Officially Missing Home

I've been away from home for a longer time than now, but I've never been so far away from home before. Life's good here but I'm starting to miss home badly. It's inevitable. The thought of not having chinese new year back home this coming year makes it much worse. Hopefully Chinatown London makes a good backup place to be for chinese new year. I guess I miss the feeling having someone opening the door for you, welcoming you home with smiles and having hot dinner served. It's such a nice feeling. All your worries and frustrations will be left outside of the house and you can just sleep soundly every single night. I miss the food home, I miss my bed, I miss the talks, I miss the jokes, I miss speaking hokkien, I miss the old TV broadcasting hokkien dramas, I miss all the traditional and cultural stuffs, I miss the gathering of relatives, I miss wearing my pyjamas, I miss my family. If 21/12/12 is really the doomsday, there's no other place to be but home.

And speaking of 21/12/12, I just come up with a simple thought that if apocalypse's coming, I should use this opportunity to fulfill all promises that I'd made to anyone but yet to fulfill. So is there anyone I promised something that I haven't done? I'll try my best to get it done before 21/12/12. 

Gatsby

Have been using Gatsby for so long and I did not notice its effectiveness before, until that day.. the day I took my passport size photos.. It was like another hair gel advertisement. Entered the photo kiosks and adjust my head to fit in the virtual frame on the screen. Then snapped! I went on and took my photo from the kiosks, and passed it to the staffs for documentation processing.

X   : "Sorry sir, your picture cannot be used. You have to take a new one." 
me : "Why?"
X   : "It is because the photo you give do not fit your whole head sir. We will let you take a new photo for free, but the third time, we'll charge RM25."

Took a look at the picture. My god, the hair exceeded the top frame. Went back to the kiosks again. This time, make sure that the hair is pressed downwards, no matter how ugly the hairstyle would be. I pressed, my hair stands back right after I release it.. I pressed again, it stands again.. Finally, I pressed my hair until the countdown of 3 seconds and released and the last second. Snap! Well, it is right below the upper frame.

Gatsby! Keep your hair standing 24/7!

宠，必须宠？

常常看到一些父母会很宠爱儿女，特别是给予儿女金钱上的享受，心里就会责怪那些父母没有好好教育儿女，结果把他们给宠坏。但是今天听了一位老 uncle 的一番话后，我觉得人有时候还是不可以那么快下定论。

“我不是故意要给儿女多多钱，我没什么读过书，儿女也不爱读书，所以我没有期望儿女要怎么出息，只希望他们不偷不抢，而且钱财将来也是留给他们的，所以钱赚了就给他们吧。。我唯一要求的就是要他们自己好好保护自己的命，因为若他们为了得到他们要的东西而去偷去抢，出了事，我用多少钱也买不回他们的命。”

听了后觉得其实他也很无奈，但是教育儿女始终还是他的责任，所以也不知这事他是对是错。

Movie Day

Today went for movie marathon. Had two back-to-back movies: The Expendables 2 as well as Total Recall. Both, I rate above 7/10. As there's no gap between the two movies., it's a little tiring. But as the plot thickened, I got more excited. It was like caffeine. Not bad at all. Actually I'd printed discounts vouchers for movies but left them in the car, so didn't bother to get all the way back to the car park to grab it. I won't touch on the synopsis here to prevent spoilers, but would want to highlight 2 things:

1) At the end of the movies, I realized that this time, the popcorn that I found sticking on my shirts was much less than it normally does.

2) A girl whose seats is beside mine, changed seats with her "tomboy female" friends not long after I sat down. I don't know how to react or what to say. Do I look that pai kia?

A day passed..

A Sporty Weekend

I've done nothing on the weekend of 30th June and 1st July, except joining the UTP Futsal Competition and Ipoh International Run. To sum it all, I should say I've had a real "SPoRTy" weekend.

Everything dates back to 30th June 2012, Saturday morning when I had my futsal competition. It was the fourth competition but I still couldn't shake off the uneasiness. I played a total of four games, as a center defender. Maybe because of the competition pressure, our team was not playing so well, 3 lost and a draw. We never got through last 16 but this time I managed to SCORE! It is the first time I netted the ball in whatever futsal competition I've participated in and I never thought of my way of celebration.

 

 I do not do Crouch's little robot dance

                              I cannot do Nani's back flip                    I CERTAINLY do not do this!

 

Inside, my spirit was so high!

                      But I acted cool about it since it is an equalizer, just asking a tap from teammates.

