In Motion

The dream that I've been living in for the past 6 weeks has ended. I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll start forgetting the wonderful times we had together, that little details and precious memories will begin slipping away the further I get in terms of time and distance. Previous blog entries were vague and unspecific, because it's weird to write in detail about mundane routines, because they aren't as noteworthy as...special events. Yet the mundane is often what captures the very essence of a relationship. I will miss morning breakfasts together and cups of tea with condensed milk, stuffing our hands into our pockets because of the cold, then remembering that we want to hold hands more than that, waiting for him to come back from work and snuggling into his arms to welcome him home, cooking together and my insisting that he use less onions and mushrooms in just about everything , tub after tub of Tom and Jerry's ice-cream, his geeky quarrels with James...

I spent the whole afternoon watching TLC's " Say Yes To The Dress : Randy knows best ". It's addictive and informative, especially because I have this irresistible compulsion to do my research. =P I even managed to convince the two boys to sit down with me and watch at least one episode that night. After that, Jameson said he's not getting married because now he knows the pain brides-to-be go through in the process of choosing a dress. xD Anyway. The series was surprisingly down-to-earth and realistic. Randy even talks about how brides should not try on dresses that are beyond their budget, so it's not about indulging in your whims and fancies at the expense of other considerations (which I initially expected it to be about). I saw so many pretty things in the last 3 hours or so, and I can't help but wonder WHY bridal studios in Kuching don't carry such beautiful designs. The dresses in the episodes weren't even especially elaborate - I saw th...

It's the start of my fourth week here and I'm still in Durham, and as of now, we still don't have plans to go anywhere else. I know people like to make road trips and go sightseeing, but I'm perfectly content to just laze around in the room all day. And read. But it hasn't all been monotonous. I HAVE gone to some performances and watched some movies. Yeah, not "WOW" exciting, but at least it's something . =P I went to the November Dances the first weekend I was here. It's a dance performance showcasing Duke senior dance majors' work, and it was good.To me, it was different and refreshing, mainly because you don't always see dance forms like ballet making it to TV competitions like So You Think You Can Dance . It even felt highbrow . Like, the fine arts, wow. Best part was, it was free because Eu Fern got two complimentary tickets as an usher. ;) That Saturday, we went to the mall. Yup, we also went to watch the Hunger Games ...

In this post, you're going to see more pictures of random buildings, simply because I'm in love with the architecture here. I feel like all the fairy tale settings in the books I read as a kid have finally materialized in front of me! <3 These shots were taken at Southpoint, a mall , of all things. :P There, you can see the mall's name. The walkway outside the mall, lined with cafes and cute stores. Christmas decorations are up! More Christmas decorations. Everything is so pretty here, and the lights just blend perfectly with the red brick walls. I know I sound sakai, but I DO come from Malaysia, the land of sleek, tall, metal buildings. Where modernity and futuristic motives are the in-thing, and there's no rustic charm in the ... malls. In fact, the only place I've seen similar designs at is Fraser's Hill. But I'm not all that well-travelled, so don't take my word for it. I also wonder why I find things like these pretty ...

"Hi" from both of us. I find Google automatically uploading photos from my phone to be a very useful thing, since I don't have to Bluetooth photos I need to the com, and THEN upload them from where they're saved. Saves me so much time and effort. :P I'll always advocate less work, less effort, less frills and more efficiency. Heheh. That aside, we DO look pretty similar, don't we? Small eyes, wide nose, oval face...even our smiles resemble each other's, just that he can't smile properly because his gums are hurting due to bratty wisdom teeth. I think we look more similar compared to me and my siblings. Really. Haha. What are we dissimilar in terms of, then? Lemme see. He gets absorbed in computer games, doesn't spend on things that aren't necessities, is super logical and analytical (which is sometimes annoying because I KNOW my point is valid even though I can't express it in such a convincing way because emotions get into the p...

