Today was interesting.
This morning my motorcycle engine died at the first traffic light to college right when it turned green. The light was red again when I managed to start it again, so I had to wait another minute and a half before I could head off.
As I approached college I saw the queue of cars that stretches from the entrance down the lane every Monday morning. I was going pretty fast, so I started slowing down and stayed in the same lane as the line of cars. As I was driving, I saw a car I thought I recognized, so I glanced towards it briefly to check if anyone I knew was inside. When I looked forward again, I saw that someone had tried to merge into the lane and was only about halfway done. The rear of the car was blocking the narrow passage between the lane I was driving in and the other, much faster lane.
At this point I had two choices: I could either swerve into the faster lane and hope I didn't end up blindsiding someone, or I could apply the brakes and hope that I stopped in time. I chose the latter. The bike slowed down considerably, but it skidded instead of coming to a stop. That was a bit of an "Oh shit" moment.
The collision seemed like it took less than a second. It seemed that I had gotten off the bike okay, as I only felt a few scrapes on my fingers and knees. I found my motorcycle lying on the road with the back wheel spinning furiously, so I walked over and shut off the engine before lifting up the bike and rolling it into the other lane. I also picked up a mirror that had come off. That seemed to be the only bit of damage that the motorcycle sustained.
The car was a different story, though. The rear right light was busted open and plastic from the light was strewn across the street. The lady who had been driving got out and asked if I was okay. I said that I was fine and that I was sorry for what happened to her car. She pointed to my fingers and asked if I was sure about being fine. I looked at my hand and saw that it was covered in blood. "Yeah, I'll feel that later" was my reply.
She told me that I should probably have it looked at and then asked me how we were going to settle this. I gave her my number and my dad's number. She called my dad and told him what happened, then handed the phone to me. I told my dad was fine and that I would call him after my first class. The lady had to get to work (it was her first day), so I apologized again and told her I would call her after my last class was over to settle things. She said that was fine and that I should go get my hand checked out, which I said I would do after my first class.
After she had driven off I put the bike in neutral and started pushing it to school. It was 7:45, so I still had about 15 minutes to get to my English class. As I was walking with my motorcycle, my English lecturer pulled up next to me. He was near the back of the line and had seen the whole thing. I told him that I was fine, but he also told me to get my hand looked at. I said I would, after class. It didn't hurt yet, but there was a fair bit of blood.
When I got into the college parking lot I put the motorcycle on its stand and checked for damage. The mirror really was the only problem with the bike, and it looked like it could just be glued back in.
I washed most of the blood off my hand when I got inside, then walked to class. The lecturer was a bit late, and when he arrived he told me to go to a nearby clinic to make sure my hand was okay. I went, but there was a line and forms to fill and stuff, so I decided that it wasn't worth all the trouble for a few surface cuts. I got back to class just in time for the lesson to start.
When class was over I cleaned the rest of the blood off my hands before going to talk with some friends. I then called my dad and told him all that had happened with the accident. I told him that I was okay and the bike was okay, and that I would test ride it around the parking lot before I left to make sure the gears and brakes worked and it wouldn't suddenly catch fire or anything like that on the way home. I also said was ready to pay for whatever repairs were needed with the lady's car, but my dad said not to worry about that. My dad is really cool like that.
I got my cuts cleaned and had some band-aids put on them by some a very helpful lady at the front desk. I then went to get something to eat and some superglue for the mirror. Breakfast was okay, and the superglue did an excellent job of fixing the mirror in place.
My second and last class of the day was Physics. When that was over I called the lady, but she said that she had already taken her car to the repair shop and talked to my dad, who agreed to pay RM400 for repairs. I apologized again for the accident and reassured her that I was okay.
It was raining when my class ended, so I decided to get lunch with some friends instead of going home straight away. A pretty bad stomach ache caused me to make an early exit, so that was pretty miserable. It didn't help that the toilet I managed to find had a broken flush so I had to hang around with a hose for a couple of minutes watching the system refill.
When that was all over the rain had finished, so I went to the bike, checked that the mirror was attached properly, drove around the parking lot to make sure everything worked, and went home without incident.
So yeah, that was my day. I have learned not to let the engine idle at traffic lights in the early morning, and to always pay attention to what's ahead of me on the road, and that I should perhaps be more appreciative of working loos.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Making Memories
Yesterday morning I woke up much earlier than I had expected to. I had originally seen myself sleeping in until the afternoon, brushing my teeth before forgoing shaving and putting in my contact lenses, and spending the rest of the day at home doing my homework and assignments for college. My mum, however, had different plans. She wanted the whole family to take a long drive so the whole day would be spent together in the new car. My dad managed to convince her to change the long drive into two two-hour drives punctuated by a stop at my grandparents' place in Ipoh. After this slightly-more-reasonable-but-still-pretty-lame new plan for spending the holiday was agreed upon, my dad went to wake the rest of us up. He did not have much success. From my bed, I told him that I wasn't going to wake up and go all the way there because I wanted to sleep in and I had homework to do. He kept coming back in the room to try and get me to wake up, but I only did when he threatened my allowance.
By the time I was up everyone else was almost ready to go. I got changed, brushed my teeth, and, since I was going to be outside the house after all, shaved. I quickly went over my daily Bible reading (Two chapters Old Testament, one chapter New) and my morning exercise (Up twenty flights of stairs), had a drink of water, grumbled a bit about still having to go, then put in my contacts, grabbed my wallet and phone, and headed down to the car.
There were seven of us in the car (Parents, two brothers [Ian, oldest brother, and Jan, youngest brother], two sisters [Hannah, younger sister, and Susanna, youngest sister], and me), and not all of us were pleased at the situation. I loudly voiced my opinions about going out during the holiday instead of staying home to do the work I needed to do and such. Ian said he didn't want to spend four hours cooped up in the car. Hannah and Jan talked about breakfast, I think.
Breakfast was the first stop. While eating, I asked my dad if Ian and me could drive to Ipoh so that my parents would be sitting in the back to see how they liked it. He agreed. When we were finished with our food, Ian took the first shift and I rode shotgun.
A few minutes after we left the corner shop where we had breakfast, my dad asked if we would rather take a half-hour drive around the city instead. We said yes. Ian adjusted the route and my dad called ahead to let the grandparents know that we wouldn't be coming over after all. I was considerably cheered up by this change in plans, because it meant that we would have time left after the drive for me to do some homework.
We talked about all sorts of things on the drive. My parents told the story of the day they met, and we learned that my dad never told my mum that he loved her until seven years after they met, which was when they got married. Ian then discussed his theory as to why countries with seasons seemed to be more developed better off than Malaysia and other such equatorial third-world countries. We also talked about the various empires that ruled most of the world, and how many of our friends were in serious long-term relationships. When we got to the last topic, I mentioned our cousin, Dexter, but Ian said that he didn't count because the relationship had to have been going on for more than year to count as long-term. I told him that when we met Dexter's girlfriend at last year's Christmas party they had been together for a while already, so it was probably more than a year. Ian said they had only been together since October or something. I suspected he was just making shit up, but I dropped the subject.
After we went around the city, we decided to go visit a mall. This was good, because we could buy some stuff and also watch a movie. We went to One Utama, and chose to go watch Up. Ian, Hannah, and I had already seen it, but it's the best movie of the year, so we didn't mind watching it again. Also, it would be the first time the entire family would watch a movie together, so it was definitely something we wanted to do.
Jan, Susanna, my mum, and I went to Golden Screen Cinemas to pick up tickets. When we reached the counter, we found out that they had stopped showing Up the day before. All the other shows playing were crap, so we went to check a newspaper to see if any other cinemas were still showing Up. Unfortunately, there were no newspapers that day because it was a holiday.
I think it's pretty retarded that GSC stopped showing Up after a month but was still showing Transformers 2 three months after its release. I guess that just goes to show how lousy this country's taste in movies is.
We went down to meet the rest of the family in Marks and Spencer. When I got there I texted a bit and found out that one of my friends had seen Up recently. I had an agreement with her that if she saw Up I would watch Twilight, so while I was glad that I could convince her to watch such an awesome movie I was a bit bummed out about having to watch such trite when she hands me the DVD. Oh well.
I wandered back to where the rest of the family was and they helped me pick out a jacket for the annual ball. It also fit my younger brother and my dad, so we got three jackets' worth in one. That was cool.
When we were done with Marks and Spencer, Hannah and I wanted to go see if Tanjung Golden Village was still showing Up. When he heard this, Ian said that they weren't. I asked him how he knew, and he said that he saw it in the newspaper. I told him that no newspaper had been printed today, and he said he saw it in yesterday's newspaper. Hannah and I called bullshit and went to check for tickets.
Sure enough, when we got to the ticket counter there were still showings of Up. I couldn't find seven seats in a row, so I got one row of three seats for the three youngest members of the family and one row of four for everyone else. Once we had the tickets, we went to find the rest of the family at MPH.
When we got to MPH we found our parents and Susanna in the magazines section. I checked to see if the paperback version of The Lost Symbol was out yet, but it isn't going to be in Malaysia for another six months. I tried to check if they had The Zombie Survival Guide or anything by Max Barry, but they were out of stock on all of them except for the Zombie Survival Guide, which had exactly one copy left in Penang. I decided to go to the information counter and order the books for delivery at the MPH branch nearest to our house. They should be there in three weeks.
When we were done in the bookshop, we went to meet up with Ian and Jan in front of the cinema. They were at a game store and told us about The Beatles Rock Band. We discussed whether we should get that or Guitar Hero World Tour for a while, but we didn't really reach a conclusion.
