Oriental Express (The I-Was-There touristy version)

沪

Camwhored at 陆家嘴东方明珠塔 (The Oriental Pearl Tower at Lujiazui)

人民公园 (People's Park at People's Square)

董家渡上海老街城隍庙前 (The Town God's Temple of Shanghai Old Street at Dongjiadu)

*****

皖

黄山国家公园 (The Huangshan Geopark) - So many pine trees, grotesque rocks and clouds! Couldn't see the significant sunrise and sunset due to bad weather cos it rains 360 days a year averagely on the peaks of Huangshan kononnya. Too bad.

黄山翡翠谷 (Jade Valley at Huangshan Geopark) - Some parts of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙）was filmed here. (note : blurriness credit to my sister, i don't think i have any decent photo of me being sharply focused under her hands)

Still like to act cute at her age. Haih sisters nowadays...but my sister is an exception cos I can't thank her enough for everything muacks!

There were snow storm and frozen rain on the second day of us at Huangshan (the ugly "trash bag" raincoat explains it all) so the cable car system shut down and we had to trail all the way down which took us a good 4 hours and a foot massage session in Shanghai courtesy of my sister :)

*****

京

北京大学西门 (The west entrance of Peking University) - We went in to explore a bit by chance. Quite conducive to studies since part of it is built within the limits of many ancient gardens and palaces including Summer Palace/圆明园 (Old Summer Palace) cos the interior is way too historical and beautiful for a university. Beijing is very beautiful and its population density is way lower than Shanghai. Furthermore, most of the people in Beijing are very friendly and polite unlike Shanghai but somehow they still spit like nobody's business despite the geographical discrepancy :(

颐和园十七孔桥 (17-Arches Bridge in The Summer Palace) - This place is effing huge, I think the compound size is almost equivalent to whole Bandar Sunway (if that doesn't sound too big to you then it's ok cos I could have sensed wrongly haha).

金山岭长城 ( Jinshanling segment of the Great Wall) - I was being forced to travel with a bunch of ethnocentric Europeans through out this day tour which I don't know how many times I had to roll my eyes for enough but fortunately I had Gan (my Aus. expat. travel buddy from Sg. on an around the world stint whom I met in Happy Dragon). We traveled 3-4 hours by van from Beijing city to the Jinshanling segment (not the typical 八达岭/Badaling segment which is only 90km away from Beijing city) somewhere around 河北省 (Hebei province) and when we were at it, we walked a further 4 hours along the wall all the way to another segment called 司马台(Simatai). Not to forget, we also have to pay entrance ticket for each segment and a cable car ride ticket. All about $.

*****

藏

布达拉宫 (Potala Palace) - Kononnya the highest (not tallest) building in the world but I really don't fancy Lhasa cos it's just like any other cities in the mainland with excessive luxuries of entertainment outlets. My land tour guide brought me to a club in Lhasa and I thought it was sinful if I ever enjoyed myself inside. It just didn't feel right when I saw so many Han Chinese patronize the place instead of the natives. And don't expect to find any eatery shops that serve authentic Tibetan food at ease unless you are 100 km away from the city. For some reasons, I had been eating mostly 川菜 (Sichuan dishes) rather than 藏餐 (Tibetan meal). However still, kudos to the Chinese government for developing the place all these years so that our fellow Zang minorities are at least provided with basic amenities to counter inconvenience at high altitude and slowly liberate them from poverty. This place has been part (it still is) of China before the United States of America is called a "country" so what do you think?

雅鲁藏布江 (The Brahmaputra) - Holy river and one of the icons that represents the Tibetans. It was on my way to 日喀则 (Shigatse) via 三一八国道 (318 National Highway - longest highway in China that stretched from Shanghai all the way to Nepalese border where the road condition on the segment we traveled was ok, not too bumpy but we drove along/across/between/within canyons and the Brahmaputra so I had got nothing to complain except for we spent almost 8 hours for a good 300 km land cruiser ride.

纳木错湖 (Nam-tso Lake) - One of the three holiest lakes within the Tibet Autonomous Region. 4718m above sea level makes it the highest salt lake in the world. Very holy as you can see from those prayer flags behind me. The surrounding sceneries look very surreal as if I was somewhere around the polar extreme. Windchill factor was around -30+ centigrade but thank god I had the oversize cashmere around my neck but barely able to open my eyes due to the wind and sunlight.

雪古拉山口 (Mount Xuegu-La Pass) - My awesome land cruiser driver wanted to bring me to 羊八井地热温泉 (Yangpachen Geothermal Hotspring) from 日喀则 (Shigatse) via gravel roads and onwards towards the highest point I ever traveled on earth, Mount Xuegu-La Pass at 5438m. To reach the summit we climbed the steep pass through a number of hairpins and arrived at the top where typically lotsa prayer flags adorned the hillside. View of surrounding mountains were breathtaking but the air pressure was even more breathtaking than the view. Fortunately, I didn't suffer from apparent altitude sickness from the trip, miraculously, all thanks to 红景天/rhodiola (a kind of Tibetan remedy that prevents hypoxia). Thus, my canned oxygen laid untouched until the officer at Lhasa train station confiscated it. But well one thing I had learned, pure oxygen doesn't smell very pleasant, it's something between dried cuttle fish or polystyrene board.

那根拉山口 (Nagen-La Pass) - The last mountain pass we encountered in the Nam-tso National Park before the Nam-tso Lake. 5190m equally breathtaking (pun intended). The wind was extremely strong and the thermometer in our land cruiser recorded around -20 centigrade here. Can die as I wasn't wearing very thick long johns and with only 2 layers + my down jacket!

p/s : i have to seriously thank my personal land tour guide and driver for maximizing my time in Tibet with so many fantastic sites. shifu purposely took the pebbly route that less traveled by the mainstream just so that i could enjoy an eye-opening journey. nonetheless he brought home the bacon albeit his 4WD ran over a sheep along the way but i have to say luckily it wasn't a yak or else i won't be sitting here typing all these shits. besides, i thought i was gonna die when our 4WD lost control almost overturned and then flung away from the precipice at the frozen pathway to Nam-tso lake. god blessed our 4WD worked smoothly all the way without even the typical tyre puncture at extreme road condition. i think those Gautama Buddha 开光 (light introduced) talismans and ornaments that i carried along did work on us :) however, there is a little disappointment when my guide told me that i couldn't get passed with the permit for access to Mt. Everest Base Camp (5200m, unknown to some people that winter is the best season to travel in such places cos the sky will be crystal clear to catch glimpse at the Everest/Qomolangma peak!) due to strict enforcement this season (unbecoming statistics thanks to some reckless drivers and terrible road condition) as my request came quite spontaneous. probably the most potong stim ever in this trip but i saved myself a 3 days 2 nights torturous on-road journey under -30 centigrade on average weather temperature for a visit to a higher mountain pass unknown to most (Xuegu-La - 5438m) en route to Yangpachen town. don't really need to punch my chest that hard after all.

