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.

something done

Just burnt the midnight oil for a Mechanics of Machine project, oil habis kering already. Actually I kinda like that subject. It is more related to mechanical engineering, drawing of simple machines and stuff. But still, pulling an all nighter completing report was not fun, especially when you have to squeeze your sleepy brain for some useful ideas late at night.

The report is quite lengthy and complicated with all the triangle rules, angles, Excel, etc and it is Mechanics of Machine, with an abbreviation - MOM. I was like I seriously needed my mom here with me to get me through the night, made me hot milo with HupSeng biscuits. They don't have those in UTP.

Kinda fell into low self-esteem and self-ignorant condition recently, piling up all assignments just to wait for the duedate, indulging myself with movies, snacks and "tumpang sahur" every night although I'm not fasting. Not sure if I'm gaining weight or not, but what's for sure is that my "eye shadow" is getting darker and darker. Oh God, I love Ramadan month!!!

It's been long since I've completed something myself, really missed the sense of achievement. I, an easily satisfied boy, managed to gain some yesterday, or I should say this morning after completing the project. Not that I'm motivated or what, just manage get a taste of pride. So purposely update this blog post to remind myself how nice it feels when I can get something done!

One more thing, I'll be having 5 tests coming up in the next 2 weeks, po pi po pi ar..

坏人不好当

Content warning: This post is a little emo one.. So for those who's looking for funny and happy blog post, skip this one. Thank you.

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我在大学里常常都参与一些活动，当筹委。筹备过程中时常认为高层这里不是，那里不对。 然而最近在活动当了高层，才懂得不容易啊！

高层需要选出适合的人选来担任各种位置，有时就会遇到必须顾虑该不该选朋友的烦恼。但是朋友们自己若不被选，有些会很明白事理，有些就会很不服气。我的高层已开始就必须面对这问题。有位朋友是这活动的踊跃分子，连续参加了两年，但由于有更好的人选，她，就落选了。而我，是那位需要传达这坏讯息给她的使者。

我以为我能胜任这个任务，就打给她。电话没通，进了voicemail，松了一口气。平静的情绪一会儿就让简讯铃声打断了，看一看，是她。烦恼的三天就这样开始了。她不能接受落选的事实，变得很情绪化，把事情看得很personal。我就很难做人啊！高层决定了就是这么办。你是我朋友我也无奈嘛。我想当好人，就一直解释给她听，一直拖，拖到了三天。若事情这样拖下去，活动搞不成啊！我就狠下心当坏人吧！就这样，到了今天，我还没有和她说到半句话。

我不介意当坏人，因为有时只有当坏人，事情才能快速解决，不该拖拖拉拉，但是最重要还是要有人能理解。幸亏我的筹委中有人能理解我们，觉得当了坏人受人恨，也是值得的。

以前若有问题发生，我常常都是静静的，认为让别人当坏人，自己不要插手。但是现在我认为能为了别人而当坏人，我欣赏。

忠言：但若能避免当坏人，还是能免则免吧！不好受啊！

Breaking the Rules is always thrilling

When people say don't do this, don't do that, they are actually digging our curiousity. You will always get curious of why we should not do so or just wanna prove to them that it can be done! You'll always end up doing it..

Life is so dull inside UTP and to colour up my university life, I'll always think of doing something out of ordinary or breaking a law. It is like lighting up your life by accepting new challenges. And today, I've done one, which I had done before but it still did give me the thrill to quench the thirst of my teenage life.

The lifeguard shut the swimming pool at 7pm. And when the pool was totally deserted, we appeared. And fyi, the badminton court was the only building separating the pool with the security office. And that particular time was actually the shift time for the security guards. Anyway, after some time when my friends and I got the surrounding parameter secured, two of us climbed into the swimming pool.

We definitely made our "break-in" with style as we ran and jumped "bomb style" into the pool. There were only two of us inside the pool so the splashing of water was the only audible sound in the silence. We were swimming, holding our breath, enjoying the sense of "achievement".

