Happy Malaysia Day!

My blog is indeed in a dire need for an update. Not that I'm too busy with anything. It's just that I can't find anything interesting in particular to update during this period of idyllic mid semester break. Life is certainly blissful and serene at home, and I'm taking it slow and easy. This will soon end, so I'd better accustom myself to another barrage of hectic schedule.

Although our country gained independance on 31 August, today marks the anniversary of Sarawak and Sabah joining forces and uniting with Malaya (Semenanjung) to become the country Malaysia that we know as today. Nevertheless, this date was never endorsed as a public holiday until today, which is the first to commerate this special day. I wonder what took so long to acknowledge our Eastern brothers? Oh well, better late than never.

Malaysia overall is still a peaceful country with a manageable standard of living despite being embroiled with many issues, a few common ones frequently making their appearance and being criticised in our local newspapers. Some of these problems stem from none other than the incompetencies of our own government and mishandling of public funds through corrupt practises. Minus these dirty politicking however, Malaysia as an entity deeply rooted within its rich multitude of cultures and diversity of people is still a unique country to behold and to be proud of. Admirably, politicians here can still settle their differences amicably through "brains" rather than "brawns", despite the fact that not all politicians say the brightest thing. Compared with many disaster-stricken and war-ridden countries, suffice to say I'm more than grateful to live in Malaysia. Of course, it has its fair share of skeletons in the closet and there is still a lot of room for improvements.

After beating around the bush, I'm still at a neutral viewpoint. That's not the point anyway, because I'm just here to say Happy Malaysia Day!

(Am I the only person doing a post on Malaysia Day without a post on Independance Day?)

The 'Sweet' Birthday

My birthday falls on August 18, which I celebrated a few days ago. It was the sweetest birthday experience I ever had, literally. My birthday cake was a custard made by my friends, which I'm really grateful and touched by their thoughtfulness, as they have took the time and effort to do it despite the midst of a busy week.

The first mouthful of the custard however, was enough to make my body shiver as my tastebuds were suddenly jolted with a dose of insane sweetness that I can't describe with words. One thing for sure, eating this will surely give any living mortal a diabetes overnight. Smiling sadistically at my expression, they next threathened to pour the gooey custard on me should I failed to finish it. Oh well, so much for their 'thoughtfulness'...

Of course, I didn't get to finish it. They commenced on another 'dirty' prank first before finishing the custard on me. I didn't surrender to this fate without a struggle though. In the end, everyone is no less 'yuckier' than me. As with any food fight, the cleaning up was not easy with patches of sticky custard sticking on the walls and other surfaces, plus the sweet smell gives me a feeling of being inside a gingerbread house.

Despite being the victim, I really had a blast! Thanks to all those who are involved. I really appreciate it. I had never expect such a grandiose celebration (making that custard surely had took the whole afternoon) when assignments and tests are nearing their peak. I too, had been caught up with my workload and only expecting the usual verbal well-wishing or by worst, being dragged outside and thrown an egg. Indeed, I was proven very wrong! And to my beloved cheme gang, thank you for the lovely birthday card and mug. It is a wonderful surprise. This is indeed a memorable birthday.

This aside, as I keep mentioning, life for me is mostly occupied with academic matters. I have 2 lab reports weekly, a very tight Monday schedule (full lectures from morning till afternoon, with only one hour break for lunch), weekly assignments, and not to mention the occasional pop quizzes. I had made the right decision to be less involved in events this semester. The only clubs that I'm affiliated currently with are IchemE@UTP (a student body mainly catering to those taking chemical engineering in UTP) and UTP Chinese Orchestra. UTPCO had just went through a successful IntroNight and recruited many promising new members. IchemE@UTP too is taking off nicely, with many events planned in phases and soon to be launched. Things are progressing smoothly for both of the clubs.

Another busy week will unfold itself tomorrow so that is all the updates from me now. All the best! For my Muslim friends, wishing you all Selamat Ramadhan in this fasting month.

