Early fall

Ah, I've been busy, busy, busy - meeting deadlines, studying for tests, sleeping a little less. School's definitely picking up pace now with two tests looming on the same day.

The weather's been pretty nuts lately. It was very windy yesterday and today while I was walking outside. We went over to the apartment complex across the street to prepare some curry for yesterday evening's Hari Raya celebration. I figured it wouldn't hurt to dash across the road in just a T-shirt, jeans, and my sandals. Bad idea. 2 minutes of walking made my lips really dry and kinda numb. Even my cheeks were so cold when I stepped into the building. Lesson of the day: Always, always put on a sweater when the weather forecast says that it's 10 degrees Celcius outside (and especially if it's windy) or risk feeling like you're walking against an air-conditioning unit right in front of your face.

I bundled up a bit more appropriately (but not too warmly) today to go to church. I love how fall gives people the opportunity to dress up! :D Sure, it gets a little annoying when the wind is blowing into my face and I can't even keep my hands exposed for too long, but ooh, the dressing up! I got myself a comfy white fleece fall coat (with a handy hood attached). It's so comfy! :D Yep, I blew quite a bit on clothes and footwear. *shakes head slowly* But I'm utilizing them pretty well, so yeah. :P

Weather forecast says it'll be a cloudy day tomorrow with a temperature of 15 degrees Celcius. Mmmm, appropriate time to bring my purple scarf out, I think. :D Oh, speaking of which, I got a winter jacket that makes me look like a weird seal. Seriously. When I put the furry hood on, my whole head kinda gets swallowed up in the hood and I peek out like a seal. Beng Yen laughed at my seal face in the store. Sigh... that's what roommates are for, no? :P

On a completely random note, we had bak kut teh today! Thanks to my awesome roommate who never lets me go hungry! :D It sure made me miss home for a while... sigh. Man, I miss home soooo much when I'm cold and hungry! Haha... yeah, yeah, I know. I talk to my parents a couple of times a week (most people I know do it every day O.O or at least on most days of the week - I feel like such a bad kid sometimes -_-) and I don't have a shortage of Asian food at all (have I ever mentioned that I eat rice every single day? Mhm. It's one of the best ways to keep Crystal happy!), so I shouldn't miss home toooo much. I do miss my family and my pets very dearly though. No one gets me quite like my family does. And no amount of squealing at squirrels and chipmunks or enviously staring at people's dogs can make up for not having my own pets around. :(

Anyhoo, I shouldn't be all sappy now. Time to get back to work!

Have a good day/evening, wherever you are in the world! (And thanks for contributing to the diversity in my traffic feed haha!)

End of semester

HELLO!

I finally have some time to blog. I've been so busy in the past two weeks that I could barely find time to sit down and do what I really wanted to do without feeling the slightest bit of guilt, let alone set aside time to type out a proper blog post. But I have some time to spare tonight because, well, SCHOOL JUST ENDED! More precisely, today was the last day of classes in INTI for us. Last class of our last semester here. You know, when I first came here, a part of me really couldn't wait to leave this place for so many reasons, but right now, I actually feel kind of sad because I have to leave all the great people I came to know here. Anyway, let's leave the weepy things for later.

(This post will be a very long, wordy one - because I'm just like that! And also because I can't seem to upload any photos right now, so all you'll be seeing is words. Ah!)

So I've been preoccupied for the last couple of weeks with this thing that we call a mock trial. Our US History professor holds mock trials for all the classes he teaches. And despite what anyone might tell you, we actually enjoy these things a lot. Well, for the most part, anyway. I lost some sleep over this but I will say that it was all well worth it. I fell a little ill just two days before the trial (and freaked myself and my teammates out a bit), but I refused to let it stop me from doing as I'd planned.

Here's a brief introduction to those who are not familiar with this mock trial thing. What happens is that the class is split into groups (two or four, depending on the class size) assigned one or two cases respectively. The cases are nominated by students and chosen based on votes by students. So, in my class, we were divided into four teams because the class is pretty big. There are an average of 8 to 9 people per team.

One of our cases is about child abuse in a Puritan family (I suggested this and thought I'd end up in this case, but it didn't happen - and truth be told, I wasn't too crazy about this topic because my sociology mock trial was about child abuse too). The other case is about a Puritan priest who hung his wife because, according to him, she was a witch. (Puritans are the people who settled New England and broke away from the Catholic Church with the aim to "purify" the church - less ornate churches, less elaborate services.)

I ended up being randomly placed into the defense team in the priest trial. After a round of brainstorming, we picked out our characters (that made up our witness list) and started work. We met a couple of times every week, normally one day before classes, to discuss the case because we got developments in every class. Before long, everyone started getting into it and developing their own roles. It was quite fun seeing how everyone began thinking about their own parts and coming up with the brightest ideas out of the blue.

Anyway, after preparing for a month or so, we had the trial on Tuesday evening. I'd spent my weekend and Monday typing, editing, organizing, texting, calling, holding meetings, typing, editing, re-organizing. I camped in the academic block from 8 am to 11.30 pm on Monday. Yeah, in the same clothes for 16 hours. I was shocked too. The whole day was spent with minimal food and rest and near maximum freak out mode. Not too good a mix if you ask me, but it had to be done. By the time I'd reached my room, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I had to stay up til 3 am to finalize the evidences. The most tiring part was probably editing and organizing the evidences because we had to make sure that the evidences were fair in the sense that they followed the case developments closely and did not contradict anything else in our arguments (I think I should clarify at this point that we create the evidences - because this is fake, remember? :P)

Come Tuesday, I was a mix of emotions. I was excited, anxious, worried - anything but relaxed, in short. But the clock was ticking and whatever I was feeling had to be shoved to the back burner because suddenly my teammates were coming up to me and asking me random questions like, "Crystal, how old am I supposed to be again? 33? And my WIFE?!". And I assume you know how short my fuse can get when I'm stressed out (I consider myself pretty patient in my normal state, but when I'm highly strung, just don't try me). So there was a considerable amount of forehead slapping and hand flailing done before the trial.

