Season 1, Episode 1: As a Student again

" The lady or The Tiger " - Frank Stockton

I realise that since i have entered uni, i've seldom write or post much about my life here. And because of that factor, i've decided to categorize all posts about my life in uni hereafter under the same style of title but with different episodes each time. Seriously, life in uni, if it can be made into a movie, would definitely be a box-office hit. Why do i say so? Let the story begins...

I am here for nearly 2 months already. How time flies? It feels like it was just yesterday i've completed my SPM and heading down with my friends to KLCC to watch Beowulf. Being 2 months here also means i'm back to being a student again. More hectic and busier, school life is not the same as uni life! Cherish school life, enjoy uni life.

'Desperate', as i've written in my earlier post, could be one whole post on its own and therefore i'm keeping it for later, may be for episode 2 (spoiler). This episode, the pilot, would focus on my study life and how it has been this far. Doing Foundation in Engineering, i have to attend 21 credit hours for semester 1 and the remaining credit hours for semester 2. The subjects i'm taking are English, Moral Studies, Thinking Skills, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering Maths and Co-curriculum: Modern Music. 60% coursework marks means i have to consistently be prepared for quizzes, tests, projects, assignments, tutorials, lab reports and presentations.

Brief intro on my studies done. Now, what have i been doing here all this while besides studying and blogging? I joined the UTP Debate Championship even though i don't really like debating. In a group of 4, one reserve, my first round of the debate was held on 20 Aug 2008. Given the topic 30 minutes before the debate, my teammates and i decided to be a little more creative and came up with some unusual points. I got the government side and topic given was single word 'Abortion'.

Wanna POI?

Me in action.

Looking at our opponents!

Though we didn't get pass the first round and were immediately axed out from the championship, we did our best, but it just wasn't enough. Anyway, this debate is to give us the extra exposure and experience, and to prepare ourselves with additional confidence to debate sometime soon. Apart from the debate, recently, we (since it was a pair work project) had to present a poster on one of the short stories assigned to us by our tutor. We selected one scene from the Lady or the Tiger and spent almost 2 days to complete the sophisticated poster about the scene. Tiresome, i'm glad we managed to pull it off though.

Closed doors...

Doors wide open. The lady or the tiger, go read it. And title of poster, heart versus reality. I wonder?

As co-co is one of my subjects, i selected Modern Music. We were asked to choose an instrument for the class and i chose the trumpet- don't ask me why, i just chose it.

The trumpet! Buzz.......

Trying to buzz around...

As a student again. Starting to learn new stuffs, starting to expand my horizon. Life here in uni is so far so good, could be better, could be worse either. No matter what, have fun while studying! There are still loads and loads more in store for me here in uni, and i've yet to discover. Guess what, after my Moral class one Wednesday evening, i happened to notice a complete ( not really, 80%) semi-circle rainbow. Not only that, there were 2- one is the real one, the other is the dimmer image (sort of like a reflection).

Look closely for the image. One end...

The other end. Look closely for the image...

I wanted to catch a full view photograph of both ends seen, but i was too near. Settled for these 2, i hurried back to reach my cafe early so that i need not have to rush for dinner- it's the Ramadhan month and they break fast at about 7.25pm.

wc08 is back to square one, of being a student again, and trying his best to make the most out of it here in uni.

A joyous 'Pat-sap' birthday celebration!

" There surely is a lot to talk about being 80 years old. Happy Birthday, Yaya! "

Months of planning, weeks of preparation, days of shopping, hours of happiness, minutes of smiling, and seconds of excitement. The time has come, an event in my family that is far more greater than the Olympic Games. Thursday, the 4th September 2008 is definitely one of the greatest days in my grandfather's , or Yaya, entire life. He could proudly announce to the world that he is 80 years old now. And he is not an ordinary being, he has seasoned and has experienced almost everything in life- simply, he has a story to tell.


