Hello guys I am back! Now, i am going to talk about my first ever long distance cycling experience. I always had this impression that cycling was damn easy. Before SPM, I tried so hard to convince my parents to allow me to do something crazy- cycle down to KL to raise funds for Food Bank Penang. Well what the heck , it's just cycling and I rarely get tired from cycling. No that was stupid, that was immature of course. After participating in this Le Tour De Penang organized by the so-called Knights of the Round Table, I have had a change of mind. Le Tour De Penang is some sort of fellowship ride, not a race. It was supposed to be a 60km cycling event. We were to start from Padang Kota, head out to Teluk Bahang and back. That was already 60km. However, on that day, we were told that there was yet another route, a further route and a definitely much more challenging route where participants had to cycle to Checkpoint 1 at Teluk Bahang and then head up the hills and down again to Balik Pulau(yes from Padang Kota). Of course, 80% of the 1000 or so participants took the Teluk Bahang route.
Only a few cycling enthusiasts and veterans took the Balik Pulau Checkpoint 2 challenge. From checkpoint1 one can already see how steep the road up the Teluk Bahang dam is and that probably deterred many from trying out the Balik Pulau trip. Initially, I, together with my younger sister decided not to take up that challenge since it was our first time at a cycling event. 5minutes through and I turned back and headed for Checkpoint2. I am still not too sure why I did that but it was probably the feeling of "tak syok" if I did not take up the challenge. If I want to do something, I'll go for it all the way. That's me , even though sometimes I am acting pandai-pandai;.
So, I buat pandai-pandailah go for the "veterans only" checkpoint2. Boy, the first part was already terribly steep and took much effort to go uphill on a bike. Then, having passed the Teluk Bahang Dam ordeal, a more challenging path was laid before my eyes. The steep yet winding roads to Balik Pulau. Initially, surprisingly I did pass a few guys who were not first timers and the roads were still bearable for me. And then, it became harder and harder for me. I never did regret for taking the path though. AT one point, I was totally alone with no cars passing, no cyclists in front nor behind me and worst of all I was along one of the quiet winding roads at one of the highest points of the hill. I was totally alone. The forest were right beside me on my left and thank god I had my MP3 with me. Then, the sound of sudden movement in the dense jungle beside me cut through the silence surrounding me and it was so loud I could hear it even with the MP3 plugged in my ears. A chill ran through my spine. I cycled faster fearing it could've been a wild animal stalking me or worst, a supernatural being!!! Then, luckily, a tour bus came passed by and soon my bicycle accelerated as the roads began going downhill. Of course, the downhill portion of my ride was simply splendid. Then, I was cycling on flat ground. It's amazing to see vast and endless paddy fields as you cycle past these villages. And suddenly, you realize this is Penang. How can this be? I have never actually seen the other side of Penang until now. Even when I go to Balik Pulau, it's just the city centre that I'll get to see.
So I paddled and paddled, and all the cyclists who were already on the opposite side of the road going back while I was going to checkpoint 2 all greeted me with a smile(i dono if it was laughing at me for being pandai-pandai eventhough i was so slow or amazed at me, being a daring amateur who's also buat pandai-pandai ) and 2 of them even saluted me. Nevertheless, that section seemed never ending. Villages and villages swept by and I was beginning to feel the real pain and there it was just around the corner, a van with few orange knights of the round table- checkpoint 2. Then I resumed my journey, stopped at a grocery store for ice-cream(it was a hot day ok. even though I had paddle pop but it was real refreshing). After cycling more another 20 minutes, a MPPP truck to sweep up all the cyclists and fetch us back to Padang Kota for we were already out of time. Surprisingly, I was not the first, in fact there were 9 other adults who dressed very professionally unlike me behind me! (YAY! small applause for myself) As more and more cyclists were swept up, it became real crowded for us standing amidst the bicycles on the open truck. People were laughing at us whenever we passed by. Cyclist wannabes who could not finish the journey yet took the challenging path. Of course a few of them blamed the roti canai during breakfast for not being able to complete the journey and some said their seats were to hard it hurt their butts(it happened to me too). Then, when the truck reached Island Plaza, we agreed to cycle from there to Padang Kota, giving the false impression to the others at Pdang Kota that we have in fact finished the journey, saving us some face.
Of course, we were tired like we've been to hell when we were greeted with goodies bags and nasi kandar at padang kota when we arrived. There was a lucky draw as usual and the event ended with two lucky winners going home with a brand new Proton mountain bike. the no for the grandprize was 246 and my sister's was 245. Well what the heck! whats not urs isnt!
p/s :The photos will be uploaded tomorrow
signing off as its getting late(dont want to be late for work)
;)
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Friday 26 December 2008
Tour De Kuala Lumpur
And so on a sunny morning, three nerds stood gallantly on the more than majestic Platform 11/12 of the Royal Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal. As we boarded the bus in our shining armour, The Chung Ling Maths Nerds Envoy bade goodbye to Penang and began their long journey to Kuala Lumpur, the battlefield. Prepared to fight to their deaths, the 3 mathsketeers geared themselves up throughout the treacherous journey on the PLUS highway. One was to deal with the secondary school questions in 30minutes, the 2nd player was to finish 3 sets of sudokus in 30 minutes too and the last player(the brainy one) was to complete the more than challenging 30 IQ questions. We stopped at Klang, had our stomachs full of chicken rice and we were soon navigating through the extremely confusing roads of Klang in my beloved aunt Joon's Iswara. I'd really like to thank her for being so helpful throughout this trip. Not only did she ferried us around, but also so willingly allowed us to "tumpang" in her home. That was Friday.
Saturday. We arrived early fortunately for we could not locate HELP University College at first as we had to go down 2 flights of stairs before seeing a small door with HELP labelled above it.
I came in late for the briefing and 200 pairs of eyes were fixed upon me, scurrying across the front stage, apologizing repeatedly to the speaker. Then, my phone rang and I had to pick it up for it was Fahmi, Yokepin's contact person in KL who will be selling the AAK calendars at the KL Central Market. After making some arrangements, my aunt managed to pass the calendars to Fahmi while I calmed myself down for the competition. I was the first player.
Went in the "exam" room as my other friends waited alongside other player 2 and 3s. We were supposed to wear out school uniforms. However, a few boys and girls just dont seem to understand and some even wore hot pants to a maths competition. Boy, the question was quite tough but thankfully I managed to pull it through though not in a perfect manner. At the end of it, we were served Nasi Lemak for lunch. After 2 hours of long wait, we were finally allowed to enter the auditorium for the results. At that time, we were prepared not to get anything back. A net loss was definite as Kok Wei, too felt that he did badly at that time. We were team 4. ANd heres how the announcement went:
The first of the 3 finalists is team fourrrrrrrrrrrrrteen. Ahhh!
Second team , team fouuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrtyseven. My god!
Third team, team fourrrrrrrrrrrrrr(and that was the end)
Hah! Our legs went soft. We sat at our respective positions on stage and so the quiz began. And, miraculously, we won! The first prize for goodness sakes!!!!! Money and full scholarship to study A levels at HELP for the three of us. Gossssh!
Kok Wei playing the "mrbean" game during break
When we returned to our seats, the most astonishing and should i say thing to be proud of for me was the girls sitting behind me asked for my autograph and of course, I was shocked, petrified and of course (syoksendiri dan banggalah). I dont even know them, have not even spoken a word to them throughout the competition and here they are asking for my autograph. This was the first time someone actually asked for MY autograph, hence a historic day it is for me! Hence, of course I did give it to them and initiated a conversation with them until I was interrupted by the emcee (darn, i was about to get their emails or phone no.s)well, one has to stay connected with one's fans kan. (call me thick skinlah but i still feel very syokleh ;) )
We are so GAY(happy that is)!!!!
Nothing is ever complete without my signature post ;)
Then , our shopping journey began:
-Took a taxi to KL Central
-Took the Rapid KL to Pasar Seni
-Wandered around asking people how to get to Pudu from there
-Amazed at the number of immigrants in KL( everywhere we go, on the bus, Pudu 51 % of the -people there were not Malaysians in the Malaysian capital, how ironic)
-Bought engkeong n kokweis tickets
-took the LRT to Berjaya Times Square
-nearly got into a brawl with 6 Malay samsengs who was cari pasaling with us, since there were only 3 of us who were not locals. One of them deliberately hit the water bottle I was holding and I shouted loudly at him. He was kinda shocked became mad and came forward asking for a fight. Then I realized there's no good giving in to such a moron's wish- that is for a fight. Being a boy with severe inferiority complex, he must have wanted to flex his muscles in Berjaya Times Square. Seeing that we were 3 nerds who were not locals while there were 6 of them hooligans, we could not have possibly won and boy they looked dangerous. Hence, we kinda quickly scurried off. Hah! Degenerates! - that was the only bad experience that we had.
- after strolling around for another 3 hours, we took the LRT back to KL Central
-from Kl Central, we took the superbly crowded KTM Komuter to Subang Jaya
- then we met this really really nice Malay bus driver who offered to send us right to my aunts house even though buses dont go as far as my aunts house. He was real friendly, helpful and well he did look like TOm Cruise, no wonder all the Indonesian girls were all sitting next to him, trying to catch a wink i suppose.
