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| Sunday, 30-Mar-2008 17:51 |
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MPG 2008 - a night to remember ^.^
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in Anie's car, on the way to MPG ^.^
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roomies at our table =D
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taking a pic with our fave senior, Rantau!! ^.^v
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Advertising lecturer, Mrs Shifa and her husband...er, Mr Shifa
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with our Multimedia lecturer Encik Lan :P
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performing artiste, Atlia
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Anie and I ... 'posing maut' =P
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a cool 'reflection-in-a-spoon' picture Dieha took of me =P
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Rare picture with Amy =D
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I think it was the fact that it was our pre-graduation night, but everyone left with a sparkly, happy glow that night. ^.^
So, a bit of backstory first -- the Pre-Graduation Night ('Malam Pra-Graduan', known henceforth as MPG =P) is sort of like a prom night, except its for us future Diploma in Mass Communications graduates. =)
The purpose of the event, which we are supposed to organize ourselves, is not to just create lovely memories before we graduate, but also takes 10% of our overall grade. O_o
There was a LOT of drama and messiness going on behind the scenes in the months leading up to MPG -- involving lost invitations, nearly half the organizing committee stepping down, sponsorship one day before the actual event, and egos flying everywhere -- resulting in our lecturer advisor calling us the worst batch she's ever dealt with, but when the time actually came, it was such a relief everything ran along smoothly. ^.^
I was part of the Creative & Multimedia Bereau, and besides designing and maintaining the website, I was also in charge of managing the videos to be shown on the night itself: the student award videos (categories ranged from Most Stylish, Class Clown, Loudest Person to Favourite Lecturer and Most Popular Person), the sponsor 'commercials' and looping background/filler to prettify the huge video screens when nothing else was showing. =P
Watching the videos airing on MPG night made me feel as if all those 4am bedtimes were worth it. I was so stressed on MPG week, I was like, "Screw MPG! I'm not going!" and on the verge of giving up every five minutes ^.^; But my Multimedia and Advertising lecturers actually commended me on my vids! ^.^ I actually finished the videos only the night before and arrived at the location an hour before it was supposed to commence to upload the videos I made changes to.
I think I enjoyed making the videos more than its healthy to -- I used orchestral music from anime and games (namely Ouran High School Host Club and Gintama, as well as a track from We ♥ Katamari) instead of the ugly contemporary, poppish hip-hop beats the programme director handed to me which didn't suit the 'Enchanted Garden' theme AT ALL. =( I wanted to control at least this aspect of the event: the use of music from anime. ^.^ It was my own private fantribute,  .
PLUS, the video I did for my class, is based on the fourth ending sequence of Gintama. =P Muahaks. And who says watching anime isn't beneficial? ^.^
It was a sweet night. A magic night. And much gossip material to make a tableful of roommates happy for the next few hours following our return back to the dorm.
Brief Notes:
1) There is a particular band that night whose frontman has an ego the size of Canada, which killed my mood to go to the dancefloor. And his singing was ear-splittingly horrible. >.<
2) My friends and I performed this dance for the class performance (among two other dances: dangdut, and a Bollywood movie dance called 'Gelimat' -- don't ask @__@). BUT OURS WAS A LOT SIMPLER, LAWL. >.<
3) Goodie bags, oh my! =D Chocolate? Perfume? Whole bunch of random goodies from Visit Malaysia 2007? ^.^ Magazine with Nicholas Saputra on the cover? SQUEE! ^.^
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| Tuesday, 1-Jan-2008 20:43 |
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20th Birthday, OMG!!
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Group pic! ^.^ Thanks so much, you guys!
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My kawaii Hikaru and Kaoru plushies! *huggles*
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The ubercool t-shirt from Mum! ;D Freakin' cool.
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The gorgeous watch-and-pen set from Dad! ;)
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The adorable noteblock and pen from Fairuz!
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OMGYAYZ CAKE ZOMG!!1! >A<
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I had a FANTASTIC birthday last Sunday. ^.^
OMG I can't believe I'm freakin' twenty, like FTW. And, though it's been happening my whole life, it still feels weird that I just turned 20 when everyone else is already looking forward to their 21st birthday. >.< Heeh! But it was a happy affair, and I'm going to overlook the fact that I'm older -- as Deb and Dee have pointed out, those in denial that they're no longer in their teens can be twenTEEN years old, heheh! ;D
Since I was Sunday, I didn't properly get up until 10am. Lounged around the house a bit until 1pm, when I convinced my parents to head out to Sunway Pyramid to buy myself a birthday cake from Secret Recipe.
As I was deciding what flavour cake I wanted, I was trying to remember a cake I sneakily tasted back when I worked at Tony Roma's, when a guest, holding a birthday there, told me to pack up the leftover cake. As I packed the half-cake into a styrofoam box, I scooped up a blob of stray icing with my finger and tasted it -- it was heavenly. ^.^ I wanted to get the same cake, but couldn't remember what flavour it was. =P
In the end, I got a chocolate cheese cake. =P Which tasted quite nice, to be honest, though I can't really tell if it was the same cake! ^.^;;
Things didn't really get going until 4.00pm, the time I [strike]ordered[/strike] invited everyone to the house. =D Before that, I indulged in a few games of Monopoly with my brother and sister, and it seemed as if my luck for the day was saving itself for some other time, because I lost two games straight in a row! >.<
Everyone was (in order of appearence): Alyaa, Grace, Nadz, Mai, Dee, Deb, Prav, Nini and Ismail. It's so sad that Panda, Justin and Shu-Yin couldn't make it, it would've been nice to have everyone together for a change (like Pokemons. Gotta catch 'em all! =P).
We sat around, eating pizza and talking, and straying to more 'mature' topics ensured a noisy shaking of the ice-box to prevent my parents upstairs from listening. =P There was a heated discussion on where to move the party to next, and after considering that, a) not all of us had money, b) the roads to KL were probably all jammed, and c) a few of us had curfews, we all settled on Deb's house, because a) her family was out, and b) there was a Playstation. =P
After deciding that, it was time for cake and presents! ^.^
I got some really lovely stuffs this year:
from Mum:
1) a really, really cool Tropicana Life T-shirt with an awesome design. Can't wait to wear it! ^.^
2) Borders' gift card, and cash. Muahaks! ;D
THANKS MUM!! ^.^ ♥ ♥ ♥
from Dad:
a Sheaffer watch and pen set ... expensive! O_o I think he's subtly hinting at me to grow up and be more punctual. ;P Meh, tough chances of those happening!
from my elder brother Omar-oniisan:
a Tropicana Life wallet, all blue and fuzzy. ^.^ It looks so cute, all fleecy, like it was cut from carpet, !
from my little sister Fairuz-chan:
a cute noteblock and pen set from Take Note, all Parisian-pink-and-black. It looks too good to use! =P I'm not going to use it, it's too dear. ^.^;
from little brother Khaled-kun:
BOOKS! ^.^ The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Me & Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter. You can't EVER go wrong with me and books -- and Kite Runner was even on my wishlist! ^.^ I'm going to take my time reading them, it's been too long since I had some nice, good, long literature to indulge in. *smothers self in books*
from Dee, Deb, and Grace:
This gift is going to take a bit more storytelling ... ^.^
... It arrived in a huge blue box, tied with pink ribbon. When I opened it, I was greeted by a mass of pink crepe paper, and after the intial, "Thanks guys. Crepe paper, what I've always wanted, yay!" round of jokes, I dug through it to reveal: A KAORU PLUSHIE. ^.^ SQUEEEEEE!
Tied around Kaoru's wrist was a tag: Happy B'day CLANNOIRE-HIME -- "It's time to play the~ FIND THE HIKARU GAME!"
I thought it was a joke at first, and it was up to me to go ahead and buy the Hikaru plushie myself to complete the set of twins, but apparently not! O_o Inside my house, somewhere, my friends had hidden Hikaru. I thought it was too good to be true at first -- having Kaoru was good enough, but there was a Hikaru? O_o But he was hidden?
