December 8, 2009

6 comments

So this is it?

After 3 and 1+ sem here in the Pearl of the Orient, is my life as a student over and life of a working bee just about to begin? I'm so torn in between! No, i'm so STUCK in between!! I wanna work, I NEED to work.. and yet the thought of furthering my studies overseas (or at the very least overstraits) seem so much more enticing. How do i choose?

Is my life gonna be stuck in this limbo till my thoughts straighten up by themselves? I'm hoping my thoughts will straighten out itself asap. For now here's the score:

Working in SG : 56%
Working in MY : 24%
Studying : 20%

ARGHH!!! Decisions, decisions, decisions.
I hate making decisions!
='(



October 30, 2009

5 comments

You heard it here first

I'm going to Shanghai!!!!

for an IAESTE Forum/Workshop
(not going there to play)

from

12 - 16th November!
(anyone planning a trip there perhaps?)

Whee~!!!! =D

I'm glad my opportunity to go somewhere on IO's account finally came.
I've waited 2 long years, babe...

It's a trip back to the motherland!
(although, i can't say i'm a pure Chinese inside. a banana can't change its skin afterall =P)

But, must I go with 2 ppl i barely know / want to go with?
Why can't i go with my peers??!!! Tian ah...

Anyhow, i'm happy happy! ^^


Oh, any tips (food, shopping, travelling etc) from anyone who's being there before??

That's all. Thanks!! =)

October 3, 2009

6 comments

It's amazing

how facebook connects.

The incredible, addictive, time-wasting application Facebook is sometimes so irritating, but at times it serves its purpose too. Just a simple post mite trigger a whole lot of revelation.

An example would be like today,
1. I saw Hemavathi Nalathamby (whom i've not spoken since F6?) posting Deepavali wishes.

2. Left a comment asking how was she and how i missed those days when she would sit in front/behind me during exams (ever since we were std 3!).

3. She replied saying she remembered those mornings in primary school, when Winnie, Hema and I would be the earliest to arrive and open our class doors. (Gosh.. those days we had so much fun while waiting for others to arrive one by one.) hahaha..

4. Next i find out she was studying in Indonesia. In Padang, in Universitas Andalas to be exact - the university where the medical faculty building collapsed! And all these while I had NO idea at all that she was a student there, and that I mite have lost a friend in that earthquake without even knowing it!

It suddenly hit me that there's so many ppl whom i've lost contact, and have no idea what they're doing now. Feels terrible.

Note to self: shd Facebook more often now to look for old friends. hahaha... =P

This is a very random post. =)

Oh and another random observation: Cockroaches in Penang are much much slower n dumber than those in JB. They walk around in circles n don't run for their lives even if "scare" it. I wonder why? hmm..


October 1, 2009

4 comments

Technology


The wonders and horrors of it.

September 24, 2009

5 comments

.

Humans always want something they can never have.
The truth hurts.
But, truth is less painful than a lie.

July 16, 2009

11 comments

Heard This Song Before?


Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

by Baz Luhrmann




Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’99, wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only 1 tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice, now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.
Oh never mind, you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You’re NOT as FAT as you
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future, or worry.
But know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do 1 thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts.
Don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind.
The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults.
If you
succeed in doing this... tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life.
The most interesting people I know, didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll have children, maybe
you won’t.
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either.
Your
choices are half chance.
So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body.

Use it every way you can.
Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it.
It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own.

Dance.

Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel UGLY.

Get to know your parents.
You never know when they’ll be gone for
good.
Be nice to your siblings;
they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,
but for the precious few you
should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle,
Because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
Live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths -
prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old.
And when you do, you’ll fantasize
that when you were young -
prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse;
But you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair,
Or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy,
But be patient with those who
supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for MORE than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.




-------------------------

Heard this like a decade ago - i am so old, i use "a decade ago" to tell time. =/ (this song was released in 1999). And today, my lecturer reminded me of its existence by using it for our consecutive interpreting class (thanks Dr. Leelany!). As it is, i'm attending classes with my juniors who are at least 1 yr younger than me, except for nice Uncle Koay... but to know that you're the only one who've heard of this song, even Vince the "music jukebox" doesn't even know it, makes me feel so old! Am i really THAT old?? hahaha.