It is then when I got up the water surface after the holding breath challenge, I noticed something like a CCTV monitoring the place where we both climbed in. I told my friend and we both did get a little nervous. Then we stayed a little longer before looking for our exit. There were no chairs like it used to have. So eventually we managed to climb over a gate over the other side of the pool.

We both really wanted to extend the crazy day. Since we both did not bring money along, we planned about putting my handphone to the cafe cashier as a pawn in order to order our nasi goreng. But unfortunately I had a meeting to rush to which ended the crazy day.

So go break some rules, have fun but be smart, don't get caught! Remember to look for security cameras first!

疤

在我 form 4 前认识我的人都会知道我头后面有道疤痕，长不了头发，因为我form4之前都是剪“二号头”嘛。但是我 form 4 后开始留了头发，不是留长发。头发长了，就盖掉了那道疤，所以form4 后才遇见我的人往往都不知道那道疤痕的存在。

那道疤痕其实是我小时候跌倒留下的。以前屋子的房间都稍微高一些，应该是防止水在水灾时流到房里。我就是趁妈妈不在意时走出房外，一不小心 "purum.. purum.. ping.. piang.. Pong~~" followed by "wu~ wu~ wu~ wu~"。疤痕从此就跟我更到现在了。。

最近姐姐一直催我去剪掉我头上那堆“杂草”。想了好久还是打算剪回以前的发型，但最后我弟拿出手机让我们看了一张 David Beckham 新发型的照片。大家都叫我试试那发型。其实我很早就很想很想尝试剪那种发型了，但是若剪了，疤痕就会跑出来了。我姐说那疤痕是我的特色，而且当时刚看完 X-men First Class，她就用 Magneto 对 Mystique 说的那句话套在我身上，说"Be proud of who you are"，笑得我嘴巴快抽筋了。就这样，我剪了这稍微短的发型。

回到大学，朋友们吃了一惊，问我头发怎么了，干吗剪了一个洞。我才开始讲故事咯。过后他们说我头后面有个 USM port，不用读书了，只要插 pendrive 来 transfer lecture notes 就可以了，哈哈。


我蛮喜欢我现在的发型，也不怎么在意别人怎么看我那道疤，也不在意那道疤比我出名（别人都只是关心我那道疤），因为那是我的特色！

1Malaysia

All this while, I have been mistaken as many other races.

The first case was my interview session in UTP. I went for a new haircut in order to score some image marks during the interview. Anyway, my mom commented that I looked like a Siamese boy.

My feeling : Maybe because of the haircut la.. Still acceptable..

The second case was during my trip to Sarawak with a few other friends during our semester break. My friend was kind enough to offer us accomodation in his house, saving me a lot of money and trouble. His family members were so friendly too. Anyway, at night, I got to know from my other friend that TCS's mom asked him if I am an Iban (lat kia).

My feeling : My complexion maybe.. Maybe all Sarawakian chinese are fairer since that friend is really fair. Acceptable..

The next case was during one of my events, Mission Awareness Programme (MAP) which is a foster family programme in Rungkup, Perak. I was the Emcee for the Opening Ceremony. During my stay, my friends told me that the villagers there asked why a Japanese can speak fluent Malay as an Emcee.

My feeling : WOW.. I'm gonna stick to my face cleansing product.. Feeling good.

After MAP, I joined Youth Nation Summit (YNS) 2011 in University Malaya. During MAP, I was under the sun for sukaneka for a few hours and taaadaaaaaaa.. I turned chocolate. No offense to anyone. My complexion was so dark that several people thought I was not a Chinese in YNS. A Malay reached out to me and I got to know he was from Kedah through our conversation. So I spoke Malay with him. Right after that, he asked if I am a Malay.