While waiting for the movie to start, we ate some snacks at McDonald's. We asked Ian why he lied about Up, and he said he didn't want to watch it in TGV, which seemed like an incredibly selfish reason to deprive our family of what was essentially our only chance to all go see a movie together.
The time came for the movie and we all went to the cinema. Up was exactly as good the second time as it was the first time. I still got a bit misty-eyed during the sad bits, and the funny parts were still hilarious. When we left the theatre, we all agreed that it was a very good movie.
I drove us home. I didn't get off to a good start, but I managed to (somewhat slowly) get home without hitting anything, which qualifies as a success in my book. When we got home, I went upstairs to do my physics homework while the rest of them went for ice cream.
Physics wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, so I went to my computer to pass the rest of the time. I made a draft on this blog of what happened today, and then at six we left to go say goodbye to Dexter, who is leaving to go study overseas in around a week.
When we got to Dexter's house, we were greeted by his dad and dogs. Susanna was a bit scared of the dogs, but they're quite harmless so she wasn't in any danger. Hannah and I played with the dogs for a bit before I sat down to try some mooncakes and talk with my aunt and cousin. Dexter told us about where he was going to study and what his schedule was going to be like and such, and I would occasionally ask him questions about his time at HELP and the various events he went to and people he knew. I also took the opportunity to ask him how long he had been with his girlfriend, and he said that it had been more than a year. Ian said that that was what he had thought, but Jan and I corrected him. I love being right.
Susanna tried to go for a swim in their pool, but one of the dogs got quite distressed. He was trained to rescue people if there was any trouble in the pool, and Susanna was reluctant to go into the deep water, so he was getting agitated. Eventually he had to be put out of the house for a while while Susanna tried swimming. She didn't stay in the pool for long, though. When Susanna was dried off, we said goodbye to Dexter and wished him well with his studies.
After that we were all quite hungry, so we decided to go try this sushi place that Ian recommended. I told him that I'd try a salmon roll and that I'd say I loved it. When we got there I tried a salmon roll and gagged. When my mum asked how it was, I said I loved it. When Ian checked again later, I said I didn't like it at all and only answered that I liked it because I had said I would. He was quite upset by this. I did, however, finish everything on the plate that I had ordered, but Ian said that didn't count because fried chicken isn't sushi. Whatever. Also, during the meal we talked about how the government's monitoring of blogs meant that I had another regular visitor to this page aside from my sister. It's a bit sad that I only have two readers, and one of them is getting paid to do so.
When we got home I tried to help Jan enable the task manager and registry editor, but the virus that disabled them was real bloody sneaky and I couldn't find any way to get them working again. I berated him for clicking links in suspicious e-mails, but he told me that his task manager and registry editor had been disabled a long time ago by another virus. I told him that without them I couldn't remove the one he got by clicking the link in his e-mail, so he should've been more careful anyway.
Since I couldn't prove that I was superior to Jan technically by fixing his computer, I decided to prove that I was superior to him strategically by beating a level he was stuck on in Stronghold. It took a while, but I managed it, and he congratulated me when I did. When I was done he replayed the mission and managed to score higher than me, so that's nice for him.
After that I was up until four chatting to various people and using Facebook. When I finally went to bed I stayed in it until three o'clock this afternoon.
I spent about two hours writing this and I haven't get any homework done today. I did, however, manage to sleep in, not shave, and not wear my contact lenses today, so that's three out of four goals completed today that I wanted to complete yesterday. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
By the time I was up everyone else was almost ready to go. I got changed, brushed my teeth, and, since I was going to be outside the house after all, shaved. I quickly went over my daily Bible reading (Two chapters Old Testament, one chapter New) and my morning exercise (Up twenty flights of stairs), had a drink of water, grumbled a bit about still having to go, then put in my contacts, grabbed my wallet and phone, and headed down to the car.
There were seven of us in the car (Parents, two brothers [Ian, oldest brother, and Jan, youngest brother], two sisters [Hannah, younger sister, and Susanna, youngest sister], and me), and not all of us were pleased at the situation. I loudly voiced my opinions about going out during the holiday instead of staying home to do the work I needed to do and such. Ian said he didn't want to spend four hours cooped up in the car. Hannah and Jan talked about breakfast, I think.
Breakfast was the first stop. While eating, I asked my dad if Ian and me could drive to Ipoh so that my parents would be sitting in the back to see how they liked it. He agreed. When we were finished with our food, Ian took the first shift and I rode shotgun.
A few minutes after we left the corner shop where we had breakfast, my dad asked if we would rather take a half-hour drive around the city instead. We said yes. Ian adjusted the route and my dad called ahead to let the grandparents know that we wouldn't be coming over after all. I was considerably cheered up by this change in plans, because it meant that we would have time left after the drive for me to do some homework.
We talked about all sorts of things on the drive. My parents told the story of the day they met, and we learned that my dad never told my mum that he loved her until seven years after they met, which was when they got married. Ian then discussed his theory as to why countries with seasons seemed to be more developed better off than Malaysia and other such equatorial third-world countries. We also talked about the various empires that ruled most of the world, and how many of our friends were in serious long-term relationships. When we got to the last topic, I mentioned our cousin, Dexter, but Ian said that he didn't count because the relationship had to have been going on for more than year to count as long-term. I told him that when we met Dexter's girlfriend at last year's Christmas party they had been together for a while already, so it was probably more than a year. Ian said they had only been together since October or something. I suspected he was just making shit up, but I dropped the subject.
After we went around the city, we decided to go visit a mall. This was good, because we could buy some stuff and also watch a movie. We went to One Utama, and chose to go watch Up. Ian, Hannah, and I had already seen it, but it's the best movie of the year, so we didn't mind watching it again. Also, it would be the first time the entire family would watch a movie together, so it was definitely something we wanted to do.
Jan, Susanna, my mum, and I went to Golden Screen Cinemas to pick up tickets. When we reached the counter, we found out that they had stopped showing Up the day before. All the other shows playing were crap, so we went to check a newspaper to see if any other cinemas were still showing Up. Unfortunately, there were no newspapers that day because it was a holiday.
I think it's pretty retarded that GSC stopped showing Up after a month but was still showing Transformers 2 three months after its release. I guess that just goes to show how lousy this country's taste in movies is.
We went down to meet the rest of the family in Marks and Spencer. When I got there I texted a bit and found out that one of my friends had seen Up recently. I had an agreement with her that if she saw Up I would watch Twilight, so while I was glad that I could convince her to watch such an awesome movie I was a bit bummed out about having to watch such trite when she hands me the DVD. Oh well.
I wandered back to where the rest of the family was and they helped me pick out a jacket for the annual ball. It also fit my younger brother and my dad, so we got three jackets' worth in one. That was cool.
When we were done with Marks and Spencer, Hannah and I wanted to go see if Tanjung Golden Village was still showing Up. When he heard this, Ian said that they weren't. I asked him how he knew, and he said that he saw it in the newspaper. I told him that no newspaper had been printed today, and he said he saw it in yesterday's newspaper. Hannah and I called bullshit and went to check for tickets.
Sure enough, when we got to the ticket counter there were still showings of Up. I couldn't find seven seats in a row, so I got one row of three seats for the three youngest members of the family and one row of four for everyone else. Once we had the tickets, we went to find the rest of the family at MPH.
When we got to MPH we found our parents and Susanna in the magazines section. I checked to see if the paperback version of The Lost Symbol was out yet, but it isn't going to be in Malaysia for another six months. I tried to check if they had The Zombie Survival Guide or anything by Max Barry, but they were out of stock on all of them except for the Zombie Survival Guide, which had exactly one copy left in Penang. I decided to go to the information counter and order the books for delivery at the MPH branch nearest to our house. They should be there in three weeks.
When we were done in the bookshop, we went to meet up with Ian and Jan in front of the cinema. They were at a game store and told us about The Beatles Rock Band. We discussed whether we should get that or Guitar Hero World Tour for a while, but we didn't really reach a conclusion.
While waiting for the movie to start, we ate some snacks at McDonald's. We asked Ian why he lied about Up, and he said he didn't want to watch it in TGV, which seemed like an incredibly selfish reason to deprive our family of what was essentially our only chance to all go see a movie together.
The time came for the movie and we all went to the cinema. Up was exactly as good the second time as it was the first time. I still got a bit misty-eyed during the sad bits, and the funny parts were still hilarious. When we left the theatre, we all agreed that it was a very good movie.
I drove us home. I didn't get off to a good start, but I managed to (somewhat slowly) get home without hitting anything, which qualifies as a success in my book. When we got home, I went upstairs to do my physics homework while the rest of them went for ice cream.
Physics wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, so I went to my computer to pass the rest of the time. I made a draft on this blog of what happened today, and then at six we left to go say goodbye to Dexter, who is leaving to go study overseas in around a week.
When we got to Dexter's house, we were greeted by his dad and dogs. Susanna was a bit scared of the dogs, but they're quite harmless so she wasn't in any danger. Hannah and I played with the dogs for a bit before I sat down to try some mooncakes and talk with my aunt and cousin. Dexter told us about where he was going to study and what his schedule was going to be like and such, and I would occasionally ask him questions about his time at HELP and the various events he went to and people he knew. I also took the opportunity to ask him how long he had been with his girlfriend, and he said that it had been more than a year. Ian said that that was what he had thought, but Jan and I corrected him. I love being right.
Susanna tried to go for a swim in their pool, but one of the dogs got quite distressed. He was trained to rescue people if there was any trouble in the pool, and Susanna was reluctant to go into the deep water, so he was getting agitated. Eventually he had to be put out of the house for a while while Susanna tried swimming. She didn't stay in the pool for long, though. When Susanna was dried off, we said goodbye to Dexter and wished him well with his studies.