Therefore, i need to know, IF anyone of my peers (besides my HBT304 classmates) out there has ever heard of this song before? *crossing fingers*


Hope this song has inspired you as it has inspired me today! =)



**Note: Wear Sunscreen or the Sunscreen Speech are the common names of an essay titled "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chigago Tribune as a column in June 1, 1997. In her introduction to the column, she described it as the commencement address she would give if she were asked to give one. The column soon became the subject of an urban legend, in which it was alleged to be an MIT commencement speech given by author Kurt Vonnegut in the same year (in truth, the speaker that year was Kofi Annan).

June 24, 2009

4 comments

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Banner

make your own here


Sleepy is an Autobot! hahaha... =P


June 11, 2009

0 comments

Guess it's not over yet...

9th June came at last. Met up at 9am in the new lab at school and 10 of us started staring into comps, looking at endless tables of data... And through hard work and cooperation, we all finished by 5pm! What a relief.. The job that has tied down the past 40 days had finally came to an end.. or so we thought.

Went home feeling happy, thinking i could finally begin to enjoy my last month of hols.. but then a message arrived. Dr wants me, XY n ZR to continue helping. And so, here i am at 4.30am, just finished unzipping 185 files, distributing them n zipping them back, uploading them onto the email and waiting... n waiting... till it's finally uploaded before hitting "send".

And that's just the beginning of the work. -.-"

But no matter what, i've to finish this task asap, before Ming Eng arrives on Friday!!!! Yeah baby! Can't wait to spend my entire time with her!!! So far, i've got nothing planned.. but scaring ourselves at the movies is already on the list. hahaha... So exciting!! tralalalala... =D

June 9, 2009

1 comments

Happy Birthday Pete!!!

Dear Pete,

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY Bro!!!

You've grown another year older, but you'll always remain forever young n adorable to me!


"Wishing you from across the 'miles',
happy birthday and
a year full of smiles.
Missing you Pete!!!"
xoxo

-----------------

On another note, I finally achieved 100 tales!!! haha... tralalala... =D


June 7, 2009

0 comments

Summary of Life in KL

OMG. Guess what i found among my list of blog posts? A draft i made roughly 1 year ago...

6/19/08 @ 10:27pm


KL life is tiring.
It's not for me.

For the past one month, i've been waking up at 5.45am, sleeping before 12am and staring into the computer while surfing aimlessly on the internet from 8.30am-5.30pm. Work sucks. We got conned during the first week -- we were brought to interesting events but did no interpreting, then the weeks after were like peas in a pod -- exactly the same repetition everyday. Sighs.. It's not the company's fault actually, but there just wasn't any work for us to do! And finally work came. Work consisted of:

1. Making phone calls
calling ex-participants to come for some new course or there's some new job for them to do

2. Emailing
sending mass emails to the same participants for the same reasons

3. Making proposals
creating a proposal for an Interpretation Awareness Workshop

4. Clean text
basically removing all symbols such as ()*&$#{}"":; and so on from a perfectly normal text. Had to clean 200+ pages on Microsoft Word -- and every time i see the text, i fall asleep, literally.

5. Tear and separate papers
tear sheets of papers from a test pad and separate A4 papers into stacks of 5 for 130+ participants in a 4 day course. -.-"

6. Wipe and sharpen pencils
sharpen and wipe mold off 2B pencils that are very VERY old.

7. Prepare files and so much more
They're too lame and stupid to talk about.

8. Sleeping
Seriously, that's what I did -- whenever there was nth to do of cos. =P

---------------------------

Ok, that's where my draft ended. I think it was too idiotic and boring to publish it back then. There's no harm continuing it now, rite? haha...

6/7/09 @ 3.27am

So, besides wasting and wasting and wasting time away at ITNM, KL was actually quite fun. During weekends, time flew by quickly. A little too quickly than we want it to. Well, as much boredom as there was in KL, at least i managed to live some sort of life:

  1. get trapped in between doors (if you don't know about it, DON'T bother. seriously.)
  2. met up with old schoolmates (Ally, Kelly, Sabanana, Janet, Liping, AiWei)
  3. gossip with old schoolmates =P
  4. window shop in super expensive shopping malls (namely KLCC, The Pavillion, Bangsar Village) and then actually shop at more affordable shopping malls =D
  5. ate fantastic IKEA Swedish Meatballs (yum yum!)
  6. ate super cheap HUGE portions of spaghetti meatball at William's (an awesome western food restaurant by the roadside)
  7. ate Bangsar's Banana Leaf rice *drools*
  8. finally visited the famous Cheras Pasar Malam (truly a roadside shopping haven - good food, good variety of stuffs, good prices)
  9. ate at McD's almost every week -- and get FREE Reg Fries coupon for every goal when watching FIFA World Cup 2008 there (i think i had almost 20 by the end of it all!) ;)
  10. watched endless movies in Kevin's house and even had steamboat! ^^

Not too bad afterall eh? Ahh.. lovely memories.
haha.. Wonder when's the next time i'll drop by KL and go about another food hunt. Cos if u noticed, almost half of the list is about food. lol.. Gotta plan a trip to KL one of these days! Anyone wants to join me?! =)


Happy Birthday Tan Sri!!!

