Bad Day For My Friend

Yesterday, my friend's car's rear window got smashed by a rock, leaving a damn big hole in it. It was believed to be an accident. Covered with plastic, we drove in the car around Sungai Nibong to report to police and scout for repair shop and we can hear the sound of wind rushing by us very clearly this afternoon. I was laughing non stop while she was sulking throughout the ride. Well, can't blame her since it'll cost a hole in her wallet.

I guess it's a good thing not having a car with me in USM. XD

Covered with plastic to keep rain away...

Money And Alcohol

Unlike someone who's heading to Singapore (and probably reached and having fun), I have to go back to Penang for the remaining days of this semester and face the impending finals which is less than two months away. It's time to have my eyes set on papers and books and not my laptop anymore and I mean business!

Yea yea, like that's gonna happen. The percentage of me doing that (I mean completely throw away my laptop) is lower than me hitting the jackpot of the lottery. I will study (not like I got any choices...) and try my best to catch up with the lessons in the class.

Anyway, about the Student Exchange Programme, I had asked my parents about it and this is roughly the transcript between me and my dad and mom (all the conversations are in Hokkien):

Me: (handing my dad the info bout exchange programme)
Dad: What's this?
Me: Student Exchange Programme.
Dad: Go lah. Go lah.
Me and mom: (look kinda surprised)
Dad: Go lah go lah.
Me: OK.
Dad: How much?
Me: Roughly 15-35k for a semester.
Dad: Then, no need go lah.
Mom: Your father's drunk, that's why he ask you to go.

I guessed he's not that drunk since he can quickly retake back his words when the dollar sign appeared. Anyone wants to sponsor me for the exchange programme???

So Far...

It's already Friday night and few more hours later, it's Saturday. How times really pass by when you're having a good time but when you do have a moment to sit still and think about what you have done so far, you'll begin to worry (or not) about the impending loads of works.

As usual, whenever I'm back for holidays, I have a tendency to tag along some notes or study materials so that I can do some brushing up, and as usual, all these study materials ended up getting covered with dust by the end of the holidays as I just simply chunked it in some secluded corner and totally forgotten about it until I start to pack for my return back. The week's almost end and yet I have to begin doing any studies or even bother with my assignment which possibly due next coming Monday.

Honestly, I've been having too much fun for this Raya break, what with my coursemates' visit, gatherings and hang outs I've been attending to. It's a joy, being able to be the host to my friends and bringing them to witness the beauty of my hometowns. It's full of fun, getting to meet back some of my friends which have been ages since we last seen each others. It's lung-tiring, going for karaoke for two days straight in a row. It's fulfilling of sort, getting to drive after months of not touching the steering wheel. But, the best part of all is the joy mingled with slight hatred, laughters mix with annoyed feeling I get whenever I was bugged, disturbed, entertained, asked, nagged, and all sort of things your siblings would do to you.

Coming back home, I get to bond with my sisters and parents and family relatives, especially my little sister. This few years must be treasured deeply before she leaves the innocent stage and enters the rebellious phrase of teenage which my other sister had gone through (and it's horrible XD).

Anyhow, nothing much to talk about, I think. Just a brief update of my holidays. Going back USM this coming Sunday (really, how time flies...).

My First Attempt As A Tour Guide

I just came back sending my coursemates to Medan Gopeng for their bus rides to their next destination, KL (12 hours ago when this was posted!). It's Raya break and since it's 1 week break, they decided to went south from Penang for 3 stops before the end of the holidays and their first stop was here in Ipoh. I was their inexperienced tour guide, constantly thinking of places worth visiting here in Ipoh.

First day (20/09/09)
It's approaching 11am when they called me, telling me they're arrived but instead of the appointed McD's drive thru at the Ipoh Timur (is it where it's called, the one with Petronas beside it?), they ended up with Bangunan Perak besides them. So, I asked them to stop at the building opposite Padang Ipoh aka St. Michael's Institution, waiting for my arrival. When I reached, I led them back to my house in Bercham for them to put their stuffs first before we started our journey.