I even managed to catch some sleep in the office (and people from the other case watched me through the glass door - really, is a sleeping figure that intriguing?) before the trial began. I'd planned to get myself dinner at the eatery on-campus but Wei Yiing said that it doesn't serve heavy meals at that hour. So I just had some sandwiches and decided that I couldn't stomach anymore food at that time. I fed on more water than solid food. :S

The trial went very well. There were some blunders along the way (like me cleverly blocking the jurors' view of the screen, laughing uncontrollably while questioning one of my witnesses, and forgetting to use one of our most important piece of evidence - really kicked myself for that last bit), but overall, I was very pleased with the way it turned out. All my teammates were sufficiently prepared (I bugged them about their questions for a week and made them answer questions off the top of their heads whenever I felt like it - I sound cruel now, don't I?). They could answer well even during the cross examinations and I was very happy about that. We'd anticipated and covered most of the things brought up in the cross examinations, but they handled even the unexpected questions very coolly. The best part is, they all got into their roles so well! :D

To cut a very long story short, there were a few objections and a few heated moments, but they just added on to the excitement. The only thing I'm still a bit apprehensive about right now is that since the mock trial ended, my friends have taken to humming the Jaws soundtrack whenever they see me. According to them, I looked scary whenever I approached the prosecution's witnesses. In all honesty, let me tell you that I did not frown or glare. All I did was walk toward them as I would toward anyone else. I guess my jurors and audience were just reading too much into my facial expression. Tsk. :P I guess I shall have to bear with this Jaws reference for just a few more days. (Because this isn't the worst part. That goes to them linking me to somebody whom they think I have a relationship with. Wow, it's like high school all over again!)

Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better and more entertaining team. I had to spend more than usual on my phone credit. And my phone was constantly running low on battery. But it was okay. I had to forgo a few hours of mugging time to meet everybody to discuss their roles, but I managed to work around that. Most importantly, I got to know my classmates better and discover what awesome people they are. That was really the highlight of this experience. :)

Oh, wait. My defendant was found not guilty. You cannot imagine how I felt when the foreman announced that. Seth (my defendant) looked genuinely relieved and, boy, was I relieved. It redeemed all the time and effort we'd put in. At times, it felt like the case was never going to play into our side because he looked so bad what with his extramarital affair and questionable actions. I mean, he hung his wife! I was initially worried because I didn't think I could defend a priest who took it upon himself to kill his wife because he thought that she was a witch.

People congratulated me after the verdict was out. They said I did a good job - with the interrogation, especially. But I don't want or need the credit. I played my role to the best of my abilities as did everyone else. Every member of the team deserves credit. I think people tend to overlook the big picture and focus on the lawyer, but it is really the small things that can make all the difference (it doesn't really matter how awesome your lawyer is; if your witnesses suck, chances are the jurors won't be impressed and might get a bad idea of your team anyway).

Working on the mock trial was taxing, but it was well worth it. I knew it when I was sitting in the front row, listening to my witnesses during their cross examinations. I can't believe how seriously we took everything, but it was kind of heart-warming to see that. I do feel like a proud mama now! :)

I'd love to show you photos and videos (and major bloopers in a few videos!) of my team, but I can't upload anything here right now, so I think that will have to wait until I can get a connection that is stable enough to allow me to post photos. You may check them out on my Facebook profile. They're all there - from Wendy's and Olivia's cameras. Thank you, my dear photographers. :)

If anything, this mock trial showed me that I did have a very good time in this college (or university, whichever you prefer - by the way, I'm considered a university student because this program goes toward my degree) despite the times when I complained about small stuff. This trial wrapped up this semester just nicely.

And I am happy to say that my social circle has expanded a lot thanks to this place.

Can you tell how happy I am right now? I'm happy to the point of being sappy. :P

This was an awesome experience. :D

First time

It's been a crazy week. And there may be more crazy weeks to come!

As of now, I am already overwhelmed by work (alright, in all honesty, I've been caught in a bigger flood). Tonight will be devoted to my major speech outline. And then there's that mini debate going on in class to prepare for. (I am thrilled to get another feel of debate - it's been too long.) On top of that, there are other deadlines to meet, persuasive speech topics to come up with, and other tests to take.


My answer to the question posed in the photo is TODAY! I agreed to be the defense attorney in my History class' mock trial. I remember going through my Sociology mock trial in my second semester. I regretted not signing up to be the lawyer because I ended up doing most of the lawyer's job and I enjoyed it (but it did not come without many sleepless nights and head-cracking brainstorming and script writing sessions).

Oh, and guess what takes the cake? My opposing counsel is... Wei Yiing. In case you don't know, she happens to be... oh, just one of the people who know just about my every movement and feeling practically around the clock. And I happen to treat her room like my own. Which might drive this point home now. I'm coming head to head with a close friend. We did not plan for this to happen! I think I shouldn't have looked too shell shocked in front of the whole class when the opposing counsel was announced, though, in my defense, she had an equally disbelieving look on her face. Our professor laughed and said he'd bring in boxing gloves jokingly. And the whole class knows that we come to class and leave it together every lecture. Kantoi or not, I ask you? Anywayyyyyyyyy, that's it for trials. Gonna be interesting.

