Facing Reality

Jobs Vacancy. 

I'm sensitive to these two words nowadays. Oh, make it four.

 Part-time job vacancy. 

Initially, last semester, Matthlessa (not real name) and I vowed to find a part-time job to cover our daily expenses but here we are - still part-timeless. Erm, to be honest, I wasn't completely jobless the last semester - I did some translation work under my sister's supervisor but that was it. After that, nada. Due to the lack of motivation from myself and also the restriction from my faculty, I resorted to becoming a housewife whenever I have a free time because since the beginning of this year, my schedule is unpredictable. Seems like I have no control over my time at all. At the moment that I thought I would be free, suddenly assignments and tasks came running after me, and ironically, during the times that I thought I would be superbusy, I found myself lazing around the house - to the extent of taking a sweet long afternoon nap. 

  

 So last night, I got a call from Alvin (not real name) who is going to stay over for the semester break telling me that he got a feedback from a job he was looking for. He went to Starbucks at Komtar Area, got himself an interview on the spot, and voila,  and is now crossing fingers to get a positive feedback. After listening to his story, the desire to find a part-time job came gushing back at me and I am back putting this 'job-searching' radar on. I hope I have the motivation like him and Claire (not real name) to find a part-time job.

 However, I am not sure how my schedule would be this holiday so I think I would opt for finding a part-time job which can give me freedom to adjust the schedule or a part-time with a fixed schedule but only require me to work during the weekend. 

Ideally, I would like to work in places like a bakery especially King's Confectionery which is located at Tesco Sungai Dua because I am familiar with the cakes there. I can definitely attend to the customers' enqueries regarding the contents and flavours of the cakes mmmmmm...

My favourite cake from King's Bakery. Mango flavour with Vanilla cake. Mmmmm... Credits to Claire Marie for the photo.

 My other desire was to work at the Queensbay GSC cinema (for the sole purpose of getting free tickets and hopefully free popcorns too*winks*) but compared to the bakery, for this second desire, I have transport difficulty. Oh-ho! 

There goes my working desire.

But for now, what I need to do is to find the topic for my research, consult a supervisor, do something for another project, then after estimating how my schedule will be like, I can definitely start to activate my part-time job-hunting. And oh, I love Baskin Robbins too. If only they have vacancy during the 31st, huh? 

Impression and Intimidation

First day of class could mean two things.

First impression and intimidation.

I guess most of us would try hard to give the best impression on the first day of class so that we would not suffer for the rest of the semester. We would want to fit in, and be labeled as the ones with good adjectives and characteristics, such as the outspoken one, the smart one, the thinker and a few more positive roles. Most of these labels are used to camouflage our insecurity and our intimidation.

Many would try to get the lecturer's attention, but only a few would succeed. 

 

Although I had gone through many first days in my of my life, such as first day in kindy, first day of school, first day of work, first day of *insert whatever I forgot to include*, I still suck at giving a good first impression. The awkwardness due to my role as a klutz or the blur one, has never left me. I usually only get noticed on the later classes . And usually, that attention came when I least expected it.

I remember one lecturer, she was teaching literature, and she never really noticed me because a friend and I who attended her class were the quiet ones. We never speak out; we only answer when prompted, and more often than not, our answers were not really impressive. But that all ended after our test paper was given back to us. Before getting back my test paper, me and a few course mates discussed our answer, and I was dismayed when I found out that my answer were different from theirs. Gosh. I was expecting a failed paper.

All of a sudden, I heard the lecturer calling my name and asked "Who's Maureen Chua?"

I was dumbfounded. Why did she call my name?

"She has a very good answer for this question."

(She didn't exactly said it this way but the gist were there.)

God, you know how that compliment put a smile on my face whenever I recall this incident.She even asked my permission to lend my answer sheet to my other classmates, which of course I agreed to because I never really expect that I would keep this paper safely like now.

From this moment onwards, this lecturer never forgets me. I didn't realize those answers that I jotted down hesitantly could get me a recognition from a lecturer. Ironic.

Sheesh... Apparently, I am  too carried away cause I am not sure what was the connection between my first paragraph with my later paragraphs at this post but I guess, I just wanted to tell that first impression is somewhat overrated. In my opinion, first impression could help you only if you maintained it, but if you can never keep up with the personality or role that you are trying to portray yourself with during the first day, then it is better not to give any impression at all. Even if you did not score well in giving a good first impression, you can still have the chance to compensate that first impression with 2nd impression, or even the 3rd one.

The feeling of intimidation, on the other hand, if it gets the best of you, then you will never get to let your real self shine. If you turn that intimidated feeling and manipulate it, it somewhat can become a motivation.

Oh shit, what am I crapping, I need to get my book right now and get rid of this intimidation.

No Excuses

"Wah, of course you can score lo, your course is so easy... Mine so hard! And your school probably is more lenient than mine"

(Annoying Anonymous, 2008/2009/2010)

Have you ever come across people like these?

When you talked about academic with this kind of person, things like these tend to be blurted out, where when this person encountered failure, instead  of admitting his or her own faults for not being more dedicated or more motivated, that person blamed the lecturer or the dean for being too strict. Or even the course and subject itself for being so hard to be learned or very hard to score.