My proposed first stop was the Lost World of Tambun but due to the scorching heat, we decided to go later in the afternoon. Since their stomachs had been humming tunes, I brought them to experience the wait-to-sit-and-eat people here in Ipoh willing to do to get good food (not me though XD). We went to Kong Heng Kopitiam at Old Town for lunch. As expected, there's lots of people standing by the tables, waiting for the people occupied the tables to be merciful and eat their meals quickly. Luckily, we didn't get to wait long (15 minutes???) before our marked table was emptied. We ordered kai si hor fun, popiah, satay and Ipoh white coffees. You have to ask them whether it's nice or not since I'm pretty much used to it even it's been ages since I've been there but the kai si hor fun still so delicious!

Ipoh train station

Then, we went to the train station in Ipoh for some photo taking sessions. A weird spot, I know, but hey, not long after our arrivals, a bunch of Japanese tourists came by and did the same thing, so I guess our train station is an unique spot, right? After some serious photo taking sessions, we went to eat tong sui at a restaurant near Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah (should be the name of the street...). Not the one at Tong Sui Khai but around there la. Again, it's the same for me so if you want real comments, ask them.

We visited Ipoh Parade for some cooling down (it's hot out there!) and exploring before we went to Lost World about 4pm. The ticket for adult is RM 30 while for kid is RM 24, I think and the closing time for the theme park is 6pm. It's my first time there too even though the place is just about 5 minutes drive from my house. We didn't expect there'll be so much things to explore and play in it so with such short time left, we didn't really make full use of the place. It's not worth the money for us but if you went there early in the morning, like the moment it opened, RM 30 is rather cheap, I guess.

In Lost World of Tambun

We went back my house to freshen up ourselves before we went out for dinner. Where else if not the Lou Wong Ngah Choi Kai Restaurant, the all famous Ipoh ngah choi kai where everyone keeps associate it with Ipoh. It's like, if you visit Ipoh, ngah choi kai is a must. Again, the wait-to-sit-and-eat system applied here to even greater height as we waited almost 1 hour and 45 minutes, the same time used to travel from Penang to Ipoh, just to taste it. That's why me and my family only been there once, centuries back. Is it worth it, you asked? Of course...........(I'm not going back again if I got choice). Later, we went yum cha at Tong Kui (Ipoh Timur I think) before we called it a night.

Sunset from my house
The famous ngah choi kai...

Second day (21/09/09)
We were supposed to go Foo San Restaurant for dim sum early in the morning but since all of us can't seem to wake up, our proposed breakfast turned brunch by the time we reached there around 10.30am and boy, it's the same system all over again. After waited for a while, we decided to skip dim sum and went to Sun Seng Fatt Restaurant for some delicious curry mee. Seems like everywhere in Ipoh, there's people queueing up just to eat and Sun Seng Fatt is no exception. It's less crowded but it doesn't mean you don't have to wait. There's only one person taking orders and one person cooking the food. They really mm yau jou (if you can wait, wait, if not, you can leave now policy). At least I like the curry.

If only you can look at the crowd...

Then, our next stop, Sam Poh Tong. We used up almost 1 hour exploring Sam Poh Tong and its neighbours, Nam Tin Tong and Ling Sen Tong, paying our respects to the deities, taking pictures of the caves and all. Then, we went to Kinta City for some bowling sessions before we had our teas at Chatter Kopitiam.

Sam Poh Tong
The greenery inside Sam Poh Tong XD

We had bak kut teh at the Good Taste Restaurant near my area for dinner with my family. After that, we went to pasar malam at Gunung Rapat searching for smelly tofu. No idea why but they kept asking for it as if Ipoh is famous for smelly tofu. Too bad it didn't open tonight so no smelly tofu for them. After we finished scouting for snacks, we went touring around Ipoh for some night light. Then, we headed back home for early rest 'cause tomorrow we wanted to try our luck with Foo San again.