In other news... um, the vacation plan? It isn't going so well. There's a big snag in our plans (and it involved a lot of anger that eventually simmered to frustration and then finally resolve) but we're coming up with alternatives now. Hope all goes well from now on.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

Under the weather

... get better. Yesterday, after a test which I felt I bombed (sigh), I came back to my room and had a massive headache. I quickly dismissed it as a typical post-test headache, so I decided to sleep it off in between reading my History textbook. The nap didn't do much. After Homes, I was exhausted. I went to sleep with some flu relief balm and a lot of pain relief balm on. (Have I ever mentioned that I think I have the biggest medicine supply among my friends? This observation has been true since our first semester.) This morning, I woke up with a throat that felt like it was scraped times over while I was slumbering. Not a good sign. I couldn't even finish up my breakfast because of the pain.

Oh, I shall now interrupt this woe is me rant to tell you why I think that I have overcome another hurdle labeled 'social reservations'. Today, I decided to put on my new denim skirt because long jeans are really the worst things you can wear on a hot day (which is almost every day here right now) and truth be told, I don't know why I still wear them every single day (okay, maybe this has to do with the fact that 1. skirts aren't too practical every day and 2. I can't find other pants that don't trap as much heat as jeans do).

Anyway, the hose in the washroom cubicle decided that today is the day to bestow upon an unfortunate soul the honor of walking around with a wet skirt! While I was locking the door, I accidentally knocked against the hose which had its nozzle pointed directly at me and its handle (or whatever you call that thing you press - I know, my vocab is dismal) was right up against the wall. So as you can guess, a jet of water made a big and very unsightly mark on my skirt.

What amazed me is that I didn't freak out immediately. In fact, I calmly stepped out of the cubicle, and then after a couple of seconds, started to panic. But tell me, which girl wants to walk around with a splotch of water (or goodness knows what) on her behind in front of anyone at all, let alone a campus of over 5000 students? SEE. Anyway, I decided that a wet behind (as painfully visible as it was) wasn't going to stand between me and my lunch (such was my level of hunger). So off to lunch we went, me tottering along with a wet skirt. I should've been mortified, I know, but I think it wasn't too bad.

So, you know, those sociology books really aren't lying when they tell you that no one actually cares how you look (no matter how many times you dab some gloss, run the mascara wand on your lashes, and preen in front of the mirror). Anyway, have you ever realized that everyone's just busy thinking of themselves all the time? C'mon, admit it, you would've done it too, at some time or another. Researching for my major presentation in public speaking has rekindled my love for reading up on sociological articles.

Oh, so where was I? I feel better now! In the span of two paragraphs, I have managed to warm up a bit (turned off the air-conditioning and put on a jacket and shawl). I'll be letting the medicine take effect soon. I do hope I'll get better. There's so much to get done this weekend!

Um, okay, I shan't bore you with my woeful post. Time to get some work done.

Have a good weekend, everyone! :)

Undertones

We've just started Week 4. There's a part of me that is still going huh, where did the past three weeks go to? And then there's the other part that's soaking in historical facts, solving linear systems, and reciting speeches. Yeah, that's what I've been doing because I'm taking US History I, Linear Algebra, and Public Speaking this semester. You might be thinking, what an odd combination (if you're not in or familiar with the American education system), but that's just how we roll here. :)

Now for something unrelated. I've been having weird dreams. Like one involving our dog turning into a white and light brown Collie-looking dog when in actual fact, it's going to grow into a dark brown and black dog. Even in the dream, I was confused! (I'm starting to think this may be due to hugging Dodol too much. Now I'm starting to mix his color up with Lassie's... huh.) And I hate that stupid too-big contact lenses dream. I know I'm not artistically inclined, but can't I be just a bit more creative in my dreams? My subconscious deludes me.

If you're wondering if I still do have a life filled with more than just facts, numbers, and me talking to myself while staring at objects lined up on my desk and bed (this technique actually helps me... although it does start to get a little creepy after 10 minutes or so of doing it in a room alone), and weird subconscious thoughts, yes, I do.

With Ji Ding and Ruth at MidValley a couple of weeks ago. :)

Now on to being a fact sponge again.

Exploring Melaka

Hello!

To start off, I'd like to say that I had an awesome week! It really feels like I've been back here for more than just a short two weeks, because I feel like I've already done so much more. I have to say, realizing that this is our last semester together here has injected a new sense of adventure in us. Or maybe it is just me. Either way, I think it's quite enjoyable. ;)

Yesterday, Wei Yiing, Bee, Olivia, Shervin, Yat Sin, Poh Yee, Ei Leen, and I set out from here to Seremban at 6.10 am. That is really, really early because I can't even remember the last time I woke up at 5.00 am, took a hot shower, had a complete breakfast, and stayed awake and alert for the whole day after that. Despite the terribly early hour, I was psyched for our trip to Melaka. I initially expected to nod off in the train on the way to Seremban, but we occupied ourselves by playing charades. I think the train does not usually have so many laughing college kids in one carriage at any time before 6.30 am.

When we arrived in Melaka, we were rearing to go and explore the place and not to mention try the food! Our first stop was the Stadhuys where the bus stopped. After the obligatory touristy photo taking session, we headed to St Paul's Church where we looked at old tombstones and took more touristy photos. From there, we moved on to A Famosa, where we had fun with the neat looking floor and the cannons. More photo taking ensued.