I ended up strolling about my own house, clutching my Kaoru, with everyone crying, "Warm, warmer -- ooh, ice-cold!" -- as if temperature could tell where I was supposed to go, meh! =P -- and eventually, I found a matching pink box tied with blue ribbon hidden underneath a pile of cushions in my room. Apparently it was my brother Khaled's job to hide the present, only he did too good a job, heheh! ;P
Inside the pink box, buried under a mass of blue crepe paper, was my HIKARU PLUSHIE~! ]A[ Attached to his wrist was a tag: "You've found me! Now take me to Kaoru!" The twins enjoyed a happy reunion. ^.^ This little treasure hunt really made my birthday a whole lot more interesting, and I'm so happy you guys thought of it! ^.^ It was definitely a stroke of genius. Not only that, the colours of the boxes -- blue for Kaoru, pink for Hikaru -- matched the characters (those who watch Ouran High School Host Club would probably understand the significance, heh! ;D), as did the colours of the ribbons and crepe paper. Genius, I tell you! >.<
After present-opening and shortly after twilight, Prav came with Nini -- whom I haven't met for a year! >.< Another happy reunion! -- and Ismail, whom I've warmed up to, though this was only the second time I've met him, ! =P I enjoyed talking with them, even though it was for so short a time. Thanks for letting me abuse your camera, Ismail, and Nini, your shoes are too cool for school. >.< *covets*
we split up before heading to Deb's place, because Alyaa had to be home to pick up a relative. Dee and I ended up with Alyaa, while everyone else headed to Deb's place. Even though we'd agreed to meet up at 8.30, we didn't really leave until about 9pm. =P
There was a small, short but cheerful gathering -- in which we struggled to open a tough bottle of cordial and there was much playing of Guitar Hero -- as Mai and Grace had to make it home by 10am. =P
Grace said something randomly:
Grace: *grinning* "HAPPY birthday." ^.^
Me: "Thanks. I feel happy." =D
For some reason, this exchange was significant to me. Because I really did feel happy, and somehow, Grace saying it at that particular moment seemed to wrap the day up nicely. I had a really happy birthday, I was content. ^.^
After that, I randomly suggested to Nadz, Dee and Alyaa that we move the party to the local mamak stall and continue our little private celebration over a few drinks. =) There was much talking, bantering, and insightful discussion, after which I left feeling all the more older and wiser and actually 20, for once. ;P
The day hadn't ended yet, for me. My dear friend Elan -- whom I met earlier this year at a manga book club discussion for Ouran High School Host Club, and is a fellow otaku when it comes to hysterically fangirling over anime =P -- had agreed to come over later that night. It was nearly midnight when she arrived.
She'd come over to I didn't expect her to bring me a present, but she did! >.< And the circumstances behind her getting the present are so extraordinary, I was blown away. >.< But first, what she got me: VOLUMES 1 & 2 OF 会長はメイド様！(Kaichou wa Maid-sama) ]A[ It's a manga we're both really into. I love it especially because of the herione, Misaki, is unlike many shoujo heriones and she's one I can really root for. I love it! The art is just lovely and instantly recognizeable, the plot flows smoothly and has truly heart-stopping moments. *gushes*
And Elan wrapped them up so prettily in a box that she (get this) handmade herself. That girl got skillz, yo! >.< It looked so professionally done and sleek, all smooth black card lined with crinkled black ricepaper, bound with brown and red strips of recycled craft paper. It looked AMAZING. >.<
And when she told me the story of how she got them, I was utterly blown away: she actually bought the manga volumes it that night itself, after a family dinner that ended at 9pm. She'd rushed to Kinokuniya KLCC just before it was closing, and had driven to my house to make it here before midnight. >.< I was so shocked by the urgency -- I mean, she could've just bought the presents anytime and given them to me anytime, but she said that it would have lost its meaning. ^.^ I wouldn't think so at all, but I'm so moved by how much effort she'd put into everything. I'm going to have a really tough time trying to top this for her birthday on March 5th, eheh! ^.^;
We ended up chatting until 1am, and exchanging more mangas and animes as otakus like us are prone to do when put together. ^.^
The perfect end to the pefect day, as a story would end. ^.^
So now! >.< Shout outs! *deep breath*
THANK YOU SO MUCH ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY! ^.^ I LOVE YOU ALL!
Everyone -- friends, family, everyone in between -- you have no idea how much you guys rock. You guys are my sunshine, my only sunshine, and you make me happy when skies are grey. ^.^ You make me feel loved, and there's no greater feeling in the world. ♥ Really, if you ever need me, you don't even have to call me and I'll be there. ;D
And THANK YOU to my dear LJ friends, LarXy and Meteor Wish, for the kind birthday greetings! *tackleglomps* I really appreciate it. >.< SAANKYUUU!!
I'm loving every minute of life, even though it's been 20 years now. =) A whole year's just started. I'm going to fill it with such adventure it's going to scare people. ^.^ Watch out!
P/S: More pics coming soon ...!
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| Saturday, 3-Jun-2006 15:16 |
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the Tung Chung MTR station, which was closest to our apartment
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at Madame Tussaud's wih Naomi Campbell!
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Ayumi Hamasaki, OMG!
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Day Zero (27th May 2006):
Made the 3-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, arriving at around 7.00PM. Our friends/relatives Uncle Zam and Cik Su were waiting at the airport for us to take us to their apartment.
A bit of backstory: Uncle Zam is a pilot for HK's Cathay Pacific airline, and bought himself an apartment in HK a few years back. We decided to borrow his apartment for the trip for the wonderful perk of getting free lodging. ^_^
That evening, we were showed around the HK city for a bit, learing how to use the MTR (HK's commuter train system) in the process. There's this wonderful credit card the HKites have called the 'Octopus Card', which functions a bit like Malaysia's Touch N' Go card. But besides paying for train tickets simply by swiping your Octopus Card over the subway turnstiles, apparently you can use it to pay for groceries and stuff at 7-Eleven and other places. Very nifty -- Malaysia ahould prolly adopt this credit system real soon. O_o
Anyway -- we were taken out for dinner at this building (forgot the name -- Something Mansions?) which was simply flooded with Middle Eastern and South Asian people. It looked like we had stepped out of Hong Kong and ended up in Dubai or something. We ate in a small, quaint restaurant with unbearably spicy food. Though it was quite an experience, I wouldn't want to eat there again anytime soon. =P
Uncle Zam also showed us to this fantastic bazaar called the Ladies Market, where they sell all sorts of lovely things at ridiculously low prices (if you knew how to bargain well =P). We were to visit it (and shop 'til we drop like the locusts we are) the next day.
Uncle Zam's apartment is on the 49th floor of a building complex, which meant we were practically towering in the air. A bit of trivia for you: due strong belief in superstition and folklore, most of HK's buildings do not have every consequtive 4th floor, because in the Mandarin dialect the number '4' is pronnounced a lot like the word for 'death'. So our apartment building did not have a 4th floor, or a 14th floor, or a 24th floor, and so on. Instead they skipped straight from 3 to 5 and 13 to 15, etc. Very fascinating. =)
Due to our towering height, we had a clear few of the South China Sea and the airport, and saw the world covered in thick mist every morning.
Day One (27th May 2006):
Morning:Uncle Zam and Cik Su left early for Malaysia, leaving us to fend for ourselves. O_o We ended up visiting what we were told was the largest shopping mall in East Asia, called Harbour City. We had a very rough time finding our way there, and had to resort to asking for directions more than once.