Whenever this person heard that a friend or a stranger scored high marks in their paper or courses, instead of showing admiration or being impressed with that successful person, this person will just say

"Oh, his/her school more lenient ma.. Easier to score ma.. Lecturers so sporting. Not like us. If I study that course, I will score like him/her or scored even better!"

You...!

Shut up and listen up..!

One thing that YOU need to realize.

Any course, regardless of how easy and how hard it is,
at the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing.

EFFORTS.

If you have guided efforts, you can score no matter how hard that subject is.

And if you don't have efforts, you cannot score no matter how easy that subject is.
(unless you're sitting for a kindergarten test with your university level knowledge)


In my Mandarin class, I used to think that me, being quite familiar with the Mandarin language since my high school years compared to my other classmates who were just introduced to this language, I thought that I could score the mid term test easily, thus giving less attention and efforts to this particular subject.

But when I saw the result... DUSH! I scored rather badly. And my classmate/friend who was not familiar with Mandarin and was just introduced to this language recently in this class, scored higher than me.

SO, the Moral from here is that, being familiar with something does not ensure you to score in that paper. Cause the way your answers are evaluated are not based on what you gained in your brain, but it is about what you can give from your brain.

You know what I mean?

No matter how good you are able to understand and absorb that knowledge, if you cannot present it well either in written or orally, you can never score.

But of course, first of all, you have to understand the knowledge.


So...

Stop giving excuses for your failure. That's just so annoying and irritating. Start to recognize your own weaknesses and improve it.

Last but not least, good luck in your exams guys and girls.

God bless!

;)

The Sweet Taste of Miss Ajuntha's Candies..

"I know I never really tell you all about this, but you all are really good, and I enjoyed teaching this class."

That was more or less what Ms Ajuntha (bukan nama sebenar) told us during our last LHP 456 class today. Our class started with Ms Ajuntha teaching a lesson on impromptu speech. Our last lesson. The word last could mean freedom from classes, but it could also mean the farewell to great teacher, great classmates and great memories. How ambiguous the effect it had on us.

After she finished the unit on impromptu speech, she passed around to us the candies that she promised to make for us. Its taste was sweet, as sweet as the memories we had during our class. Sometimes I  did complained why did I made myself busy by joining this course, but at the end of the day, I think that this course left a big impact on me, and it left me with memories as sweet as Ms Ajuntha's candies. I was really glad I took it. There were many lessons that I've learnt, in and outside of the learning syllabus, from this class.

After the eating session, Ms Ajuntha asked all of us to sit in a circle. We obediently and excitedly seated ourselves in circle as we know what she was up to. Some sharing among us, I expected - and I was right. We were asked to share our future plan after the semester, because majority of us were final year students. There were many who had the same plan like I do, which was to continue with Master studies, such as Hafizah  and her boyfriend Eizham (bukan nama sebenar), Yee Heng (bukan nama sebenar), Abel (bukan nama sebenar), and another guy whom I didn't remember his name, oops. There were many who also planned to look for jobs once they graduated. For the 2nd year and first year, they shared what they were gonna do during the coming four months holidays. WOo hOo~!

Actually, this sharing was divided into two parts -1st part about future plan (more to our professional side) and the 2nd part (which is more to our personal side). People were more anxious to know about the 2nd part of our sharing, which of course, mainly revolves around our status, single, taken or complicated lol. Some are taken already, some are single, and some are actively searching lol! 

When it was finally my turn, I told about my plan to go back to Sarawak for one month. 

Suddenly Ms Ajuntha asked all of them....

"Do you know where she came from?" 

And they all answered "Sarawak." 

"I mean specifically.. Maybe if you don't mind, you can share with them, cause she told me about Dalat and it was interesting.."she continued.

I was touched that my LHP teacher thought that my story on Dalat during my LHP interview was interesting, so I told them that I am from Sibu and my parents are from Dalat. They all were familiar with Dalat through the literature story "How Dalat got its name". Thanks to the writer, people knew about it and thought that the place was interesting lol.

I told them about me being a Chinese-Melanau mixed-blood girl, due to my origination from Dalat, and they all asked me to speak a phrase in Melanau. All I can think of that time was 

"Ngadan ako Maureen Chua" which means "My name is Maureen Chua."

After that, they all asked me to proceed with the second part which is jeng jeng jeng "Your status". Automatically, I made a statement "I think I'm gonna be single forever since I'm a feminist." It was kinda a statement berani mati cause I don't wanna get caught eating my own words in life later.

Ms Ajuntha was like "What if you found Mr Right?"

 I looked at my teacher and said " Hmm... It's hard to find Mr Right right now" without caring that they were many guys in my class hearing that statement lol. Or perhaps I prefer Mr Left (-_-").

"You know love happens.." Ms Ajuntha added, and I realized that my teacher is a romantic person actually hehe. 

Honestly, I don't know. I am not looking for love. If it happens, it happened. If it doesn't, I won't look for it.

And I noticed that this LHP class had turned into a sort of formal pillow talk lol. 

