Does blog hibernate?

Hibernate. Yea, I'm so sorry to say that my blog did that for quite some time. Lotsa things should be blogged. Nah, perhaps some selected things.

1. Courseworks

Two out of three subjects that I'm having this short semester required us to write our own research papers. I’m not gonna blog about my Finance coursework in order to avoid you from yawning another 3282218 times. For the Principles of Investment's coursework, we travelled around the city to get respondents for our survey on investment instruments. I prepared a 4-page questionnaire and photocopied 100 sets. 20 sets each team member. In order to make our report a little 'extraordinary', I decided to get some foreigners as our respondents. It wasn’t as easy as I’ve initially thought.

I spent one of my evenings in the city centre and only managed to get a handful of respondents. I attempted several tourists who were admiring the scenic KLCC Park. One of my targets, an Indian national, refused to respond to me. Then he said: ‘Sorry, I’m empty-handed. Perhaps you wanna ask from my daughter.’ I was like: Huh? Did I sound like a scammer? Sigh. Btw, I didn’t force him nor explain to him as he was quite unfriendly. That night, I only managed to get 4 respondents - 1 Dutch at KLCC Park, 1 Swedish at Bukit Bintang McDonald, 1 local Indian at monorail station, and 1 Malay barista at Coffee Bean. Yea, the forth respond costs an ice blended. =p

I found that many respondents were afraid of the word ‘investment’ printed on my questionnaire. They thought I was trying to cheat their money with some sorta doubtful investment instruments. So, what to do next? I realized that I have to target those frustrated people who stuck in the queue instead. Toll plaza perhaps?

Hm, I woke up in the next early morning and walked to the LRT station. Nah, I didn’t attempt those commuters who soon gonna be ‘sardinised’ in the crowded train. I headed to KLCC again. Like my previous visit, there were lotsa tourists queuing up for the Skybridge tickets. The queue looked like a long snake and it started some time ago. Apparently, the snake was sorta hungry, it swallowed me and I managed to travelled throughout its intestine, and came out (don’t ask me where) with 10 completed survey forms (2 British, 2 Americans, 2 Australians, 1 Swedish, 1 Indian, 1 Venezuelan, 1 forgotten). Each of the questionnaires needs about 5 minutes to complete. The best part of the experience was I managed to chat with them. I respect them for their friendliness which was beyond my expectation. Many of them were retired engineers. There were also a doctor, banker, etc. Perhaps I was too naive to ask the Americans about their political affiliation- I’ve got 1 Republican and 1 political virgin with no affiliation. The samples were analysed and I was the one who wrote the chart-filled 1.2k words research paper, which scored us the highest in the whole course. :)
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waiting in the peak hour...

_ train approaching... (Oh, btw, my apartment is on the right, isn't that near?)

_ waiting for the train to reach the platform...
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and the door to open... and 'sardinisation'...

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My target queuing up for skybridge tickets.
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The Skybridge tickets allow them to stand here for ten minutes. Hm.
_Gosh, I posted the wrong picture. This is the correct one - The Skybridge. :)
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2. Taiping

I went back to Taiping recently and I managed to snap some nice pictures of my hometown. It's a peaceful town without a single skyscraper and the shops close either at 5pm or 9pm. It has the country’s oldest fire station, golf turf, lake garden, market, etc. It’s a town that looks virtually the same from the past, without any spectacular changes.

Taiping Clock Tower. Despite being a tower, it is still dwarfed by a nearby small building. It was the country's first fire station.

The local-version of 7-Eleven in my housing area. The owners of this shop are 'Ah Kau' and 'Ah Zu'. Hm, what a matching names. :)

My kindergarten. Durian and Honey Dew were the names of my kindergarten classes. I still remember they gave us doughnuts/biscuits, and milk during break time. I was wondering: why not durian and honey dew juice instead?

My kindergarten's playground. I used to hide inside that. Yea, that blue one, but I never asked my teachers what's its name. Any idea?

In-coming Tesco. Anticipating a more British-like hometown. :)

New Year & Barbecue

Hey peeps!

Guess what. I just escaped from a frightening Chemistry test – in my dreamland, again. I was really anxious prior to the test. Nevertheless, I received a nature’s call to wake up and pee! Thanks to the large amount of water that I drank earlier.