Needless to say, when we got there we found out that everything was ridiculously overpriced. O_o We ate at Starbucks, and though the prices there practically burned holes in our purses, we found many delicious confectionaries that can't be found in Malaysia and my Mum bought the HK Starbucks mug that she coveted (she collects them, like my Dad collects Hard Rock Cafe merch from around the world). Wanting to prove that I had indeed been there, I dragged the family to a funky clothing boutique called Madison Ink and got myself an ORIGINAL Emily Strange T-shirt (which looks absolutely goth-gorgeous, by the way), rather than those ratty pirated Emily Strange t-shirts commonly seen sold here in Malaysia ... It's pale pink with Emily splayed on the front, dressed rather aesthetically-pleasing as a witch, with the caption, 'Wicked Strange'. Cost me about HK$250, which would be about RM125. =( *le cry*
Afternoon: After much last-minute planning, we resolved to visit Madame Tussaud's Wax Musuem HK at the Peak. We had to take the Peak Tram, and finding it was quite epic and tiring. Walked across the breadth of HK city downtown.
More trivia: It was a Sunday, which would mean the maids' day off from employment. The parks and streets were flooded with Filipino maids mixing and mingling, trading gossip and clothes and wares. When I say 'flooded', I mean lining sidewalks and invading public spaces, in an amazing spectacle that is not unlike a flashmob. Twas interesting and a bit scary.
We eventually found the Peak Tram station, which took us up to a place called Victoria Peak, where the musuem was waiting for us. Truly an awesome experience, as the tram ascended at a nearly vertical angle (we were being dragged up at a 45-degree angle, I swear!), and all the buildings that were built into the mountain seemed surreally slanting.
Madame Tussaud's was fun. =P I took pictures with Naomi Campbell, Ayumi Hamasaki, Freddie Mercury, Elvis, the British Royal Family, Adolf Hitler and William Shakespeare. And there's a rather embarrassing shot of me with Marilyn Monroe (involving a blonde wig, a white dress and an air vent) that I'd rather not post up. O_o
We wandered around Victoria Peak awhile, before descending on the tram at around 5.00PM to make way to the Ladies Market.
Those who are planning on visiting Hong Kong? If you are an incurable shopaholic like I am, please do visit the Ladies Market. Get off at the Mong Kok MTR station, and take a short walk down the street.
Pirated' copy handbags of desinger brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach going for ultra-low prices, anime merchandise, and all sorts of junk I usually fangirl obsessively over are available there in such abundance. Funky retro clothes, sweet jeans, and novelty things like jewellery, watches, naughty underwear, posters, and everything flea-market worthy stretching down four blocks of alleyway. Bargain-hunters' paradise.
I bought myself not one, but two wigs for cosplay purposes, and they're my most treasured buys. =D This first night at the Ladies Market (we went twice!) I bought myself a long-haired sandy-blonde wig for my Temari cosplay. The next day, when we went again, I bought a long silver-haired wig to cosplay Sophie Hatter of Howl's Moving Castle, whom is next on my list. =)
And their prices? Would you believe I bought the long-haired silver wig for the gloat-worthy bargain price of HK$90 (RM45!!!)? And this after I bargained only half-heartedly -- think on how low a price I could have got if I bargained more relentlessly. But I was short on time. =P A long-haired wig here in Malaysia usually goes for RM100+, without bargaining merits! And my blonde wig went for no more than RM40. Yatta, success! ^_^
I bought all sorts of uberawesome stuffs. One worthy of mention is a beautifully crafted Japanese doll in an intricate gold kimono, holding a gold paper fan, which I got for about RM40-something. I've seen those dolls for sale here actually, and coveted them like mad, but they were being sold for RM100+. She's now standing on my bookcase right now, and looks absolutely beautiful. ^_^
I also brought back three lovely tote bags (I hoard bags. I'm a bag person. Some girls can't resist shoes, some girls obsess over jeans, wild horses can't drag me away from slingbags and tote bags =P). I can't stop looking at the one splayed with pop-art-style faces in green, red, yellow, blue and black, because it's so gorgeous. And I have a new Emily Strange bag that [info]alleycatz would murder me in my sleep for. =P
And there is now an uber-gorgeous, as-large-as-the-planet poster of Sasuke looking cool and intimidating with a katana hanging over my bed, being the last thing I see before I go to sleep. Heee. *fangirlish giggle* Am such a happy geek. =P
Day Two (28th May 2006):
DISNEYLAND!! ^_^
We decided to take Uncle Zam's idea of visiting Disneyland in the afternoon, because according to him, you wouldn't have to wait long for the wonderful nighttime fireworks display. Our huge mistake, however, was not taking into comsideration that he and Cik Su didn't have kids like we did, and probably didn't take as long as we did on rides and shopping and lunch.
This resulted in us not really visiting Tommorrowland as we were short on time, much to great general disappointment because my brother and I were dying to ride Space Mountain. We tried to console ourselves with the fact that we visited Disneyland California years ago, and was probably good enough for us. =P However, not wanting to ruin the trip, Mum generously took us to Disneyland the next morning (we went twice, OMG) just for Space Mountain. Worth every ounce of effort, that. O_o
Before I continue, let me just get something off my chest: I advise everyone to visit at least one Disneyland in their lifetime if you can afford it, because dude ... even if I admit it's a huge capitalist scheme to cash in on our naive love for novelty, you can't help but have fun at Disneyland. It's just different kinds of AWESOME there. O_o The fireworks, the parade, the performances, the mind-blowingly fun rides ... everything you do at Disneyland is tinged with a hint of fantasy, wonder, sheer WOAHness.
Everything was done so professionally. Everyone -- from the street cleaners to the waiters the Cast Members (they call all staff there Cast Members, like they're all constantly performing) were so mind-blowingly professional it was like watching a beautiful, well-made clock at work. Everyone who played a character was so in-character, and never once got out of character. I've made a resolution to work as a Disneyland Cast Member at some point in my life (nursing the fanciful idea of playing one of my fave characters, preferably a villain =P). Mental note: learn Japanese as soon as possible, move to Tokyo suburbs, work at Disneyland. Life's dream. =P
Anyway. Going up Main Street we took pictures with characters, Mickey and Minnie Mouse being the main ones of course. Also took pics with Tigger (O_o!!! TIGGER, PEOPLES!), and my kid sis got a photo with Daisy Duck and my parents got one with Goofy -- each of our respective faves. Couldn't find Merlin or Mulan, though (my personal faves), but that was quickly resolved the next day. 
Ate lunch (fish n' chips) at the Corner Cafe, before watching the Parade. That's 'Parade' with a capital 'P', dudes, because it was a PARADE. What amazed me about the Parade was its mechanics -- the technicalities of running it. The streets were lined with speakers playing each themed float's song as it passed, and once a float passed one area, the song playing on the speaker would change for the next float. Do you realize how mind-blowingly synchronized everything had to be? The dances, the floats' progress down the street ... everything had to be timed exactly. I was aware of this, and realized quite depressingly that Malaysia couldn't possibly handle something so monumental and phenomenal as a Disneyland. I skulk in shame.
We made our way to Adventureland first. Oh, and the weather that day was kinda cloudy and slightly drizzly, but we didn't let that hamper our day, oh no. Visited the towering Tarzan's Treehouse and rode on the Jungle Rapids, but the best part of Adventureland was definitely the Festival of the Lion King, which was a spectacular song-dance performance in an enclosed stage area. They did a musical summary of the Lion King's story with performers playing the key parts, with dazzling effects, costumes, props and makeup. Truly spectacular stuff.
Next was Fantasyland, which are mostly kiddy rides, I must admit. =P Didn't have an It's A Small World ride much to general disappointment (how can you have a Disneyland without It's A Small World? Or Pirates of the Carribbean, for that matter), but the Winne The Pooh ride was cute, and so was the Cinderalla Carousel (how often does one ride on a carousel? =P).