In exchange for the sweet candies, my class presented Ms Ajuntha with farewell card  that we secretly signed and Ferrero Rocher chocolates as farewell gift. It was a really sweet experience. :)

And the sweet taste of the candies lingered in my mouth. It was the first time I tasted it, but I won't forget the taste. 

Dear 208 binti Harapan 25

Dear 208,

I am leaving you tomorrow. I have lived with you for one semester. And you are really a warm haven for me. I'm sorry for filling you up with rubbish. Or junks. Whatever you call it. But for me they are treasures. Treasures I've been keeping since my first year. And now bit by bit, I am throwing them away. Because I realized, that without these 'treasures' I can still lived. Ugh, and I digressed.

When I first heard your name at the registration office, I felt that you are kinda familiar. No wonder. You were my senior's (Matthlessa) haven too. And I began to know you more when I started to live with you and in you.

It's tough at first. Whenever it's time to sleep, I could hear guys screaming insanely from the opposite, where your mother's twin brother, Harapan 26, stood. I know, as one of the approximately 300 children of Harapan 25, you have no say in this matter. You are usually gentle, and tolerate towards Uncle Harapan 26. Thank God too I am an easy sleeper. I could fall asleep easily, anywhere, anytime, regardless of how many noises and distractions there are.

At first, I treated you with care. Biasalah kan, kalau baru berkenalan, memang layan sehabis baik. Then, when I am getting busier and lazier, I began to neglect you. And bring more junks that may harm your health, 208. I am truly sorry 208. I never realized that too many junks can be harmful to you too, though you're not human.

Then, I began to complain about your mouth. Sometimes, it's hard to shut your mouth. I had to pull hard to make your lips closed together. And that made me pissed-off cause I thought it's easy to open and shut your mouth when I have the keys. But still, it's not guaranteed.

You've been so kind to me 208, but still, that doesn't mean I've forgotten about your half sister, 339. Though 339 is not as reachable as you are, the atmosphere is quieter when sleeping, where I faced the lake of Harapan instead.

And now, last but not least, I want to thank you, 208. And a deep apology for what you are experiencing now. I'm causing you to be dusty and messy now. I hope you don't mind 208. After tomorrow, perhaps you will new faces, whom I am unsure whether she will treat you nicer than I do.. Take care dear.



Regards,

Maureen

Moral Dilemma

I will have an important test tomorrow, but because I need to have peace with my mind, I had to spill out what had been bothering me today. Huh~

On my way to my 3 pm class today, while I was trying to cross the road, I saw a guy on a wheelchair, using both his hands forcefully to push forward his wheelchair at the side of the road. His wheelchair was not the automatic one, but it was the manual one, where you have to use your hands energy to push it forward. I just looked at him, wondering whether I should help him or not. When he finally passed by me, I didn't help me, instead I smiled at him.

He didn't smile back. Perhaps it was because he didn't know me or he was too tired to smile. After I managed to cross the road, I regretted for not helping him. I mean, probably he needed my help, and obviously a smile didn't help. I kept thinking about what if I came late to class? Hmm.. I should be more practical next time, instead of becoming a hypocrite. What's the use of regretting and being sad for not helping someone when I had the chance? He had been pushing his own wheelchair from God knows where, the Aman hostel or another hostel further down.

On my way to the class, everything was blurry, I didn't notice anybody, even a junior of mine, aka my CUS granddaughter, Lia, when she called me. (psst, sorry Lia, I was in a deep thought just now huhu and God knows how many person I had ignored on the way to class) I managed to reply a brief smile. I kept thinking about what I could have done to make a small difference, and I blew it away.

That's not the only dilemma I have for today. In the evening during a dinner with my friends Lee Ying and Kim Hong, I heard the news of the death of my friend's mother. I was shocked. I mean, I just mentioned my friend's name out of nowhere and BAM, I heard a bad news about her mother. I didn't dare to send her a condolence message just yet before I really confirm the news. It was really frustrating. She was probably in a deep sorrow now. And I couldn't do anything about it.

But everything happens for a reason. Haiz. I have yet to find the reason. I wish I could do something about it than just to sit there and contemplate all these things theoretically. And to wheelchair guy, wherever you are, have a safe journey around USM. If we were to meet again, I won't just smile and walk away, but I will try to approach you and to offer a help, provided you need it. And to my dear friend, if only you read this, I want to let you know that we at CUS here care for you. Be strong ya girl.

Friends' List..

When I started writing this post, there was a question inside my head 

"Can you count how many friends you have?"

If I were younger, I would definitely answer yes to this question. But yesterday, when I ran into my three of my four closest friends during my first year in university, I began to wonder, why did I neglected them? Why our friendship were merely hi and goodbye lately? Why did I let myself to be controlled by circumstances and just let them go because we didn't take the same papers lately? I felt like such a bad friend. I felt like instead of being friends, we became more like acquaintences lately and I really didn't want that to happen. I still want our friendship to go on and strong because they are really good people and I should give them what they deserved from me, which is a quality time together.

What's a friend?

According to Dictionary.com, a friend is a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. 

I still remember when I was still in my primary school, I would list down my friends' name and decorated it. The list will consist of almost all the girls' name in my class. That time, to me, the definition of friend was simple. A friend to me, means someone you know and whom you did not fight with. How innocent of us kids back then hehe.