After that we were all quite hungry, so we decided to go try this sushi place that Ian recommended. I told him that I'd try a salmon roll and that I'd say I loved it. When we got there I tried a salmon roll and gagged. When my mum asked how it was, I said I loved it. When Ian checked again later, I said I didn't like it at all and only answered that I liked it because I had said I would. He was quite upset by this. I did, however, finish everything on the plate that I had ordered, but Ian said that didn't count because fried chicken isn't sushi. Whatever. Also, during the meal we talked about how the government's monitoring of blogs meant that I had another regular visitor to this page aside from my sister. It's a bit sad that I only have two readers, and one of them is getting paid to do so.
When we got home I tried to help Jan enable the task manager and registry editor, but the virus that disabled them was real bloody sneaky and I couldn't find any way to get them working again. I berated him for clicking links in suspicious e-mails, but he told me that his task manager and registry editor had been disabled a long time ago by another virus. I told him that without them I couldn't remove the one he got by clicking the link in his e-mail, so he should've been more careful anyway.
Since I couldn't prove that I was superior to Jan technically by fixing his computer, I decided to prove that I was superior to him strategically by beating a level he was stuck on in Stronghold. It took a while, but I managed it, and he congratulated me when I did. When I was done he replayed the mission and managed to score higher than me, so that's nice for him.
After that I was up until four chatting to various people and using Facebook. When I finally went to bed I stayed in it until three o'clock this afternoon.
I spent about two hours writing this and I haven't get any homework done today. I did, however, manage to sleep in, not shave, and not wear my contact lenses today, so that's three out of four goals completed today that I wanted to complete yesterday. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Guess What I Stepped on When I Went to the Kitchen to Get Something to Drink?
A cockroach. And I was barefoot. After a very brief freak-out as it scrambled away, I thought "eh, fuck it, I've already stepped on him, won't make much difference if I do it a couple more times". That bugger was fast, though, and he managed to scramble into the darkness before I could smear my sole with his insides. When I had turned on the lights and returned, he was nowhere to be found.
Knowing my luck with roaches, he'll probably turn up again pretty soon, most likely on one of my limbs when I am in a state of undress. When that happens I will finish what was started tonight.
Your days are numbered, you roach bastard.
Knowing my luck with roaches, he'll probably turn up again pretty soon, most likely on one of my limbs when I am in a state of undress. When that happens I will finish what was started tonight.
Your days are numbered, you roach bastard.
Awesome Night at the Mist Club
So tonight at the Mist Club there was a fashion show, Victim a la Mode, which was organized by the Social Sphere of HELP College. I've had my ticket for a while, and I know two of the models, so I was going to be there for sure.
The night started off a bit rocky when I couldn't find a nice collared shirt to go with what I was wearing. I had visited the club earlier and they had a pretty strict dress code. Eventually I settled for a shirt that I had seen my younger brother wearing a few Sundays ago, but I assumed that since he's wearing my stuff all the time that the shirt probably belonged to me, too.
I planning to take my motorcycle to the club, but it had been raining like crazy so I decided to drive my maid's Kancil instead. She said she needed it back at around ten, which is when the show would be ending.
I arrived at the club a little past eight. I was told that the age limit had been lowered from 23 to 18 for the occasion, but since that still left me a few months too young I waited outside for a few minutes before gathering up the nerve to try and get in. Turns out I was worried for nothing. They didn't ask for ID, just my pass. On my way in, I got a UV stamp on my wrist. I thought that was pretty cool, even though I couldn't see it.
When I got in I saw some of the organizers. They asked me why I was so early, and I told them that I arrived at 8, like it said I should on the pass. Apparently the show started at 9. 8 o'clock was scheduled for "arrival of guests". Since the only people I knew who were there so early were busy organizing stuff and getting things ready, I decided to find a place to hang out and watch people come in. Before I could, though, I was interrupted by Joshua and Ashley, two of the organizers and my seniors at college, who got me to unbutton my shirt a bit and roll up my sleeves to look less formal and more cool. I had only buttoned up because I was worried about the strict dress code, but I guess I overdid it.
Once I had found a place to wait until the show started, I texted my maid and told her that I didn't know when I would be coming back, but it probably would be after ten. She replied telling me to let her know when I got back.
I spend the next forty five minutes sitting and watching people come in. Right when I stood up to explore the place, El-Hanan, my friend, neighbour, and occasional poker opponent walked in. He and his friend, Nick, were here to see Andrew, another guy I play poker with sometimes, who was modelling that night. We talked for a bit and hung out on the upper level of the club, where there were UV lights and a good views. I checked my wrist and found my stamp wasn't showing, so I went back outside to get re-chopped. When I went back upstairs with a cool glowy guitar on my arm, the show was just about to start. Hanan asked me a bit about Juria, who was the other model I knew at the show. I asked whether it would be better to stay at the upper level or go to the floor to watch. When the show started, our decision was not to move.
The Giordano collection began with a dude showing off a design that some would call daring, most would call gay, and everyone would call illegal in any other context. After that, thankfully, things got a whole lot better. The second design ended up being one of my favourites of the night, and everything else looked pretty great. I almost didn't recognize Juria on the catwalk, but the look she used when she reached the end was unmistakable. Right after her was Andrew, who I had a lot less trouble identifying. Each model did a couple designs for each collection, so I was equally impressed with the designs as I was with the models' ability to switch between them so quickly.
About halfway through I told Hanan I was going down to check if the view from the floor was any better. I got a place right between the catwalk and bar. The floor was definitely better. I got to get a much better look at the models and outfits, plus leaning against the bar made me feel pretty cool. My position was also very fortunate during one Rebellz design, which I dubbed the space empress, which happened to be devoid of fabric on one side under the waist. I had not intended to see that much, but I regret nothing. It was around that time that I sent a text to Hanan that said "Yeah, it's better down here".
A few designs later I was asked to move. Apparently I had been leaning in front of the service area the entire time, as evidenced by a sign saying "Service Area: Do Not Lean" sitting on the bar underneath where my elbow was. I was now in an awkward spot between photographers and the catwalk, so in between designs I was glancing about for a new place to lean against. A spot on the bar opened up and, after checking for signs prohibiting leaning and finding the area clear, propped myself up against it.
As the Rebellz collection was wrapping up, I suddenly noticed Juria walking past, headed towards the backstage. I tried to say "hey" to get her attention and tell her how awesome the show was, but the music was too loud and I am too ignorable. She didn't stop on the way back from the backstage either. For the purpose of my ego I shall just assume here that she was on an important errand with a very focused mindset.
After the Rebellz collection was over there was a brief intermission before the final collection by Julia Leong would be showcased. During this time some delicious snacks were passed around. I saw Juria and Ashley with some aforementioned snacks and tried to track down the tray they were from. When I had succeeded at my delicious quest, I returned to congratulate Juria and hang around waiting for another tray to pass. Another tray did pass and, since it had already completed its rounds without being finished or something, it was placed on the table. I found Hanan and brought him over to try some, but he apparently does not enjoy delicious bits of cake because he decided not to eat any.
The Julia Leong collection was really good. One design was basically underwear. There was a lot of cheering when that one was unveiled. Other than that I don't have much to say, except that the height difference between the models and the designers is really a thing to behold.
The event ended almost exactly at ten o'clock. I asked around and found out that most people were going to stay behind for a while, so I decided to stay behind, too. The club was redeeming coupons for free drinks that were given out to everyone who had a pass to the show, so I got myself a coke. I asked Ashley if the organizers got free drinks, too, and surprisingly the answer was no, so I let her have some of mine. I asked Hanan if he was going to claim his free drink, but he said that the line at the counter was too long.
After a bit more small talk and a lot more snacks, I followed Juria and Ashley to the dance floor. Like Orientation Night, Ashley asked me to join them, and like Orientation Night, I did. This time I tried to tone down my dancing a bit so as not to look like such an idiot, but I still got pulled out by Hanan half an hour later for being, in his words, "too painful to watch". When we got outside he told me that, as I had suspected when I was on the dance floor, my dancing sucked and the girls were mostly ignoring me. I chilled outside the club a bit to enjoy the relative quiet (Leaving the club had similar effects being shell-shocked. You are slightly dazed and everything sounds muted) before heading back inside to the dance floor to see if I could watch other people and learn to suck a bit less. I didn't get to do that for long, though. This girl asked me why I had stopped dancing, and when I told her why, she declared Hanan an idiot. She said that she was going to dance soon, and that I was going to join her. I agreed. I was introduced to her friends and we talked for a while before I wandered off to go see what Andrew, Nick and Hanan were doing.
I found them on some couches around a table. At the time, this was the best thing. I plopped onto a couch and rested my legs after almost two hours of standing about and dancing. Moments later, Ashley joined us, which changed my position from a recline to more of a mellow stretch. A bunch of shots were delivered to the table on the house. I decided not to have one because I was driving back. I was the only wuss at the table, though, so everyone else took a glass.
Ashley said she was wanted to home soon because if she stayed people would try to get her drunk. She was correct. Andrew got her to drink another shot by agreeing to go dance for a while. I went to the dance floor, too, to join the girl I had met earlier. After a few songs I got either too bored or too self-conscious to continue and went back to the couches.
At around 11:45, I got a call from my dad. He told me that I should be home at around twelve. I went back to the dance floor for one more song, then returned to the couches to see if anyone had gotten drunk yet. Hanan offered me a beer and asked me to drink some. I told him that I would if I wasn't driving back, but I was, so I couldn't. He didn't accept that response, so I told him that I would take one sip right before I left. He was still unsatisfied and told me that for every minute that passed I would have to drink another sip's worth. After four minutes I decided to drink to prevent my beer debt from growing even further. He then told me I had eight minutes left so I would have to take eight more sips' worth of beer. I told him that was unfair since I thought it only counted for every minute until I drank, not for every minute until I left. I tried to bargain with him for two shots of whiskey later when I didn't have to drive instead of eight sips of beer then, but he was adamant. Our argument was interrupted when the DJs called up five very good-looking girls to dance for free drinks. The best dancer, judged by crowd reaction, would win the best drink. During the favourable conditions of the distracting competition, I told Hanan I would drink one sip when the girls were done, but that was it, and then I'd go home. This he said "fine" to.
