Updates: July 2006

I met some of my ex-schoolmates in town. We spent three hours chatting in a café. A lot of fun things happened in my alma mater. I'm not going to blog about it but I'm happy that most of my friends are enjoying their life in Lower Sixth Form. I paid a visit to my ex-school on my way back and burnt some extra petroleum by driving around my hometown. No significant change though (except a new 7-Eleven outlet and a rebranded popular cybercafé). I wonder why we got two cinemas in 1990s but none at the moment. Student rate of six bucks per ticket in KL during non-peak hours is so inexpensive. The demand here would be kinda overwhelming if there is a cinema.

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I've completed my midterm test but another test is coming in two more weeks. I'm now in the process of cutting down my reckless spending (especially on coffees) and also the frequency of my 'metropolitan explorations'. I guess the best solution is to shut down the nearby LRT station (zero percent possibilities).

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I'm loving my job as the Assistant Course Representative. I'm now trying hard to know all my coursemates because there were several occasions where I couldn't recognize them but they recognized me. LOL! I'm glad that my college has started to spend extravagantly. The management has replaced the old PCs with approximately 200 units of new IBM Pentium 4, all with LCD monitor! Keep it up!

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That's all for now. I'm going back to KL tomorrow afternoon. Keep in touch.

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p.s.: FYI, I love home-cooked food!

Introduction to my college life

It has been about 1 month since I started my college on May 23rd. I'm fitting into the new environment surprisingly well and I've learnt many things. Since it's the most populous college, no doubt I've made a lot of new friends. Currently, there are about 92 students in my course and I'm the voted Assistant Course Representative. I'm having four subjects this semester - Introduction to Accounting, Microeconomics, Business Statistics, Business Information Technology and Applications. Most of my lectures are conducted in the new lecture theatres near the student hostel, but it's quite far away from the my School of Business Studies (SBS). Now I realized that my college is really huge. That's why it's important for me to eat more in order to replace the calories burnt. :) I joined the First Aid Unit and I was involved in its fund raising campaign last few days (It's compulsory for us to join co-curricular programmes). It was fun and I also managed to make some new friends. Whee.

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I'm feeling a little bit stressful right now because my midterm test is drawing nearer. I brought home my Microecons but I still haven't really started my reading. I have been indulging myself with the priceless comforts of home since yesternight. I woke up at noon today as I watched some World Cup matches in the early morning and the weather was really good. Due to my 'tight schedule', I only managed to contact some of my friends by phone, no gathering or something. I'm going back to KL tomorrow afternoon. That's all for now. Hopefully Germany will be the World Cup Champion this time. Will blog more.

Next page - a new chapter

Hey, I'm leaving my hometown really soon to start a brand new chapter of my life - college life. I optimistically reckon it would be as memorable as my previous chapters. Many thanks to people around me all these while. You've made my life much better-off. I appreciate our priceless bonds. Keep in touch. =>

Pfft. *packing my stuffs hurriedly*

The Bougainvillea City

Yesterday, I went to Ipoh with both of my parents. What we had for lunch then? Okay, it was 'mee rebus' at Ramli Mee Rebus Restaurant, Jalan Kuala Kangsar in Ipoh. Some of you might think: wtf, 'mee rebus' also wanna mention, yadda yadda yadda. Fine! Anyhow, I gotta admit that it tastes much better compared to those in Taiping. We spent the whole day in Ipoh Parade, Kinta City and Tesco. Although it was Mother's Day but we've postponed the official celebration to a later date as both of my sisters are now working in outstations. By the way, we had Colonel Harland Sanders' creations as Mother's Day dinner. Well, I was looking for a new phone in Ipoh. Initially, I wanted to buy either Samsung X700 or Sony Ericsson K700i. I compared their prices and functionalities. Ironically, I ended up buying Sony Ericsson K750i. Daddy subsidized my purchase. If not, I'm broke. It's a great phone indeed. I reckon the most impressive feature of SE K750i is the two mega pixels built-in camera which means I could enjoy photographing anytime and anywhere. I'm loving it. All in all, it was a good trip, albeit we’ve forgotten to re-taste its yummy local specialties such as ‘dim sum’ and ‘chicken beansprouts’.