By that time night had settled in, and the fireworks were about to begin. We waited around 'til the show started, and had front-row seats (well, sorta) to the whole display. =D Fireworks shot through the sky, timed by music, while scenes from Disney movies were projected to the side of the Sleeping Beauty castle. Though they didn't have a Tinkerbell firework like the one in California did, they did have a Mulan firework sequence with impressive pyrotechnics, of which we could feel the heat from even though we were standing quite a distance away. Several different kinds of awesome, that. =P
However, right after the fireworks ended, they announced they were about to close the park. As I said, we hadn't visited Tommorrowland yet, which dampended the mood a bit. Plus, the night ended in tragedy: halfway through the fireworks diaplay, my unreliable fool of a little brother dropped my precious baby digital camera and permanently damaged it. It's currently dead, my poor baby. =( The pictures in the memory card could be saved, though, but I remember feeling an ugly, angry feeling towards the end of the fireworks display because of my camera. Felt a hatred for my brother that could rival Sasuke's hatred for his own brother Itachi, then. =P
But the last-minute therepeutic shopping helped, though. I got myself a few lovely, pointless memorabilia, which is the type I love best. ^_^ A Sally doll from Nightmare Before Christmas now sits on my desk, and a pair of Stitch ears hang by my bed. I remember my first purchase being a pin, bought just before the Parade. It's of Simba with 'Hong Kong Disneyland' emblazoned on it, and it's pinned to my pencilbox.
Day Three (29th May 2006):
Morning: Well. =) Like I said, Mum was pretty much aware of our disappointment at having us missed out on Space Mountain, so we prepared for a second trip to Disneyland. We were such dorks, visiting Disneyland twice two days in a row!
We made a beeline for Space Mountain first.
You have NOT truly been on a rollercoaster until you've been on Space Mountain.
A space-themed, thriller-coaster in the dark, lit only by starry lights? Can anyone say GREATEST RIDE ON THE PLANET?! It was so awesome, we applauded at the end of the ride, amongst exclaimations of, "That was freakin' wicked!!", "Ohmygodsoawesome", "I can't walk straight", and, "I cannot feel my legs." =P
I got a picture of my brother and me at the end of the ride (it was one of those where there's a camera at the end that takes humiliating pictures of you screaming like a baby at the end of the ride), but I was pleased enough with my thrilled-tinged-with-wonder expression and 'O'-shaped mouth to buy the photograph.
Tragedy #2: I lost the picture sometime later. I dunno where I lost it. =P I think it was when I was watching the Merlin show -- that magical jerk must've done something. O_o Meh, HK$90 (RM45) down the drain ... =(( Woe.
I feel I must also mention we took the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you blast evil Zerg targets with a blaster equipped in the car, and got a higher score than my little brother, who is a terrible shot. He only got until Level 3 out of 7! I'm currently a Level-5 Space Ace, woohoo! *geeks*
Afternoon: Took taxi and MTR to Ocean Park, which is an enormous theme park in HK that aims to entertain and educate about marine life. We came for the Dolphin Show. After Disneyland, Ocean Park was nothing to shout about, but it was great enough. =) Took a lovely, slightly acrophobic cable-car ride to the Highland section of the park, where the Dolphin Show was to take place. Wandered around the Shak Enclosure, where I had possibly my closest encounter with a live Great White Shark (terrifying and fascinating, though it was only in an aquaruim), and the Sea Jelly Experience (jellyfish are the cutest things in existance, EVER. I shall call them my squishies, and they shall be mine).
The Dolphin Show started at 5.00PM, preluded shortly by a live mariachi band (they were pretty good, but I was like, O_o?? Mariachi?? for most of the time). It was very impressive, with the dolphins and sea lions doing leaps and marine acrobatics, and I was quite thankful it was educational as well and not just mindless fluff. I can now tell the difference between a seal and sea lion (ear flaps, people!) and know how much an adult dolphin weighs (130 kg, which is more than twice my measly 50kg ...).
The park closes at 6.00PM, so we made the tranquil cable-car ride back to the Lowland section.
Evening: Ah, what to do in downtown Hong Kong on the last day of your vacation and spare HK$ to spare?
Shopping. Of course.
We made our second trip to the (wondrous! beauteous!) Ladies' Market for some last-minute shopping.
I have one regret, though: I saw, on the previous night, several lovely, large Naruto keychains for sale ... these were the large models of the characters that go for RM20 back in Malaysia, and the rarer characters are usually out of stock. I saw freakin' Temari and Yondaime keychains (I mean, YONDAIME. Where can you find a YONDAIME keychain here? And, *sob*, TEMARI!). I would go back to HK just for those keychains. =P
I bought my silver wig this second night, as well as that precious Emily Strange tote bag. I think that night we couldn't be bothered with bargaining anymore, and took the prices nearly as they were. =P They were already going much cheaper than we could find them in Malaysia, anyway (I didn't expect my wig to be so cheap, and was actually expecting to pay a lot more than the price offered).
That last night, we did a bit of packing and cleaning up of the apartment we trashed during our three-day stay. Set off the next morning and arrived safely home, where I now type this entry. ^_^
So yeah, all-in-all, I adored my HK trip. ^__^ I shamelessly throw myself to the floor and kick around in a temper tantrum, demanding to go back to Disneyland again.
I enforce it again: please, if you can afford it, go to at least one Disneyland. Nothing can go wrong there. Even a ruined camera and a lost RM45-photograph does nothing to avert me from the place. Everything's gorgeous there. ^__^
I love the bargain-shopping, the theme parks, the bustling swell of Hong Kong city at night. Watching Hong Kong in motion is like watching a beehive of colour and lights and people, smoke and scents and traffic flowing in gushes and torrents of a swolen river after a storm.
Hints for people travelling to HK: not many people there speak impeccable English, so it's an advantage to travel with someone who can at least speak a Chinese dialect (Mandarin being the best, of course =P). But almost everyone speaks okay-ish English, so no one has to worry too much. It's not like Japan. =P
*sighs* Longest entry so far, I think! O_o
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| Friday, 3-Mar-2006 07:59 |
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completely random picspam!
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Um. An 'anorexic motorcycle' I spotted on campus, heheh! =P
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I just loff this picture! Everyone was laughing! ;D
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In class, catching a photo op before the lecturer arrives ...
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Just posting a few randomly-taken photos from UiTM.
Enjoy!
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| Wednesday, 22-Feb-2006 12:34 |
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Cappy Goes Camping!
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I'm in this picture somewhere. Find me and get a cookie!
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A view of the river ...
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the surau in which we played, prayed, hung out, and hid in ;)
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The leeches has sucked me dry. The days of going without bathing has left me with grimy, filthy skin that's flaking off like snakeskin. My hair and teeth are falling out due to malnourishment. I nearly drowned in the torrid, rain-flooded river-rapids several times while trying to save my squad-mates' lives, but failed. Search parties have turned out nothing. We're afriad half of our platoon have been the victims of tigers and rabid tapirs.
I have just returned from my very first camping trip. O_o
...
Heheh. Gotcha at the rabid tapirs bit, huh?
My uni has this co-curriculur program we call 'Kesatria' that involves a lot of marching, marching, and oh gosh more marching every Saturday, which is compulsory for First Semester students. I'm in my Second Semester now, but since I was so marvellously clever in my first sem to drop the program, I had to repeat it this sem. =P
One of the programs we had to follow while in Kesatria is a camping trip (which we get six credit hours for -- which means I don't have to march for three weeks! =D Whee!), which took place from the 17th to the 19th this month.
This year, the camp was at this preserved rainforest called Taman Rimba Komanwel, all the way in Rawang, which is like 1-2 hours drive from my campus. We would spend 3 days, 2 nights there, not bathing, cooking our own food, marching, sleeping in the rain, and essentially roughing it til we're rescued and taken back to civilization. =D
You can tell I'm ridiculously high-maintainence, eheh.
We set off after class at around 3pm, and as soon as we arrived we had to set up camp. It was the very first time I've pitched a tent, and I only almost poked people's eyes out with the spokes! Go me. It was a wee little tent the colour of flouresent bananas, and it was absolutely rubbish in keeping out the rain. More on that later. Each tent had around 4-6 people squeezed together like the sardines we had for dinner, pitched on a small square of sandy area scattered with 'beluang' to keep out poisonous insects and snakes. =)
Our patch of ground was way, way, WAY at the edge of the campsite, bordering the edge of the forest, far away from the nearest sources of light. We thought it was pretty cool to have one of the more isolated tents, thinking we could truly sensationalize the camping experience by being right next to the forest. Yeah, it was pretty cool the afternoon we arrived, but as soon night fell, I began to regret not bringing a torchlight. Or a few candles. Or a kerosene lamp. Or a Las Vegas casino sign. o_O
The entourage of over 60 students were divided into six platoons, and I was in Platoon Six, along with ten other kids. I volunteered to be Assistant Platoon Leader, being the glamour-hound that I am, knowing that 2nd in command gets all the perks without carrying the responsibility.