After walking around the hilly area, we decided that it was time for lunch. We walked along flat land to get to the bridge heading to Jonker Walk. Our food quest was certainly the highlight of our trip. We stopped by a chicken rice stall that Karyn had recommended. The chicken rice balls were good. It's not that much different from normal chicken rice except that it has a denser texture and it is more sticky. The shape is really cute, too. :P The asam fish we had was awesome. I'm not one for asam dishes, but that one got me. I actually enjoyed eating fish! To top off our lunch, we crossed the road to a cendol stall and had some good ol' cold cendol. There is really nothing better than an icy dessert on a hot day! The guy operating the stall even took our photo and told us that he'd upload it on Facebook! (I've yet to look his page up.)

After our makan session, we did some window shopping. We entered almost all the souvenir shops along the rows where the chicken rice and cendol stores are. Jonker Gallery got us girls hooked. We entered all but one of the stores. :P We found some really good bargains on accessories, and, oh, how could we resist? Thankfully, we spent very little on souvenirs. The bulk of our expenses came from transportation and food.

After souvenir shopping, we took a time out by having more dessert - this time, at a really cool stall that offers durian-flavored ais kacang and cendol. I tried the durian ais kacang since I'd already had cendol earlier and I totally do not regret it. It tasted so good that I think I could've easily had another bowl of it! Once we'd decided that we'd had a long enough pit stop, it was on to the temples. Me, Ei Leen, and Yat Sin spent more time in another souvenir shop while the rest toured the oldest temple in the country and then another temple opposite the road. We sure made full use of our umbrellas yesterday as it was scorching hot.

More walking followed as we made our way to three museums. I don't remember all their names, but I do remember that one of them is the navy museum. The first one that we entered is the one housed in a replica of a ship. That time, I was already feeling worn out, so I took the time to unwind as we walked through the belly of the ship, looking at the exhibits. Two museums after that, it was time to whet our appetite again. (Don't we sound like complete gluttons now? Uh-oh.) After a quick call to a Melaka resident, we made our way back to Jonker Walk. We dined at Nancy's Kitchen following Sher Minn's recommendation, where we had authentic Baba Nyonya food. We had two chicken dishes, one vegetable dish, and a fish. It was a really scrumptious dinner that left me sated and really happy.

We were hoping to catch the 5.30 pm bus back to Seremban but by the time we piled into the uncle's car (he owns the restaurant; he offered us a lift - for a fee - to the bus station), it was already only 10 more minutes to 5.30 pm. We missed the bus by a few minutes, so we spent the next hour in McD where we split all the tabs and carried out all our monetary transactions. I couldn't resist getting myself a sundae (oh, I can hear Wei Yiing going you pig now). I guess my tired face must have lit up when I scanned the menu because Yat Sin said, oh, aren't you happy to see ice cream? I should've just stepped away from the counter! Meh.

The journey back to Seremban was filled with peals of laughter caused by weird and funny photos in both cameras that were brought along. Despite all the laughter, I could feel tiredness really getting to me, so I decided to take a nap. I did manage to doze off for a while, but when I woke up, there was a pain in my neck because of the position of the head rest. I was really thankful that the bus is comfortable and clean, though. Apparently, everyone felt a tad bit refreshed after cat napping on the bus because we were back to being noisy on the train on the way back to Nilai. This time, we did not play charades, though. :P

By the time we reached hostel grounds, it was already 10 pm. We grabbed some burgers for supper (strangely enough, we got hungry even after all the food we'd consumed) and then headed back about half an hour later (shortest supper session ever). I couldn't wait to jump into bed and sleep, but there was still some packing to do for school. My eyelids were heavy and my legs were tired. I searched high and low for my tube of Flanil but I couldn't find it (this morning, I found it in my bag), so I went to sleep with all the aches.

All in all, it was a really enjoyable trip, as I'd expected. Not only did I get to try authentic Melaka food, but more importantly, I got to spend some quality time with friends who made me laugh so much in just one day and who totally made my week. I think that's just awesome. :D

Treasure trove

Look what I found in my old photo albums!

Debbie and I at Julita's birthday party.

Fateen and I during Raya '06, I think.

When digital cameras were all the rage. (By the way, that's our 3A1 shirt.)

BB/GB carolling at our home. :)

Christmas carollers from BB and GB. :D

BB/GB Annual Gathering '06 - Hawaiian Night - uhhh, yeah. :P (I DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT SKIRT IS ANYMORE, DON'T GIMME THAT LOOK!)

BB/GB Annual Gathering '06 organizers.

Nett and I. :)

At the Friendship Park when it was new. (Oh, the days of zits... ARGH!)

Chia Hsin and I when we were so young and innocent at 14. (I don't think either of us can imagine looking like that again!)

Keeping up our Lantern Festival tradition at Chia Hsin's home. :D (I forgot when this was taken.)

Ah, the good ol' days when digital cameras were so new and amazing! Now that we all have cell phones with built-in cameras that can contend with real cameras and dSLRs (no, I don't know what it stands for) that can make amateurs take photos almost like professionals, gone are the days when digital cameras are all the hype.

I love these photos, even if they do make me cringe sometimes, and go 'the hair! the zits! the eyebrows! the atrocity!'. (Well, I've already discovered hair care techniques, facial products that work, shavers and tweezers for eyebrows - and yes, they hurt, but whatevaaah - so thank goodness for all that!)

If you're wondering what possessed me to go dig up all my old fugly photos (okay, so I'm not completely over the eyebrows... can you blame me?), well... I just felt like it. :)

Taking a breather in the city

I had the whole day free to do anything I please today. So my shopping partner and I headed off to 1Utama with the guys and a car. Do you know how happy we are to venture into civilization every once in a while? :P

Lunch and dinner were mediocre. My first Italiannes experience could have been better, I guess, but I ended up forcing myself to finish up my plate of spaghetti because the tomato flavor was getting really overwhelming. Remind me not to eat anything tomato-related for the next week or so. A Carls Jr burger made for a quick dinner. Also a first for me as the only thing I'd ever tried in Carls Jr before this is the wedges. All in all, not the best meals I'd had outside, especially between shopping walks, but they were alright la.

