a clueless idealist

Epilogue

2010-03-25T00:45:00.002+08:00

I'm moving on to another blog. I'm still using Blogger, but I guess I just need a change. So behold:

amandasoo17.blogspot.com

Hope you guys don't hate the change.

And thanks in advance for changing your link to my new URL. =)

Of Farewell, Shopping and Singing

2009-12-19T19:28:00.018+08:00

I'm back from camp!

Well, that was four days ago. I came back on Tuesday and have been sleeping so much and going out so often ever since then that I haven't had the time to blog about camp. I'm not blogging about it today either. With so many pictures to post, I'll leave it till a later date. =)

Instead, I'm going to post pictures from my outings with my classmates, some of my closest friends and my family.

Wednesday was the day my class had its farewell/graduation feast. After changing the date back and forth from the 16th to the 18th in order to suit everybody's busy schedule, Wafi, my class monitor, finally came to conclusion that 16th was to be the day. Even then, only half the class made it. Fifteen other classmates probably went back to their respective hometown or were already halfway across the globe. Barely a few days after the last SPM paper, and already it was so hard to get everyone together. I'm scared to even think about the attendance to our class reunion five years down the road.

We had our lunch at Kenny Roger's in Aeon. Everybody got the same dish of quarter chicken, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad and mashed potato which, thankfully, was what I usually would order (minus the fruit salad. Two servings of macaroni and cheese is the way to go!).

Chocolate muffins with yucky raisins

Our main course
Chocolate milkshake. Hah! Haven't drunk this for a long time.

Yin Hui and I

Amutha, Thevaki, Khairunisa and Shaera.

Puan Nursyuhada on the far right. She's my class teacher. Oh well, used to.

After our meal, we headed for the cinema. I was hoping we would be watching Jump or Zombieland, but majority wanted to watch The Princess and the Frog, which was okay too I guess. When timing was not right and the seats were filled, Wafi had no other choice but to buy tickets for Storm Warriors.

Seriously, Storm Warriors has got to be the most boring movie I have ever seen. The movie was a whole lot of special effects (cool for guys, not for me), slow-motion actions which I assumed was to accentuate the characters' kung-fu moves and had very little dialogues. I wonder how much the cast earned from memorizing so little lines. The lack of engaging dialogues made the movie very hard to be enjoyed. And I had difficulty keeping myself awake. In fact, I almost fell asleep twice during one of the draggy fight scenes. Yin Hui and I kept laughing at the wrong parts. The fact that you would laugh at all is inappropriate because there is almost no humour in the movie. I remember exactly one (yes, just one) scene that was meant to be laughed at. No kidding. Conclusion is, life would have been easier if the almost two-hour movie was condensed into a 45-minute show.

Upon walking out of the theater, Bindhu said, "I don't understand what just happened". I'm sure she wasn't alone.

Kasturi, Bindhu and Premala.

For some reason, my legs look extremely short in this picture.

Premala and Halimatul

Wafi and Kasturi S.

Premala, Halimatul, Kasturi M., Wafi, Yin Hui and Kasturi S.

The Christmas trees are actually made of plastic bottles. How cool is that? =D

~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday came. This time, I was headed to Times Square with Dashy, Yvonne and Yin Hui. My dad dropped me at the train station at nine and after a lot of waiting at stations and a light snack at McDonald's, we finally reached the mall just before noon.

Immediately, us girls (especially Dashy and Yvonne) switched into our shopping mode and picked out hats, dresses, belts and pretty tops. We couldn't afford everything we set our eyes on, but we still bought a lot at the end of the day. Especially Dashy and Yvonne.

I don't know why I've never been aware of this, but shopping with them made me realized that stuff sold in Times Square are pretty darn cheap, if you look into the little boutiques. The downside is that we can't try on the clothes. All I bought was a dress and a pair of earrings. I probably would have bought many more clothes if the boutiques were to provide fitting rooms. Yin Hui bought two dresses. Dashy and Yvonne bought a lot. Period. Dashy kept asking us to control her because she needed to save what little money she had left, but we ended up playing the devil's advocate by encouraging her to buy more. We are such caring friends. LOL.

Yin Hui, Dashy and Yvonne.

Christmas decor! The place definitely set the Christmas mood in me.

Aren't the snowmen just downright adorable? =D

These are most of our purchases. I said most because Dashy has smuggled some of them in her bag to avoid future confrontation with her mom.

~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday, Mom's side of the family went Neway at Centro to sing our hearts out. My eldest sister wanted this gathering to be an early Christmas family reunion because she would not be in Malaysia during Christmas. We celebrated her birthday too, which is on the 23rd of December.

My family

Birthday girl with the See sisters

The Soo sisters

Both of my uncles and my second uncle's wife on the left. First uncle's wife is currently residing in China.

Jeremy and Big Sis

A toast! With sparkling juice! They are not what you thought they were.

I'm really appreciating this stretch of free time that I have right now to do whatever I want before embarking on a brand new journey in life i.e. college life. Wouldn't it be great if life stays carefree with no assignments or exams to worry about?

Tick-tock

2009-12-12T01:08:00.003+08:00

I'm few more hours from being on the bus to Rawang for Grace Youth Camp 2009 and I'm so excited because I missed last year's camp for reasons not remembered. I think I was in Singapore...or something close to that. Actually, I think I didn't go because I didn't feel like going. But this year is different. I'm so excited about going. I get even more excited when I think of the fifth formers who are still stuck with SPM while I'll be having fun. I'm so selfish...hahaha.

To be precise, I'm supposed to be on my way to church in seven hours' time, yet I have not packed my bag. Guess I'm not going to be getting enough sleep tonight. More cells in my body to be killed. Hah. I'm such a sadist...hahaha.

See ya after camp!

Mwah!

Sw-eeeet!

2009-12-08T21:54:00.006+08:00

New found freedom never tasted so sweet. I feel so liberated right now I think I can shoot past the stratosphere like a cannonball.

As promised, here I am today at my blog on the beautiful 8th of December 2009, officially set free from all ties of Sijil Pelajaran Menengah, the major exam taken by most Malaysian high school students before they 'begin the next chapter of their life'. That's how most people put it anyway.

The moment the clock struck 3.30 p.m. today, indicating the end of my very last chemistry paper (and SPM!), I could instantly feel so much weight being lifted off my shoulders. Walking out of the examination hall for the last time felt so good. Returning the text books to school felt so good. Receiving my 'sijil berhenti sekolah' felt so good. Everything just felt good. And that feels good.

Most part of me is so glad to be finally over and done with high school life. There's so much to dread about it, and I think I'm ready for a change of surrounding. Yet, I know I'm going to miss my five years at RZ dearly. Five years! I've never studied at a school for such a long period of time. As much as I long for my earlier years of homeschooling and the freedom it had given me, these five years at RZ have provided me a stable environment to grow in my self-esteem and to develop really meaningful friendships that I'll (hopefully) treasure for life.

There were multiple catty dramas along the way among my best friends, but these were the things that would ultimately make us more compromising and understanding of each other...in most cases. In other cases, friends decided to go their separate ways. Of course, these were the fall-backs that I wished had never happened, but I guess putting me on a bumpy road to travel on is God's way of moulding me into someone more mature. As disappointing and hurtful as failures are, I have learnt to accept them better as they come my way.

High school has made me just that little bit less shy, to be able to strike up random conversations with people. I used to have so much difficulty with that that I ended up confining myself in a world of my own. Then there were the self-discoveries. I have learnt to love myself more and stop being so critical of myself at all times. Teachers and friends have pointed out the good qualities in me, which I have to admit means a huge deal to me. I have learnt to appreciate other people's gifts too.

While these all are a whole lot of mostly sweet memories that I'm quite reluctant to leave behind, and the thoughts of being exposed to a new world in the months to come can be pretty intimidating, I'm excited about the future. And I'm loving life.

This marks the end of my high school chapter.

Off the path

2009-11-17T12:11:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow is the big day!

Well, SPM is not really that big a thing in life, but big enough to cause me perspiration and petrification. As worried as I am though, I still can't help but pay more attention on the wrongs things at the moment. Post-SPM period.

Right now, while I'm supposed to be doing last-minute revisions for Sejarah and BM, I can't stop myself from getting really excited just thinking about the things I want to do after this major exam. At last, I will be able to devour the novels that have been sitting on the bookshelves for months, catch up on Taiwanese dramas I always find ridiculous but still love to watch, have my very own movie-on-DVD marathon and also watch season 3 of Kyle XY on DVD since stupid TV3 has stopped showing them halfway. Then there will be GY Camp to look forward to. Then there will be going out with friends. Then there will be Christmas. Okay, I'm going too far. Like what my sis said yesterday, I'm becoming too excited about the time after SPM before my exam has even started.

The point here is, I'm supposed to be busy studying during this crucial period, so I will see you again on the 8th of December - yup, my last day of exam! =D

Oh, I so totally dig this new song by One Republic. It's called "All the Right Moves".

Awesome song.

Awesome video.

Awesome band.

Watch it! Watch it!

>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNgsBEpd7B0

Wish me the very best for SPM!

Class of '09

2009-10-31T22:38:00.011+08:00

In general, a graduation ceremony signifies the end of a student's life in whatever learning institution currently resided. Graduation is when students attain new found freedom after having to go through the grueling torture of a final exam, after having to suffer few grueling years of schooling. Not for a Malaysian high school student though.

Today, I, along with my fellow fifth formers of Raja Zarina, ceremoniously graduated from our school. Our graduation ceremony happens today, but we are going back to school on Monday as if nobody has ever squeaked the word 'graduation'. Then we will be sitting for our major exam on the 18th of November.

The venue of this event was Crystal Crown Hotel, which is just right beside my school. Yes, I can see the hotel from my classroom. Those who attended were required to pay RM48, which was relatively expensive, considering other schools charged their students much lower fees, or didn't charge at all. So close to home, yet so expensive. One would have thought that the hotel would be kinder to its neighbour by not charging high.

Nevertheless, I had a great time throughout the event. I got to see my friends dress up (some for the very first time), take pictures with them (some for the very first time) and perform for the second and very last time with my classmates. We performed four songs (Gadis dan Bunga, What I've Been Looking For, The Climb and Gemuruh), and I thank God we managed to pull it off with the crowd cheering for us by the time we reached our last song.

With Zi Yin
Wei Ting The Indians looking gorgeous and colorful in their traditional clothes

Me, Thevaki, Amutha and Wei Ting

Muzira and Wafi

Hajira and Halimatul

Yin Hui and May

My darling Yvonne =D

Each of us get a thermos mug as a door gift.
As if they are afraid that we will be so unkind to forget where we get our education from that makes us the hope of tomorrow, our school logo is imprinted on the mug to haunt us forever.

These are yours truly, Mariam and Rekha

Halfway through the event and water is not served. And I paid RM48!

My darlings Priya and Yvonne

Thasha, the joker of my class.

Why do high school girls love doing this?

Yin Hui's leg barged in and distorted the circle

Wafi, Khairunisa and Muzira

Yin Hui and I

...plus Mariam!

Shaera, me, Yin Hui, Hazimah, Afiqah, Priya, Thasha and Ezzati

This picture would had been perfect if it weren't because of my proneness to shut my eyes

Jessica

Yin Hui, me, Jessica, Zi Yin, May and Wei Ting

Premala on my right, Lidia on my left and me looking weird in the center

Mun Yi

Poh Lee

My cousin Ke Ning

Staircase effect

Dashy, I want your dress!

Puan Wong, my English teacher

Hany

Puan Sartina at the center, our BM teacher and former class teacher

Kalsyana, Bindhu, me and Halimatul. Hajira in the background

Jeslyn

Looking back, being in Raja Zarina for the past five years has given me a collage of bitter and sweet memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Many lessons on friendship, responsibility, loyalty, sacrifice and love I have learnt that have mould me into who I am today. Of course, high school life is so much fun (amidst the occasional emotional and mental letdowns) thanks to the very close friends I have come to know and appreciate. I really hope the end of this year does not mark the end of our friendships.

All of you are going to be missed dearly.

I love you all!

The damage done can never be undone

2009-10-18T22:02:00.007+08:00

Over the years, without us realizing it, we accumulate bits of hurtful words, annoying habits and broken promises among us that form a huge pile. All that is needed to set the pile ablaze is a spark, which will result in a wildfire of destruction that cannot be reversed. Whatever damage done in the process has already been done, too late to be undone.

Reality hurts like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, happy Deepavali to all my Indian friends who are still in the midst of celebrating the Festival of Lights!