Sunday- my friends went back first as I scouted around for colleges together with my uncle
Monday- took a bus back from Klang. the driver was another asshole. my grandfather who's really sick and weak, was walking quite slowly back to the bus from the restroom and yes the bus was waiting for him. And the driver was like telling the other driver impatiently :
"aiyo apek jalan begitu lambat. tgklah dia, jalan relax sje, tgk dia jalan pun taulah dia. slow slow sje
aiyo apek cepatlah. haiyerrrr! "
Stupid fellow. You seem to forget that one day u will grow old and weak too. Takda brains memang takda brains punya organismlah.
And that was my trip to KL. Now, being extremely exhausted after cycling from Padang Kota all the way to Balik Pulau, I can no longer blog on this great experience of mine.
So long!
Saturday. We arrived early fortunately for we could not locate HELP University College at first as we had to go down 2 flights of stairs before seeing a small door with HELP labelled above it.
I came in late for the briefing and 200 pairs of eyes were fixed upon me, scurrying across the front stage, apologizing repeatedly to the speaker. Then, my phone rang and I had to pick it up for it was Fahmi, Yokepin's contact person in KL who will be selling the AAK calendars at the KL Central Market. After making some arrangements, my aunt managed to pass the calendars to Fahmi while I calmed myself down for the competition. I was the first player.
Went in the "exam" room as my other friends waited alongside other player 2 and 3s. We were supposed to wear out school uniforms. However, a few boys and girls just dont seem to understand and some even wore hot pants to a maths competition. Boy, the question was quite tough but thankfully I managed to pull it through though not in a perfect manner. At the end of it, we were served Nasi Lemak for lunch. After 2 hours of long wait, we were finally allowed to enter the auditorium for the results. At that time, we were prepared not to get anything back. A net loss was definite as Kok Wei, too felt that he did badly at that time. We were team 4. ANd heres how the announcement went:
The first of the 3 finalists is team fourrrrrrrrrrrrrteen. Ahhh!
Second team , team fouuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrtyseven. My god!
Third team, team fourrrrrrrrrrrrrr(and that was the end)
Hah! Our legs went soft. We sat at our respective positions on stage and so the quiz began. And, miraculously, we won! The first prize for goodness sakes!!!!! Money and full scholarship to study A levels at HELP for the three of us. Gossssh!
Kok Wei playing the "mrbean" game during break
When we returned to our seats, the most astonishing and should i say thing to be proud of for me was the girls sitting behind me asked for my autograph and of course, I was shocked, petrified and of course (syoksendiri dan banggalah). I dont even know them, have not even spoken a word to them throughout the competition and here they are asking for my autograph. This was the first time someone actually asked for MY autograph, hence a historic day it is for me! Hence, of course I did give it to them and initiated a conversation with them until I was interrupted by the emcee (darn, i was about to get their emails or phone no.s)well, one has to stay connected with one's fans kan. (call me thick skinlah but i still feel very syokleh ;) )
We are so GAY(happy that is)!!!!
Nothing is ever complete without my signature post ;)Then , our shopping journey began:
-Took a taxi to KL Central
-Took the Rapid KL to Pasar Seni
-Wandered around asking people how to get to Pudu from there
-Amazed at the number of immigrants in KL( everywhere we go, on the bus, Pudu 51 % of the -people there were not Malaysians in the Malaysian capital, how ironic)
-Bought engkeong n kokweis tickets
-took the LRT to Berjaya Times Square
-nearly got into a brawl with 6 Malay samsengs who was cari pasaling with us, since there were only 3 of us who were not locals. One of them deliberately hit the water bottle I was holding and I shouted loudly at him. He was kinda shocked became mad and came forward asking for a fight. Then I realized there's no good giving in to such a moron's wish- that is for a fight. Being a boy with severe inferiority complex, he must have wanted to flex his muscles in Berjaya Times Square. Seeing that we were 3 nerds who were not locals while there were 6 of them hooligans, we could not have possibly won and boy they looked dangerous. Hence, we kinda quickly scurried off. Hah! Degenerates! - that was the only bad experience that we had.
- after strolling around for another 3 hours, we took the LRT back to KL Central
-from Kl Central, we took the superbly crowded KTM Komuter to Subang Jaya
- then we met this really really nice Malay bus driver who offered to send us right to my aunts house even though buses dont go as far as my aunts house. He was real friendly, helpful and well he did look like TOm Cruise, no wonder all the Indonesian girls were all sitting next to him, trying to catch a wink i suppose.
Sunday- my friends went back first as I scouted around for colleges together with my uncle
Monday- took a bus back from Klang. the driver was another asshole. my grandfather who's really sick and weak, was walking quite slowly back to the bus from the restroom and yes the bus was waiting for him. And the driver was like telling the other driver impatiently :
"aiyo apek jalan begitu lambat. tgklah dia, jalan relax sje, tgk dia jalan pun taulah dia. slow slow sje
aiyo apek cepatlah. haiyerrrr! "
Stupid fellow. You seem to forget that one day u will grow old and weak too. Takda brains memang takda brains punya organismlah.
And that was my trip to KL. Now, being extremely exhausted after cycling from Padang Kota all the way to Balik Pulau, I can no longer blog on this great experience of mine.
So long!
Tuesday 16 December 2008
First day at work
Oooooh I am so excited! :) Today is the first day I am going to work at a hospital , as a volunteer of course and I am really excited and happy knowing that I'll not only be able to adapt myself to working environment but also knowing that I have not wasted my holiday being a couch potato like what I did after PMR. Yes, this time will be much different. I will soon be real busy with Anak-anak Kota work with Janet, Yoke Pin and my mum. Back to the story, And so I woke up at 6.30am, hopped on my brand new bike and off I go cycling with my sister. Then, we headed off for Adventist Hospital located just opposite OneStop or more commonly known as Looking Good. Reported in, met the real friendly Ms Wong in charge of the Adventist Volunteer Service, answered a few questions, read the Volunteer Guidebook and soon enough Ms Wong led me on a tour of the hospital.
Then I started work. I was to help out at the reception or registration counter. Boy, thankfully my seniors who were like older sisters such as June who was my best friend there, "Auntie" who's been working there for 20 years, Sister Prema who helps us send the registration forms done to different departments and Ms Dorris who's really cute and naughty. They were really friendly and they really guided me and helped me out. Here, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation and many thanks especially to June who has been a great colleague from whom I learned a lot (plus she treated me to a piece of a SUPERBLY rich and sweet chocolate cake heehee!!!).
I did some paperwork, showed patients around the hospital, had my free lunch at the cafeteria ,carried goods around the hospital and tried to comfort a poor senior patient who lost her entire luggage of medicine and clothings at the Penang International Airport. It was a real eye-opener for me and it was fun! If you were a patient or a visitor today, one of the first people that would've greeted you would be ME, sitting right in front of the large "Adventist Hospital - The passion to heal, the heart to care" board shining down on me. ;) Not only that, I had the privilege of using the toilet with the sign saying " No admittance. Staff only". What an honour! LOL. We were really busy in the morning as patients kept pouring in and most of them were Indonesian Chinese. That , surprised me. At a glance, they all looked like the typical Malaysian Chinese, they spoke Chinese and some even spoke Hokkien, but when they started conversing in Bahasa Melayu with the "true" receptionists I was helping out, the Indonesian accent kinda freaked me out.
OF all the sections or departments i visited, I decided that I would like to be a volunteer at the Dialysis centre. All the people there looked really depressed and it really gets into me too. Yes, who wouldnt. Hence, I hope I will be able to have the opportunity to be a volunteer there. If given the opportunity, I'd really like to go up to them and just talk to them and listen to them talk, just to be a companion, make their 4 hour session a happy one,just to let them know that people do care about them, remind them of how they can still live a happy life. Yes, I am not a saint. I may not be able to do just all that. No, I cant. But I'll try my best. Somehow I feel that I have that special connection or tendency to communicate, interact and care for the less fortunate especially senior citizens ever since I helped my mum out for the " care for the senior citizens" program organized by my mum at our residents association when I was in Form 1 or 2. That I have to say was a good program. Hence, it would be my great pleasure if I were to be given the chance to serve at the dialysis center.
As a conclusion, considering the fact that I have not only learned more about what working life's like, experiencing the working environment and stress people face working in a hospital but also made new friends.
Alas,
Thank you June!
Thank you Auntie for giving me that encouraging smile the first time you introduced me to Ms Wong and also all those times when I felt really lost and stupid.
Thank you Sis Prema for being my friend and helping me out.
Thank you Ms Dorris for making me carry rolls and rolls of paper and thank you Ms Wong for believing in me!
Then I started work. I was to help out at the reception or registration counter. Boy, thankfully my seniors who were like older sisters such as June who was my best friend there, "Auntie" who's been working there for 20 years, Sister Prema who helps us send the registration forms done to different departments and Ms Dorris who's really cute and naughty. They were really friendly and they really guided me and helped me out. Here, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation and many thanks especially to June who has been a great colleague from whom I learned a lot (plus she treated me to a piece of a SUPERBLY rich and sweet chocolate cake heehee!!!).