I’ve been really busy doing a lot of stuff throughout the Chinese New Year celebration, such as: decorating, greeting guests, visiting relatives, receiving red packets, barbecuing... Also, I was doing some hectic calculations to get my net profit for the past few days after deducting the losses incurred from you-know-what.

Aite, lets back to main topic. Living in a small town where tolerance between neighbours is a... erm, tradition. It was supposed to be a wild and noisy bbq party. Good for our neighbours, it didn’t turn out what it supposed to be. Instead we had a nice, sweet and innocent lil party.

The bbq started at about 6pm and ended at midnight with a huge turnout of about forty people. It rained for quite a while, but it didn't wash away our enthusiasm of barbecuing. We grilled, talked and indulged our tummies repeatedly the whole evening. As correctly pointed out by one of my friend, it was an evening with lotsa of classic questions popped out and answered, such as: how’s work or college or school or kindergarten? Some talked about the bullish stock market, while housewives definitely did some talking about recipes and compared their kids. Hmm, as I can see, it was an enjoyable night for all of us, albeit plenty of chickens are now flying without wings. Hopefully, those generous chickens could have their wings grown back by having some extra doses of vitamins. ;p

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What's your BBQ moment?

A misleading pic. Hehe, we grilled chicken wings, not my lovely cousin.

An 'innocent' outdoor game. ;p

I’m so fortunate that my semester break coincides with the 15-days festival. On the fifth day of the New Year, we went to Penang for the following reasons:

i . To reactivate our tastebuds.

ii. To check out the newly-opened huge Queensbay Mall.

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A small kid that dwarfed its historical seniors in George Town.

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Yea, Penang is famous with its own version of Laksa, Prawn Mee, Char Kueh Teow... (I’m sure the list goes on though I couldn’t think of anything else). What I didn’t know was it’s famous for its Ais Kacang as well. *gasp* We had our lunch at a damn crowded coffee shop, Kafe Sin Se Kai (Direct translation: A Whole New World Café). Obviously, it sounds awful. But as long as it serves good food, who cares? =) We stimulated our tastebuds by indulging ourselves with its specialties. The fruity Ais Kacang costs a McFlurry, but three times tastier.

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The weirdly-named famous Chinese café in Swatow Lane, near Penang Sheraton.

Its splendid Ais Kacang (I think they should have named it Ais Buah-buahan instead).

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Like many others, we celebrated the Birthday of Jade Emperor on the ninth day of CNY. Oh... btw, I’ve posted some pictures below about that event:

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With the offerings to the Jade Emperor. ;)

A small gathering in the wee hours after that celebration.

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That's all for now. Let's hope it's the beginning of a year of happier days for everyone!

Cheers!

Outta dreamland...

I was supposed to submit an essay to my dreamland’s tutor yesterday, but I didn’t. I was like: Hey, why not I just wake up and blog rather than doing something unrealistic?
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I’m currently backed to a place where I don’t have to worry about my three meals, where I could sleep with the air-conditioned, without any unwanted interruption. It’s also a place where I could… yadda yadda yadda, the list goes on. In short, it’s the only place where I could call home- it’s a simple word with a complex lovey-dovey definition. :)
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Few days ago, I’ve visited my great-aunt of rural Bagan Serai together with my parents. It’s a small village located about 30 kilometres away from my hometown, Taiping. Btw, I have posted some pictures below!

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I'm now anticipating the return of my sisters to celebrate the in-coming Chinese New Year together as a family. At the meantime, we're planning a barbecue for over 40 relatives on the second night of the New Year at our home. Whee~

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Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

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Snapshots of rural Bagan Serai, by an amateur photographer:

My great-aunt's house.

The front view from the house.

Um, a jetty, I suppose.

Sunset in the back yard.

Craving for more? My next trip perhaps. :)

P.S.: I've blogged something and you've read something. Hmm... I wonder if my dreamland's tutor would ask me to write an essay again. Yawn.

