National Service

start of post:30/12/2007

Today i juz came bck frm ipoh. Went there to visit my cousin. But today reminds me of national service. So today's blog is about tht. I think only those who went to ns might be able to relate lo...i think ni la...cos...k, i'm about to write about tht...

Today marks the anniversary of my national service. Ok, before i proceed, i know this sounds silly and funny, so laugh finish first * * *

Most people will DEFINITELY be thinking, "wat d crap is he crappin?...tht boring n nothing to blog about?...". Well, let me clarify that.

On the 31 of december 2006, i was on the verge of what i term, "-between worlds-". Not wanting to give any in-detailed details, all i can say was that night, i was very very anxious and extremely reluctant to go. I collected my ns letter at d post office d day my bio paper over. And i got to go to a remote place called Sematan. I was like "ookaay...sounds like a place in Pahang or Kedah.." And little did i know it was a remotely rural village of Kampung Lundu, Sematan in Sarawak! ;Kem Putra Sentosa, Sematan, Sarawak

During that night, i couldn't sleep quite well. I think, in fact, i hardly slept at all. Part of me was quite excited cos i hvn't been to sarawak n i cn b independent there. But seriously, d other part of me was so ethereal-like and so not real...i mean, i still can't believe i'm selected for ns and goin to a kem in sarawak for 3 long months...n it will b strangers all over n sleepin n eatin wit them...as i was d quiet n not so sociable type, i find the idea intimidating, scary and uncomfortable. it's juz not gonna b my comfort zone and i swear i wondered hard how everything will, or shld i say, MIGHT possibly turn out. I actually go through in my head the many possible scenarios of the many possible situations and outcomes of happenings in d camp. I went through the scenario mentally SO many times that i really went thru it so many many times until i went thru it so many times...! I was juz panicking and i knew i had no choice but to go becos i had no choice. I had no choice becos i had to go. The other option was to go jail. seriously...

On 1st jan 2007, i woke up at around 5am. All packed and ready to go, i go. Sounds like baby but my whole family sent me to d Pandamaran bus station, which was my check-in point. D whole morning was so chaotic as there were so many people packing like sardin to check-in of some sort. Then went i left for d bus, i bid them farewell. I was all alone nw...with strangers in d bus i "hardly" knw. I was sitting beside tis girl whom i stupidly did not talk to her at all throughout d journey. Juz smiled at her and told her that nobody's sitting beside me becos she asked. The bus took off an hour later to KLIA.

During the journey, i was busy sms-ing frens who r goin same time wit me too bt nt same kem. They keep on sms me "so sit aeroplane nw ad ah?"..n my reply was keep on "hvnt la...hvnt reach KLIA oso..." Then, aft wat seem to b a long long time of lip-cracking and voice-conserving journey to the international airport, we finally reached. Some were already started talkin in the bus and some pulak gt "groups" and "pairs" n "bunches" already. Of cos, some still like me, walking aimlessly like a rat in the huge classy airport.

And one funny and embarassing thing was this: When i was in d airport waiting for my flight to sarawak at 3pm something, only did i realised that i was d only one among my bus ppl or any other ppl goin for ns, that i observed, wearing short pants and slipper! So when my luggage was checked in, i had nothing else to hold. And so i was like a weird guy with short pants n slipper wondering aimlessly at d airport!!! I felt weird and awkward. N scared oso...so fast already center of d attention. Somemore hvnt talk to anyone yet...dono y...so hv to go thru d weird moment alone. Of course, once in a while when i cnt tahan d, i called my fren in klg n told them about d condition...hahah...lucky still hvnt take our hp..

Things got worse when i reached d kuching airport. One of d trainers told me this "habislah kau...kena pakai seluar panjang ler...mana boleh pakai seluar pendek...nanti kem komander marah nanti..."... ... ... i was really anxious and paranoid already...haiz...so like dono wat to do...i mean, i din bring any shoes so i cnt do anything. N i only brought one long pants, which is my tracksuit. N i'm in kuching. So...watever it is will happen. Then we took another bus frm there and begin another 2hours of journey in the night deep into d remote area of my kem.

Reached there round 9pmsomething at night n i got my first look of d kem. So big...n nt kinda wat i expected in d picture of my mental model of my mind-constructed kem. I mean, i seriously dono they had a dewan at all. Wat was i thinking...