I did some paperwork, showed patients around the hospital, had my free lunch at the cafeteria ,carried goods around the hospital and tried to comfort a poor senior patient who lost her entire luggage of medicine and clothings at the Penang International Airport. It was a real eye-opener for me and it was fun! If you were a patient or a visitor today, one of the first people that would've greeted you would be ME, sitting right in front of the large "Adventist Hospital - The passion to heal, the heart to care" board shining down on me. ;) Not only that, I had the privilege of using the toilet with the sign saying " No admittance. Staff only". What an honour! LOL. We were really busy in the morning as patients kept pouring in and most of them were Indonesian Chinese. That , surprised me. At a glance, they all looked like the typical Malaysian Chinese, they spoke Chinese and some even spoke Hokkien, but when they started conversing in Bahasa Melayu with the "true" receptionists I was helping out, the Indonesian accent kinda freaked me out.
OF all the sections or departments i visited, I decided that I would like to be a volunteer at the Dialysis centre. All the people there looked really depressed and it really gets into me too. Yes, who wouldnt. Hence, I hope I will be able to have the opportunity to be a volunteer there. If given the opportunity, I'd really like to go up to them and just talk to them and listen to them talk, just to be a companion, make their 4 hour session a happy one,just to let them know that people do care about them, remind them of how they can still live a happy life. Yes, I am not a saint. I may not be able to do just all that. No, I cant. But I'll try my best. Somehow I feel that I have that special connection or tendency to communicate, interact and care for the less fortunate especially senior citizens ever since I helped my mum out for the " care for the senior citizens" program organized by my mum at our residents association when I was in Form 1 or 2. That I have to say was a good program. Hence, it would be my great pleasure if I were to be given the chance to serve at the dialysis center.
As a conclusion, considering the fact that I have not only learned more about what working life's like, experiencing the working environment and stress people face working in a hospital but also made new friends.
Alas,
Thank you June!
Thank you Auntie for giving me that encouraging smile the first time you introduced me to Ms Wong and also all those times when I felt really lost and stupid.
Thank you Sis Prema for being my friend and helping me out.
Thank you Ms Dorris for making me carry rolls and rolls of paper and thank you Ms Wong for believing in me!
Saturday 13 December 2008
Saturday
And so someone finally decided to take the initiative to organize a 6M primary school reunion and no the person was'nt me, it wasn't any of the boys in 6M and no we're not ashamed of ourselves for not doing so or maybe just a little. I would like to thank our old classmate Eelyn for that. The venue: Seoul Garden, Gurney Plaza. Somehow most gatherings are held at Seoul Garden. hmmmm..... The last time I had lunch there, it cost me RM19.90 and now suddenly, just because its a Saturday, the price nearly doubled. There were 3 tables booked for us altogether. One was an all males table, another all female table and lastly the "mixed" table. Most of the boys and girls were still shy. Level of communication was way low. I was expecting all of us to be mingling freely as it should be in a reunion. Yeah we were shy. But, I did succeed in overcoming the shyness in me though not totally ;). And do accept my sincere apologies Ms Agnes as I have yet again failed to recognize you( you have to understand you did not have hazel brown eyes at the start of the year;) )
I would say most of my male classmates were really shy too as was I initially. My mum would say typical Chung Ling boys. Yeah, I find that to be really true. Most Chung Ling boys just dont seem to be able to communicate well with the opposite sex. Yes, I have to admit that. I have seen a lot of such cases though there are,few, of those who interact really well and in some cases "exceptionally" well with girls;)
For most of the Chung Ling boys I realized, are not a friendly lot. There was this instance where a Malay girl about the same age as me tried to initiate a conversation with one of my schoolmate by asking him his age and school but he turned away, not answering the question. He turned to another friend and told him the Malay girl was nuts talking to him when she doesnt really know him at all. Come on, we are all students of the same class of a driving school. And mind you, that isnt the only case I have witnessed. In some cases, i also tend to feel that Chung Ling students regardless of their age tend to be slightly snobbish and most of the time even arrogant if u, one can really smell the air of "confidence" or should I say gigantic ego and pride carried around with them. Hence, they feel they are of an upper class which of course I do not agree. Yes there are such people. But, no I am not condemning the school. It's a fact. However, pls be advised that NOT ALL Chung Ling students are as such. There are the gentlemen, the knights in shining armor who may gallop into ur everyday life once a while ---- and by that I am referring to the writer of this blog- ME. (sticks tongue out) ;) vanity perhaps )
after lunch, a group photo was taken at the foyer of Gurney Plaza and some of us went to watch the Day the Earth stood still. Nice movie I must say, though it maybe short (1.5 hours) for RM 10. It's practically about us human beings being green criminals and villains. Nice show once again. Dont miss it!
" A friend in need is a true friend indeed."
Sometimes, one just finds a true friend even thru small events that occur.
Hence, special thanks to my dear friend Yee Hau for giving me a lift home. If not for Yee Hau, I would've been squatting along Gurney Drive for 2 hours till 8.45pm waiting for the T304 Rapid Penang bus which is so EFFICIENT by the way even after the complaints made! Indeed, a true friend who comes to save me ,in not a shining armor but a Harrier, shall be cherished. You have my gratitude, Mr Entao Leow!
Sunday
StarWalk!! Arghh! The bozo wakes up early, gets dressed and heads out to Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) with his family at 6.15am. The crowd was big as usual. Though I have to say, the Starwalk this year was badly organized. Most of the participants were told to gather before the finishing line and so we, as obedient citizens did. The finishing line was far apart from the starting point where the governor was supposed to flag off the race and people were sardine-packed behind the finishing line. And, the next thing we knew, a faint sound of a gunshot was heard and far in front of us, the other participants who were far in front at the starting point started off and we seeing that, wrestled out of the crowd and followed. Hence, it can be said that it was really unfair for all of us behind the finishing line as we were told to do so. Most of the people were also in the mist. We were told to gather there and the marshals would instruct us to go forward to the starting point when the time came. Hence, when i arrived after the long walk, there was a group of veteran athletes voicing out their dissatisfaction over the issue and some complained to the marshals. But what can they do?
The next thing that I can really laugh at, yet get exasperated at was the attitude of some of the participants in the competition category which I am in. Children, teenagers and fully grown adults cheated. Yeah they were not supposed to run and yet they did. This is Starwalk ar Uncle not Starrun. Come onlah you pay and come for a competition like this and you want to cheat ar. Aiyo sia suilah begini. Memang ada 13-17 year old boys who refuse to obey the rules so that they may be able to get a prize. But Adults doing that???? Come onlah! That is unacceptable and yes they do know that they should not run. It wasnt their first time because they knew that the marshals stationed along the route would take their numbers down if they did run and not walk and disqualify them. So, the participants this year got more cunning and sly, they no longer needed to look back and forth the route to ensure that no marshal was looking while they ran., they simply took off their numbers pinned behind and in front of their Tshirt and so the marshals could not disqualify them as there were no numbers to identify who they were. One of them had their numbers in hand and pinned them back on when they were about to reach the finishing line. Come onlah, have sportsmanshiplah. Pathetic man! They are not only making a fool out of themselves but also, depriving other adults from what they deserve.
One particular case impressed me the most. 2 men in their 40s jogged passed me(yes its against the rules) but what they did was extraordinary and was definitely for the good of their family. They obtain the wristbands for their family members which must be worn by every participant. Then, the event started and they jogged happily with their bulging biceps and triceps, till they reached nearly half the route where their wives and kids were waiting for him on the opposite side of the road. They crossed over to receive the wristbands from their amazing fathers and started walking when we as obedient participants with principles and sportsmanship can only look on as our muscles start to ache after walking thru 5km of hell(no it wasnt that bad) . That's just outright cheating. Yes, even if they did win, what is there to be proud of? As a father, he thinks he's doing his job , but is he??? What he does not realize is he's instilling the value of cheating, the value of doing whatever it takes to get to the top in his sons and daughters. It's a disgrace. Of course, I happen to see one of my Chung Ling schoolmates doing things like that too. Pathetic.
This year, my inspiration came from a 70 odd years old uncle who walked along side me for part of the journey and yes soon he was far ahead of me already. He too condemned those mentioned above. I followed his pace, his rythm whenever I could spot him. He's fast, real fast for some one his age. Thats why he has my salutations and respect.
Then came the lucky draw, long awaited by the 13,000 participants. As the value of the prizes grew bigger and bigger as mentioned by the emcee, the patience of the people grew thinner and thinner. Furthermore among the lucky numbers chosen, there were instances where numbers like 09921, 09922, 09923, 09924, 09925 and even 09929 were kinda "coincidentally" picked and that is not the only case. However for those having the numbers from03000 till 04000 and 06000 till 07000 had no luck at all as not one number was selected for these two thousand unfortunate people. Well, what the heck, yes I do want the Suzuki motorbikes but well whats not yours isnt urs then. Of course we met all kinds of people there. There were also those inconsiderate enough who will take ur newspaper even knowing that its urs while u read the Sunday section and place the main section of the papers right beside u after reading it without asking. There are also those who would stand in front of a whole group of audience , blocking everyones vision and yet throw tantrums and refuse to move away even when told nicely to do so. It's really hard to believe how such people can have such "thick skins" as the Hokkiens would call it.
P/S :The photos will be uploaded as soon as possible once i get it from dear Eugene.
