Its interesting how the times I come and write in my blog, its when a quiz, exam or assignment due date is nearby. I guess its how I try to escape the stress. Urrrgh, stress! Quiz next week, newscasting assignment and no matter how interesting we're doing it, it's taking up SO much time - something we lack - on the 7th of January, losing my IC, student ID, thumbdrive, keys, cards, new phone....and of course, the constant feeling of lack of study.

You know when you're exhausted whenever you sleep, you wake up feeling tired still and your eyes all puffy. And the backache. And headache.

I'm getting old ahead of my time.

At least there'll be a lot of 'laugh lines' because at least I can still laugh. Ever tried going to Youtube and watching sick and inane videos like "World's Largest Zit Ever" and "My exploding cyst"? (interested? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3jNCBe1VTY )

For that memorable experience, I have to thank Faris and Sofia. You guys really know how to digress. Good digression though. :)

P.S. I don't think I can look at cottage cheese the same way again.

Actually, I'm really stealing a moment here to wite this post. I'm supposed to be finishing my Bio report due this Friday but what the hell.

For some reason, I swore a lot today. Maybe 'cause this morning was my group's first discussion about our English newscasting assignment and being in a group of 4 boys and 2 girls, keluarlah all the profanities pagi-pagi lagi. God, I forgot how good it feels to swear sometimes. LOL. But maybe there are other reasons why.

Last Sunday night was the First Beat VI here, the theme - Fright Night i.e. Halloween. So from Saturday evening until night we were there at the basement hall (the concert was underground - cool) putting up the decorations. We made little ghosts, spiders, cobwebs and with a burst of inspiration, a huge scarecrow out of tree branches and drapery using (borrowed from the janitor's store a.k.a. stolen) toilet paper. We also had pumpkins, tombstones and scary faces hanging from the ceiling. The final result was pretty darn good, if I say so myself. For one thing, everything did come together nicely although it was pretty last minute and we had not much resources to work with. Kudos to the whole decorating comittee! Job well done people.

Then here comes the worst bit. My phone got stolen. Yes, STOLEN. It was there in my pouch, in my bag, on a table in a hall full of people. But the asshole who took it was damn clever because one, no CCTV in the basement hall (in a campus with CCTV EVERYWHERE, there aren't any there) and two, everybody was busy doing stuff. No one noticed someone who was not involved go to that table, rummage through my bag, take my phone and some cash from my friend's wallet and leave. But some did see a bunch of dickwads with no purpose of being there come by, look around and go. It would be a gross understatement if I said I was not upset. No matter how kerepot that phone has become (can't detect miss calls, camera not working, dies for no reason, got bite marks, paint chipped etc.) I love it still. Call me a sentimental bag of mush, but yeah, I cried and cursed the asshole who took it from me. May he rot in hell, the bastard.

Cursing done with, moving on to the First Beat itself. Simply put, it was really good. For me. I really enjoyed it. I don't know how much others may share the same sentiments as me, but to me it had to be one of the best nights of rock music I have ever had (#1 being the time I went to see Linkin Park live). First of all, not only was the setting good (thanks to us) but some people who went, my group of friends included, took great care and effort for our outfits. I decorated my own mask, bought a new dress and new shoes just for that night. And I think we looked awesome. Sarah with her Japanese style and boots, Sofia with 'emo giler' eyeliner and rocker look, Aliya looking like an edgy Egyptian princess, Faris like some phantom piano maestro (haha), Nana looking every bit like a rocker chic with her black zip bodice and electric blue chiffon, and then me, (in Sarah's words) classy and vintage. Hehe.

Also begging mention is Siva, (picture this) with his cowboy hat, leather cape, wrestler-like belt and Wellingtons! (you know those rubber boots? yeah those) Then Audrey, who won the Best Dressed Female, with her handmade dress with this huge wire hoop and flowing train. Also, Asha with her belly dancer costume (sexxayy!), Francis looking exactly like The Joker, and my own personal favourite, the jihad terrorist (no need to mention the name here).

The concert had a lot of good rock music. Especially towards the end. Nana performed with the newly-formed band, Inphyrite. Faris played the keyboard and the infinitely cool Shanwayne on guitar. Her voice was great. People also really enjoyed Monisha's performance, singing "Zombie" by Cranberries. That got people jumping.