Lately, we've been eating home cooked meals. I love eating in - first of all, you get to cook together and find out each others' preferences; secondly, you get to save $$ by eating in; thirdly, the food tastes like home; and fourthly, I get a sense of satisfaction for improving his bachelor-style life by varying his diet and insisting on 5-star meals. Meaning at least one meat dish and one vegetable dish with rice. :P Oh, and it's probably more healthy...I think . It's fun when both of us work together to help each other get dinner done in the quickest time possible, and clean up after. You'd expect JW to be exhausted after a day at work and want nothing more than to be served, but he's such a wonderful person that he wants to pamper ME after my whole day of lounging around doing practically nothing productive. :P So we cook together. <3

It's so romantic going grocery shopping together. Hand in hand, walking down the aisle, checking out (microwaveable) stuff...ahh, I'm so happy just being here with him. <3 On a more intellectual note, the food here is seriously cheap (at Target, that is). When I say cheap, you can't convert ok. Imagine you earned 2000 USD per month, and 100USD gets you a whole trunk-full of groceries. In Malaysia, RM 100 would only get you what, 3 big plastic bags of groceries? Okay an easier comparison : Most foodstuff I saw was below 3USD. In fact, when something I wanna get is 3USD, I start comparing prices to see if there's something similar for cheaper. Another illustration  : You know the Prego jars of spaghetti sauce? Costs like 1.87 USD here. No kidding. Makes you wonder how people in the food production industry even make money, doesn't it? Oh and another thing I just LOOOVE about food here : it's usually packaged, cut, cleaned and washed already. That saves ...

It's currently 1140am here in Durham, North Carolina, and 1240am back home in Malaysia (bedtime for Malaysians). I'm home alone and have decided to do something productive with my time, hence here I am! It's cold out, but not according to the fiance. He's acclimatized well, while my face is still peeling from the sheer dryness of the weather here. To me, it's not just cold OUT, but also INSIDE the apartment. Brrr. The heating feels like air-conditioning perpetually set to 16 degrees celsius. I can wear jeans inside and still feel chilly and stick my hands into my pockets all the time (unheard of in Malaysia). COLD COLD COLD. But I'm slowly getting used to it. Slowly. Like how my body clock is adjusting to the time here. It's my fourth day here and I still got up in the middle of the night last night. =P Weather aside, Durham is such a pretty town. I really love the architecture and how everything looks so quaint . Duke University is really scenic too. P...

I really do NOT have to document all my wedding stuff here, but I have benefited immensely from the various online articles and blog entries in my bride-to-be learning experience. So, by blogging about my experience, I hope that other people can benefit from it too, given that most online articles feature Western weddings (still helpful, but may not take into consideration the constraints Malaysians face). I think it's helpful to know a thing or two about weddings and how much to spend on them, unless you're marrying into a really rich family and the cost is not an issue. I'm what you might call a budget bride - that is, I'm trying to keep things within a budget of below 10k. Okay, more like around 7k. I still remember Sonia exclaiming in astonishment about a certain couple's wedding because it cost around 7k, and at that time, I wasn't very sure how to react. 7k seemed like a HUGE number. Sonia told me it was highly economical for weddings, though, and ever ...

"Don't you think you're still  too young to get married?" I've gotten this question a few times already, mostly from Chinese friends. Not to stereotype or anything, but I guess Chinese people usually get married around 25-30 years old, and my mere 23 (next year, that is) is rather...shocking. Granted, if I see a Chinese peer from secondary school or primary school married/getting married, I'd immediately assume it was a shotgun marriage. =P  Still.  Another acquaintance (yes, ONLY an acquaintance because "She's getting married next year" is practically my surname when introduced nowadays) was shocked when the announcement was made. He couldn't believe I was getting married "so early". Even double-checked to see if I was getting engaged or married next year, whereupon I flashed him my ring. =P A friend who asked this question said that she wouldn't marry early because felt she hadn't done enough with her lif...