My feeling : WTH!!! I looked like a Malay, I mean how is it possible.. 接受不了。。

Then, I met another guy, Sam. He is an Indian from Penang and he told me that I looked like one of his friends, the shape of my face etc. I was like "ooooo, who is this guy?" does he really look like me?" It is then that Sam further said that he is an Indian. Now the guy that I imagine in my head suddenly turned Indian.

My feeling : Shocked.. Speechless.. Stop imagining..

That night itself, I asked one guy from Pakistan for a frank answer.
CC: What race you think I'm from?
Pakistan friend: Not sure but you do not look like chinese..

My feeling : That explains why people in YNS never start a conservation with me in Chinese.

In conclusion, I feel that it is acceptable for people to mistaken me as a Siam or an Iban, but Malay and Indian? No comment. I looked back the picture if YNS and I looked really dark, but still, I looked Chinese. I guessed I am UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED and it is a good thing. I am a strong example of the 1Malaysia concept. Hahaha

*Clarification: I am shocked to know that I look like a Malay and Indian not becauseI do not want to or feel bad to be a Malay or Indian. No sense of racial discrimination at all. It is just that I have this particularly obvious small eyes which qualify me for Chinese (no offense for Chinese readers, just refering to the typical stereotype mindset for a Chinese.) 

So hard to write a blogpost involving races la..

Cats

Cats are my least favourite animals in the planet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an animal abuser. Animal abusers are on of my least favourite people in the planet. It is not that I'm scared of or hated cats, I just don't see why some people love cats. I am going to use the CAF tool (Consider All Factors) to show you why I don't like them. And I will be objective on this, I hope.
So let's get started.

1) Cats are very persistent and determinant.
-Comments: an admirable spirit that should be cultivated by all human beings, but not when they kept getting up the tables, stare at your food and stare back at you, in infinite number of times. It was like someone keeps looking at you eating and say:"Hey bro, I guess you can't finish that, mind to share?" or "Whatssup man, and hey, your food looks delicious, how stingy of you not to share." They will even keep coming back after you shoo them away and back to the staring competition once again.


2) Cats have innocent looks
-Comments: I don't think it is working for me. Kittens maybe. I won't let my guards down just because you have a pair of big goo goo eyes. Cats, just look at yourselves in the mirror when you go raiding the dustbins for food or killing a mouse. You just do not seem CUTE to me. Try other moves on me.

Please tell me that this pictures say "Cunning, eerie confusing eyes"

rather than "cute big goo goo eyes".

3) Cats hygiene
-Comments: I personally think cats are very dirty. I prefer insects or fish. I mean I can catch insects and fish with my barehands but never a cat. I do not know why I have this kind of idea, but I think cats are dirtier than a cockroach, maybe because I always saw cats with those skin diseases.

4) Cats' "date"
-Comments: Dude, I know you are looking for your life partner, but keep it at a minimum noise. It may sound romantic and cute for your darling, but it sounds creepy and annoying for me, especially when I am getting to sleep.

Conclusion:
Maybe all cats that I refer to are just Malaysia's stray cats. I don't know. But cartoon cats are definitely exceptional. If there are any cat lovers out there, do leave comments on why cats are lovable.

Night's still Young

"The night is still young" seems to have become my motto. I've been staying up late recently, and by recently, I mean since the starting of this semester. I'll be starring Po, the Panda in Kungfu Panda 3 if I couldn't get any more sleep because I am having this two shadowy black circles under my eyes. Just need to gain some weight to be like Po.

I actually prefer early morning than midnight but I just couldn't help staying up late. I always think that I can get more time to do my stuffs by sleeping less, but without fail, I always ends up waking up late and wastes more time. It is not that my university life is so hectic that I need to be engaged with all the works all the time but this loyal lover of mine will never leave me alone - facebook a.k.a dramas a.k.a FIFA.