Then, they served dinner and i couldn't really eat. I mean, can see la alot of them were struggling as well. Suddenly feel like vommiting and d kembung fish n rice taste very dry. Gt difficulty in swallowing d food as i was sort of consoling myself in my heart on the unfortunate luck tht i was chosen for tis thing. Felt pity for myself, and at tht time, i felt like it was a balasan for me for all d bad things i did b4...(in short, tht time i really hated goin 4 ns)

Then we were asked to stand at d padang kawat aft dinner. Very dark already tht time. We were then split into four main groups. I was in Delta. With a group of unknown fellas... then there was bag-checking n confiscation, then waited for more groups of ppl frm other states to come n then finally proceeded to our dorms.

The three months flew past considerably long. It wasn't the usual "blink of an eye". However, throughout this period, i've personally learned alot of things and met alot of really great buddies. One person i would like to quote here is Hilary Kueh. This sarawakian guy frm kuching was my buddy throughout my ns. I was his "backpack" becos i was so small in relative to his huge size and he often carry me "piggy bag" style n play play! Very funny dude also...and talented in writing cos he has excellent narrative skills. He is also d king of WEAPONS!! haha ..he knows the ins and outs of evry single weapon u cn imagine including those u could not imagine! he knw each n evry one's history n details...oh gosh! he's tht detail when it comes to weapons. Including all those anime and sci-fi weapons! all weapons on earth la..tht ever existed..

One of my fav part wit my buddies was d Wirajaya activity. We stayed a night in d forest and trust me, its not comfortable n easy as u might think. Alot of insects for one, which i'm still ok wit tht at tht point. But d worst part was d raining and we hv to b in our loreng attire at all times! So its muddy, squelchy, soggy n cold, damp n sticky n dark...really pitch dark...without torch light, definitely cnt see a thing...there was once i lost my way bck to my tent..seriously..

I knw u r getting bored by now bt i'm not done yet..haha...cn always stop reading frm here edi cos its quite boring but nevertheless meaningful to me. I wanted to highlight my shooting experience with M16. First of all, knowing my size, d M16 was of course heavy for me. forgotten the weight d though, they gt tell wan. 3.6kg isit..nt sure.. and during the shooting experience in d shooting field (mind my language), when i was in my 10th bullet i think, it rained quite heavily. I continued to shoot though, although i guess i wasn't accurate and at last i scored only 58...hehe

After i came home, i was almost bald. I missed my frens there and the times we had especially d forest one..very memorable. But i also knw i had to start college soon. In fact, one week later, i started college in BAC. I was d only one semi-bald in all 3 clsses i attended to! Haha...but college life was interestingly fun, exciting, disappointing, stressfull and entertaining at the end. Well, still not d end yet though...hehe

National service for me is like someone trap u and put u in another dimension in which u live an adventurous life and journey all in an isolated world. Then u come bck to reality. Although it is a short while, i juz felt like i'm warped into another world and lived there for three months, and upon coming home, everything seems different entirely. Huge impact FOR ME. Anyway, juz a spur of mind again becos it juz struck me tht d new batch for 2008 had juz went off ytd and i was similarly in their spot and position last year. How fast it's already been a year since my ns..

In a nutshell, 2007 is an interesting year for me since d begining in jan. There is more to go on in col life if i were to go on and on but i bet i myself will be sleeping when i blog about tis then..haha All i can say is ns and col life changed me alot frm who i was last time. Its like a year of turning point for me in my own right and way.

end of post:31/12/2007

My new home: Sunway

Flu still got and fever not so already. Before i slept yesterday night, i faster pop one panadol because scared my flu and fever will get worse today and cannot go swimming. Just reached home from sunway again.

Today went to sunway lagoon with sihao, kc, chua, sow and tiong sik. Supposed to meet them up at Teluk Pulai train station at 10.30am but, as usual, I left my house at 10.30. So luckily the train haven’t arrived yet and we got my fav train.