The sugar rushed update

Instead of the typical 'back again to UTP again' title, I owe this post title to 3 Big Apple donuts that I had just consumed not long ago, way past my bedtime at 1.00am. Thanks to this kind friend for the tasty treat, plus the unexpected sugar boost that will keep me awake for a few minutes more. If it wasn't for him, I would have not updated my blog tonight. XD

I'm back from DFP. Due to the hectic week upon arriving back here, I had no time at all to update anything until now. The Tapestry of Colours performance was a blast and I felt we have done well to achieve such a mileage. There are some minor complications here and there, which is to be expected, and I think everyone did great to overcome them together as a team. Thanks to the audience, and some of them consisting of UTPians themselves, who came all the way to KL to see us. Of course, I must thank my family members the most, who had given me plenty of moral support throughout the month of training until the day of performance itself. The list of people that I want to thank goes on and on, so unless I want to turn this into an appreciation post, I had better moved on. To all those who are directly or indirectly involved in making Tapestry of Colours a success, you know who you are. Sincerely, thank you.

The Tapestry of Colours itself is an amazing experience. Nevertheless, I had also 2 other objectives in mind: meet up with my family members, and buy myself a reward while I'm in KL. I'm grateful to be able to fulfill them both. I had dinner with my family and at least meet up with my little sister, who is underage to watch the performance. During a PC fair in KLCC that was coincidentally held during the days of our performance (thus giving me a chance to shop during one of the breaks), I bought a speaker which specifications is exactly nice for a bedroom (in this case, my hostel's room), and I'm very satisfied with it so far.

After being in cloud nine, it's time to crash-land painfully back to reality. One can expect things not to be rosy in UTP for someone who had just missed one week of lessons. Assignments and tutorials come hitting me in the face while at the same time I had to catch up on last week's syallbus. Not to mention, the 3rd week is commencing itself too with labs sessions on full run, so I had to keep track on both weeks' workload.

Unfortunately, it was during these busiest moment of my life that a ridiculously demanding commitment pops up and expect me to commit myself fully without giving me a choice whatsoever. There is a fine line between the priorities of club commitments versus academic commitments, and this line had been grossly invaded. They could have consider things from our side and compromise for us, while still achieving their own desired results, but I'm dissapointed they have not taken this approach. Hence, I have decided to firmly turn down this responsibility despite knowing well the repercussions I will have to face. I simply cannot let history repeats itself like last sem. It was not an easy decision for me, but I had to choose the lesser of two evils. To those who can still handle this 'responsibility' without losing touch with their academic commitments, I really admired them. I could not fathom how. Was it their sheer passion for the club or the club's field of interest? Or was it simply that they are faster learners who have no qualms about losing lesssons and are able to rebound back into tip-top condition in no time? Whatever it is, I am not them, I won't compare myself to them. If I can't handle this, I just had to back out for this once.

I sense a ticking time bomb, and I can only hope that this bomb won't go off. Will update whenever possible. Good night.

The start of something new

It is WAYYYY past my bedtime, and I have an early morning to wake up to. But no matter what, I simply MUST update this blog before dust starts to settle again. Not to mention, I will have a one week 'blackout' period from UTP, and most likely will be away from any sources of internet connection for the whole week.

While a typical UTP student will attend their usual classes tomorrow, UTPCO performers will be embarking on their journey to Kuala Lumpur, and to the famed Dewan Filharmonik Petronas. We will have a few days of rehearsals, followed by 3 days of the most-awaited moment: our performance. All the months of sweat and blood, time and energy (and a considerable amount of money spent), will be translated into these 3 days.

Besides the excitement of going to DFP, UTP have its own excitement to look forward to following the MMK (Minggu Mesra Kampus), which is an event where a galore of clubs and societies, stationed within their respective booths in Pocket D, will seek out juniors and new members to enrol in their clubs. It is indeed a rare sight to see so many clubs and society gathered at one place. The atmosphere will be lively, with competitive booths outdoing each other with all sorts of fancy decorations, games and prizes, as well as attractive benefits to persuade new members to join their clubs. Unfortunately, for this sem I'm going to miss the MMK due to DFP, which is a shame because it is something I'm looking forward to). On the other hand, an oppurtunity to DFP comes only once in a blue moon, so I'm more than grateful to be a part of it.

With these two 'big things' on my schedule (and slightly overlapping), I feel that I have already reached the climax of my semester, despite only 2 weeks into the new semester. After this, things should return to normal for me, because I will be laying low and cutting down on events and clubs commitments but instead will focus on my academics. Nevertheless, things are easier said than done. I will be expecting the unexpected to happen.