My Bangkok moments :)

My recent Bangkok trip was indeed the best family trip ever. It was my very first time boarding AirAsia to Bangkok. We were quite fortunate to be seated on the new Airbus A320. The plane was new and comfortable, but the limited legroom was among some of the things that let some us down. Unlike my previous long haul flight experience with MAS, there were no magazines available or complimentary snacks given onboard and no in-flight interactive services. Besides, they used the garbage bag to collect rubbish along the aisle directly from their passengers. Of course, it’s unfair to compare a budget carrier with a commercial carrier. At least, they did try their best to provide us a pleasant in-flight experience, which is commendable. :)

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The new Airbus A320 at LCCT, KLIA.

Day 1: Friday, Dec 15th, 2006.

We landed on the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Dec 15th, 3pm. Soon after we collected our luggage, we eagerly checked out to the arrival hall to meet sister Lisa who arrived few hours earlier from Singapore. Thereafter, our family vacation officially started on a foreign soil. Whee~

We were picked up from the airport to our hotel in Bangkok City with a private van. From there we faced our very first communication breakdown with the Thai. The driver didn’t understand any of our languages, not even English! So we just took some pictures throughout the journey. We saw lotsa cars in the congested metropolitan Bangkok, but not even a single Proton! Unlike the inferior taxis in Malaysia, they use the superiorly new Toyota Corolla as their taxis! Oh my gosh!

We checked in our hotel rooms in Asia Hotel and had a quick rest before exploring its surrounding. The second floor of our hotel is linked to the Ratchathewi BTS (Bangkok Transit Systems) Station. Literally, that means most of the attractions of the city were just situated at our doorstep. We had our dinner at a nearby restaurant, Siam House. The food was fantastically yummy and cheap. But we did have some problems communicating with its waiter. In Bangkok, their Tom Yam is heavenly; their coconuts are so aromatic that manage to make you an addict!

That night, our whole family indulged ourselves with the full-body traditional Thai massage. Dad, mum and sister Lisa signed up for a 2 hours session, while sister Marine and I opted for an 80 minutes session. Traditional Thai massage is lotsa pressing on the body. Frankly, it was quite ticklish to me at the beginning. :) Late at night, I did some random exploration near the hotel, while waiting for my sisters who were having a manicure at a shop.

The Bangkok Transit Systems (BTS)

Day 2: Saturday, Dec 16th, 2006.

Since we had signed up for a day tour, the travel agency picked us up from the hotel lobby at 8.30am and brought us to some famous landmarks of the city. They brought us to two famous temples and gave us a commentary ride around the city. In the afternoon, they dropped us in Bangkok famous’ Jatujak Weekend Market - an open-air shopping heaven for bargain hunters. By the time we were at Jatujak, it was already 2pm and the sun wasn’t merciful. The heat was trapped by the aluminium roof hanging over thousands of stalls. The market is literally mind-boggling to make tourists lost inside and desperately looking for exits under the Bangkok’s hot and dry weather. Fortunately, plenty of coconuts, mouth-wateringly refreshing desserts and local delicacies could be found easily in the market. We spent about 3 hours in the market before going back to our hotel rooms to dump all our shopping bags.

That night, we had buffet sushi with steamboat as dinner at Shabushi Restaurant for about 200 baht each person. What a bargain! Then, we spent the rest of our night exploring Pat-pong, a red-light district. Most of the street vendors in that area were very rude and moody. Walking down the streets, you could see pole-dancers dancing seductively inside the pubs. There were also people promoting x-rated shows along the streets but we just ignored them. We returned to our hotel quite late at night. I explored the surrounding of our hotel and tried their local food, Hoitord (which turned out to be fried oysters) at a roadside stall, while sister Marine and Lisa were having a body massage and foot massage, respectively in a massage parlor.

Part of the red-light district.

Dare to eat? Fried Grasshoppers, worms and other insects. 20 baht for a full packet. Creepy!

Thai's version of Fried Oysters, Hoitord. Yummy!

Day 3: Sunday, Dec 17th, 2006.

We woke up early for a buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then we went off to the city center by BTS. We spent plenty of hours in MBK Shopping Mall. Both of my sisters became shopaholics at MBK. From there, I bought a 30x explorer’s binoculars for 600 baht. We had our lunch at Fifth Avenue, which is quite similar to our Marché at The Curve. Next, we went to Siam Paragon (a KLCC equivalent) for some shopping, though sister Marine decided to remain in MBK for her exciting shopping expedition. We had our dinner at delicious Siam House again (we ordered different dishes, of course!).