We reached there around 11something before meeting up with tiong sik at Dunkin Donuts who went there with his mom. Then we straight go dry park. And I was surprised to see that in sunway oso they got the lastic extreme sport game:



And it cost around RM100 somethin juz to sit this ride. Walao… btw, I won’t sit oso la even if it cost RM10…looks very high and dangerously scary…tied by 2 strings like wat if putus…choi…touch wood…

Then we went and play Tomahawk, the scissors 360 degrees turning one. I sat only once and it was fun! Definitely not as scary and suffering as the pirate boat one becos the safety device which locks your chest one not as tight in Tomahawk. So, as I’m claustrophobic, it’s not so bad for me and it also ended very much faster than the pirate boat.

After that, we also went and sit the Apache Pots, the Shoe turning turning one, the Bull Coaster Flume Ride, the fenris wheel (to warm up..haha) and the River Rapids. Very fun. But until now at home can still feel my body turning and floating because spin vertically with d Tomahawk and turn horizontally wit d Apache pots!!

Then we went to the wet park. Unfortunately, within the first ride itself I lost the double sitter tube rented for RM25. Apparently it is very common so count myself unlucky la here. However, we juz went on and sat the carpet slide and went to the wave pool and surfing pool. Played a lot with the tubes and I was tickling tiong sik in the water! Haha walao he kick people one…hahahaha

Then, we went out as it was about to rain already and we went to sunway pyramid. About 4pm already that time. Btw, on the way to returning the tube, chua saw tube no. 24 which was tiong sik’s and mine! Luckily sihao smart enough to tell the man that he don’t have a tube wristband so it’s not his. Managed to get it back and get my RM10 refund!

Then we went to Bar bq Plaza to have our dinner about 5somethin. Kc was trying a new soup recipe with the bbq steamboat thing becos chua and sihao’s soup was “sweeter”... so kc go and pour the sauce into the boiling water and stir stir u know!! ahaha..and it taste like the sauce and smell like the sauce and chau ta...hahaha..wateverla…

Then tiong sik have to go back d with his mom. As we have earlier decided to play ice-skating, we realized that it’s quite late already so not worth it to play so short time. So we went for a movie instead. We watched Alien v Predator 2. So short the movie; it started at 7.10pm and ended about 8something. But the whole show was very gory and kan cheong! If ahsik follow oso he will close his eyes one!..haha..but then cnt oso la…he form two ni…

Then we decided to go home. We took a taxi from sunway to the subang ktm. A lot of ppl, I think becos hol and the raining. Then we took ktm home. Sihao was saying about going to KL for countdown but chua and kc was like “very cuey lang wan la…and tat chia…mai la…” I suggested that we go Aeon JJ cos it’s only in bukit tinggi somemore got jac, suki, faizal and zhang dong liang coming down. Then in the train, kc was saying something about stem cells and placenta while Sow was telling me about how dangerous it is to rear a sausage dog because it’s too short and u will not be able to see it walking around in the house; might overstep it!.. In short, the train home was like a lot of “stories”, fun to listen also.

Juz reached home now and feel chest a little bit pain and san fu but not that tired though. But definitely spend alot today; for the theme park already RM45, then bbq plaza then ktm and taxi and movie. Walao….luckily my aunt gave me some pocket money for Christmas!!…so got use it la…haha. And Sow got me a mug for Christmas present! Paiseh paiseh….didn’t get him anything… ]] ;p

Events, events and events

On Sunday, I went with Sihao, Sow and Tiong sik to midvalley and watch I am Legend. It was funny because during the “scary” part, tiong sik keep closing his eyes with his hands! Haha…but then the show wasn’t rated 18 wor. Then, we walked to The Gardens and see see around. Later, we went back to central and the train to pelabuhan klang was delayed by almost 40minutes! It was that packed!!


sow and us busy playin wit camera while waiting for the ever so dreadful and constantly delayed ktm


And so we let the first train pass and took the next one which arrived 4 minutes later. Reached home about 7pm and was very tired. I slept after dinner and woke up back at 12.30am to watch the apprentice. Slept back later and woke up at 10am! I was like “ha?? 10 o’clock d?!”. Cos I was supposed to fetch jian to jj to watch National Treasure. But my aunt drove though becos the car was like motor boat! So have to send for check up.