A great story-teller, a loving grandfather. I recalled, he used to tell us (my family) stories of the past, dated to even before my country's independence. He also told us stories about our old home, his job and even my grandmother, whom we call Mama. Still hale and hearty, after my SPM, i often follow Yaya down town. He will take me out for breakfast (usually porridge, the expensive but tasty one). Then, we'll walk to the banks or occasionally to the 'market' building. Often, as we walk to our destination, he tells me stories. He points to the run-down but historic buildings to show me exactly where it happened, or where he worked before. He also tells me where my aunt used to work and where my Mama goes to fetch my uncle and my father during their schooling life. Interesting as it may seem, there are so much that sometimes i couldn't remember them myself either- great memory! Now, he's 80 years old.


A grandfather, a father, a brother, an uncle, and even a granduncle he may be known as. But surely, a great person to all! I prayed hard for being able to attend his big day, as you may know, i'm in uni and it's not easy for me to get back during the weekdays due to packed schedule. Fortunately, my prayers were answered and i managed to get back home to join in this joyous celebration. Despite tests on Wednesday and Friday, my presence there means more to him, and i'm glad i made it. My dad fetched me from uni, thank you!


I was home at about 4.30pm and there was no time to waste. We had to rush and book the toilets to prepare ourselves. Dressed up not long after that, it was time for us to hit the road, to Bukit Jalil Club. As usual, the MMR2 will have traffic and it stalled us a while. In the light drizzle, we arrived the ballroom at nearly 7.00pm. Hurry...

There's still time for preparation.


Guests begin to fill the seats and mingle around. The party is not exactly started, but it already has.

Half past eight, everyone arrived and the party kicked off. Cousin WaiKitt was the emcee of the night and the party started off with a photograph presentation made by cousin LengSi. The presentation was on photographs of my Yaya when he was a child, when he got married, when he went for holiday, and with his grandchildren (me!). After the presentation down memory lane, dinner is served. I'm not going to talk about the food, it'll make your mouth, and mine too, water. But on the whole, the scrumptious dishes were delicious.


Halfway through dinner, we were pulled to a halt for yet another presentation. This time, it was a video of all of us (his family). One by one, our short takes were projected onto the screen and all eyes were on them. The video was great, hopefully i can get them to be posted here. Much credits should be given to cousin LengSi because she pulled off yet another great presentation to fill in the young night. Dinner is resumed.

Happy Birthday to you! Cake cutting ceremony.

A dear moment with his brothers and sisters on stage. A family of 10 should share 10 times the happiness. Youngest brother giving his speech.

To me, this is one of the best part in the celebration. All his younger brothers (my Yaya is the eldest) and sisters, and Mama are on the stage with him and the cake. All smiles!

Handing over of the giant card ceremony.

All guests were informed to sign on the giant card upon entrance to the ballroom. Purpose : To signature your presence to this joyous celebration as remembrance.

After all is said and done, time for some 'yum seng'!

My Yaya is feeling young again. Ahem....

Ladies...

... and gentlemen.

Cousin WaiMing and me...

Cousin SueYin and me...

Impromptu, we sang to my Yaya and indirectly end the night, though it's still young.

I bet you, my Yaya was smiling throughout the night. It was his night and no one can steal his limelight. It would be an understatement and i'm not giving justice to everyone then. Each and every one of us present left with a radiant smile on our faces and clearly indicate that we enjoyed the night just as how my Yaya has enjoyed it.


wc08 isn't sad that it's over, but ecstatic that it has happened. He again would like to wish, if not too late, a very joyous birthday wish to Yaya : Happy 80th Birthday!

A nice finish to an awesome start...

" Goodbye Beijing, Hello London "

After 16 days of great sports, the time to close the curtains is up. Unfortunately, i couldn't follow this 29th Olympic Games as closely as i did with the Euro2008 due to time constraint in uni and because of that, i only, on and off, watch them during my breaks or interval. Having said that though, i tried my utmost best to keep updated with the progress through the newspapers or surf smoothly through the official Olympic 2008 Beijing website. China hosted this magnificent event and opened with an unforgettable start, and topped the table with 51 gold medals. I wouldn't say i love sports very much, but i have to admit that i like this as it is not only about sports but so much more- if you get what i mean.