Christmas tree at Siam Paragon.

Day 4: Monday, Dec 18th, 2006.

Packing desperately, trying to squeeze everything into our luggage. We had our lunch at Siam House. The boss gave us a sweet smile when were leaving, knowing that it was our third time there and I showed her my thumbs up before I left. We were fetched to the airport by a private van in the afternoon. We spent hours in the huge and modern Suvarnabhumi International Airport. My sister’s flight to Singapore was delayed to the same time as our flight to KL. All in all, it was such a fabulously fun trip. Bangkok, we are definitely anticipating our next trip to catch up the attractions that we have yet to explore!!!

Siam House Restaurant, near Asia Hotel. - Picture taken by a loyal patron. :)

Recipes of the Year

Revising for a test could be really boring for me, especially for accounting-related subjects. In one of the wee small hours last week, I decided to make good use of my newly-bought, non-stick mini pan for some self-created unique recipes. Frankly, my creativity was kinda good as they turned out to be unexpectedly yummy. ;p

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Well, good things should be shared, right? Here you are- my mouthwateringly unique recipes:

(A) Fried Egg with Cheddar

Add a slice of cheddar cheese on top of the egg and fry it slowly on a hot plate for about 4 to 5 minutes with a slight amount of cooking oil, soy sauce and pepper added, of course.

Voila, the pretty side of tempting Fried Egg with Cheddar.

The not-so-pretty side of it. Fried Egg with Cheddar - The cheapest yummiest food available on earth (slightly exaggerated though).

(B) Sandwich with Fried Cheddar Cheese

Add a little amount of cooking oil (no soy sauce and pepper, please) and fry the cheese slowly until it melts evenly.

Next, spread it on a bread slice. Look, It sticked stubbornly on it!

Note: The taste buds of people might vary. =)

Pictorial obligatory posting :)

There are lotsa things that I would like to blog about, but I have plenty of excuses for not doing so. Anyway, for the sake of my blog, I guess I have to post something here at least once a month in order to maintain its visitorship.

I’ve just started my second semester of college. Apparently, it’s quite a busy semester. Having no class on Friday is a little consolation for me as the rest of my weekdays are packed with lectures and tutorials. I’m having four core subjects – Quantitative Studies, Fundamentals of Accounting, Macroeconomics, Business Information Systems and Applications. Besides that, It’s compulsory for us to take languages in this semester. I have also enrolled myself in the Gym Workout to claim two credit hours for my co-curricular activity after being pissed off by the First Aid Unit in the first semester. Entering a new semester is something interesting. On the other side, being unable to spend my full time at home for months is something that started to make me feeling unexpectedly homesick. I started to envy my local friends in KL as most of them get to enjoy home-cooked meals and so.

Fortunately, the strong bonds that we have built between family members started to pay off in many ways. We reunite regularly whenever and wherever. Recently, we had a great time as we gathered in KL for several nights during the festive season. I’m now anticipating our family trip in Bangkok next month. :)

Alright, now let me share with you my very first gambling experience at Genting Highlands recently. Um, you don’t have to reread my previous sentence as I’m sure that you didn’t read wrongly. For the very first time, I as an underage entered both of the casinos at Genting Highlands. I’m not sure if I should say I was lucky on that day as I came out from both casinos with my wallet slightly lighter. Although I unintentionally generated some income to both casinos, I would still say it worth the experience that I’ve gained.

Again, something interesting happened unintentionally - I unintentionally attended the ending part of the MNG Fashion Show in KL Convention Centre recently and I saw Amber Chia and several top models in that event. On the same day, someone in the lrt approached me and told me about Iraqis dinar, he said if I invest RM 700+ in the dinar, I would get about RM 150,000 in few years time. If that was real, President Bush, PM Blair and their colleagues would definitely grabbed the deals. There’s no free lunch in this world, especially for man in the street like us. Furthermore, the dinar that he was saying isn’t in metal form or gold. Apparently, he’s a scammer.