A week's break before the next paper. I am stuck in Nilai, where the nearest thing to entertainment is the Giant hypermarket 25 minutes away by car. And I don't have a car. *Buries myself in novels from the library*

As I type this, I have just finished googling "how to pose for wedding photographs". Not that I'm any wiser - that would take at least another 5 more articles on how to look photogenic and natural, not to mention leave me feeling despondent and hopeless that I'll get pretty wedding photos. Seriously, the more articles on weddings that I read, the more I feel like I'm not cut out for this whole wedding thing. The "marriage" thing, maybe. The "wedding" part, not so. You see, I am pretty bipolar when it comes to wedding preparation decisions. Below is a list of what I've thought about/felt/wanted at SOME point in the planning process (which is still going on) : 1. Let's have a simple wedding, I don't like the fuss of ceremonies, and the more frills you add, the more money you spend, and all this is just for ONE day, which isn't that big a deal. What matters more is the marriage after that, and I definitely don't want to s...

It's hard to be objective. On one hand, it's nice to hold firmly to a set of principles - to know where you stand exactly. On the other, I've been on both sides of the spectrum, and I now know that it's difficult to say that any one thing is the THE ultimate principle. So, with that being said, I will speak for myself, and only myself. I feel that there's no point in striving so hard. If eternal life is the end goal, why is it necessary to fuss about the little things in life? Is there a point in striving for excellence, other than excellence of character? Is it right to push myself so hard that I become unhappy and tired, and lead a miserable existence because nothing is ever good enough? Perhaps some people thrive on competition, but I don't. I feel that competing brings out the worst in me. It makes me status-conscious, it makes me attach my self-worth to my achievements, and it also makes me prideful and arrogant if I do emerge victorious. I have alw...

Maybe one day I'll look back and understand the purpose behind all that I have to go through - all the irritants, all the values I disagree with, all the complicated interpersonal relationships and the hardships that I have to endure. Because 5 years and a half of interaction, friendship, living and working together at close proximity is too much to require from people of different backgrounds and mentalities. One more year to go, and I really hope I don't burn any bridges or reach my breaking point before then. And I can only hope that these aren't the years that the locust have eaten, that there IS an ultimate, overarching purpose behind all these trials. God, please give me strength and joy to face each day.

I miss your fingers intertwined with mine, your sweet scent, and the contented feeling that comes with knowing you're near.

Phew. The end of practicum, at last. It didn't exactly end on a good note, with the GPK giving us a big lecture for a minor mistake. Just left us teacher trainees with more sour feelings towards the school, since we had contributed so much and were repaid like that. It wasn't even MY mistake, but to be fair, it could have happened to any one of us. The other trainees who were at fault were just a little more unlucky. But ENOUGH about the school, I'm moving on with life. I love my weekends. I love that I get to laze around and do absolutely nothing for a few hours, and that I don't have to rush to get things done in time for the next day (which pretty much summarizes my life during practicum). I like the freedom of having spare time to watch a movie, or to just get everything done at a leisurely pace (including ironing my clothes for the next week or tidying up my desk). I love being able to wake up AFTER 6, and then sleep some more if I feel like it. It's just...

Tomorrow I'll be entering the 6th week of practicum. Right now the bug of demotivation has hit me and I don't really feel like doing anything but listen to music and blog. Sometimes I wonder if these moments hit me because I've been depriving myself of the simple pleasures of life simply due to my crazy schedule. Like birth cravings, yannoe, the mother's body recognizes a deficiency of some vitamin or something and WANTS IT. Those musings aside, I feel like after I hit the fifth week of practicum, I started getting a handle on my pupils. They know me better now, and I definitely know them better. I'm tougher on them in terms of discipline nowadays, but there is a bond of affection between me and most of them. It's still difficult to motivate them to learn (well, they've been in the last class for some 3 years or so, it's kinda hard to unlearn unhealthy attitudes), but at least now I know what they like doing and I try to let them enjoy themselves even ...