Night view in Ipoh...my shot XD

Last day (2322/09/09)
We woke up very early today (around 5.30+am) and prepared ourselves. When they finished packing their luggages (about 6.30+am), we started our trip to Foo San. Even at such early hour, it was still packed with people, though much less than yesterday. After waiting for 15+ minutes, we had our table, though shared with another family. We ate and enjoyed the dim sum a lot. Before I sent them to terminal bus, we went for another quick tour for another round of photo sessions.

ps- stupid blogger won't let me upload any photos (or is it Streamyx?) so gonna try later...
pps- super duper slow uploading pictures...already an hour only 4 pixs uploaded...
ppps- I had enough!
pppps- By the way, all photos thanks to KK (again, except for the last shot which was mine XD)

EWWWW...

While I was brushing my teeth, a fellow resident of my hostel came out from his shower (I presume...), holding a pair of drenched boxer (maybe he was washing it while showering?). He went to the sink next to me and continued washing his boxer.

Then, to my horror, he later used the wet boxer to wipe his face, using it as a face napkin to clean his face. I'm like, WTF!, when I saw that. Of course, my face remained neutral, hiding my shocked look. Duwan create any problem.

While I'm not sure how clean is his boxer, it's still unhygienic to use it to wipe your face. It's just...so unbelieveable!

*Going back home in less than 11 hours...yay!!!*

USM Exchange Programme

Last Wednesday, I went for a gathering of sort organized by the USM International Office regarding the Exchange Programme made available for USM students. It's a programme ran by an agreement between USM and the partner universities where USM will send and receive students for the duration of one to two semesters per exchange. The students will be enrolled in an overseas partner university, taking courses and sitting for exams with regularly enrolled students, meaning, it's just like any other semester except for the fact that you're in a foreign university.

Besides, the great thing about this programme, for me at least, is that I would only have to pay the normal USM tuition fee, which is only about RM600+, and not the host university's tuition fee, should I join the programme. Of course, it does not include all the expenditures I'm gonna spend on when I'm there like foods, accommodation, and so on but according to the data provided by the International Office, the average expenditure is roughly between RM15k to RM35k.

Honestly, I'm tempted to join the programme mainly because I want to experience the world. I really don't want to be trapped inside Malaysia for the rest of my life. Not that I'm saying Malaysia ain't great (it's your own opinion...) but I really want to see the world, to be as far away from here as I can. I wanna feel the four season for myself, visit the famous places through my own eyes and not other medium.

Of course, there's always a down side to everything. The only setback for me is that I have to extend my study year for another year to do my final year project. It means that I have to see my fellow friends and coursemates graduated a year earlier than me. It also means that I have to do my last year alone since none of my coursemates are interested in it (there's one but I'm not sure of her decision yet...).

I'm not really discouraged by it. I don't really mind extending another year but I kinda already plan to do my master overseas. The main reason to do master overseas is almost the same as joining the exchange programme. Since I'm already set my mind to it, why would I want to do this programme anyway? Some more, I have yet to discuss it with my parents. Hmm, don't think they will against it gua. Just the financial matter that worries me if I were to join it.

OK, let's just assume I took part in the programme and was selected (there's a selection, by the way). Of all the countries offered, I would choose either Canada, US, Australia or Singapore, Singapore being the lowest rank among the four. I choose these countries mainly for one reason, it's English speaking countries. I can't choose Japan or Korea since I don't know their languages and it's hard to survive if you can't communicate with the locals. Dah lah my English not that strong, some more want me to speak Japanese/Korean? At least with Canada, US and Australia, I can cut off the language barrier. But I need to take IELTS/TOEFL should I applied for universities from these countries as they don't accept MUET. Stupid MUET, wonders why we have to take it? Why can't they just integrated IELTS/TOEFL into our educational system?

I most likely would not take up courses that have anything related to what I'm studying at all when I'm there. Most likely I'm gonna take English or creative writing or something I wanted to do for fun.

Don't think too far first. Consult with my parents first.

T Music Festival, Awesome!

I just had my feet touched Penang's soils an hour ago or so after an exhilarating night at the T Music Festival, thanks to the great people of Nuffnang Malaysia. So, here's my journey from Penang to KL in a detailed but not too detailed manner.


