Say ‘Good night!’ and Go

There was talk yesterday about my travelling between home and campus every day five days a week in lieu of staying at the hostel and paying RM90 a month. But that was shot down because there’s always a risk of the car breaking down and my not being able to attend classes on time. Must win a car in a contest.

I had planned on going back this evening after dinner (the Heroes repeat is on at 7pm!), but due to the fact that some parts on the route are unlit and in the middle of nowhere/jungle, I’ll be going back on Sunday morning, before class starts at 9am. =)

Can’t wait to watch Heroes. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about the show.

Day 1 (22nd Jan 2007)
Registration:Paid RM210

Was called out of the room by the coordinator. He asked how many pairs of baju kurung did I have. He added that they would give me some slack (being the first non-Malay/non-Muslim student there) and allow me to wear slacks/pants to classes. He continued by saying that they had opened their doors to people of all races and I was the first one to arrive. He believed that working/being with people from other walks of life would enrich and improve everyone’s life. I nodded in agreement as he mentioned that he had worked with the Japanese and others from abroad. I assured him that I would have no problems fitting in as I had stayed with Muslim friends while I was studying at KUSTEM. He looked extremely relieved then! When he was done talking to me, I went back into the room.

11:30am: Brought my stuff to the hostel, unpacked. Got ride back to Admin building with Mum and Dad. Before I left the car, I gave my phone to them since there didn’t seem to be any signal for Maxis. Bade them goodbye and walked to the first floor. There was another girl there and we chatted while we waited. The lunch was on the table, but the people in charge were nowhere to be seen.

12:30pm: The guys from the Photonics and Fiber Optics course as well as the TQM course started to attack the food.

1:00pm: Started getting hungry. Did not want to risk gastric pains, and joined in. Rice and some chicken with watered down gravy. Edible is all I can say.

1:30pm: Walked back to the hostel with Shima (she’s in the TQM course) and took the wrong route back. Walked on very dusty road between the workshops and the construction site. Ignored calls from the construction workers.

 2:00pm: Walked back to the Admin building for next round of ‘taklimat’/briefing.

8:00pm: Was reluctant to venture down alone to the cafeteria. Nobody seemed to want to eat. Asked if anyone had plans for dinner and they said they’d go down around 8:30pm. Figured I could withstand some hunger.

9:00pm: Some of my roomies finally make a move.

9:15pm: The ‘makcik’ at the cafeteria says that there’s not much food left and the only option was ‘Mee Goreng’. When the four plates arrived 30mins later, there was more gravy than noodles and there was a strong chilli powder smell. Was a tad too spicy for me. Hated it.

10:30pm: In bed, hoping I’d wake up by 6am the next day (I did ask my roomies  to wake me up at 6am as a precaution)

Day 2 (23rd Jan 2007)

 6:00am: Woke up without any help.

8:30am: Walked to the room with my roomies, but on the way there, the ustaz (title given to religious teachers) called me aside and said that the program was more on spirituality (Islam) and that I could go to the library during the ‘Muhasabah Diri’ program. So I just put my file in the room and went down to the library. I read the NST from the day before, and then I realized that the current issue was available too. While I was putting back the current issue, En. Azam (the coordinator from yesterday) noticed me there and asked me why I wasn’t in the class. I explained the situation and he seemed okay with it. Then two new students entered the library with their things. Ina and Syu were the newest additions to the Photonics class. They joined the Muhasabah Diri class just as it was about to end. I went up after 10:30am for the break and at 11am, the assistant entered the room to say that the next program had to be scrapped because the coordinator was not available. So off we went to the library again, until 12:30pm.

Found issues of Reader’s Digest and I chose the one with Allan Wu on the back cover. I do wonder which team is going to win the Amazing Race Asia. I’m rooting for Joe Jer and Zabrina!

Lunch consisted of rice, marinated chicken, veg soup and ‘Air Bandung’ (milk mixed with Rose syrup). After the meal, Ina and Syu managed to get En.Lan the driver to send us to the hostel with the van. Ina and Syu had a lot to carry with them.

Ina agreed to accompany me for dinner at 7pm, even though she had brought her own food. I ordered Fried Kuey Teow ‘to go’ and it still took ages to prepare. There was no one else there at the time! Tasted better and the helping was bigger than the night before.

Hi all! I survived my first week!

Came home to my first cheque from Web Clicks (thank you!!) and my Click DVD from Channel [V]. I’m back a lot darker - no trees on campus and it’s all dusty and muddy due to the construction of the mini-stadium just across the road from the hostel.