When I entered high school, I entered the smartest class for Bahasa Melayu Medium though I didn't get straight As. So I felt like the underdog firstly because I personally think that I didn't fit in the smart category and I was a very timid girl. I didn't know how to converse in Mandarin back then because in my primary school, we just conversed in my mother tongue, my dialect, which is Hokkien.

It was during high school I always felt very lonely because I only talk to people when they were the one who started the conversations. It was because I was too self-conscious and afraid I might be laughed at for speaking Mandarin inaccurately. So I would do anything just to gain friends - I became the delivery girl by helping my classmates to buy food from the canteen though sometimes I didn't intend to go to the canteen. A small thank you made my day, I felt appreciated, but there were times when I bought things wrongly and got dissatisfied remarks.

During that lonely period of my afternoon session moment in high school, I would list down the number of friends I had in my diary. I became more critical about the definition of a friend, and the list was very short, because there were only a few who was close to me and was kind to me that time. But still, I was sure, somehow someday, I would get out of my shell and be more approachable towards other people. 

But that didn't happen during my high school, because all through high school, whenever I tried to come out of my shell, there were always obstacles from a different level coming for me. I was frustrated with studying life. Because of that, I was finally comfortable with my anti-social attitude and I told my mom I wanted to work right away after Form 5, but well, as you can see, that did not happen. I continued with Form 6. Though I still speak poor Mandarin that time, I felt the sense of belongingness in my Form 6 class. I was considered smart, something that I won't expected to be labelled as after primary school. 

My friends' list became longer than before, and I was really blissful. It was during my Form 6 where for the first time, I began to be involved in religious club such as Young Christian Students. And through my Form 6, I began to know more people and had quality time with my bestie.

Then there was university life. During my first year first semester, I had a gang which consists of Mei Ling, Sook Mon, Christopher, Susanna, Pei Lee and me. When we attended classes, we always go together. But when the second semester arrived, we majored in different subjects and the gang was like, splitted into two. Pei Lee and me were always together, then the rest were at another part. During my first year 2nd semester, I always felt lonely because sometimes Pei Lee fell sick and couldn't attend the classes. Then I started to make the friends' list all over again, counting how many friends I had. Inside the list contained most of my seniors' name. I wasn't really mixing with my peers that time. I felt frustrated with myself, the trauma of being an outcast like what I felt during my high school years came back haunting me again. 

But God was really kind to me. During my 2nd year, He gave me a role to play in a religious club and He met me with Hawa and a lot of other new people I began to became close with. Though I was busy and all that, it was a small price to pay compared to the blessings He gave me. I felt more contented and it was the first time I thanked my mother for forcing me to enter university.

And you know what? It was during that time I stopped making the friends' list.

And only when I stopped making the friends' list that I realized we cannot count how many friends we have cause it's hard to determine which one of your acquaintences is your friend because friendship must be nurtured. Acquaintances can turn into friends and vice versa. If you do not keep in touch with your friends, your friends might turn into merely acquaintences.

[Interframe: And that is why now I want to find a very good timing to reconnect with my first year gang, my beloved friends, Pei Lee, Sook Mon, Susanna and Mei Ling. I don't want this friendship we have turning into acquaintances relationship]

Have I mentioned that...

1) I am living in a new room this semester? And that room happens to be the former room my my senior? Imagine. New neighbours, new roommate. I wonder if I can cope up with all these new things.

2) I have a new old handphone? Not that I bought a new handphone, but I am using a hand-me-down handphone to replace my own Mr Sony the 2nd whom I've mistakenly divorced with. Ugh! And have I mentioned that the handphone I am using now had an experience going down the loo?

3) I am now a final year student? Well, not need to mention that. I felt stressed sometimes to be expected as a person who knows it all.

4) I want to have a MP5? I want it for reading e-books, and also soft copy notes. But what the heck, it costs a fortune. So maybe I can only buy it during the new semester (when I don't take that many papers and need not to read that many notes, hmmph..)

5) I am a floor-cleaning freak now? I had an urge to clean the floor frequently almost every day due to this feeling inside of me. Ugh.. I don't know that's a good or a bad thing but I am comfortable with it, though I think I am wasting a lot of water to clean the floor now.

6) I haven't finish reading the Holy Bible though I owned it since I was 9? I aimed to finish reading at least a chapter by this semester. I am trying to find the spiritual side of me to know myself better. I am always undecided, so I hope by reading the Bible, I have a guide to my future or to make any decision in life.

Last but not least, have I mentioned that this is my first update since the beginning of the first semester? Hello again blogging world. ;)

Life Ain't Easy...

... when you checked the balance in your bank account and it is not in the amount that you thought it was supposed to be. *insert 'toink' as sound effect*

... when you opened the reference book to study and WTH, the contents just could not make its way to your brain.

... when you missed your family so so much, but you know that you just don't feel satisfied to be confined at home.

... when you felt like sharing your problems but you just could not utter out a single word, just because you think that it is better to swallow it all in than to vomit it all out.

... when people expect you to do your best but you just didn't meet to their expectations, just because you lose your self control to overcome the temptations.

... when you know that compromising is a MUST in order to get the other thing that you want but you just would not give in to compromising.