Priya invited me to her house yesterday to share the warmth and food. When I reached there, Yvonne and Yin Hui were already there, among Priya's other friends. Yin Hui couldn't stop giving me the evil stares because I told her I was going to be at Priya's around 1.15 p.m. but ended up there only at two. Can't blame me for it. After all, she has almost always been the one who is late to events, so I was just doing it to make sure I wouldn't be the first one there. Hah. Anyway, Priya said Yin Hui arrived only 15 minutes before me, which means she wasn't exactly early either. Apparently, she had became an object of admiration among Priya's guy friends before Yvonne's and my arrival. That's the first thing Priya told me when I stepped into her house. Probably the reason why Yin Hui was so annoyed at me for being late, subjecting her to social awkwardness. See? This is exactly the reason why I went late. =P

Over there, we chatted, ate, watched Priya's friends play 'truth or dare' (the scariest game to play if you have many skeletons in you closet) and of course, cam-whored (is this word vulgar?). We took many pictures, but they are split between Dashy's, Priya's and my cameras. And then there were some in which I look absolutely horrendous and needed to be scraped off. The end result? I don't have that many pictures.

Priya is so adorable here =D
Her sisters - Leena and Anita
Yin Hui looks like she is going to faint anytime soon. That's why I like this picture. I know...doesn't make much sense.

Clockwise from me: Erm...me, Priya, Chiew Teng, Yvonne, Dashy and Yin Hui.
=D
I love that they look so candid here although what they are really doing is posing for another camera.

Friends find the sweetest
sense of happiness comes from simply being
together.
~Unknown

A prickly tale

2009-10-13T18:26:00.007+08:00

Everybody, meet my cactus.

I bought it a month and a half ago when I was supposed to get one for Yin Hui's birthday. Since buying three would be more worthwhile, I got three; one for the birthday girl, one given to Jess and the other one for myself.

Ain't mine pretty?
Well, yes. Until yesterday.

I got home at night after parents and I sent both sisters to their respective places (one to airport and the other to her hostel) to find my cactus flattened like a pancake.
It's still sort of pretty, but it also used to be five times taller.
How can this happen?
I saw it five hours prior to its premature death and it looked at its pink of health. I watered it every week and let it sunbathe almost every day. I was so nurturing to it, okay!
And what do I get in return? A miserable lump.

You know what's more dissatisfying?
The fact that I've been doing the same for Jess' cactus.
And look at hers!
Still pretty and prickly.

P.S. Today I asked Yin Hui how's her fluffy, woolly Rock 'n' Roll (that's what we named her cactus) doing. She said it still looked the same. Darn.
And I gave her the cactus in the first place to make fun of her inability to take care of a living creature. Now mine's dead.

-_-

2009-10-08T17:06:00.002+08:00

It's not like I have been doing things I shouldn't be doing, but I really should start doing the things I haven't been doing but really should. Maybe I have been doing things I shouldn't be doing after all.

Bitter Hearts

2009-10-04T15:13:00.002+08:00

I dreamt of unity among us,
of caring and compromising hearts,
of understanding and mature minds.
I hoped for the bickering to stop,
for the cold war to melt away,
that the conflict between us
will not just be forgotten,
but becomes a lesson learnt
so that history does not repeat itself.
I prayed for forgiveness to happen,
among the angered and
the misunderstood,
for them to learn to accept
each other’s differences,
to come to terms with
each other’s reason for being angry,
and to put themselves in the other’s boat.
I tried to mend the damage done,
only to accidentally tear it apart,
to cause a deeper wound
and more misunderstandings.
This is when I realize that my
hopes and wishes have been too ambitious.
I have been so naïve to think that
I can easily bridge the widening gap between them,
when I don’t even know how to build bridges
in the first place.

In reality,
conscious choices have been made,
to sacrifice friendship and love,
for the preservation of egotistical selves,
and the unwillingness of childish minds
to talk things through.
The tongue-lashings and the back stabbings
serve to only make things
spiral out of control,
into confusion and haziness.
Insults have been hurled at both directions,
out of pride and denial
of one’s imperfection,
and humans’ vulnerability to make mistakes.
I have been pressured to take side,
which I cannot,
simply because of my belief that
right is not easily distinguished from wrong.
The decision is not mine to make,
whether they will one day become humble
and self-aware enough,
to part with self-righteousness
and conceited souls,
in exchange for
harmony, love and respect
toward each other.

I'm getting older I feel so young

2009-09-23T18:30:00.004+08:00

This birthday has been a pretty great one for me. Yes, for all you uninitiated people out there, 17th September of seventeen years ago was the day I came into this world crying like a baby. Heck, I came into this world as a baby.

I do realized that 17th September is so 6 days ago. It seems a bit late to talk about my birthday, but I just came back from Penang, so please excuse the delay. =D

I am not going to say a lot about my birthday because I'm too lazy to go into the details because if I do, I will only end up dragging the story and make the post unnecessarily long because I can't help it, and readers will become bored because a long post without pictures tends to feel extra draggy. You get it: I'm not posting any pictures because if you want to see pictures, go find Jess' blog or facebook profile. She will post them up. Eventually.

Reasons why I am so grateful on my birthday

1. Because big sis rescheduled her flights, exchanging them with her colleagues in return for flights to less desirable destinations just so that she could be home with the family for my birthday. She came home at one in the morning and gave me a teddy bear, a cool (should I say vintage-looking?) sling bag and toiletry bag because I complained the other day that my old one was torn. Of course I absolutely love the sling bag! Thanks sis for sacrificing your flights for me. And thanks for the gifts and the time you set aside to be here for me. =)

2. Despite having to sit for killer add math papers on my birthday, I was in a jolly good mood. Maybe a little too good to the point of being delirious. I was unusually relaxed and didn't put in much effort in studying add math the day before. I know it doesn't really sounds like a reason to be grateful, but me being in high spirit because my birthday was drawing near probably prevented me from over-stressing myself in the attempt to cramp 21 chapters of cryptic formulae and concepts in less than 24 hours. At my most relaxed pace ever, I managed to scan through 13 chapters that I felt I could understand most before sitting for the papers. Sure, I was clueless for the most part of the exam, but I was also assured by and aware of the fact that under any other normal circumstance, I probably wouldn't had done any better if I had put too much pressure on myself to finish every chapter in the reference book. Mr Ng, if you happen to read this, please don't kill me.

3. I really enjoyed spending time with my family at night without any one of us being absent, which was becoming increasingly difficult ever since big sis started working in Singapore (and around the world) while Jess attended college. We had dinner and an awesome time at dragon-i restaurant. What more can I say? It was great food, great atmosphere and great company combined. After that, we watched G-Force, a movie about a bunch of cute guinea pigs trained as spies who saved the world from human destruction. Frankly, the movie was kind of boring and very predictable (like, duh). I like the really grumpy hamster though. Haha.

4. My sisters surprised me with a karaoke session at Aeon the next morning. They invited Sammy, Yin Hui and Kristine to join in the fun too. I had actually suspected that something was up since my sisters had been acting suspiciously, but I decided not to give it much thought since it would be awfully disappointing if there really was nothing going on, and very conceited of me. Still, I was really surprised when my sisters led me to our karaoke room which consisted of Sammy, Yin Hui and Kristine with huge smiles on their faces. Surprised because I didn't expect to see my cousin with Sammy and Yin Hui. Weird combination. I was very touched by my sisters' effort to make my birthday a memorable one, which they succeeded darn well in making. I realized at that moment that some of the closest and dearest people (excluding my parents, of course) in my life were breathing in the same room for the very first time. And thank God, they all got along really well. Well enough to not cause a catfight anyway. =D

5. Growing up, one of the biggest issues I have always struggle with is insecurity. This birthday has reminded me of the love that surrounds me and how silly it is of me to always worry about whether people really like me or just tolerate me. As much as I dislike it, being the center of attention once in a while is a nice feeling and makes me feel important. LOL.

To my parents, sisters, Kristine, Sammy and Yin Hui, thank you so much for making my day. I love you all. =)

What about teachers?

2009-08-01T20:21:00.004+08:00

For the past two weeks, my school has been having talks on specific subjects for us Form 5 students so that we can do superbly well in our SPM exam and make the school proud with our strings of nothing but A1s. Yesterday was Bio talk by our school's head of Biology teacher, Puan Poon.

At one point, she was explaining to us the 3 papers that we had to do during the exam. She explained that the first paper was the objective paper. And as if we did not already know, she went on to say that we are allowed to shade only one answer for each question on a piece of answer sheet.

"I know that some students will shade two answers because they are not sure which is the correct one. Then when teacher marks the paper she will put her answer sheet with all the holes for the correct answers over the student's sheet and tick one of the two answers that is correct without knowing that two choices have been shaded. But for SPM, your answer sheet will be checked by a machine. If it detects that you shaded more than one answer for a question, your paper will be rejected straight away. Machines are smart okay."

LOL.

Okay, so those are not her exact words, but they are pretty close.

Have a nice day.

I think they call it Gerkorama Carnival

2009-07-18T21:46:00.011+08:00

This morning, I went to ACS school for its carnival, mainly out of Sammy's persistent (and annoying) bugging. =) There were food stalls, band performances, other performances, haunted house that according to Hakim, was lame, and some artsy stuff. I had a good time because the weather was being kind; no scorching hot sun and very windy! What more can I ask for?

LOL

Free to Fall performing. Sammy and Yvonne.
I like this picture for some reason. Hah.

Ai Lee with Mei Fong in green trying to avoid the camera

Home grown band

This picture was snapped when Chiew Teng turned, so it ended up looking like she wanted to kiss Yvonne.

I asked them to pose for another one.

And they decided they couldn't get enough of each other.

At last, an almost decent-looking picture.

Yvonne and Priya.

Juwita Suwito. She rocks! I love her voice.

Some shuffling group all the way from KL.

In the midst of the shuffle, some guys got into the mood and broke into a dance too.

I think he's an ACS guy. He sang a number of Mandarin songs. Really liked his singing.

He was so good, he received flowers and a cupcake from the audience (guys lah). Then somebody put on him a pair of shades. I guess to make him looked cooler.

Drumming session.

Paintball!

That's Hakim (left), Cheng (right) and their friend (centre). I totally forgot about taking pictures with them.

For some reasons I like the trees. A bit haunting. Haha.

Farewell, Interact Club!

2009-07-02T18:23:00.017+08:00

3 things that mark the end of my term in Interact Club:

1. Seniors' Farewell Gathering
25th June. Interactors gathered at Crystal Crown hotel to bid us form 5 ones goodbye. The gathering was planned by the incoming BOD and our teacher advisor Puan Susy, and they did a good job. Well, I had fun. =)

The seniors. Gosh, I am going to miss you all.
Yvonne

Samantha. Look, we are wearing the same type of dresses! =D

Farhany and Dashy

Sheetal

Syafiqah, Priya, me and Sammy

Yin Hui!

Laughing gas passing through...

Miss President's second last speech

RZ Rotarian Advisor, Rot. Raymond. He's a cool guy with a loud and distinctive laugh.

Puan Susy, without whom our club will never achieve so much.

Priya, Dashy, Hany and I volunteered to play the Siamese Twins Game.

Two in a group, we were supposed to use only one hand each to wrap the box.

Hany and I simply made sure that every inch of the box was covered with wrapping paper. Result: Not so pretty. Haha. We thought our work would be judged based on speed, not appearance.

Dashy and Priya were slower but darn their's were prettier. So neat!

Syafiqah and Fatin, I think.

Puan Susy even bought us seniors cake!

Our cake

Miss President posing.

Just fooling around.

A gift presented to Puan Susy as appreciation.

*All pics of this gathering were taken by Yvonne

2. Sales during Co-academic Carnival

27th June at school. It was a day of activities and competitions all related to academics, such as quizzes, sudoku and exhibitions. Various clubs opened up stalls to sell all sorts of stuff. Interact club sold chapati and shawls. And this was our last project for the term 2008/09.

Can you see the crowd at the distance?

Hany and Sheetal promoting the shawls we were selling.

From left: Elaine, Priya, Hany, Yin Hui, Dashy and Yvonne.

Very good business! Unfortunately, it's not our business to boast about. This is the stall next to us.

We Interactors sold chapati with chicken curry. I tried, it was delicious, okay.

The famous chicken curry. Soon to be anyway.

It's all about smiles to the customers.

In my opinion, Mun Yi was trying to act cute here. Haha.

Priya and Dashy, the two almost inseparable girls.

Chiew Teng and HanyThe atmosphere of a crowded market place.

Yin Hui the treasurer always talking money. Okay, she does not talk money all the time. I just need a caption.

Chiew Teng, Yvonne, Priya, me, Yin Hui and Dashy the black sheep (and by that I mean both literally and not)!