We had an ice-breaking ceremony that night, and the most popular question that crept up when people introduced themselves up front was if they were still single or not. I guess people take this camping trip in a completely different view ...
Later, we found out each platoon had a "sentry shift" throughout the night, which meant that we had to take turns getting up in the middle of the night to guard the camp, doing rounds through the camping grounds, and around the forest border. This sentry-thing makes sense when you're in the army, and you have to guard the camp at night from enemy ambush, but it didn't seem so serious in our case. However, it was tremendous fun being a sentry. =D Going round the forest at night, armed with merely a torchlight, and nearly dying from pneumonia as you zip your not-thick-enough windbreaker until your chin to fight the vicious, rain-sodden cold (have I mentioned how god-forsakenly cold it was at night?), listening to silence and watching the darkness make shapes in the trees is definitely an experience I'm not forgetting anytime soon. It was awesome, and the best part was, my platoon was assigned with the last shift, which was 5.00 - 6.00 AM, which meant we didn't have to face the mess of getting up and going back to sleep again. I guess the best shifts are the first and the last, because those in the first shift (12.00 - 1.00 AM) can also get a good solid chunk of sleep before waking.
Sleeping in the tent was hell, by the way. The ground was rough and littered with little stones, everything was soaked, and I got about 2-3 hours sleep the first night, tops. =D
The next day started with an uphill trek to this place they call the Commonwealth Park, where we performed a series of humiliating exercises to the Black-Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and that annoying "Numa Numa" song,marched while lying on our backs (don't ask), and did what we called 'Ribena Jumps', because we leapt up like little Ribena berries on caffiene. Um. Yeah. You probably couldn't tell if we were university students or still in kindergarten, but whatever. =P
Throughout the afternoon, we played a series of competetive games between platoons, and my platoon nonchalantly came in first for most of them, to our bemusement, mostly because we hardly worked for it. =P Just say we were born fabulous.
The day passed with not much event, because that night (our last night there), each platoon was to put on a performance for everyone.
I have to make note of Platoon Four's sketch: it was HILARIOUS. They parodied Kesatria's marching-culture, and re-created a marching exercise and took many comedic liberties. The most memorable character had to be the ditzy, air-headed commander who gave all the wrong commands in an annoying nasal voice, instructing a platoon of clueless, stoned students who marched backwards and in circles. =D Very the funneh. I wish I made a recording, because some of the jokes were priceless.
My platoon's sketch was titled, "Romi and Romeo", in which we sang Can't Take My Eyes Of You in Malay, and popular Malay-Indonesian song Mungkin Nanti in English, while the only two boys in the platoon acted out lovey-dovey scenes together that would put Brokeback Mountain to shame. =P You probably had to see it to believe it.
That night, my tent-mates and I decided to sleep in the Surau (or prayer-house) because our tent was practically flooded -- like I mentioned, our flourescent banana-yellow tent, though it was pretty and cute, was absolutely rubbish at keeping out rain, and the inside walls were practically dripping with moisture. O_o
Doing sentry rounds that night was a somewhat heightened experience, because througout the entire evening, the commanders kept on reminding us, over and over again, that we shouldbe careful ... not because of cold or poisonous plants or dangerous insects, but because of the forest's 'other' residents. O_o Malaysia still remains a very superstitious nation, and there are still very strong beliefs that the forest is inhabbitted by other strange creatures that aren't animal or human.
Here are a few things they warned us to never, ever do while in the forest:
1) shine your torchlight towards the treetops
2) boast, or speak too highly of yourself
3) pluck leaves, or take anything that is still attatched to the ground
4) laugh too loudly
... you could attract unwanted attention. O_o *shifty eyes*
I mean, I probably have heard dozens of scary stories about these fearie folk, so as I did rounds about the forest, I expected to see white shapes floating about the trees or hear voices or whispers or laughter. However, after half an hour, the only thing I seemed to be guarding the camp against were stray cats, which took the adventuresome fun out of it all. =P
We would set off the next day, but we would have lunch first. Now, all cooking on camp was done by student volunteers, who had to cook for the rest of the squad. I'm particularly proud of myself, because that afternoon, I volunteered for kitchen duty, and cleaned and cooked chicken in army-like quantities, cut watermelons and generally made myself useful in the kitchen for the first time in my life, heheh (told you I was high-maintenence). =P And when everyone ate the chicken that I cooked (okay, okay, with the help of other student volunteers, sheesh =P) and drank the cordial I mixed (it's true, I mixed it myself), I must've either thought, "Oh God, these poor food-poisoned souls," or, "Gosh, what tasty chicken! I wonder who cleaned and cooked it!" =P
Hee. Fun.
So yeah. That was my very first wonderful camping experience. Of course there were sucky bits, like almost every five minutes they'd have a roll-call and we'd have to dinkily get into line and report, and not having make-up and looking like a pockmarked gargoyle for three days, but the other bits were fun. Like bathing in the river and not bathing for two days, treating the commanders like our peers because they really are our peers (two of them were our classmates, and whenever they gave us hell on the marching ground, we'd give them hell of it), getting bitten by a leech for the first time (yes, I consider that as one of the fun bits. It was both dramatic, fascinating, and funny at the same time =P) and, cheesy as it sounds, making new friends. =P There was this ickle Part One kid that kept on latching onto me, which was both annoying and sweet at once, like having a little sister. =P
MENTAL NOTE: If I'm ever foolish and unstable enough to go farther than three kilometres away from sweet civilization, remember to bring torchlights (with batteries, mind you), candles, kerosene lamps, water, waterproof matches, and leech socks. Especially the batteries. =P
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| Thursday, 22-Dec-2005 00:00 |
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Cherating Holiday
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Fairuz and a bucketful of baby turtles about to be released
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a tubful of 2 day-old baby green sea turtles
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Dad building sandcastles! LOL
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Yay, I'm back from my holiday! =D I had an unexpectedly great time at Cherating, and of course, dilligently took photos of the whole adventure. =P
We set off around 12AM on the 19th, and after about a 3-4 hour drive, we arrived at The Legend Hotel, Cherating. We booked two adjoining rooms.
The good thing about this hotel is that their room service food actually tastes GREAT. They have some of the best vanilla milkshakes I've tasted in a while, and their portions are huge for low prices. =D I love their Oriental Chicken Chop, and am craving it right now, heheh!
They also had one of those 'old skool' type of arcades, where you're supposed to insert ¥100 tokens, and press those round, puffy-looking plastic buttons and move around the tiny joystick to play -- they even had those Street Fighter games I hadn't seen since I was like, 11 years old. =D
The bad? Their "Internet Zone" is only one dinky little computer in a glass room, which acted up everytime I opened Firefox. Which was sucky.
But the best thing was, it was right on the waters' edge so we went down to the beach everytime we could.
On the 20th, my Dad, my kid brother, my maid and I went out (leaving Mum and my kid sis in the hotel room, because sis was cranky and sleepy), and after driving around (going across the Pahang-Terengganu border like, twice) and having lunch, we made a rather surprising and delighting discovery.
My Dad, wanting to see exactly what the hype about Club Med was about, drove into a small, branching dirt road which a blue sign marked, 'Club Med' was pointing at.
The Club itself was closed until January (so there was nothing to see there), but nearby was this Sea Turtle Conservation Sanctuary, where they hatched baby sea turtles and released them to the ocean. It was also a sea turtle study facility and museum, and thus opened to the public. But it looked pretty deserted at its entrance, and I originally thought it was closed/not open to the public/a secret government facility in disguise. But Dad marched straight in.