While staying up late, I'm always in front of my laptop, sipping coffees and having snacks, not forgetting the sickening instant noodles. Music is my only companion. Coffees do not help at all. Livita or Red Bulls are no fight too. Sleepy but insist to stay up late, what an irony, but that's the problem I'm facing.

I guess I will have to say that staying up late is an addiction too and in my case, more dangerous than cigarette. Last advice: "Don't do this at home!"

Back Home

Months of the assignments, tests and events in UTP have taken their toll on me as I was completely stressed out. Couldn't take it no more, I'd decided to go home for a breather and to deliver a present too as it was my sis's birthday. My other sisters were back too. Everyone was already back there at home, waiting for me to join up but I was stuck on the torturing bus trip back home. The ride back was hell as I had to waste extra time and money due to miscommunication between me and the bus company. My bad... Anyway, I had my smile back on my face at the very sight of my father wandering in the bus station. The next agenda was thai food birthday dinner for my sis. It was a long time since the whole family sits down for a meal together. Great time spent. The night didn't end there as we went E-Box shortly after. My sis kept asking me to sing because I was quite the shy shy one when it comes to singing. Then we went back home for birthday party second round, this time was with cake and candles. And finally I got to jump into the arms of my bed which I missed so much.

Early the next morning, we had KFC breakfast meal before bidding my sis farewell off the plane. I had to say that the AM twister was so nice, worth waking up early, hahaha. Later on, my siblings and I managed to catch a movie "Rio". I like "Rio" because it was funny and interesting. Recommended to watch. We managed to take a stroll too at the paddy field behind my house in the evening. The air, the scenery, the sunset, my family.. Everything was so nice and it spelled home. All good memories came back, brushing off the cobwebs of time. Soon, it was nightfall and we spent some quality times chatting and TV-ing. There was so many things to catch up with.

Time comes and goes. It was Monday and it was time to go. My eldest sis purposely curi-curi keluar from her office to send me off the bus. So gan tong.. Along the journey back UTP, I realised that the 2 days were just enough, just nice and its time to bury myself back into the university life again.

My family, my home, wait for me, I'll be back soon. You'll always be there to give me strength.

My 20th Birthday

After a long rest during the semester break, I was all geared up, bruuumm... bruuumm... bruumm... ready to hit the road.. Having set new goals, determined to discard off bad habits, I started off the Jan 2011 semester great. But as time crawled along, more and more work load clung onto me, dragging me slow. It is because I have poor time management and I'm not temptation-proof. Bad habits like sleeping late and doing assignment only at last minute kept coming back. Soon after, I was back to normal, skipping classes, piling up all the assignments. And life goes on..

The night of 28th Feb was another usual night where you can usually find me fighting time for assignment and presentation. Out of sudden my message ringtone, the twinkle twinkle little start lullaby broke the tensed atmosphere and it was written there: "You have 7 missed calls.." They were all from my family members. My room has very poor line connection for both maxis and digi. Maybe my room is a little too high for the yellow digi man to follow me up. Hence they could not reach me through phone. So I left all works to return the call, and that was when I got my first 20th birthday wishes. I was so happy and homesick at that moment. It was such a wonderful breather admist of the hectic life. And here I attached a special thanks to all friends for your birthday wishes.

I got a surprise birthday song from all my fellow classmates of PCS after my presentation too, not forgetting a Smarties bar from my PCS lecturer as my birthday present. My PCS lecturer asked for my age and told me that I should have prepared to get married. Hahahaha. Later on, my friends drove us out for food-hunting in a nearby town. It was a long time since I had have a satisfying "zhu chao" meal. The next day, I had another surprise in UTP when my friends took out a birthday cake after the board meeting of an event for me and my other friend who was born one day after me.

For my 20th birthday wish, I had written it somewhere. Hope it comes true.

The Helmet

Recently, it is harder and harder for me to focus on studying and gets all the formulas and informations into my mind. It feels like I'm wearing this stupid helmet and all the knowledge just gets deflected away when I tried to put them in. Can anyone please help me take off this helmet? I guess no because I have to do it myself.