Friday, again, i went back home.And this time, not in desperation. I even managed to catch the 1.30pm bus back to KL, which means i was back in an approximate time of 4.30pm ( giving about 3 hours ride ). Had dinner at home, not even thinking of the food in the cafe in my 'village', UTP.

Albeit going back means short holiday, still, i had to bring home some notes to revise- quizzes and tests are coming up! Allocated time to study over the weekend, i also reserved some time for other things like shopping and 'makan'. Plus, we had little preparation to a big upcoming event too. Days went by, and on Sunday, came another ceremony.

Olympic Games 2008 closed its curtains on the 24th August 2008 with a pleasant ceremony. As i missed the Opening Ceremony at home, i caught the Closing back home.

A great opening for a Closing ceremony.

Fantastic performances one after another.

Another reason to wow.

A sneak preview by the Olympic Games 2012 host, London.

Exploding fireworks end the night.

It was a nice finish to an awesome start. What can i say? Credits to all involved. Monday morning, back to life in uni, routine.

wc08 still feels the heat of the 'flame' and feeling great with the weekend!

Gather Together, F5...

" A simple gathering relives the memory of the past days of Form 5 "

As promised in my previous post, the reason why i was looking forward to head home was, first and foremost, be back with my family and second, a little gathering amongst the Form 5. I was eager to see them after months of separation, each and everyone moving closer and closer to their ambitions in life, and how they have moved on and changed in so many ways.

The little gathering i'm talking about here was held at Oldtown Kopitiam, Ampang Waterfront. I followed Jian's grandpa ( really reliving the 'old days' ) to the gathering which was scheduled at 9pm- now you know why i didn't take the 5.30pm bus! As soon as i reached home, i prepared myself and took dinner before heading for the late night out.

By 9 pm, we were there, waiting for the rest of the members to show up. Ten, Chong, Janis, and Chan came the same time and all of us progressed upstairs, met Ahmad and Germaine who were already waiting, and found the right spot for the night- and as usual, we will make the most noise there. Other customers, sorry, but to bear with it. Time ticked and more and more friends arrived. One by one, we placed our order for our little stomach. While waiting, we chatted.

We chatted and chatted. Each brings new story to the table.

Ahmad and Chan- they look different compared to the last time i saw them.

Janis and Chong didn't change much. Still the same bubbly friends.

Jian and me. Still a great friend, and always will be!

Ten with the guys- Waqi, Daus and Hafeez...

Mini group shot! Nice picture huh...

Without a doubt, all 15 of us did have a wonderful time despite the short gathering. We shared so many stories and things we are actually undertaking now. Almost everyone of us present there is doing different courses. Headed home at nearly 11pm, and did some work before a night sleep after a long day- include the previous post.

wc08 had a wonderful time spent with the Form 5 gang and hopes to see them anytime soon!

Pic courtesy of Jian.

Desperate back...

" Hope is... "

It's the start of school holidays, but not for me or any other UTP students. However, on Friday the 15th, i took an initiative to head back to KL all by myself- without booking a bus ticket home too. And that was one great adventure.

My last session ended at 12 but i had some things to do right after that. And so, i left my uni at about 1.35pm. I managed to board a direct bus from my uni to Medan Gopeng, the bus terminal. In the bus, i noticed many other students, not from UTP, who were also prepared to go back home. Compared to the previous time, this time, the number of students were exceptionally larger, and they were mostly from UiTM. I reached my destination on time and excitedly went in to buy my tickets. I panicked after doing so.