That should wrap up most part on the beginning of my 2nd year 2nd sem. Most classes are still skipping lightly on the surface, while timetable is still in turmoil with a few kinks to iron out.

On a side note: I had made a new ATM card, I had watched Inception, I had went for an Ipoh outing with my friends. So basically, all my things-to-do list before going to DFP have been successfully fulfilled. Let's hope things will continue to be as smooth, or smoother than this as the semester goes on.

Misfortunes

One thing I know about misfortunes is that like a pack of wolves, they never strike alone. At least that's how I experienced it.

The first misfortune struck me the earliest and fastest, before I even had time to blink. It involved my ATM card, which was sucked back into the ATM because I did not take my card out immediately after I punched in my withdrawal. I was taking my sweet time rifling through my wallet and throwing out some old receipts as there was no one else in queue. Never in my imagination would I expect that to happen. Of course, if you really think it through, it is possible and probably needed for safety measures. Unfortunately, humans only start thinking AFTER something had happened. I was one of the unfortunate ones who learn things the hard way while many people knew it through their friends. That was really a 'WTF!' moment, like being stunned for one second before digesting what had happened.

Sickness. This second misfortune is my biggest bane. It creeps in slowly and lingers, at times coming out at full force to torment me. The few days rehearsing in Chancellor's Hall had been an agonizing period for me. I was having a cold, which I lightly regarded as due to the lack of sleep or the long period of being cooped inside the air-conditioned CH. However, things worsen from here. I developed a throbbing headache, which paired with a fit of sneezy and runny nose is enough to make you want to lie in bed the whole day and rest. I would have been glad if I'm sick on my off-day so I could recuperate but no, it had to be on the day of the our first full-dress rehearsal, which everyone must be present. Do I need to mention, when one is sick, being tucked inside a set of stuffy formal attire with a tight coat is not a happy thing to do? Worse, with my aching body, I have to contribute my part to the logistic labour of moving the chairs and stands up the stage and down again in my most 'comfortable' attire. That day indeed made it to my list of worst days ever in my life. Luckily after a good night's sleep and drinking in a lot more water, I felt much better the next day, although there was still some occasional sneezing and a dull sensation in my head.

The 3rd (and thankfully last) misfortune was stealthy and only attack in short successions periodically, until the situation aggravated to the point of no return. It happened on my W910 Walkman phone, which have been my good companian on long-distance bus journeys and my evening's joggings. After more than 1 and half year, it had finally broken down. It started with the 'cancel' button being less sensitive and eventually damaged, which I don't mind because it is not really important. But soon, more buttons start losing thier sensitivites (including the call button). At least I could still survive with the bare minimum of texting messages and receiving calls. That was what I thought until the last button also gave away, leaving me with a handicapped phone that could only receive calls and do nothing more.

The notion of having to start the semester with a physically unfit body, a financially constrained wallet, and a handicapped phone that can't save my life when I need it to is really depressing and demotivating indeed. Not to mention, more commitments will rear their ugly heads soon if I'm not steadfast and let these misfortunes weight me down. I was very determined to at least resolve one of them before the semester begins.

Luckily, this weekend I finally had a break and went down to Ipoh with some of my CO pals. Eating good food and watching Inception was on my priorities, but nothing top buying a new phone! After borrowing a huge sum of money from my friends (which left me with a bigger debt), I finally bought a new phone. It is a Sony Ericsson classic phone, which I feel is sturdier. I'm still partially blaming the sliding mechanism of my previous phone for its demise, as it was more fragile and prone to wear and damage.

I tried to watch "Inception" but due to its bad timing and with most of my friends preferring "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", in the end I watched the latter. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" left me with no taste whatsover. It's neither good or bad, just neutral and so-so to me. The storyline is the typical happily-ever-after fairy-tale ending type and is predictable. But I have to give credits to the cool special effects, the characters, and the nice soundtrack in it.

Sunday is long over as I'm ending this. Monday and a new semester is here to greet me with a fresh wave of new expectations. Thankfully, I am now in good health and feeling more of normal healthy self. It's only soon (I hope) before I finally get a hold on my ATM card.