I have been trying hard to identify what this helmet is. Guesses made included Facebook, FIFA09, How I Met Your Mother series, random movies, genetic deterioration of my brain cells, pure laziness or wrong mindset. The last two reasons proved to be the more correct answers. Glory achieved accumulate arrogance from time to time. Then, it gives birth to the mindset of me being able to score well even if study last minute. Less and less efforts are being given in. The kiasuism and kiasiism somehow vanished. So, I'll only study when I really feel the tension, and it was like one day before a test.

Since I entered UTP, my routine life was FB and movies, then tests and deadline of assignments approaching, so study and rushing assignments, then finish everything, then enjoy to the max with FB and movies, and the tests and assignments again... the cycles go on. How long since I have seen a star in a clear blue sky although I stayed late almost every night. How long since I have called my siblings and parents for a nice long chat although I have all the time for movies and series. How long since I have watched ManU's match which is something impossible for the old me to miss.

Afterall, I guess this helmet is the new me after I entered UTP. I did change a lot, for the better and for the worse. I enjoyed a lot, and I suffered too. Wearing a helmet is safe, but it is heavy and prevents you from listening clearly too. I think I am kinda lost while adapting to my university life. I need part of the old me back. Hopefully I can get back Alor Star to find myself back during the semester break. For now, I'll enter the battlefield of final exams with this helmet as I do not have time to change or buy a new one. Haha.. Wish me LUCK!!!

*Should have added arrows of FB and movies penetrating the helmet. Hehehehe...............

最近

RECENTLY

最近，我终于尝试到玩橄榄球的滋味了!在ksah五年都没有机会碰到橄榄球，所以一直以来都好想玩一玩。我和几位sarawak的朋友在UTP的大草场玩简单的橄榄球，没有撞来撞去那种，只是拍背。他们很耐心的从基本教起，如基本条规，传球和踢球的方式。橄榄球实在很有趣，可能是没有被撞倒吧！

I'm starting to like playing rugby!

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最近，我吃糖果吃上瘾了。到店里一次买lima puluh biji，但是两个星期就吃完了。算一算，平均一天吃3.5粒。其实，起初，我买糖果是为了保持口气清新，就是要：饭后一粒糖，口气“pang gui lang” （hokkien）-“香过人”。但是后来读书或上课时就很想咬东西，结果一粒接一粒，上瘾了。现在正在“戒糖”。

I have a sweet tooth, that will never come loose..

~~Cookie Jar by Gym Class Heroes~~

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最近，开夜车时都是咬面包。赶工赶到累了，闷了，就把面包咬成照片里的形状了。

 

Boredom inspires Creativity

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最近，星期六都有 Manufacturing Technology Lab。周末只剩下一天而已。最长的是从早上八点到下午五点。 其实很懒惰去，但是有些Lab又很好玩，能多懂几样东西，如：CNC and Conventional Milling, Lathe and Welding。我觉得这是目前唯一一课让我们比较了解工程师工作的科目。

engineer's life?

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最近，我们参加了paintball比赛，队名是PakBeTo (打不倒 in hokkien)。 那是我的第一次玩paintball，满好玩的，只是子弹不足。我被射中两抢，黑青了。

PakBeTo 这名是我以前从某队的Slogan想到的。

Slogan: Tomato。。Potato。。PakBeto!!!

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最近，我买了一双球鞋，很喜欢，但是踢球时，觉得不是很好踢。无论如何，这是我的第一双 futsal 鞋，而且不是很便宜哦。当然，有了这双鞋以后，我就比较常踢球了，希望球技能赶快进步多一些，不要每次都觉得技不如人。

My Red Puma! Help me run faster and kick better!!!

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最近，天气不好时，没有地方晒衣服，以下的情况就会出现。

Wonder where to dry your clothes?

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最近，你又做了什么呢？