There were many other students, largely from UiTM, that booked their bus tickets for home and all the bus tickets back to KL were sold out- the bus ticket i was supposed to get, without booking. I headed to counters after counters requesting for any available seats but their reply was a simple 'sudah habis' (sold out). I looked in despair and in desperation, as if the only word in my dictionary was hope. I told myself that i was 'stranded' there. Questions kept on popping through my tired mind as i waited for some miracle to happen. I thought, how am i suppose to get back to my uni since i'm already here? Or simply, what should i do? I hoped.

I asked the Konsortium and Transnational staff if there was to be any last minute cancellation. They said it's not really possible but informed me to wait patiently until 3.30pm and if there was any, they would call me and sell me the ticket. I paced the floor even more impatiently as the time progressed. I continued moving to other counters and i found there was one bus to Shah Alam at 5.30pm- it was late and so i began to lose hope! Nowhere to go to, i waited in front of the Konsortium counter and prayed for some miracle to occur. I wanted to go back home.

3.15pm, and i kept looking at my watch and saw the number of people with booked seats coming to redeem their actual bus tickets. Calmly but impatiently, i waited. My desperation ended not long after that as the staff called me over and said there was an empty seat. I instantly bought the ticket and smiled in relief and thanked him. Miracle, as it happened, i even got the 3.30pm bus and quickly boarded the bus. I was grinning from ear to ear as the bus reversed, moved to second then third gear and rolled back to KL. Within my relief, i pitied others who, like me, wanted to go back home but couldn't because of the sold out bus tickets. Some came with families, hoping to go back but couldn't fulfil their desire as there was no bus even to other places like Penang and Johor. Therefore, I'm grateful to have waited and luck, i would say, was on my side that day.

I reached Puduraya at 7.30pm due to an extra delay caused by the traffic in the city. Only after reaching KL i realised the cause of my 'desperate' day- it was holiday for the UiTM students as well. If only i had known this fact, i wouldn't have taken the risk of going to the station without booking beforehand.

Didn't i tell you that it was a great adventure? Put yourself in my shoes and just imagine if you weren't lucky that day, what would you do? Remember, you really wanted to go back home! Why- as that will be in my next post!

wc08 is glad.

08.08.08!

" One World, One Dream "

Last year, 07.07.07 was a date and day to remember almost to everyone. It is true that it only occurs once in our life and on that date too, the new 7 wonders of the world were announced. As to this year- it happens to be 08.08.08, of which Chinese people see this date to be auspicious relating to number 8 which means 'fatt' or prosper, held the inaugural 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China. As for me, i see this date to be memorable and just by watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, i hereby say that it was a wonderful day to remember! So, the question now is, what did i do during the '8' day that made it so memorable?

Due to unforeseen circumstances, i wasn't able to go back to KL this day and so i had to spend my 24 hours here in UTP. As usual, i have classes on Friday, from 8 am until noon. After noon, it was free time for me. My dad stopped by here en route back to KL and took me out for lunch. Chinese food, how i miss them so dearly? Walked around the small town of Pusing and packed back for my dinner. As night closed in, it was nearer in time for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to begin. Without a doubt, the opening was the main highlight of the day. I kept my dinner on hold as i was still full from the lunch i had and booked my seat at my nearby cafe to witness the highly-anticipated opening ceremony!

My cafe was crowded with Olympic-enthusiasts. Told you i had to be there earlier. Fortunately, i got quite a good view.

The Bird Nest Stadium, Beijing's pride and honour! The eventful ceremony was held there.

COUNTDOWN

60

50

40

30

20

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Olympic Games officially open!

A mind-blowing percussions performance!

They change colour too...

Actors in the outfit of the oldies.

Another jaw-dropping performance!

A night rich in colours and lights- you'll know why i say so soon...

We are more and more into the ceremony. Look at the crowd. Unfortunately, we had to move to other place not long after this as the 'people' there change to another channel. Desperate, we moved out.

Illuminate the sky with colours of Asia!

North and South America!

Australia, Europe and Africa!