Signing off, really tired. :)
And so someone finally decided to take the initiative to organize a 6M primary school reunion and no the person was'nt me, it wasn't any of the boys in 6M and no we're not ashamed of ourselves for not doing so or maybe just a little. I would like to thank our old classmate Eelyn for that. The venue: Seoul Garden, Gurney Plaza. Somehow most gatherings are held at Seoul Garden. hmmmm..... The last time I had lunch there, it cost me RM19.90 and now suddenly, just because its a Saturday, the price nearly doubled. There were 3 tables booked for us altogether. One was an all males table, another all female table and lastly the "mixed" table. Most of the boys and girls were still shy. Level of communication was way low. I was expecting all of us to be mingling freely as it should be in a reunion. Yeah we were shy. But, I did succeed in overcoming the shyness in me though not totally ;). And do accept my sincere apologies Ms Agnes as I have yet again failed to recognize you( you have to understand you did not have hazel brown eyes at the start of the year;) )
I would say most of my male classmates were really shy too as was I initially. My mum would say typical Chung Ling boys. Yeah, I find that to be really true. Most Chung Ling boys just dont seem to be able to communicate well with the opposite sex. Yes, I have to admit that. I have seen a lot of such cases though there are,few, of those who interact really well and in some cases "exceptionally" well with girls;)
For most of the Chung Ling boys I realized, are not a friendly lot. There was this instance where a Malay girl about the same age as me tried to initiate a conversation with one of my schoolmate by asking him his age and school but he turned away, not answering the question. He turned to another friend and told him the Malay girl was nuts talking to him when she doesnt really know him at all. Come on, we are all students of the same class of a driving school. And mind you, that isnt the only case I have witnessed. In some cases, i also tend to feel that Chung Ling students regardless of their age tend to be slightly snobbish and most of the time even arrogant if u, one can really smell the air of "confidence" or should I say gigantic ego and pride carried around with them. Hence, they feel they are of an upper class which of course I do not agree. Yes there are such people. But, no I am not condemning the school. It's a fact. However, pls be advised that NOT ALL Chung Ling students are as such. There are the gentlemen, the knights in shining armor who may gallop into ur everyday life once a while ---- and by that I am referring to the writer of this blog- ME. (sticks tongue out) ;) vanity perhaps )
after lunch, a group photo was taken at the foyer of Gurney Plaza and some of us went to watch the Day the Earth stood still. Nice movie I must say, though it maybe short (1.5 hours) for RM 10. It's practically about us human beings being green criminals and villains. Nice show once again. Dont miss it!
" A friend in need is a true friend indeed."
Sometimes, one just finds a true friend even thru small events that occur.
Hence, special thanks to my dear friend Yee Hau for giving me a lift home. If not for Yee Hau, I would've been squatting along Gurney Drive for 2 hours till 8.45pm waiting for the T304 Rapid Penang bus which is so EFFICIENT by the way even after the complaints made! Indeed, a true friend who comes to save me ,in not a shining armor but a Harrier, shall be cherished. You have my gratitude, Mr Entao Leow!
Sunday
StarWalk!! Arghh! The bozo wakes up early, gets dressed and heads out to Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) with his family at 6.15am. The crowd was big as usual. Though I have to say, the Starwalk this year was badly organized. Most of the participants were told to gather before the finishing line and so we, as obedient citizens did. The finishing line was far apart from the starting point where the governor was supposed to flag off the race and people were sardine-packed behind the finishing line. And, the next thing we knew, a faint sound of a gunshot was heard and far in front of us, the other participants who were far in front at the starting point started off and we seeing that, wrestled out of the crowd and followed. Hence, it can be said that it was really unfair for all of us behind the finishing line as we were told to do so. Most of the people were also in the mist. We were told to gather there and the marshals would instruct us to go forward to the starting point when the time came. Hence, when i arrived after the long walk, there was a group of veteran athletes voicing out their dissatisfaction over the issue and some complained to the marshals. But what can they do?
The next thing that I can really laugh at, yet get exasperated at was the attitude of some of the participants in the competition category which I am in. Children, teenagers and fully grown adults cheated. Yeah they were not supposed to run and yet they did. This is Starwalk ar Uncle not Starrun. Come onlah you pay and come for a competition like this and you want to cheat ar. Aiyo sia suilah begini. Memang ada 13-17 year old boys who refuse to obey the rules so that they may be able to get a prize. But Adults doing that???? Come onlah! That is unacceptable and yes they do know that they should not run. It wasnt their first time because they knew that the marshals stationed along the route would take their numbers down if they did run and not walk and disqualify them. So, the participants this year got more cunning and sly, they no longer needed to look back and forth the route to ensure that no marshal was looking while they ran., they simply took off their numbers pinned behind and in front of their Tshirt and so the marshals could not disqualify them as there were no numbers to identify who they were. One of them had their numbers in hand and pinned them back on when they were about to reach the finishing line. Come onlah, have sportsmanshiplah. Pathetic man! They are not only making a fool out of themselves but also, depriving other adults from what they deserve.
One particular case impressed me the most. 2 men in their 40s jogged passed me(yes its against the rules) but what they did was extraordinary and was definitely for the good of their family. They obtain the wristbands for their family members which must be worn by every participant. Then, the event started and they jogged happily with their bulging biceps and triceps, till they reached nearly half the route where their wives and kids were waiting for him on the opposite side of the road. They crossed over to receive the wristbands from their amazing fathers and started walking when we as obedient participants with principles and sportsmanship can only look on as our muscles start to ache after walking thru 5km of hell(no it wasnt that bad) . That's just outright cheating. Yes, even if they did win, what is there to be proud of? As a father, he thinks he's doing his job , but is he??? What he does not realize is he's instilling the value of cheating, the value of doing whatever it takes to get to the top in his sons and daughters. It's a disgrace. Of course, I happen to see one of my Chung Ling schoolmates doing things like that too. Pathetic.
This year, my inspiration came from a 70 odd years old uncle who walked along side me for part of the journey and yes soon he was far ahead of me already. He too condemned those mentioned above. I followed his pace, his rythm whenever I could spot him. He's fast, real fast for some one his age. Thats why he has my salutations and respect.
Then came the lucky draw, long awaited by the 13,000 participants. As the value of the prizes grew bigger and bigger as mentioned by the emcee, the patience of the people grew thinner and thinner. Furthermore among the lucky numbers chosen, there were instances where numbers like 09921, 09922, 09923, 09924, 09925 and even 09929 were kinda "coincidentally" picked and that is not the only case. However for those having the numbers from03000 till 04000 and 06000 till 07000 had no luck at all as not one number was selected for these two thousand unfortunate people. Well, what the heck, yes I do want the Suzuki motorbikes but well whats not yours isnt urs then. Of course we met all kinds of people there. There were also those inconsiderate enough who will take ur newspaper even knowing that its urs while u read the Sunday section and place the main section of the papers right beside u after reading it without asking. There are also those who would stand in front of a whole group of audience , blocking everyones vision and yet throw tantrums and refuse to move away even when told nicely to do so. It's really hard to believe how such people can have such "thick skins" as the Hokkiens would call it.
P/S :The photos will be uploaded as soon as possible once i get it from dear Eugene.
Signing off, really tired. :)
Sunday 7 December 2008
A fruitful weekend
Arghhhh! They got my name, address, message for my friends and school all wrong in my graduation magazine and I am well, utterly disappointed with it. I am curious how can they get my name wrong and add another no 4 to my address and yet again get my personal message wrong whereas there were no mistakes for my other schoolmates. Come on, this is a a once in a life time graduation magazine. Dont they do proofreading? Well i am sure they do but why me only??????
Well what the hecklah! Anyway, whats more important is that I have spent a more than fruitful weekend.
Saturday
Woke up early on Saturday. Yes as early as 5am to accompany my sis and parents to Campbell street Market for the Opera Pasar performance. I have to say, it was a really great performance. The dim sum scene, the berus gigi chant, fantastic, graceful and really cute and chubby dancers... all add up to make this musical production a unique one. Basically, their message was to save and preserve this historical Campbell street market. The crowd was supportive and yes AAK came out on the Star Metro again! However, I feel that we really need to have a large reusable banner which says something like " this is a AAK presentation. " as sort of a publicity strategy and hang it up as a backdrop for every AAK performance.
Next , my father and I went over to Khoo Kongsi and boy, there were waves and waves of tourists coming in and in. We did not need to pay for we were clansmen and my father went on with his research on Khoo Kongsi. I have to say, my father is now really crazy over his research work on Khoo Kongsi that he works till early mornings to complete his Indiana Jones- like journal.
AAK in ACTION!
Sir Francis Khoo
Sunday
woke up late having watched Friends on the net till 2 .30 am the previous night. Headed for breakfast- Hokkien mee along Beach Street ( it was good. recommended) and for Little Penang Street Market where the next performance was to be held. Helped set up the AAK booth with Siew Bee and Li Fen where paintings, sketches and calendars done by children and students during the arts workshop were displayed and sold. I must say I was quite impressed with the fact that Penangites and tourists alike have become more aware of supportive of Little Penang. The crowd was arousing. Opera Pasar was to be the first performance and the audience LOVED it. Then, right after the show, an announcement was made and me and my team went in ----- to sell the handpainted-scanned-reprinted AAK calendars to the audience. Zhao Wei and I sold quite a number of calendars ( which surprised me ) to the very supportive crowd along with our other "competitors" : Pei Shan, Siew Bee , my mum, dad, and Jens team.
Lepas tu, pergi Padang have Lok Lok. Went back, slept ,had dinner, studied my undang and update this blog
Attention ladies : Check out the boy with the muscles, no not the one with the cap
Trying our luck
And here he is AGAIN!!!!