So on Monday, I watch national treasure and it was interesting as expected from part 1. But there were too many historical knowledge in the show like the Civil war and so on. As my history sucks, it was quite unfamiliar for me, like the assassination of Lincoln and … …

After the show though, jian keep on ask me “So wat is in page 42 of the president’s book?” …I’m like “dono…its juz a show la. Mayb u can go find it in yr sejarah rujukan book!” ]]

After that, went to his house short while to watch some youtube clips and then I went home. Equally tiring day as well as I felt a little feverish and my father’s flu caught me already. I feel whole body hot and weak. Sometimes it goes away and feel like better d then sometimes it attacks back again.

As for today, I went to sunway pyramid in the afternoon to meet up with jessmine, carleen, irwan, chai and another fren from JB. I tumpang-ed my sis’s bf’s car as they were heading there too. Reached there around 1something but jessmine they all haven’t arrived yet. So jalan-jalan with my sis and her bf first. Went and eat sushi king and then around 4pm only they arrived. So walk-walk for a while wit them then cabut at 5.10pm with my sis. I’m supposed to like guide them becos they not really sure of SP as they seldom come here but I myself like blur blur d.. And too bad cannot join them for the show at 7.30pm cos got relative appointment at 7.30pm for Christmas dinner. Anyway, saw d la I am Legend. No point seeing again…n btw, the ice-ring today was like crap!!! look at d pic to see how pack it is!!


seriously...

And btw, the christmas trees in sunway were undeniably beautiful. I had to put this pic here:

it looks to me like sugar and sweet...so twinkly


Tonight’s dinner was quite lively as this is the last time my aunty Angela is celebrating here for Christmas before moving to her new house in Nilai. So, my cousin Ken Jin they all whole family came as well this year, plus my family. So you can imagine 10ppl seating at one round table and eat chicken rendang and curry for dinner!!! Hahaha…anyway, it was like a big reunion for us.

Went back already and the feverish feeling attacked again. Hopefully be better by tomorrow otherwise I’ll hv to pop 2 panadols…One string of tiring but eventful days ^^

IKANO/ Curve

Today i went to IKANO power centre and the Curve with my family and my sis's bf. Went there around 10something and came home about 5pm. Was very tiring and i slept when i reached home.

The decorations for christmas there were beautiful. And since it's my first time there, i enjoyed seeing the surroundings. Quite alot of people and all looked the rich type. And got some pretty hot girls as well!..haha :p

We ate lunch at Little Penang Cafe and it rained heavily. Then, i also came across my dream apple imac at one of the shops. Looks really nice and hi-tech. but expensive like nothing...

Later, i went to the music shop and i saw a small boy playing the drums so well like he's under training! Went to Popular and jalan-jalan a short while then later tired d so we decided to cabut.

Carey Island

I was too tired to blog about this outing of mine yesterday after reaching home from Carey Island in the evening.

My aunt, my sis and I went for a half day outing yesterday to my grandfather’s hometown in Carey Island at about 12 something. When we reached there, the first thing we did was eat seafood at the boat restaurant. We ordered a “little” too much and had to tar pau the “oh chian”. We ordered “nga pou taufu”, “guuyu heh”, “oh chian” and “choi tam”. It all cost about RM60++. Okla as the price was reasonably foreseeable and it was also reasonably delicious. Oh, and we each drank coconut water!

prawns, baby coconut and view frm d restaurant

After lunch, we went to visit “ah lam so” at her shop deep in the Carey estate. It took another about half an hour to reach her shop from outside the estate. We then chit chatted as we drank Nescafe at her coffee shop. She also told us that my grandfather’s bicycle shop last time had also been tore down already.

on d way to d shop

Then, she decided to close her shop and take us to a temple by the seaside. We then drove on red earth and stone to reach there. The scenery was, although like a village kind, beautiful. We also saw two men fishing there and it was actually quite hot as it was in the evening. I took some pics here as well:

mangrove n near d temple

Later, we went to the beach, or rather, the seaside further down from this place where the view was even more beautiful and so I took more pictures of the scenery. I can see that there were fishermen and ships far in the horizon. Obviously, Carey Island is sort of like a fishing village-old, but memorable as I can’t really recall coming here when I was small. Then, we head straight home around 5 something. It wasn’t as exhausting but rather, fun for me as I haven’t been there for quite a long time. And little did I know that Monday could be such a fun-venturing day!

at d seaside, views, n sitting by d rock, fish net

Nothing isn't Everything

What is life without education? For many people, life is everything without education. In fact, education does not constitute a huge part of one's lifetime. Undeniably, many people succeed in life without education. This certainly reinforces the whole argument that education isn't everything.

