After one year of blogging..

Out of boredom, I had labelled all my blog posts, which was probably a good thing before I’d too many posts to handle.

I planned to sort them into three categories:

Contents: Family, Friends, University, Myself, Pets, Random

Mood: Jovial, Grumpy, Emotional, and so on…

Style: Narrative, Opinions, Self-reflection, Special

All seems fine until I realised that I cannot sort them into categories on my list of labels. So now my list of labels is a messy jumble of random words =.=  

Nevertheless, looking back, what a coincidence that my VERY FIRST post is on last year’s Father’s Days, which mean my blog is officially one year old!

It’s interesting to read back my old posts and realised that I’d somehow changed. I’m not sure how to explain (perhaps it’s the way I write, or maybe the tone) but I knew that the time, experiences, and surroundings that I’d gone through had slowly changed me, which I hope is toward making me a better person.

I’d had been constantly changing my blog layouts too, especially the header and background colour. From dark and murky to light and blue, in the end I had decided to revert to my dark background colour which I think make the words stand out more hence easier to read.

Happy Birthday to my blog! I think the most rewarding thing a blog can give back to its owner is letting him/her relearn some lessons of life he or she had written down but forgotten. To bloggers out there, do take some time to read your own old and long-forgotten posts. Who knows you might discover something new and surprising?

What’s a nice birthday present to give to a blog? Am I nuts? I’m treating my blog like a real person.

Anyway, for a start, I do need to change my header, AGAIN. The oversized yellow radioactive warning sign does not look welcoming at all. Since I’m getting a hang on Photoshop (and still learning), I should try making my own header instead of ‘stealing’ pictures from the internet. It’s time to head back to my Photoshop workshop. :) 

I guess that’s all for now. Goodnight.   

Happy Father’s Day!

Every fool can have a son but not every man knows how to be a father.

The saying is very true indeed.

The word ‘father’ on the surface merely conveys a relationship between a parent and child.

But take the time to delve deeper and the word actually depicts more than that. When a ‘father’ comes to mind, we think  of the Family Man, the life and bread of the family, work and responsibilities, the supporter and so on.

I need not narrate on the sacrifices and efforts of how my father raise my siblings and I as children. I’m sure most of us is aware of that by just looking at your own dads.

Today I celebrate Father’s Day by spending more time with him. In the evening, we went jogging together while at night, I offer to take the whole family to IOI Mall, which involved driving on a real highway full of cars!

I almost had an accident when I cut a lane too quickly and the car behind almost rammed into us. I got an earful of fierce honking from the furious driver, and it crippled my confidence more than ever. Luckily we all arrived home in one piece. I admit that was not a very good Happy Father’s Day gift for my dad.  

Anyway, it just proves that I’m far from perfect and still have a lot to learn from my dad about driving SAFELY on the treacherous KL highways. This post is for you dad, for always being patient and soft-spoken with us, for being the wisest man I know, the role model of the family, our pillar of strength and support, and last but not least simply for being the greatest father in the world.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!

:D    

Can’t find individual pictures of my dad. Mom is equally great too :D

Facebook makes the world smaller

I’m addicted to facebook!

I just discovered how much time I’d been spending on facebook instead of dota.

Things get more interesting as my mom and sister also joined the Facebook community recently. I foresee it won’t be long before they found out I have a blog.

Hence, from mom, I’m eventually linked to my high school teachers in SMK Kidurong. I miss them all. Wonder how would it feel like if the grown-up version of me step into high school and meet all the teachers again. Mom had been excited about uploading her photos to show her former colleagues how’s life for her and our family in KL. For Mom who’s rarely inclined to go online, perhaps she has discovered that it’s a real boost to stay in touch with people via photo-sharing and trading comments in Facebook besides using the phone.  

Recently too on Facebook, I had a few nice surprises when I bumped into some of my old friends and neighbours from my Bintulu hometown whom I’d been out of touch for so long.

Even more surprising is how some of them know the friends I know . “What?! Since when do they know each other?” The world is indeed a small place when you found out everyone is somehow connected to each other.

One thing I like about Facebook is its user-friendliness. Friends’ recent activities and latest photos are shown on notifications with the link given which will bring you straight to the content without you having to manually check their profiles, which will be time-consuming and troublesome. This is the main reason why Friendster lose out a lot compare to Facebook. Facebook is interactive, with notifications ready to direct you (and don’t forget there’s even a chat application readily available!), while Friendster is dead set in stone.

One more thing about Facebook is the mini-games that you can add as your applications. They’re so addictive! Plus, there’s some fun quizzes and tags that you can do if you’re too bored.

Ultimately, the cyber world has drawn everyone so close together that soon everything you do will be known not only to your friends, but your teachers, bosses, parents, cousins, and even your children.

It is easy with the rampant photo-sharing trend on just about anything everyone does nowadays. Imagine if a photo of your most embarrassing moment is ‘accidentally shared’ and exposed to the whole wide world,what will happen?

To sum things up, I’m still pretty neutral in accepting the fact that my world has become smaller. Is it good or bad? I’m eventually letting go some of my privacy. Yet, it’s a new and exciting way for my family to constantly check on me instead of mere phone calls.     