So the competition finished, the best girl won, I downed the last sip, said goodbye, and went to the car. The drive home was short and uneventful, so I guess that a third of a glass of beer is not enough to make me drunk. After asking my maid if she still needed her car (she didn't, my brother used his car to help her out), I got on the computer to post this in three places, getting more and more detailed each time. This post is the third one, and I started it about an hour ago.
So yeah, it was a pretty good night.
The night started off a bit rocky when I couldn't find a nice collared shirt to go with what I was wearing. I had visited the club earlier and they had a pretty strict dress code. Eventually I settled for a shirt that I had seen my younger brother wearing a few Sundays ago, but I assumed that since he's wearing my stuff all the time that the shirt probably belonged to me, too.
I planning to take my motorcycle to the club, but it had been raining like crazy so I decided to drive my maid's Kancil instead. She said she needed it back at around ten, which is when the show would be ending.
I arrived at the club a little past eight. I was told that the age limit had been lowered from 23 to 18 for the occasion, but since that still left me a few months too young I waited outside for a few minutes before gathering up the nerve to try and get in. Turns out I was worried for nothing. They didn't ask for ID, just my pass. On my way in, I got a UV stamp on my wrist. I thought that was pretty cool, even though I couldn't see it.
When I got in I saw some of the organizers. They asked me why I was so early, and I told them that I arrived at 8, like it said I should on the pass. Apparently the show started at 9. 8 o'clock was scheduled for "arrival of guests". Since the only people I knew who were there so early were busy organizing stuff and getting things ready, I decided to find a place to hang out and watch people come in. Before I could, though, I was interrupted by Joshua and Ashley, two of the organizers and my seniors at college, who got me to unbutton my shirt a bit and roll up my sleeves to look less formal and more cool. I had only buttoned up because I was worried about the strict dress code, but I guess I overdid it.
Once I had found a place to wait until the show started, I texted my maid and told her that I didn't know when I would be coming back, but it probably would be after ten. She replied telling me to let her know when I got back.
I spend the next forty five minutes sitting and watching people come in. Right when I stood up to explore the place, El-Hanan, my friend, neighbour, and occasional poker opponent walked in. He and his friend, Nick, were here to see Andrew, another guy I play poker with sometimes, who was modelling that night. We talked for a bit and hung out on the upper level of the club, where there were UV lights and a good views. I checked my wrist and found my stamp wasn't showing, so I went back outside to get re-chopped. When I went back upstairs with a cool glowy guitar on my arm, the show was just about to start. Hanan asked me a bit about Juria, who was the other model I knew at the show. I asked whether it would be better to stay at the upper level or go to the floor to watch. When the show started, our decision was not to move.
The Giordano collection began with a dude showing off a design that some would call daring, most would call gay, and everyone would call illegal in any other context. After that, thankfully, things got a whole lot better. The second design ended up being one of my favourites of the night, and everything else looked pretty great. I almost didn't recognize Juria on the catwalk, but the look she used when she reached the end was unmistakable. Right after her was Andrew, who I had a lot less trouble identifying. Each model did a couple designs for each collection, so I was equally impressed with the designs as I was with the models' ability to switch between them so quickly.
About halfway through I told Hanan I was going down to check if the view from the floor was any better. I got a place right between the catwalk and bar. The floor was definitely better. I got to get a much better look at the models and outfits, plus leaning against the bar made me feel pretty cool. My position was also very fortunate during one Rebellz design, which I dubbed the space empress, which happened to be devoid of fabric on one side under the waist. I had not intended to see that much, but I regret nothing. It was around that time that I sent a text to Hanan that said "Yeah, it's better down here".
A few designs later I was asked to move. Apparently I had been leaning in front of the service area the entire time, as evidenced by a sign saying "Service Area: Do Not Lean" sitting on the bar underneath where my elbow was. I was now in an awkward spot between photographers and the catwalk, so in between designs I was glancing about for a new place to lean against. A spot on the bar opened up and, after checking for signs prohibiting leaning and finding the area clear, propped myself up against it.
As the Rebellz collection was wrapping up, I suddenly noticed Juria walking past, headed towards the backstage. I tried to say "hey" to get her attention and tell her how awesome the show was, but the music was too loud and I am too ignorable. She didn't stop on the way back from the backstage either. For the purpose of my ego I shall just assume here that she was on an important errand with a very focused mindset.
After the Rebellz collection was over there was a brief intermission before the final collection by Julia Leong would be showcased. During this time some delicious snacks were passed around. I saw Juria and Ashley with some aforementioned snacks and tried to track down the tray they were from. When I had succeeded at my delicious quest, I returned to congratulate Juria and hang around waiting for another tray to pass. Another tray did pass and, since it had already completed its rounds without being finished or something, it was placed on the table. I found Hanan and brought him over to try some, but he apparently does not enjoy delicious bits of cake because he decided not to eat any.
The Julia Leong collection was really good. One design was basically underwear. There was a lot of cheering when that one was unveiled. Other than that I don't have much to say, except that the height difference between the models and the designers is really a thing to behold.
The event ended almost exactly at ten o'clock. I asked around and found out that most people were going to stay behind for a while, so I decided to stay behind, too. The club was redeeming coupons for free drinks that were given out to everyone who had a pass to the show, so I got myself a coke. I asked Ashley if the organizers got free drinks, too, and surprisingly the answer was no, so I let her have some of mine. I asked Hanan if he was going to claim his free drink, but he said that the line at the counter was too long.
After a bit more small talk and a lot more snacks, I followed Juria and Ashley to the dance floor. Like Orientation Night, Ashley asked me to join them, and like Orientation Night, I did. This time I tried to tone down my dancing a bit so as not to look like such an idiot, but I still got pulled out by Hanan half an hour later for being, in his words, "too painful to watch". When we got outside he told me that, as I had suspected when I was on the dance floor, my dancing sucked and the girls were mostly ignoring me. I chilled outside the club a bit to enjoy the relative quiet (Leaving the club had similar effects being shell-shocked. You are slightly dazed and everything sounds muted) before heading back inside to the dance floor to see if I could watch other people and learn to suck a bit less. I didn't get to do that for long, though. This girl asked me why I had stopped dancing, and when I told her why, she declared Hanan an idiot. She said that she was going to dance soon, and that I was going to join her. I agreed. I was introduced to her friends and we talked for a while before I wandered off to go see what Andrew, Nick and Hanan were doing.
I found them on some couches around a table. At the time, this was the best thing. I plopped onto a couch and rested my legs after almost two hours of standing about and dancing. Moments later, Ashley joined us, which changed my position from a recline to more of a mellow stretch. A bunch of shots were delivered to the table on the house. I decided not to have one because I was driving back. I was the only wuss at the table, though, so everyone else took a glass.
Ashley said she was wanted to home soon because if she stayed people would try to get her drunk. She was correct. Andrew got her to drink another shot by agreeing to go dance for a while. I went to the dance floor, too, to join the girl I had met earlier. After a few songs I got either too bored or too self-conscious to continue and went back to the couches.
At around 11:45, I got a call from my dad. He told me that I should be home at around twelve. I went back to the dance floor for one more song, then returned to the couches to see if anyone had gotten drunk yet. Hanan offered me a beer and asked me to drink some. I told him that I would if I wasn't driving back, but I was, so I couldn't. He didn't accept that response, so I told him that I would take one sip right before I left. He was still unsatisfied and told me that for every minute that passed I would have to drink another sip's worth. After four minutes I decided to drink to prevent my beer debt from growing even further. He then told me I had eight minutes left so I would have to take eight more sips' worth of beer. I told him that was unfair since I thought it only counted for every minute until I drank, not for every minute until I left. I tried to bargain with him for two shots of whiskey later when I didn't have to drive instead of eight sips of beer then, but he was adamant. Our argument was interrupted when the DJs called up five very good-looking girls to dance for free drinks. The best dancer, judged by crowd reaction, would win the best drink. During the favourable conditions of the distracting competition, I told Hanan I would drink one sip when the girls were done, but that was it, and then I'd go home. This he said "fine" to.
So the competition finished, the best girl won, I downed the last sip, said goodbye, and went to the car. The drive home was short and uneventful, so I guess that a third of a glass of beer is not enough to make me drunk. After asking my maid if she still needed her car (she didn't, my brother used his car to help her out), I got on the computer to post this in three places, getting more and more detailed each time. This post is the third one, and I started it about an hour ago.
So yeah, it was a pretty good night.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Filling Space 'Til The Next Update
Last Thursday I went to watch Gamer and eat lunch with my brothers. It was a fun show, but very stupid. Lunch was quite heavy, as it usually is when I eat at Burger King. I stand by my belief that it is the best fast food place. Right when I got home I got a call from Ian, my older brother, saying that the Hitz.fm cruisers were nearby. I drove out to meet them outside a Domino's and hung out for a while. I used my rock-paper-scissors skills to win some freebies. Later on we played a drinking game with cinnamon sticks instead of shots. I think I would've prefered shots, because after a heavy lunch and four sticks I was really really close to puking. I made it out with my lunch still inside me, though, and I had a good time. I also won a few ringgit worth of pizza vouchers, so that was nice, too.