The symbolic 5 rings of the Olympic. Do you know what it means? Simply, the names of continents above.

Performers performing on a 9 ring globe. Spectacular is it?

Only during the entrance of the contingent of countries i had my dinner. Cheered when the Malaysian team entered though. I continued watching when it was done with all participating countries. Wow... i'm blown away. I'm beyond impress. I'm speechless. I cannot find the right words to define or express what i've just witnessed that only could be seen once every 4 years- the igniting of the Torch! What an idea! Something so extraordinary and cheers could be heard as it was lighted. The spirit is there. The spirit of the Games is on! And i would personally like to solute everyone involved in making this ceremony one of a kind. 4 hours seemed long, but it was worth every second of the act. I liked every act done- just PERFECT!


And so 08.08.08 ends. Only once every 4 years, we get to watch this. But don't know when again can China host the Games and put forth another unforgettable opening ceremony. The photos are from the Internet except for the ones at the cafe, and how i wished i was there to witness it!


wc08 is never going to forget this date...

The weekend of all sorts...

" Because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now ... and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he is not a hero. He is a silent guardian, a watchful protector ... a dark night... " - Lt James Gordon, Batman : The Dark Knight

After 3 weeks away from my nest, it was high time for me to fly back to my home- due to another postponement of the x-ray check and that my co-curriculum have not start yet. My last class was at 12 noon and by 12.30pm, i was all packed and ready to go home. From the gate of my university, i boarded the bus to Medan Kidd and from there, i again took another bus to Medan Gopeng before purchasing the bus ticket to go to Puduraya, KL.

It was all on schedule, until the massive traffic congestion near Puduraya interrupted and delayed my arrival in KL. As a result, i reached home about 8.15 pm, empty-stomached, only filled with excitement for the weekend. I had to rush through my dinner as we had planned to go out for movie later in the night.

Too late... but it wasn't the last. Since we missed the earlier show, the next slot was at 12.30 midnight. Who cared, i seriously miss the night life in KL. And so it was, the Dark Knight at midnight, TGV KLCC. As for the show, we raised our expectation so high that somehow, we didn't reach the point of satisfactory. Why?


Simply because we expected more in the 2 hours plus show. However, if you're looking for a show filled with dynamics and manipulation, this show shall be top in your list. Together with it's effect and old-time favourite, the BatMobile, this show might as well be the show to watch. Plus, this show has broken the record. Minutes of silence to Heath Ledger here as he played the role of the Joker incredibly outstanding. Credits should be given to others too, like Cristian Bale.

The show ended about 3 in the morning and we headed home. Broke my early morning wake up pattern, i was only up and about at 10.30am. Prepared myself to go to KLCC- Convention Center as there was a Pikom PC Fair on. My dad drove and found a place to park our car before descending the vehicle. Wow... The crowd was overwhelmingly huge. We were like sardine in a can and mostly people-see-people. We had to follow the flow of the current and tried not to oppose it- imagine the crowd. My intention there was to get a pendrive and try looking for a laptop. I achieved the first but not the latter. Kingston 4G was sold at only RM 39. I thought it was a value buy so i bought it. As for the laptop, i just browsed through the flyers and indecisively left without it. I recall, it was my first time to the PC Fair and it was an experience.

Had lunch at a newly-opened Kopitiam. Food was average, but here in UTP, i still miss the food there. Later, i did some report work i brought back from Uni before heading for dinner. After dinner, it was time for MTV Asia Music Award 2008, proudly held in the Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands. The award ceremony lasted for 2 hours plus- from 11pm to 1.30am. Another late night...

Sunday. As evening started to roll in, i started to pack my stuffs to bring back to Uni. Two fully load bags. Had dinner at home before boarding the 8.30pm bus back to Uni. Safely arrived at Uni with my senior at 11.30pm. Too tired, i went straight to sleep and only unpacked the next day.

What a weekend of all sorts? wc08 is thrilled to have gone home and is eager for what this week brings.