*****

Flow of my entire journey :

Flight to Pudong Airport ex KLIA (approx. 5 hours) - Flight to Chengdu Shuangliu Airport ex Pudong (approx. 3 hours and my flight delayed 5 hours due to massive fog formed at Chengdu outskirt) - Flight to Lhasa Gongga Airport ex Shuangliu (approx. 2 hours) - Train via Qinghai-Tibet railway ex Lhasa to Beijing took 3 days 2 nights or around 48 hours (with sleeper berth, phew) - Train ex Beijing to Shanghai took 13 hours (was stupid enough to opt for the hardseat due to huge price disparity with sleeper and gotten a real hard lesson and backbone after the ride) - 5 hours car ride ex Shanghai to Huangshan and another 5 hours fro - Flight to KLIA ex PVG

Force fed myself with sooooooo many food (major spending) so much so that I was too lazy to lug my bulky camera around whilst looking for food cos not like you xenophilic Malaysians wanna see anyway, thus the absence of foodie on prowl with monitor-lickable food photos! From deep fried scorpios to multinational buffets, after everything, I thought I was gonna see exponential horizontal growth in me but after reassuring myself with the credibility of 4 different weighing machines, I mysteriously lost 2 kg! Best of the best! It's just that somehow the physical result is not obvious enough to convince people but screw you like I care.

Also brought home with luggages full of harvest from retail therapy that has already overweight by an acceptable amount + some still left with my sister. Couldn't resist the Xmas/New Year sales hoohaas when all we have back home is 10%-30% markdown for the riches. Let me give you an example or two, a pair of Energie jean on 70% discount, a pair of Ben Sherman denim on 50% discount...and when you buy in grand total of let's say 800 CNY they will give you further markdown of 200-300 CNY off the bill. Sales on sales. That's the way! And the most thrilling part of all is to further divide all the price on bills by about 2 on forex! *faints*

Well and also...

There goes a month of my holiday and savings! :(

Next up is to plan for my 4 months hiatus before leaving for the States. Gosh, again gotta crack my little brain again in order not to waste time, and roll up my sleeves to slog for studies and $.

Organic Chemistry, I am so gonna you in the most brutal manner, EVER!

More to come. Bye.

The 2386th Resurrection Before 2009

Happy New Year Eve and Happy New Year in advance! *in cheerful tone*

Have been contemplating whether or not to abandon this journal of mine for weeks (again). Posted few nonsensical entries about the official closure of this blog as well.

At last......

I'm still carry on with this little journal quest (lol) because...well I'm nostalgic.

So far I have only owned 2 journals with the first being Multiply from about 5-6 years ago (a journal site from yesterday). So how am I suppose to forsake 4 years of written memories and exactly 760 entries in blogger?

And shame to say, the feeling of disowning is not the first time already. I think it's better to take one step at a time from now on and see what's there for me in time to come prior to making any major decision!

Till I write again.

-Best-

Bitches II

人

心

险

恶

Kthx.

p/s : why is cashmere so expensive? isn't it just fur of some animals at high altitude? what's the difference between it and the synthetic ones? i know the price alone is huge difference but that's another story. tell me the subtle ones la. the annual sales are still like old dusts not blowing anything out of the water. yes, please, even -10%, -20%, -30% are still 400 trillion km light-year away from real steal deal who are you people trying to kid?!

四月のある晴れた朝に100パーセントの女の子に出会うことについて

On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning

One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl. Tell you the truth, she's not that good-looking. She doesn't stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn't young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She's the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there's a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert. Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you're drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I'll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose. But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can't recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It's weird. "Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl," I tell someone. "Yeah?" he says. "Good-looking?" "Not really." "Your favorite type, then?" "I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts." "Strange." "Yeah. Strange." "So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?" "Nah. Just passed her on the street." She's walking east to west, and I west to east. It's a really nice April morning. Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world. After talking, we'd have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed. Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart. Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards. How can I approach her? What should I say? "Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?" Ridiculous. I'd sound like an insurance salesman. "Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?" No, this is just as ridiculous. I'm not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who's going to buy a line like that? Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me." No, she wouldn't believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you're not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I'd probably go to pieces. I'd never recover from the shock. I'm thirty-two, and that's what growing older is all about. We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had. I take a few more strides and turn: She's lost in the crowd. Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical. Oh, well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don't you think?" Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened. One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street. "This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me." "And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream." They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle. As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily? And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?" "Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do." And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west. The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully. One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible inluenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank. They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love. Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty. One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew: She is the 100% perfect girl for me. He is the 100% perfect boy for me. But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever. A sad story, don't you think? Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her. *村上春樹 (The Elephant Vanishes, 1981)

They Say Tak Boleh

We have a quota for unintelligent statements to release once in a period of time. Let's look at our fairshare this month,

1. The Banning of Yoga
2. "Masculinised" dressing among women is...forbidden? Hello?

With all my respect to the beloved official religion, these are really titchy things that should be omitted for the sake of betterment in other major issues. Over the years, the sanctity of religious issues have been twisted and toyed around by a minority of people with ulterior motives. Why do these people so intolerant to things that have so little significance to their religion? They are not even anywhere close to jeopardizing anything. Universally (I assume), we are taught to practice religion by heart. Clinically speaking, by practicing certain aesthetic body movements for wellness will not result in the erosion of tenet, why can't people just face it? They are not 100 years ahead of time so I think they should stfu. Women have all their rights to dress in whatever they want so long as they feel comfortable and why should those people ever bother? Well I'm quite sure that by putting on apparels that cover most assets all the while can cause inconvenience like heatstroke (sorry to say but our beloved country is right in the middle of all latitudes so how can we not love the fact that we have plenty of sunshine through out the whole year?), prone to get tripped, restriction in anatomical movements etc. To sum up, we cannot tell a person's sexuality by his/her ways of dressing. Physical appearance does not usually speak what's in the heart! Furthermore, what's wrong with being homosexual nowadays?

Dear chauvinistic leaders, it's time to ditch your sense of gender superiority and come down to earth. This is not about being pious or not to a particular religion, this is about the practice of pragmatism in accordance with the footsteps of time. I believe it's currently 2008AD not 600AD. Please evolve.

And these principles of Hadhari are being promoted ever since Father of Independence era :

• Faith and piety in HIM
• Just and trustworthy government
• Freedom and independence to the people
• Mastery of knowledge
• Balanced and comprehensive economic development
• Good quality of life for all
• Protection of the rights of minority groups and women
• Cultural and moral integrity
• Protection of the environment
• A strong defense policy

Look, our beloved nation builder in early days were living ahead of his time but leaders today are all out to fall back or do they favour the idea of "barbarians living on trees" that once pointed at us fellow Malaysians by some ignorant foreigners and attempt to prove them right? I wonder how do they define "religion", "religiously wrong" and "norm". They seem to interpret these vague terms "very well" in their own language and whoever has doubts should carry along with them to their graves then remain in silence eternally. The masses can't decipher, EVER, cos we are not worthy, not almighty and not holy enough to ascent into that imaginary position they look up to. Therefore, none of us will know what's in their game since they told us (non-believer of their religion) not to question and stay out of their sacred religious issues.