We watched Surrogates after lunch. It is an okay movie, in my opinion. The parts with a lot of action were exciting and intense. But there were a few confusing parts when one character acted in several roles. Go watch it and you'll get what I mean. Not being a fan of action movie may make my views slightly biased, but I think it isn't anything to shout about. You get to see Bruce Willis acting as a depressed, frustrated man who plays out his life as an FBI agent through his surrogate. And everyone else is just as fake because no real humans are actually going out of their homes to live their lives on their own. Instead, they just sit at home in their pajamas and control their surrogates. It's kinda creepy, actually. My rating is a 3/5.

We did plenty of walking but much less buying than I'd expected. I forgot to buy a brush for my broken lipstick. :( And I originally wanted to get a new ring but I just couldn't find one/a bunch that I liked. We entered so many stores but ended up empty-handed. What is this la... On the other hand, it didn't make me feel so guilty for splurging on another pair of jeans. This is the last pair I'm buying this year. (Yeah, two more months to this year, and I say this.. Heh) But I can justify! :P Dorothy Perkins stocks reasonably priced jeans that fit me, so buy I say. :D

So that wraps up today. I actually have a lot of other things to mention, like the orchestra concert that I attended two weeks ago, but there are some things that need to be done at the moment.

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

Berjeng-jeng

I feel unusually hyper tonight. And the only sweet stuff I had were one cup of cherry cordial drink, one Mentos and two packets of oat biscuits. Hmmmm.

Since I came back from church, I've been running through my music presentation slides and playing air piano. Yeah, air pianooo. Jeng jeng jenggg! (Told you I'm hyper) I put on my earphones, played Only Hope on my music player, and started tapping my desk like it is a piano (because that's the song I'm playing tomorrow - my first choice was actually a Clayderman piece, but I was told that 'it's overplayed', sooooo..). And I could actually catch myself 'playing' the wrong notes. WAH. The power of air piano! *fist pump*

It's been at least three years since my last public piano performance, so I really, really hope that I'll do really well tomorrow. I've been practicing very hard for this performance, with all the zest that I could muster. (I even stayed in the room with a big cockroach because I just needed to practice - for two hours! Cockroach! Me! Same room! TWO hours! PHEW)

So this is it. My public speaking and musical skills shall be put to the test.

Eh. This kinda reminds me of how hyper I was when we were in Kapit two years back, preparing to battle our debate opponents. Ah, the good ol' days of running from room to room barefooted, falling asleep on the bed that wasn't assigned to me, pacing the room, brainstorming, shouting, walking, worrying, screaming, crying, winning, losing, feeling. Ah, that feeling... 'twas a very good time indeed. :)

I sidetracked again, didn't I? Oops.

Here's to a good week ahead, everyone! :)

Wrap-up

Hello. It is the last day of September 2009. According to Malaysian time, there is approximately 11 minutes left to this day.

It has been a month of (mostly) relaxation. Entering a short semester felt different from starting another long semester. For one, I took subjects that I hadn't been in touch with since July of last year. It took some readjusting and recollection before my gears started turning more smoothly. (Does knowledge really go away? Or is it stored somewhere we don't know how to fully access?)

I turned 19 this month. Celebrating my 19th year of life was nothing big, as I'd expected. After all, the whole birthday hype gets played down more with age. But this year I got more than I'd wanted. Here in school, I had my own little pizza/birthday cake celebration a few days before the real day. I also got to go home and celebrate my birthday by waking up late and doing whatever I wanted for the rest of the day that ended with a big, scrumptious dinner. And then I returned home to resume my position in front of the big box, I think. That was pretty much it.

Oh, presents. Che che brought me some stuff which I love (and a whole lot of chocolates that kinda scare me when I see them all at once). Friends here got me two muffins, a black and white pashmina, a bottle of body lotion, and a box of blueberry puffs from M&S that I love. And just yesterday, Sher Minn delivered a banana key chain she made out of felt cloth. (Get the symbolism?) :D Thanks for the gifts, everyone. :)

Ah, September. How it whizzed right by.

It's past midnight now. Into October we roll.

Woohoo!

It's been quite a week!

I've been wrecking my sleep pattern - again - so what else is new? I have also discovered that sometimes, it's okay to do what you want to do and not give in to outside influences, as long as it is a good decision and it pays off in the end. And I'm regaining my skills in conducting Chemistry experiments! Having not done any natural science subjects in over a year, I knew that whatever knowledge that I'd acquired prior to my time here might have more than just evaporated from the crevices of my mind. But I'm finding myself slowly recalling the things that I'd already learned and done before. Now if only I can find my old Chemistry notes...

Now that both my tests are over and done with, it's time to kick back and relax for a bit. We're already halfway into the semester; I really didn't think that time would fly by so much faster in this short semester. It's kind of scary sometimes when I take a look at the calendar and realize that we're nearing the final exam dates faster than I'd thought we are. It's like a time warp took place.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. In the afternoon, I managed to indulge in a McD meal, watch 4 episodes of House back to back, paint all my nails, and do nothing else that is remotely productive. I couldn't have felt more contented, just bumming around in my room, filling the air with the smell of nail polish and the sound of House picking on his team of doctors.