The next day was Orientation Night. I helped out. It was okay. I mostly chatted with the other organizers while waiting for the thing to start. The night started with a meal, with most of the organizers going to McDonald's to buka puasa. I went with them because I prefer fast food over whatever was catered. After that there were dance and magic presentations, and then a bunch of games. There weren't half as many people as there had been last semester, so that was disappointing, but we had a good time anyway. I only did a little bit of ridiculous seizuring "dancing", so I didn't embarass myself as much as last time either. All in all it was a pretty okay affair.
When I got home I got a call from someone claiming to be the mother of Zach, some guy in my circle of friends from college. She wanted to know where he was, who he was with, etc. I told her that I didn't know but he was probably clubbing with friends. She asked for some phone numbers from some people and I gave them to her. She called back a few times to ask about the Orientation Night and stuff, so I gave her the details. Finally she called me and asked me to pass the phone to her son, which I found odd as I was at home on my computer with no idea where her son was. She hung up on me.
Later, I was IMing with another friend, Elo, and I told her about the calls. She told me that that lady wasn't Zach's mother, she was his girlfriend. Apparently she's crazy. Huh.
So, anyway, everything else has been fine. I'm down to my last RM50 or so for the month, but I got my dad to agree to raise my allowance by RM50 for allowance. I'm also learning from my maid how to cook french fries tonight, which should come in really handy whenever I get cravings for fried deliciousness in the future.
Also, I got my front motorcycle indicators replaced. They're white and dim and they don't blink, but they do look a bunch cooler than the old orange ones I used to have. While I was driving back from the motorcycle shop I checked out the Mist Club, where HELP is organizing a fashion show that I'll be attending to see Andrew, a dude I've played poker with, and Juria, a girl from college, and a bunch of other people model a bunch of stuff. It'll be my first time in a club, so that should be interesting. Anyway, when I checked out the club I saw a notice there that talked about the dress code and rules and such. I don't have a problem with getting a collared shirt, but the age limit of 23 might not be so easy to get around. I'm just hoping it's not enforced since I've already bought my pass.
The next day was Orientation Night. I helped out. It was okay. I mostly chatted with the other organizers while waiting for the thing to start. The night started with a meal, with most of the organizers going to McDonald's to buka puasa. I went with them because I prefer fast food over whatever was catered. After that there were dance and magic presentations, and then a bunch of games. There weren't half as many people as there had been last semester, so that was disappointing, but we had a good time anyway. I only did a little bit of ridiculous seizuring "dancing", so I didn't embarass myself as much as last time either. All in all it was a pretty okay affair.
When I got home I got a call from someone claiming to be the mother of Zach, some guy in my circle of friends from college. She wanted to know where he was, who he was with, etc. I told her that I didn't know but he was probably clubbing with friends. She asked for some phone numbers from some people and I gave them to her. She called back a few times to ask about the Orientation Night and stuff, so I gave her the details. Finally she called me and asked me to pass the phone to her son, which I found odd as I was at home on my computer with no idea where her son was. She hung up on me.
Later, I was IMing with another friend, Elo, and I told her about the calls. She told me that that lady wasn't Zach's mother, she was his girlfriend. Apparently she's crazy. Huh.
So, anyway, everything else has been fine. I'm down to my last RM50 or so for the month, but I got my dad to agree to raise my allowance by RM50 for allowance. I'm also learning from my maid how to cook french fries tonight, which should come in really handy whenever I get cravings for fried deliciousness in the future.
Also, I got my front motorcycle indicators replaced. They're white and dim and they don't blink, but they do look a bunch cooler than the old orange ones I used to have. While I was driving back from the motorcycle shop I checked out the Mist Club, where HELP is organizing a fashion show that I'll be attending to see Andrew, a dude I've played poker with, and Juria, a girl from college, and a bunch of other people model a bunch of stuff. It'll be my first time in a club, so that should be interesting. Anyway, when I checked out the club I saw a notice there that talked about the dress code and rules and such. I don't have a problem with getting a collared shirt, but the age limit of 23 might not be so easy to get around. I'm just hoping it's not enforced since I've already bought my pass.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Got a Slot
Today I got to wake up nice and late at 8am. It was wonderful. I was in school by nine o'clock and hung around a bit before attending my first class. We watched a video about a reproduction of the Milgram experiment in CTS and then discussed some common barriers to Critical Thinking.
After that I had an hour break before I could claim my slot in Moral Studies. I spent some that break in the computer lab since I couldn't find anyone to hang out with.
At twelve I went to the admin desk and registered for my moral slot. The moment I was done I ran off to my motorcycle so I could catch my twelve o'clock two-hour physics class. Along the way I made sure to tell everyone I passed that I was supposed to be "in the other block for a class five minutes ago".
I was fourteen minutes late to class, which is one minute less than what's needed to deduct an attendence mark. We discussed error for about an hour and then our lecturer ended the class. He gave us some homework to do, which I'm sure I'll forget about until right before class tomorrow.
When I got back to the main block I sold some books, hung out with some people, and got some KFC. I had promised myself previously not to eat in that KFC again, but they had no line and I needed to break a fifty, so I gave them another chance, and they gave me a Pepsi for free. I guess they can consider themselves redeemed.
During the break I also heard of this event at the Putra World Trade Centre that the Deputy Prime Minister (and thus next Prime Minister) would be attending. A few people I knew were also going, so I decided to tag along.
On my way to English class I passed by some friends who told me that I'd have to register before I could go to the Buka Puasa event, so I put my bag in class and rushed over to the admin desk to check for a slot. I was told that there was no space, but if I talked to the guy in charge I might be able to take the place of someone who dropped out. When I found him, he told me that two slots had just opened, but a couple of girls had just finished signing up for those slots. He told me that if there were any last minute cancellations I might be able to get a place, so long as I had a nice collared shirt.
When I got to English class I sent my brother a text to ask for a nice collared shirt. He told me he'd get on it, and he sent one of his friends to deliver one of my dad's shirts to me after my Moral Studies class ended. It was a ridiculously loud purple silk shirt that went with my bed-hair wonderfully.
While waiting for the bus I spent my time discussing Twilight with two fangirls and a dude I knew from a while back. I pointed out that Edward Cullen was pretty much a pedophile and every girl I talked to was shallow for saying that they'd never be attracted to him if he looked as old as he was. Juria tried to point out that I didn't understand Twilight and if the day ever came where a book exactly like Twilight was written with a female Edward Cullen and male Bella then all the guys would understand what the hype was about. I told her she was wrong and that the only people who would buy that book were lesbians, since guys only want to read about conspiracies, conflict, and sexy adventures in their stories.
Luckily, the bus arrived and ended the conversation before things got too ugly. I got a window seat in the back that somehow granted me the ability to hear conversations two rows in front of me but not from those sitting right next to me. I tried eavesdropping a bit on the conversation two rows ahead about why Spider-Man's webbing comes from his wrists instead of his rear end like a spider's, but I gave that up pretty fast and decided to just sing in my head and recite stuff I'd memorized while trying not to fall asleep in sermons instead. It was a pretty dull bus ride.
Once we reached the Putra World Trade Centre, we moved to the hall where the speech would be given. Everyone else was sitting next to someone they knew, but I was alone near the front. Each seat had a piece of paper that we had to fill in. They asked for my blog address and my Facebook page, so I wrote that down. Not sure why they'd really want that information, though.
After the national anthem there was a rather lengthy opening prayer. I decided to just follow whatever everyone else was doing, but I reflexively ended with a quiet "Amen". I'm hoping no-one heard that.
I looked around the room and noticed that, unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people there were Malay. I thought that between Juria and me, there was exactly one white person in the room. Later I found out that one of the dudes who came from HELP was half-German, so that joke was ruined. The speech took about an hour and I didn't understand any of it, so I spent the time passing notes and writing the following list of things that are awesome:
"Fast cars
Explosions
District 9
Girls
Steaks
Money
Gambling (& winning)
Infatuation
Love
Consensual heterosexual intercourse
Writing the words "Consensual heterosexual intercourse" during a speech by the Deputy Prime Minister
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister
Monty Python
Ricky Gervais
Gerard Butler (Or however you spell King Leonidas' name)
Spartaaaaaa!
300
Watchmen
Democracy
The Netherlands
Capitalism
Friends
Theme parks
Motorcycles
Vampires that aren't total fags
Zombies
Dudes who kill zombies
Chicks who kill zombies
Reloading!
Beards
Facial hair in general
Fried and breaded mushrooms with ranch dressing/ranch sauce
Naps
Finding the dudes who take naps during speeches and feeling smugly superior to them
Dogs
Lions
Tigers
Ligers
Tanks
Guns
Planes
The internet
Computers
Video games
Suddenly understanding what's being said in aforementioned speech
Kissing
Skydiving
Diving
Our next Prime Minister
Our previous Prime Minister
Obama
Getting promoted
Freedom of speech
Racial harmony
French fries
Insulting Twilight
Driving real fast on open roads
Waterfalls
Beaches
Sunsets
Technology
Being debt-free
Sandwiches
Peanut butter
Jelly
Underground bases and bunkers
Rhinos
Indian accents
Australian accents
Dutch accents
South African accents
Jackets
British, Irish, and Scottish accents
Ice cream
Velociraptors"
When the speech was finished we went upstairs to wait for the nighttime prayer to play and for the meal to start. I sat at the table with a few people from the third semester and some lecturers. The conversation was interesting and the food was okay. I learned some stuff about fasting and Islam, and I learned about who was bringing whom to the ball, and I learned about what the lecturers do on Facebook and during their free time. The conversation ended when one of the lecturers was asked to describe the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. He first mentioned this YouTube video that I'd seen a while ago with this huge cyst on a guy's back being cleaned out by a couple of friends, but then he went on to talk about corprophilia, which cleared the table pretty quick.