SO, WITH ALL THESE DILEMMAS, I VOW THAT I AM GOING TO:

1) LEAVE THIS BLOG ALONE UNTIL 4TH OF MAY (I'M GONNA BE ON A HIATUS BEBEH).

2) LESSEN MY FACEBOOKING TIME. (1 HOUR PERDAY INSTEAD OF 10 HOURS PERDAY, OKAY I KNOW THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, LET'S MAKE IT TO 2 HOURS PERDAY.) :(

3) TO DO MY REVISION UNTIL ME AND MY BRAIN UNDERSTAND WHAT I REVISED.

4) TO REMEMBER MY FAMILY BACK AT HOME WHO ARE COUNTING ON ME TO STUDY RELIGIOUSLY AND MAKE THEM FEEL THAT'S IT'S WORTH IT THAT THEY SEND ME MONEY EVERY MONTH (THOUGH I ALREADY HAVE FULL LOAN OF PTPTN -I'M A PAMPERED CHILD, WTF) AND I SPEND IT WISELY (?) WHEN THEY CAN ACTUALLY IMPROVE A LOT OF THINGS AT HOME WITH THE MONEY THAT THEY SENT ME.

5) FOUR VOWS ARE ALREADY ENOUGH TO MAKE ME NERVOUS, MY DEAR.. SO DON'T EXPECT MORE..

[Interframe: Today I went to the library and saw a RM50 note on the floor and just like a reflex action, I sent it to the library's receptionist at the readers' adviser counter. When I finally think about it, I was like, what did I just do? It was not like the librarian could track down the owner of the RM50 and I expect that the money will eventually end up in the library's fund. Well, if the library is not as money-minded as it is now (where it charges fee for locker usage) I won't mind it if the money ended up in the library's dana, but since the library is so money-oriented now, I regretted sending the money there when I can actually do a real charity with the money, eg: give it to my club's fund, ahem, or give it to the beggars united. Now, the only thing I could wish for is for the owner to show up, as long as the money won't end up in the library's fund!)

Come and Walk with me Down My Memory Lane~

[Interframe: Hawa and me went to consult Dr Rita this afternoon and guess what - she saw us shopping at Tesco last night. :" Busted! Lol. Ah... and the 'RACISM is so Yesterday' finally arrived after waiting for so long but guess what, one of the t-shirts has the wrong size~! (-_-) Felt quite annoyed cause I had highlighted the orders even and checked the orders thoroughly!]

Just sat for my first paper today and had mixed feelings after sitting for it. I felt both relieved and disappointed for being unable to answer the questions confidently, and because I was unsure of the accuracy of my answers. Okay, maybe I should put it to rest and focus on the coming exam this Friday, which by the way, is for my minor paper, Script writing. Well, the semester is coming to an official end after the exam, and I will have to end my 2nd year status. To continue with my tradition like before, I would like to reminisce the good times being a 2nd year student.

Well, how can I describe the feelings of being a 2nd year student? Let me just put it this way - it feels like you are the middle child in the family. You are not the new faces, and the same time you are going to stay at the university for a long period of time. Well, as a 2nd year student, I am both a junior and senior at the same time. One thing for sure, my social life changed a lot during my 2nd year compared to the year before. I guess my prayers have been answered. I am no longer the insecured girl, I am no longer awkward mixing with new people and I could adjust myself and adapt myself more efficiently to the circumstances than before. Well, thanks to Catholic Undergraduate Society and not to forget facebook, I became who I am today, though not perfect, but a better version compared to the awkward first year undergraduate student that I was. I felt more contented and thankful during my 2nd year, less dependent on my sister, compared to my first year where I felt that I had so much insecurities. Thanks to my seniors, peers and juniors, you know who you are, who gave me the chance to experience contentment in my university life. So here, I would like to invite you to walk back down to my memory lane while being the 2nd year student here in Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The start of my second year started with the recruiting of the new members into CUS. Thus, Melody organized a bowling game to let us break the ice with the juniors - and that time, there were only two of the juniors present, namely Jasper and Michael. XD hahah. So-called ice-breaking with the juniors huh~.

Thanks to Lis for bringing her handphone to capture this moment! XD

Then, we tracked down the graduating seniors and buy some tokens for them as symbol of appreaciation for being a CUSers during their undergraduate moments. The picture above showed us showing up for the convocation of our CUS senior, Anna Edwina. After that, me and Step went to have a look around the Tapak Konvo and took a ride on the horse. Man, that is the last time I'm going to ride on a horse cause I felt sooo unstable riding on it.

Felt like wanna fall! Ugh! By the way, thanks to Step for taking this photo. ;)

Then, we have our outing to Kerachut. There were just a few of us but we enjoyed fooling around during this outing. Everybody shows off their comical side, none of us were acting like a proper lady during this outing. XD


Posing with the flags. Show-offing our patriotism.

The stairs to museum? Hehe.

Well, the next agenda is the car-wash at Immaculate Conception Church. We came there as early as 7.30 am and managed to raise a few hundreds. Thank God it was not raining that day. I had a great time washing the cars with my junior Vera, and my peers - namely Clevellen and Eduard. They were all good sports to be with. We even joked about blessing and baptizing the cars with the water.