But being an inquisitive person we are we may still soliloquize : "why, why, why...?"

and why?

Go ask the God who lives inside us, not people who think they know it all.

Nuestro amigo = 22 años

¡Feliz 22do cumpleaños a Señorita Felicia T.B.T.!

p/s : The cake was leftover from dinner at TGIF earlier on cos we lousy friends couldn't afford a proper cake. Anyways, muchas gracias to our "dai kah zhe".

pp/s : Semester 5's result is out after much anticipation (not really). Thankfully, I got my desired grade but with a minus sign right beside it. God damn. Currently CGPA is hanging at an awkward point. Definitely not a happy one nor a sad one it is, it's just plain neutral. I could have rendered it properly to a happy one but I didn't and why? So remorseful, so guilty but what's done is done. Essentially right now is the venomous super elaborated application procedures ahead to be killed. Anal. Hell they don't even bother to look at the bank letter dated before Jan 2009 and there they encourage us to apply earlier for whatever lame excuses. Makes me scratch my head so badly. And I don't think those demanding adcoms will even bother to read a mediocre quality personal essay written by an average Asian applicant that came from a non-English speaking background who speaks sub-par quality English in his everyday life. However, I do hope that my miserable CGPA can be offset by my commitment in various extracurricular activities back in high school. I have to dig all my dusty sijils out just to beg for a qualification around the ballpark. Disgusting. Try to reject me and see!

ppp/s : My sister is making my situation heavy! I've no idea why an expat. like her can dwell in a highly urbanized domain but at the same time prone to exclusive isolation. I guess life has been busy like bees over her end especially in the middle of economic downturn + retrenchment brouhaha. Life ain't easy I know but just how hard can it be to locate a freaking bank in a metropolis with over 20 millions of population? What more excuses?

pppp/s : The date is approaching but I'm still much helpless and off the cuff. A lot of obstacles along the way. I need faith (a lot), respect and the discretion to execute my own idea so long as it's approriate la. Can't you people foresee an impeccable plan coming along already?!

ppppp/s : Having the luxurious to sit at home doing nothing at the moment but eat + sleep + read + online repetitively on daily basis. A lot of time to waste but I think I (we) deserve it after all the hardworks! Well I don't get to do this most of the time so it's plausible from every angle.

Peace out.

Finalmente, El Tercero (tambien esta el ultimo!)

TOEFL (check)

*cue song of victory*
*throws confetti*
*waves pompon*

4 hours.
Hard ass gluing.
Backbreaking.
Voila...
Emancipation!

I freaking woke up at 5 am today just to cross border. Fucking jam at 6 am early in the morning, the traffic jam and the ever sluggish checkpoint queue. Reached too early at King's Arcade actually but managed to start the test earlier. I swear I was on the verge of giving up during the reading test, you know what kinda topic they forced people to read? Archaelogy, Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry...like HELLO no better topic is it? Ever heard of light and after dinner topic? I nearly tossed the whole computer out of the window and wanted to end the test earlier. All the sections were answer-able except for speaking part where the time given was NOT ENOUGH. Motherfuck, 45 seconds for 1 question HELLO? You think I speak Tamil?

Anyhow, immediately after that I went back to JB cos too tired to go on with other activities such as shopping and the like. The fact that it's Saturday made it even discouraging. And everyone's having their final exams, no fun shopping alone. Well, actually I was not very willing to spend SGD since it's so freaking sky high of late. Might as well enjoy forex relief in my homeland. So I headed to CS after that, that place is incorrigible. It's like southern version of Sungei Wang. Needless to explain further, you know what I mean.

Went for passport, visa and student ID scanning, 4 pieces cost freaking 13 bucks! Easy job, just scan, click and save, abbacadabrahocuspocusexpectopatronumwingardiumleviosa RM 13 *ka...ching*! Sap sam, tiga belas, trece, zap sa! Gone in split second! Daylight robbery case. Then I realized later on that one of the picture files is actually corrupted TNLM. But well, on my way jazzing around the mall, I met Janet and later followed by Eugene (CS is a place of high collision rate with people you know), talked like we never talked before for 1.5 hours at no means of stopping, like literally. Rushed back to grandpa house. Took the car and went CS again to fetch frog. Then makan at Yew's cafe which was rather yucky. I never liked spaghetti, particularly hate bolognaise sauce. Out of extreme boredom, we explored the newly opened Danga City Mall which I shall give a 1-word-off conclusion, pathetic. Will zhap lap before long according to my common sense. They don't even need fengshui master to determine the position of their fate cos like I said, for sure closure in time to come is inevitable, and it will not be long from now.

Muahaha...I'm effing tired now. Don't know what the hell I'm sprouting. I think I will score badly in TOEFL. Believe me. I almost fell asleep halfway around it and in the end I thought I just couldn't be bothered as long as I meet the minimum requirement. Seriously the test resembles SAT I in many ways. Killed all the kicks. Not good. Triste. Fuck. K. Thx. Bye.

Finalmente, El Segundo

Muy bien, I've done my examen de la Español finally. All my worries were absolutely unnecessary because the test was very easy. I kind of screw up the oral test due to the effing sore throat and flu but well...it's over now! And I scored full marks in translation section, so flattered! Anyways thanks for their benevolence also la. Muchas gracias Andres, hasta el proximo año!

Then again, the thought of having TOEFL on this coming Saturday sunk in and gorged away the cookie of joy! Now I'm worried again. Haven't prepared a shit yet. Totally clueless about the format like HELLO?! 2 more days and I'll be bloody screwed from ass right up to brain.

..........

While enjoying my holiday, I need to crack my brain on 4 admission essays. Lotsa brainstorming will be involved. But no inspiration to kick off as yet, nil, nada, none, zero, cero...so I guess more agony than delight.

However,

after this week I'll be totally FREE from tests! Liberation! Yay! Although there are still lotsa applications to do but still at least I can do them AT HOME, 家, 屋企，casa!

Fuck virus infinity lo, why must they hit me at this time OF ALL TIME when I'm in the middle of so many tests huh? Huh? HUH? I'm still going home and acing my test even if you try to put me down like jelly! Roar.

Nothing beats leaving this mierda place afterall.

Incoherent I know haha.

Rest. Weekend.