There was also beatboxing, and it was really cool. Especially when Vikram (the beatboxing pro) and Gordon (who's got this awesome voice btw) did "Stand By Me". It was really cool and interesting. Then were the rock songs. There was one performance where they did an instrumental of Jimi Hendrix's song (damn it I can't remember what, Joe something I think) and even better one where the band played their own original composition, also purely instrumental. It was reminiscent of that pure, classic metal you can't get much anymore. It was very much like a Metallica ballad - I died and went to heaven during that song, seriously. Pity the sound system wasn't that great. Then, the topping on the cake was Fuse, a returning band from previous First Beats. The moement they said they were going to play Metallica, I died again and went to heaven, again. They played "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "The Memory Remains" then went on to sing Megadeth's version of Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" and "Kill The King". They also did a freestyle jam in between. They were really cool dudes - I love their taste in music.

So yeah, after a while I just thought "what the hell" and took off my shoes, and did a good measure of screaming and headbanging. Seriously good therapy actually. Until today, the rock vibe is still strong and even when I'm doing my work and listening to my headphones, I'd do a bit of headshaking and feet tapping, although I'm sitting right there in the open in the library. Who cares!

What also infuriates me is that there are still some close-minded people who think rock is trash and head-banging is some sort of crime. What is wrong in enjoying yourself, letting go for a while and letting yourself immerse in some good, live music? It's not always you get to see a gig like this, although the performers are all students and you only paid a measly RM6. To me, if they charged more, I would STILL go. Not because 'its the place to be' crap, or some kind of 'semangat AIMST' thing, but because the knowledge that students who sincerely want to play some great songs that you probably would never see live by the real band (Metallica in Malaysia? Seriously). To put it simply, if you know you can never have a single ounce of appreciation for live rock music, think that the people you enjoy it are idiots (only a bigger idiot can identify with another idiot, fyi) and yet you still want to show your face there, you're wasting your time complaining and making snooty remarks. You'll just make people, like me, vent like some mad train on her blog in the middle of the night when she should either be sleeping or doing work. You know, when I hear these things, it makes me an even bigger fan of rock music. (While under the pretense of searching info online, there I was, watching videos of Metallica on Youtube) So thanks a lot. You have made me a bigger fan and and even bigger advocate against narrow-mindedness everywhere. Salute! XP

P.S. Ok, its not just the phone and narrow-minded dimwits, I'm also SAKIT HATI. This angst music is just complementing with my current state of mind. Its like this underlying misery just waiting to eat away at me. I wish I never got stuck in this. Now its too late. Damn you.

Since today is one of those rare days when there is only ONE HOUR of lecture this evening, I might as well take this opportunity to post something short. Hopefully short.

I know I should be doing all those Bio and Physics notes I'm so determined to do, or start on that lab report (due next week though) or even plain ol' study right now. Instead, I've been doing laundry and moving about quite slowly I guess because suddenly it's already 11am. Anyway, I just want to mention some things that have been going on these past 2 1/2 weeks here after the break.

I guess you could say that it has been quite eventful. The first night back there was the Ramli Ibrahim classical Indian dance concert here. I got to take a photo with him. The first day of class was unremarkable because the lecturers didn't start teaching anything yet. We all were just excited to see everybody again I suppose. Certain people, more so. :)

On the social scene, the first week was packed with birthdays and somehow or rather, my batch has a thing for celebrating birthdays. That week, there were 3 surprise birthday parties and for all 3, I was in the committe that went to buy the cakes. All 3 were Secret Recipes. Imagine, that Monday and Tuesday of the first week we went to CS to buy the cakes, 2 days in a row! The 3rd time, thankfully, we went to the other Secret Recipe branch at Village Mall. If we went for the 3rd time to the same shop, the workers there will surely look as us strangely because it was the same faces again! But I love the feeling of being part of something which will make someone feel special on their special day. :)

I also joined the Movie Club recently. It was fun to discuss which movies to play for our weekly movie screening at the Medical building because there were so many nice movies out there. Sakkun and I also became the 2 people in charge of taking donations. Our earnings weren't as good but it was our first time I guess and it depends on the movie playing and how many who showed up. Last week was Sweeney Todd.

This weekend, I'm looking forward to First Beat, our university's own talent show/party. The theme this year is Halloween (they had wanted to make it on Halloween itself but not enough time). Naturally, our gang already bought our masks the first week itself and last weekend we bought our dresses. I won't spoil it here for those who don't know yet but I daresay our dresses was worth the money and searching. :D However, I'm still not 100% sure which shoes I'll be wearing! Another trip to CS is already planned. LOL.