Nevertheless, I think I’d over-thought this issue and actually there’s nothing to worry about. As long as I guard my words and think twice before posting anything on cyber space, I won’t do anything regrettable right? 

Bear in mind that a keyboard, provided access to the cyber world, is always sharper and mightier than a pen or tongue.            

Not so secret anymore..

Tagged in Facebook! The first tag concerns 40 secrets about myself. Don’t expect much though, because some secrets are meant to be secrets. Some of the questions are quite general also. The second tag tells of my future wedding plans, which I think is too early for me to contemplate yet, but a little fantasizing now won’t hurt! :)   Enjoy !

TAG 1

40 Secrets about yourself.
Be honest no matter what.
If I tag you, you have to do one!

1.) Have you ever been asked out?
✚On a date? No. Mamak? Yes.

2.) Where was your default Facebook picture taken?
✚ My Dean List ceremony .

3.) What's your middle name?
✚ Wee!!!

4.) Your current relationship status?
✚ Single

5.) Does your crush like you back?
✚No crush, no rush.

6.) What is your current mood?
✚ Freaking irritated! Gonna kill that mosquito no matter what

7.) What color of underwear are you wearing?
✚Light brown

8.) What color shirt are you wearing?
✚ White

9.) Missing something?
✚ My supper

10.) If you could go back in time and change something, what would you do?
✚ Change things that I'd regretted doing, but then I won't learn any lessons of life if I simply change the past. Humans are meant to err and learn from past mistakes right?

11.) If you must be an animal for one day, what?
✚ A giant T-Rex! Dinosaurs are animals wat

12.) Ever had a near death experience?
✚ Yup, high up in the sky.

13.) Something you do a lot?
✚ Dota, facebooking, anything concerning surfing the web

14.) The song stuck in your head?✚ The songs replayed by RedFM again and again everyday

15.) Who did you copy and paste this from?
✚ Hamster ;)

16.) Name someone with the same birthday as you?
✚ No one I can think of.. but it'll be cool to celebrate together with that person

17.) When was the last time you cried?
✚ One month ago

18.) Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
✚ No, and probably won't happen in my lifetime

19.) If you could have one super power what would it be?
✚My super power is to make any wishes come true, what can be more powerful than that?

20.) What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
✚ Their outfit

21.) What do you usually order from Starbucks?
✚ Frappucino sumthing with chocolate chips and cream, yummy!!

22.) What's your biggest secret?
✚ Do I look dumb enough to spill my biggest secret to the whole world?

23.) Favorite color?
✚ White

24.) Do you still watch kiddie movies or tv shows?
✚ Yup, with my little sister.

25.) What's on your walls?
✚My bedroom walls? nothing except an air-conditioning unit.

26.) What are you?
✚ A student in UTP, oh..and I'm a human being on planet Earth just in case you do not know.
27.) Do you speak any other language?

✚ Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, English, and interested in learning Japanese and Cantonese
28.) What's your favorite smell?
✚ The smell of fresh home-cooked meals

29.) Describe your life in one word.
✚ A journey

30.) Have you ever kissed in the rain?
✚ No

31.) What are you thinking about right now?
✚ have a light supper after this

33.) What should you be doing?
✚ Nothing, I'm free.

34.) Who was the last person that made you upset/angry?
✚Sorry, can't tell ya.

35.) How often do u talk to God?
✚ Not so often to be frank..

36.) Do you like working in the yard?
✚ I won't do more than water the flowers.

37.) If you could have any last name in the world, what would you want?
✚ Can't think of any last name I want. Aren't my current name good enough?

38.) Do you act differently around the person you like?
✚ No, I'll be myself. If I like that person, I want him/her to like me the way I am.

39.) What is your natural hair color?
✚ Black

40.) Who was the last person to make you cry?
✚ That's it! Why can't you ask more positive questions like 'who's the last person to make you smile/laugh/feel happy' instead of questions that bring bad memories like 'who make you cry/angry/upset'??

TAG 2

If I am destined to find the other half..
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with d wedding plan!=) At the end, choose d people u want to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know about u! =)

1. how old are you?
= 19

2. are you single?
= yes

3. at what age do you think you'll get married?
= hard to predict, probably at the age when I have a decent job with decent income

4. do you think you'll marrying the person you are with now?
= like I say, I’m still single

5. if not, who do you want to marry?
=my true love that I have yet to find

6. who will be your bridesmaid & bestman?
= close family members and friends

7. do you want a garden/beach or traditional wedding?
= traditional wedding

8. where do you plan to go on honeymoon?
= nowhere fancy, the nearer to my hometown the better

9. how many guests do you think you'll invite?
= the more the merrier, of course I won’t simply invite any strangers that I met on the street

10. will that include your exes?
= If I have exes? I think better not..

11. how many layers of cake do you want?
=As high as possible! As long as it can fit through the doorway XD

12. when do you want to get married, morning or evening?
= morning

13. name the song/tune you'd like to play at your wedding.
= some romantic soothing music will be nice..