11 Sept 2009
I came back from Gurney around 1+ am and slept around 2+ am only to wake up around 7+ am to prepare myself for the KL trip which I had yet to buy the ticket at that moment. I managed to get myself onto the 9.30am bus and reached KL around 2+ pm. The only reason I went to KL a day earlier was just to collect the concert tickets at the Nuffnang office at KL. If they allowed me to collect it in their Penang branch, I would have go to KL on the concert day itself which was on Saturday.

Anyway, after I reached KL, the first thing I did was to take the monorail to Medan Tuanku station and look for Nuffnang office. I circled around the area, unable to find it. Even asking people around the area were unhelpful. After calling their office and with some stroke of luck, I managed to arrive and collect the tickets.

My pair of tickets...

Their office was so nice and sophisticated. The whole ambiance emitted such a warm feeling. And of all places, I bumped into Dylan in the office. He also was collecting the tickets for the same concert. It's been so long since I last saw him. He didn't really change much.

After a brief catching up, we went to our separate station. I went to KL Sentral only to change to KTM Komuter to go to Mid Valley where I was to meet up with Audrey and Stefanie. I waited at Starbucks, having a cup of steaming hot chocolate, doing my assignment while waiting for their arrivals. Luckily, by the time they had arrived, I had finished with my work.

We went to Spaghetti Grill's to have our dinners. Of course, we talked and talked like a bunch of people who didn't talk for a while. Honestly, I missed talking to them. It was always filled with funny moments, what with Stef and Ida Nerina and all.

The environment feels like some American diner...
Chicken mushroom soup
Mozerella cheese stick as appetizer
Seafood pasta as main course

By the time we finished with our meals, Mid Valley was preparing to close and we had to say sayonara to each other. I went back to my uncle's house and took a rest before the concert tomorrow.

12 Sept 2009
I went to Time Square to have a walk while waiting for the grand arrival of my friend from Penang who will watch the concert with me. When she arrived, we went to watch Orphan before we went to Bukit Jalil for the concert. The movie was a blast, suspenseful and filled with excitement. Kudos must be given to the child actor playing Esther for being so malicious and evil.

Then, we went to Starbucks for take away dinner before we went to Bukit Jalil for the music blast. We were late a little bit since we thought it could not be on time, being Malaysian and all, but we were wrong, but those artists appeared first were those from local and lesser-knowns.

The concert went smoothly but halfway throughout the show, a major glitch happened. A fire around the cable was set up, causing black out for the concert. It took about 30-45 minutes for the organizers to fix the problems, making the audiences restless and some even left the concert. To make sure the people remain in their places, the emcees of the concert brought out an artist at a time, singing some part of the song to calm down the audiences.

The concert at first hour or so...
The fire on the cable causing black out which lasted for about 30-45 minutes

A short video of Soler performing...extremely low quality

For both me and my friend, only after the glitch both of us got excited as the artistes appearing then were top notch. We sang along with the lyrics appearing on the scenes (I sang based on how well I knew the songs since I don't even know most the characters in the lyrics...). When Joey Yung appeared, the last artist of the day, it was almost 2am by the time she finished.

Justin Lo appeared before David Tao and Joey Yung

Then, we took a shuttle bus back to Pudu Station where we waited at the McDonald's for our bus ride back to Penang. By the time we were on board, we were extremely tired. Overall, it was such a fantastic time we had.

Here, I feel like saying, THANK YOU, NUFFNANG!!!

Dental Visit

Just came back from Health Center, USM to have my teeth cleaned. As part of dental care provided by USM (and paid by us students...), we get to have our teeth cleaned twice a year, free tooth pasting, and some other basic dental cares. I just knew about it this semester, meaning I had missed out 2 free teeth washing on my first year. Haiz...

Honestly, I have never really visited a dentist before until now. All my baby teeth came out naturally, so, there's no need for a dentist. There's no cavity or any tooth pain that's need the help of a dentist. The closest contact I had with dentists were those dentists or dental nurses who came to school for basic check up once a year during my primary and secondary school lives and even they kept telling me my teeth were fine.