And please do check out the video below.
Well what the hecklah! Anyway, whats more important is that I have spent a more than fruitful weekend.
Saturday
Woke up early on Saturday. Yes as early as 5am to accompany my sis and parents to Campbell street Market for the Opera Pasar performance. I have to say, it was a really great performance. The dim sum scene, the berus gigi chant, fantastic, graceful and really cute and chubby dancers... all add up to make this musical production a unique one. Basically, their message was to save and preserve this historical Campbell street market. The crowd was supportive and yes AAK came out on the Star Metro again! However, I feel that we really need to have a large reusable banner which says something like " this is a AAK presentation. " as sort of a publicity strategy and hang it up as a backdrop for every AAK performance.
Next , my father and I went over to Khoo Kongsi and boy, there were waves and waves of tourists coming in and in. We did not need to pay for we were clansmen and my father went on with his research on Khoo Kongsi. I have to say, my father is now really crazy over his research work on Khoo Kongsi that he works till early mornings to complete his Indiana Jones- like journal.
AAK in ACTION!
Sir Francis Khoo Sunday
woke up late having watched Friends on the net till 2 .30 am the previous night. Headed for breakfast- Hokkien mee along Beach Street ( it was good. recommended) and for Little Penang Street Market where the next performance was to be held. Helped set up the AAK booth with Siew Bee and Li Fen where paintings, sketches and calendars done by children and students during the arts workshop were displayed and sold. I must say I was quite impressed with the fact that Penangites and tourists alike have become more aware of supportive of Little Penang. The crowd was arousing. Opera Pasar was to be the first performance and the audience LOVED it. Then, right after the show, an announcement was made and me and my team went in ----- to sell the handpainted-scanned-reprinted AAK calendars to the audience. Zhao Wei and I sold quite a number of calendars ( which surprised me ) to the very supportive crowd along with our other "competitors" : Pei Shan, Siew Bee , my mum, dad, and Jens team.
Lepas tu, pergi Padang have Lok Lok. Went back, slept ,had dinner, studied my undang and update this blog
Attention ladies : Check out the boy with the muscles, no not the one with the cap
Trying our luck
And here he is AGAIN!!!! And please do check out the video below.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Once again,
Ombak Ombak ARTStudio
presents
A WORKSHOP SHOWCASE
by Anak Anak Kota
Opera Pasar
Uncle aunty kenapa pi pasar?
Sayur ikan ayam semua murah dan segar
Semua harga dapat ditawar menawar
Dekat rumah jimat minyak jimat masa.
Campbell Street Market; Pasar Hutan Mayat; Sin Keh Tau - Letʼs preserve the market!
A twenty- minute musical and dance performance depicting the rhythms, movements, and sounds of the market.
Based on oral interviews, the young performers chant about the lives of the chicken, vegetable, mutton and tim sum traders;
and sing of the history and festivities in the market.
Artists involved :
Tan Sooi Beng (Music ), Ho Sheau Fung ( Drama), Aida Redza ( Movement ) & Toh Lai Chee ( Music )
Thursday 27 November 2008
Finally ... an update on our graduation
haizzz. its finally the end. not a happy ending though... chinese...est...biology......
well what the heck! its over! i just cant really imagine myself reaching the end of my school life just like that, i'll never get or should i say need to wear school uniforms... that feels really odd and kinda scary. It's all too fast.
So, yeah, on the graduation ceremony or smg. Well, I was quite nervous abt giving the speech. well i managed to pull through, at least i did not peed in my pants or lose my voice at the podium. Then, the prize presentation ceremony followed. Before I gave my speech, only then did I get to know that I had miraculously won myself the "outstanding graduate" no, not the most outstanding of course. But wow! I was really shocked, astonished. What???? Me?? an "outstanding" graduate? Well I was wrong then and thankfully i did apply for the award. I just wanted to give it a try with no intention of winning anything and also yes, for the interview experience. I went in there, prepared not to get it, cracked a few jokes, answered everything the HM, Mr Yeap, Mr Lye, Mr Chua, Pn Chan and Mr Cheah threw at me. Well they asked and I told them why I did not hold any high posts in school and all. Well, I never knew the school acknowledged outside-of-school activities.
Hence, in conclusion, SMJK Chung Ling DOES support such community and outofschool activities, its just that most of the students themselves arent interested and as proactive themselves. Haha. Janet was so wrong then.I believe the main factor would be their parents. Most parents nowadays really have a knack at pushing their children to their toes in terms of academics and protecting their children in cocoons.
So, back to the graduation ceremony...
And then came the outstanding student award presentation, I was really astonished and grateful to be able to allow my parents to accompany me up stage for the award presentation. My parents were also really really shocked..Haha. Indeed my parents were in fact the reason why I could've won this. Thanks to my parents punya open mind and really creative way of educating me.
really thanks dad thanks mum!
Not only that, i would also like to really thank my friends and classmates for being A friend to me and gave me the support I needed.
Thank you! I really felt really touched when Xiang Yih and Dee Sheng decided to make me my very own (ok i m not being vain, this is what they wrote) " Teng Shin NO1 " on a really large card Xiang Yih bought and my classmates held it up for a moment when I was about to give the speech before it was confiscated by Pn Chong Sim. I have been trying to see her to get the card back but now that its the holidays, shes not in school no more. I do hope she did not throw that away. Thank you Xiang Yih, thank you Dee Sheng, thank you 5SA5!!!
Of course, I would also like to thank my teachers.
Mr Ch'ng Chin Huat - our adorable and respected Add Maths sir who is also a very caring teacher and great teacher advisor to the School Action Board.
Pn Oon - my caring form teacher and really creative teacher
Pn Kang Kul Lee - our really dedicated BM teacher who gave me the honour of representing all students for the speech
of course Mrs Goh - our best chemistry teacher ever
Pn Wong - the very supportive though strict disciplinarian sejarah teacher
Pn Ooi - our bc teacher
Pn Kong- our f4 bc teacher
Mr Lim - our cool entao really dedicated Bio guru who makes his own notes
Pn Poh Chai See- though our class was really noisy and even made u cry haha
Mr Ong - P.moral guru who makes his moral lessons a fun jolly lesson
oh yeah n the photos will be updated in the next post...as i m still collecting them
well what the heck! its over! i just cant really imagine myself reaching the end of my school life just like that, i'll never get or should i say need to wear school uniforms... that feels really odd and kinda scary. It's all too fast.
So, yeah, on the graduation ceremony or smg. Well, I was quite nervous abt giving the speech. well i managed to pull through, at least i did not peed in my pants or lose my voice at the podium. Then, the prize presentation ceremony followed. Before I gave my speech, only then did I get to know that I had miraculously won myself the "outstanding graduate" no, not the most outstanding of course. But wow! I was really shocked, astonished. What???? Me?? an "outstanding" graduate? Well I was wrong then and thankfully i did apply for the award. I just wanted to give it a try with no intention of winning anything and also yes, for the interview experience. I went in there, prepared not to get it, cracked a few jokes, answered everything the HM, Mr Yeap, Mr Lye, Mr Chua, Pn Chan and Mr Cheah threw at me. Well they asked and I told them why I did not hold any high posts in school and all. Well, I never knew the school acknowledged outside-of-school activities.
Hence, in conclusion, SMJK Chung Ling DOES support such community and outofschool activities, its just that most of the students themselves arent interested and as proactive themselves. Haha. Janet was so wrong then.I believe the main factor would be their parents. Most parents nowadays really have a knack at pushing their children to their toes in terms of academics and protecting their children in cocoons.
So, back to the graduation ceremony...
And then came the outstanding student award presentation, I was really astonished and grateful to be able to allow my parents to accompany me up stage for the award presentation. My parents were also really really shocked..Haha. Indeed my parents were in fact the reason why I could've won this. Thanks to my parents punya open mind and really creative way of educating me.
really thanks dad thanks mum!
Not only that, i would also like to really thank my friends and classmates for being A friend to me and gave me the support I needed.
Thank you! I really felt really touched when Xiang Yih and Dee Sheng decided to make me my very own (ok i m not being vain, this is what they wrote) " Teng Shin NO1 " on a really large card Xiang Yih bought and my classmates held it up for a moment when I was about to give the speech before it was confiscated by Pn Chong Sim. I have been trying to see her to get the card back but now that its the holidays, shes not in school no more. I do hope she did not throw that away. Thank you Xiang Yih, thank you Dee Sheng, thank you 5SA5!!!
Of course, I would also like to thank my teachers.
Mr Ch'ng Chin Huat - our adorable and respected Add Maths sir who is also a very caring teacher and great teacher advisor to the School Action Board.
Pn Oon - my caring form teacher and really creative teacher
Pn Kang Kul Lee - our really dedicated BM teacher who gave me the honour of representing all students for the speech
of course Mrs Goh - our best chemistry teacher ever
Pn Wong - the very supportive though strict disciplinarian sejarah teacher
Pn Ooi - our bc teacher
Pn Kong- our f4 bc teacher
Mr Lim - our cool entao really dedicated Bio guru who makes his own notes
Pn Poh Chai See- though our class was really noisy and even made u cry haha
Mr Ong - P.moral guru who makes his moral lessons a fun jolly lesson
oh yeah n the photos will be updated in the next post...as i m still collecting them
Thursday 13 November 2008
My sister goes to quite a famous and so-called prestigious Chinese Girls High School in Penang (I think you know which school I am referring to) and recently she was penalized, not for having long fingernails, not for disobeying the teacher but for.. what I believe is the most outrageous thing ever........ for bringing the READERS DIGEST magazine to school!Marks were deducted from the stupid blue book. Imagine that! I am not saying this just because this happened to my sister but I feel it's just total crap! Its not that she brought Vogue or Feminine or some so-called bahan picisan. In fact, Readers Digest gives me more than what I can ask for from freaking textbooks!