Dear Hui Jun,

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY!!!

May all your wishes come true on this once-a-year occasion.
Seeing that you're now officially of legal age, just a reminder, think twice before doing anything o! hehe... =P


May 5, 2009

0 comments

How to be an "Extend" Student

And so yesterday, I was struck by the reality that i am going to extend my studies in USM.

The truth is sad but the truth nonetheless. It's time to face the music eh?

I have been told by Mel, that her matric card is no longer working - just 2 days before the end of the sem - cos it was the end of my batch's journey through "bachelor"hood. We have reached our "expiry" date, so to speak. haha.

And even though i knew perfectly well that i was from the same batch as them, i ignored that one tiny little detail, the detail which tells me that my time in USM shd have ended together with Mel, and the rest. However, due to my fortunate experience out of USM the previous semester, i now have to face the "harsh" reality that our lives have arrived at a fork and each must take a different road. And mine is diverged away from most of my friends...into another extra semester at USM. It would have been a terrible thing if not for Vincent, Joe, Jun and some others that i know of who are still studying in USM with me. And for that i'm pretty positive about the 7 months more to come. =)

But the stupidest thing about extending for just 1 semester, is not the left out feeling when attending classes with juniors
later, or the wasted time studying when others have worked, nor the possibility of going through a mini convocation (so small, NO one on campus knows about it except the few ppl graduating). The most ridiculous thing is actually letting USM know that i am still studying here!

Yesterday, i finally stepped into USM's library after managing to avoid that place for
a year. hahaha. I went to search high and low through shelves and shelves of books in search of anything related to proverbs and proverb translation for my lecturer's research use. And when i finally found one in the reference section and was about to borrow that book, i was told that my matric card has expired and is now rendered useless. Wth? That's when it hit me that i'm no longer a student in USM. No longer a student in its records, unless i personally inform them that i still need to study here! Sighss..

And so after enquiring from Kak Mas, today was spent asking around from Records Unit, to Admissions Unit and eventually learning from the staff there that I shd have went to my faculty in the first place instead to go about informing them that i'm extending. But guess what? There wasn't even a need to inform them that i'm still an active student, just as long as my units aren't cleared, i'm considered an 'active' student by them! Then why on earth does the idiotic Admissions Unit have to cancel my matric card if i'm still active in the first place?! Ish.. I tell you, USM's system is still very sucky even though USM's being upgraded to the so-called APEX university. Now, i'm just waiting for the official letter from my school stating that i'm ACTIVE to reactivate my matric card at the Admissions Unit. Siens..
=.=

How "exciting" to be going through this sort of stupid system for yet another semester! I'm so looking forward to the next semester! Yays~~

May 2, 2009

0 comments

Am I A Procrastinator Or What?

Answer: YES

I finally got around to revamping my blog after *starts counting* ... 30 days?! I rmb leaving a mental note to myself that i MUST change my blogskin during this holidays like ages ago... Guess the mental note was lost and only found after a month. haha... So ladies and gentlemen, may i present to you, my latest blog skin! TADAA~!!! ;)

I fell in love with one of the skins initially, and was dead set on using it... But alas, the skin was already used by Grumpy!! (Great minds think alike eh? lol.) So, i had to settle with the next best skin i liked - it's named Magic Paper. Love the name, love the design! If only it was only 2 columns. hmm...

Oh, and i've upgraded my blog to the new version after sooooo long. I was hesitant to change the last time cos i was lazy to find for blog skins.. Now it's upgraded, i think you guys can subscribe to my blog's feeds now! hehe. Oh but then again, i don't think u'll need that service for my blog, seeing i seldom, in fact, NEVER update my blog. HAHA.

That's all for now, folks! =D

April 4, 2009

6 comments

Rewind to Retro

As loyal readers of this blog, you get a sneak preview of my course night first, right here on my blog. =)

Summary of last night's event:
It was a very hectic day yesterday. And to make things worse, it was a rainy night, and the traffic towards the hotel was terrible, horrible totally incorrigible. Nevertheless, it was an amazing night, and definitely one of the best nights to remember. It so happens that for many of my frens, last night was the last night for them in usm. No more lectures, no more tutorials, no more exams. It was the last time all of us would be gathered together like this. *sobs, wipes a tear off* Good luck to all of them who will be starting a new life in the working world soon!! I am surely gonna miss you all...