In the evening, I ordered in pizzas for dinner. While I was wolfing down the last bit of my pizza slice, a cake was placed on the pantry table. I stared at it blankly for a second too long before realizing that it was a birthday cake - my birthday cake! It turned out that the girls had planned to have pizza to celebrate my birthday (the funny thing is that I placed the order and paid for the food... hello, where's my reimbursement? Haha!) while they hid the cake in Beng Yen's room. I didn't suspect a thing. Sneaky, you all! But a big thank you goes to Wei Yiing, Karyn, Beng Yen, Wendy, Olivia, and Bee for the celebration! :D

After dinner, it was karaoke time! I sang for three hours (with mini breaks in between when I either wasn't familiar with the song or just tired) with Wei Yiing and Olivia. We left the place with clothes and hair that reeked of cigarette smoke. Ergh. But I really enjoyed the karaoke session! That made my third time K-ing here. I wanna go to a better place next time. :P

Right now, I have a big load of laundry to do. I've got to pack up too because I'm going home tomorrow for a short break. I've been waiting for this for so long (not the break itself, but something else). I'm so excited! :D

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Shift

If there is one thing that stands out as a contrast between being a kid and a teenager (I'm still entitled to say that for another year), I'd say it's the consciousness of time. When you're a kid, you barely remember time passing by. It just seems like every day blends into each other to form the few years that your memory stores under 'childhood'. And then when you step into school, you begin remembering timelines a bit more clearly. As you progress into the stage of the terrible teens, you start breaking down the years into more significant events that form your memories. And then when you turn into an adult, you stop for a moment one day, and think, who am I now?

Now that I'm on the threshold of adulthood, I think that if there is one thing that I would've told my younger self if I were given the chance to travel back into time, I'd say live more. There is a part of me that I've never quite recognized and acknowledged until recently. When someone asks me what is one of my biggest regrets of the past, I always get stumped, because one, I don't want to come across as being ungrateful/bitter/selfish/delusional, etc, and two, people always say that you can't change things that have already happened, so just derive lessons from them and live with them. But, now, if someone asks me that question again, I have an honest answer.

One thing that I regret about my past is being too introverted. I have vague recollections of my kindgarten friends. I remember them mostly from photographs, but I don't know any of them now that we've all grown up and gone our separate ways. In primary school, I had my clique, as did everyone else. But my social circle was very small, limited to those whom I knew for a long time and was very familiar with. Back then, one of the things I dreaded the most was facing strangers because it gave me a feeling of not belonging. I simply disliked being forced out of my comfort zone. Come secondary school, I did better in expanding my social network, meeting people outside of the classroom and mingling with new people.

But I wish that I could've a bit more like what I am now. I know, most of my friends who are reading this right now are probably going she's saying WHAT?, but I don't blame them because they only knew me when I was already more outgoing and less highly strung. Before this, I didn't think that I was a people person, but the last two years have opened up my mind a lot as to how I view myself. Reflecting back, I realized that I've progressed rather far, from a recluse to where I am now. (Okay, maybe I should say very far, given my penchant for speaking and my loudness that has advanced in its appearance from very rare to very common. Sigh.)

Somewhere along the way, I must've taken a turn and decided that enough is enough. Today, I'm glad for that.

Quirks

There are many ways in which I am sloppy (you'd know if you've seen my desk before... heh), much as I hate to admit it. But these are two of the things that I hate to be shoddy: assignments or projects, and my bed. I absolutely dread editing sometimes, but deep down, there is a part of me that itches like crazy to proofread and edit my written assignments. Many a times, I've been tempted to hand in my assignments without more than just a glance through the finished product, but I've always ended up staying up late at night, vowing to catch every single error that I can. Sometimes it makes me feel obssessive, almost.

The thing about my bed is that I have a self-imposed rule of making my bed right after waking up. I can be bumbling around while going to shower, but there is no way that I am leaving my bed unmade and extremely rumpled. I don't quite bother about tucking in the sheets and smoothing out the wrinkles, but I absolutely must fold up my blankets and position my pillows properly. If I don't, the mess will just keep on catching my eye to the point where it annoys me.

So, the last few days have been a bit crazy, with the amount of typing and editing that I've done. The assignment has finally been handed in, so I can finally stop obssessing over the spacing, font type, alignment, and especially the sentence structures. Argh. Do we all suffer from a bit of OCD? And today was one of the very few days during which I left the room with my bed unmade. I woke up to a very bright room and my roommate's voice, 4 minutes before my class started. I felt like such a champion. I literally leapt off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. And yeah, I left my bed with a tangle of blankets on it and my pillows thrown haphazardly into a pile near the head of the bed. I felt like such a slob. :(

I know, all this coming from the girl whose Calculus notes (bound with a comb bind) has almost shredded in the front and back and whose pencil case is always stuffed with junk (but may I proudly proclaim that it has changed since I got myself a small pencil case that can't fit anything but the necessities) is kind of weird. But I'm just like that. I'm a bit dumbfounded as well.

On an unrelated note, I plugged in my (almost about to die on me) earphones to listen to some music while studying in the library just now (yeah, because I'm just geeky like that). I got so bored with my playlist that I ended up going from song to song for at least 2 minutes. Recently, I got Love Hurts in my playlist and I have to say, I didn't listen to it quite well before this. The song has really grown on me, despite its somewhat painful lyrics.

Love hurts,

But sometimes it's a good hurt,

And it feels like I'm alive...

How it is a good hurt, I still cannot comprehend. But then again, I've never been in love.