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Singapore roars!

Hi. I’m back from our prosperous neigbour few days ago. This time, I’ve toured around Singapore with a slightly different perspective. I visited several landmarks where most of the typical tourists won’t be visiting. I travelled around the city-state by using their efficient and affordable transportation system. I observed the entire General Election process of the First World nation. I’ve also tasted several kinds of good food. Last but not least, I spent some of my time there comparing Singapore with Malaysia. It seems that Singapore is multiplying the size of their economic pie aggressively while Malaysia is merely focusing on the way of dividing its economic pie rather than multiplying it. Therefore, the latter has various types of inefficient national policies and still remained as one of the Third World nations. Anyway, Singapore roars while Malaysia purrs. LOL!

Some highlights of my trip:

2nd May 2006:
I reached the causeway at 5.30am. At that moment, around 5,000 Malaysian students were crossing the causeway to attend schools in Singapore while an infinity of working adults from both countries were crossing the strait as well. Definitely no kidding! I had my lunch at Hong Kong Street, BLSC. During the night, I had my dinner together with Reddy and sister Lisa at Fish & Co. Later, I went for an express hair cut in ecHouse, Jurong Point.

3rd May 2006:
I travelled around some nearby landmarks such as National University of Singapore and Singapore Polytechnic by utilizing their efficient transportation system. Obviously, it’s impossible for me to deny that they have better systems in both education and transportation. Lunch: 7-Eleven sandwiches. Dinner: Fried Prawn Noodles at a nearby hawker center.

4th May 2006:
I spent my whole day exploring Changi International Airport. I was like Tom Hanks for a day in his movie ‘The Terminal’. You’re discouraged to laugh at me as I’ve learnt something priceless in the airport! Anyway, believe it or not, the airport is actually one of the preferred destinations for their students to complete their assignments and revisions!!! At night, I watched Mission Impossible III together with sister Lisa at Golden Village of Jurong Point (the movie? highly recommended!). We had our dinner at Mos Burger.

5th May 2006:
I spent my whole day exploring Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar area. A distinguishing characteristic of that area is the large numbers of tall skyscrapers that help form its beautiful skyline. They are the Monetary Authority of Singapore Building, Central Provident Fund Building, Development Bank of Singapore Building, Temasek Tower, Capital Tower, SIA Building, Springleaf Tower, International Plaza, etc. During the night, I had my dinner together with Reddy and sister Lisa at Crystal Jade of Jurong Point.

6th May 2006:
Singapore’s Election Day. I accompanied my sister for several hours in Tanjong Katong Complex, Geylang. She purposely went there to shop for kebaya and sarong batik to match the theme of her company’s Dinner & Dance event. At night, we went to super-duper Marina Square for some serious shopping. We had our dinner at Sakae Sushi in Marina Square. Then, we walk around the scenic Marina City Park. During our journey back, we got the General Election result: The People’s Action Party (PAP) romped home with 82 of the 84 Parliamentary seats while The Worker’s Party (WP) and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) retained their seats in Hougang and Potong Pasir respectively. Overall, the ruling party PAP gathered 66.6 per cent of the valid votes cast, compared to 75.3 per cent in the previous election.

7th May 2006:
I spent my day at Jurong Point together with sister Lisa. We had both meals at a nearby hawker center. At 9.00pm, I travelled hundreds of kilometer heading to my hometown, situated in a country where various races live peacefully - but separately.

Updates: April 2006

I didn't update my blogs recently though many things did happen. E.g. I'm 80 bucks richer this morning without any good reason, yadda yadda yadda. LOL!