It was a spot check conducted by the prefects and the disicipline teacher just would not admit and she kept on stressing on the point " Its black n white! We go law by LAW! You have to folllllllow the school rules. The school rules have clearly stated that no magazines are to be brought to school without obtaining the approval and a special " Permit or slip" .
Damn those rules.
We set the rules. We dont simply go by the rules blindly. Stop acting a kid for goodness sake! According to the rules, students would have to go see the English teacher every morning just to obtain a slip so that one can read the READERS DIGEST in class. How absurd! How can you instill reading habit in students if such rules and most importantly such stubborn disicipline boards still exist?
It was a spot check conducted by the prefects and the disicipline teacher just would not admit and she kept on stressing on the point " Its black n white! We go law by LAW! You have to folllllllow the school rules. The school rules have clearly stated that no magazines are to be brought to school without obtaining the approval and a special " Permit or slip" .
Damn those rules.
We set the rules. We dont simply go by the rules blindly. Stop acting a kid for goodness sake! According to the rules, students would have to go see the English teacher every morning just to obtain a slip so that one can read the READERS DIGEST in class. How absurd! How can you instill reading habit in students if such rules and most importantly such stubborn disicipline boards still exist?
Wednesday 24 September 2008
The Exams
Haihzzz. Its 3 days to the end of the prelude to another ordeal. It's hard to imagine. Time does zip past so quickly. SIghs n whines. At the start of the year, I told myself yes I have to PIA have to put in more effort in my studies. This is the SPM year. I am about to face one of the most important exams in my life. That was January. I looked at the calendar- 330 odd more days to SPM. What the heck! I keep giving myself excuses like Everyone's gotta play. All study n no play makes tshin a dull boy.......... In the end, all play n no work. Regrets & full of remorse. Now, the trials is almost close to its end. I look back at what I've done this year and I feel even more dissatisfied with myself. The trials has really burned away all my mental calories. I am mentally exhausted. I wonder how long will it take for me to regain control. That's probably why I have not being updating this for quite some time.
Nevertheless, my boredom was fast diminished as the political atmosphere here in Malaysia gets really tense or foul once again. Immaturity of some of the so-called community leaders and politicians surfaces yet again. Get a few brainless vociferous degenerates, a few courageous reporters and a few more dopes of blurness n desperateness armed with a shield of draconian law and you get what you get today in Malaysia not to mention the anticipation for change in this country.
Now, one place I would really love to be is where I was 3 months ago- on a slow moving wooden boat overlooking the vast ,perfectly beautiful skies ever with shades of blue, red, yellow and green, listening to the orchestra of the wild, the humming of the small electric motor, the splashing of the brownish yellow water of the Kinabatangan, and of course at intervals, mesmerized while peeping through a friend's binoculars to get a closer look of the almost perfect
2 π r square round red asses of the endangered male Proboscis monkey giving us a funny
face as he mates with his 7th or maybe 18th concubine on a tree branch overlooking us as he does his thing while we watch.
I still recall falling in love with that forest and I still long to just allow one's self to be amazed by how truly mesmerizing nature can be, and not through the pathetic KBSM Textbooks which tells us to love the forest and more bullshit where we will have to regurgitate that out in the SPM
Nevertheless, my boredom was fast diminished as the political atmosphere here in Malaysia gets really tense or foul once again. Immaturity of some of the so-called community leaders and politicians surfaces yet again. Get a few brainless vociferous degenerates, a few courageous reporters and a few more dopes of blurness n desperateness armed with a shield of draconian law and you get what you get today in Malaysia not to mention the anticipation for change in this country.
Now, one place I would really love to be is where I was 3 months ago- on a slow moving wooden boat overlooking the vast ,perfectly beautiful skies ever with shades of blue, red, yellow and green, listening to the orchestra of the wild, the humming of the small electric motor, the splashing of the brownish yellow water of the Kinabatangan, and of course at intervals, mesmerized while peeping through a friend's binoculars to get a closer look of the almost perfect
2 π r square round red asses of the endangered male Proboscis monkey giving us a funny
face as he mates with his 7th or maybe 18th concubine on a tree branch overlooking us as he does his thing while we watch.
I still recall falling in love with that forest and I still long to just allow one's self to be amazed by how truly mesmerizing nature can be, and not through the pathetic KBSM Textbooks which tells us to love the forest and more bullshit where we will have to regurgitate that out in the SPM
Saturday 6 September 2008
Sunday 27 July 2008
Georgetown World Heritage Site Celebrations
Before
Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The world heritage celebration kicks off on Friday with the tour of the historical sites of Georgetown with Lim Guan Eng while Natasha and u-jean led batches of students through the streets of Georgetown. My heart was already leaping with joy in school, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, for me to be released, for me to rush home, take my bath have my lunch and out I go to the bus stop. Nevertheless, mum returned unexpectedly and so no more bus ride and I wont be late. After 3 rehearsals, today would be our tech rehearsal with all the lightings and all. One of the rooms in the Town Hall acted as our rest area and preparation area. Gosh bangganya kita, imagine the honour of being the opening scene of this grand event for Penangites- right after the governor's and CM's speech!!!! Haha!
At the air-conditioned backstage, we were amused by Chin Eng's amazing magic tricks where he pulled white canvas from his teh tarik cup placed on against his lips. I was like really nervous as I was quite afraid I would hit someone (especially natasha whom I have hit for quite a number of times) or something ( the gigantic speakers) with my bendera merah. Sorry natasha if you're reading this....... Not only that, we also set the record-breaking longest, most number of repeated singing of a boria verse together with the copper coil turning effect hand movement:
Kisah Pulau Pinang tajuk dan tema,
tempat persinggahan berbilang agama,
pelbagai bangsa bercampur bersama,
boria anak kota dendang seirama.
and saturday finally came, but wait, I had to go to school. Damn it! But it was rather pointless to do so. The BM teacher wouldnt be coming but no, I had to come, for Mrs Goh's never-to-be-missed CHemistry lesson and also Pn Wong's History lesson. Hence, right after Mrs Goh's class, I requested permission to return home early due to the reason that I was sick( with Mr Chng's full cooperation and help) from bilik Disiplin 1. Thank you Mr Chng, you're the lao hero! I contracted a real bad cold actually due to the fact that I washed my hair and bathed with freezing cold water on Friday night at 12.30am.............
Took a nap and went straight for AAK. Well, since I had the time, I decided to do T-shirt printing with the help of Pei Shan , Mun HOe and AUnt Lyndie. That shirt was real nice! The one and only t-shirt u can ever find coz it has my large handprint on it. Then, we realized we were so late and we had to rush over to Esplanade from Cannon Street on foot.
We arrived and Janet was already doing the War chant part with us. Last minute changes on performing night- typical Janet. But that's what gives that LIFE to our shows which other shows dont possess. The weather wasnt on ur side this time, it was so clear yesterday but today, there were strong winds, little rain- the 2 chillies placed on top of the two supporting structures of the stage wasnt working. Reinforcement(a plastic bag of onions, garlic and chilli) was sent in by Hun Meng and miraculously, it worked, the rain stopped and the wind calmed down. Initially, the wind was so strong it kinda destabilized the tall background photos depicting Francis Light and it was like gonna fall onto us on the front stage. Darn, that was a scary sight! WOrst, nthe spotlights above us were so gigantic and heavy-looking that if it fell onto me, I would be no more than an apom gone wrong.
THen I met my old friend, Yu Ming who was from PCGHS and was also performing tonight together with Syafinaz under the Penang Symphony Orchestra and Choir. They were the last show of the night singing Tanah Pusaka. We rehearsed again and finally it came, we were just before the stairs up the stage when the fireworks display went on. Truly mesmerizing though not as much as what we were gonna be(LOL).
Mahathir Lokman was the MC for the night and he was basically saying that Penang is a special place for him as he was taken to Penang by his dad every time he scoredAs in his exams. Finally, were on stage and I am like " I can believe it. I cant believe this is my last show for the year or maybe the last Kisah Pulau Pinang ever for all of us". It went on with everyone so bersemangat and it was a good show according to Prof Tan ( ah bangganya kita).
It was supposedly a happy night for us but then Selven slipped and fell on a pool of water where apparently 5 people nearly slipped earlier that evening(davina, sabrena were one of them). We were all shocked and really praying hard for Selven. I was hoping he did not injure his back and spine(thankfully he didnt) as he was carried out in a stretcher. Mun Hoe nearly cried. I dont usually feel the sensation of the urge to cry but this time I did. Most of us felt that too when we saw Selven being carried out on a stretcher with his eyes closed but we were much relieved when bansiang told us hewas conscious. Thankgoodness he had strong bones. And now everythings ok and he's kicking again...Alrite!!