We walked around the museum, and my kid bro and I actually got to feed their captive sea turtle swimming around in a seawater pool, whose name was 'Mimi' (although they have no idea if it's female or male -- that can only be determined when the turtle is like, 20 years old, and the one they had was merely 3). All the while we were whisperingly making these insensitive jokes and threats about wanting to make turtle soup and combs and cradles out of the shell ("Oh, c'mon, it's not as if they're endangered or anything"; "Yup, we eat her and be wanted in seventeen different countries!"), but fortunately no one heard us. =P
When we were leaving, the caretaker informed us that they were scheduled to release a few baby turtles at 10pm that night. We thought it would be great to come again and bring Mum and my kid sis.
So that night, after a lovely dinner (omg, I don't think I've ever craved seafood so much before), we got to the turtle sanctuary at 9.30pm and took photos while we waited for 10pm.
The night was very dark and moonless, and hardly lit at all by light, so we all saw the stars quite clearly.
The caretaker then took us down to the beach, with a bucketful of 15 tiny, utterly cute, 2 day-old baby green sea-turtles. =D He gave each of us one baby turtle (mine is named 'Cloud'. Don't ask! =P) and drew a line in the sand where we should set them down. After the intial countdown, we released them, and after that it was a race to the ocean's edge. I shouted a series of encouragements in Japanese, much to the confuzzlement of many. Heheh! =D
A few baby turtles accidentally went the wrong way, and a few were less enthusiastic than their brothers/sisters to swim to the ocean. It took about half an hour for all of them to get to the ocean -- one baby in particular took five minutes alone to 'escort' to the ocean by torchlight.
After that we all headed home. I would've preferred it of they would at least give a short briefing before/after the release of the turtles about conservation efforts (the eco-nut Ravenclaw in me was raving, "So it's just a silly tourist attraction -- there's nothing educational about it!"), but another family brought a crowd of little, below-10 kids and they could have got awfully cranky if kept waiting there any longer (it was already about 11pm).
So I'm glad we discovered the turtle sanctuary, because the whole thing wasn't planned at all. =D Made our holiday a lot more eventful and memorable and unique than I thought it would be.
Twas a good holiday. =D
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| Monday, 26-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Class Party MCD1A 2005 -- Comraderie, Chaos, and Cake =D
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my bodyguards (hee!) Taufik and Bob
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Mama's a cake murderer! HELP!
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Mmmmm .... chikin ...
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Considering the first semester is already on the eve of ending, our LIB101 lecturer Pn. Haryati (whom we fondly Call, 'Mama' because she's like a mum to us) decided to throw our class D1A, a little congratulatory party for having 'survived' Part One. =D
My roomies and I, being in charge of preparing food for the party (woah, that's like the second time we were put in charge of food -- it's like destiny), we made preparations a few days before. We raided the nearest hypermarket for foods (the sparkling apple juice and sparkling grape juices were my idea, thanks!) and ordered a lovely chocolate sponge cake to commemorate our lovely day. =)
The party was to be held at 2.30pm at the Shah Alam Lake, which was about half an hour from our college. Earlier that morning, we took Syekin's car to pick up the cake, and went back to retrieve the rest of the snacks.
Laden with plastic bags filled with partyware and drinks, we waited at the bus stop at 1.30pm. The day was blazingly hot, with not a breath of breeze in the air, and sweat trickled disgustingly down my back.
Naturally, the bus decided to come late. Received call after call from Mama, telling us the class has already started to arrive, and the food hadn't. =P It was already 2.30pm.
Luck stroke in the form of Mizah, whose dad gave us a ride in their car. We arrived at the park at around 3.00pm, and by then, the KFC, nasi tomato, and cake were waiting for us.
I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
After the party, Anie, Dayana, Syue and I trooped to the three neighbouring shopping malls to do a bit of shoppi-- um, I mean browsing. =D Hee.
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| Sunday, 25-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Mass Comm Induction -- Pain, Peril, and Party! ;D
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Anie and Puteri dressed to the nines
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syazwan, khairul and asil queuing up for dinner
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ayu, khairun and hani, looking as lovely as ever! ;)
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It was horribly long due, but our seniors finally came around to holding our very own Induction last Sunday. =D
Every year, the Faculty of Mass Communications (*ahem* my faculty, I'm proud to say, thankyouverymuch) holds the age-old tradition of Induction, which means the Senior Mass Commers and Junior Mass Commers do a variety of humiliating and fun things together in the spirit of getting to know one another. Being a faculty which involves a lot of communication, contacts, public-relations and generally basing our entire education on the philosophy of, "It's not what you know, it's who you know," the Induction aims to generate a bond between Mass Commers so we'll be able to help one another in the future in the media industry.
This year, the Part 5 students, being LAZY PROCRATINATORS -- uh, I mean, busy, shoved the duty of organizing the Induction onto the shoulders of the Part 2 students. Us Part 1 students stood around cluelessly while things were being organized around us.
Finally, September 25. Sunday. 8.00 am.
I can't describe how I felt that morning: Sleepy, I supposed, and mildly unenthusiastic. We were thinking of not going, but attendance was being taken and we, being obedient and obliging, trooped downstairs in our 'Faculty of Mass communications' T-shirts to the futsal court for a bit of exercising.
Ooh, a bit of side-story:
My Mass Comm T-shirt was still wet (having only hung it up to dry the night before), so I alternatively blow-dried and ironed it to dry it. Needless to say, the ironing board was moist for hours afterward, and I went down with a slightly damp shirt which smelt of old socks. =P
Anyway. Morning excersises. Nothing exciting happened. They played a mix of horribly catchy contemporary songs (including Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl, Don't Cha by the Pussycat Dolls, and that Crazy Frog song) and subjected us to silly excercising.
After which was followed closely by the games, which were humiliatingly and ridiculously fun. Finding candies in plates of flour using only your mouth, tossing water balloons, passing rubber bands through straws and carrying rugby balls between your knees are things that should only be reserved for primary schools.
Well, all that except the water balloons. =D Those were fun. People of all ages need water balloons.
12.00PM, and everyone went back to their dorms to lunch/pray/sleep. I spent the afternoon watching Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (OMGsobeautiful) and the end-half of The Butterfly Effect (OMGsoheartwrenching).
That evening we had inter-class and inter-part futsal matches, which was possibly the funnest event of the occasion. =D Our class (D1A)'s guy team even got into the finals -- and although lost against our Part 2 seniors, it was a pretty tight match. I probably went hysterical a few moments everytime the ball neared our goal, but Haire proved to be a formidable goalie. Ans Syazwan, woah -- what a striker. I think the poor boy is unaware how popular he's become with the girls after scoring a few goals. =P
That night, at about 8.00PM, was the Dinner. Which meant make-up and dressing up. Very enjoyable -- in fact, half the fun was in preparing for the event itself. =P I probably spent at least half-an-hour applying and re-applying foundation (couldn't stop sweating, dammit). We arrived very fashionably late at 9.00PM.
(Personally, it was somewhat a waste, as the Dinner was being held at our campus' Upper Dinig Hall, and not a swanky restaurant as we had hoped. =P)
What ensued afterward was much eating, performances, and much photo-whoring. Every time a camera flashed, people rushed into posed groups and smiled ridiculous smiles 'til their facial muscles were sore. What can I say -- Mass Comm is more 'glam' than the Performing Arts faculty, which is supposed to be the glammest around. =P
Oh! And the performances! Our class, I'm proud to say, put on a loffly little singing skit, featuring the talents of Bob, Hani, Khairun and Safwan. Very well done.
Me and my roomies left early, because we were far too tired and had to prepare for the class party the next day. Although that didn't stop us from hanging out at the bottom of the block for a few minutes, feasting on snackfoods and exhibiting ourselves in all our finery to late-night passers-by. =P
All in all, I think it was a lovely day well-spent, although I think we could pull off a far better Induction. =) Can't wait for Part 5!