A short update

I'm back from training. It was as tiring as I thought. Fruitful? Well, I can't put a gauge on that word here. Things have taken an unexpected twist. It's each to their own perspective on how 'fruitful' the training turns out. Anyhow, I'm glad there is a two days reprieve for us to take a break.

Despite a few bumpy moments, things seem to have been better for now. From this week onward, we will be rehearsing in Chancellor's Hall, which is a totally different environment compared to our snug and cosy CO room. The sudden huge span of space renders our orchestra seemingly hollow and scattered, and this applies to the sound as well. Yet, space will be the main issue that we need to grapple with when the other schools' students are here. I will be waiting to see how the scenario of everyone cramped on stage looks like.

Plus, since there is a no stage crews or logistics, we, the performing members have to do the laborous work of moving the chairs and score stands up the stage before the performance, and down again after the performace. Each must (or should I say 'ideally') be done within 1 minute with minimal noise. Everything must make sense in this world, doesn't it?

Though the remaining few days of my semester break will be mostly occupied with rehearsals and practise, I will like to find a day to go down to Ipoh to catch the latest movie- 'Inception'. There's a lot of good reviews on this sci-fi movie, so I'm looking forward to it. Anyone fancy an Ipoh outing this weekend?

Results are out!!

Midnight. There's something unusual about this midnight. Almost everyone in my gtalk contact is online.

Well, most utpians do stay awake past midnight, but this night is different. The long awaited moment has finally arrived. In my case, 2nd year 1st semester result is out! But it's out late for around 40 minutes so after many intervals of refreshing on the result page, I finally get to see it!

My result is exactly what I had expected it to be (if you'd read one of my previous post). Nevertheless, I'm not too depressed by it. I had been mentally prepared for this way earlier before the real result is out and had long regarded this as a well-fought battle of the past. For now, focus on my present, plan for what's coming up next. Of course, I am far from being satisfied with my result so I must work extra hard this semester!

I will be heading off to Alor Setar for 2 days for some orchestra practises with other secondary school students. Compared to the previous school we went to, we should be expecting this training to be tougher, more serious, and possibly a tad less friendlier. The 'horror stories' that we had been told didn't manifest themselves much in the first school, but who knows what will happen in the upcoming school we are going to visit? No matter how things turn out, it will be a tiring trip, so let's hope the end result will be fruitful. Next update is till then.

Pre- 2nd Year 2nd Sem

My blog is getting a little bit dusty again so here I am.

My status? Currently back in UTP one month earlier before the new semester kicks in. UTP Chinese Orchestra will be involved in 2 upcoming performances: Konsert Diraja (which our Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak will attend) and Tapestry of Colours (will be held in Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra). Both are monumental events that will be in their grandest scale, hence the reason why I'm back one month earlier to practise for them.

It was a rough start to settling down. The management was so strict in handling our accommodation till the point of stupidity and defying common sense. I won't eloborate further. There's so much to rant about and I don't want to turn this into a long-winding post. In short, I just wish UTP management will at least put some trust in its own students and treat us as mature and grown-up adults. Enough said. Despite that, I'm now back in my permanent room in V5, with a good internet connection so I'm grateful and happy.

Life's so far so good for me. It was not all work and no play. The practising hours may be gruesome to look at but we did get enough rest and plenty of days off. Base on personal experience, this period of month also observes some closer bonding between UTP CO junior and senior members, as well as strengthening ties between secondary students from other SMK schools. The way I describe, everything seems to be on a bed of roses. Well, not quite true. The worst has yet to come. Deadlines are creeping nearer, and I have a feeling somewhere somehow there's a tensed-up spring ready to snap. For now, I will ignore this gut feeling and focuses on my practices. To my batchmates, holiday is edging closer to the end so enjoy it to the max!

Stay-cation

Apart from OBML and Cameron, the rest of the 2 weeks of my holiday had seen me spending most of my time at home. The first thing I did was to reorganize and tidy up my room. Old and unusable stuff are thrown out, others are arranged neatly together according to what they are. It's surprising how much free space there is after the cleanup.

I moved on to my laptop next. There were so many unused files waiting for me to delete them. I have no idea why I keep them when I have no intention of using them at all. For instance, of all the songs I have had, I'd only like and listen to a few of them. But I'm not so hasty to delete the rest. All songs went through 'The Final Audition'. Nice? PASS! Otherwise, DELETE! After going through all that, I must have at least cleared more than 5GB of space in my hardisk.