Oh yeah, I've started wearing contact lenses. It still needs getting used to seeing my face without the glasses. But I've wanted to wear them for a long time and since I'll be wearing a mask on First Beat, I need to get contacts anyway. So I thought, why not start now? I tell you, the look on some people's faces when they saw me. It was AWESOME. Hahaha. Everybody says I look better. I'm glad I'm those lucky few who don't get eyebags from wearing glasses. So yeah, forgive me if I sound like a braggart, but I'm feeling really good right now. Despite that our exam results are coming out soon. Despite that I'm still unsure. I'm great! :D :D :D

Ok, so I'm back in KL for a cruelly short term break. Its so unfair! The FIS July batch only gets a week off after 3 months of slave labour. This is what you get when you join the 'express' batch. Great.

My uncle's persandingan was last Friday and even at my advanced age, I was one of the flowergirls. Which is ok by me since I've been anticipating the day my uncke would get married. However, I did think I was way too old to be sitting on the steps of the pelamin, legs daintily crossed under such that you'll completely lose sensation in one buttock after a while, and smile sweetly as people watched. Been there, done that. I'm a veteran. Its time to let the young 'uns do the hard work. Anyway, the whole affair was tiring but enjoyable too. Best wishes to my beloved uncle and new aunt, may they have all the happiness in the world together. :)

Now, the best thing about being back is the food. Food is a Godsend. As expected from a multiracial cafeteria, there is no pork and no beef at the university. Since I'm a born and bred meat-eater, is it any wonder that the first thing I ate when I arrived in KL at about 11pm is steak? On top of that, the following Saturday, we went to a not officially opened steak shop. My father had been raving about this place since the first time I came back to KL, but the place is all the way in Subang. But lucky me, the chef, who once worked in the Buckingham Palace (yes, the one and only) is opening a branch right in my neighbourhood! So this guy is a master butcher and an expert at preparing the best meat around. So the concept is that you select the fresh meat (like at a butcher shop) and they will prepare it for you. You don't pay for the cooking, just the meat. Its very simple fare but the meat in itself is so good, you really don't have to bother with other accompaniments.

We had Wagyu beef, ribs, lamb shanks and the best of it all, Chateu Brion (I hope that's the correct spelling) which is tenderloin beef. It was superb! I ate so much that towards the end of the 4 courses, everybody said my face was red! (At times like these, don't be stupid enough to check your blood pressure) But seriously, it was so good, I could say that it will compensate for the next few months when I get back to uni. I mean, such feasts once in a while is acceptable, but once in a while must be stressed. And in my case, it really isn't that often. I can get away with it. Hehe.

So that pretty much sums up the weekend so far. I really am taking advantage of the fact that I don't need to study (yet), hence have the time to ramble a bit here. Its true that I barely have the time to do work, study and have some downtime (online shopping included!) while I'm there, yet alone post an update on my blog. Somehow, blogging, for me at least, takes a while. Furthermore, I mistakenly left my diary there so yeah, I am in need of medium to vent. So this is it.

*tapping nails on keyboard*

Oh never mind.

Its been crazy long since I last updated my blog! Geez... If ever I take out my laptop, its to surf for some assignment (like just now I had to finish yet another titration lab report for chemistry - 3 titration experiments?! Don't you think we all already know how to do the damn thing by now?!) And doggone it, I miss online shopping. Just scrolling down the blog updates is enough to know how MUCH I missed.

But I guess I must make do since my exam is NEXT WEEK. I can hardly believe that its nearly 3 months and my first term will be over b next Friday. We had our last lectures and tutorials today. So far we only know that we'll be changing Chemistry lecturers and Physics will stay. I'll miss my Maths lecturer the most; Khor The Legend!!! He's the most adorable old man and so funny. And we all now have the 11th Commandment drilled into our heads: "Thou shalt not divide by zero." Haha. At least it didn't get too boring in the lecture hall when he made his jokes.

But in a more serious tone, I must say that its the pressure here is terrible. I might just be exaggerating, but looking around, its really pressuring to see everybody studying like crazy and you're there constantly thinking you're aeons behind. Everybody seems to have their work always done early, have studied everything and on top of every subject. To be honest, I think I do reasonably enough at the pace I'm comfortable with, but you just keep thinking, "Is this enough compared to everybody else?" There's so many smart people here that the competition is insane. How do 700 people compete for just 200 Medic seats? Sometimes I look around and wonder who would I be able to continue seeing next year during the degree intake and who would have to agonisingly repeat the year. Unsurprisingly, I heard that most of the students who get into Medic are the repeaters, STPM and A-level leavers and even a handful of Medic students who dropped their course overseas to do it here. If so, how does the SPM leaver compete with these students who have done it all before? I'll tell you how. Study 24/7. (Like someone I know........)