Nowadays, reading newspaper could be defined as an action that leads to disappointment on the country. Among the things that I have learnt is that we must never be surprise if a gate-keeper becomes a millionaire locally because of you-know-how. tsk tsk.

I might upload some pictures for this posting soon. Fyi, I’m yawning now. -_-

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Update: Here you are... I've posted some pictures over here, as an effort to reduce your frequency of yawning while reading my blog. Have some fun. :)

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A crowd of 'sardines' at Wangsa Maju LRT Station, 7.48am on November 10th. I waited for about 15 minutes in order to squeeze myself into the crowded third train.

Garden landscaping at home.

See, I've added a slice of cheddar cheese into this inferior yet tasty noodle.

Um... just to prove to you that I, as an un-invited guest, really saw Amber Chia in the most recent MNG Fashion Show.

Uh-uh, the cat wasn't up for sale. Apparently, it was shopping for some groceries!

Singapore roars again!

Whee~ I just came back from Singapore and it was an extremely enjoyable trip. Here are some of the highlights of my one week trip to be shared with you:

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24th September 2006:

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My sister and I reached Woodlands at 7.30pm. The traffic was okay though it was quite congested in JB. We headed back to Boon Lay by MRT and had our dinner in a nearby McD.

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25th September 2006:

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We went for river cruising after having our buffet lunch at Grand Copthorne Waterfront. The lunch was great and the scenery along Singapore River was magnificent. We boarded the train and alighted at City Hall station and walked through the 350 metres underground CityLink Mall to Marina Square and Suntec City. We did some shopping and indulged ourselves with some cheesecakes and ice cream at Andersen’s and had our dinner together with Reddy at Marina Square.

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Spectacular night view of Singapore skyscrapers.

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26th September 2006:

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I boarded the train to City Hall and did some random explorations after having my lunch at a nearby food village. I visited the Singapore Management University and Chijmes and saw several Government buildings, such as The Treasury and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) when I walked down to the Clarke Quay MRT station. I snapped some nice pictures of beautiful Clarke Quay and walked along New Bridge Road to the Chinatown MRT station to meet my sister and Reddy for dinner. Dinner was great and the Mid-Autumn Festival’s lightings in Chinatown were superb.

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27th September 2006:

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I spent my day exploring Orchard Road and met my sister and Reddy for dinner at Jurong Point. I had a kakiage rice burger as dinner and had an express hair cut in ecHouse. At night, I watched ‘The Terminal’ again on Starhub satellite television. The urge to explore Changi International Airport appeared suddenly on my mind soon after the movie. :)

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28th September 2006:

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As expected, I spent my whole day in Changi International Airport after having an ebi rice burger as my lunch at Mos Burger. The train passed through a total of 25 MRT stations to reach the Changi International Airport. The journey took about 40 minutes. Fortunately, I was accompanied by my loyal MP3 player. I alighted at the Changi International Airport MRT station at Terminal 2 (T2) and boarded a skytrain to Terminal 1 (T1) and returned. Interestingly, I saw lotsa students doing their revisions and assignments at coffee bars and fast food outlets of T1 and T2. Apparently, they like that specific atmosphere very much. Soon after my exploration at both terminals, I hopped a shuttle bus to the new Budget Terminal (BT) to have a look (nothing spectacular though). I completed my ‘Changi exploration’ at 7.30pm. That night, my cousin brother Andy came from KL to join my ‘unique tour’. We had ikan bakar as the main dish for our dinner.

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29th September 2006:

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It was my cousin's first trip to Singapore. Therefore I decided to bring him to the great Changi International Airport in the morning. We spent about 2 hours sightseeing in the airport and had our lunch at Burger King of Tampines Shopping Mall in East Singapore. The rest of our day was spent on Orchard Road, again. Unlike Starbucks in Malaysia, the mocha Frappuccino comes together with whipped cream on top in Singapore (a venti mocha Frappuccino priced at S$6.70). All in all, it was an interesting day, albeit I’ve already visited those places few days back. We had our dinner together with sister Lisa and Reddy at Clementi’s New Lucky Claypot Rice. We spent our night at a carnival of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Chinese Garden. The carnival displayed all sorta fancy light decorations and displays. Supper: Singapore’s famous Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak. ;p