Well... up to this point, I think that is the most productive part of my holiday. I didn't pursue some big goals like the previous holidays nor do I travel anywhere exclusively far. Yeah, I just need a break from this world's rat race. I'm tired of thinking how and why should I make every day a productive one. Being lazy and idle, without responsibilities or anything to worry about is indeed a privilege, although it won't last long for anybody. Like it or not, we have to be pulled back into the world's perpetual rat race eventually. So while I'm savouring this period of serenity, I have to keep in mind overindulgence won't do me good in the long run.

That said, I did spend time doing what I want. Time spent with my family is of course priceless. I did pick up my driving skills from where I left. With my Er Hu's absence, I did dust off my guitar and attempted to practise it again. Unbelievably, despite being a football noob that is in dire need of "Football for dummies" lessons, I did happen to watch a few matches, and I must admit they are interesting. No, I'm not transforming into a football zombie yet, far from it.

Holiday is over for me, back to business in UTP soon. To those who have still one month of holiday, treasure it! ~~Happy Holiday~~

Half a year has passed...

As the title suggests, this must be the longest period ever that I have not update my blog. Strangely, I had thought that I will be retiring from my blogging passion for good, but I wonder what is it that pulls me back here? Perhaps when the turmoils in life have died down and I finally attain a peace of mind, this is just where I belong..

Anyway, to update my course of life for half of a year (unbelievable isn't it? time just flies) ain't a simple task, so I will keep things as brief as possible, and recall as much as I could.


Life in university?

2nd year 1st semester had gone by. Unfortunately, this semester had been filled with more bad moments than good ones. One wrong decision had shackled me onto weights of commitement that I never anticipated, and I can't turn back but to go on with it. My initiall passion for something that I was interested in had twisted into burdensome and endless tasks that I must fulfilled. Mentally exhausted and on the verge of giving up, I had endured that period of 'hell', and felt that while the end result is satisfying, it is not worthwhile. My academic life had been in jeopardy, and on realistic grounds I am very pessimestic on how my results will be for this semester.

True, I had ample time to prepare for my final exams (in fact, I had the longest study week"s"), but the damage had been done. I just can't pull myself back together and no matter how hard I tried to focus, my heart and soul wasn't there. It was as if I'm physically present in UTP for the whole semester but instead of studying, I had spent all my time doing something else.

To any readers out there, this whole thing may sound like some lame excuse I'm putting up with when I fail to cope with my studies. But should any of you have been in my shoes, you will all understand what I'm trying to explain. Of course, let's pray that no one have to go through the experience I had been through! Nevertheless, this is something that I had filed away in my heart as a valuable lesson, a learning experience and I had moved on with life ever since. Hopefully, next semester will be better! Ok, enough with these sombre stories, let's move on to something more cheerful.


Outward Bound Malaysia Lumut (5th-11th June)

This course is compulsory for all PETRONAS scholars and is carried out after the final exams.

At first, just by the name of it, I had hated it to the core. Enough with it disrupting my one week of holiday, but worst of all I have to be subjected to some sort of military boot camp, crawling in the dirt and doing some other unimaginably torturous and physically demanding activities under the scorching sun?!!

And that's so I thought, until first impression (or my exaggerating imaginations) proved me VERY WRONG.

Upon arriving, I was expecting a burly and mean-looking commander waiting to order us to line up straight and begin shouting commands at us. But instead, we are greeted by a lady who guided us to the hall. The lady was our 'instructor' and soon we are introduced to the other instructors as well. Our batch of 36 people is divided equally into 3 teams assigned to one instructor each.

The rest of the day passed by with the introduction to the camp, briefing on rules and regulations, fillings of many forms, opening ceremony, and at night an indoor group activity. The facilities, especially our hostels, are better than I had expectated. I had initially thought we will be sleeping outdoor the whole time like the previous Induction Camp. Only after the first day, my whole perception had changed. The instructors are engaging and easy to get along with. They are not tyrannical monsters that I first imagined! We were treated like mature adults who are potential leaders, where they put their trust on us to do things by ourselves instead of them doing everything for us. I like this form of mutual respect. I must say my batch of people is the best. We are all sporting and embark together on every activities no matter how tough, and no one cause any disciplinary troubles to the instructors.

