Facebook = Take-away-all-my-privacy book

I bet all you Face Failbook users by now have realised that they've introduced a brand new 'Ticker' feature at the right side of your home page.

What this does is list/announce/reveal/publish/bocorkan every single comment, post and like on every single photo, status and whatever shit. What makes it worse is that it is not only limited to within your circle of contacts. 


So lets say I'm friends with Ah Chong, and he is friends with Ah Kit, but I am not friends with Ah Kit.


Every single comment, post and like by Ah Chong on any of Ah Kit's photos, statuses or wall will now appear in YOUR ticker.


So now in short, anything and everything you do will now be publish for all to see.


This idea is so full of fcukfail, I simply cannot write anything that displays my disgust for what is going on with Facebook. I thought the new chat bar is a rotten enough feature, but whoaaa get a load of this new Ticker. 


I am genuinely considering moving out of Facebook. Such infringement of privacy is beyond what I can tolerate. Google+? Twitter? Friendster? Choices choices.....


*Update!* It seems the Ticker's be taken off now. Jolly good thing they did.

Cuti-cuti bang bang

Woot woot 2 weeks holiday woot woot cant wait for badminton with my kaki lang woot woot cant wait to taste Sitiawan's good AND CHEAP food once again woot woot

Well actually it's been 5 (wtf FIVE already??) days since my holidays started (nevermind, still got over a week left xD), but I've been able to keep myself un-bored until today when I wasted spent wasted an hour or so walking aimlessly around The Summit USJ. But the highlight of my holidays so far was my return to Naza World and Naza Italia. This time around I was accompanied by my good online buddy Imran (who stays super near to Naza World) and we spent a good 2 hours walking around, looking and taking photos of the cars there. One thing that really ticked me off is that Naza World blocked off the exotics showroom area to visitors. I seriously could not understand the logic behind such a thing. Why call it a showroom if you dont let visitors near the cars?

So, thanks to this nonsensical rule, there are no close ups of the Aston Martin DBS, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, or Audi R8 V10 on display there. But to compensate, there are some other nice cars (and even some videos) which you can see further on down. Also, you can check out my previous visit to Naza World here and also here.

Goodbye Uncle Wong

I just got the news from my brother that my badminton coach of 10 years had passed away, although he doesnt know yet what was the cause.

He had taught and coached me tirelessly since I joined his sessions at age 7. When I first joined (and even held a badminton racket) I was a chubby and lazy slob of a boy. Well actually I got slightly chubbier until about 10 years old. I never really joined because I wanted to learn, but just because my parents wanted me to get some exercise. So then every Sunday (okay maybe not ALL, I'll admit skipping quite a number of days), for two hours, I learned how to hold a racket properly, how to swing properly, how to move around the court properly. I remember how I used to run out of breath and get dizzy when we ran 4-5 rounds of the hall as warming up during my first few years. Later on he would teach us about techniques and deception, and on my own I started to learn how to "jump" smash (I use quotation marks because it's not really much of a jump).

 These memories however, are only made special because of Uncle Wong. When I was out of breath, he would calmly tell me to take a seat and rest. When training was about to start he would ask if I'm okay and ready to go. For a brief period when I had troubles with my service he gave me an entire box of used shuttles and asked me to practice against the wall. When we practiced techniques and did them well he'd say "Yaahh, good!" with that tone of encouragement, and if we didnt, he'd say "Nevermind, keep trying!". My favourite memories of him are when we played a match and we scrambled and ran all over the place and he would sportingly shout "Run run run!!", and if the point was long and tense enough or ended in some epic/funny way, he would laugh and/or clap at the end. He knew how to share the light moments with his students.

Likewise, if we were struggling, we wouldnt hesitate to give some on-court or off-court guidance, and always he did it softly but making sure he gets his point across. Work aside, Uncle Wong was a really friendly man; we would sit down between games, have casual chit-chat (although this only came towards the end of his training days), I used to see him talk with some of the other kids' parents. We even used to play a few games together, and despite being on the shorter and slightly plump side of the scale, this man could play.
 

Over the 10 years being under him, an unbreakable bond formed between the teacher and this loyal student. I started out playing badminton just for the sake of it, but the longer I was with Uncle Wong, the more I improved, the more I began to love the game. And I have to thank him (and not forgetting Aunty Wong) for his kind yet purposeful ways of training that kept me going back for more. He never deterred or criticised his students, but always helping and guiding them. I have undying respect and appreciation for this man and what he along with his training sessions have done for me.

I couldn't imagine my life today without badminton, without my almost-torn shoes or my favourite black Yonex shirt, diving and "jump" smashing on court and eagerly waiting for the next badminton outing with friends, or even gluing my eyes to the TV to watch Chong Wei and Co during competitions. Even if I dont have championship-winning capabilities, but learning badminton from him and knowing him in person has opened up my world and taught me so many positive values, especially his patience and gentleness in teaching. I owe it all to this man, but I can never repay him enough.

Thank You Mr Wong, for all your contributions and services, and for being such an amazing coach to all of us. I will always remember your most memorable and last words to me:

"You must master the basics, that is most important; before you can be good in anything"

"Whenever you want to have training again, just give us a call"

There will probably never be another like him

An hour ago the world watched as Lin Dan picked up his fourth World Badminton Champion title, the same time millions of Chong Wei supporters cringed, sadding-ed, slumped and so on. It was a damn close fight, Chong Wei winning the first set 22-20, dropped the second at 14-21, and was on the verge of becoming our country's first ever world champion at 20-19. Alas, Lin Dan made sure he wouldnt be finished off and turned the tables on Chong Wei to win 23-21.