Clockwise: Hany, Parveen, Sheetal and Sarrinder

Some competition many of us joined because the booth was placed conveniently beside our stall.

3. Joint Installation and Award Ceremony

Also 27th June. At KEC. Our very last interschool event. This was the event to officially say goodbye to the old farts and welcome the new ones. This was when us seniors retire (sounds so old) and for those who did a good job (in other words, gained the attention of Rotarians) throughout the term, receive their awards and rewards.

First stop, performance by Bukit Kuda girls.

Traditional Indian drums

Singing by TKU

RZ!!! Juliana and Benazir sang 'The Graduation Song' by Vitamin C.

They sang so well. I was so proud I felt like a proud mom about to cry. LOL

See. This proves how good they were. People were standing up and waving their hands and singing along. Hehe.

Sorry, got distracted for awhile.

The ICC excos. Meaning, ICC's chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, treasurer and the presidents of every school's Interact Club of Klang. They are a bunch of dedicated people.

Lots of awards were presented. They all look about the same. So one picture should suffice.

The six Interactors who received the Award of Excellence. I think they all deserved it. So no hard feelings. LOL

Taking things for granted

2009-06-29T17:43:00.006+08:00

It's just unavoidable the fact that humans so easily take things for granted. Even when we consciously try to be grateful and not take all things in life for granted, we tend to still fall into this habit, don't we? Many things just don't get appreciated until they are gone.

As everyone should know by now, it has been four days since Michael Jackson has passed away due to, as speculated and believed by many, cardiac arrest. I have never been a big fan of him; never paying him or his music much attention. I know there's more to a person than just his or her looks, but Michael Jackson's face has always freaked me out enough to drive me away from appreciating him as a genuine artist or an entertainer. By the time I have grown to love music (yes, I have developed interest in this field quite late in life; maybe around ten years of age when most of my peers probably already have had their favourite boy bands), he has already had the scary artificial face and bleached-white-body reminiscent of the ghostly Snow White.

Before his death, I have never quite understand why so many people go really crazy over him. I cannot even bare to look at the features on his face for more than ten seconds because they just scream abnormality and in my opinion, distortion. Images of him give me the chill. I get really disturbed just by looking at him. And I am probably not the only one who feels that way, right? But for the past few days, countless radios and television channels have been playing Michael Jackson's songs and featuring him on TV specials, reminding me that many songs I have enjoyed over the years are actually from him. I am suddenly saddened by the truth that he is no longer alive, because 50 is too early an age for anybody to die; that he should still be alive and well. I realize that I have never quite acknowledge and understand Michael Jackson's undeniable talent until he is gone.

It is human nature, isn't it?

Charity Musical Night

2009-06-26T21:08:00.007+08:00

Yes, I do realized that I am 2 weeks outdated, but I am going to talk about it anyway...since Priya and Yvonne insist. =)

12th of June. That was when ICC organized the Charity Musical Night, us Interactor's second last event before the term 2008/09 ends. Though the whole event didn't exactly run perfectly without any hitches, I had a really good time. First, I was asked to be at KEC before 4 o'clock since I was to be one of the usherers. Was there with Yvonne at around 3.50, but when we realized that Interactors from other schools were wearing shirts and pants (as opposed to the both of us wearing our dresses all hyped up for the night), we were so embarrassed for being overdressed that we hid at a corridor where we could observe others but not vice versa. For that, we were late (silly, I know). When we finally mastered enough courage to go to the event hall, I realized many people were actually already wearing their pretty clothes. Still, there wasn't any meeting as told, so we didn't miss out on anything. We ended up waiting for another hour doing nothing but whining about our stomach grumbling and us needing food and the buffet not being laid out for us yet. We went out to buy fries, nuggets and drinks from McD's and KFC at JJ, brought them back to KEC, were told by the guard that outside food was not allowed into the club, were told by the guard that we could sneak in our food by stuffing them into my bag, succeeded in bringing the food to the hall to rescue the starving girls, and just when we finished eating our food, the waiters came in to fill the buffet table. -_-

Event started late. We had to endure quite a number of speeches. Then dishes were brought to the tables for the guests. The food looked quite good, but since I was too stingy and poor to pay for a place at the table, I had to sit on one of the chairs arranged at the back of the hall for performers and usherers and eat the not-as-appealing food from the buffet. Performances followed; some were great, others not so. Yvonne and I got high cheering for the performers, especially when RZ girls were performing, because whether you were willing to admit it or not, RZ girls rocked the show. LOL. You might think it was narcissistic of me to say that, but no, I'm just like a family member who would give my family my full support. But that does not mean I was being biased too. Because we simply rock. Okay, I will just stop here before all the self-praising go full-blown. Heh Heh.

The ex-cos were introduced to the crowd.

The lovely sisters: Parveen and Surrinder

Sheetal and oops-I-forgot-her-name (so sorry!).
A traditional Malay dance by SMK Batu Unjur to kickstart the night.

Followed by a cute little Chinese dance.

Then there was the Indian dance.

And then they went muhibah. "All together now, everyone!"

Spanish dance by Amelia and Michelle from MGS.

The ever gorgeous Chiew Teng and Priya. One of them is single. ;-)

Me and Chiew Teng.

Audrey, Shereen, me and Lynnette.

Then ACS performed their trademark performance: A band performance.

Then RZ performed our trademark perfomance: Indian dance.

You girls rock!

An old lady old enough to have 5 grandchildren even performed! Not only was she so full of energy, she could really move (with all those years of experienced)!

Geok San presented a ballet number. I like her dance. =)
Seriously, we humans are creatures of habit. I realize that schools like to recycle ideas. Just like ACS always doing the band thing (and almost always with two guitarists) and RZ dancing to songs from India, La Salle guys just love rapping and break dancing.

Time

2009-06-21T01:49:00.001+08:00

A nickel rolled down the pavement,
a second and a half passed.
I try to freeze the time,
but I am no God,
no keeper of time.
Little birdlings in the nest grow stronger,
developed their wings and attempt to fly.
A widow rests in peace in her wicker chair;
in her wrinkled body there is no more life.
A young man rushes into his office,
all sweaty and red,
for he oversleeps,
and time does not wait for him.
A pretty woman celebrates her thirtieth birthday,
at the little restaurant,
with good friends and good food present.
Though she dreads acknowledging it,
there’s no running away from the passing time;
getting older being a part of life.
A student sits at his desk in the examination hall,
with clammy hands,
exasperated by the unforgiving time,
for not allowing him enough time to study;
for not giving him more time to come up with answers.
“Time, stop! Just stop!”
is what I shout at the clock,
but the ticking of the clock only reminds
me of every fleeting moment,
never to be reversed;
never to come back again.

We really got ripped off!

2009-06-08T20:28:00.003+08:00

If you have read my previous post, you would have known about my possibly being conned by a conman/woman I call Spike. Turns out, I really have been conned. I forgot to mention that I have seen Vivian and Su May at McDonald's on the same day. They have been sitting at another table. Vivian says that Spike has approached them too, but the story told to them is apparently different from the one I have heard. My other friend, Shaera and her group of friends (also my friends), have also been approached; different time, same place and who knows by the same person or not. None of them really think that all these have been for real.

So, if my friends have been approached at a different time, it has to mean that that Spike (if she...or he is the same person. Really, can this confusion about Spike's gender ever be cleared?) frequents McDonald's to con people, isn't it? That Spike has got some guts, lying to trusting and kind generous people who think they are giving to a good cause. I hope she gets caught one day. I used to pride myself in being a trusting person. Why? Because a person who is suspicious about everything in life and doubts everything everyone and anyone says is a pain in the butt to live with. Trusting people create a conducive environment to live in and in my opinion, are more liked by society. Well, more liked by con people too. And they say con people are really good at seizing people up. Darn.

Well, I choose not to hold a grudge on Spike. At least she has only cheated me off my ten ringgit. Many people have spent way more for being too trusting. Ever heard of people getting themselves trapped in those scratch-and-win scams or received phone calls saying they are the lucky winner of a 3 days 2 nights stay at some 5-star hotel only to end up paying a huge sum to claim their prizes which are usually worth way less than what they have paid? I still laugh at the silliness of such victims.

Young, gullible seventeen-year-olds

2009-06-06T10:51:00.006+08:00

After our literature class yesterday, Sammy and I went to Aeon to catch a movie. We bought tickets for 17 Again, which I admit I wasn't so keen on watching at first as I wasn't a big fan of Zac Efron. But since Sammy kept on insisting, I thought why not?

The show was going to start at 1.45p.m.. So since we still had time, we decided to go grab some lunch at McDonald's. We ordered two sets of McValue Lunch or whatever you call it, sat at the counter which faced the wall and ate our food. While we were still eating, I suddenly realized someone standing behind us. We both turned around, and saw this girl freakishly smiling at us. She had spiky hair and looked like a tomboy, so let's just call her Spike. I thought she was Sammy's friend and waited for her to say "Hi, Samantha!" But she didn't. Sammy and I just stared at each other in confusion for few seconds before Spike asked whether we were English educated. We managed a "Yes". She passed us each a packet of cards and started telling us about spastic children who are born with disabilities and how there are still hopes of recovering them and making their lives normal through proper treatments. She continued to say that her college (which is TAR College, by the way) had a special one day campaign to help create awareness on spastic children. She wanted us to buy the packets of cards at RM10 per pack to help support the campaign, as all proceed will go to the funding for treatments.

I felt sorry for the spastic children and dished out my ten ringgit bill. I thought about sharing it with Sammy so that we each would only need to pay RM5, but she took out her money too. It wouldn't be exactly nice to say we wanted to share after Spike saw us holding enough money, would it? So, fine, we gave Spike RM20 and kept the supposedly hand-made cards. She said thanks and vanished in few seconds. I took a look at the cards which were clearly printed (not hand-made!) and a thought struck me. "Hey, did we ask her for any sort of identification?", I asked Sammy. "Um...no?" That was when I became aware of the fact that we didn't even make sure the whole thing was legitimate before we parted with our money. Spike could have been a fake. I mean, who comes all the way from Setapak to Klang to promote a campaign? And, we didn't see her going to other tables (McDonald's was crowded,okay! Surely, a person genuinely campaigning for a good course didn't just approach two persons, right?). Sammy and I felt so stupid after that. We kept trying to convince ourselves that that woman was not lying to us. Then Sammy became confused when I kept referring to Spike as a woman. "Woman?!? He is a guy lah...", she said. Great. We were so naive that we couldn't even get Spike's gender right. Now, two things were left for us as mysteries. Was Spike for real? And was Spike a girl or a guy?

When Jess came home from TAR College at night, I asked her whether there was any campaign for spastic children at her college. If there was, at least I did not have to feel like a fool. But she answered no. I told her what happened, and all she said was: You guys have been cheated lah. So much for my feeble attempt at preserving my ego. I hate myself for letting my guards down.

Anyway, 17 Again is better than what I expected. I like Zac Efron way better here than in any of his High School Musical movie with his sweetheart Vanessa. 17 Again is about Mike, a star basketball player in his school, who has given up his potential and a bright future to be with the girl he loves when she reveals that she is pregnant with their child. Twenty years down the road, Mike is not happy with his life. He is about to be divorced from Scarlet, the same girl he loves; has just lost his job; his two children think he is a loser; and he wishes that he has a chance to be young again and not repeat the mistakes he has done. By some miracle, he really turns 17 again. And this is where all the fun starts. Zac Efron plays the seventeen-year-old Mike. I really enjoy the movie because of several reasons. Firstly, it is very funny to see Zac being so fatherly to his two teenage children in the movie. They are like what? Around the same age? Because he is the only one to become younger while everything else stays the same, it's also very weird to see him always looking at the older Scarlet with dreamy eyes only a couple on a honeymoon is capable of. Mike talks like an adult in class, and is always giving advice to his peers. Then there are the weird moments with Scarlet which can be really disturbing sometimes. I laughed a lot watching the movie.

Go watch it.

Teachers, holidays and more...

2009-05-30T22:17:00.009+08:00

Finally, I'm free from exams! And I'm back to blogging after cracking my head for the past three weeks. Oh, have I mentioned the two weeks of break I'm going to get? Actually, two weeks are really not that sufficient for me, but it will do.

Anyway, I sat for my last midterm paper last Thursday and...I know I've been doing this a lot, but I'm gonna do it again: "Hooooraaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!" I'm so darn happy, it's like I already sat for SPM.