I was SO looking forward to yesterday - Thursday - Going Home Day! Back to Astro, back to my beloved Keanu (my laptop).

Today, I found that the graphium agamemnon caterpillar had made it to the pupal stage. Yaay! Too bad I can’t keep it in a container to ensure it’s metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly. I was tempted to cut off the leaf and bring it with me to the hostel, but it wouldn’t have been an ideal habitat for the butterfly. No soursop or annona plants there for it to lay its eggs on. And probably no mate as well.

In my next post, I’ll write down the happenings of the past three two days.

While I was staying with my Sis in Kajang, I had the chance to watch ‘The Banquet’ on DVD. This is the one with Zhang Ziyi. It seemed interesting at first, and then the bloodbath started. Blood dripping down horses, blood flowing into the stream…blood spurting from masked dancers.

I won’t tell you anything about the story, here’s the spoiler: EVERYBODY DIES!! The prince dies, the Queen dies, the lady-in-waiting dies after drinking poisoned wine (meant for the King, but he offered it to her without realizing the toxic contents), the King dies, the lady-in-waiting’s father and brother dies, scores of assassins die, dancers die…

To say that it was a depressing movie would be an understatement. XD

Went to town this evening to buy a pair of flip-flops (for visits to the bathroom at the hostel), and found a pair of adequately wearable shoes (with wedge-like heels) as well. We first tried the size 7, and my big toe was being too intimate with the front of the shoe. So we asked the salesgirl for a size 8, which was also too tight for me. The size 9 shoes weren’t fitting too well, but it was okay enough for short distances.

I can never wear sandals or shoes without having to make adjustments. I hate going to shoe stores because I can never wear those nice shoes on display. What I can wear are sneakers. Thank goodness for sneakers!

Mum and I then went to Watson’s to look for a pair of socks (to wear with the shoes), and found some non-slip toe pads. We got that instead. We went home and Mum added some elastic straps underneath the flap to prevent my toes from sliding to the front as well as to stop my heel from slipping out the back. The flaps are ALWAYS too high for me (I’m flat-footed and have no ‘meat’ on the top of my foot).

Realized at 10pm that I needed a witness to sign the documents. XD Well, if I were REALLY that bad, I’d have discovered it tomorrow, in front of the TESDEC people. =D

Mum didn’t like the passport photos I had, so off we went to the photo studio to have new ones done. Mum’s prayers were answered when we found parking right in front of the photo studio. Got in and combed my hair and then sat on the seat for my shots. After some head tilting and chin tipping, the photos were taken. Managed to get some pocket calendars and one desk calendar from the proprietor, who is an old friend of the family’s.

I had decided to wear my new pair of Adidas shoes and the difference between them and my pair of Reeboks is huge. I didn’t feel that spring in my step when I wore the Adidas shoes. I felt taller in my Reeboks (the heel is thicker). And to think that my Dad and Sis had wanted me to buy another pair of shoes that hardly had any heel. It was all flexible and even had holes showing the fabric of the shoes. I am SO glad I insisted that I didn’t want them. They were expensive too. I am sure they were specialized shoes (perhaps yoga?) that weren’t meant for walking.

After the visit to the photo studio, we decided to check out the Mydin Mall. Mum, not knowing how far it was, decided to park in front of the Planetarium. People had parked that far and she thought it was close by. Halfway there, she decided to turn back and find a parking spot that was nearer to the entrance. We managed to get one 5 minutes later when someone walked towards their car with a full trolley in front of us.

We walked towards the entrance and the crowd was considerable. Note: The newspaper report said that 10,000 people had attended the opening ceremony (my source was incorrect). I couldn’t really explore because I had to stay close to Mum. That’s the problem when she doesn’t know how to use a cellphone (and doesn’t have one). It did feel like a mall in KL, with the wide aisles and huge retail space.

The queues at the checkout counters were long and I saw many queuing between the aisles. We were in the Chocolate section and noticed the prices of the Japanese chocolate bars. A pack of 10 bars of Morinaga chocolate costs RM35.90 (or was it RM35.40?). I think we were in that line for close to an HOUR. People were buying trolley-loads of stuff.

Mum said she wasn’t going to go there again. She’d stick to Astaka for her grocery shopping. I think we were there from 3:30pm til 6:20pm. Mum bought two skinned chickens, and four packets of sugar (99 sen each!), while I bought toothbrushes, a small ‘pinch’ basket for my toiletries and a packet of Mamee SLLRRRP! instant noodles. I hope those packets all have flavouring sachets in them.