Sneak peek

I've had an awesome few days. This is a sneak preview of what went on for the last few days. More photos are coming in the next post. :D

Anyway,

Friday: Cal3 Test 2 after 4 hours of classes (right before the test, we have 2 hours of Cal3 class), advance enrollment, (and I hope to be able to squeeze lunch in somewhere in between all that... hmm), and then it's time to step into civilization again! :D

Saturday: Enjoy sleeping and bathing someplace nicer than this room. Walk around and satisfy my need for some nice visual input. Harry Potter in the afternoon (you have my permission to give me the look). Partaaaaay at night!

Sunday: Sleep in, maybe, and then walk around, and then come back to Ululand.

Monday: Public holidayyyyyyyyy (for Negeri Sembilan only, I think?). More like a resting period for us after all the mugging and then the fun. XP

Anyhooooooooo, here's to hoping y'all will have a great weekend ahead! Updates when I'm back. :)

Stepping out in faith

I don't know what I've been staying up at night for.

There are so many things I don't know. The more I know, the more I discover I don't know.

In case I haven't been the greatest friend as of late, I apologize. There have been so many things happening recently. There are times when I felt so lost, so broken - times I don't talk about because doing so brings back unwelcome thoughts. But there have also been very good times - times that remind me of how fortunate I am to be who I am and to have such wonderful friends. I am really sorry if I haven't exactly been playing my part on the other end. This will blow over soon, I hope.

Tonight's cell group discussion on faith is one that is timely and meaningful. In a time like this, it gives me comfort to read Hebrews 11 because it speaks of something that I must have to pull through. I know that I cannot do this on my own, that I cannot lean simply on my own understanding. For that, I admit my weaknesses and I know that He will guide me through because no problem is too big for Him to handle. I was once introduced to the idea of thinking of getting rid of my worries by telling God that I'm casting my worries, doubts, and anxieties into a box that he will take care of. Sometimes when I pray, I visualize all the negativity inside of me being transferred into that box that He will get rid of and I feel better.

All it takes is faith.

Of a dog and a Pokemon

I had a very strange dream while napping on Friday afternoon.

I was at my grandparents’ place with my parents. It seemed as though we were the only people in the house. Outside, the gate was opened and there was a small dog running outside. It was hyper, practically bouncing from spot to spot. From afar, it looked very small and cute.

In a flash, the dog started chasing something. I hurried over and saw that it was in a face-off with a racoon (never mind the fact that I’ve never even seen a racoon in reality). The first thing I did was whip my phone out to capture the moment. But my phone failed me. I couldn’t click on capture and I got frustrated.

There was someone else standing nearby. My sister, I think? I wasn’t paying much attention. Anyway, I said, “LOOK! Rechu!” Like, WHAT ON EARTH is a RECHU?! I wanted to say racoon, but it came out as ‘rechu’. Great. Even in my dream, I thought, that sounds like Raichu (picture below).

Err. So anyway, the racoon (I forgot to mention that it was really, really cute with adorable eyes) managed to scamper off and escape the hyper/irritated dog. I went back into the house, feeling kinda weird (must’ve been that semi-reference to a Pokemon). And then when I asked whose dog that was, my dad said, “Oh, that’s our new dog. I bought it for about a hundred bucks and left him here.” At that moment, the dog bolted through the door and came into the living room. That was when I realized how small it really was.

“Is it a Chihuahua?” I scrutinized the dog, not quite liking its size and demeanor.

“I don’t know. I just bought it.” Typical response from Daddy. :P

“Why didn’t you leave it at home and bring Patsy (our own dog at home) here instead?”

Woah. I was mean to Patsy in my own dream. Sorry, Patsy, Che che love you big time despite your sloppiness and your stupidity sometimes. :P She's really adorable when she greets me whenever I stand in the wet kitchen. (I love how my pets respond to me every time I come home after a couple of months – it’s very endearing.)

The duh part of the dream is this: it ended there lah.

I chalk up the randomness of the dream to exhaustion.

Notice

Alright, I am here with very brief news. I shall be away for five (ok la, a bit more like four if you count the hours) days for camp.

I have heard about insects, leeches, and a lot of mud being part of the camp. So what does one do in such a case? Buy insect repellent spray lah. Uhuh. Here's to hoping I won't need to use it at all.

Oh, yeah. I will be disconnected from my gadgets starting this afternoon. No Internet, no cell phone. So if there is anything urgent, just leave me a message and I'll get back to you when the camp's over.

It's been one heck of a semester. I'm looking forward to going back home this week. WHEEEEEEEE!

Posts will be scheduled just because I have a lot to say like that. :P

Have an awesome week, everyone! :)

Much Love.

Actions

My brain is now wired to think of my whole day in terms of hours. We are now in the 14th hour of the day.

What I have done from the 10th to 14th hour today:

• Mug
• Stress
• Watch an emotional episode of Grey's Anatomy
• Enjoy lunch in front of my laptop
• Mug
• Send a bunch of SMS-es
• Mug
• Mug
• Mug

I just tried pronouncing universalizability and got my tongue twisted so badly that it sounded more like universalizababelity. Aih. That was for Moral, in case you're wondering. I'm reading up on Kant's ethics now. Which is just zzzzzzz. Everything's so philosophical. :/

I have tons of photos to put up but I don't have the time to upload them now. They'll be up soon. I think. :P In the meantime, here are some stuff I just remembered to put up - trial videos. :D

In this following video, I acted as Dr Simms, a doctor testifying for the prosecutor. In one of the case's developments, a TV channel reported that she is dating the prosecutor's co-lawyer, Johnny Jones. Here, I (as Dr Simms) confess to my friends at a restaurant (yeah, right, do you believe that's a restaurant? LOL it's the college bakery la) that I'd tampered with the medical report that is essential in the child abuse case.