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30th September 2006:

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Initially, we planned to spend our day at Bugis but the weather wasn’t good enough. So we decided to visit the Suntec City again. We boarded the train to City Hall and walked through the underground CityLink Mall to the Suntec City. We visited an impressive art fair, ArtSingapore 2006 at Suntec Convention Centre. We went to the Suntec Shopping Mall and spent some time near the Fountain of Wealth, which is the world’s largest fountain. We had our dinner with sister Lisa at Sakae Sushi in Citylink Mall. At night, we went to the Marina Bay. We snapped some great pictures with the Merlion plus the Esplanade and did some midnight shopping at Marina Square.

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1st October 2006:
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My sister brought us to Queenstown after having our lunch at Hong Kong Street. On our way back, we dropped by Jurong Point again. At 9pm, I travelled hundreds of kilometre back to my hometown to spend the remaining weeks of my semester break.
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I recalled some of my memories about my alma maters during the approximately 8 hours’ journey back to my hometown. My life at primary school was sorta mundane. I hardly achieve anything remarkable during my six years of schooling in my primary school despite having made lotsa friends to play with. When I was in Secondary 1, I started to gain recognition from my teachers. During the very beginning of my Secondary 1, our teacher asked us to form a facial expression with squares, circles and triangles. She said she could judge our personality by looking at the quantities of squares, circles and triangles that we used. A few days later I was chosen by her as the class treasurer. About a month later, our teacher decided to have another class election and I was voted by my classmates as the class monitor with kinda big majority. A few months later, our Disciplinary Teacher approached me and asked me to join the Prefectorial Board (perhaps I gained a good impression from him – I found a wallet of a Secondary 5’s student and I returned :p). So I did and I never regret. The best thing in my life is getting recognition and trust from others. I appreciate that but sometime I tend to disappoint some of them (perhaps I should make sure it won’t happen again). I found that my childhood was really fun. I appreciate my priceless bonds with people around me, especially my family and relatives as they really made my life much better-off. :)

On September 15th, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew made a statement about Malaysian Chinese being systematically marginalised. It seems to be an undoubted truth to me, albeit he apologised in a letter to our PM recently. Well, Singapore and Malaysia had just celebrated their 41st and 49th National Day respectively. They are geographically proximate but the latter is far less-developed both physically and mentally (older though). The NEP was necessary in the 1970s but it seems that the Government implemented it in a wrong way. Nowadays, the rich Malays are getting richer but the real income of the poor are getting lesser. Having refused the poor (regardless of race) what is necessary, they give the rich Malays what is superfluous. The plights of the poor kampung Malays are often highlighted by various bodies although it seems that many of the Malays in major cities and suburbs are filthy rich. tsk tsk. What we need now is a way to make our economies both efficient and fair.

Blogging in college

Blogging in college is something unusual for me so I would like to give it a try and see how it feels like. Well, it's now 6.25pm, a non-peak period in my college and only 30% of the computers are currently being occupied by the students. The air conditioning here at the CIT is damn cold and I wonder how many times I have yawned up to now.

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The Centre of Communication and Information Technology (CIT)

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My semester examination is drawing nearer. I'm coping quite well in most of the subjects except for the Introduction to Accounting. There were two reference books listed in our accounting's reading list and our lecturer said the Betsy Li's text is meant for the very beginners so I opted for the another one- which is a more challenging British's text, so now I have to wait until 7pm in order to loan the currently sold-out Betsy Li's text overnight from the library's red-spot division because of you-know-why. Btw, I still reckon that I can cope with it because I'm currently staying with a very soon ACCA-holder and a bunch of senior coursemates.

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Well, I remember that I did mention in my previous posting that I planned to cut down my reckless spending and drink less coffees. I guess I have to retract what I have mentioned. I'm not going to elaborate it or else my allowance would be cut. Economics taught me that it's not worth elaborating. *smile innocently*

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Alright, it's time for me to include some patriotic thingy in my Merdeka-eve posting. I love Malaysia and I hope Malaysia loves me too. Again, racial equality and harmony are my Merdeka- wishes for this 31st of August. Happy 49th National Day to all Malaysians!

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!