Wohoho, I skipped work today all thanks to the me who couldn't wake up on Friday morning. Sounds like cliche to you no? I don't know I guess I should just let pass the entire thing about fitting more moolahs in pocket and ready to see the world afterall that job is really bootless. I've learned nothing from it but sore eyes after hours of gluing those eyes in front of that tiny little world on the otherside called the monitor, and sore fingers from all the numerical data keying. I have excellent speed in typing numbers now (come challenge me!) but I think the longer I stick on to this field the higher chance of becoming a carbon copy of Carol Beer is quite high before long. Whatever it is, I still have 2 more days to report in on next week before I got unbound from the contract. What I'll definitely miss about this job is the colleagues, the SPAREST work schedule I ever encountered and well...the pay rate la, it's consider quite high in its kind compared to working as a Starbucks' barista or some really cheesy jobs that require you to work your ass off like donkey. So much for praising this job but I didn't reap much from it also la since I've been so lazy to work full time and rather spend my time idling in front of monitor or staring into blank at home thinking what should I eat for brunch/hightea/dinner/supper. No breakfast la of cos, how to wake up at that kinda ungodly hour, even if so, the only thing I'd think about upon waking up in the morning is to sleep for another 1 hour and usually it would gone up to another whooping 3-4 hours when lunch hour is already long gone. I love alarm with snooze function that's it and yes I got no life.

Speaking of life, my life ahead in 2009 is still pretty on the undetermined side. Part of me wanna continue with AUP but part of me don't. And bless your wisdom, the latter dominates. College life after Sunway is so dull and uneventful. I can't justify where the problem lies but there seems to be a little lump of problem blossoming somewhere around the pursuit of so called campus life or well maybe like what I used to say, I'm misfit just because I'm obnoxious afterall cos I eat more salts than they eat rice, no no no I don't wanna sound arrogant but it's just that the clique for me is missing and I'm the one who has all the problems to deal with instead of them. You know the organic relationship we used to foster with people around us during high school times is not there, none. We share tips, do assignments, discuss about tutorials, organize events, find break partners/go home partners, hi-bye etc. Things that bring us together are so mechanical that there's no room for liveliness apart from that to unfold. It's only confine within the boundary of college and matters pertaining to it that's all. Alright, I'm the one who's having this problem so I shouldn't be ranting any further to showcase my weakness in socializing. But seriously I don't really care that much since long ago and I have more important things to worry about. In that case, I probably won't be in this divine college anymore by next year so I don't really need any advance enrolment. Gonna sign and declare a 8 months break to AUP office for personal reasons, again damn mafan.

What I'm planning to do before I transferred is probably take up a serious Español course with formal assesments at Aula Cervantes. Haih if that's the case I may need to shift house again just like how someone whom I know described, 孟母三迁 (Confucius and his mother were leading a nomadic life for sakes of his educational well being). Sounds too heavy aye? Well you don't need to understand in any case haha.

N/B : I must take up my long desired PADI course this time no matter what. Nothing's gonna stop me already :)

Not sure whether those aforementioned ideas are of good ones but for sure I have got nothing to lose no matter what is the consequence. Don't you realize they are all value-added? Lovely isn't it? And EVEN IF I'm forced to do Orgo I and Bio II on January 2009 it will still be fine for me afterall my academic transcript is not gonna include this heavenly duo by the time I submitted my applications. Will it be a wiser choice if I take the both of them at the States instead? Perhaps a change of environment will do good on my studies which I believe it's valid after badly screwing my General Chem I & II under the same circumstance/people/place. Now I'm soooooooo regret of not putting enough effort in General Chem I & II back then as I was completely oblivious about them being my core major subjects and now that they are the obstacle of my college application process. Definitely not a good thing. I should just go and fuck myself this time.

The best thing is, my parents are totally cool about it. Well no bad comments from them so I assume that's it. What they stress is for me to really think twice before I made any determinative decision in fear of history repeating itself again which does not deserve a mention here since some of the people have already knew what's it about. Anyhow, I feel blessed but that's not gonna stop me from making long rants and endless complaints about college application process. It is the most tedious paperwork ever I swear. How should I kick off with my why-I-choose-your-divine-college essay and that part to fish for recommendation letter? I don't mingle around with lecturers/advisors and what's worst, my face is one of the most easily forgettable in college T.T. I know it's time to break the ice and pretend to be very close with someone whom I hardly even talked to this time. Ugh, a very shitty thing to do for the sake of future.

On a completely irrelevant note, Dido's new album is finally out after much anticipation. Well I think her fan base has shrunken and much of it migrated to Jem's or NB's. Still, she is fabulous although she's on the road less taken and rather low profile all these years but those are things that made her worth all the respects especially to those who feel helpless listening to songs of Beyonce, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears (wtf)...looping over and over again on air, don't you just wanna swallow arsenic so badly? Fret not, here's the light! I've been telling my friends how disgusting those radiostations in Malaysia namely Fly FM and Hitz FM for these two stations only designed to play songs by Rihanna, Beyonce, PCD, Metrostation, Akon, Pink, Chris Brown...not that they are bad but it's annoying to keep on playing it in each 30 minutes interval. Like hell no better songs to play. Don't they have some sort of policy to not to repeat on playing the same song within few hours at least like Power 98 and Perfect 10 in Singapore? Let's see, maybe radio media in our country has reached bottleneck? Now, even Mix FM is playing Rihanna's...*role eyes to the back of head*. Shallowness. And don't even make me started on Chinese radio stations which are tad too much of talking instead of playing songs and why must they be mainly of Cantonese medium and sometimes a little bit of Mandarin? It's so rojak and do they not know that majority of Chinese in southern and northern part of peninsular Malaysia can't understand shits about Cantonese? Bummer.

My shallow conclusion for this album can only be narrowed down into one word : quiet. More for emo babies. See, she doesn't even appear on her own album cover! That little spaceman is so cute right? But does it reminds you of the beginning part of that "boom de ah da boom de ah da" commercial ad on Discovery Channel?

Tales of a jelly

You know what is the thing that all Malaysians could have done long ago but we didn't?

FEED MAGGOTS TO ALL STREAMYX STAFFS!

I know this post ain't gonna boost my bandwidth but I need all you people out there to prepare globs of fat and juicy maggots and DO THE RIGHT THING! Super volcanic now. The fucking connection hasn't been great ever since months ago and still persisting at no signs of getting better you see. What are we waiting?

On a heavier note,

i'm typing out this entry in flaccid muscles. Every force lay upon those keys now can be the one last drop of strength before I kicked the bucket. Therefore I'm risking my life to finish this entry, and youuuuuuuu are bound to read.

My studio assignment mark is very earth shattering. Uber disheartening. No more A I guess. And for the love of god, who the fuck care about art appreciation since it is there to ruin lives.

Oh and please don't invite me to any ENO-worthy meals anymore! I'm sick of the taste of ENO after every meal. And when was the last time I ate modestly? Can't fucking remember!

Life after final hasn't been very good so far, in fact, more energy needed to be consumed each and everyday which lovingly reminds me of the need to make a trip to the embassy tomorrow before 11 am. Totally blasphemous working hour where to find huh? Hate dealing with intricate applications as they make me wanna swallow arsenic so badly. Red tape is seriously driving me nuts.