For the rest of the pics, stay tune to my Facebook update! haha. =D

Toodloos~!

March 30, 2009

5 comments

Don't dream, it's over!

Yes, it's over. Finally over now!

My Final Year Project is finally over!!! *sighs of relief*

I don't have to dream anymore. It has happened. I've been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the sem. Waiting to finish all my assignments for this semester. Having 3 core 100% coursework paper in a sem is really crazy! It's freaking insane!

I am so glad that my FYP was subtitling though. I have always wanted to do subtitling, cos of my love for the TV and all those foreign language (yep, including Mandarin) films. I think doing subtitles was actually much easier than doing literature or technical translations. I actually had fun doing subtitles for Perempuan Punya Cerita (or Chants of Lotus). It is an Indonesian indie film containing 4 different short stories about 4 different women's life in 4 different parts of Indonesia. It is a pretty good movie really. I was dealing with the second part of the movie and it was about a story of Dangdut Club dancers and a little girl's pursuit for fame and fortune which ended up with the child becoming a child bride in Taiwan, while the second story was a about a Chinese HIV+ single mum and her daughter facing discrimination, even from her own husband's family. It was an educational movie and I really wish they'd show it here in Malaysia.

Anyhow, now that i'm done with it, i can proudly say i have done subtitles for a movie! hahaha.. ^^Y

Anyone interested in watching my work? hehehe. Just let me know ya! ;)

March 20, 2009

2 comments

Time Past

I'm back again! This time from a very familiar old place - the DK Foyer. I'm waiting for Vince while wasting time before my meeting at IO starts at 830pm later. And gosh, it seems like aeons ago since i was here in one of the dewan kuliahs. Feels nostalgic being in one of the halls, without a lecture, onlining with the ol' lousy USM Hotspot. Reminds me of the days when i walked here almost every night, to get some decent internet surfing done. Back to the days when i was still staying in a hostel with my best roomies ever: Jelina, Boon Sin, Chin Yee and Jojo. How i miss them and how i've failed to meet up with them since i came back from Canada. Sighs... Time is flying past so fast!Just a few more weeks and soon, they'll be gone for good. Graduation for my batch is looming, and yet i can't be too happy about it. Cos i'm still stuck with another extended sem to go. Argh!! A part of me wants to join the rest of my friends, another part knows that it can't be helped and that it's a good thing (what with the bad economy these days). Sheesh.. =(

BATI Night is happening soon too! Retro night is the theme this year. Everyone's so pysched about it, even my lecturers! It's their era after all. haha.. =D Sadly, i haven't had the time to go shopping for retro-ish stuffs! AHH!!! What's going on this sem lah? Why does it never seem to end?? Hmmm.. I wonder how it would turn out. Really looking forward to April 3rd. The final huge gathering for my batch of BATI coursemates. Looking back, we've been through thick and thin, rough and smooth, dramas and bitchings, every kind of situation u can ever imagine! Seriously. Makes me dread leaving my friends, and joining my juniors next sem. Would they ever be as happening as my batch? Guess i'll find out in a few months time.

Oh, one of my lecturer, Dr. G has asked me to be his research assistant this coming holidays. Have to assist him for 40 days. Looks like i won't be going back to JB for a very long time again this time. Sighs~ The thing about Dr. G, is he's scary, sarcastic and yet very knowledgeable. Makes me honored, admiring and yet very scared to be helping him in his research. Dunno how much of a help i would be, but hopefully my pitiful knowledge of Mandarin would be useful in his Mandarin - BM translations. Also, hoping my vague memory of Mediacorp period dramas would come back to help me in his translation of "Water Margin" (Shui Hu Zhuan). @.@ haha.. Guess, watching too much Mediacorp dramas has its pros after all eh? Mediacorp TV is the best
!!! (don't care wat Vince says). hehehe. =P

March 9, 2009

4 comments

I'm not busy, i'm just lazy

Just as what the title says, i'm not THAT busy actually, just plain lazy. I dunno wat's got into me, but lately (by that i mean months) i don't surf blogs or appear online on msn anymore. I just don't feel like appearing in the virtual world. It's weird i know. I can't even understand why myself. Everytime i open my internet browser, it's always Hotmail, multiple online dictionaries, and once a while a little Facebook.