Having said all this, I know that in the end, I don't want to look back to my university years and not remember anything else except the studying. I do intend to collect experiences and memories so that I could say, "Yeah I had fun too." It would suck to just remember how stressed up you were and the endless work. So no. I won't sink that low. Instead, I'll grab any opportunity to do something meaningful and worth remembering. Like last weekend, the university became the hosts for the Asian Youth Kabaddi Tournament so for at least a week, we had different faces here. The furor started when the Japanese and Iranian team arrived. All the girls got excited I tell you. Personally, the Iranian guys were, naturally, smoking hot. The Japanese dudes were cute and better, friendly too.

It was fun actually watching the kabaddi matches. I never heard about the game before up until a friend told me that the objective of the game was for one person to touch an opponent and escape safely to his side of the court before they jump on top of him. Literally. Once you touch, the opponents can tackle you to make sure you don't anywhere near to your safe zone. It was wild to see how they tackled each other. Imagine a bunch of dudes all going after this one person, prepared to pull legs, grab and pin you down. Seriously, it was exhilarating to be in the huge crowd that showed up to watch the final games. It was like watching a football match. The noise! Some of us were sad when the competition ended, especially the ones who managed to make friends with the players. There was a lot of pictures taken and souvenirs exchanged. Luckily I didn't have a penchant for any particular player or not I would be angau for days. *wink wink!*

Then that following Monday night we had a lantern festival. There were some booths selling stuff, the popular I think was the Sticker Monster booth, selling stickers and rhinestones. Later, there was a lantern procession to the sports centre to send off the huge lanterns up to the sky. It was really nice to see the different colours of small lanterns that people (including me!) bought and lit up. Watching lantern launching was awesome. Some made it, some didn't. One made it up to the moon but then made its way down before extinguishing.

Then, most recently, we girls made our own steamboat! Last Friday was our English Oral exam but after that we were free so we went to CS and did shopping!!! I finally found the wedges I wanted and they are DAMN GORGEOUS. I shopped and shopped... so yeah, definitely no online shopping for now, no matter how tempting it is, Scout's honour. We bought the stuff for the steamboat (Aliya suddenly had an inspiration to buy a steamboat and bring it here after Raya) and since we had no way of making a proper stock, we just bought tomyam soup to use as the base. And not forgetting, PINK sparkling grape juice! And it was pretty good. We bought lots of stuff to throw in. Opening the juice bottle was the funniest. We screamed the cork popped, hahaha.

So yes. Where there's time to be serious, there's also time to let go and have fun. I'm so glad that my life isn't that boring. I would die.

Our modest attempt at hostel-made steamboat

Aha, no liquour here folks! Just innocent, pink sparkling grape juice...

The first thing I did on Merdeka morning (okay, not exactly morning since I woke up at nearly 12pm), was check my phone and find out from Aliya that the orders for clothes at clothesforchics.blogspot.com is closed! Oh, the anguish!

So the next thing I did was take out my dinky little HP Notebook, connect to this unknown wireless connection we love taking advantage of, and go online to check the site. I want that dress so badly!

Aliya said she called the girl managing the site and she said she'll try asking if she can fit in another order. My fingers are crossed!

So anyway, since I was online, I've been looking at other local blogshops and every other minute or so, a little sqeal will escape my lips as I scroll down gorgeous items and dirt-cheap prices. Its SOOO tempting to just place an order and have this stuff mailed to AIMST. Seems incredulous but the other girls have joined the bandwagon. Recently, a friend bought these awesome white patent leather heel boots and had it mailed HERE. Amazing.

I've been like this since last Friday. In fact, we all camped in Aliya's room, each with our own laptops and went surfing that night after watching a movie. Me, Aliya and Nana were surfing for clothes and accessories until 4am. Tak jadi sahur.

Same thing happened last night. Coming back from buka puasa at McD (I finally got to taste meat after a long time; had a Quarter Pounder haha) and a shopping stint in CS, I suddenly decided to do makeovers for Sakkunthala and Sofia with my liquid eyeliner and mascara. And with total bragging rights, I must say they looked FAB. At the same time, I was online looking at the hundreds of clothes. We went down at 1am with an excuse to have early sahur but to be honest, we were just hungry. But by the time we reached there, the kitchen was closed. So went back up, opted for the food available in my closet and continued onlining. Slept at 6am. It was funny that when we started to sahur at 2, my other two roommates were about to sleep, but then later at 5 when they woke up to sahur, we were still on the sofa surrounded by food. When they came back, we were also still awake. Hence, slept at 6. Hee heee.