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| Saturday, 27-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Program Anak Angkat 2005
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the nasi ambeng in its early stages ...
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BUBBLES! because we uni students are really kids at heart!
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Aizat and his fave bubble =P
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Program Anak Angkat 2005
Faculty of Mass Communications
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam Campus
It was a weekend unlike any other: ninety-seven university students, fresh from the surburban comforts of campus life, tossed into the cultural wilderness that is the Malaysian countryside, and burdened with the responsibilities of event-management.
From the point of view of this student, it was an event so otherwordly, so fulfillingly bizarre, so insanely gratifying, and nothing like anything I'd ever done or even consider doing. O_o
Yes, ladies and gentlemen: I spent two days and a night in a spacious surrounded by oil palm plantations and waking up to the sound of roosters crowing, eating some of the best, richest food I've tasted in ages, wearing traditional costumes and being in charge of feeding ninety-seven students and overseeing the excecution of a class concert. =)
August 24th, Wednesday
The Mass Communications faculty of University Teknologi MARA had decided to organize a Program Anak Angkat (Adoption Program) for all the Mass Comm students.
Thiss meant all of us students would be 'adopted' by several foster families, and spend the weekend with them -- sleeping under their roofs, eating their food, and basically being their adopted 'children' for two days and a night. =)
Here's the catch: our foster home was a kampung (Malay village), in the outskirts of the state -- which meant I spent the weekend in a spacious wooden house, surrounded by palm oil plantations, waking up to the sound of crowing roosters in the morning, and eating the best chicken rendang dishes I've ever had. =D Thankfully, the bathroom and toilet weren't outdoors as I had expected (!!!).
Also, a few of us students had been elected to join several 'Bereaus', and put in charge of the actual organization of the Program. There was the Transportation Bereau in charge of hiring coach buses and making sure everyone got to their intended destinations; the Protocol Bereau in charge of making sure everything was carried out according to plan; the PA Bereau in charge of the PA system for the various events, etc.
I was a member of the Food Bereau, which meant I had the task of making sure everyone -- all ninety-seven students -- had enough to eat, and organizing the food and drinks whenever meals were served. You can bet your fuzzy woollen rainbow-coloured socks that my Molly Weasley instinct kicked in at all the precise moments!
Also, each of the three Diploma classes that were participating in the event had to put on performances the one night we were staying there. The theme for all our performances was, 'Warisan Budaya Melayu' ('Malay Cultural Heritage'), and Class B decided to put on a fashion show, showcasing ethnic Malay costumes. Class C did a traditional zapin dance. Class A (my class), however, very nearly came to not putting on a performance. O_o
While all the other classes had decided what they wanted to do in the earliest stages of the Program, Class A was in uproar. At one point we wanted to put on a sketch, but several key players dropped out to join a camping program which incidentally was going on that same weekend.
For a few days, we were at a loss. It came to a point where the class monitor decided to take charge, and stood at the head of the lecture hall after Computer Studies class, not allowing anyone to go back to their dorms until we came up with a performance.
After rapid, desperate discussions and heated arguements (we were all under a lot of stress by then, what with the upcoming mid-terms and piles of assignments to complete), we finally decided to act out a poem.
The main problems were:
1) Finding a poem to act out;
2) Finding actors to act out said poem;
3) Obtaining props with limited resources and limited funds;
4) Rehearsing;
5) Doing it all in two days. O_o
Somehow, through mutual desperation and a silent, uniform understanding that we had to work together or DIE, everyone fell into their desired roles with such effiency it still stuns me 'til today. O_o
For example, on that anxiety-laden, tense day itself when the class monitor gave her ultimatum, we already had our poem: one of my classmates, Safwan, sat down and started composing the poem (with the help and feedback of other classmates of course) and in twenty minutes, we had a kickass poem, detailing the epic story of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat of classic Malaysian legend.
For those not in the know, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were two legendary warriors of the Malaccan empire. They were best friends, often helping out other out in battles and such. However, though a tragic misunderstanding, Tuah ended up killing Jebat under the orders of the Sultan. It's a heart-wrenching tale of friendship and betrayal.
Yes, I know: VERY Anakin/Obi-Wan. =P
We also managed to decide our key players of the sketch that day itself as well, randomly selected those who had stayed behind in class (with much protest and reluctance they agreed -- we were all running on pure stress and desperation by then =P).
August 25th, Thursday
The next morning, more of the class' talent shone: apparently, through the night, Faeza and Ina managed to compose a fully-fledged script, detailing a translation of the very artistic poem, as well as the actions of the actors and poetry-readers involved.
And also, the performance got three times better: three of my classmates, Bob, Hani and Khairunissa (whom I had NO IDEA could sing), decided to give an 'opening act' by singing an originally-composed Malay lullaby. The song was beautiful, and their voices complimented each others' perfectly. When they rehearsed after class, I couldn't help but think, "Holy crap, our performance KICKS ASS. We'd so blow everyone away, yo."
It was also a time for all of our talents to shine: Faeza, the script-writer and narrator, is also an excellent director, arranging actors onstage and providing support. Safwan, our resident poet and poetry-reader, choreographed the entire fight scene between Tuah and Jebat, and even provided a little comedy. Ina proved to be a talented poetry-reader: she put such immense emotion into her performance -- I have never seen anyone sound so intense.
And the actors! Taufik and Haire, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat respectively, absolutely shone. Bob and Hani (whom you remember being our opening singers) made 'cameo appearences' as the Sultan and Sultana.
And me? =) I took it upon myself to be in charge of the props. I cannot begin to explain the troubles I went through to get certain props: at Jebat's death-scene, our director wanted the stage to be plunged into darkness, and someone to walk onstage holding a candle, eventually blowing it out as a symbol of the warrior's death.
I didn't want to use the ordinary, conventional white stick-candles -- I was ambitious, and wanted something fancier. There is a cluster of restaurants behind my faculty building, and every night, they'd arrange these little floating candle-lamps on the tables to provide a whimsical, romantic mood. I had to go up to the owner of one of the stores and beg for two little floating candles, and eventually got them for free. =D
Another scene involved Jebat 'smoking' his kris (dagger) over a fire -- I had to make innovative use of a coconut husk and egg cartons to create the effect.
But the props I'm proudest of are definitely the krises (traditional dagger with a blade that curves like a flame) that Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat use to fight with. Making do with the limited resources available on campus (buying cardboard from the general store that wasn't for sale, for example, and travelling thirty minutes to the nearest town to buy metallic pens) I made them -- and they turned out gorgeously (with a few forgiveable flaws, of course).
We had a little spontaneous rehearsal at the end of Sociology class. I had to leave early (for reasons I will elaborate further), but it was the first time I felt so secure that the class could handle itself beautifully without having me to pitifully beg everyone to work together. =P Because everyone was WORKING TOGETHER with such a perfect, complete chemistry, I was wondering when we could submit our little skit to Cannes. O_o
Anyway: you must still bear in mind that while being in charge of props for my class' performance, I was still on the Food Bereau, which was facing its own problems: We were supposed to set off for the kampung at 6.45AM, which meant nobody would have the time to have breakfast. The journey takes at least an hour thirty minutes.
Ninety-seven students one a long, one and a half hour-journey without any breakfast? That spelled bad news.
So, the Head of the Food Bureau (my roommate, Anis) decided that we'd have to prepare breakfast for the students ourselves -- before we set off at 6.45AM. Which meant waking up at 3.00AM, and preparing sardine sandwiches and hot tea for ninety-seven students. Wasn't pretty at all, folks.
August 26th, Friday
I was up all morning 'til 1.00AM, preparing the props for our performance. waking at up 3.00AM was like dragging me up from the depths of death itself. O_o Buttering bread was the last thing I wanted to do.
But I did it anyway -- my roommates, who were also on the Food Bureau, provided me with enthusiasm and support by throwing themselves into their duties of making tea and mixing sandwich filling, and wrapping everything in indivial plastic packages.