Soon we were down 2-1 again but I managed to equalize again through a shot deflected off a defender's leg. The game ended 2-2. We were humiliated in the other games through big gap. Everyone was in slow motion mode after a break for lunch. I just hope we can give better efforts the next time (if we are still going to join la, concede goals until phobia already). 

Anyway, roughly 12 hours later, I was already in Ipoh Stadium warming up for the Ipoh International Run 2012 (IRR). I joined this marathon because I'd been kinda into jogging lately, thanks to my bro and also a friend, Kelvin. The distance to beat is 10km. 5 of us joined, 4 in 10km category while 1 in the 21km category. We aimed for top 200 but it was mission impossible because that category itself has drawn up to 2500 participants.

The picture shows the flag off. We were there by six in the morning. The starting of the run was a little slow since we have to cut through those walking participants. And we actually did not know the run had started until we reached the starting line.

A funny fact is that there were many girls (xiao mei mei) wearing short jeans, shiny belts and pretty shoes. I wasn't complaining, really. In fact, they're the one keeping me awake at 6am. Haha. Some people were even running with backpacks and camera, but they were not crews nor working committees.Wonder how are they going to run all the way.

Purposely added a picture beside as a prove. It is not a picture taken by me while running. Just one I got from the IRR facebook page.

I ran with a white headband, just like the character beside. The 10km run is quite "jiaklat" (tiring) but we all manage to finish within an hour. It is quite satisfying. But by the time I reached, we were out of 200, maybe not even in the 500, I don't know. And, the first few runners for 21km category was just minutes behind me. Speechless. Anyway, free 100plus and milo were provided for everyone. The line was so long and everyone was sweaty. So you can imagine when someone behind stood so close to you, breathing heavily.

The run was a real great experience indeed. The one regret is that I did not time my run. I would love to challenge for more than 10km one day.

Later that day, I went back and have a super duper long "nap". My weekend ended with the Euro2012 final between Italy and Spain.

By the way, I am going to go for a jog now. Ciao~

Mondayitis

For this semester, Monday will be my busiest day as almost 60% of my lectures are cramped within that single day. I'm doing 9 hours on Monday itself, starting 9am to 11pm with gaps in between. I took up 5 subjects this semester and I have all of them on Monday. Among the 5 subjects, principle of finance takes up 3 hours, from 8pm to 11pm, the toughest slot of the day. It is the first time I encounter such level of Mondayitis. Plus, I'm a night owl. So I'm practically a walking zombie the whole day. If you bump into me that very day of any week, forgive me if I do not respond to your greetings from afar because my awareness range will only be within 1 meter radius (just to keep me off from falling).

But no worries, I'll survive the Monday"s"!

Ringtones

Regrettable, I woke up late this morning. Glanced my watch, it was OVERSLEPT hour, written there "You have missed your tutorial". Struggling to keep my eyes wide open, I checked the master timetable for availability of other slots of tutorial. The next tutorial slot would come in one hour so I slept again. Rushing through bath and dressing, I dashed for the tutorial, entered late only to find the only seat in front row. It took some time for me to settle down and enter focus mode. But soon after, the lecturer's "chantings" sent me straight into autopilot mode (as if listening to tutorial but my mind is actually blank).

Out of nowhere, "Twinkle~ Twinkle~ Little Star~~How I~ wonder~ what you are~~...." my twinkle twinkle little star ringtone rang. I quickly took out phone to stop it. It was then I realized that I'd made a bad move. I was laughed by whole class and my lecturer mocked that my ringtone is for sleep enhancing purpose. Just imagine that inside a silent class with serious atmosphere, there you have a bedtime rhymes. OMG, why don't I just act stupid like the phone wasn't mine? Darn it, I shook the feeling of embarrassment off and re-enter focus mode.

Just when I was about to doze off again, my power ranger ringtone (another phone) rang this time around. Although I think it is cool, this time for damn sure I acted stupid! I even waited a while before stealthily taking out my phone to mute it. Then I continue to listen to the lecturer. I was never the attention seeker in class but this time I'm sure everyone knows THE GUY WITH TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR RINGTONE.

Fight

Have you ever been in a fight? A real fight? Ever got punched or kicked on the face? stomach? NUTS (for boys)? I considered myself a really good boy (true story) and I never have a real fight with anyone, not even shoving or pulling of shirt I guess. The only few times considered close to a fight is with my brother, where we merely started and always ended up punished by my Dad. Good old times. haha.