So, since 16th of May was Teacher's Day but we were all in the middle of sitting for exam at that time, the school decided to postponed Teacher's Day celebration to the 29th, which was yesterday. Smart decision, knowing that students would be too stressed out to want to appreciate their teachers on the 16th. Then again, yesterday wasn't a very smart move either. They chose the day after exam AND the day before school would be out for a couple of weeks to celebrate Teacher's Day. Come on, half the student body was absent yesterday, probably snoring away at home.

The day started off with me oversleeping. LOL. I was so over the moon with my new found freedom the night before that I forgot I still needed sleep. Yinhui and I agreed to make cards for the teachers that mean a lot to us and also a few others that don't mean a lot but are teaching us this year. Altogether, there were 18 teachers, so I did 9 cards while Yinhui did 9 others. Being the procrastinator that I was, I started doing them quite late at night till 2 o'clock in the morning. I was supposed to meet Yinhui early in the morning before assembly because we wanted to write the messages together. But since I overslept, we ended up doing them throughout the event itself, with us sitting on the floor, coloured pens and cards sprawled on our laps. =P

'Teacher's Day Celebration' and 'Pn. Hjh. Puziah's farewell'. I think they are trying to save cost by putting 2 occasions together; one happy and the other supposedly sad.
As usual, the event started off with prayer followed by the national anthem. Then, all the teachers sang two songs.

After the songs, few members of the police cadet let go these banners which read: HAPPY TEACHERS DAY! WE LOVE U

So sweet, except that when the banners were first released, they were facing the wrong side. It took half the congregation's laughters for them to realized that the banners were terbalik.

Teachers then gave their pledge to become better teachers. Well, I wasn't listening to what they were pledging, but it has to be it, isn't?

Puan Hamidah giving a speech. No, she was reading something from one of the menteri-menteri.

Mun Yi as the head prefect giving a speech.

Our principal wants to be heard too.

Mr Ng, second from left, about to doze off anytime. He does that a lot =P

The teachers all received what looked to me like black umbrellas (black?).

Cutting of cakes. As usual, Yinhui's eyes sparkled and got so excited at the sight of cakes.

Do you realize the dominant colour among the teachers? They were supposed to wear green on that day.

Saw Kalsyana, Kasturi and Bindu at the balcony. Decided to take a photo of them without their knowledge. Kasturi caught me holding a camera and they all started posing. Tak boleh tahan.

Shaera and Lidia joined in. =)

Yinhui and I!

Another one...haha

Then there were performances. First stop was the prefect board performing...erm...what do you call this Malay traditional a-bunch-of-people-sitting-on-the-floor-singing-and-doing-simple-actions-with-their-hands? Dikir barat I think.

Our school choir. Honestly, they were not good. They sounded like they were singing to their shower heads.

Traditional Indian dance. This one's good.

She's only in Form 2.

More singing by Stephanie and (if I'm not wrong) Nadia. They sang 'You are My Angel'. I liked them better than the choir team. I even had goosebumps.

The teachers performed too! They went up the stage covering half their faces with their head scarfs and shawls. I have no idea why. Maybe they were trying to depict women from the Middle East. Mr Fauzi, the only male in the performance, covered his face with a fan. Haha

They sat and started taking turns singing. Puan Susy sang too! She was the only Indian teacher to sing.

Sher Rin. She borrowed my camera and took this photo herself -_-

A teacher presented a poem about today's students. It was sort of a sarcastic poem and got us all laughing.

After that, a student went up the stage to express her gratitude to the teacher and they got all emotional. Both of them started bawling and hugging each other. They were so intense, I couldn't even tell whether it was for real or they were just putting up a show. I know it's rude, but I was so amused and couldn't stop laughing because the whole scene was just so exaggerated. They did not just gave each other a hug, okay. They hugged for so long, talking to each other and crying on each other's shoulders as if the rest of us didn't exist. I actually saw several teachers blowing their noses.

That marked the end of our Teacher's Day celebration. After recess, we bid farewell to Puan Puziah. More speeches and tears ensued.

Then there was photo session for the teachers.

Teachers lined up to take turn hugging Puan Puziah and telling her how much they would miss her.

Amidst the emotional drama, Yinhui and I busied with our cards. We managed to write all the messages 20 minutes before school ended, just enough time to go around wishing teachers and giving them their cards. Felt so good to see their happy faces when they were presented with the cards. Felt even better to find out that teachers who taught us years ago still remembered us. =)

...

2009-05-13T13:37:00.002+08:00

Midterm exam starts tomorrow! So I really doubt I will have time to update my blog till the end of exam. Which means I probably will only be free at the very end of May. See ya!

Bipolarity

2009-05-01T09:23:00.004+08:00

Really, I shouldn't be spending so much time online, especially when midterm exam is just around the corner and I'm sitting for SPM in approximately six-and-a-half-month time. However, I just cannot bring myself to get serious about my studies. Half of me will be screaming, "Get to work, you idiot! You are going to regret it big time if you keep on procrastinating...", which really drives me to open my add math reference book and start deciphering formulas and concepts. But this sudden spur of inspiration and determination will only be followed by another voice inside my head (probably the evil twin in me) telling me, "There are six more months lah. So, chill. What are the chances of you remembering what you read today six months down the road anyway?". With that, I will happily get distracted and abandon all revision books and school work for something more entertaining.

One thing I don't get. How can someone like me who loves reading so much not like reading anything related to my SPM syllabuses at all? I love reading novels, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias and have a list of favourite websites that I will go to almost daily just to read up on different issues. I read manuals and brochures just for the sake of reading. I read posters about cavity and diabetes hung in the waiting rooms of clinics. I read the terms and conditions applied for vouchers I'm not even planning to use. But when it comes to text books, all forms of hunger for knowledge just vanish. I can read about synthetic polymers from an encyclopedia and get all curious about it but fall asleep while reading the exact same topic in my chemistry textbook. It's as if school related books exude some sort of bad aura that drives people away.

I need help! I don't want to screw up my SPM. I need to study very hard so that I can get 20A1's for SPM so that I can get a full scholarship to study in Harvard! Oh, wait, I am not even taking 20 subjects to start with...wahahahahahahaha...

Samantha Teoh Swee Leng

2009-04-21T16:57:00.009+08:00

Oh my gosh, can you believe it? We have known each other for 4 years plus! Wait...only four years? It seems to me that I have known you for a very long time, and yet, time seems to have passed by too fast.

I can still remember we were only in Form One, all fresh and new to secondary school, when Priya introduced you to me during recess. We clicked right away. Well, you were (and still are) such a talkative person that you went straight into the life story of Alpo your dog and her newborns, without leaving out even the most minuscule of details. I had never hear anyone who inserts so much details into her dialogues. It was pretty amusing. Luckily for you, I was (and still am) a dog person, so yeah, you didn't really bore me out. =D

Little did I know that that would be the start of some problems too. Remember how you would call and had to talk for hours (literally) because you just couldn't let me miss out on the very important details of your adventure or whatever obsessions you had at that time? We ended up arguing a few times because you insisted on me knowing everything while I had to make it clear to you (but to no avail) that I had many others things to do, which were increasingly being abandoned since my ear was attached to the phone half the time. Don't get me wrong, it's fun talking to you on the phone, but too much of a good thing is never good, right?

We still talk on the phone a lot, but now, it's all about balance..hehe.

Unless you count in moral lessons, we have never been in the same class before, so I guess all those telephone time really bonded us. We can discuss about anything under the sun; celebrities, extended families, ice cream flavours, favourite shopping malls, online crush (wahahahahaha), music, ambitions, weird dreams of ours, our country's dysfunctional education system (and government) and...and...the sun.

Still, when I think about it, we are such different people. You call me a pop tart, while you...you really like bands, don't you? What with your history of Fall Out Boy and The Click Five obsessions. Those phases you have had talking about nothing else but Patrick or Kyle really have us all go crazy. I remember darn well the period of time when you will do anything from giving your dad countless massages and washing his cars to calling the deejays at Hitz.fm every single day just to make sure you get the tickets to The Click Five concert at Genting. One thing I learn from this incident, you are one passionate girl who will go all out to get what you want. And no one - I repeat - no one can stop you from getting it.

There's so many things that we disagree on in life. Our views and stands on topics big and small usually clash, which only lead to debates that neither of us will ever admit to losing. The thing that you think is right, I think is wrong. And vice versa. I guess it's about possessing differing ethics in life, neither necessarily less right than the other, just that we think differently. But you always think you are right, which can get pretty frustrating when I know I am right. LOL. In other words, you are very stubborn.

But still, I admire you for your loyalty towards your friends. I have seen how you get really protective when others bitch about your closest friends. I admire you for your courage to stand out, to not have to worry about voicing out an opinion different from everyone else's. One of the many reasons why you are such a joy to be with: your enthusiasm and weird antics. You can get so high and not be able to stop giggling for no apparent reason that you puzzle me sometimes. Then again, these are the things that make you much more fun to be around with.

Thanks for your wonderful company for the past 4 years and plus plus plus. Life in school would have been very dull and different without you as my best friend. Thanks for being the occasional partner in crime. Thanks for your sometimes sound advice when I need them and when I don't need them. Thanks for being here!

Have a sweet seventeenth birthday, okay! Muah!

Haha...when I still had my long hair and braces

Bo Obama

2009-04-19T16:05:00.015+08:00

I'm sure you have heard about Barack Obama's public promise to his daughters on getting them a puppy, right? Well, then I'm sure you have at least heard of news that the Obamas have, quite recently, adopted a Portuguese water dog named Bo. According to Obama, he has decided on this breed of dog because one of his daughters is allergic and a Portuguese water dog is hypoallergenic. In other words, this breed produces less dander in their coat, which is the cause of allergy in most people.

At first, he said he would prefer to adopt a dog from the shelter, but that would be difficult since it would be hard to find a shelter dog that is hypoallergenic. That's the reason why they ended up choosing Bo.

But of course, many people aren't happy about that because they think that Obama should have adopted a dog from the shelter, which will help create awareness and encourage the public to save a shelter dog's life instead of buying a canine from a breeder or a pet shop at a high price. Well, I do agree that Obama adopting a dog from the shelter will set a good example for others to follow - after all, he is the president of the USA, so everything he does not only affect the citizens of the US but the world - but simply adopting a shelter dog with no records of family history is not very wise either, right? In his case, he has to take into account the fact that his daughter suffers from allergy. Therefore, adopting a dog of unknown background may prove to be detrimental to the health of his daughter.

So is it wrong for Obama to adopt a dog from a breeder instead of from a shelter, especially after he has claimed that he would prefer one from the latter? I think he has made the choice he made because he is concerned about his daughter's safety. If his daughter has not been allergic, then it would have been a different story altogether. Anyway, he is the president of the United States of America, not an animal rights activist, so why do people make it seems like it is compulsory for him to get a shelter dog? People just have to bring up this issue and argue because they love to find faults in others, especially celebrities. Especially those with power. What do you think?

Photo taken from www.obama-dog.com

Banana People

2009-04-16T20:39:00.006+08:00

In Malaysia (I'm not sure about other countries), Chinese people who cannot speak Mandarin are frequently called 'bananas'. You know, yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. It's a way to describe (in not a very kind or affectionate way) Chinese who look like Chinese but have apparently forgotten about their own roots just because they can't speak Mandarin. 'Bananas' are already sucked into the Western way of life, thereby being white on the inside. Those 'very Chinese' people who think they can speak brilliant, flawless Mandarin think that these 'bananas' are not proud of the place they come from, i.e. China. Sometimes, people who can't speak Mandarin fluently but can actually speak Cantonese or Hokkien are called 'bananas' too. But the last time I check, Cantonese and Hokkien are also dialects of the Chinese language, aren't they? So isn't it unfair to call them people 'bananas'? VERY unfair!

Yes, I am one of those 'bananas' who always get teased. I know, and I admit that although I speak Hokkien everyday, I wouldn't rely on it to save my life. And I'm not that fluent in Mandarin, but at least I know, okay. I do converse in Mandarin. And I do not die in the process of it. So why on earth do I still qualify to be a 'banana'?!? It pisses me off every time someone tells me I'm a 'banana'. I just feel like crushing them and make them rotten bananas.

Anyway, every time I peel off a banana, I can't help but notice that the inside of a banana is yellow. It's a very light shade of yellow, but it's yellow nevertheless. It's so hard to make sense out of this world.

Thank God It's Good Friday

2009-04-11T09:07:00.006+08:00

I thought I can start off this post by wishing everyone a Happy Good Friday, but it really is not that appropriate, is it? Til' now, I'm still not quite sure whether Good Friday is suppose to be a happy occasion or not. I mean, sure, Resurrection Sunday is a time when you go, "Yeah! Jesus is alive!" But what about the days prior to Sunday, Good Friday? We should be happy and grateful because if this whole crucifixion of Jesus Christ has had not happen, we may all go to hell. Well, that's what we Christians believe. But it really isn't right to be happy at the thought of someone being crucified because of you, is it? And if we try to stay neutral with our emotions, does that just come across as we don't really care about Jesus's sufferings?