Much of blessings, tomorrow is a longggggggggggggggg day. So as Friday. So as the whole of next week until the end of my 3rd liberation - TOEFL. Work work work, study study study, sleep sleep sleep, eat eat eat. Endless of shits. So much for leading healthy lifestyle but bah! Long gone.

I wish I was at home!

I don't like this place, it's so mierda!

Hi life, bye life

As you can see time REALLY flies. I think someday when those scientists finally get those dirts outta their heads, they'll realise how the usage of "year" had been superannuated. And so the introduction of "light year" as standard unit to measure 12 months in a set. Told you, I foresee things that you can't see. Let's cross our fingers for light year era in time to come!

Basically within this 2 weeks I'll be exam-bound. 1st will be my final which is by far the most relaxed one can you believe? Tips are all given even there are only 4 chapters to crack that little brain overall. Still...duh we're humans and bound to be lazy. As a matter of fact, when more tips are given indicates the more time for me to procrastinate. Duh...again we're talking about humans here. So yea, instead of mugging like other kiasu counterparts, here I am purging what's inside into cyberspace like hell there are tonnes of eyeballs poring on this tiny little unknown whiny journal of an academic incompetent. That subject is owned at any rate, it's just a matter of acing or not, and not that it really matters now. I might need to tell myself to get over and move on eventhough how much I'd struggled before. You know, just cross the bridge when you come to it.

So I'm pretty good with first thing that will get me liberated. Now there's the second one which I completely oblivious about its importance or maybe existence altogether haha. Si! My examen de la lengua Español which will take place 2 weeks later. People have been telling me how easy it is but as much as I'm learning, it's no where near easy compared to the already mastered languages. There's no such thing as easy in learning process according to our ancestors (pls don't roll your eyes can?). Well, unless I learn it from scratch in tabula rasa WHICH lovingly brings out the practicality of the word, impossible.

And then, will be sitting for TOEFL 2 days after examen de la lengua Español in Singapore that came a little too late but it's fine. Can somebody tell me why is it only so little time slot allocated for our Tanah Air? Or is the trend taking sides on TOEFL instead of IELTS currently after the so called economy slowdown? (i dunno but just wanna find some excuses to prove my statement is totally valid) Just go for MUET already, cheap (RM 50 or so I've been told) and universally recognised also! Why ah? I seriously have a thing on taking any form of examination in Singapore after all the annoyances caused by SAT eons ago. Do you know how fucking early I need to report in for TOEFL? 8 fucking 30 am! Like whoa, I need to get up at 5am, reach custom at 6.45 am, take bus (if nobody willing to give tumpang), put up with traffic jam and the long queue at immigration clearance, locate the place (yes I don't fucking know where the hell is King's arcade, what's best, it's around Bukit Timah, a MRT-barren land just because that place is upmarket and people dwelling there DON'T take public transport). As a foreseeable consequence, I will reach there with 1/2 of breath left whilst leaving sweat dripping all over and the next thing I know will be facing an idiot box with headphone attached to me doing the test and probably in the end, I'll turn that idiot box into debris. End of story.......yea right. I am not gonna go for a second round for that damn test. It's not cheap. Then again, can somebody tell me how's the test like? As in the format and whatever that will be coming out cos I'm totally clueless.

So right after gotten the TOEFL result, it'll be the beginning of another chaos. University application. Believe me, I've seen friends emo-ed, wept, pulled the advisor's hair and all sorts of breakdown hoohahs over those application issues now and then. In order to avoid such catch 22 situation, I will try to expand my hopes by applying to 4 universities in 1:2:1 ratio. 1:2:1 meaning, 1 university with low acceptance rate, 2 with moderate acceptance rate and 1 with high acceptance rate. The personal favourite ranking will also go according to the same sequence. Not like it's totally cost free when it comes to those applications, they are charging at a minimal of 30 USD, some high ranked/peacocked universities will burn you up to 60 of those dollars. Worse still, ringgit to dollar is very much on depreciation currently where the reason still remain a mystery. Almost forgot, I need to attach a copy of why-I-choose-your-divine-university essay together with my application form for few of those universities. Why so damn bloody mafan one? Not like I'm applying for Ivy League also. Sibeh mafan.

After the completion of all academic assessments. I'll be heading for a 1 month stint in some very nice place around the planet. Obviously, a break. All I can say is, that place will seriously take my breath away, literally and figuratively. By imagining a good 3 days overland needed into that place is enough to kill some of the kicks but I hope the outcome is satiable and as wonderful as the decriptions of that place suggest. I'm going to altitude with harsh temperature that can go as low as negative 25 centigrade! Anyways, that said place is not my sole destination out of the entire trip yet it costs the MOST. By MOST I mean very much, in monetary sense, for some obscure reasons. The very bad thing is, the entire getaway is self-financed *beams in pride*, well maybe that's an overstatement already but at least 3 quarters of it I reckon. Thus, by the beginning of 2009 I will more or less live in extreme poverty and total liquid drained out state. Le sigh. But what I'll be getting in return is value added I assume since I'm always a skeptic about spending money on material possessions. Never mind la, tomorrow will take care of itself afterall. *sobbing behind curtain*

Really can't wait for all those academical liberations to launch. I'm so done with 2008! I know for Jan 2009 there will be bigger challenges ahead such as *coughs*organic chemistry*coughs*Bio II*coughs* but to hell screw it and give me a goddamn break you slimey spoilsports! For 2008 at least. We're good? Ok.

Bien bien, I've mouthed what I wanted to mouth for the day. Gonna turn in now. Buenas noches, amigos!

Carol Beer

She's by far my most favourite character from LB. A nonchalant nutcracker. And it'd have been better if you just tickle me to death than watching her in action.

well...

Too bad computer says noooo *in your feeblest and flattest descending tone*

Obsesion

High tea. Coffees. Cupcakes. Trinkets. Theme. LOMO Embassy! Artsy-fartsy. Creativities. DIYs. Sandwiches.

This is one of the best hide out places during your laid back class-out weekday afternoon.

Though their cupcakes are mediocre only (i personally don't favour cupcakes so yeah)...too sweet, overpriced, bad for teeth, diabetic and whatnot.

What's best? For anti-social's and misfit like me, chances of bumping into people that you do not wish to see at that hour/place are astronomical (not anymore now that i've disclosed its whereabout). Pricing is reasonable in its kind. Food wise, not many varieties. It's the atmosphere that counts afterall.

WONDERMILK

This motherfucking piece of paper will determine my life in next 10 years

Yeah right, I've heard what you said. Say it again la if you dare! Just tell me in face that the man's hands are freaking cacat to the point that they look like some burned plastic coated in dirty wax and then the scaling/depth/volume/ALL also problematic! Eh I spent few hours on those 8 phallic fingers itself! The hands are cued in from another photo thus the huge contrast and disparity between the face and hands and I couldn't render it my way by standardizing the colour of hands and face simply because I had to mematuhi principle of photographic Realism not Expressionism! I could only draw what I saw on those cut out photo references. Sad. I know my skill is only run of the mill mah compared to those full fledged art major students but can't you just get a life and stop your badmouthing?