To those who are my Facebook friends, you probably already know this, so for the benefit of those who...AREN'T my Facebook friends...? Whatever. The point is, I'm ENGAGED! =D To be honest, I feel a little weird talking about it openly because somehow I feel like it shouldn't be a big deal and maybe I shouldn't sound so desperate to get married, but like a wise friend said, it's a once in a lifetime thing. So I AM going to shamelessly make a big deal out of it, because it deserves to be a big deal, and it IS a huge milestone in my life. =) To those of you who might be wondering where I conjured up this boyfriend (now fiance) from, well, his name is Jia Wern, a KL-born-Sarawak-bred guy whom I met in church back in my younger days aka teenage years. I'm not sure how much detail I should go into, because the truly accurate version is probably something like 3 pages long, but it might bore you to death. So I guess I'll spare you the minute details and just...

I've started my second practicum at my second school, which I won't name here because I'm about to talk bad about it. First of all, I was assigned the last class for Year 3. This means that I have pupils of a very low proficiency level, and this factor may make class control and pupil participation harder to achieve. Ironically, there are some better students there as well because the new pupils automatically enter the last class. So I have a difficult situation on my hands - some are quite good, and most are very weak. Now, if it were only the issue of being assigned the last class, I wouldn't be so worked up about it. I believe every student has the right to learn, and maybe a practicum teacher with her loads of teaching aids can generate their interest in learning English. The issue is that even though it's the last class, my mentor insisted that I teach everything in the textbook. I don't blame her. This school is a cluster school, and they want their pupi...

So my RM 5 Daiso headphones broke today in the exact same spot that Jwern's did. Well, you get what you pay for. =P I managed to get a new pair tonight. Cost RM 15, but the sound quality is so much better that it totally lifted my spirits. It's light as well, and doesn't press on my ears too hard. Stuff like that matters to me. =P Funny how small things like that can make me happy. So far this weekend has been a pretty productive one. I managed to get everything I needed, like a bag for practicum, slacks, a pair of new headphones and multivitamins. And a trip to US. With only 2 stops, praise the Lord. The more stops, the higher the chances of SOMETHING going wrong at some of those stops. Yeah I sound a bit paranoid, but hey, first time travelling alone internationally kay. And my reasoning isn't flawed, it's like, the more you drive, the higher the chances of getting into an accident as compared to...staying at home and reading a book. =P *twiddles thumb...

I feel sad whenever I watch videos of super romantic proposals, or weddings. And I can't really figure out why. Maybe my heart still hasn't healed fully.

Title says it all. After 4 years of being in this place, and enduring an increasingly heavy workload (half of which I don't see the relevance of), I feel jaded and disillusioned. I don't even want to strive anymore, because striving means I get unhappy, and I get tired. Like, why should I create teaching aids which can be easily gotten in the market? Why should I spend a few hours making a video which may never be played since LCDs are so hard to come by in real classrooms, and pupils can learn a song equally well if I just paste up some lyrics on mahjong paper? And WHY should I spend hours creating and compiling folios for auditors when that precious time can be spent doing other stuff? Why do people in university get so much free time to themselves, while we have to ration our time carefully for the various activities that various departments demand of us, and inevitably end up exhausted because there are TOO many activities? And why do I care about doing well? Can I ...

So my first paper (Culture and Learning) is over, and I don't think I did too well for it. Till today, I think it's absurd to test us on something we did not learn, and that it's unfair to change exam formats without notice.  ...Well everyone's probably in the same boat, so no biggie. =P That's how I usually comfort myself. ...Hmm I seem to be saying the same thing about every exam. That's not the main point of my post today. It's related, though. To culture. Humour me, I like to apply what I've learnt in my books. If the exam won't ask questions about what I've learnt, then I shall just have to show off my knowledge in other ways. =P The situation :   Recently, I was frustrated with the way some friends were carrying out certain things, and I confronted them publicly about it, and someone said I shouldn't have - mainly so that the other person could save face. In the end, I got my way, which I probably would not have gotten ...