What then, would be everything, for a person who has education? Education? Or other non-educational aspects of life? If it is the latter, then on the basis of what reason(s) does that person persue the former? Just because it does constitute a part of life, regardless of how large a proportion of it? After all, life isn't just about that, is it?

How about a hypothetical situation of a person; he has no family and no money. He decided that he had to beg on the street for money but has no legs to walk to the streets. He wants to call for help but he is mute. He wants to signal someone but he is paralysed and couldn't move his limbs. He is deaf and blind and therefore couldn't listen to or see anything. Due to these deformities, he couldn't move to commit suicide. The only reason he was still alive was that he has a friend who feeds him. To him then, definitely, that friend is everything. But to society, it wouldn't be, for the simple and basic reason that they are not in the severely "dead-end" condition of this person. Therefore, if this friend dies, so would this person. The end.

This lame analogy is trying its level best to fit into the similar philosophy of education and life. Of course, life itself would supersede education in its significance in every respect. But, have we ever ponder on the mere possibility that an "Education-Man" exists, and that this person would have nothing if he looses his education? Or that he would have everything if he had not loose his education? Or that he never could have everything and that education is this person's only thing? It all means the same here; the fact that education ties every other aspects of that person's life. If there is a fracture, there goes his life. To this person then, it is everything.

It shouldn't have been, but it has. For most people, it seems riddiculous. This riddicule seems to have been perpetuated in the minds of others in terms of perception towards the person so labelled. Everything becomes so subjective and value-laden that one day, everything might be nothing. Yet, nothing can ever be everything.

perspective

Crabs

During Tort class, I was eating crabs! Mini crabs, I mean. It was fried and crispy, more like a tidbit. I wanted to eat a perfectly shaped one but most were not as their pincers were detached. Moreover, there was one that was quite perfect, however, it was too large and I didn’t want to eat that. It was nice anyway!

saw that cute one at the corner? :p

Cash out

I went to McD to buy lunch today. And guess what? The total was Rm21.84 and i only had Rm21.00 with me! So embarrassing! I feel like sayin to the cashier "Rm21 can d la...no need the 84cents la..". But at last i have to call Michelle because she went to central with me and ask her to pay first.

Then econs today was a complete loss and blur for me. No matter how many times he repeated the graph story because alot of us looked blur, i still cannot understand a single thing of what is goin on! And btw, there was no pop quiz or anything of that sort as anticipated by many of them, mainly Paul and Huiwen. Haha

Taylors

Today i went for the talk in Taylor's open day in the afternoon on law. Quite interesting though getting a different view of law altogether. Later, my parents and i headed to Asia Cafe to have lunch before we went home. It's a little bit awkward going there as an Alevels student because i can still remember fairly well the very same time i went there last year after spm for the talk.

However, during that time, it wasn't on law. It was on tourism and hospitality management and journalism. This clearly hit me on the fact that law was totally not in my mind at that very time as an option. Don't really know how i ended up planning to persue a degree in law. Moreover, i went there last year as an spm leaver, but same with this year, i did not met anyone i knew there, not even a single lasallian junior. But saw on the notice board was the article on the Taylor's law debate champ early this year which i had went to see with lahv, huiwen, kanchana, lydia, vinesh, ann, paul, bawanie and i.

Actually, i had went to taylor's multiple times. First time was during the preliminary stages of the Taylor's 13th Annual interschool debate whereby i went there for a talk on debate. The second time was the lasalle vs St. Micheal Institution interschool debate round which was held in Taylors. Third time was when we proceed to the quarter finals in which it was a lasalle vs St. Xavier's Institution round and the venue was in Taylors again. Fourth time was when our team went there again to watch the finals between SMK Damansara Jaya vs St. Xavier's Institution. Then, last year i went there for the open day before going to NS. The sixth time was the trip with collegemates to watch the intercollege law debate early this year and the latest was today, which is the second open day i attended to.

It's clear how one year passes that swiftly. It's also ironic that i've been there several times on numerous occasions (in total seven times) but never, or at least, have not, yet, decided to enroll there. I think the current Alevels is more important than thinking about post-alevels at this moment. So, it's too early to decide.