I seem to have become sort of an introvert. I also don't hang around my phone that often anymore. Msgs tend to be left unreplied. I know it's disturbing and irritating to those who sms me and I apologize to all of you who have been irritated by me. I promise i'll try to reply asap whenever i can.

Gosh, i beginning to realise i'm such a bore!! I need something to get me out of my humdrum life asap!!! Any suggestions anyone??

Oh, on a brighter note, i met up with Ally for the first time in more than a year!! And the interesting is, we both met not in our hometown, but our bf's hometown, Penang. hahaha!! She's still as pretty as ever! ;) Oh no, I'm turning into a Pg PR eh?? This is bad... haha.

Wonder where i'll go after i grad? Stay or move? Hmm.. That's something for me to ponder for now.

Ciao tutti! =D

January 26, 2009

2 comments

A First on the First

It's the first day of the Lunar Ox Year. And the only reason i'm blogging on the first day of chinese new year is because i'm stuck at home. Unfortunately, my mum fell sick last night - vomiting and purging all night through. The exact same symptoms as vince who's all the way in Kelantan. Weird eh? Thus, my family and i are all staying home on the first day of this great celebration and not out doing "bai nian" rounds. Imagine the amount of red packets i'm missing out on!! Sad nia.. But truth be told, i pity my mum n vince more. Feeling disgusted at the sight of food during this festive occasion, where food is the main focus, is horrible and terrible. Poor things... Hope they get well soon.

That aside, it's the first time i'm enjoying the chinese new year so much more. Staying at home with my family beats running about under the hot unforgiving sun in high heels and pretty clothes. hahaha.. Every year, it's the same routine -- moving around from one relative's house to the next, putting on fake smiles, making small talks, yet avoiding all sorts of awkward embarrassing questions. There's always the same old trusted questions of the year:
  1. "How old are you now ah?" (for those who only see you once a year)
  2. "How's studies? When are you graduating??"
  3. "Got boyfriend/girlfriend d not?"... which leads to....
  4. "When are you gonna get married??"
I bet you all know it by heart already. Hmmm.. Do you guys know other more irritating questions? haha..

Nevertheless, just this morning i've chatted with ppl in Vancouver, Quebec, US, UK, HK and Malaysia! Getting connected with frens during the new year is not such a bad idea eh? Surprisingly, many Malaysians are at home online-ing too. haha.. At least i'm updating myself with the latest stories albeit at the price of a few red packets ($$). lol..


On a brighter note, there's plans to meet up with Convent frens!! Babes, hear this:

28thJanuary 2009
Wednesday
Tebrau City
1.00pm

So far, there's michelle, suitheng, CK, roejin, myself, and ah pang (who needs a 2nd reconfirmation ish..). Please ask more ppl ya! The more the merrier!! =D RSVP to CK or me as soon as possible k?

HAPPY 'NIU' YEAR
&
GONG XI FA CAI!!!


January 24, 2009

0 comments

Home for CNY!

I'm sorry for my long absence and this really forsaken blog. Really had no mood to update at all ever since i came back to Malaysia. So many stuffs going on, and the longing to be back in Canada didn't help much either. Well, a quick summary on what has happened in the past one month:

1. Ate all my missed favourite Malaysian food - still on the list: Laksa, Chee Cheong Fun, Hokkien mee, Lei Cha (bcos only available in JB haha..) =D
2. Catching up with coursemates and my courses
3. Trying very hard to recollect my Malay vocab
4. Failing terribly at Eng-BM simultaneous interpretation
5. Distributing most of the souvenirs i brought back - there're still maple leaves in between my books somewhere...

Latest update:

I'M BACK IN JB yo!!!!!

Arrive this morning, and man it feels good to be home. But kinda weird at the same time when there's so many small changes and new arrangements in my home. And the house is in a mess -- which my mum conveniently left it for me to tidy. How wonderful. Sighs. This is wat happens when you're the only child who's around to be ordered about. Damn. Margie, you better come home quick to help me clear your stuffs! Our room is like a store room now!! *stress* haha..

Looking forward to Chinese New Year!!! It's time to go shopping for new clothes!! *excuses* haha.. And of cos, the long awaited meet up with all my JB frens! Ming Eng, Rojak, Ah Pang, Allison, CK, Sheeli, Chai Lyn,
Yu Hooi, Su Jun (if i can find her that is), etc.... Please spread the word around: I wanna meet you guys ya!!! *jumps about in excitement* Will be leaving on 30th, so let's try to meet up say... 28/29th?? Just drop me a msg! Thanks! =D