The bus ride back was about as dull as the bus ride there. I decided to myself that I needed a new crush, but I couldn't come up with any candidates. When we got to college I said goodbye, hopped on my motorcycle, enjoyed the empty parking lot for a bit, then drove home.
Seeing the next Prime Minster wasn't that great. Oh well, at least I got to eat dinner for free.
After that I had an hour break before I could claim my slot in Moral Studies. I spent some that break in the computer lab since I couldn't find anyone to hang out with.
At twelve I went to the admin desk and registered for my moral slot. The moment I was done I ran off to my motorcycle so I could catch my twelve o'clock two-hour physics class. Along the way I made sure to tell everyone I passed that I was supposed to be "in the other block for a class five minutes ago".
I was fourteen minutes late to class, which is one minute less than what's needed to deduct an attendence mark. We discussed error for about an hour and then our lecturer ended the class. He gave us some homework to do, which I'm sure I'll forget about until right before class tomorrow.
When I got back to the main block I sold some books, hung out with some people, and got some KFC. I had promised myself previously not to eat in that KFC again, but they had no line and I needed to break a fifty, so I gave them another chance, and they gave me a Pepsi for free. I guess they can consider themselves redeemed.
During the break I also heard of this event at the Putra World Trade Centre that the Deputy Prime Minister (and thus next Prime Minister) would be attending. A few people I knew were also going, so I decided to tag along.
On my way to English class I passed by some friends who told me that I'd have to register before I could go to the Buka Puasa event, so I put my bag in class and rushed over to the admin desk to check for a slot. I was told that there was no space, but if I talked to the guy in charge I might be able to take the place of someone who dropped out. When I found him, he told me that two slots had just opened, but a couple of girls had just finished signing up for those slots. He told me that if there were any last minute cancellations I might be able to get a place, so long as I had a nice collared shirt.
When I got to English class I sent my brother a text to ask for a nice collared shirt. He told me he'd get on it, and he sent one of his friends to deliver one of my dad's shirts to me after my Moral Studies class ended. It was a ridiculously loud purple silk shirt that went with my bed-hair wonderfully.
While waiting for the bus I spent my time discussing Twilight with two fangirls and a dude I knew from a while back. I pointed out that Edward Cullen was pretty much a pedophile and every girl I talked to was shallow for saying that they'd never be attracted to him if he looked as old as he was. Juria tried to point out that I didn't understand Twilight and if the day ever came where a book exactly like Twilight was written with a female Edward Cullen and male Bella then all the guys would understand what the hype was about. I told her she was wrong and that the only people who would buy that book were lesbians, since guys only want to read about conspiracies, conflict, and sexy adventures in their stories.
Luckily, the bus arrived and ended the conversation before things got too ugly. I got a window seat in the back that somehow granted me the ability to hear conversations two rows in front of me but not from those sitting right next to me. I tried eavesdropping a bit on the conversation two rows ahead about why Spider-Man's webbing comes from his wrists instead of his rear end like a spider's, but I gave that up pretty fast and decided to just sing in my head and recite stuff I'd memorized while trying not to fall asleep in sermons instead. It was a pretty dull bus ride.
Once we reached the Putra World Trade Centre, we moved to the hall where the speech would be given. Everyone else was sitting next to someone they knew, but I was alone near the front. Each seat had a piece of paper that we had to fill in. They asked for my blog address and my Facebook page, so I wrote that down. Not sure why they'd really want that information, though.
After the national anthem there was a rather lengthy opening prayer. I decided to just follow whatever everyone else was doing, but I reflexively ended with a quiet "Amen". I'm hoping no-one heard that.
I looked around the room and noticed that, unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people there were Malay. I thought that between Juria and me, there was exactly one white person in the room. Later I found out that one of the dudes who came from HELP was half-German, so that joke was ruined. The speech took about an hour and I didn't understand any of it, so I spent the time passing notes and writing the following list of things that are awesome:
"Fast cars
Explosions
District 9
Girls
Steaks
Money
Gambling (& winning)
Infatuation
Love
Consensual heterosexual intercourse
Writing the words "Consensual heterosexual intercourse" during a speech by the Deputy Prime Minister
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister
Monty Python
Ricky Gervais
Gerard Butler (Or however you spell King Leonidas' name)
Spartaaaaaa!
300
Watchmen
Democracy
The Netherlands
Capitalism
Friends
Theme parks
Motorcycles
Vampires that aren't total fags
Zombies
Dudes who kill zombies
Chicks who kill zombies
Reloading!
Beards
Facial hair in general
Fried and breaded mushrooms with ranch dressing/ranch sauce
Naps
Finding the dudes who take naps during speeches and feeling smugly superior to them
Dogs
Lions
Tigers
Ligers
Tanks
Guns
Planes
The internet
Computers
Video games
Suddenly understanding what's being said in aforementioned speech
Kissing
Skydiving
Diving
Our next Prime Minister
Our previous Prime Minister
Obama
Getting promoted
Freedom of speech
Racial harmony
French fries
Insulting Twilight
Driving real fast on open roads
Waterfalls
Beaches
Sunsets
Technology
Being debt-free
Sandwiches
Peanut butter
Jelly
Underground bases and bunkers
Rhinos
Indian accents
Australian accents
Dutch accents
South African accents
Jackets
British, Irish, and Scottish accents
Ice cream
Velociraptors"
When the speech was finished we went upstairs to wait for the nighttime prayer to play and for the meal to start. I sat at the table with a few people from the third semester and some lecturers. The conversation was interesting and the food was okay. I learned some stuff about fasting and Islam, and I learned about who was bringing whom to the ball, and I learned about what the lecturers do on Facebook and during their free time. The conversation ended when one of the lecturers was asked to describe the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. He first mentioned this YouTube video that I'd seen a while ago with this huge cyst on a guy's back being cleaned out by a couple of friends, but then he went on to talk about corprophilia, which cleared the table pretty quick.
The bus ride back was about as dull as the bus ride there. I decided to myself that I needed a new crush, but I couldn't come up with any candidates. When we got to college I said goodbye, hopped on my motorcycle, enjoyed the empty parking lot for a bit, then drove home.
Seeing the next Prime Minster wasn't that great. Oh well, at least I got to eat dinner for free.
Friday, September 4, 2009
What I Did for Class Today (And Other Things)
So today in Critical Thinking Skills the following was on the board:
"Write down three important aspects of your life plan in a piece of paper"
My paper looked like this:
"Life plan:
Get married
Have kids
Die peacefully
No srsly:
Finish college
Get a job
Start a family (or) fill the emptiness in my soul with material goods and hedonistic pleasure in a futile attempt to attain something resembling lifelong joy.
Third attempt:
Continue living
Avoid breaking the law
Avoid becoming homeless
Trying again:
Leave home after having made parents proud with good academic results and a respectable career
Raise a family
Ensure children leave home having made me proud with good academic results and a respectable career
One more, for fun:
Start a criminal empire
Cause the deaths of all who oppose me
With profits, build (and live on) a moonbase"
I presented the fourth one to the class.
So anyway, school today. I arrived early and started reading. I read a bit from The Lexus and The Olive Tree, then I read some of the Critical Thinking Skills textbook. When Juria arrived at college I handed her Breaking Dawn, which I had bought last night to cheer her up after I heard about how bad yesterday went.
Class started after that. My first Engineering Mathematics Applications class with Mr. Joel, my calculus teacher from last semester, was okay. He said that to the three of us there that the previous students had said it was a pretty easy subject. The class consisted of us learning about the course, doing some basic algebra (I made a few careless mistakes but I understood mostly all of it), and then retaking the first calculus quiz from last semester. I think this time I scored more than 2.175% out of 10%, so that was nice. Still, I'm hoping this is the last I see of calculus for a long while.
When the class was over I went to the computer lab for a while to pass the time between now and the next class. I went out to switch labs, but changed my mind and sat outside talking to Juria and her friends instead.
At eleven my next CTS class started, so I went to attend the lecture. Along the way I met Li Ying and Elo, who were trying to sit in for a CTS lecture they'd already heard because they had friends there or something. They found out that the class was already over or something, but I left before I could figure out what their problem was.
I got to class a few seconds before the lecturer. It was an interesting class. It ended a bit early, but I still had to rush if I wanted to make it to Christian Fellowship in the KPD block.
It had been raining while I was in college, so I got on my wet motorcycle and drove somewhat carefully to CF. I arrived in time to catch the last few worship songs and the offering. There were some icebreakers and skits by the groups to practice creativity and get started on our theme for that semester.
I came straight home after CF and bought some junk food to kill my hunger pangs. That was followed by a nice long nap, and now I'm typing this up.
So anyway, I think this'll be the last time I tag everyone I mention in these notes on Facebook. It's a bit silly to have people be notified about notes they're in and then have them wade through dozens of paragraphs about nonsense that happened to me that day only to find a phrase or two with a vague reference to them in it.
"Write down three important aspects of your life plan in a piece of paper"
My paper looked like this:
"Life plan:
Get married
Have kids
Die peacefully
No srsly:
Finish college
Get a job
Start a family (or) fill the emptiness in my soul with material goods and hedonistic pleasure in a futile attempt to attain something resembling lifelong joy.
Third attempt:
Continue living
Avoid breaking the law
Avoid becoming homeless
Trying again:
Leave home after having made parents proud with good academic results and a respectable career
Raise a family
Ensure children leave home having made me proud with good academic results and a respectable career
One more, for fun:
Start a criminal empire
Cause the deaths of all who oppose me
With profits, build (and live on) a moonbase"
I presented the fourth one to the class.