And just a note, i didn't know my cousin went to PD for vacation this week! So fun... :)

The EXAM

Today was the dreaded pengajian Malaysia exam. The subjective questions were so difficult that i couldn't write enough words to fill up the empty spacing given. At last, i was the last two sitting in the room finishing the paper with Bertrand while everyone had finished earlier and left.

Today, i had lunch at Pattones (i forgotten wat's it called) in kl central with Deshinta and Karthika. After that , we went back to college for sociology class. The bus home was late today and there was no place to sit! But i met my friend who is one year my junior in la salle. We chat all the way home to Klang.

In conclusion, apart from the Pengajian Malaysia exam, it was a conventional day.

Tiger Woods

Today's tort class was different with contract class on tues. We learn the tort of negligence and there was an activity during the class in which i was in the Tiger Woods group. It was a quiz and a plaintiff vs defendant activity base on an NS case study. To put simply, never had i experience a law class with an activity and it was definitely lively.

Tomorrow is the dreaded pengajian Malaysia examination. Really clueless as to the exam because dono wat to read and partly oso lazy to baca...it's pengajian...

Moreover, there is Moral Studies class on saturday. So, entertainment time is cut down..so early in this new sem already got classes almost everyday...in my case, 5 days in a week..

Ms Sociology

It was ten in the morning. I got myself ready and head to college. Upon reaching there, i went to the third floor and found no one i knew. Headed straight to the second floor and met Malar. We chatted a while before Jennifer and Karthika joined us. Karthika said she witness a horrific accident today in which the casualty was bleeding profusely with a stream of blood flowing down the drain. He was also having difficulty in breathing. The man must have suffered from shock due to excessive loss of blood. Hopefully he's alright.

Then, through the window, i saw Ms Priya downstairs coming up and she came and chat with us a little before we head to kl central's Chicken Rice shop. We had lunch there and had a little chat with her. About 2pm, our class was about to commence and so most of us wanted to take picture with Ms Priya. So she was like a celeb there taking pics with us in Chicken Rice shop! haha...miss her alot and her "scolding"..hehe

Then we bid farewell to her and headed to sociology class as usual.

Sociologically speaking...

Sociologically speaking, i went for law class today. Mr Mizan, our new lecturer for both contract and tort, or as he wants to be knowned as Mr Shah, was, in my opinion, a good lecturer who was energetic, precise and entertaining at times. He thought us the element of "offer" today, of which i managed to make alot of "accurate" applications to our "real lives" situations after that...if u know what i mean..haha

However, economics class was, as usual, boring for me as i was blur throughout the class. I did not read in advance and came in totally clueless of trade unions, supply of labour, and stuffs...it's the subject...juz couldn't get the hang of it even after AS.

This pic of me (yes, u're right, it's "me") was taken before the econs class started. Don't know how the idea came about of me wearing lahvee's specs as an "experiment" to see how i look with specs. Obviously, as u can see here, i look nerdy and weird with it... and i was squinting because the spec's power was high for me and when i took the pic myself, i couldn't see clearly the surroundings.

In addition, i have also decided to step down as the secretary for Spare the Bowling Club in Bac due to my inablitity to participate actively in its weekly meetings due to excess timeload of A2 classes. I will miss the times when the college paid for my games as they were free. Looks like i won't have the chance to do that again. Also, the T-shirt which was supposed to be created for the club wasn't created, so that was also one of the things i regretted for not making such fun ideas during AS came true. Anyway, hope the gang of bowlers enjoy their activities in this new sem.

Apart from that, i have also visitted the newly opened jusco in bukit tinggi which i'm so proud off..haha..simply because it is just a ten minutes drive from my residence and it is also the largest jusco in Malaysia. The shopping center was good and the stuffs there are great, affordable and adequate, for me at least, to buy whatever i use to buy usually in jusco klang and other shopping centers. The only drawback for me was that the jusco did not have a bowling alley or an ice-skating ring, though this is offset by the fact that they have a Greenbox Karaoke and a cinema as entertainment.

That's all i want to say in this post for today :)

When is the december holiday? Is it 16dec or 22dec? I actually feel like going to a beach and play catching catching..haha