very considerate too. and no lecturer quizzed me about my "masked" appearance.

at first i was struggling whether to wear a mask. but i'm very civic-minded ok, so i wore masks everyday to prevent the spread of my god-knows-wat-disease.

so, here it goes:

initially, i had that wierd feeling like everyone was staring at me where ever i go.

but after 2 whole days of wearing masks, i started getting used to it. it was like, "i'm not weird at all. it's just a precautionary step to prevent the spread of H1N1 and am i doing anything wrong protecting my self and others? NO!!!"

hence, don't be surprised if u see me wearing a mask next week!

Oh ya!!! a piece of advice.

if this shakespearean thought ever crosses ur mind -- " to 'wear', or not to 'wear' " -- don't hesitate anymore, JUST PUT ON THAT MASK !! It's for the benefit of urself and everyone else. just imagine if everyone wears a mask, then those who don't are the weirdos!!!

weirdos. weirdos. neni neni bu bu... [ok, someone stop me, seriously]

LOL

funny things about wearing a mask:

shao kang never fails to remind me to remove the mask when i want to have a drink or when i plan to eat.
carol thinks i look FREAKY wearing that mask... (I'M-GONNA-GET-YOU!!!-cum-psycopath-kinda-freaky)
sometimes i remove my mask to show to my friends that i'm INDEED smiling.
according to shao kang, I can talk bad (of course, softly) of "some" ppl without being noticed.

Student Council Campaign and Polling

2009-08-15T08:59:00.005+08:00

"Ur vote is precious and ur presence is our pleasure. I repeat. Ur vote is precious and ur presence is our pleasure."

this is the announcement made by those freaky MPP seniors yesterday noon. they ARE enjoying themselves...

ok. back to the point. i bet student council campaigns in Taylor's or Inti (all my friends' college) would be fun. but what will happen if u live in the college itself? and this obviously is what makes KTT special!!

some unforgettable things:

students gathering at balcony shouting names.
students waving big banners at balconies.
malay girls screaming like freaks when handsome zahrul talks.
the WE LOVE QI QI banner
Doing "ombak" by the balcony.
ru ren's sppech was sooooo funny. stomach ache
and someone sang... ugh...
those would-be MPP's will be "extra-friendly" during campaigning period. popping up to say "hi" every now and then in ur apartment for no apparent reason. LOL
and of course daniel's signature "have fun!!" ending everytime he makes an announcement.

voted yesterday noon. and they told me the results will be out a loooooong time later. i was like... wat?!! so inefficient?

anyway, some of the thinks popping in my mind now:

stupid chemistry titration. subtle colour changes (reddish brown to pale yellow to bluish black to colourless) . black precipitate makes it worser.
Ru ren's latest post is just so funny
Ielts presentation approaching! nervous
bug attack in my apartment last friday. the rain caused the bugs to fly into our apartment instead of staying outside.
i wish i could watch G.I. JOE
i brought my speakers to college! having fun! wo hoo
H1N1 taklimat for diploma studentswater shortage
water shortage at college.

tat's all.

M.I.A.

2009-08-08T11:12:00.004+08:00

ok... quick update before i go M.I.A again.

my 1st blood donation. (giant needle. exaggerating. felt great)
1st time doing kolam (the indian thingy cost my back. Youch!!!)
din drop maths [altho.... (i don't wanna mencaci KTT, ok)]
like my roommates (starting to find many coincidences among us. believe it or not, i went to one of my housemate's housing estate before!!!)
like washing toilet and mopping floor. (huh??)
hate sweeping floor (sore hands)
exam postponed (wat?? ok.ok. YES!!!)
dibuang "kelas" (from ALL 6 to ALL 5)
miss ALL 6 (esp ru ren, elaine, chin, ting, asyraf...)
Love ALL 5!!! lively!!!
carol, harjir, vitya, "de" mark, edwin, azlin, jamilah, shaokang, alvin, nadierah aka medec, najwa, hafiz the rambutan, iskandar (zulkarnain), syafiq, and many new classmates.
lousy and embarrassing MPW presentation. (Alvin and the chipmunks??? ok ok . nvrmnd...)
masks given out (lots of ninja's in colege)
H1N1 rumours, sort of... (go pasar malam aso wear mask... lame...)
why bio class always cancelled???
why IELTS class always cancelled???
my house mate is hainanese (aso dunno how to speak hainan. LOL pengkhianat)
ru ren is hainanese (aso dunno how to speak hainan. OMG)
MPW presentations are hilarious.
MPW test next week
Najwa found my blog.
recommers popping up everywhere in KTT
met wacky and wierd Daniel (hiak hiak)
someone mistaken me as a senior.
funny chemistry class
labs in dismal conditions
at least i'm now confident in titration (3 titrations in a row for chem lab !!)
physics -- blur. (previously warned by Eng Wee)
chem -- hiak hiak (ALL 5's secret)
hand sanitizers along KTT corridors (H1N1 thingy)
kudos to "ME"!! new fridge in apartment, haha. so SS
thx to edwin, my table is covered with linoleum.
interesting IELTS presentation to come
MPP polling
i support Hitz.fm, my housemate listens to Fly fm!!! wat??? brainwashing each other.

tat's all, folks. tata

p.s. i'm still trapped in a jungle.