Maybe we should be sad because of our own sinful nature but be grateful about being forgiven in the end.

How?

2009-04-03T15:53:00.005+08:00

I have always wonder about how God exists. Sure, for those who believe, God has created the heavens, the earth, the universe and every other thing that exists in the space. But did He created Himself? By saying this I do not mean that I'm doubting His existence or power, because I do believe that He creates all things and is all powerful. But has He always exists from the very beginning (okay, more like for all eternity), or has He one day decided to come alive and therefore willed Himself into life? Of course, no one has created Him because He is the one who has created everything, which means that if He does not create anything, nothing can create Him right? So it must be He Himself. I just think a lot about whether it is His decision to exist and if it is, why has he chosen to? It is just so hard for me to fathom the fact that He has always been there, for infinity. Way, way, way before any other thing exists. Way before there is time. I mean, how do you count infinity?

2009-04-01T16:57:00.002+08:00

"Studying literature is like studying law. When answering a question, you need to learn how to beat around the bush."

So said my Literature in English teacher. LOL

2009-03-30T23:54:00.002+08:00

It was all a mistake,
Thanks to my big mouth,
And my insecurities,
For telling you all about it,
Maybe I exaggerated the whole thing a tiny bit,
Maybe we were too driven by emotions,
So can you please just forgive her now?

Run, Forrest! Run!

2009-03-27T22:34:00.030+08:00

It really is amazing how time flies, isn't it? It seems like just yesterday when I was this timid, awkward kid in Form 1, afraid to break any rule and feeling out of place most of the time. To think that this year will be my last year in secondary school is kind of a relief and a sad thing both at the same time. So much have changed for me in both good and bad ways (mostly good, I hope) for the past 4 years and 3 months. I met great friends in school, became more confident, turned friendlier and learnt to not hate myself despite all my faults. Oh, I think I became bossier too. Haha. And no, I'm not saying that bossiness is good, okay.

Anyway, my school's Sports Day was held last Thursday in Stadium Sulaiman. The reasons I went was to support Priya and Dashy who were running and also because it was my very last chance to attend a Sports Day in secondary school (unless I end up in Form 6, which I prefer that it does NOT happen). My last Sports Day in RZ!

I had a pretty good time there (surprise surprise) screaming and cheering for Priya and Dashy alongside their other devoted fans while they ran. =) I had nasi lemak and ice cream float for breakfast, took tons of pictures and talk the rest of the time.

The day has to start off with...

Dashy posing! duh...
Priya

Priya, Dashy and I

Getting ready for the parade

The school band heading the parade

Followed by Red House

Blue HouseYellow House

Green House

Purple House

PBSM (Red Crescent Society)

Kadet Bomba

Pandu Puteri

Puteri Islam

Saint John

Kadet Polis

and Taekwando

Priya giving the pledge. Spot her at the center.

The runners!

She got so scared when she realized that I was taking a picture of her. LOL

That's Anita, Priya's younger sis, running

Priya. She overtook the girl in front of her just in time to win a gold. =)

Mun Yi

Lidia

Premala

Priya again =P

The runners getting ready to run

Dashy sprinting to the finish line

Sheetal

What's a sports day without tug-of-war, right?

Priya receiving her medal

Dashy's turn

Group pic!

The crowd

Puffy clouds...thank God Thursday was a really windy day

The medals won by Dashy and Priya. Actually, they won three each. Priya had not gotten one of hers.

Dashy brought home 2 gold and 1 silver

Gold for 4x100m and 100m events

Silver for 200m

Priya won a gold and two silvers

Gold for 800m

Silver for 1500m and 4x400m

Congrats to the both of you! Join 3 events each and won a medal for every one of them. Not many people are capable of that. I'm proud of you girls! =)

Oooh...I think I'm going to miss secondary school life a lot.

Last Saturday

2009-03-24T17:17:00.019+08:00

I attended ACS I.U Day at HICT. Oh, and these are some pictures. Haha. Too lazy to say much.

Some eating game... Int. Ravin talking

The emcees entertaining the crowd

Ooh...nice graffiti!

Dashy

Priya and Dashy posing...as usual =P

From left to right: Chiew Teng, Priya, Yinhui, Dashy and I

The models of a fashion show

President of the Interact Club of...uhm...shoot! I'm not sure whether it's MGS or Convent. Sorry, my bad. She was updating us on her school's upcoming I.U Day.

A band performance

A sketch!

That guy at the far right, Chee Han is wearing a skirt! LOL

He made the sketch really funny

The sketch is actually about a girl named Kristine who falls in love with Eric, a handsome guy who many other girls are crazy over. They are a couple. But when Kristine finds out that she's pregnant, Eric has found a new girlfriend (who so happens to be the drag). Eric asks Kristine to abort the unborn child. She doesn't want to. He dumps her. She becomes a single mother. Years later, he comes back and says he wants her back. He knows he has been wrong, and wants to take care of her and their child. She says she doesn't need him anymore, because through all these, she realizes that it is her family who has been there to help her and care for her.

Moral of the story: Love is not just between a guy and a girl. Family love matters too.

Something like that lah.

The cast of the sketch

There was some rapping...

...and also break dancing

More band performance (They had 3 band performances altogether)

Priya representing RZ to receive a token of appreciation from ACS

On the whole, the I.U Day of ACS was good. I did kinda enjoy myself there. But RZ's I.U Day still rocks better! HAHAHA! Okay, I'm just being biased.

After the event, Yinhui, Vimala, Chiew Teng and I went to Secret Recipe at Klang Parade (which is just next to HICT) to have something to eat. We were so hungry! ACS only served a meagre portion of pasta coz they did not have enough, I think. So I ordered brownies and a glass of chocolate shake. Yinhui offered to pay the bill, which is a very rare, okay. Thanks to her generosity, I get to saved ten ringgit. Woohoo!

After the whole ordeal at HICT and KP, my next destination was Aeon! Went there to catch 'Race to Witch Mountain' with Jess and my cousins. The movie actually turned out really good. Plus, Seth (the alien in the movie) was really cute. His sister Sara was really pretty too. I love their eyes!

When we came out of the cinema, we went to the mall's balcony to take some photos. Who can resist taking pictures in the presence of such natural light?

Jess, Kristine and I

Kristine, Kenneth and I

That's all for now. =D

Another year has passed...

2009-03-20T23:30:00.006+08:00

In advance, I would like to wish Gabby happy birthday! =D

She's turning 17 this Sunday, so she, Michelle and I decided to celebrate her getting older at Aeon today. We went to Windmill, shared two set dinners because they are so expensive (thankfully I ate my dinner before I left home...haha) and just talked. I had a good time. After all, it's a girly night out. Which I like. Haha...

Birthday girl!
Michelle and I

Windmill...

The appetizers

I think this is called spring chicken with sausage something something. I'm not so sure. I actually almost finished the sausage and the fries, but Gabby and Michelle discovered blood in the chicken while eating it. Gabby told one of the waiters and we got a new chicken. With more fries! Haha. They didn't give us another sausage though. =P

I never knew that blood in chicken can cause food poisoning. That's what Gabby and Michelle told me. No wonder the waiter took our plate right away.

Michelle, Gabby and I

Love you girls! =)

RZ I.U Day

2009-03-18T21:08:00.013+08:00

Hello again! Last week had been a really busy week for me since I was staying back in school almost every day to help out with the preparation of my school's International Understanding Day. It was held last Saturday and if you ask me, I'm still not really sure about the main objective of I.U Day. Some say it's so that people can have a better understanding of other people and culture on an international level while others say that it gives us Interactors experience in organizing an event. Or was it to train us in our leadership skills? I really don't know.

Anyhow, being part of the organizing committee of the I.U Day of my school had been a great experience. Along with Hany, I was the emcee for the event too, which meant that the whole experience had been sort of freaky too. We started of really badly, which didn't exactly help ease my nerves on that day. Hany and I were really convinced that our emceeing skills were so bad that we probably screw up the whole thing. But at the end of the day, we did get some compliments from our teacher advisor Pn. Susy, our Rotary advisors and some friends, so things were good. Of course, whether we were genuinely praised or were given the compliments out of reassurance will remain a mystery. Haha.

I just thank God that our I.U Day didn't end like how we started it. I would say tha organizing committee did a pretty good job. =)

Welcoming of the VIP

The arrival of Interactors from other schools
The early birds
Registration

Elaine and Syafiqah

The VIPs/Rotarians

Not usual to see VIPs being on time isn't it? LOL

We started off with the singing of 'Negaraku' and the Interact song. Because we couldn't find the musics to both songs, we had to do it the a capella way. This was when I realized that, to my horror, most Interactors don't even know the Interact song. I requested all the Interactors present to sing along coz I know that we ourselves didn't really practiced the song, only to hear few miserable voices singing. What's worse, the few that actually sang probably sang it wrongly. I think the Rotarians were ready to kill every single Interactor there.

Hany and I emceeing; Yvonne at the laptop

Rot. S.K Subra giving his speech

Mr. Ng talking on behalf of our school

Priya giving a speech as the President of Interact Club of RZ

The 1st performance of the day

The apple game. Contestants were supposed to eat the hanging apples without using their hands. We found out on that day that it was impossible due to the apples' slippery surfaces. In the end, we let the contestants hold the apples.

YinHui trying to eat one of the untouched apples during break time to see if it is at all possible to bite the apple without touching it.

Elaine joined in. I tried to take a bite too. Verdict is, it's not possible. Haha...

Another Indian dance performance

The president of ACS Interact Club (oops, I forget his name) promoting his school's I.U Day, which will happen coming Saturday

Anoother game

Contestants bursting the balloons to look for strips of papers. They were supposed to unscramble the scrambled words.

Our 7th and last performance: singing 'Heal the World' and 'We are the World'

Everybody joined in the song

Not a bad ending, see? Haha

YinHui and I

I didn't manage to have lots of pics coz the friend who I asked to help take the pics were having two cameras, so I only have half of all the pics.

Bye for now!

Marley & Me, the Movie

2009-03-10T13:58:00.002+08:00

Saw it yesterday, it was funny and touching in the parts it was supposed to. Of course, there's differences between the novel and the movie, but nevertheless still a good movie. But I think I still prefer reading it than watching it. Haha. More funny details in the book, and definitely more personal. Somehow, I get more emotional while reading 'Marley & Me' too. So, if you have seen the movie but have never read the book, this might just be the right time for you to start reading it. Toodles!

A thousand words

2009-03-08T21:36:00.006+08:00

Since I'm feeling too lazy to type too many words today, I'll just post some long overdue pictures taken during the Malacca trip with my family. Yeah, we went Malacca, like, a month ago. =D

Jess and I at some shopping mall...

Me at the resort's playground

The view outside the resort we were staying in

I woke up really early and discover that I can see squirrels from the balcony =)

Morning life...

Will be back soon! =P

Popcorn and whatever...

2009-03-04T17:01:00.006+08:00

Last Sunday, I finally went to One Utama, caught a movie in cinema and ate sinful, fattening popcorn! Why am I so excited over them? Coz I deserved to, okay! Simple as that. I am very sure the last time I set my foot on the ground of One Utama was more than a year ago. I have not been watching movies in cinemas because my sis and my friends have been going without me (more than a month k!). And I've been yearning for popcorn with all those caramel coating which, on second thought, really can cause diabetes. On third thought, most food nowadays cause diabetes anyway. So, yeah, I very much deserve to be happy over the trip to One Utama.

Anyway, I went there with my family to watch Slumdog Millionaire. What can I say? It was absolutely fabulous. Okay, maybe 'fabulous' is not the right word considering how glamorous 'fabulous' sounds, which does not exactly fit a story revolving around a guy who grew up in the slums. The movie is great then.

For those of you who have been living in a cave in a far-far-away land with no clue of what Slumdog Millionaire is, it's a movie that has won 8 Oscars so far. The movie is about Jamal, an orphan from the slums area, who joins "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". Just one question away from winning 20 million rupees, he is arrested because he is suspected of cheating. People do not believe that someone with a background like his will be able to answer all the questions correctly. This is when he tells of the story of his journey with his brother Salim, how they have survived the harsh life without their parents and how the different encounters Jamal has experienced throughout that time give him the answers to the questions in the game show. There are a lot of flashbacks in this movie, but the directors succeeds in not making the whole thing frustating to watch. I dare say the movie flows really well. Of course, there is romantic element in this story too, in the form of Latika. You want to know more? Go watch it yourself lah. Chances are, you will really enjoy it.