So anyway, school today. I arrived early and started reading. I read a bit from The Lexus and The Olive Tree, then I read some of the Critical Thinking Skills textbook. When Juria arrived at college I handed her Breaking Dawn, which I had bought last night to cheer her up after I heard about how bad yesterday went.
Class started after that. My first Engineering Mathematics Applications class with Mr. Joel, my calculus teacher from last semester, was okay. He said that to the three of us there that the previous students had said it was a pretty easy subject. The class consisted of us learning about the course, doing some basic algebra (I made a few careless mistakes but I understood mostly all of it), and then retaking the first calculus quiz from last semester. I think this time I scored more than 2.175% out of 10%, so that was nice. Still, I'm hoping this is the last I see of calculus for a long while.
When the class was over I went to the computer lab for a while to pass the time between now and the next class. I went out to switch labs, but changed my mind and sat outside talking to Juria and her friends instead.
At eleven my next CTS class started, so I went to attend the lecture. Along the way I met Li Ying and Elo, who were trying to sit in for a CTS lecture they'd already heard because they had friends there or something. They found out that the class was already over or something, but I left before I could figure out what their problem was.
I got to class a few seconds before the lecturer. It was an interesting class. It ended a bit early, but I still had to rush if I wanted to make it to Christian Fellowship in the KPD block.
It had been raining while I was in college, so I got on my wet motorcycle and drove somewhat carefully to CF. I arrived in time to catch the last few worship songs and the offering. There were some icebreakers and skits by the groups to practice creativity and get started on our theme for that semester.
I came straight home after CF and bought some junk food to kill my hunger pangs. That was followed by a nice long nap, and now I'm typing this up.
So anyway, I think this'll be the last time I tag everyone I mention in these notes on Facebook. It's a bit silly to have people be notified about notes they're in and then have them wade through dozens of paragraphs about nonsense that happened to me that day only to find a phrase or two with a vague reference to them in it.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
My Facebook Account Was Deactivated but Today is Still Awesome
I really need a nap, so let's see if I can make this short.
Went to college early today, met some friends (maybe, this could've happened later also), went to my first class (Engineering Mathematics Applications), got told by another lecturer that Mr. Joel was sick today so there wouldn't be a class, waited around to tell the rest of my classmates the news, met my classmates (who were all friendly people who I look forward to learning with), wrote that the class was cancelled on the whiteboard, hung out in the hall with Alessandra and her friend from the first semester, used the internet to check Facebook and stuff in the computer lab with Joanna and Nigel, went to my first Advanced English class (it looks like it'll be an okay subject except for the research paper. Also, the lecturer said that nobody in the current third semester got a HD for their Intermediate English, which makes me feel a bit proud of myself), got Juria's phone number from her so I could contact her to buy her Critical Thinking Skills textbook later, went to the computer lab to find that my Facebook account had been deactivated, e-mailed Facebook to ask why, went to find a place to read a book, told Ashley that Mr. Joel was sick today so Calculus would probably be cancelled, read a book, followed Juria to her car to buy her CTS textbook, met Mr. Joel outside a class because he decided to teach anyway despite being sick, explained Ashley's absence to Mr. Joel, helped Alessandra's first semester friend photocopy some Calculus notes, hung out with Joanna and Niri and company for lunch, went to the computer lab to see if my Facebook account was reactivated (it wasn't), attended my CTS class (it was the most interesting and fun class so far, and the textbook is also the most interesting one so far. I think I'll read through it just for the sake of a good read, not for study's sake), tried to find someone to have lunch with, failed, met up with Carmeni and Elo and company, said goodbye to aforementioned company, got on my motorcycle to go home, met aforementioned company briefly on the road again before overtaking them, got home, found nothing to eat, got on the computer, found my Facebook account was still deactivated, texted Juria to cheer her up, wrote this post in list form so I could fill out the details when I edit it and make it a note on Facebook (if I ever get reactivated).
I talked to a guy at college who said his Facebook account was deactivated but it was reactivated the next day, which gave me some hope. Then I googled "Account Deactivated Facebook" and read about some people who got their accounts back and some who didn't. Finally, when I got home, my sister told me about her friend whose account was deactivated and never reactivated, so now I'm worried again.
If I never get my old account back, I wonder whether I should start a new account or just not join Facebook. I hope I don't have to make that choice.
Anyway, one day I might expand this post into something coherent. I might forget the details, though, so this might be as good as it gets.
Oh yeah, I still haven't eaten anything since last night. I think that means I've been fasting for longer than most of my Malay friends have today. Huh.
Edit: My Facebook account was reactivated! Yaaay! The Facebook folks are quick at fixing mistakes made by their security system. Pleasant chaps, those guys.
Went to college early today, met some friends (maybe, this could've happened later also), went to my first class (Engineering Mathematics Applications), got told by another lecturer that Mr. Joel was sick today so there wouldn't be a class, waited around to tell the rest of my classmates the news, met my classmates (who were all friendly people who I look forward to learning with), wrote that the class was cancelled on the whiteboard, hung out in the hall with Alessandra and her friend from the first semester, used the internet to check Facebook and stuff in the computer lab with Joanna and Nigel, went to my first Advanced English class (it looks like it'll be an okay subject except for the research paper. Also, the lecturer said that nobody in the current third semester got a HD for their Intermediate English, which makes me feel a bit proud of myself), got Juria's phone number from her so I could contact her to buy her Critical Thinking Skills textbook later, went to the computer lab to find that my Facebook account had been deactivated, e-mailed Facebook to ask why, went to find a place to read a book, told Ashley that Mr. Joel was sick today so Calculus would probably be cancelled, read a book, followed Juria to her car to buy her CTS textbook, met Mr. Joel outside a class because he decided to teach anyway despite being sick, explained Ashley's absence to Mr. Joel, helped Alessandra's first semester friend photocopy some Calculus notes, hung out with Joanna and Niri and company for lunch, went to the computer lab to see if my Facebook account was reactivated (it wasn't), attended my CTS class (it was the most interesting and fun class so far, and the textbook is also the most interesting one so far. I think I'll read through it just for the sake of a good read, not for study's sake), tried to find someone to have lunch with, failed, met up with Carmeni and Elo and company, said goodbye to aforementioned company, got on my motorcycle to go home, met aforementioned company briefly on the road again before overtaking them, got home, found nothing to eat, got on the computer, found my Facebook account was still deactivated, texted Juria to cheer her up, wrote this post in list form so I could fill out the details when I edit it and make it a note on Facebook (if I ever get reactivated).
I talked to a guy at college who said his Facebook account was deactivated but it was reactivated the next day, which gave me some hope. Then I googled "Account Deactivated Facebook" and read about some people who got their accounts back and some who didn't. Finally, when I got home, my sister told me about her friend whose account was deactivated and never reactivated, so now I'm worried again.
If I never get my old account back, I wonder whether I should start a new account or just not join Facebook. I hope I don't have to make that choice.
Anyway, one day I might expand this post into something coherent. I might forget the details, though, so this might be as good as it gets.
Oh yeah, I still haven't eaten anything since last night. I think that means I've been fasting for longer than most of my Malay friends have today. Huh.
Edit: My Facebook account was reactivated! Yaaay! The Facebook folks are quick at fixing mistakes made by their security system. Pleasant chaps, those guys.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Semester Two, Day One
Alright, aside from losing my slot in Group F for Advanced English and having to put Moral Studies off until next semester, today was pretty great. A whole bunch of my friends showed up in the computer lab, and we talked about schedules and stuff while waiting for everything to get done so we could go for lunch. While we were there, my older brother Ian came to join us in waiting for lunch. He was in HELP to register for a course in Computing and Game Design or something like that. Anyway, him and my friend Joanna got along quite well, and they talked about his education and such until she had a better idea of his academic qualifications than I did. Ian and I spent some time bantering with each other, and I'm pretty sure he came out on top. Take note: bringing a sibling to meet your friends is a great way to lower your reputation among them. Still, it was fun.
When everyone was finally done with their registering and scheduling and whatever, we left for lunch. I thought we were going to McDonald's, but everyone else wanted to go to Ali Maju. While they tried to decide on which of the five Ali Majus to head to, I met Alessandra, who was in my Malaysian Studies group last semester. Apparently we're both in Advanced English this year, so I'm not going to be all alone this semester. Yay!
When the rest of the group had finally settled on which Ali Maju to go to, we set off for our trek across the college to get some food. Joanna got sidetracked by the Nigerian basketball team captain who has a crush on her, but we were all very hungry so we left her behind.
In the Ali Maju Ian asked why all my friends were girls. I tried to convince him that I had plenty of guy friends, but when I tried to name them I found that I only have two. Well, three if you count Nigel. Ian said that I've got too many girl friends, and that's the reason why I don't have any girlfriends. I agreed with him and pointed out how dudes with no guy friends usually end up with boyfriends.
Joanna joined us sometime during that conversation, and when we were done with that topic my brother moved on to telling my friends about how I was a bully in primary school and how I was responsible for getting all my siblings into home schooling with me. He described, in detail, exactly what I do when I laugh real hard, which made me laugh real hard, almost synching up to his descriptions.
When lunch was done all my friends were in agreement that my brother was a funny and awesome dude, and I was pretty scared about letting him meet them again in case he stole all my friends away from me.
After that I went to wait with Joanna for her next class. While we were waiting I met Juria, one of the girls from the third semester. I asked about buying her old textbooks, and she said she'd think about it. We kept talking until her class started, at which point she left to get educated and I left to go to meet the rest of my friends at the Department of Student Affairs.