Us, having a car-wash at Immaculate Conception church for the fund-raising to join the Intercampus Gathering.

Then, there was this CUS gathering which dated back in 18th September 2009, which was one significant and memorable CUS gathering, because it was full of crazy moments. I bet that this was one of the craziest CUS gathering in history ever! The gathering was conducted by the Hibari Four family, and it was the gathering right before our journey to Intercampus Gathering at Majodi Centre, Johor.

We were given sweets and asked to wait at the verandah while they (Hibari 4 family) were preparing something for us to play.

Look at the picture above and you will know what I meant by the craziest gathering ever. It was like a zoo or a nursery full of hyperactive kids.

Then, there's the ICG. The experience at ICG was awesome, though I heard that it was not as happening as the previous ICG which was held at St Anne, Bukit Mertajam. But I was thankful because during this ICG, I became closer with my senior, Matth, because we were roommates during the camp. And the rest, as they say, is history. ;)


Participants from USM Minden at the ICG. Say ORAIT to Jesus! (Note the weird poses. lol)

And the last CUS activity for the semester would be the gathering at FM house with Fr Dominic.

Then, before the exam, me and my seniors had some outing together during the study week to release our tension.

After the sunset Mass before makan-makan time!


Eating somewhere near Queensbay area. Know more about this outing in this post. :)

And all of that were the significant events happening during my first semester of my second year. The new semester starts at 2010, and I changed my hairstyle. I guess it's a tradition for me to change my hairstlye at the second semester of each year. Hmm, wonder what my hairstlye would be for the coming year huh? (Bald head fashion is possible if my hair loss keep getting serious!)

The second semester started with the CUS Annual Camp 2010. It was held at College General. This is a group photo during one of the sessions conducted during the camp.

Dr Prema was one exciting speaker. ;)


As usual, the CUS weekly gathering... XD I was clueless about the actions for this action song! Lol.

Having our Ash Wednesday 2010 dinner. Before that, Marce, Claire Marie and me went to watch a movie (Wolfman). Then, before the Chinese New Year holidays end, we went to join the Exco Camp which was held at the FM House. The camp was fun, though there were just 9 participants. At least, it was easier to break the ice when there were less participants.

Taking picture with Fr Dominic as one of the challenges during this camp. Fr Dominic is the youth chaplain for the Catholic Undergraduate Society and he would try to frequent the activity which may bring the CUS closer to the campus ministry.


One of the coolest pictures during the camp. Lol. XD


Group photo on the last day of the exco camp. It was one memorable camp and thanks to Anne for organizing it all by herself!

Then, on one of the CUS gathering, we were having a futsal match instead. Melody was the one behind this. Thanks Melod! Lol. Have fun that day! It was enjoyable and fun, and not to forget, tiring. The guys were really something. Their stamina last so long.

Me, together with my futsal team. Didn't we look cool? ;)

Then, on the 6th of March, we had a trip to St Joseph Children home for our outreach programme. Know more about this activity in this post. :D It was during this visit that one of my seniors, Duke, found his future kids, lol, namely Raymond and Mothis. This visit to St Joseph Children Home brought out the fatherly behaviour in Duke.

A group photo of us with the children! :D

And last but not least, the last CUS event of the semester, was the long awaited CUS Nite, which had the theme "A Night in Paradise." I had so much fun that night, but the downside was that I had not taste the soup that was prepared for the buffet. (-_-) Haiz..

More story on CUS nite in this post.


Hawa and me during the Malam Bumi Kenyalang. ;) Everybody wants to pose with the sape! Lol.
And not to forget, our last class with Miss Tahereh. The other last classes photos were available in facebook. Too lazy to grab some of them. XD

One picture to keep as memory. hahah.

This will be one sweet memory lane happening in my university life. I became closer with those whom I was not that close with, but at the same time, I became further with those I was once close with, especially Lee Ying, Pei Lee, my first year friends namely Mei Ling, Sook Mon and Susanna. Life is a compromise as they say, and we could not have it all. But I wish I will have the chance to meet them again soon.

Though I couldn't have it all, I think I got the best that I could ever have for my 2nd year in university and I am thankful for it. God has answered most of my prayers, but for the next semester, I have one more prayer, and if it has been answered, I am going to write it here in my blog. Deal.

By the way,

bye 2nd year?

:'(

Warning: Don't do this to your helpless friend...

[Interframe: I seriously need to focus now, but what i did was just watching Desperate Housewives season 4 and doing the laundry, but wait, Desperate Housewives is an English-speaking series, so they do help my revision, don't they?]

It was during the night of 11th April, and I was walking back from Bali Bali after having a Milo ais and a sesi suap-menyuap Tiramisu birthday cake with my beloved seniors. The time was 8 p.m. I walked and arrived at the Sungai Dua USM bus stop and saw the back of my friend, my only former school mate here in USM, his name is X, and I saw him carrying a really large package, all by himself. I called him from the back, and he finally stopped and replied my greeting.