I really love this movie because of how it portrays the not so pretty side of India and humanity. The movie is really meaningful, not to mention the main actor, Dev Patel (Jamal) is kinda cute in a nerdy way while Freida Pinto (Latika) is totally gorgeous. Lastly, there's lots of humour, so you don't get too depressed with the sad plight of the children in the movie.

Two thumbs-up for the movie. =)

*Picture obtained from Yahoo! search*

2009-02-24T14:21:00.003+08:00

Am in the middle of test right now,

Am really supposed to be studying chemistry,

But it's only chemistry,

So who cares?

I do.

Haha.

unpunctuated

2009-02-19T17:36:00.008+08:00

punctuation marks didnt always exist so imagine how hard it used to be reading without punctuations well this was why punctuations started to become in use i really wonder how people of pre punctuation days survive no capitalization and no punctuation marks to tell them when to pause while reading or when to exclaim excitably or when to question it will be like reading in one breath which gets more and more impossible as the excerpt gets longer if right now we are still living in a world with no commas periods exclamation marks question marks and apostrophes reading wouldnt have been so pleasurable actually it would have been complete torture there would be less books in the world internet wouldnt have been as fun i bet you are having difficulties reading this post right now well if you are not then i salute you haha can you count the number of sentences that i should have had if only i have written this post with all the punctuations intact well 14 no actually it is 17 plus this one the previous one and the next haha

Blackness

2009-02-13T17:28:00.004+08:00

Have you ever lie in bed at night, with all the lights out and your blanket over your head so that not even a flicker of light from outside the window can reach your retina? Imagine you put two people in this situation and ask one to leave his eyes opened while the other's closed. Asked the first person what he sees and he might just say darkness. If you ask him what colour he sees, he will say black. Ask the one with closed eyes what does he see and he will most probably tell you nothing. But in truth, aren't they seeing, or more to unseeing the same thing since in total darkness, there's really no difference whether you shut your eyes or not? And you need light to be able to see anything at all, right? So why do we think that we see black when we are in total darkness?

It's just a random thought.

=P

Accent I do not speak with

2009-02-03T10:55:00.002+08:00

You know how some Malaysians say they get really annoyed when people around them 'speak (or at least try to speak) with an accent'?

They say Malaysians don't have accents and therefore should never speak like they own it. They accuse those who 'speak with an accent', saying that they do so just to sound cool and to be like Americans. But if you check a dictionary (I used Yahoo!'s), it defines accent as the relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone. It is a person's unique way of pronouncing words, determined by the regional or social background of the speaker. It is determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native language carried over to his or her use of another language.

That means we Malaysians speak with an accent too. Just because you live in a country where most people speak like you, it does not mean that you do not have an accent. You are just too accustomed to the way Malaysians speak that you don't realize it. We think there are American accent, British accent, Russian accent and Indian accent. Guess what, the Malaysian accent is as much an accent as the others.

If we go the U.S. for a vacation, the people there will most probably think that we speak with a funny accent.

So people, next time you want to accuse people, please specify which country's accent they are trying to imitate.

The Gift

2009-01-31T12:08:00.011+08:00

If you could wish for one gift this Christmas, what would it be?

I've waited forever to read the latest work by Cecelia Ahern, titled The Gift ever since I caught sight of it in a bookstore. But the books were always wrapped up because they were so expensive and the only giveaway on what The Gift is all about is the above phrase. So all I know is, it's set during the Christmas season. But who cares? After reading two of her books - P.S. I Love You and Love, Rosie which is also known as Where Rainbows End (don't ask me why there's two titles, coz I don't know either), I've fallen in love with her novels.

How did I get this book? Earlier this month, a FedEx delivery van suddenly appeared in front of my house and the delivery man asked for Amanda Soo (yes, me). Of course I was surprised that my name was on the parcel. I signed the paper, thanked the man, and then my imagination started running wild. My first thought was maybe I just won one million ringgit from some competition I did not remember joining. Hah! How cool is that?! Okay, fine. That's impossible. How could someone forget about joining a contest that could amount to a one million ringgit cash prize? So maybe I got lucky in some lucky draws that I did not know of. Nah. Then it finally dawned on me. I really could not recall joining any contest or buy anything online. How could I receive a parcel out of nowhere? Oh my gosh it must had been a bomb threat! Somebody wanted me dead!

To reassure myself I tore open the package and...thank God! It's just a book. Okay, it's not just a book, it's The Gift! I was so relieved, happy, surprised and confused all at the same time. I saw a receipt from mphonline.com. So, this book was bought online, I thought. Then everything finally made sense to me. It's my big sis! She was there with me the first time I saw this book in the bookstore. We both wanted it and she had promised that she would buy the book, but I just didn't expect it to come through mail. I was so touched and happy and grateful. I still am okay! So thanks again, sis! =D

Anyway, The Gift is about a successful career man by the name Lou Suffern who is constantly on the go. He is always rushing from one place to another. He is married to his beautiful wife with two healthy children and lives in a big house, but he always put his work before his family. One day, Lou meets Gabe, a homeless guy who sits outside Lou's office and observes everything that passes by. After getting to know Gabe, Lou is intrigued by this mysterious man, even a little fearful of him. Gabe starts to affect Lou's life in ways that Lou will never imagine, teaching him the value of family and time.

I'm not going to go down with all the details because if you really are interested then you will buy the book. LOL. As tempting as it was, I didn't read it until during the CNY holidays. And I've finished it. The verdict? I love it. Cecelia Ahern has a way of writing that just grips people. Every time I get started on one of her books, I just can't seem to put it back down until I've read the very last page. The Gift is yet another page-turner, inspiring, heartbreaking and very funny. She describes the characters and situations beautifully, just like in her other novels. I love the way she penned down the dialogues between the characters and yes, you can definitely see Lou slowly tranform into a different man, which I like. The Gift is not as thick as her other novels though, so it takes a pretty short time to finish the book, maybe too short. So for those of you who want a little light reading or some inspiration, read The Gift. You won't regret it.

Decision making

2009-01-28T23:04:00.004+08:00

I read from somewhere before that people tend to have less regrets if others decide for them. I agree, because you never have to blame yourself if the consequences of your action do not turn out the way you want them to. You don't have to blame yourself for being a total idiot for making the wrong choices. If things go haywire, it's not your fault. Instead, you probably accept it as fate. And you can blame it on fate. Or bad luck. Bad luck because you didn't make the choices. Better still, you blame it on the ones who decided for you and tada!...you hate yourself less. And the only thing you need to regret is letting that someone decide for you.

About two weeks ago, I had to register for my SPM exam which I will be taking in November. As I had mention earlier in my blog, I wanted to drop either Add Math or Chemistry. Okay, fine. To be really honest, I had been dead set on dropping Add Math since last year and was so sure that I was allowed to since the two teachers I asked said I could drop it and my parents and sisters and uncle and some of my friends even encouraged me to do so and take Literature in English instead that I didn't even bother studying for it for my finals last year and almost failed my paper. I told everyone who bothered to ask me that I was dropping it because I couldn't wait to bid my farewells to the darn-it-is-so-not-making-sense subject.

To my horror, on the day that I was supposed to officially say goodbye to Add Math, some evil teachers and my school's equally evil career counsellor told me that this subject is part of a science stream student's package and that it is compulsory for me to take it. When I heard that, I almost wanted to run to the two teachers who had been giving me false hope since last year and strangle the life out of them. No matter how I, along with Sammy and Yinhui who wanted to drop Add Math and Chemistry respectively, gave our best troubled faces, pleaded and gave all sorts of excuses, the teachers still insist that we cannot drop these subjects. Some of them said that we shouldn't give up but instead try first and see. Try first and see?!!? Wouldn't it be too late for us to say we are still lost in the world of weird-looking equations 10 days before SPM? That was the part when my mind started screaming for an American education system. Freedom to choose the subjects you fancy!

Maybe taking Add Math is not that bad lah. Especially after my school counsellor said that the standard of grading for it is embarassingly low each year. So I doubt I will fail this subject. Even if I do flunk Add Math, I won't have regrets because teachers were the ones who decided that I still take it no matter how much I despise it. So in the end, the only thing I need to regret is letting the teachers decide for me.

HAPPY CHINESE NEY YEAR!

2009-01-26T11:17:00.003+08:00

Here, I would like to wish all who are celebrating CNY a great

time reuniting and bonding with long-lost relatives.

Have fun collecting ang paus.

Have fun eating and getting fatter.

And have a prosperous year of ox ahead of you.

It's the color

2009-01-22T17:43:00.003+08:00

So today in my school there was another spot-check. This time the teachers wanted to know what color our bras were. We cannot wear coloured bras. Green. Pink. Blue. Red. All are not acceptable. Even black is not acceptable. Generally, the only colours we can wear are beige and white. Girls who have laced straps are called out too.

So this morning prefects were going around touching our backs trying to make out the color of our bras. Haha. Even some of the prefects have colorful bras lah. I wonder why colored bras are unacceptable. Maybe they think that if we girls walk out of school with a pink bra underneath and is seen by a pervert, the pervert will get so high that he will lose control. Or not.

But white ones are more easily seen isn't it?

Some of my friends don't even own a white or beige bra. They only have bright colorful ones.

Okay I should stop ranting about bras.

So since I didn't get caught for the act, I can laugh all I want today.

LOL

Did you know?

2009-01-16T18:37:00.006+08:00

Today was the very first time I got my 2 penalty marks deducted in school. My crime? Fesyen rambut keterlaluan (over-the-top hairstyle?). No kidding. During morning assembly, the head discipline teacher (I'm not gonna mention her name cause I so happened to like her but detest what she just did this morning) announced that there would be a spot-check on the students' hair. Those with fesyen rambut keterlaluan would be called out. So prefects started going around and asking the lucky students to go up the stage. At first I got away since no prefect seemed to notice me, but when the other students (who were not already up the stage) were allowed to go to class, that teacher saw me AND my hair and pulled me out too. So I joined the hundred-over-probably-reaching-200 other students on stage.

Now for those who had seen me for the past few weeks, to think that I have over-the-top hairstyle is a joke. I mean, your toes should be rolling on the floor laughing real hard right now.

I am very sure that more than 95% of the girls called out were Chinese. The rest were Indians. There was of course no Malays since their hairy crimes were hidden underneath their headscarves. Apparently, long over-the-eyebrows fringes are a crime. And when a girl ties her hair, there's usually stray hair falling down the side of her face right? That's a crime in my school too.

After we were all sitted down on the stage floor, some other teacher started lecturing us about pinning up our hair so that not even a single strand linger on our faces. Then she said if we continue to not deal with our hairy problem, the school will call our parents to come to school. Do they really expect parents to willingly come out of their workplace during office hours to waste their precious hours on discussing something as silly as their daughter's hair? Then she went on with how she would not allow those who continue to have messy hair to go to class until their parents come. Then she said something about playing truant and working instead of studying. Like, what is their connection with hair? Most of the girls called out had never done anything seriously wrong that would cause the school shame. Heck, some are even straight-A students who had achieved a lot for the school. Can less than favourable hairstyle create havoc in school? Will the general public look down on a school because it's students have a sense of style? So I admit that I was stubborn enough to still leave my fringe unpinned after being told that I should otherwise, but WHAT'S WRONG WITH LESS THAN PERFECTLY NEAT HAIR?!?!?!?!?!?

I do not care if they want to take away two of my penalty marks (because I have 38 more marks to spare wahahahahahaha), but they are robbing off what little freedom we have left in school. This whole thing is absolutely absurd. They might as well just shoot me for using my friend's eraser without asking.

2009-01-16T16:21:00.002+08:00

What do you call people who just can't stop talking and love hearing their own voices?

Very talkative people.

So if you are one of those people, feel free to speak at my...

CHATBOX!

Yes I have one already!

=D

Green algae do not eat large carnivorous fish!

2009-01-10T12:44:00.004+08:00

Last Thursday, my class was having Biology lesson. We are currently studying the topic Dynamic Ecosystem. My teacher, Pn. Norliza, explained to us about food web and then called out a few of my classmates to take turn linking and creating a food web of a freshwater pond. Tadpoles and water fleas eat green algae. Mosquito larvae and water snails eat green algae. Small fish eat all of the above. Large carnivorous fish eat small fish.

Then Pn. Norliza called out my name. Darn. I didn't have any idea how else to link the food web. But I remembered reading from my reference book the day before that fungi decompose eagles and rabbits and other plants. So without thinking twice, I automatically wrote green algae again at the end of the food web and linked it to large carnivorous fish. Green algae decompose large carnivorous fish. Hah! So smart of me! After all, no one thought of that. And somebody got to finish off the evil big fish right?