I actually rectified the right hand's fingers prior to submission so this is a piece of retrospective work only la. And then it doesn't look that shit like in real life trust me seriously ok Ok OK? I know you will. I'm gifted. I'm artsy fartsy! Fuck you.

Alright the main point of posting this painting is for commemoration purpose since it sorta became a milestone in my life haha. My drawing is very teruk wan la since primary always get below B grade and never once 贴堂 before but I think my teachers used them for different purposes instead such as means of keeping devils away?

But seriously la it does look better in real life without those hands.

T.T

Sneezes ands smokes

The weather has been hostile lately, it will just stop the kick whenever I feel like doing some solitary activities such as jogging in the park or whatever. Gym room kinda unfit nowadays just because it's so packed and smelly. I especially hate the humid atmosphere and pungent sweat smell inside. But well jogging in park makes me feel like bird! My pores are clog free thanks to all the phytoncideres permeating around by our friendly greeneries. Although I still can't get over how they plot the story in The Happening, how can trees communicate with each other to wage vendetta against humans? They are little harmless creatures only ma. Oh well. Anyways, I can run like 3 laps off the perimeter on the jogging track which stretched like 2 km for each complete lap non stop! What a great achievement since I was then accustomed to running on flat treadmill all the while. Now I know why is it so great about turun padang haha. But I'm still not up to the point to challenge 42 km course since it requires an average of at least 5 hours to finish the track which is impossible to me at the moment, I'll prolly turn into dry corpse at the finishing line. So I still need time to contemplate whether or not to take up the 42 km Penang Bridge Marathon few weeks later or just join the rest for self-surrendered 10 km marathon-turned-leisure-walk for fun. Dunno la. Since the start up very mafan, needs power gel, muscles rub and a lot of equipments or else stamina is not gonna fall from the sky or pop up from rocks beside the roads.

Oh yea, almost finished my studio assignment! This time is for real although the hands part abit cacated but then Mr. Bad said it is of good painting quality overall except for the lack of colour variety. Nail it and stop beating around the bush, I don't like fanciful/colourful drawing mainly because I wanna make my life easier and how many colours do we need for painting human itself? The more the merrier meh? It's not like our complexion change according to temperature or what. I'm applying the great theory of Expressionism like it or not, I'm still gonna do it MY WAY. Bummer. I'm contented and shut the fuck up give me an A that's it.

My sister is thinking of joining me for the holy tour kut! Probably la. But still it will do me a lot easier to get through all the permits and stuffs relating paperworks which really worse than Uni application can you believe? Kudos to the ever conservative and self preserved government.

Gotta do up all my ejercicios now lest I will be condemned by Andres again cos normally I would complete all the homeworks he gave promptly except for the last lesson owing to effing Art's midterm la cb. Then he started using all those satiric remarks on me already. Puki. Dunno la I'm always blur out in his class when he call out my name to answer some ser/estar pertaining question. Damn mafan can.

This Friday will be deadline for studio's, term paper and next week will be conclusion's due date. All's well ends well before final and after final I will be drowning with whole lotta application stuffs, TOEFL, shopping for necessities and so on. Not forgetting montañoso of vacation calls from kengkawan!

In short I got so little time on hand but yet I'm still not doing anything productive at the moment. Sien.

And is it me alone or what but I think Rasta's shishas are overrated to max! I just tried that damn saccharified Sugus flavour and wtf it tasted like fish tank water in grape syrup. All the lolly flavours are seriously not my stuffs cos I prefer typical double apples mint and cherry mint. At least they don't give perk of sugar rush. Have you people tried Singgahselalu's? Rip off price at its highest quality! Down 3 rounds still can produce puff-ful of fully flavoured cloudy smoke and I've never once inhaled charcoal tainted tobacco in my history with Singgahselalu...each and every inhale is pleasurable. You know right it's damn potong stim when the inhaling process is dry like your lung is gonna dehydrate and explode but not at Singgahselalu (it's in JB la) *beams in pride*. What's best is, each hookah (large) only cost RM 13! How to find such price in high inflation bound Klang Valley? Even that sugar coated rubber taste like Big Apple doughnuts is charging RM 11.50 for 1/2 dozen nowadays. Holy shitake, RM 1.70 of increment!

Ok ok, nuff for non sensical rantings, adios.

(insert wrathful title here)

Having super bad mood now.

Let me share a tip for having good grade in your exam :

1. Bring along your self made notes (must be palm sized) or,

2. Peep at your friend's answers or,

3. Take your friend's answer sheet over altogether and copy as if invigilators are made from air.

And that is how some people here getaway with having high GPA and really good CGPA for few semesters consistently.

Can you believe it?

Half of the class was doing it, but being the honest one (please i'm being serious ok?), I didn't.

Therefore, my midterm 2's result ranked at the bottom half.

So I skipped my official last class today off the timetable simply because I hate to interact with those hypocrites. With all the pores choking plasticy smiles plastered all over your face while you carefully filter out every single word you use before these people for the remaining days is merely making endurance, of pain and stress. Do you think it's fun this way just for fuck's sake of being all diplomatic?

There are 3 more unofficial extra classes for that demonic subject to attend ranging from this week to next week just because the underestimation of our ingenious lecturer. I'm gonna treat it as a test of elasticity of my endurance, how far I can pull through.

I seriously don't hate this subject as much as I hate those people who involve in it.

Time to squeeze out my last effort for coming final in less than 2 weeks time.

Art is fun.

I'm glad it will all be over soon.

Because I'm sad

as per the title,

i suddenly hit myself that,

what if,

the domino effect of...

anything below 'A' for Art, not even 'A-' (assumption only, choi touchwood eventhough chances are quite high T.T) = not able to elevate my freaking CGPA = not able to hit the cut off point of this particular uni.'s strict admission criteria = sad/depressing/can die

really happens.

i hope it doesn't apply to the rest of their affiliated universities!

again i screwed my studio, or so he said, by he I'm referring to sheep masked wolf, Mr. Bäd (short form of his name Baddaruddin). no other name suits better than this don't you think so? It conjugated "bād" (English : bad) perfectly. his teaching is worse than his name, which is an understatement. i've been doing rectification for 122367834904342323 times (still counting) for no better comment. HELLOOOO I draw according to what you said, not from my imagination, innovation, creativity or whatsoever. ironic isn't it that art is becoming so mechanic and stiff like your aged grandmother's shoulder under his impeccable quality-promised teaching method. art class was so fun back when kindergarden, primary and even lower secondary! now dah jadi pain in ass, thanks for your efforts but no thanks. i'm all out but too bad my last semester is his marionette, the saddest part of all. not that i wanna merajuk but don't you just wanna punch your chest so hard for having such a second to none lecturer? best is, i have 3 hours of remedial class tomorrow which i have to make myself to college purposely just for the fucking sake of doing studio assignment. tmd!

i really don't fucking care what happened in Florence, Paris, Rome, London right up to Kota Tinggi, Pontian, Kg. Chempaka, Timbuktu...not even if the London Bridge is falling down, Pisa leaning tower broke into two or Eiffel tower toppled. i just care what will i be getting for my grade. or else my life will really fall apart!