We had a little chat while walking. He told me he just came back from the PC fair which was going on at Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) and he bought something there. He went there alone, buying all these stuffs. I was impressed, and also kinda feel bad why he went there alone and buy these heavy things because he looked like he really needed some help with carrying the big package, so I forced myself to ask if he needed some help with carrying those item. I mean, I had to force myself that time, and sorry, honestly, I wasn't that sincere in offering the help that time because the thing looked so heavy and I was in a rush to meet my friend who was starving waiting for me, so to do or not to do, I had to follow my instinct to help him- though reluctantly. I am very sorry for being not really sincere that time, because one thing, I don't really like to offer help to guys, unless the guys are my juniors or my younger relatives like Aaron James and Aaron Ezra, and yeah, it's also because I am kinda of a sexist sometimes, but because this friend of mine had a little problem physically, so I could adjust my standard in helping people. Two, I was in a rush, and carrying heavy thing might slow me down. But all ye girls, don't worry, I am really sincere when helping you guys, err, girls.. lol..

So back to the story. I helped my friend to carry the heavy package and I was gasping for air while carrying it because I was walking fast while carrying heavy thing. I could imagine myself looking comical in this situation and I was glad nobody I knew passed-by us and witness this. lol. Then, I got quite annoyed when I found out from X that actually that heavy thing that I helped him to carry was not something he bought for himself, but the heavy printer was a thing his friend asked him to buy. I was like, saying what the heck under my mind or if I were meaner than I already am, I could be cursing wtf under my breath.

I couldn't help but to ask him "Why couldn't your friend buy this printer himself?"
He answered "Oh, he's not free. He wasn't free from 9th April till 10th April."
"Oh, but he's free on 11 right?" I asked.
"He's busy with church activities today. So, I helped him buy the printer."
What the heck? He was busy with church activity so he could go on bullying his friend to buy a heavy printer at PISA all by himself? The moment I heard that, my heart was screaming with these messages to X's so-called friend, Mr WTH..

A message from Mean Maureen to the selfish MR WTH:

"What the heck, church activity? You are busy 'noble' man who are active in church activities and here you contradict yourself by bullying your physically incapable friend to buy a DAMN HEAVY printer alone at PISA? Who the heck do you think you are??? I don't mind if you asked him to buy some printer's ink, or something which can be carried easily, but this, SHAME ON YOU MR BUSY WITH CHURCH ACTIVITY GUY, you took advantage of X who was going to PISA alone to buy you a damn heavy printer?? SHAME ON YOU!!! You better go back to kindy and learn about civic-mindedness or just don't go to church because you're bringing shame to the church you went to!"

Upon reaching X's hostel, he apologized profusely for having to let me carry that damn heavy printer for him.
"I'm really really sorry you have to carry this," he said to me.
"Don't be sorry. You are not supposed to be sorry. It's your friend who's supposed to be sorry..." I said it clearly so that he wouldn't miss the sarcasm I had dedicated to his so-called friend. Then, we bade each other farewell.

After that, I walked to find my friend, who was totally starving, waiting for me. While walking, I thought that I could only help him this time, but how about the other time? In the future? How can he endure with much more sufferings? He could be bullied again and he willl accept those favours asked though beyond his ability, maybe because that's the only way for him to gain friends.

So, for those of you out there, please do not do these things to others, especially your own friend. Friendship is a bond not for you to gain benefits, but friendship is journeying together with another person and share all the pain and joy together, and that's why it's called friendship. It's a ship where you journey with your friend, through good times or bad times. And yeah, you can ask for favour from your friends, but make sure it is something that is not beyond the ability or the convenience of your friend, because if it is, you will sink the ship that you built together with the person whom you are supposed to protect, and not exploit.

The Dilemma in Greeting Someone...

Interframe: Just got a birthday dinner treat from Matt and Duke at Pizza Hut. Thanks ya!! :D

Consider this situation. You were walking at the university hallway, or maybe at the shopping mall. Then there was a person, walking from the opposite direction, smiling when passing by you. You didn't really remember that person, but you kinda know that person, so you were not sure whether that person was smiling at you or at another person at your back, or the person besides you. So you only have two options:

1) You can either smile back (and bear the embarassment if the person was actually not smiling at you)

or

2) you pretended not to see the person (which may make that person felt embarassed if that person was actually smiling at you).

Or let you put yourself in the shoes of the one doing the greeting. You were walking in a crowd, and the person walking from the opposite direction was someone that you know, but that person is someone whom you are not really close with, so you just offer a smile at that person. The person, since he or she was not close to you, was quite unsure whether you were smiling at him/her or at other people in the crowd. After a few minutes observing your eye-contact, then the person was sure that you were actually smiling at him/her and was confident enough to smile back at you. Though the greeting was mutual, it kinda made you feel hmmph, uncomfortable since the greeting process was supposed to be casual and not that complicated.

So these are the examples of dilemmas in greeting someone, or when you were being greeted by someone. Well, I experienced a lot of these situations, when I walked down the lecture hall foyer, or at the library foyer, or any parts in the university. Sometimes, I even do not dare to look up while walking in the university area to escape from these dilemmas. I do not want to be the person whom people thought as snob for failing to recognize people while walking along the hallway, nor do I wanted to bear the embarassment due to the mistake of smiling at the wrong person. And yeah, talking about smiling at the wrong person, I just did it this afternoon, when I was walking at the hallway of Dewan Kuliah U. It was embarassing, but thank God, the person I mistakenly smiled to was a good sport cause she replied my smile.. Lol..