When I got to the DSA Li Ying was playing pool, Carmeni was texting, and Elo was napping. I was a bit sad about the last bit, because she was in my favorite spot that I had been using for naps all of last semester. Elo woke up and asked if Ian was my real brother. Apparently we don't look much like each other at all, so she thought he was adopted or my step brother or something. Silly girl. After that we all listened (or pretended to listen) to Elo talk about her ridiculously huge family with thirty-something cousins or whatever before going on to discuss whether or not having a thing for your cousins is weird (I was on the "You guys, it totally is" side).
When that was, Elo went back to napping and Li Ying went back to pool. I practiced reciting 1 Corinthians 13 and the Beatitudes to Carmeni a bit before we somehow got into an argument over whether 16 or 18 was the legal age of consent. I ran off to the computer lab to prove her wrong, and came back victorious. It's 16, says so in Article 375 of the Criminal Code or something. Look it up, yo. I also looked up the verses I had forgotten from Corinthians and the Beatitudes, so whoever used that computer next would be confronted with some pretty weird search history.
Anyway, it was time for our classes so we left the DSA to our respective classrooms. Physics was fun. The lecturer's a cool dude, the subject matter is interesting, and judging by the course outline it should be easier than Calculus. I was sitting at the front and asking questions the whole time, so I think I came off as a bit of a twat to the other students.
After Physics was finished I met up with my friends again, talked for a bit, and then left on my motorcycle. While I was waiting for traffic to clear up before leaving college, some guy drove up to me and told me to "Just go lah". Yeah, thanks buddy, but I don't think so. I've still got wounds on my arm and a missing indicator on my motorcycle from the last time I followed that piece of advice.
So yeah, all in all it was a pretty great day.
When everyone was finally done with their registering and scheduling and whatever, we left for lunch. I thought we were going to McDonald's, but everyone else wanted to go to Ali Maju. While they tried to decide on which of the five Ali Majus to head to, I met Alessandra, who was in my Malaysian Studies group last semester. Apparently we're both in Advanced English this year, so I'm not going to be all alone this semester. Yay!
When the rest of the group had finally settled on which Ali Maju to go to, we set off for our trek across the college to get some food. Joanna got sidetracked by the Nigerian basketball team captain who has a crush on her, but we were all very hungry so we left her behind.
In the Ali Maju Ian asked why all my friends were girls. I tried to convince him that I had plenty of guy friends, but when I tried to name them I found that I only have two. Well, three if you count Nigel. Ian said that I've got too many girl friends, and that's the reason why I don't have any girlfriends. I agreed with him and pointed out how dudes with no guy friends usually end up with boyfriends.
Joanna joined us sometime during that conversation, and when we were done with that topic my brother moved on to telling my friends about how I was a bully in primary school and how I was responsible for getting all my siblings into home schooling with me. He described, in detail, exactly what I do when I laugh real hard, which made me laugh real hard, almost synching up to his descriptions.
When lunch was done all my friends were in agreement that my brother was a funny and awesome dude, and I was pretty scared about letting him meet them again in case he stole all my friends away from me.
After that I went to wait with Joanna for her next class. While we were waiting I met Juria, one of the girls from the third semester. I asked about buying her old textbooks, and she said she'd think about it. We kept talking until her class started, at which point she left to get educated and I left to go to meet the rest of my friends at the Department of Student Affairs.
When I got to the DSA Li Ying was playing pool, Carmeni was texting, and Elo was napping. I was a bit sad about the last bit, because she was in my favorite spot that I had been using for naps all of last semester. Elo woke up and asked if Ian was my real brother. Apparently we don't look much like each other at all, so she thought he was adopted or my step brother or something. Silly girl. After that we all listened (or pretended to listen) to Elo talk about her ridiculously huge family with thirty-something cousins or whatever before going on to discuss whether or not having a thing for your cousins is weird (I was on the "You guys, it totally is" side).
When that was, Elo went back to napping and Li Ying went back to pool. I practiced reciting 1 Corinthians 13 and the Beatitudes to Carmeni a bit before we somehow got into an argument over whether 16 or 18 was the legal age of consent. I ran off to the computer lab to prove her wrong, and came back victorious. It's 16, says so in Article 375 of the Criminal Code or something. Look it up, yo. I also looked up the verses I had forgotten from Corinthians and the Beatitudes, so whoever used that computer next would be confronted with some pretty weird search history.
Anyway, it was time for our classes so we left the DSA to our respective classrooms. Physics was fun. The lecturer's a cool dude, the subject matter is interesting, and judging by the course outline it should be easier than Calculus. I was sitting at the front and asking questions the whole time, so I think I came off as a bit of a twat to the other students.
After Physics was finished I met up with my friends again, talked for a bit, and then left on my motorcycle. While I was waiting for traffic to clear up before leaving college, some guy drove up to me and told me to "Just go lah". Yeah, thanks buddy, but I don't think so. I've still got wounds on my arm and a missing indicator on my motorcycle from the last time I followed that piece of advice.
So yeah, all in all it was a pretty great day.
Dang Slots
The first day of the second semester did not start so well for me. Despite coming in at only a little past 10 o'clock, I was too late to register for for the best Moral Studies group, so I had to try to and get into one that didn't clash with my other subjects. This was an impossible task, and even after leaving both my English and CTS groups and trying every combination left, I still couldn't make it work. I went to the admin desk for help and the guy there told me that I would just have to drop Moral and do it next semester. Next semester was supposed to be my easiest and least crowded semester. Oh well.
After that I had to sign up for my old groups in CTS and English, but I only managed to get into the former. I had to search English for a new group because some opportunist out there stole my old slot. I ended up in group E, so now I've got a bunch more morning classes but at least I've got a group.
My first class of the semester starts at 3:30. I'm just going to chill in the computer lab and perhaps check the hallway occasionally for familiar faces until then.
After that I had to sign up for my old groups in CTS and English, but I only managed to get into the former. I had to search English for a new group because some opportunist out there stole my old slot. I ended up in group E, so now I've got a bunch more morning classes but at least I've got a group.
My first class of the semester starts at 3:30. I'm just going to chill in the computer lab and perhaps check the hallway occasionally for familiar faces until then.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Long Hair
Calico is fine. Yay! Anyway, here's a slightly interesting (at best) story of what I did today.
So I went to college today to try and sell my books from last semester and also to ask some questions about the second semester. I got most of my questions answered but none of my books sold.
I met some friends from last semester, Effe and Jia Yin, when I was waiting to ask a question at the admin desk. Jia Yin was also selling her books. I went looking for her notice so I could see what I should do when I put my own up, but I couldn't find it.
I met the girls again in one of the computer labs and tried to convince them to change their groupings so we'd be in some classes together and I wouldn't be all alone, but I couldn't get them to. I guess I'll have to make some new friends next semester.
After that they went to the toilet and didn't come back. Then I met another friend from last semester, Azri. He was helping his friend sign up for some stuff. We talked about results and schedules and the emptiest subjects (Internet Principles and Engineering Mathematics Applications, with 20 and 18 empty slots respectively) until they went back to the hostel.
I decided to go out and look for Jia Yin's secondhand textbook notice. Along the way I saw a couple of guys I had met at my Poker Night at my friend's house a few days earlier. Anyway, I found the notice and it looked very nice, but it said that she was selling her Computing Principles book, which I had heard was not part of the curriculum anymore.
I went to find the girls again to tell Jia Yin about her notice and the curriculum change. When I reached them, they were sitting at a table near the stairs and commenting on everyone walking past. We talked for a bit before the girls had to go to the toilet again. This time Effe said they'd leave their bags at the table so that they'd have to come back.
After they returned we talked a bit more before leaving to go wait for the bus. At the bus stop we talked about our first day at college and our first impressions of each other. They girls thought it was cool that they actually got to personally meet a "Western Nerd". I just took that as a compliment. They also told me that I should grow my hair long, which I guess I'll do.
Then bus arrived, so we got on and they talked me through the process of using a public bus, since I hadn't been in one in years. It was an educational experience for sure. I got off at the stop nearest to home and walked the rest of the way.
So I went to college today to try and sell my books from last semester and also to ask some questions about the second semester. I got most of my questions answered but none of my books sold.
I met some friends from last semester, Effe and Jia Yin, when I was waiting to ask a question at the admin desk. Jia Yin was also selling her books. I went looking for her notice so I could see what I should do when I put my own up, but I couldn't find it.
I met the girls again in one of the computer labs and tried to convince them to change their groupings so we'd be in some classes together and I wouldn't be all alone, but I couldn't get them to. I guess I'll have to make some new friends next semester.
After that they went to the toilet and didn't come back. Then I met another friend from last semester, Azri. He was helping his friend sign up for some stuff. We talked about results and schedules and the emptiest subjects (Internet Principles and Engineering Mathematics Applications, with 20 and 18 empty slots respectively) until they went back to the hostel.
I decided to go out and look for Jia Yin's secondhand textbook notice. Along the way I saw a couple of guys I had met at my Poker Night at my friend's house a few days earlier. Anyway, I found the notice and it looked very nice, but it said that she was selling her Computing Principles book, which I had heard was not part of the curriculum anymore.
I went to find the girls again to tell Jia Yin about her notice and the curriculum change. When I reached them, they were sitting at a table near the stairs and commenting on everyone walking past. We talked for a bit before the girls had to go to the toilet again. This time Effe said they'd leave their bags at the table so that they'd have to come back.
After they returned we talked a bit more before leaving to go wait for the bus. At the bus stop we talked about our first day at college and our first impressions of each other. They girls thought it was cool that they actually got to personally meet a "Western Nerd". I just took that as a compliment. They also told me that I should grow my hair long, which I guess I'll do.
Then bus arrived, so we got on and they talked me through the process of using a public bus, since I hadn't been in one in years. It was an educational experience for sure. I got off at the stop nearest to home and walked the rest of the way.
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