Feeling quite tired right now. I might turn in earlier tonight. Bye and take care!

Since I can, I’m making a list of things to bring along with me to the training centre. The letter stated that no eletrical appliance/jewellery/cooking implement/musical instrument was allowed. So that rules out my camera and laptop - the two things that keep me sane all day!

Here’s my list for now:

1. Phone and charger
2. Toiletries - soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrush, facial cleanser
3. Electric mosquito repellent - rule broken!
4. Pair of slippers, sneakers, shoes/sandals
5. Basket for toiletries (to carry into loo)
6. Baju kurung, trackbottoms, sleepwear, jacket
7. Blanket and bedsheet
8. Hangers
9. Paper for lining drawers/cupboard
10. Lock (and key), combination locks
11. Broom (just in case)
12. Mug, plate and cutlery
13. Bottles for water
14. Pail
15. Bag and/or folders for books/documents
16. Folder of certificates
17. Passport photos
18. Pencil case and stationery
19. Double A A4 paper (have tons)
20. Bank book
21. Comb and mirror (maybe make up?)
22. Deodorant
23. Watch
24. Socks
25. Pair of nail-clippers
26. Tweezers
27. Diary/Day-planner
28. Torchlight and/or candles and matches
29. Money and ATM card
30. Snacks - biscuits (maybe instant noodles?)
31. Milo/Ovaltine 3-in-1
32. Umbrella

That’s all I can think of right now. Any more ideas?

Today is the opening ceremony of Mydin. There will be a fireworks display tonight. What I heard this morning (from my Dad) was that traffic was horrendous at the venue. Double parking on both sides of the road and there was simply no available space for parking.

We knew it was going to be packed, so we are deliberately giving it a miss. That’s the sad fact about KT. There’s hardly anything going on, so when something huge happens, every Timah, Minah and Osman will crawl out of the woodwork to check it out.

We might go there tomorrow. I’ll need some things to bring along with me to the training centre hostel on the 22nd.

Update: According to one source, 30,000 people turned up at the opening ceremony. Some had to turn back due to the impossibility of finding a parking spot. Those people who live near the police quarters are SO lucky.

My best friend Dora came over yesterday. She arrived just after 3pm and before she even stepped into the house, we realized that there was a blackout. We sat out in the hall, while Dad kept trying to contact TNB on the ‘15454′ hotline. We had lemonade and Mum served her apam balik which she made earlier in the morning.

Dora took out her Canon EOS 300D camera and then I noticed something moving under the bench. I thought it was a bird at first, but it wasn’t hopping around. We finally realized that it was a butterfly and I quickly took her camera to snap a few photos of it. However, this butterfly did not want to cooperate. Before I could get any closer, it would fly away. This happened at least 8 times and I kept going, ‘Grrr!’ But I did finally get to snap about 4 okay photos. We went around the garden and Dora marveled at the silence. She lives near the main road and it’s always busy. I live near a cemetery.

Thirty minutes after the blackout, my Dad finally got through to TNB (decided to press ‘1′ for Malay instead of ‘2′ for English). Ten minutes later, we had the electricity back on. I went into my room to turn on my laptop while Dora dined on more apam balik. I invited her into my room and we started chatting about all sorts of stuff. We shared songs and albums, I looked at her photo album - she had lots of photos taken during her trip in Los Angeles / Claremont. I saw video clips of sea lions on the beach, on the wharf…it was so exciting just listening to them bark. =) She even went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I saw a clip of her snapping photos of the jellyfish, which I noticed were swimming upside down. Why is that?

I showed her some of my photos too. Time seemed to speed up and before we knew it, it was getting dark. Dora’s mum called to see how she was, too. So, after 5 hours, she took her leave. We promised to meet up more often and I told her that the next time I came to crash at her place, I’d bring along lots of Mamee instant noodles.

One great thing about having a best friend is that no matter how long it’s been since we’ve last seen each other, we always pick up where we left off. There’s no awkward silence, we just yak away happily! I have known other friends for much longer, but it’s not the same. I feel intimidated by them (i.e. anything I say might be taken as strange or inappropriate). With Dora, anything goes. Yaay!

Thank you for the fun afternoon, Dora! I had a great time and I wished there were more hours in the day. Next time!

I got up at 8:50am to watch The 64th Annual Golden Globe awards. As usual, my parents noted my rare presence at such an early hour.

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