It's the 3rd day back in college, and I'm already having a splitting headache. Well, the headache actually started yesterday. No idea what caused it, but I'm blaming it on the stress and workload. =P I miss my kids. Not a day goes past without my thinking of them. It might be the fault of that great yellow USB fan sitting next to my laptop (a gift from one of them). Teaching is really addictive and you can get so much satisfaction out of it when your kids can spell and understand new words days or weeks after you had taught them. Of course, one can't do much in a month, but kids are really sponges that can soak up new information. The only frustrating thing is that sometimes it's so much easier to just give instructions or translate new vocabulary for them in Bahasa Melayu...that cuts the delivery time in half. But it's not encouraged. I mean, I understand that we want the pupils to be exposed to as much English as possible, and not be conditioned to wait ...

It's FRIDAY phew. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's been quite a week. Every day, I get barely enough time to finish everything I need to do and plan for the next day. And get this - I only teach 10 periods a week. If I had to teach 20 periods a week, I don't know where I'd get the time from. And teaching isn't the only thing - a real teacher has to do admin work and paperwork and has multiple roles as Head of Panel or some teacher advisor of co-curricular activities...how about their roles as mother and wife in their own family? No wonder teachers are so burnt out and disillusioned with the heavy workload nowadays.  The first thing to go is usually the lesson plan, I guess. With all their other responsibilities, and the reality of weak students, sometimes lessons just can't afford to be interesting. For example, when a class doesn't understand what you're saying in English, there's bound to be some restless souls who start d...

First week of practicum is over. And I'm raring to go into the second week. I miss my little tots already. Although I know only a grand total of 3 names in the class (and I'm not sure I can actually match them to the correct faces in my head), I can tell that my kids like me and they enjoy my class most of the time. I say "most of the time", because some of the time I'm threatening to deduct marks for noise and moving around, or telling them "3, 2, 1.." whereupon they will say 'ZIP!'. Okay, more like half the time. =P Kids will be kids. I don't mind the noise level, but if it interferes with how much work they are getting done, my objectives won't be met. A cold, silent classroom isn't the kind I want either. Another challenge is dealing with mixed ability students - some always finish the worksheet in a blink of an eye, while others are still struggling to write the first word down. It goes without saying that the ones who h...

So I'm back to college, and I'll be going to school tomorrow. Like primary school 'school'. Yay for practicum? We'll see. On a side note, I'm loving my cute little Xerox P205 b printer. It's just so compact and it even saves ink *falls in love again*. The best part is it only cost RM 185. If you're wondering why I needed a new printer, I don't REALLY need it. It's just that buying toner for my OTHER printer would be even more expensive (RM 250), and that other printer limits my computer to XP. I want to eventually upgrade my com to Windows 7. Or 8. Or whatever. I really love laser printers. They can last forever.

In approximately an hour, I will leave this place behind for a brief respite. Someone once said "A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you're taking". I don't need a vacation to someplace exotic - I just want the familiar sights, sounds and people of home. A familiar bed to sink into any time of the day, the familiar chatter of my sister, and the familiar fuss that my parents make over me. And wonderful, wonderful food . There are many things on my to-do list this holiday, including: 1) Getting a decent pair of slippers 2) Getting a decent purse 3) Wearing all the nice clothes I want to (because for the past month I've been decked in sports attire and even if I wore nice clothes, there'd be nowhere to display em) 4) Spending what's left of my book vouchers on stationery and textbooks. 5) Recharging (aka sleeping) 6) Playing with mophie AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST 7) Doing my assignments Gah if only I could just forget abo...