*****

sidetrack a bit sempena my sombre mood today. how do you people find these foods? i personally love them and few of them are actually on my top 5* favourites among all other mainstream foods :D

Natto*. Best creation of God in health food industry. I don't think it smells like armpit at all! I eat at least twice a week currently and I love its pungent smell.

Smelly beancurd*. I don't know but I suspect I harbour slight toilet bowl fetish.

Fermented beancurd. Fu yu pak juk hou hou mei.

Cumin seeds. Very powerful Indian spices.

Mustard. Akin to wasabi.

Durian*. You should seriously consider migrating if you hate this.

Kim chi*. I can't get enough of white radish kim chi just like my love for acar! Best entrée/side dish/or even maincourse in the world. Can't stand people calling them keh leh feh wtf!

Coriander. Nothing goes wrong with coriander even your BO. How good for this to become middle note!

Bleu cheese. Smells like dried pee + smelly feet meh? 俗语说 ：姜是老的辣，芝士是老的臭。

i'm gonna live longer than you as a result of my likings :)))
so happy can die finally.

hasta pronto!

Even if it tastes like watercolours

Another torturous day in college, 2 hours late for the class as usual, drama addict's hang over, no progression on studio assignment still, my brushing for hair is cacat, I've made Avril Lavigne looks like Queen Latifah-ed Marilyn Manson, 3 more days and parents/cuzziez/relatives will be back with lotsa lotsa lotsa pressies for me as tokens of appreciation for taking care of their freaking cars/houses, I think some of them got me Hermes/Prada goodies albeit replicas and my inner child told me I should feel happy about it, had the worst ever shisha in my life, don't know what kinda mixture but I think it involved honey, cocktail, watermelon, apple and mint which gave us sugar rush instead of usual shisha rush, my partner in crime wanted to buy spring films at 12.45 am but was too chickened when we went in the shop and pretended to look at Rihanna's CDs and so bagged home reluctance, my life without college is 9-5, pathetic, working is shit, I should just be a full fledged spoilt brat, what am I trying to prove? To the world that I can stand on my own feet? That I'm not spoon fed? That I can be self sustained? That I'm practicing Self Survival 101 in the middle of crude reality and worldly existence? Who am I to cheat about the fact that I'm still financially dependent on the two poor old ones back home. As a part time corporate slave, my pay is way too low to cover my greed! Yes you read it, GREED, a thing that will never absent from anyone's mind, comes in different forms but heading to the same terminus. Hello, we're human. We live once. Life after death is nothingness. Limbo. Indefinite.

Midterm 2 on coming Tuesday, so there will be more Italian arts, Roman arts, Christian arts, Greek arts...indeed all of them sound like Greek to me. If I can't get at least a B+ for this rubbish subject that I'm taking now, I might as well degrade to amoeba. I have Orgo I and Bio II ahead next year for my last semester. It's a life and death thing for all the past efforts, strongly determinative.

Alright, I should start counting sheeps my blessings to slumberland now. 4.43 am. A besotted ponder of many things. A nonsensical chattering of a sleepless mortal. Sleeping, all the more reason to rejuvenate myself for a fresh start on the other side of this world. 4.53 am. I shall stop here and will hope to meet more understanding souls over there when this world is screwed. Nite.

Burp

Nowadays I really feel like a part time student cos the days I spend in college are far fewer than the days I spend doing otherwise. No, it's no wrong at all but I can't hide the fact how much I detest Art class so much until I'm so reluctant to go to college! Theory is sleepy, history is yawnsy, studio is draggy...the moment I finished my 1st layer, he would praise how "ok, ok, ok...very ok" it is to give hopes and came the next lesson, he would smear criticisms all over that innocent drawing block telling how wrong of him before that for all the praisings and I should redo my studio as a result, full of his hardened constipated Mesolithic shits in my ass! When I asked him A, he answered B, I followed on B, he drifted away to Z. WHAT NOW? Choral speaking is it? PLEASE. Get straight to the core next time. In fact, I don't even deserve that meagre 5%/10% for Midterm 1 cos I'll never understand what he rattles in class albeit it's SOLELY morning slot where that effing brain shall function at best. So much for Roman art and I hate it. Tell me about Goth, Classicism, Greek, Italian, Medieval, Realism, Byzantine, Egyptian, Italian...ETC and I'll introduce you to the whole new meaning of FUCK.

I think I need a day off from working this week. Totally can't stand robotic modus operandi and all the meaningless numerical typings.

In any event, my climax of the day will only be none other than eating. I went so much places to hunt for food these few days courtesy of STAR Guide to Malaysian Street Food but as much as I roam the streets, I'd still end up at the same place most of the time, SS 2 and Sunwaymas, cos they are the nearest to the food barren Kelana Jaya! Holy shitake! The fehhhhmesss Seremban Char Siew at Sunwaymas all sold out on the 2 consecutive days I went. Once was 1pm on Saturday and once 12.30 pm Monday, super gek sei! Die die also must eat this Wednesday, I think I shall go earlier like 8 am cos according to other flogger, Char Siew only available after 10 am. I will root my butt there and wait my life away no matter how after all I've been there and done that, not like I didn't brave through those days where need to queue up 1 hour for stupid J.CO only to find out they taste nothing but sugar and dough. Yes, and that's the reason why I need a day off from work! For Char Siew's sake!

Actually I doubt the reliability of STAR Street Food Guide sometimes cos they got the guts to feature that freaking yau char kwai (cruller) stall opposite my college at Asia Cafe which is one of the most absurd things ever happened. Maybe they are too desperate to search for any other better stalls for they've already overlooked that heavenly stall at SS 2 Chow Yang and many more. And then, that Lorong Seratus Curry Mee in SS 2 is nothing to scream about also after all it's still pale in comparison with the one in Penang ( I assume it is cos Penangites hold great pride and complacency in their hometown delicacies, definitely second to none for them). Worse still, I suffered 3 days of bowels looseness pada kesimpulannya. I still pretty doubt its credibility at the end of the day, IMHO floggers are the most reliable sources available for they will not hesitate to slap on raw comments, best thing is, they are all laymen's feedbacks unless advertorial where they are paid of cos have to siong min right? Aiya, I just don't like shallow comment la, it's like that particular food is totally flawless when it comes into words, glossy papers and superb photography/editing skill. SO WHAT? You may ask.

NOTHING! I just wanna write them down that's all.