Turned out, I could not have been more wrong. After the food web was done, Pn. Norliza went through the whole thing with us. When she reached the part I wrote, she was like, "Apa ni? Tiba-tiba green algae eat large carnivorous fish?". No wonder no one thought of that. It was never right. But I wouldn't have sounded so dumb if she had used the word 'decompose' instead of 'eat'.

Lesson of the day: Green algae are producers, not decomposers. And they are green for goodness sake! They get energy from the sun, not large carnivorous fish, dead or alive. Time and time again I have to remind myself to stop confusing algae with fungi. Stupid algae!

Sweat inducing week...

2009-01-09T22:50:00.003+08:00

My first week of almost-torture in school is officially over! Well, not exactly official yet since I still have to go to school again tomorrow morning to register for clubs and uniform body.

Anyway, on the first day of school, teachers were already going in to our classes to teach. We didn't even get the chance to relax on the first day! On that day itself, I already have homeworks to do. Not to mention the holiday works given to me last year which I conveniently forgot to do. (Hehe.) By the end of the week, I've had several group discussions in class and did two group presentations for Sejarah. Talk about being kiasu! All the teachers seem to be rushing through with the syllabus. The whole week has been a little too fast-paced for me, especially after a month and a half of sedentary life at home. Gosh. I hope I can make it through the year.

And I am so thorned between dropping Add Math or Chemistry. I was so sure about dropping Add Math until Yin Hui told me she wanted to drop Chemistry, which made me realize that my knowledge in Chemistry sucks too. Today I opened the Chemistry book and surprise surprise, I don't remember anything about electrolysis and bases and acids and yada yada yada. And I can't to chemical equations, which means I'm doomed since chemistry very much involves LOTS of chemical equations. But I still hate Add Math more. Darn it. I wish I can drop both of them. But being in science stream, that's a little too much right? I need a superhuman brain!!!

Right now, I need to get some beauty sleep before I oversleep for school. Again. XP

2009-01-01T21:45:00.006+08:00

When a person looks down on anyone who is overweight or weird or nerdy, he is discriminating against fat people and weirdos and nerds. When another person hates anyone who discriminate against others, isn't he discriminating against others too?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:22:00.003+08:00

I can't believe it; it's already 2009!!

No, actually I can believe that. I have to, coz it's ALREADY 2009...haha. It's a whole new year, filled with whole new resolutions for most people, though half of them will probably never be achieved. So yeah, I'm not gonna tell the world what my new year resolutions are, coz that will pressure me to achieve every single one of them. Wait, come to think of it, I still do not have any resolutions, which means I can't tell even if I want to. LOL.

Anyway, my big sis is back for new year! Weeee..!! So today we went to Green Box in Aeon to sing karaoke for about 3 hours. After that, we decided to watch Four Christmases. The movie was about a couple who had to visit four homes in a day, since both of their parents are divorced. Pretty enjoyable. A funny comedy. Like duh. A comedy has to be funny. Okay, I'm seriously crapping. Toodles!

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

2008-12-12T19:13:00.009+08:00

When my family was in Singapore, my beloved eldest sis let me choose 3 books from Borders bookstore for Christmas. Hehe. Well the reason why I get my Christmas gifts so early is because we will not be seeing each other until the 31st of December, which means no celebrating her birthday and Christmas together as a family this year. =( I think this is the first time for me that one family member will not be home for Christmas. Haiz. Gotta accept changes in life I guess.

Anyway, I chose My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, plus The Condition by Jennifer Haigh. So far, I've only finished My Sister's Keeper. I know, sis, that you are slightly annoyed by the fact that I finish off the book in 3 days. Which is apparently too short a period for you. Haha. The book is so engrossing that I just can't help but keep on reading. But how many days should reading a book take? I think 3 days is pretty much the norm.

Okay, back to topic.

In My Sister's Keeper, Anna Fitzgerald was a thirteen-year-old girl born into this world through in vitro fertilization. She was specially designed to be a genetic match for her older sister Kate, who was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia at the age of two. All her life, Anna had been a donor to her sister. She had undergone surgeries, shots and transfusions just to help Kate fight her leukemia. When Kate's kidneys started to fail her, their mum Sara expected Anna to donate one of her kidneys to Kate too. Anna, who had never really been asked whether she wanted to go through all the pain since it was expected of her to save her sister's life, started questioning about her purpose in life. She decided to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

This story is narrated by the various characters in the novel, so that readers can see the different perspectives of each character toward the issues they have to face. This novel mostly revolves around the Fitzgeralds, but also touches on Campbell, Anna's attorney, and his past with former lover Julia Romano. I really like how Jodi Picoult manages to give detailed memories of the characters' past in between telling about the present time while still allowing the novel to flow. Through those memories, you can see how they affect the characters' actions. Despite the predicament the family has to face, Picoult succeed in incorporating humor amidst sadness, frustration and anger.

I really enjoy this novel because it gets you thinking about what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes, you read the thoughts of two characters that totally oppose each other, but yet you are able to understand why each act and think this or that way. The novel also portrays the undeniably close relationship between Anna and Kate. As the story progresses, we will come to know the real reason why Kate decided she doesn't want to donate a kidney to her sister. Besides Anna suing her parents, there are also sub-plots of Brian's (Anna's father) life as a firefighter, Jesse's life as a juvenile delinquent and as I said earlier, Campbell and Julia's love life. Sadly, this story does not have a fairytale ending.

Anyhow, I really recommend this novel. It is insightful, heart wrenching, funny and it has an interesting storyline. And though most teenagers at some point in life have thoughts of suing their parents, how often do you see one really doing it? So yes, read it!

And just to sound professional, I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

VBS 2008 ~ Power Lab!

2008-12-10T10:57:00.010+08:00

Just got back from Singapore to visit my sis two days ago. Spent most of our time there shopping and hunting for food in Orchard Road cause that was where the hotel we stayed in was and we were just too lazy to drive out to anywhere else. Marriott hotel was totally cool. Everything was so high class there. The muffins sold at the hotel were delicious. They even give free apples! Haha...

Anyway, this year's VBS was held from the 2nd to the 5th of December. This was the third year I volunteered as a helper and in my opinion, every just keeps getting better. I really had fun getting to know the kids in my group. And oh yeah, I was in Max group, with a battery as our mascot. Here are the pics!

Power Lab!

Michelle and I

Yoke Pei

Sioe Fei

Kristine

Michelle,Joanna and I

Lynette

Me,Michelle and Abel

Initially, it was suppose to be just 3 persons =P

Darwin and Stephanie. Just adorable.

Jia yi

Stephanie and Angela (she's one of the most angelic girl you can find in VBS...haha)

Zhi Sin!

Zhi Yin, Zhi Sin and Jia Yi

Jia Yi, Zhi Sin and behind me, Gloria

From left to right : Zhi Yin, Gloria, me, Jia Yi, Stephanie and Yoke Pei

Them again!

Zhi Sin & Jia Yi at the back. Gloria, Aijean & Su May in front.

Su May =D

Shanna

Su May again

Su May yet again

Michelle's bro

The kids of Max!!

I miss the kids already. And yeah, I realize that I say this every year. Haha.

She's back!

2008-11-29T17:28:00.005+08:00

I know. You people must be shocked. I have finally snap out of hibernation! Yes people, I'm alive. In fact, I was never dead. What has been keeping me away from my blog for so long? Plain laziness. Haha.

Anyway, school holidays have been pretty mundane so far. All I did during the past week was surf the net, read a ton of books and magazines, do my house chores, catch Corner with Love (a Taiwanese drama...it rocks!) on 8tv every weekday, watch any other random shows I so happen to come by and remind myself that I should be revising everything I had learn in Form 4 but never get on with it. Oh, I've been listening to songs on radio a lot too. Gosh. I really need to start setting my priorities right.

Talking about songs, I just love Jesse McCartney's It's Over and The Pussycat Dolls' I hate This Part. I am not a particularly big fan of Jesse or the dolls, but somehow, I just don't get sick of listening to these two songs endlessly (unlike other overplayed songs on the radio). LOL. Here are the videos of the songs:

Jesse McCartney - It's Over

Pussycat Dolls - I Hate This Part

Hey, don't start hating me or think any less of me if you disagree with my song choices. No matter what you say, these songs will still rock my socks! =D

School sucks? Think again...

2008-02-05T15:34:00.000+08:00

Scary. Busy. Hectic. Stressful. Tiring. Frustating. These are the words I would use to describe the month of January. So if you are wondering why I had been absent from my blog for awhile, those words should explain my reason too.

I came across an article about the state of education in Afghanistan in TIME magazine yesterday. In 1996, the Taliban had outlawed education for girls. Though the ban ended 6 years ago, it is still very hard to get a good education in Afghanistan, especially for the girls. Most Afghan families won't allow their daughters to be in places where they can be seen by unrelated men. They also cannot be in tented schools and open spaces with no sanitation facilities, which is the condition many schools in Afghanistan are in right now. They have to struggle and overcome many obstacles just to be able to sit in a classroom to listen to the teacher. Many parents think that girls don't need to get an education because they should stay at home and help the family. Even if they are able to go to school, they have to study in very poor conditions. Students have to share a textbook by passing it around class during lessons. Many schools have to be closed down for security reasons, in which many of them are schools with girls.

Report shows that the ratio of boys to girls in primary school is roughly 2 to 1 and drops to 4 to 1 in secondary school. More than 80% of rural districts don't even have a single girl in secondary schools. To make matter worse, the percentage of accredited female teachers in Afghanistan is very low, only 28%, and to increase the number of female students, the country need more female teachers. It is really apparent that Afghans are facing a big crisis in their education system, among many other problems that they have to endure.

Shouldn't we thank God that in Malaysia, we can go to school without much trouble? In fact, parents have to force their children to go to school and look at their pouty faces while children in Afghanistan have to beg their parents to let them go. We should thank God that the Malaysian government makes it compulsory for every child to attend primary schools. Most Malaysian nowadays at least finish their secondary school year and earn their SPM certificate. I complain about school a lot, but in honest truth, it is a privilege to be able to sit on those creaky wooden chairs every weekday, listening to a teacher's rants. Most Afghan children can only dream of that.

2008-01-21T22:56:00.000+08:00

A perfect specimen of a human is an imperfect one.

2008-01-13T21:14:00.000+08:00

What a tiring day today had been. My cousins just moved to their new house, so we, the whole family missed church to help them shift their stuff to the new house. Yeah, it's a new house in Bukit Tinggi 2. It's a semi-detached house. It's big. It's nice. It's new.

I want a new house too!!!

I'm sick of sharing a home with a colony of termites. No, make it a few colonies.

Pesky wood-scavengers!

Blessings

2008-01-06T15:17:00.000+08:00

Today in Sunday school, Ps. Ronald started off the first class of the year by opening the time for testimony. Ps. Ronald asked us to talk about the great things that had happened to us in the year 2007 that we would like to thank God for. Being the girl who freaks out whenever she has to speak in front of a crowd of more than ten, I didn't testify. But now as I think about last year again, I want to thank God for blessing me and helping me cope with my studies.

I sat for my PMR exam last October. Throughout last year, I didn't really put in much effort when it comes to studying, but instead I spent most of the time either sleeping or surfing the net. Turning the pages of a text book usually leads to 2 hours of sleep. It was particularly hard for me to concentrate on my study at that time and everything distracts me. So, I kept on procrastinating on my studies until I realized I had 2 more weeks to PMR. Yup, it was that bad. In that 2 weeks before my exam, I started studying like a maniac. I became really stressed up and moody too. I skipped dinners a lot, and brought books along to restaurants when my mum forced me to go out to eat. I stayed up till, at earliest, 2 a.m. every day to study. By the day I had to sit for my exam, I was exhausted.

Come to think of it, what I did could have badly affected my performance during the exam. Being so tired, I could have fall asleep in the examination hall half-way through a paper. Being so stressed up, I could have forget everything I had study throughout my 3 years in secondary school. The way I stayed up in the middle of the night every day, forcing myself to remember whatever I read, I could have fall sick on PMR day. I could have flunked my exam and wasted the years of studying. BUT, throughout each paper, I didn't feel tired or fall asleep once. I survived the exam without forgetting everything, and I didn't break down like how some people did. In fact, I was really calm and relaxed the whole time. And most importantly, I didn't become seriously ill.

I believe that everything went well because God was there for me. Even though I had only started studying seriously at the very last minute, He still gave me the ability to do well in my PMR. He didn't make me fail my exam. He kept me from falling sick. In the end, I managed to get 7 A's in my PMR. Of cause I'm happy! LOL. And I really want to thank God for blessing me with the results I have.