Yesterday marked the end of our crazy WAJ 3112 Olahraga (Athletics) coursework (s). Between the 1 Malaysia Fun Run held on 23 February and the Annual Track and Field Championships (translated directly from Kejohanan Olahraga Tahunan) held on the 6, 8 and 9th March, zombiefied Sem 5 students were witnessed all around the campus. With simulations, meetings, and the almost daily kick-boxing practice for our special performance, we were stretched in all directions and every lecturer wanted to call dibs on our priorities. The good news is I've slimmed down. The work is not boring, but it's tedious - time and energy-consuming. Fatigue is what we feel most of the time, and that's without starting on our assignments. Thinking about our assignments adds stress to the equation. WHY is this semester the semester with two (2)  100% coursework assignments? And WHY must they be assessed immediately after our zombiefying Kejohanan? Whai. Okay positive interval here : The Kejoha...

Today is your lucky day - because I'm about to post some pictures of my Institute taken yesterday during the Larian Mesra 1 Malaysia 2013 which my cohort organized. Behold the boys' block at 6.40a.m. Fork in the road with misty mountains and a lone lighted lamp post. How poetic. Nothing poetic about this. Jo and I were checkpoint officers (this was not our checkpoint teehee). Hope you had your fill of scenery today!

Over the past month, I have been flooded with references to marriage and relationships and future plans and going over to the States to see my boyfriend. All this only served to remind me of the sad reality of my relationship. I'm feeling upset because these are my best dating years, and I have to spend them Skyping or Google hangout-ing with my boyfriend. I want him nearby to be with me, to go places with me, to share life experiences together. And it saddens me that I will not have this for another good two or three more years - by which time I would have started working already. Then, things will be definitely be different with our commitment to our respective careers. I want to experience a dating life as a student, love with all my heart, and be loved in all the ways possible. Is this so unreasonable a request? I feel so happy when he's back home. So eager to see him at every opportunity and be his constant companion. I can hardly imagine dinner dates, movie dates ...

For CNY. Have loads of homework to do, though. So here goes. *downloads movies* Kidding. I really have to start on my homework, or else I'll be swamped when I get back. I'd REALLY love to start my holiday by doing something necessary but non-academic, but since the shops (and probably the library) are all closed, I guess I'll...have to do the academic stuff. * sigh * Now if you'll excuse me... *potters downstairs to do anything un-academic*

This is ODD. One of my favourite personality tests is the Myers-Briggs 16 type test. Back in secondary school, I used to be an ISFJ, then I morphed into an ESFJ for a short period of time. When I came to this college, I became an ISTJ (I still blame it on the fact that I had to be tough on people due to groupwork factors). Out of the four traits, my Introversion/Extroversion factor has always been somewhere in the 50-50 range. I myself, however, know that I'm DEFINITELY an introvert because while interaction with people is enjoyable to me, I need lots and lots of time to recharge, and I really like my alone time too. So I don't really understand why the ESTJ profile seems to suit me more, but it does. There are still certain discrepancies, but I think it's more because of the way I was raised. And of course, I AM more introverted, so yeah. After all, one can't expect to neatly box people up into 16 types. If you want to know me more, click HERE . If you want to ...

It's getting really really hot here. My throat feels perpetually dry and itchy and my post-nasal drip is on overdrive. Usually, sneezing a few times in a day means I'm coming down with something, and I've sneezed three times today. But considering the climate here, I think it's just the heat. Please just be the heat, I can't afford for it to be anything else, like a flu . Classes till 4 every day (even if they end at 4.30, most lecturers aren't keen on staying till THEN), kick-boxing practice for a performance from 8.30-10.30 almost every night. Homework has to be settled within the 4.5 hours between 4-8.30, a period of time in which lethargy takes precedence and I end up sleeping away at least an hour. Dinner takes half an hour, at least. That leaves me with 3 hours to date my homework, and probably not in the most enthusiastic way. Oh and I forgot to mention laundry. That takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on whether I use manual labou...