Last thing, pasar malam is really blasphemous to all diet plans. Universally recognised.

Taman Negara The Primitive Virgin Jungle

It was really impulsive. As I've mentioned earlier. Charles called me around midnight suggesting a trip to Taman Negara which is like the second last place to travel on my travel list before Genting Highlands. Without giving much thought to it I just gave it a pass since the plan to Malacca got backfired and I didn't even have much time with me in pocket for I have to work. Anyways, according to Nicole she needs to visit as many significant places in Malaysia as possible before she headed to Australia or went back to Taiwan. As Taman Negara didn't sound very appealing to me at first, so instead of giving effort in packing stuffs, I just chuck in some very simple and ordinary items few minutes before I moved my ass afterall it was only a good 2 days 1 night.

We assembled at Mandarin Pacific Hotel before departed to Jerantut, some town in central Pahang hundred kilometers away from KL. OK, now the thing was the whole bus was full of Caucasian tourists in full equipments that it made us so tatty and unprepared. Damn siasuay can! Anyways, the journey on the bus was uneventful as I was sleep-deprived so I barely open my eyes.

Reached Jerantut around 10 am, transited to a local bus and continued with another long journey deep into a village situated at the heart of Peninsular Malaysia called Kampung Kuala Tahan. There were endless villages along the way and they all looked the same to me. After a joyride of 1.5 hours from Jerantut town. Voila, we were finally there! Checked in to our hostel chalet and started our very first adventure, jungle trekking cum cave exploring!

We were required to cross the river with sampan at first to enter the national park reserved forest area then proceeded on with a 1.5 km of trekking in jungle before the said cave visible to us. Basically the entire place was infested with foreign tourists cos I bet the locals must have preferred their weekends at shopping malls over exposure to raw sunlight. And so, the space that we were allowed to move in the cave is around half the size of us, so to say, cos it's way too narrow for adult to move at ease. Thus, a series of acrobatic poses involved where we were being forced to bend, twist, distort and melipat-lipat our bodies in order to advance ourselves. I really hate myself for not excelling in any of those Yoga-Pilates classes, well not that I really gave in much effort also but still...

After exploring the cave, we trailed another 1.5 km back to where we started and took sampan back to our chalet. We were allowed to rest for few hours before the next activity, night jungle walk! And I really wanna mention this but if you ever planning to go visit Taman Negara, please make sure you tapao food (e.g. a bucket of KFC fried chicken) from adjacent town before you found yourself here cos most of their foods taste like mixture of burned leaves and printer ink. Very terrible and the reason simply because Caucasians don't have fussy taste buds like Asians do, our foods mean more than just salt and pepper. Why are Malaysians so 'xenophilic' sometimes I wonder?

Nuff said, the night jungle walk was so-so-ish. Didn't see much nocturnal creatures except for some eerie looking spiders, scorpion, snakes and deers here and there. Oh yea, there were some glowing mushrooms that emit organic lights all over the ground which is at least something new to the few of us. But I was hoping to see tapir, rhinoceros, porcupine, pangolin and bunga rafflesia to no avail cos I suspect they are not nocturnal or camera shy. But some of them are on the verge of becoming extinct though :(

The night walk was rather monotonous and sweaty cos the weather was humid. Then there were always flocks of creepy crawlies flying around frantically, that kind where they would smack hard right into your face deliberately if you failed to siam them. Scary like mad especially those disgusting looking cicadas! They look horrible like Jurassic creatures.

After we called it a day, we settled down at a wooden platform beside the river for some chit-chattings whilst lying flat out face towards the sky pondered about many things happened in this year. During that interval, I couldn't help but feeling powerless amidst of mother nature and why do we try so hard to defy nature sometimes? What I'm trying to say is, no matter how far we go, we can never be anything but ourselves. The land can shatter anytime and as a consequence, thousands of lives will be taken along with it. We can never defeat the host we are living in which is the earth can we? Alright, so we just talked, played chor dai di and munched tit bits until wee hour under sea of stars and moonshine and finally turned in to bed.

Came the next day, we needed to crawl out of the bed at 8 am in the morning for food hunting! Cos it was very hard to find food at discretion for it's bulan ramadhan. As expected, foods are overpriced at this kinda place. A simple mediocre American breakfast in stingy portion cost us more than RM 10. Sighs. Our first event for the second day which was few hours before we headed back to 'civilization' was rapid shooting. Interesting as it may sound but it was merely sailing the engined sampan upstream against the river flow so that it can cause collision with water in order to make us wet out of earthbound water splash. Later on we went to an aborigines settlement to experience their stone age living cultures, reminds me of what I did for Anthropology fieldwork during my first semester at Kampung Pangsun, Hulu Langat. The difference is probably they are of different tribes that's it. Lastly, there was a more adventurous Canopy walking. We walked on elevated suspension bridges tied between tree trunks. It was quite fun especially when the bridge will just swing and dangle around along with your weight at that height whenever you lay a step forward!

Presto and begone! Time to leave the park and back to scary civilization of KL! Journey back was sleeepy, we conked out whenever on the bus. First we took the same local bus back to Jerantut from Kampung Kuala Tahan then only to realize we had missed the last bus to KL in that town. Therefore, we took another local public bus to the bigger town, Temerloh, which took us an hour more. From Temerloh, we sorta 'chartered' a bus back to KL, cos the bus that was supposed to carry 48 passengers only being used to accommodate the 5 of us all the way out of unknown reason or the generosity of that bus operator which I forgot its name. Because, I think we would've missed all the buses back to KL there had it not been the over-friendly ticket vendor. Fortunately enough, luck was on our side even with bonus of having the privilege of enjoying chartered transport at normal communal price. Memang durian runtuh betul!

Arrived KL at 9 pm (Sunday) and marked the end of this offhanded but gratified trip. Not forgetting, burned a big hole in pocket also :( for 2 days 1 night the price we paid is exorbitant and that was already the cheapest/worthiest we could find in short of time like less than a day. Nvm la, not like I will have this kinda chance knocking everytime.

Oh yea, one thing, we never see any leeches in the jungle through out the trip as it was not wet season! It was totally the opposite of what I encountered in Sungai Chongkak few months ago with STACT's members. If you don't already know, leeches are not scary instead they have therapeutic functions like garra fish! Walao eh.

*****

Putera Gunung Tahan.

Hank starting fire.

LtR : Keng Hau, Charles, Me, Nicole.

Sampan.

In front of the chalet.

At Orang Asli settlement.

In Orang Asli's hut.

Yelling at something.

Fire starting demonstration.

With our guide.

At entrance of Canopy Walk.

On one of the many suspension bridges.

Blow pipe (poseur).

Blow pipe with dart in action.

Trying to start fire as well but failed miserably.

Entrance.

Boat ride.

One of the many aged trees.

Entrance of Gua Telinga.

Glowing mushroom under artificial light = can't see.

Bats, up close and personal. Cute ay?