In this next video, I acted as Dr Simms once more. Here, I was in a hotel lobby with my beau, Johnny Jones. This video footage is from (a fictional) TV channel that was taping a special episode on couple New Year getaways. And this video was a source of much painful cringing on my part when it was played in class and in the mock trial room. It's a wonder the floor did not open up to swallow me whole. :/

*Disclaimer: All persons and situations portrayed in the videos are purely fictional. Any similarities to any persons, dead or alive, and to any situations, are purely coincidental. And all actors and actresses are not related in any way other than being platonic friends.

Alrightey. It's back to deontological ethics for me now. Have a superb weekend, everyone! :)

Fuhhhhh.

All this madness has finally taken its toll on me today. I woke up to a very unusually bright room and 3 messages and a missed call. *groan* This has never happened to me! But then again, when was the last time I came back to my room at 2.30 am after having pizza and doing an assignment, bathed, and then slept at 3 am? Hmmmm.

My Sociology class' other trial last night was... okay la. I kinda zoned out a bit in the beginning and everyone thought I was sleeping when I looked down at my legs. I'm starting to wonder if the glasses are obstructing my eyes that much. Ish. I was actually listening to what the people in front were saying! :/ Anyway, I got restless halfway through the trial and got more and more restless as time went by. I folded my legs, unfolded them, swung them around a bit, stretched them, and folded them again. I felt like an impatient small kid strapped into the backseat of a slow-moving car. We, the jury, reached our verdict easily. Ok, very easily. And everyone was glad to have both the trials over and done with. Oh, and speaking of that, we won the child abuse case! Both parents were found not guilty of child abuse. And all the witnesses did well, so I think all that work and stress were worth it. :)

Vivek came to the library while I was typing up my post for the Econs forum (I completely forgot about it until last night... and today's the last day. Yerrrrrh), and he asked me why I'm always typing something or other. So -.-" ok? How can I help it if I have to type a lot of stuff? (Ok la, so I just realized that I do type a lot...) Ish. And he has to be the most perasan witness in the whole two trials, saying that the chicks all like him so much. *cricket sounds* Where are all the gentlemen these days?

One more week to finals! That said, I should be mugging now.

Enjoy your weekend, peeps. :)

Let's celebrate :)

First off, I'm sorry if I've been blowing everyone off lately. I really didn't mean to ditch catch-up times, but I've been so busy with so many things. Life has been crazy these three weeks and it shows no signs of slowing down. *wheezes* Since last Friday, I've been doing almost no other work except for the trial stuff. I was so glad when we finished almost the whole trial on Tuesday night! We have another witness from the defense testifying in class today, and then the two lawyers will present their closing statements, and after that, the child abuse case will be over and done with. I shall be sitting in as a jury in the other trial of the racism case.

These last few nights have been mad because my sleeping hours have gotten out of whack. Seriously. Yesterday, I came back to the room late and flopped on the bed at about a quarter to one am. I set two alarms to ring at 1.00 am and 1.05 am but I ended up sleeping all the way to 4.30 am, without my blankets on and with the light on. When I woke up, I couldn't decide if I should just stay up and continue studying for the test in the evening (by then, I still had 1.5 chapters to go and I could barely recall the other 1.5 chapters which I'd already read). I stared at my desk for a while, feeling dazed. I ended up sitting at my desk and studying. This is a record for me. Never in my whole life have I studied at 4.30 am. I guess desperation can do many things to people. =/ I studied up to about 6.00 am and then decided, well, it's now or never.

I keyed in my username and password. A swift hit on 'enter' later, the page loaded. All it took were the first two words and I already knew. I'm sorry. I knew. I just did, even before that. But when I read through the statement, it sunk in immediately. I guess a part of me just knew but suppressed it for long enough. No, a dam did not burst. No, I did not feel the life being sucked out of me. I didn't cry. I didn't even frown. Doesn't it scare you sometimes when you fail to react in a manner you thought you would? All I did was read through the statement twice, smile dryly at a particular sentence, log out of my account, and head to the bathroom.

At night, a friend came over to talk to me about her results. I'd already known what she wanted to tell me even before she spoke. The frustration and pain were clear on her face as she narrated her day to me. She asked me why I was so calm about receiving a rejection letter. For a moment, I hesitated. I didn't know why either, but in retrospect, maybe the answer had been there all along. You know how sometimes your gut feeling just works out in real life? I suppose it was just like one of those moments. And I told her. I prayed to God to grant me His favor in this, but I also knew that He has the last say because He is the only one who knows my future. She said, but why? Why aren't you upset about this? Why do you seem so OKAY with it? For a while, it sounded as if she was envious of me being okay.

Nothing I said could get through her frayed nerves, so I chose to end the conversation in a light manner. In the end, it is her choice to make, not mine. She already has one path ahead of her. I am still waiting for my path to reveal itself. I am not meant to be an Ivy League school student, and I accept that. For those who are still feeling the sting of the Ivy rejection/s, I think it is okay to be sad. We worked hard for these and we put our faith into them, but we also recognized the possibility of not making the cut. And now that everything's out in the open, it is okay. This isn't the end because we still have many options ahead of us.

I am very proud of my friends who got into Harvard (WOOTS! YESSSSSSS everyone is making a big fuss out of him now because he needs to belanja us makan!), Cornell, and Penn (in the Ivy League), NYU, UMich, UWash, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Wisconsin-Madison, etc, and also those who were shortlisted in other universities such as Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Northwestern, etc. I think our batch rocks. :D

On another happy note,

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, KARYN!

<3