Well we also took the opportunity to take a few photographs with the local artistes present that night. Alleycat, Syafinaz, "P.Ramlee" and Zaibo..... We werent allowed to leave town hall after our performance but chin eng and I kinda sneaked out just in time to see David Arumugam sing "andai kamu pergi dulu" and another song. the end finally came at around11.45 pm where we came out again for the finale where we stood side by side with all the other performers, singing Negaraku and the state Anthem with total semangat dan passion which I have never ever experienced in school assemblies. The event ended with TYT and GUan Eng leaving.
After.....
Mixed feelings. Sad yet happy. It's a goodbye once again to this bunch of great and best friends. Now it's all the way to SPM which is (3 months away)
Mari kita bersama-sama berjuang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
tengshin
Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The world heritage celebration kicks off on Friday with the tour of the historical sites of Georgetown with Lim Guan Eng while Natasha and u-jean led batches of students through the streets of Georgetown. My heart was already leaping with joy in school, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, for me to be released, for me to rush home, take my bath have my lunch and out I go to the bus stop. Nevertheless, mum returned unexpectedly and so no more bus ride and I wont be late. After 3 rehearsals, today would be our tech rehearsal with all the lightings and all. One of the rooms in the Town Hall acted as our rest area and preparation area. Gosh bangganya kita, imagine the honour of being the opening scene of this grand event for Penangites- right after the governor's and CM's speech!!!! Haha!
At the air-conditioned backstage, we were amused by Chin Eng's amazing magic tricks where he pulled white canvas from his teh tarik cup placed on against his lips. I was like really nervous as I was quite afraid I would hit someone (especially natasha whom I have hit for quite a number of times) or something ( the gigantic speakers) with my bendera merah. Sorry natasha if you're reading this....... Not only that, we also set the record-breaking longest, most number of repeated singing of a boria verse together with the copper coil turning effect hand movement:
Kisah Pulau Pinang tajuk dan tema,
tempat persinggahan berbilang agama,
pelbagai bangsa bercampur bersama,
boria anak kota dendang seirama.
and saturday finally came, but wait, I had to go to school. Damn it! But it was rather pointless to do so. The BM teacher wouldnt be coming but no, I had to come, for Mrs Goh's never-to-be-missed CHemistry lesson and also Pn Wong's History lesson. Hence, right after Mrs Goh's class, I requested permission to return home early due to the reason that I was sick( with Mr Chng's full cooperation and help) from bilik Disiplin 1. Thank you Mr Chng, you're the lao hero! I contracted a real bad cold actually due to the fact that I washed my hair and bathed with freezing cold water on Friday night at 12.30am.............
Took a nap and went straight for AAK. Well, since I had the time, I decided to do T-shirt printing with the help of Pei Shan , Mun HOe and AUnt Lyndie. That shirt was real nice! The one and only t-shirt u can ever find coz it has my large handprint on it. Then, we realized we were so late and we had to rush over to Esplanade from Cannon Street on foot.
We arrived and Janet was already doing the War chant part with us. Last minute changes on performing night- typical Janet. But that's what gives that LIFE to our shows which other shows dont possess. The weather wasnt on ur side this time, it was so clear yesterday but today, there were strong winds, little rain- the 2 chillies placed on top of the two supporting structures of the stage wasnt working. Reinforcement(a plastic bag of onions, garlic and chilli) was sent in by Hun Meng and miraculously, it worked, the rain stopped and the wind calmed down. Initially, the wind was so strong it kinda destabilized the tall background photos depicting Francis Light and it was like gonna fall onto us on the front stage. Darn, that was a scary sight! WOrst, nthe spotlights above us were so gigantic and heavy-looking that if it fell onto me, I would be no more than an apom gone wrong.
THen I met my old friend, Yu Ming who was from PCGHS and was also performing tonight together with Syafinaz under the Penang Symphony Orchestra and Choir. They were the last show of the night singing Tanah Pusaka. We rehearsed again and finally it came, we were just before the stairs up the stage when the fireworks display went on. Truly mesmerizing though not as much as what we were gonna be(LOL).
Mahathir Lokman was the MC for the night and he was basically saying that Penang is a special place for him as he was taken to Penang by his dad every time he scoredAs in his exams. Finally, were on stage and I am like " I can believe it. I cant believe this is my last show for the year or maybe the last Kisah Pulau Pinang ever for all of us". It went on with everyone so bersemangat and it was a good show according to Prof Tan ( ah bangganya kita).
It was supposedly a happy night for us but then Selven slipped and fell on a pool of water where apparently 5 people nearly slipped earlier that evening(davina, sabrena were one of them). We were all shocked and really praying hard for Selven. I was hoping he did not injure his back and spine(thankfully he didnt) as he was carried out in a stretcher. Mun Hoe nearly cried. I dont usually feel the sensation of the urge to cry but this time I did. Most of us felt that too when we saw Selven being carried out on a stretcher with his eyes closed but we were much relieved when bansiang told us hewas conscious. Thankgoodness he had strong bones. And now everythings ok and he's kicking again...Alrite!!
Well we also took the opportunity to take a few photographs with the local artistes present that night. Alleycat, Syafinaz, "P.Ramlee" and Zaibo..... We werent allowed to leave town hall after our performance but chin eng and I kinda sneaked out just in time to see David Arumugam sing "andai kamu pergi dulu" and another song. the end finally came at around11.45 pm where we came out again for the finale where we stood side by side with all the other performers, singing Negaraku and the state Anthem with total semangat dan passion which I have never ever experienced in school assemblies. The event ended with TYT and GUan Eng leaving.
After.....
Mixed feelings. Sad yet happy. It's a goodbye once again to this bunch of great and best friends. Now it's all the way to SPM which is (3 months away)
Mari kita bersama-sama berjuang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
tengshin
Tuesday 15 July 2008
ELS AGM - KPA Anniversary
and so it finally came, the Annual General Meeting of the ENglish Language society of Chung Ling High School. It is one of the most anticipated ceremony of the year. Meanwhile, the committee members are leaving with mixed feelings. Some could not care less, some unwilling to let go, some with much dissatisfaction & some with absolute T.L.ness(youknowwho)............. It went on well and the prizes for the English Fest were given away to the winners who are not quite contempt with what they are getting. As for those who applied for posts, they were treated to much disappointment due to the sudden change of Mdm Cheah's decision to announce only the names of the EXCO members considered.
What the heck is that!!! Was that one of the agenda for the AGM???
" You got a problem with me? Try me! "
Fellow F1 & F2 members
The WInners of the Fest
Entao VP who is boiling with TLness
Laporan KPA Anniversary
Ahem!
Before
I apologize for the blurness Daniel.
Now this guy is really a moron
Not to forget a few photos of a drunken cadet
What the heck is that!!! Was that one of the agenda for the AGM???
" You got a problem with me? Try me! "
Fellow F1 & F2 members
The WInners of the Fest
Entao VP who is boiling with TLness
Laporan KPA Anniversary
Now, as for the truly ANTICIPATED KPA anniversary, it was well, quite alright. It was considered to be a national event although there were only 3 other schools participating which are PCGHS, Chung Hwa Confucian & Chung Ling Butterworth( a school from overSEAS). Yeah, as expected Chung Ling kias were treated to a variety of "mouthwatering" eye candies for some while a few who were in the "Upper class" (LOL) weren't even interested due to the unsatisfactory quality perhaps. Basically the anniversary was 100% performances. There were the skimpily and believe me, very sexily-dressed "devils and angels"(mostly girls,much to the satisfaction of many) from each school doing the catwalk, singing competitions, one 3 minute dance session, breakdancers stomping the stage and among them, the most impressive one - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APPLAUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SALUTATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was really impressed with them although at the same time I was quite glad I did not join them in the end. I would have wrecked the show if I were to go out there and be a "Ki Tong". I would also like to take this opportunity to thank ah Gan for deciding to invite me out to do our signature" chest-shaking dance" during the climax of the dance. But, sorry Mr Big Gan, I couldn't know when were you giving me the signal as the stroboscopic light effects were really -cool .... yet memeningkan. I Salute them once again!!! They were really way cool! Plus the music was really fitting and the stroboscope effect really brought your dance moves to the peak!
After enduring 3 hours of darkness in the really seeeeeearing schol hall, I decided to go get some fresh air, joining Juan Juan & Ming Ming. We decided to do something more productive- brainstorming for karangan isis at the amphitheater under the pleasant sun. How nice & siao! LOL
Tommy Gan and Calvin Khor ( the Shufflers)
I was really impressed with them although at the same time I was quite glad I did not join them in the end. I would have wrecked the show if I were to go out there and be a "Ki Tong". I would also like to take this opportunity to thank ah Gan for deciding to invite me out to do our signature" chest-shaking dance" during the climax of the dance. But, sorry Mr Big Gan, I couldn't know when were you giving me the signal as the stroboscopic light effects were really -cool .... yet memeningkan. I Salute them once again!!! They were really way cool! Plus the music was really fitting and the stroboscope effect really brought your dance moves to the peak!
Bravo brothers!!!!
After enduring 3 hours of darkness in the really seeeeeearing schol hall, I decided to go get some fresh air, joining Juan Juan & Ming Ming. We decided to do something more productive- brainstorming for karangan isis at the amphitheater under the pleasant sun. How nice & siao! LOL
Ahem!
Before
I apologize for the blurness Daniel.