Also, we did all of this in our dorm. That's right.
By 6.00PM breakfast was ready and packed. Bringing the boxes of sandwiches and packets of tea down was pretty tough, considering some of the tea leaked out, and everything weighed a ton. O_o
To add to our class' 'delightfully' eventful day, our bus came at least two hours late. =P Which was kind of unfortunate, as the EmCee of the Opening Ceremony was stranded with us, and so was half of the PA equipment.
And when the bus finally arrived, it was blazing hot and the air-conditioner was not working. We had to resort to switching buses halfway down the road. No one could survive the stifling heat.
The morning was such an entertaining disaster, but most of us realized that this meant we would have a far more interesting story to tell when we were asked to write about it in Fundamentals of Reading & Writing class,
We reached Kampung Seri Cheeding, a charming Javanese village in the outskirts of Banting, Selangor at 9.45AM, about two hours late. The Opening Ceremony was just about to end. Food was about to be served, and the Food Bereau immediately rushed to their duties.
It was then we were seperated, four to a house, to join our foster families. Dayana, Anie, Syue and I shared a house with Mrs. Zaleha and Mr. Rosli, whom we called Kak Leha and Bang Li, because they were young enough to be our foster siblings (they were merely in their thirties and looked quite young), three charming ickle kids named Ika, Azi and Didi, and their sprightly old Nenek (grandmother).
They're a charming, lovely family, really. =) They were so nice to us -- making sure we were comfortable, constantly fed and entertained. Some of the best moments spent at that village was with the three little girls and having funny conversations with out foster parents and lively foster grandmother (whom we discovered had married only a year older than we are, and had fourteen children -- yikes! O_o)
And our performance went down with a blast. We had such a great time doing it that night, even though the audience wasn't as large as we wanted it to be, and the PA system wasn't up to par. =) Everyone was simply fabulous.
That night, we slept to the sound of drizzling rain. The air was cool and fresh and serene. I had the best, most peaceful sleep in ages -- we could do this kampung thing a whole lot more often!
August 27th, Saturday
The morning was free of activities for us to spend time with out foster families. This was a time where we were supposed to search for material for the 'journals' we were supposed to write later as assignments. We interviewed our foster parents and foster grandmother, and they regaled their life stories to us: the grandmother had pretty insightful stories to tell on how she survived the Second World War when the Japanese invaded, and how she got married to a Javanese man at the young age of nineteen and moved from Singapore to Malaysia.
Then we made way to the Town Hall, where the villagefolk were preparing a special meal for us, called 'nasi ambeng' (which, roughly translated, means 'rice of good fortune').
It's a rich, generous dish of rice drenched in several types of curries and lauks, topped with vegetables, fried noodles, salted fish and glutinous rice, served in a large platter lined with banana leaves. Each platter was to be shared by six people at once.
There was part of me that went, 'Dude, this isn't very hygenic. Six people sharing one plate of seething, curried foods? Ew,' but there was another part of me that went, 'WHEE! FOOD! With COMPANY! Let's PARTY!'
I went with the latter part. =D I think it's a good idea, food-sharing -- it's such sociable thing to do.
And once again, our buses were late! =P About two hours late, that is -- but that meant more time spent with our foster familes and fellow adopted students.
One thing that made the visit to Kampung Seri Cheeding worthwhile was a nostalgic encounter with long-lost childhood playthings. =) In the little sundry shops by the side of the road they sold these little petroleum bubble-blowing kits, which none of uni students have seen since were were all ten years old. It was a happy reunion. Like little schoolkids half our age, we bought the bubble-blowing kits by the merchant-load, and held bubble-blowing competitions while we waited for the buses. =) It was ridiculous, and silly, and childish, and so much fun.
One thing that I felt made the trip really worth it was the deep feeling of comraderie I gained between my classmates and I. We worked together so well, and clicked so perfectly, I think we now share this common connection of mutual respect and admiration for one another. =) As cheesy and Disney-teen-movie-esque as that sounds, it's true.
And I gained an insightful look into the lives of Malaysia's villagefolk and their surroundings, and made tons of new friends in the process.
It's like how I want to live the last day of my life: surrounded by old and new friends, having a ridiculously good time, eating lots and lots of lovely food, learning new things and simply enjoying all the merits of youth. =)
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| Friday, 24-Jun-2005 00:00 |
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The Importance of Being Ernest, Ice-Creams and Polly Pocket ...
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Grace and Jen Han, as Cecily and Algernon, respectively. =)
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Grace auditioning what I *think* is Act II ...
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"Aaaaaand ... ACTION!"
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Today was quite an eventful day -- three different sets of people set out with three different agendas for the day, ending up with all of us going out to accomplish each others' programs. =)
Prav wanted the whole Gang to gather for lunch at Mamak Bistro since he was back from MMU for the weekend, while Grace wanted to audition for her college's latest stage production, "The Importance of Being Ernest". Alyaa, Diyanah and I had originally planned to gather at Deb;s house (as we promised we would!) to play with her old Polly Pockets toys (wich we haven't seen since we were wee six/seven-year-olds ... yes, I am aware I am ten years older now and shouldn't be playing with dolls, but this is Old Skool Polly Pocket, yo! o_O).
How did we accomplish ALL of that? =D
With the spectacular power of the Pondok Gang, of course!
Grace called this morning explaining her problem -- she wanted to join us for our little lunching, but she was worried she mightn't make it for the audition -- plus, she hadn't any transportation to get to Taylor's SS15, where the auditions were being held. However, several phonecalls later, we remedied everything -- except for the teeny fact that Grace didn't have much faith in her acting skills.
"No matter!" I said, "the Pondok Gang will pep talk you into auditioning. The sheer power of our support, friendship and sibuk-menyibuk-ness will bring you to realize your DREAMS, whether you want to or not!" O_o
We gathered at Mamak Bistro at around 2.00pm, arriving in Diyanah's ubercool, sleek black ... um, car (sorry, I can't remember the car's name/model. We should just call the car, 'Jim' and be done with it). Prav was already there with Hel, and his two friends from MMU, Ismail and Lina -- who are, I must admit, crazy, creative and cool enough to be dubbed honorary members of the Pondok Gang. =P
Nadz, Deb and Justin joined us soon after (in that order, ! Justin missed his bus stop and, in effect, saw us at the Bistro and decided to join us), completing the Pondok Gang only missing Nikki, Mai and Nazi. =) Pep-talking Grace into a passionate fervour (well, almost) we all trooped over to Taylor's College's SS15 campus to get her to participate in the auditions.
The drama team was pretty surprised to see this immense, surging crowd of barely-able-to-control-their-noise people marching into the auditorium, and even more surprised when we stated we weren't there to audition, but rather provide support as Grace's Fanclub. =P
Prav, Justin, Ismail and Lina left early to Pyramid to watch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but needless to say Grace's audition went pretty well. =D We all agree she makes a darn good Cecily -- I mean, the role was made for her, dammit! And if she doesn't get the part, we'll BURN DOWN ALL OF SS15! MUAHAHAHAH! ... and probably roast marshmallows over the flames as well. =) Yum.
After the gruelling audition process, what was left of Grace's Fanclub stopped by McDonalds to ice-cream ourselves, before driving over to Deb's house to ... um, playwithPollyPocket. O_o
FINE, I confess, it was FUN playing with those itty bitty toys-from-our-chilhood! I mean, the new Polly Pocket can't COMPARE to the old skool versions -- they're so ingenious and cute and awesome. And I have to add how much I ENVY Deb for keeping her Polly Pockets safely while I gave away/lost/destroyed mine. =P
Diyanah sent us home at around 6.30pm, and by then it was almost dark. Terrifically fun day -- I wish we could live it out all over again. I just know I won't have lovely days like this once university starts! O_o
I'd like to take this oppoturnity to thank Panda, for being Official Photographer for the day. ;D
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you're in the center in both pics and you are wearing a black tudung. You owe me a cookie! yey yey! 