When the dentist first had a look at my teeth, she said the same thing, " Gigi awak tidak kotor, tiada kerosakan..." (your teeth not dirty, there's no cavity...) or something like this. I thought, of course lah, since I just brushed my teeth. Then, she proceeded with the cleaning. No idea what she did but I think it's (???) scaling (correct me if I'm wrong, dentist). All I know is the sound it emitted when the tool she used along with a suction (I think) when contacted with my teeth is quite geli (no idea how to translate it) and I tasted blood in my mouth when she asked me to spit the water in my mouth. Few more touch up and they're done with my teeth.

Before I went back to my room, she asked me to continue brushing my teeth twice a day and all. Well, I've been doing that for so long already.

RM 100 Reached!

When I checked my Nuffnang account yesterday (or the day before yesterday, can't remember when it is already...), something caught my eyes. I had reached RM 103.48 for all the advertisements I put on my blog! Yippee! Finally, after almost 9 months of blogging and advertisements being displayed, there's some rewards to it. Of course, blogging itself had bring a sort of satisfaction for me and I had met few new friends through blogging itself. Money is just some small financial rewards for me only. Got or not also not that important to me *so fake*...

Can see?

My stupid laptop can't let me print screen so I have to use my lousy camera phone and took a picture of it. I still have yet to cash it out as I'm not at my hometown yet. Later in the month perhaps...

By the way, is it weird that I had three small bowls of curry to eat along with a regular-sized roti telur bawang? I always had the notion that I eat roti telur bawang not for the roti but more for the delicious curry.

With just a lil bit of roti left, I asked for another small bowl of curry...
All dried up...

It's not weird, right?

My dinner/supper on last Friday...

Movie of the Day

This morning, I had a test on MAT 251, code for Operations Research. For the whole semester, I pretty much clueless about the subject. Even my body was in the lecture, my mind teleported itself to dreamland most of the time. So, for me, this subject is like one of those sure-die victims from Final Destination movies. Just a matter of how gory my death gonna be.

And speaking of death, after the cutthroat test, me and my coursemates went to Queensbay to watch, what else, The Final Destination. Originally was to go watch Laughing Gor but due to the conflict of time/space conundrum, we decided for Final Destination.

I remembered watching the first movie ways back when I was in my early teens, I think, and thought it was quite a nice flick but as more and more sequels kept chunking out, the death scenes became more and more creative what with the advancement of CGI and stuffs. So, we get more blood and guts and brains and whatever organs popping out in exchange for so-so actings and storylines. The first movie, plane crash. Second, highway crash. Third, roller coaster crash. Now, Nascar race crash, which is a cheat as Nascar and highway both involved cars.

Like any of the past movies in the series, Death has a unique ways of getting his claims. As if setting up those traps and freak accidents not enough trouble, he even gives the main character a gift, premonition of sort, where he get to see what weapons Death using and all, spicing things up. Maybe Death get the thrills from it, watching young people running around trying to save others.

Really, watching movies like these make you think lives are really fragile and there are just about anything can take your life away. However hard you may try, if Death really wants you on his table, you can't really do anything as there's no escape from Death. Shit! I kinda spoil the movie, didn't I? Aiyar, surely you know what to expect from a movie named Final Destination, right?

By the way, I think if you watch this movie in 3-D, it might be more fun. Though I watched it in normal cinema, I could see how those scenes will pop out from the screen and make it more enjoyable, which is very important as the movie really didn't offer anything new though I like the scene in the cinema where people get killed. I appreciate the humor the director had set up. And try notice the character names passing through in the credit. There's one named MILF and MILF's husband. Haha.

Oh yea, one thing does make me ponder. Why on earth you classify a movie 18 SG if you were to cut scenes where people curse? I mean, if you saw your friends/boyfriends/girlfriends die in some freakish ways, you won't say, "Oh, my, how gory." Of course it's " Fuck!/Son of the bitch!/Mother fucker!" It's the norm, people!