Now this guy is really a moron
Not to forget a few photos of a drunken cadet
Not to forget a Bonus Video :
Thursday 3 July 2008
Sunday 15 June 2008
Kuiz Sejarah
See me ? haha! We were not quite satisfied as we hoped to be able to represent Penang in the upcoming National Quiz on Sejarah. Here's how it went..
So on Thursday morning, I arrived at school as usual, early and I got my testimonials from my form teacher to be submitted to the MOE of Singapore for my ASEAN scholarship application and obtained the blank papers with the prestigious Chung Ling letterheads on it, with much difficulty due to lack of cooperation of some fellow high positioned bozos. Nevertheless, I wish to thank Ms Elizabeth Aw and MR Yeap Hock Chye, our beloved yet entao ass. HM and not to forget my dedicated form teacher Pn Oon who were most helpful. Then, I shitted in school for the second time since I first set foot here, in Chung Ling. Anyway, after all those, I submerged myself once again into the Sejarah textbooks. That was stressful to finish the Sej syllabus from F1 to F3 in two days was indeed a killer for me.
At 12, we embarked on our little journey to Jawi for the competition. We were to face 3 other schools shortlisted who were SMK SoSad, SMK Bukit Mertajam and Jit Sin. And so it started after we had Malay economy rice. We were quite nervous , seeing that there were more than 300 supporters of the other schools who were all from the mainland looking up at us. And so the game started, our first question hit us hard, blew our confidence 3 yards away. But nevertheless, we managed to answer the following questions until bad luck settled in. We simply chose quite a number of F5 Questions (we were told to concentrate on F1 to F3 by the organizers but nvmlah) which further erased any possibility of winning. The emcee kept mentioning ENFAGROW and about me being excited every time i stood up to answer a question. NO doubt, I was really cute and adorable there. The Malay girl sitting beside me( the champions) was like a walking Sejarah Textbook , I believe not to be of common genetic characteristic of a typical Homo Sapien. They deserved to win but us being losers, tried to console ourselves with the peribahasa" menang jadi arang, kalah jadi abu". Here are the photographs and one will not forget the SUPERB performance by a group of future Malaysian Idols....... Enjoy
So on Thursday morning, I arrived at school as usual, early and I got my testimonials from my form teacher to be submitted to the MOE of Singapore for my ASEAN scholarship application and obtained the blank papers with the prestigious Chung Ling letterheads on it, with much difficulty due to lack of cooperation of some fellow high positioned bozos. Nevertheless, I wish to thank Ms Elizabeth Aw and MR Yeap Hock Chye, our beloved yet entao ass. HM and not to forget my dedicated form teacher Pn Oon who were most helpful. Then, I shitted in school for the second time since I first set foot here, in Chung Ling. Anyway, after all those, I submerged myself once again into the Sejarah textbooks. That was stressful to finish the Sej syllabus from F1 to F3 in two days was indeed a killer for me.
At 12, we embarked on our little journey to Jawi for the competition. We were to face 3 other schools shortlisted who were SMK SoSad, SMK Bukit Mertajam and Jit Sin. And so it started after we had Malay economy rice. We were quite nervous , seeing that there were more than 300 supporters of the other schools who were all from the mainland looking up at us. And so the game started, our first question hit us hard, blew our confidence 3 yards away. But nevertheless, we managed to answer the following questions until bad luck settled in. We simply chose quite a number of F5 Questions (we were told to concentrate on F1 to F3 by the organizers but nvmlah) which further erased any possibility of winning. The emcee kept mentioning ENFAGROW and about me being excited every time i stood up to answer a question. NO doubt, I was really cute and adorable there. The Malay girl sitting beside me( the champions) was like a walking Sejarah Textbook , I believe not to be of common genetic characteristic of a typical Homo Sapien. They deserved to win but us being losers, tried to console ourselves with the peribahasa" menang jadi arang, kalah jadi abu". Here are the photographs and one will not forget the SUPERB performance by a group of future Malaysian Idols....... Enjoy
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Indiana Khoo and the Sukau Rainforest
Indiana Khoo is Back from the wild!I never knew paradise was only a sea away until now. It's truly inspiring to be away from all the busting city life, just to be here, in Sukau, surrounded by never ending green carpets and 31 other crazy nature loving folks. When can one get this opportunity again? This is where one suddenly sees the “light” after 16 years just to admire, really appreciate and sense the desperate need to just sweep all of these into my embrace. To have both your legs sink 3 feet into a bottomless mud pit, to be able to see a night sky filled with infinite number of stars which one will never see back home in Penang, that is something one can never describe and experience through solely textbooks and the Discovery Channel.
I just came back from Sukau, Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia. It was an incredible , awesome journey. It was organized by the Star in collaboration with D Jungle People. We were and are called the P2P Greeniz Educator. 32 of us supposedly chosen from 200 applicants (hehez tats wat they said) had this amazing opportunity to explore the wildlife in Kinabatangan.
Theres only one word, yes one word to describe that place - Breathtaking!
Hence, allow me to describe my adventure from day 0.1 to 29th of May :
Saturday, first day of the holidays:
Took a bus to KL at 7. Was very very very very frustrated. Doof that bus company. The bus had like around 5 to 6 stops to pick up passengers from Penang to Butterworth to Jawi... Really annoying. But i managed to bury myself in the book i was reading The Rape of Nanking. It's hard to be distracted by the outer surroundings when one is gets so shocked and immersed in the brutality of the Japanese beasts back then. No offence but what the Japanese soldiers did should earn them eternal damnation. Those b*stards. ANd whats the problem with them till now? The Japanese government still refuses to admit the atrocities done by their predecessors back then. Ironically, the ex soldiers who are still unfortunately alive are smiling through the lenses of the camera of the Discovery Channel crew when they were being interviewed about what they have done. DOOF YOU MAN! Mind you but sticking a bamboo stick into a young 16 year old girl's vagina is DAMN inhumane, satanic ! Ok enough of the sadism, now upon reaching PUDU, i had lunch with my mum there. ANd i Was so shocked to find out that KL, the capital of Malaysia, is filled with immigrants: Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Nepalese, Burmese, Siamese, You name it KL has it! It's not unusual at all to say that the population of immigrants alone overshadows the Indian population here. Scaryyyyy. SOmething needs to be done. Lets return to our adventure, so we had lunch at PUDU - 1 duck rice and 1 charsiew rice for me. As an ever-loving, charity-loving boy, I donated some money to some really cute schoolchildren(PLs note I am Not a paedophile) to help in the relief efforts in CHina. Later, hopped onto a LRT to my relative's house to prepare myself for tomorrow's great adventure.
Day1 - Indiana Khoo wakes up at 3am. Left for the LCCT with a wary heart. Heart thumping thrice as fast, hands and legs feeling the chill. It's not unusual if you initially thought that you are the only one from Pg. No friends with you. Heading out to a place where you have never ever set foot on, a place famous for its headhunters. Hah! If you were me, I bet you'd be munching on your own balls too. Indy's first time at the LCCT. After registering with the Star people on guard there, I checked in and had my breakfast in the Malaysian beggar mode. Surprisingly, the LCCT's McDOnalds was swarming with people. After bidding goodbye to my aunt, uncle and my mum, I checked in through immigration and off I go to the waiting area, Gate 9 if I am right.
Fortunately, I wasnt the only shy guy. From the looks of the other participants at the waiting area, they wore an expression that was exactly the same as mine. :|So, the plane arrived at around 7 am and we boarded the plane. I sat next to a Malay Pak Cik and Mak Cik who was rather friendly. I was quite excited at this point. This was going to be my first time to Borneo. And so I decided to continue reading my sadistic book, The Rape of Nanking. When we landed, it was rather weird to me that we were the only plane at the Sandakan airport. Now, when we were about to leave the plane, my personal alarm in my backpack RANG suddenly, and everybody kinda panicked for a moment. Ada bom ah? Takda, bukan bomb, alarm sje!
very very embarassing indeed. After meeting up with the other P2P participants from Sabah at the airport and John and Mei Cheen, we gathered for a moment of short briefing by the facilitators(thats where I met my first 2 new friends- RIchard and Patrick) before leaving for the jetty. From the jetty, another 3 hours boat ride to the Sukau Rainforest Lodge. We were cruising along the Kinabtangan river and at one point, we were very fortunate to be able to witness a herd of elephants by the riverside. Some were having their lunch, some getting horny and flirtatious. The photos of them in the slides below. There were also villages along the river bank and we were told by Dr Jeanie that they were called the Orang Sungais, the indigenous population in Kinabatangan.
Upon reaching the lodge, we were greeted by Winston Marshall(the guy with the cokebottles fixed onto his eyeballs)Hehezzz.. and we were informed that everyone of us must wear sarong for dinner everyday ( thank god I had some experience of that from Ronggeng Merdeka). Checked into our rooms in the Bilit Wing( where the boys stay) while the Abai WIng was for the girls. The lodge is very nicely decorated, surprisingly, as I did not expect a lodge that far in the jungle where there are no roads leading to it and the only way to get there is by boat to have such richly decorated yet simple designs. The lodge was built based on the concept- the lodge and it's inhabitants are merely part of the forest and unlike the other lodges that we can see elsewhere, we, humans are the "dictators" and "colonizers" of the forest" My room mates were Julian and Alan and they're really nice people. Ok, so now I see that we have our own private toilet for each room and we even have housekeeping everyday, hence, we need not shit n urinate in foxholes as said by my mother.......
Part 2 to be continued
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