So, after a doing a few thinking, I discovered there's ways to lessen this dilemma. I mean, you can greet a person and make that person sure that you are greeting him or her by:

1) Calling out his or her name. Just saying 'Hi' is not enough. You should say it complete with the receiver's name, such as "Hi Jane" or "Hi Jack". By identifying the person that you greet, especially the person who is not that close to you, you will make that person sure that you are actually greeting him or her and not someone else. Then, you will save the embarassment of not getting a reply.

2) If you don't really remember the name of the person that you wanted to greet, say "HI" along with your eye-contact, and wave at the person's direction. If the person still didn't know that you are greeting him/her, you should consider finding out his or her birthday's date and bought just what he/she needs - a pair of brand new spectacles. If the person that you greeted happened to stop and tried to have a chat with you but that time you still had no idea what his/her name is, then you better take out your handphone, asking for the person's number and asked him or her to spell out her name.

So, heheh, just two tips for the one doing the greeting. For the one being greeted, hmmph, this is quite a difficult position actually. If you knew the person who kinda smiled at you, instead of anticipating on being greeted, how bout you being the one greeting him/her first? For example, a person whom you know as A, kinda look your way and was kinda smiling, instead of waitingto be greeted, be the first to greet. Isn't it simple?

So these are the ways that I can think of for now. If any of you who happen to read this blog have some other ideas to share on how to not be in this greeting dilemma, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas - you may have the better solution to this dilemma.

PS: Do try this when you're in the public area. XD

Having A Heavenly Night in Paradise...

It all started during the Chinese New Year holiday.. Marcela was asking me "What's the other theme that's not that skema for the CUS Nite?" from the Fajar's bedroom desk behind me. She was staying with me during the CNY holidays and it was a fun experience having a holiday roommate.. That time, the plan was to have the dinner held at Paradise Sandy Beach hotel. When Duke and Matt commented to us during our dinner together the night before, that the theme was quite skema, so Marce told me maybe we should change the theme. Marce said it should be a theme which will attract people and not make people feel that it's skema. Then she said "Mau mau jom fikir tema!" with an energetic smile.

Sometimes, she reminded me of the teenage version of my mother, just because she had that Chinese face that my mother has. So, it's no surprise that I acted more immature and she's the more matured one though she was younger than me for one year. So, I put my thinking cap on. Well, since it was initially a nature-loving theme and colourful theme, and it was held in Paradise Sandy Beach, I blurted out several names, and then suddenly I just jokingly said, "Maybe how bout A Night in Paradise? hahahah!" I was just joking when I felt it was not a joke anymore when Marce said "Ya kan? Best juga tema tu!" I looked at her with a big eyes. "Serious??" I mean, that theme just came out like a smoke and I never thought that it would be taken seriously.. "Ya..." She nodded. And I told her, "Urm, kita cuma guna tema tu kalau tak dapat fikirkan tema-tema lain yang best-bestlah.." I told that to her in case the theme will not be as attractive as we hoped it to be. But when the theme was finalised in Marce's paperwork for the event and it had a positive feedback from Matthlessa, then it's official. So the theme for CUS Nite 2010 is confirmed as "A Night In Paradise."

The preparation for the party was so much. Credits to Marce as the project manager, I couldn't imagine the hassles she went through in order to prepare for the event. And Juslin too, as the ajk hadiah, credits to her for preparing all those special things to us.. ;)

And not long before the event, Amanda, a sweet bestie of mine posted a necklace that she bought from China to me. Aww, thanks so much, Ada. I wore it to the party. Thanks!!

So on the historical day, 27th March 2010, Matthlessa, Man Lee, Claire and me went to Gotcha to have our hair done and we asked for a make-up service from my friend - Geraldine Tan, to do our make-up for us.

Me, doing my hair.. ;)

Claire's hair being done. She looked gorgeous even before the make-up!


Claire and me after doing our hair.

Man Lee while her make-up is being done..

The bus was literally waiting for us (from 6pm till 6.15 pm or later, OMG) because we took a long time to have our make up done. But in the end, thanks a lot, the bus driver was ok with it, and we made it safely to Cititel.

Esteranza and Claire Marie, the MC for the night.. ;)

Us, checking out ourselves in front of the mirror before the event started. ;)
Credits to Claire for this beautiful photo!

The not so paradisey stage made by the Cititel. Thanks to Claire for this photo..

Claire and Juslin, two pretty ladies.
Thanks to Mary for taking this photo. .

Performance from my seniors.. ahhaha.. XD


The four finalists for CUS Nite's Adam and Eve.. ;)

Claire, Natalia, Marce, me and Man Lee trying to capture this moment of glory.. hahaha.

Marce, me, Arthur, Man Lee and Juslin. Us performing during the performance by CUS excos 2009/2010.

Urm, yeap, still performing, cause the song was long..

The group photo of us.. ;)

Open floor dancing. hahah.. it was fun!

Hopefully the CUS NIte next year will be a blast! ;)