So here I am, deciding to chronicle a few very crazy accounts of this long weekend. To sum it up, I went out on Friday and Sunday. Its a good thing I decided last minute to not follow Sarah and the rest who incidentally went out to Queensbay Mall in Penang and spent 2 whole hours in Forever 21 (its at times like these that I miss KL). Only God knows what I was capable of if I did go with them. Up to now, I'm already become a follower for 5 blogshops I think and maybe more to come.

P.S. My quiz week starts tomorrow. Supposed to be studying. Naughty naughty.... (looks like its gonna be another late night... XD)

P.P.S. Coincidence?: I went to Bank Islam on Friday after class to get my ATM card. Soooo.... JPA money is IN! LOL

Slumber party!

Battling the wind and rain

Umbrella Upsided!

Best main hujan... :D

My bed

My desk (notice the open Chemistry book -rajin betul huh...^_^)

The living room and pantry of the apartment

The pantry

Check out the beautiful scenery just outside my room window!

Sunset from my window...

Our new little friend

Hahaha! Sofia tak pakai kain!!!

The female hostels

The Dental faculty building (all our lectures and tutorials are conducted here)

Far left: Student centre and cafeteria; right: library; far right: Dental and Engineering building (beyond that, in the centre is the admin building)

first floor of the cafeteria

Atrium of the 'Human Freezer'

Sports complex

And now...

Photos of outing day!!!

On our way to the bus-stop, sempat berposing with our umbrellas...

Minah Payung!!!

All the gals...

(Alia, Sofia, Sarah, Nana, Sakkunthala and Lily)

Lunch at KFC...lepas penat berjalan and braving SP traffic

Back at our hangout at the cafeteria (with our 'stepdad' Faris, haha)

Peace!

P.S. The first part of this post was done last Saturday before our second outing but I could only finish it today - all thanks to my dahling Sofia for lending me her laptop! ;)

P.P.S. The weather here has been awesome. That's why the photos are so pretty...:)

For a usually forgetful person, certain things I really find difficult to forget.


Like how I cannot forget the smell of Lancome's Miracle perfume.

Like how I cannot forget some of my dreams, while completely forgetting others.

Like how I still remember the biting cold on my bare fingers from eating cotton candy in Paris (it was the beginning of winter).

Like how I cannot forget all kinds of bits and bobs of general knowledge (a.k.a mostly useless information) that I picked up through the years. I have no idea where in my brain am I storing all this junk.

Like how I can recall the smell of the classroom where I took French language classes. :)

Like how sometimes, I can automatically sing along the lyrics of songs I haven't heard in years.

Like how I remember my mother's hands easier than anything else about her.

Like how I cannot forget the only time I saw my father cry.

Like how I cannot forget the times I upsetted or really lost my temper at the people I love most.

Like how I cannot forget the faces of all the best friends I've ever had since kindergarten.

Like how I cannot forget all the embarassing moments I've had with the boys I've liked. :$

Like how I still remember where all the moles went.

Like how I cannot forget how insanely happy and utterly confused he made me feel.

Like how I cannot forget that look.

Like how I cannot forget that smile.

Like how I cannot forget that voice.

I really wish I could forget the last 5, but I always seem to forget to forget.

Sorry.

But there'll be more unforgettable moments to come... :)

"Oh, I know I look so cute in this!"

Hair is starting to curl...

...and then, BAM!

Check out the hair!!!

Opposites - and I'm the darker one! :(

OMGWTF. Anak keling mana ni??!!!

Wah...rambut macam Mak Datin tau...

My Yellow Power Ranger Bag!

Phuket '98 - Staying cool in the sun!

Perth, 2000. I braided my hair and put beads in!

Primary 4 - The Beginning of the Tomboy Years

Primary 5 - I wore sneakers to school EVERYDAY, and I was a prefect!

This was my usual outfit during the Tomboy Years; t-shirt, big straight-leg jeans (oh, the horror) and my sneakers...

Primary 6 (I'm the one right in front with the least respect for school rules - rolled sleeves, unbuttoned top, and that BIG hair at the back)

2004
(Try to ignore those horrible unplucked brows and frizz..)

Budak sekolah yang baik...

And so, the transformation begins...

"I KEEL you!!!"

One day at Pusat Sains Negara...

At my 18th Birthday Party

Pelajar cemerlang gitu... XD

Muka baru bangun tidur, haha! (Photo courtesy of Nizzar)

Dipaksa posing by the little cameraman... (Raya Haji 2009)

The little cameraman/Ultraman

P.S. This post took me ages to do! But I enjoyed it... stay tuned for Nostalgia 2...