There are occasions where the 'processor' in my head overloaded emotionally and I really can't resist to initiate a fight, but everytime without fail, I'll just walk away. I think many people have not been in a fight too and I'm quite sure all of us have our own simulation of the fight on mind and without doubt we always end up winning. At least that's the self-satisfaction everyone needs for not being able to land the punch on that moron. Of course in the simulation, some become Yip Man, some HULKed up, some even acquire super power. TOo much movies. God I love movies!

As I was never engaged in a fight before, I was never beaten up and surely do not know how it feels to be hit. I wasn't asking for it but I guessed I felt it few days back. I was hit in the solar plexus not by someone, but by a ball at point blank. Puuuuuup! That's the futsal ball making the contact. I do not feel anything different at first, but I sensed something wrong when I drew in the next breath. I can hardly inhale and it feels like my lungs were stuck. My face expression turned sour and my friends went nervous. I had to exhale a couple times and hop a little to get over the pain. My legs were a little wobbly. 

Always been wondering why people blacked out hit in the solar plexus during a karate competition, now I know. Anyway, I continued on with the game seconds later. You know, boys what.. surely need to cover up the pain. yeng mah.. 

Well next time when everyone is sharing their experience in the fight talks, at least I can share stories being at the receiver end. You might think you can dodge all the punches and kicks. Let's hope you are correct. Else, stay away from trouble because it feels really "GOOD".

Mind talk

*Most dialogue are monologue, some are gtalk conversation, some imaginary mind talk. Time of conversation is not really accurate but it is real! What kind of life is this?

Cheechurn : Mid semester break is only four days, including weekends. Which University does so for their students except UTP? Somemore all assignments and lab reports need to be submitted by the Monday after the mid semester break. My midsem break is surely even busier than any normal weekend!
Sent at 9.35pm at Saturday.

Cheechurn : Stuck in traffic jam in the highway express. I'm supposed to get back to UTP as fast as possible because I got three reports due tomorrow. The most important thing is that my ManUtd's match will be starting at 10pm.
Sent at 8.05pm at Sunday.

Cheechurn : ManUtd won 2-0 and ManCity lost to Swansea. Eat that, City! ManUtd is now back on top!!! Ashraf (my coursemate who likes any teams than ManUtd), eat that!!!
Sent at 12.15am at Sunday.
Lecturer : CheeChurn, you still owe me three reports! If you can't finish it, see how many marks I'll be giving you! Zero, buddy! Eat that!!! (MIND TALK)
Sent at 12.16am at Sunday.
Cheechurn : Sorry lo!!!
Sent at 12.16am at Sunday.

MuhammadFareez : You ingat yang report tu kena hantar hari ni ke?
Sent at 4.10pm at Monday.
Cheechurn : Bukan ke?
Sent at 4.10pm at Monday.
MuhammadFareez : Hantar sebelum Khamis ni lah..
Sent at 4.11pm at Monday.
Cheechurn : Oh, bagus la! (Monolog: WTF!!!!! @#$%^&*, hence the 3 minutes delay in replying)
Sent at 4.14pm at Monday.

Cheechurn : Finally finished the progress report. Anyone wanna follow me to Block 13 to submit my progress report?
Sent at 1.04am at Tuesday.
JiaLiang : Are you serious? It is 1am now, you know?
Sent at 1.05am at Tuesday.
Mason : Block 13 there very "dirty" one leh, la la la la la la la.. (ghost story session started)
Sent at 1.05am at Tuesday.
Cheechurn : I'll submit tomorrow morning la.
Sent at 2.35am at Tuesday.

Earphone : Ahhh.. Girl look at that body! Ahhh.. Girl look at that body! I-I, I work out..
Sent at 6.18am at Tuesday.
Surau : Alla... (sembahyang subuh started)
Sent at 6.18am at Tuesday.
Cheechurn : Already 6.20am? Why la my work cannot finish one? Beh tong, sleep la. 
Sent at 6.18am at Tuesday.

Cheechurn : You got go MED lecture just now? Anything important?
Sent at 2.26pm at Tuesday.
Arrian : Nope, went meeting Mr.Ahmad for Euphonious. You didn't go? Apa jadi?
Sent at 2.27pm at Tuesday.
Cheechurn : "Pengsan." Just woke up.
Sent at 2.27pm at Tuesday.

Cheechurn : I've tapao-ed pork rice for dinner. Purposely finish a meeting first before enjoy it. Meeting was finished by 9.30pm. Rushed back room only to realise the pork was Japanese style (half cooked only). There are even blood on the pork. So now, I'm just PUMPing white rice. That's it, I'm getting a burger!
Sent at 9.40pm at Tuesday.