Just the other day, my lecturer asked me if I wanted a son as a first born. She was asking in the context of "Does the Chinese ethnicity view boys as leaders/more important?"  I said yes, I want a son as a first born. Then she moved on to ask another girl. =P I should've explained why I wanted a son as a first born. It's not because I think guys are better than girls. I'd be happy to have all girls too. (Poor dad, though, with no sons to share his manly interests with =P) The thing is, ideally , I'd like to have a son and a daughter, and if I can bear the pain of childbirth, maybe a third child. I also want my son to learn to protect, love and lead his younger siblings. I don't really want my son to be the youngest and pick up manja habits, which, in my opinion, are more suitable for girls. There you have it, my preconceived notions of what a guy should and should not be like. =P  Yes, I think manja guys are NOT sexy. The fact that a guy i...

This semester, I'm learning an interesting subject called "Culture and Learning" (or something to that effect, because the BM name is "Budaya dan Pembelajaran"). Right now we're studying terminology (race, ethnicity, society, etc) and the various different cultures in Malaysia. It's a pain to talk about all the ethnic groups in Malaysia because there are just SO MANY. My group presented a discussion on different ethnic groups and their demography in Malaysia this morning. It took me 4 hours of research and editing last week to put together the slide presentation and my part on the Chinese ethnic group. No kidding. At the end of this presentation, I was left with a clearer understanding of the main ethnic groups in Malaysia -  except my own . I have no idea which ethnic group I belong to. Biologically speaking, I am of the Chinese race . But apart from my fair skin and small eyes and flat features, I really don't know what else in me is Chinese...

I am currently spending a 3-day-long weekend in Kluang. Yay for the numerous holidays Negeri Sembilan takes. Haha. It's been at least 3.5 years since I last visited Kluang, mainly because whenever there's a holiday, I seize the opportunity to go back to Kuching, instead of Kluang. Kluang is dad's hometown and growing up, we kids never saw its appeal. A town so small, so scorchingly hot, and so boring (back in those days, Kluang Mall and Kluang Parade didn't exist)...kids will be kids. I'm back because this might be the last time I see my grandma. It just so happened to be a long weekend, and my aunt proposed this trip down, so I decided to pay a visit. Grandma's condition has deteriorated a lot since last year when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She can't recognize me anymore. I spend most of the time hiding away from her if I'm alone, because she thinks I'm a stranger and will start scolding me. Alzheimer's is a terrible dis...

Today marks the 10th day I've spent in my new Bandar Enstek campus. Apart from the manifestation of some mysteriously inexplicable bruises on my limbs, muscle aches here and there and a potential pimple smack dab right in the middle of my nose, I'm surprised that I really don't mind being here. Perhaps it's because I save so much money living an ascetic life .=P The air is fresh, cold and clean, and so is the water (although if I find out the water is responsible for the bruises I have, I might just change my mind about it). I feel so...healthy, albeit sweaty going to class here. 10-15 minute walks up a slope which I'm pretty certain is at least a 45 degree incline - I'm going to have a smaller butt in no time. Ideally. Perhaps it doesn't seem so bad to me because my aunt is so eager to get me out of the campus every weekend. Do my circumstances really seem all that pitiful and deprived? * shrugs * Not really, I think. My room's so spiffy, the c...

This time round, the phrase “New Year, New Beginnings” has taken on a whole new dimension. I used to tell people that I study in Kuala Lumpur (and avoid naming my college, because NO ONE can remember a name like IPGM Kampus Pendidikan Teknik, anyway). Now, I have to lower down the coolness a notch and tell people I study in Nilai , not without screwing up my face for the intended effect. This is further elaborated by terms/phrases like “remote”, “ulu”, “in the middle of nowhere”, “scenic view of oil palm plantations” and the like. I know, I’m such a joy to behold. I even got lost on the way to the new campus, so at least I was being honest about how remote it is. =P So here I am, starting off the new year with a new roommate, new room, new facilities (and the very obvious lack thereof), new specs *ahem*, new environment and new village roads to familiarize myself with, new everything – except new baju kurungs. I feel so left out among my coursemates who are all donni...