The most memorable experience that I will treasure for life there is the whaling and kayak expeditions. For the whaling, it was my first time handling a rough and heavy wooden paddle to row a huge boat with 12 other people inside all the way to an island! The journey took the whole day and we rowed almost non-stop except for lunch break. For kayaking which is conducted on a separate day, we had kayaked for almost 8 hours just to reach our destination.

Looking back on both endeavours, it was just impossible to believe I had managed to accomplish those feats. The sense of achivement really does feel good when I managed to do something that I would at first thought is near impossible. It made me realised some limitations in life that I have always bound myself to are perhaps only mental barriers created by my insecure mind. I am not necessary what I perceived myself to be, because there are many unknown potentials inside me that I have not explored. Who knows, if I really go all out to do something, I might even surprise myself on how far I can go. This OBS experience had taught me this valuable piece of wisdom, and the main reason why the value of this certificate transcends many others. My self-enrichment tale aside, OBS also provided a platform for me to view my friends through a different angle besides the conventional study life in campus. How? Let's just say it allows me to see the best in some people, and the worst of it.

One thing for sure, I was right about the 'scorching sun' part. Even investing in an expensive sunblock fail to save me from the merciless sun rays, which I think so far is the only thing 'tyrannical' in OBS. Needless to say, my body has now two VERY distinctive shades of skin colours. Dead skins are now flaking off from areas of the body that are completely toasted black. That's the only downside of OBS I guess. It's not a big issue really. Unless the remainder of one's holiday consists of plans to travel and meet with many people, anyone should do fine by retreating from the social circle for a while and take their sweet time recovering at home until their skin tone, if ever, restore to normal. :)


June 12 until now

My whole family came to pick me up in campus the day after I was back from OBS. We went to Kelly Castle's for a short while before heading to Cameron Highland. It was our second time being to Cameron. The trip was not as enjoyable as the first perhaps due to the massive traffic congestion caused by the holiday season. Imagine huge tour buses occupying the roads that are already small and winding. It feels like we were back in the city. Despite that, we still enjoyed visiting the pasar malam and the morning market. We bought plenty of strawberries, sweet corns, vegetables, and a few jars of honey. Before heading back to KL, we also visited the Rose Valley that boasts a multitude of flowering plants, especially roses that comes in all kinds of colours.

After the Cameron trip, I was finally back home! So yeah, HOME SWEET HOME! (although I have long settled down). It's gonna be a short semester break for me, because I will heading back to UTP early July. Treasuring every moment of freedom I have. I will try to update more often (didn't I say the same thing last time??) Till then..Happy Holidays!

The new year countdown

During the final night of 2009, my family went to Bandar Puteri 12's hilltop to countdown into the new year. We were not alone as there was a coundown festival being held there, jointly organized by Bandar Puteri Community Support Group, Digi and IOI Mall Properties. Food and drinks are apleny so while waiting, we were entertained by dances, martial arts shows, and a live performance by a local band called Black Ally (which I'd never heard of).

We were lucky to be blessed with a clear starry night, with a full moon illuminating the night sky in its full glory. The scene could not have been better when gazing downwards from the hilltop towards a sea of lights spreading across the horizon.

10,9,8....3,2,1 Happy New Year!! Fireworks ignited the night sky, painting the sky with streaks of colours and patterns. The ongoing thunderous boom was close enough to be intimidating, yet the sight is too beautiful to behold. Far across the distance, folks of other locations had ignited their fireworks simultaneouly, and the whole night sky was mushrooming with dazzling arrays of fireworks. The feeling of standing on top of the world being able to witness everything was indeed breathtaking.... It was a simple countdown, yet it was the best I had, around the friendly neighbourhood of Puchong, and together with my family.

The remnants of 2009 fade away, ushering in the year 2010. As with every other new year, most people will be drafting out their new year resolutions. I have only one simple new year resolution, that is not to make anymore NEW resolution, but instead make realistic small goals for myself to achieve everyday, taking small steps towards the many resolutions that I had dreamed of and discarded for these past years. ;)

Happy 2010 Year everyone! Let's all do our best for the many challenges that will face us in this year, and at the same time take good care of our health and remember to laugh out loud and have fun as always. :)