14. do you prefer fine dining or just normal spoon&fork?knife?
= dining fit for a king!

15. champagne or red wine?
= What’s the difference? Both la

16. honeymoon right after the wedding or days after the wedding?
= Days after. Need time to settle down and plan the trip nicely

17. money or household items?
= Any sincere gifts will be fine.

18. how many kids would you like to have?
=No specific wants. Depends on the economics and my salaries lo..

19. will you record your honeymoon in DVD/CD?
= Take pictures enough la. How to record? Cannot enjoy honeymoon if one person need to be the recorder.

20. whose wedding plan would you like to know next.
=anyone willing or too bored right now can share

Journey to the East

I should have updated this a few days ago but due to lots of distractions, I’d procrastinated this post until today =.=

Anyway,  on Sunday, snuggled comfortably in our family car, our family journeyed to the eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, Terengganu.

Since we would be using the East-West Karak Highway to reach Kerteh in Terengganu, we were bound to pass through Pahang. Dad decided to have a one day tour in Bukit Tinggi while we were in Pahang.

Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. It’s about an hour drive from my home in Puchong.

Our first stop was Colmar Tropicale, a small town with picturesque landscapes and French-themed buildings.

A beautiful fountain located near the entrance before entering Colmar Tropicale.

We’re still outside, can’t resist all these amazing landscapes! XD'

Finally, approaching the clock tower

 

The clock tower can double as a watch tower too if real windows and stairways are built within the towers. Behind my mom and sis, there’s a bridge that accesses to an archway.

Distracted again, we went to explore what’s under the bridge. From this angle, the bridge looks like a drawbridge, but I doubt the bridge can be really pulled up.

What’s below the bridge? A beautiful garden and a lake filled with graceful swans.   

 

I rarely seen a black swan with red beak.

Can’t resist this cute tabby cat! Looks like another typical lazy afternoon for it.

Cinderella’s enchanted carriage, just kidding..

We’re finally going in!

 

Inside the town…

If only UTP’s hostels are designed like this…but watch out for flower pots!

Inside the hotel, just taking a look, not staying here XD

It’ll be more pretty if it’s night and the lights are on..

Love the designs of all the buildings around here

A traditional lamp stand 

Another archway to an underground tunnel? No, it leads straight to a room.

The inside of a ballroom. Not allowed to enter so I took this picture from outside of the window. Looks deserted..

Leaving…

Before leaving manage to take some pictures. This is the resort’s hotel. We’re not staying here unfortunately, must continue our journey!

Nice mural paintings

Goodbye Colmar Tropicale!

 

Our next stop in Bukit Tinggi, the Japanese Garden.

In front of the souvenir shop, I love those koi fish lanterns!

   Entering the garden…

This bridge is small, more for decorative purposes I think

Lots of tiny rivers and waterfalls

A water collecting mechanism, very unique and antique

My sister wearing a kimono

Surprise invasion from my dad! Lol!

Family photo

More picture perfect time for my sis!

Before leaving, not forgetting..

the big fat Koi fish!

 

Our last stop, the rabbit park.

cute and chubby rabbits!

After chasing around for some time, finally caught this one and only grey rabbit in the park. 

Looks so scared le.. feel guilty also, sorry ya rabbit…

The grey rabbit died….Just kidding! This is another rabbit, sleeping soundly..

There’s a donkey and house farm nearby. But didn’t spend much time there because time is running out..

 

At around evening we finally reached Kerteh and checked into our apartment (on the highest floor!) Then we take a stroll along the beach..

At the beach, it’s really nice to relax here..

 

The following morning, dad had to work, 3 of us were not awake yet, so mom, my youngest sister, and our maid were the first to explore the resort. 

The red-roofed buildings are the apartments where we lived.

Sandcastles fun!

There’s a playground here, quite deserted because all the kids prefer to play at the water park!

Afternoon’s weather is hot so we just stayed cool in our apartment. In the evening we join in the fun.

A giant chess set. The pieces are movable!

Besides the beach, we also went to Mesra Mall built by Petronas, not like the mini-market Mesra in UTP, but a decent shopping mall with all kinds of outlets: Burger King, Pizza Hut, Popular, Al-Ikhsan, Toycity, cosmetics, electronics and more, with its own food court.

We also managed to visit a Turtle Sanctuary. Sadly, contrary to what I expect, we only get to see the turtles trapped in man-made ponds and not their natural habitats. Despite that, I know a lot of effort and hard work have been put up by the people here who runs the sanctuary to protect these turtles. So kudos to them!

   

 

Arrived home at around 8pm. KL was shrouded in mild haze, plus the weather is getting drier and warmer! Need to take good care of our body and drink more water.

One last travelling tip, never eat at food outlets beside petrol stations. Food there is extremely expensive! One chicken drumstick cost RM4! A meagre hotdog cost RM2! (Add one more buck and I can buy a whole packet of hotdog in the supermarket.)

Apart from that, it’s nice and wonderful family outing. Looks like my holiday is going to resume its typical, lazy and placid routine for now.