40 Things I Can Say About Life in KTT

2009-07-11T09:38:00.006+08:00

very Looooooong corridor.
dirty apartment. getting used to it day by day.
nice roommate. A chinese (FuChow) from Sarawak (forget it's sibu or sarikei...)
nice housemates - frm penang and kuching. we have no problems chatting after 2 days. phew... the tension and silence for the 1st day...
lots of tudungs i.e. Malays. (i think more than 50%)
if u exclude all malays, the sabahans and sarawakians will dominate the group (60% of them!!)
lots of exotic ppl - kadazan, iban , bidayuh, chinese + kadazan, malay + chinese, chinese+indian, indian+malay.... Amazing!!! lots of ppl here "are" or "look like" malay/indians, but they can speak in Chinese!!!
1st impression on sabahans and sarawakians -very kind and friendly, beautiful and handsome too.
for the 1st week, have to sleep at 12 am or 1 am everyday and wake up at 7.30 am. sometimes later, but not later than 8 am.
funny and nice seniors-cum-Recommers
the Orientation here is fun, less demanding, informative, serious, unlike form 6 orientation which is too demanding and sometimes annoying.
to Chiao Ying: Arunkumar lives in the apartment opposite of mine!!! saw him washing clothes and balcony. lol
dirty, yellowish water. (like Fe (III) ion in water)
spicy food. large portion
mamak and malay stalls sell expensive food.
catering Aunty Mira's food was nice, Chinese-y, cheap!!! i like it!
Uncle Beh (the book photocopier) was very helpful and businessminded.
got cheated by seniors who sold books at a much higher price.
book prices can be as low as RM5 per book as seniors are desperate and when less and less juniors buy from them.
Subject briefing - stressful, depressing, tension - have to study really hard!!!
friendly lecturers and JPA officers.
internet connection in computer lab is slow and terputus-putus.
library was so-so.
science lab was in dismal condition. bio lab was worst.
got minimart selling groceries and many other essentials.
got bus, van, taxis, rented cars to go to midvalley, bank, giant, fastfood... concenient
"trapped" right in the middle of the jungle.
at night lots of mosquitoes. can't sleep without moswuitoe mat.
dripping sink tap.
dirty toilet bowl. (getting used to it)
spacious living room. and Cleanest apartment (according to visitors from other apartments)
really really nice wardens-cum-lecturers. very very responsible, caring, helpful. like our "parents" in KTT.
lousy and un-cosy student lounge, but with Astro. (why do they have female student lounge, but no male student lounge??? unfair!!)
can da-pao food
telematch was very un-ganas if compared to what we play in secondary schools and camps... e.g. kepit bola di kaki, cari gula di tepung, 2 orang jalan sambil ikat kaki, throwing water balloons.... u see??? very un-ganas right?
lazy to wash clothes. wear them few times.
In Group 10. group members include Victor (leader, over excited, brewing pot of ideas), Via (a beautiful girl, gorgeous, shy), Vino (birthday on July 9!! wo hoo!!!), Vinod (the mancung-est hidung i've ever seen), Reena (assisteant leader ganas, loud, tall), Afiq (chubby, big, smiley), Sharul (like a lizard, funny), Zahrul (like sharukh khan, muscular) , Supi, Mimi, syafiq (he is the first cool, stylo, handsome, shy Malay i've ever known) , thaneer (knowledgeable) , sofia (big eyes, shy) , kuan xian (typical KL-like-girl who actually comes from sarawak) , jing ying (loves twilight saga! fan dance "instructor"), willy (sarawakian, shy, handsome, funny, kind), Sarah (looks like Malay, but actually is another exotic person - chinese+indian+malay)... and many other malay names which i can't really remember.
facilitators in Group 10 include: Kak Wan, Kak atira, Kak Nudz...
it was the gropu performance which really brought us together. 3 traditional dance prepared in 30 minutes -- miracle!!! and i played 扯铃.
and my group won 5 hampers (those big big ones) for 3 occasions - 3 for telematch, 1 for performance, and last one for BEST GROUP. group 10 (SUPERSOLID) rocks!!!

Ice Age 3 + Transformers

2009-07-04T16:54:00.004+08:00

saw this funny movie poster in The Star. Click the picture to have a detailed view. I just dunno why when it appears in my blog the resolution's so low.

Word of the Day

2009-07-04T16:21:00.002+08:00

Word: shanghai (as in the city 上海 in china!!)

Type: verb

Variations include: shanghaied, shanghaiing

Meaning:

to enroll or obtain (a sailor) for the crew of a ship by unscrupulous means, as by force or the use of liquors or drugs.
to induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force

Example of usage: We were shanghaied into buying worthless securities.

Toilet, My 2nd Home

2009-07-01T20:48:00.002+08:00

Been having some stomach problems yesterday and today.

31/6/09 3 a.m. woke up with a stomach ache. head for toilet. did my business. flushed toilet. washed hands. continued sleeping.

10 minutes later....