Last week was quite mundane; except for Wednesday (19th of April) as it was the Sultan's Birthday. Royal celebrations!!! LOL! Actually I was in KL looking for some accommodation options together with my parents. I was 'equipped' with some printed classifieds from tarcrooms.com and a couple of contact numbers to complete my mission. tarcrooms.com? tsk.tsk. The listings were rather confusing (embarras de richesses!) Well, I’ll be staying in TAR Villa with a bunch of new friends (mostly my F&I seniors!). The brand-new 'villa' is situated just beside the Wangsa Maju LRT Station and that provides me a greater mobility in the metropolitan KL! It's also served by efficient feeder buses and just 15 minutes away from my college by walking. =>

I guess it's time for me to reactivate my mind and stop it from hibernating again. I swore to myself that I must do well in my college examinations. Plenty of encouragements needed right now. Please assist me turning all my starry-eyed dreams into wishes come true by sending me some inspiring quotes from time to time! LOL! Watch out for my following post(s)! Take care!

P.S.: I'm going to Singapore this weekend to observe its election campaigns. whee.

Higher Education

I was in the crucial juncture of my life for several months which I'd to decide on many paths that lead into my future. I applied for Finance and Investment at TARC, Foundation in Management at MMU (which leads to Financial Engineering), and was actually thought of applying for University Foundation Programme at Metropolitan College (which leads to RMIT's Economics and Finance). It's like whether to walk straight (Form 6) or to turn into other direction (private institutions). I tried my best to figure out what's best for me by weighing the pros and cons of every available option. I understand that it's important for me to choose a path that I'm most comfortable with. That way, my chances of excelling will be the highest. Finally, I've decided to major in Finance and Investment. It's kind of challenging but I'm comfortable with it. I’m happy that my parents also agreed to send me over to UK to obtain my Honours Degree once I've completed my Advanced Diploma here. I'd like to thanks all the people around me (especially my parents, my sisters, economist Allen, etc.) for contributing their two cents worth regarding my tertiary education.

First Post of the Year

It was a great quarter one indeed.

New Year celebration at Sunway City, My Birthday, Happy Family Reunions, Chinese New Year Celebration, satisfactory SPM Results, explored some kinda big cities by my own, etc. PRICELESS! Contact me if you want to know more! I will share with you, definitely!

Final Post of Year 2005

I proudly present you my final post for the year 2005. Since mine is actually more like a quarterly updated weblog, so I would like to cover most of the events that happened in this period of time. Let’s start with October: the month that I digested all the books and tried some workbooks. November: SPM Examination. December: A relaxing month for me to drive around my hometown and observe everything in my lovely neighborhood plus other places such as Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I’m not sure whether it’s my hundredth trip to the Penang or maybe KL, but one thing for sure, it’s my second trip to Singapore!

I arrived in KL mid-December, and spent a week there. I experienced many types of delicious food and activated my taste buds by visiting some of the famous eateries in the capital KL and its suburbs. Besides, I also shopped around for some stuffs there and observed some of the Christmas and New Year decorations in the capital. That was a great trip, but my Singapore trip was even greater. I spent a week in Singapore together with my family at the end of the month. We explored some of the main attractions of the city state, such as Sentosa Island, Singapore Zoo, Singapore Night Safari, the central shopping area on Orchard Road, Chinatown, etc. The Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari were the absolute highlights of our one week trip to Singapore. Both of the parks are stunningly beautiful and well organized. I managed to chat with some of the tourists and met a pretty girl which asked me to help her take some snaps in the Singapore Zoo! Exploring the trails of the Night Safari with hundreds of multinationals tourists was truly fascinating and exciting. I reckon none of you can imagine that I spent the whole afternoon in the Singapore Zoo and the whole night in the Night Safari. Unlike the local favorite zoo in my hometown Taiping, the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari are two different places (entrance fees for the zoo and Night Safari are S$19 and S$20 respectively).

My dear friends, if you think the Christmas and New Year decorations in Malaysia are great, then you are probably wrong. Singapore is always adorned with the most beautiful decorations in the whole Southeast Asia during the festive season. I also managed to witness the Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s impressive ‘Earth from Above’ outdoor photographic exhibition along the Orchard Road (visit this: http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/ ). I’m back to Malaysia on the 31st of December to celebrate the New Year in KL and will be in Taiping on the 3rd of January 2006! That’s all for now. Happy New Year!