As much as I believe that God will never let me down, I learnt through this experience not to study at the last minute again. Especially for SPM. There's no more room for me to risk my future this way. NO WAY.

Many times, we took for granted the little blessings that God gave us. But sometimes, these little blessings are the ones that make a big difference in our life. To me, God blessed me in many little ways last year, and those little blessings accumulated into a huge blessing.

School -_-

2008-01-03T20:49:00.000+08:00

After spending almost two months of school holidays lazing around at home, relaxing and practically not having a care in the world, it's back to reality.

Today is my very first day of school for the year 2008. Nothing really bad happened, but it wasn't the favourite day of my life either. It was really nerve wrecking when the time came for the teacher to announce which class each of the Form 4 students are going. I'm in 4Science1! Yin Hui is in too, which I REALLY thank God for. At least I don't have to spend the rest of my secondary school life without one of my best friends as my classmate. That would really really suck.

Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure whether staying in 4Science1 would be a really good idea. Because lots of my friends in the same class seemed really dissatisfied about it. So, naturally, I'm starting to become doubtful and worried. And now Yin Hui thinks she might want to be transferred to Sc3, which have Account instead of Biology. Account would be a more practical subject to take, but I think Biology would be less difficult, and more interesting. I'm so lost and confused now. Urgh.

I'm already missing the holidays. But being the half-optimist that I am, at least I get to see my friends almost everyday again.

Greetings...

2008-01-02T10:10:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Year 2007 was a really great and fruitful year for me. Many lessons were learned. New friends were gained. I survived PMR. Lost maybe a few things, but nonetheless, 2007 was fun. It's amazing how much you can grow in a year's time. And here I'm not just talking about physically, but also mentally and spiritually. The thought of having to face year 2008 without knowing what to expect can be a bit daunting at times, not to mention, it is also the first day of school tomorrow (Which class am I going to end up in?). But at the same time, I can't help but get excited about what great plans God has install for me this year.

I'm really grateful for all the people who had made a difference in my life. My family for being ever loving and supportive, and my best friends both in church and in school for brightening my life and preventing it from being boring and dull. You guys (you know who you are) really made year 2007 a whole lot better for me. =)

I just hope that I will make full use of this year to achieve the things I really want to achieve, which BTW, there's a lot, and not let the time go to waste. I believe (or more like I want to believe) that this year will only get better. My new year's resolutions? I'm still thinking about it.

The End Is Near...

2007-12-29T12:41:00.000+08:00

Year 2007 I mean.

Today is only a few more days away from a whole new year, which also means a whole new semester of school, and I am going to spend that last few days in Penang. Yup. I'm off to Penang tomorrow morning and coming back just before school opens again.

Come to think of it, I was in the same situation last year. I was in Penang on the last day of 2006 and the first day of 2007, and now, I'm going to be in Penang on the last day of 2007 and the first day of 2008...again. So, the year 2007 comes and goes while I'm in Penang. What a perfect way to start and end something. And to the blur people of the society, I'm being sarcastic, not excited, okay.

But since I'm going there whether I like it or not, I might as well just enjoy the trip as much as possible, before I have to face the pain of form 4. Ouch. But I'm going to bring 'Bukit Kepong' along with me to Penang. Hopefully, I'll be so bored in the hotel that I'll finish a few chapters of the Malay novel. Hah.

Christmas is Coming

2007-12-22T20:29:00.000+08:00

I once asked a close friend of mine what Christmas is to her. She answered, "It's all about presents, turkey, santa, and booze!" It's not that she really don't know the true meaning of Christmas, cause I'm sure she knows, but I think she choose to ignore it.

At this time of the year, many of us become busy preparing for the special occasion. We shop for presents, send greeting cards to friends, buy Christmas clothes, and eat an elaborate dinner on Christmas night with either our family or friends. But do all these really explain Christmas? I'm not saying that putting up Christmas trees and exchanging presents with friends are wrong, because these things really help create the atmosphere for the holiday, which I love. But we sometimes get too carried away with trying to create the perfect Christmas that we forget about the main reason for Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus Christ. Talking about this reminds me of a story in the Bible in Luke 10:38-42. It is about Jesus visiting Martha and Mary's home. Mary sat at Jesus's feet listening to what he said while Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. Martha complained to Jesus because Mary was not helping, and Jesus answered, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Martha was so engrossed with the preparations, she forgot about the more impotant thing, which was getting to know Jesus and spending time with him. It's pretty much the same thing isn't it?

If you are a Christian, you most probably will go to church on Christmas morning to celebrate Jesus's birth. But after that, what do you do? Party at a friend's house? Shop for more clothes? Or take the advantage of a public holiday to sleep all day long? It's just like forgetting about the birthday boy right after his birthday party, and going ahead with the stuff you want to do with your other friends. I have to admit that I tend to forget the most important reason for Christmas too, and that I hope for as many presents as possible when come this time of the year. But I am going to try to focus this year. At least I tried to try.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God loves us so much that He is willing to send His only son Jesus to be born on this earth to suffer and die for us. Because he died for us, we can go to heaven if we believe in him. And Jesus was born on Christmas day. Have it ever occur to you that, without Christmas, we all will have to go to hell when we die?

Well, just a thought from me. I'm off for now.

Oh, and Merry Christmas to all!

GY Camp 2007

2007-12-14T18:41:00.000+08:00

- D.I.E -
That's the theme for this year's Grace youth camp. No, we were not dying in the camp. D.I.E stands for 'do it everyday'. But to be honest, I don't really know the meaning behind the phrase and the reason why they chose that theme. Maybe they were saying we have to follow God everyday? Go ask someone else if you really want to know. Anyway, just came back from Cameron Highlands on Tuesday night. We reached home so late because there were some landslides on the way down the hill. A few people got really sick and vomited in the bus because of the winding road, and I actually felt really sick and dizzy too, which was pretty unusual for me.

My team's name was Christmas Skyland. Lim An Drew was the leader, I was the assistant, and Lim May Lai was our advisor. Shannon was our finance minister. A very good one at that. Haha. We didn't managed to get first place, but we did not get last either. I think we were somewhere at the bottom though. XP But no matter what placing we got, I still had a great time working with and getting to know my team members. At first, I thought I was going to have some serious difficulty communicating with my group, but most turned out to be friendly.

Anyway, this year's camp was really a blast. I made many new friends. Got closer to those already friends. Learnt a lot of new things. Somehow became more confident. Trained on my leadership skills (which is still bad..LOL). Had lots of fun. And most importantly, felt God's presence there.

The only thing that I really hated was waking up in the morning. It was so cold every single morning that I would wake up shivering and had to will myself to get out from bed so that I had the time to brush my teeth and wash my face in that equally cold water.

But at the end of the day, I'm really glad that I went for the camp. It was, overall, a great camp. The worship on the last night was great. I'm sure most of the campers could feel the presence of God on that night. Many of us wept for quite a long time. I know I had mentioned this word before, but I'm going to say it again: the camp was simply great. I kept saying great because the camp really was great. LOL.

Here's a FEW photos taken during the camp. I didn't have many photos because it's either I had no time or I was not having the camera.

A view of the highlands
That's my group with the santa hats =)
That's me

Nicole and me. She's the only person I managed to take a picture with.
Christmas Skyland!! My group..
Our banner..nice right?
GY Camp 2007

Matthew 16:24 (NIV): Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Till we meet again. Toodles.

Untitled Post

2007-12-02T15:39:00.000+08:00

Whoops...I almost abandoned my blog again. Hehe.

VBS just ended 2 days ago. For those of you who are clueless about VBS, it stands for Vacation Bible School, a 4-days event organized by GCC (Grace Children Church) every year for children below 13. The main purpose was to let the children know more about Jesus. There's many activities and games for the kids throughout the 4 days which I am lazy to elaborate on. Generally, us volunteers' work is to help take care and control the uncontrollable kids. This year was my second year to help out in VBS, and I had a great time 'babysitting' the kids and also hanging out with my friends. Unfortunately, I didn't had the time to take any pictures with the kids at all. Sign. Already missing some of the kids. Well, not much to blog about since there is no pictures to complement any more ranting than this. So I shall stop here.

Oh, and now I can't wait for GY Camp!! One more week to go!

I'm back!

2007-11-26T23:52:00.001+08:00

I just came back from Kuala Lumpur with my family a few hours ago. A very tiring holiday, but a fun one nevertheless. Since I'm so tired now and I got to wake up early for VBS (Vacation Bible School) tomorrow, I will just write a short entry about my trip to KL.

Friday - 24 November
Went to "It's A Girl Thing" convention in KLCC Convention Centre. Was quite a disappointment. Not much things there. My sis bought 3 bottles of nail polish while I bought the pass October issue of seventeen at RM5. I was also given a paper bag with free samples in it. Haven't gone through it yet. After probably less than an hour, we decided the convention was boring. We went KLCC. I spent most of the time in Kino Kuniya bookstore. Later, checked into Legend Hotel. Dad accompanied Mum to health fair. We had Korean BBQ for dinner.

Saturday - 25 November
Woke up early. Waited for everyone to wake up. Went to The Mall which was just beside the hotel (they are the same building) for breakfast at the foodcourt. Mum went to health fair again, this time alone. We sisters decided to try out the nail polish. One word - DISASTROUS. I can see holes and uneven surface on my nail right now. Went to Time Square in the afternoon. Shop for a long time. As usual, saw a lot of weird teenagers with weird fashion sense there. Of course, plus the many weird fashion boutiques especially for them. Mum bought Jess and me each a backpack from Body Glove. Went back to hotel room. Watch TV. Sleep.

Sunday - 26 November
Woke up late today. About 10.30. Checked-out. Ate branch at The Mall food court again. Went Pavilion. A newly opened mall where high-end brands can be seen. Stuff were scarily expensive. We went there mostly for the free screening of past shows. My dad said they wanted people to test the seats before the cinema officially opens the next day. We watched Ratatouille. A really great show in my opinion. After the movie, we queued up for J.Co's doughnuts. Bought 2 dozens' of them. Got another 2 more for free from the 2 drinks. The doughnuts were...well, sinfully sweet. I only managed to swallow 2. Too rich to eat too many at a time. We were in Pavilion from about 1 to 7 o'clock. And guess how much was the parking fee?...RM14. Yes, I'm not kidding. I'm pretty sure this is the first and last time we will ever step into Pavilion ever again.

Well, it was a looong day today. And tomorrow is going to be another exciting day. Got to catch some sleep now. Bye. =)

Whatever..

2007-11-23T12:23:00.000+08:00

Have you ever heard of writer's block? If you haven't, it is the inability to write because of the lack of ideas, inspiration, or creativity. It is not a disease. It is, according to Wikipedia, a phenomenon. A phenomenon I am suffering from right now. That should explain why I only update my blog so sparingly.

Anyway, I am going to KL tomorrow. My family will be staying in Legend Hotel for 3 days. That means I can shop and eat and read full time without the interruption of house chores. The Mall is just below the hotel, so we can just go down there anytime we want to buy something. That includes snacks. Yummy. We can wake up in the morning, and the foodcourt and restaurants are only a lift and a bit of walking away from us. If we want to go shopping in any other malls, it isn't that far. After all, we in the busiest city in Malaysia! We had stayed in Legend Hotel for I think about 3 times already, but I am still really excited about it. Its just luxury to me. Anyway, gotta pack my bags. Toodles. ^_^

Marley & Me

2007-11-17T11:51:00.000+08:00

Recently, I had just finished reading Marley & Me by Josh Grogan, a bestseller in almost every bookstore. It was a really great book, and you shouldn't miss it. Marley & Me is about Grogan's experience living with Marley, a yellow Labrador retriever he and his wife bought from a backyard breeder. This book not only portrays life with a dog and all the trouble it cost, but it also tells about the obstacles every newly-wed couple faces. Grogan has a way of writing that makes everything sound interesting and funny. It just draws people into reading his book.

Whether you are a bookworm, a person that would rather be found dead than reading a book or a person that would only read interesting books, you should read this, because it is definitely an interesting book. Whether you love dogs, like dogs, dislike dogs, hate dogs, fear dogs or are just indifferent to them, you should read this book, because you don't have to love dogs to love this book.

The last time I saw this book in MPH, it cost RM32, a bit on the expensive side. Though Marley & Me is definitely worth your money. But if you really can't afford it, you can always borrow from a friend, like how I did. And if you bought the book and read it but decided you didn't like it (which I doubt), you can always be a kind soul and give the book to me. I will be more than happy to lift your burden for you. Lol.