I really do take my hat off to Chong Wei for the brilliant (although admittedly slightly imperfect) game he played tonight, and still managed to hold his nerve in the final set right up to the last points, but perhaps he just cracked a little too much and allowed Lin Dan to take advantage. Otherwise, he definitely deserved to win the title.

It wouldnt be so painful if Chong Wei still had a few years left in him, but now aged 29, at the peak of his fitness level, with news and speculations going around that he may retire after the Olympic Games next year, there may not be another great player that can fill in his place. Just look at the next generation of players, i.e Chan Kwong Beng, Liew Darren, and the mens-doubles-players-whom-I-have-no-idea-what-their-names-are, they've never made any sort of impact that says "Watch out world, we're still here to fight". Have you ever noticed almost every tournament is about depending on Chong Wei (and perhaps Kien Keat-Boon Heong), and nothing about rising youngsters?

There was once a time when Malaysia's football team was also a force to be reckoned with when the likes of Mokthar Dahari, R. Arumugam and Soh Chin Aun took to the field. What has happened since then?

The exact same thing may very well happen with badminton. We once had Wong Choon Han, the Sidek brothers, and now Chong Wei. Given the current condition of our back-up shuttlers, I cant help but wonder will the same fate befall badminton?



:Update:

“I may have lost the opportunity to become the country’s first champion but I am coming back. I will be back in 2013 to get it right,”


Lets hope he does~

Free electricity

So I went to check my mailbox yesterday morning and I saw an enclosed envelope from TNB (I think the rest of you should be getting yours about now). Interesting, I thought that now they mail your bills to you. But what's more interesting was the bill itself:

My first thought was "omgwtfbbq FREE ELECTRICITY! XD", but after some online searching it turns out the government will cover all electric bills worth RM20 or less, and apparently this has been in effect for a few years already. o_O

But looking back at the bill again, sharing the apartment with my brother, how did the bill reach such a ridiculously low level? Our past two bills were RM22 and RM24, and also our daily electric usage wasnt abnormally low. Meter rosak? Hmm......

New updates are available for this blog~

Yehhh I know it's been almost 1 solid month since I last blogged... Couldnt really find much to write about these days. =/

So... after some much needed adjusting to college life and no longer overly thinking about all the rubbish before this, I suppose I've managed to properly settle down here in Subang. 

College life seems to have stabilized I guess, after passing 4 exams already. But still I wont let slack even a little bit; there's a very strong reminder telling me not to do so. Still having to wake up at 6.30 in the morning is still quite the a**e thing for college life though.

Remember when I said I found this group of badminton players that play on Sundays near my place? Well for some unknown reason that session is temporarily unavailable... haih~ But how come their sessions suddenly stopped just when I joined in? Face problem? ><"

My friends gave me some tips about looking for a Buddhist association for my social life-upgrading, and just so happens I found the Subang Jaya Buddhist Youth Association which is near Taylors Subang in SS15. But looking at the website and seeing how extremely out of date it is, I wonder whats the status of the association now... Should go have a walk in during my upcoming sem break soon...

In light of the many expensive exotic and sports cars I've seen running around KL, I'm considering hauling my Spotted™ photos over to my blog and perhaps share some basic information about them (or it can also be because I want to syok sendiri :P).

I've begun to notice I'm having a sharp rise in short-term memory loss... The cases so far involved placing something, somewhere, and then quickly forgetting about said something. Some of the time I manage to remember to retrive them before it's too late, and other times not quite. Once I left my notes in the library before going back, luckily the staff kept it and returned it the next day. Is my brain really beginning to rot? o.<

*End of updates*

Ferrari Dino 246 GT

http://www.motortrend.com/classic/c12_0509_top_ferraris/index8.html

"The most elegant and graceful of all Ferraris--performance that required skill and finesse, rather than the wielding of a sledgehammer." 

The Dino is a car that defines the term "beautifully balanced"--the right amount of horsepower, a superb suspension, tight gearbox, lithe handling, and a shape that ranks it as one of the most beautiful automobiles ever made.

"Placing the engine in the center of the chassis created an interesting direction and also a great effort to design the engine and new transmission for a production car of this type," remarks noted designer Tom Tjaarda. "This car represents the attempt to satisfy the vast number of clients who'd like to own a Ferrari; to produce a special car in elevated numbers without sacrificing that exclusive factor so necessary for an automobile of this type."

Thank Sergio Pininfarina for the Dino's creation. The coachbuilder considers it the second quantum design leap with Ferrari and led a chorus inside the Ferrari organization to make a mid-engine car; Ferrari responded that he felt the configuration was too dangerous for non-racing drivers to use.

When "The Old Man" finally relented in 1965, "He said, 'Okay, you make it not with a Ferrari, but with a Dino,'" Pininfarina remembers. This meant the car would have a less-powerful six-cylinder engine, so "in his mind less powerful meant less danger for the customers. And therefore I had the permission to develop the Dino."

The prototype made its debut at 1965's Paris Show and was subsequently refined over the following two years. It went on sale in 1968, with a transversally mounted 2.0-liter V-6, independent suspension front and rear, disc brakes at each corner, and a price tag far below its V-12 brethren. In 1969, the engine's displacement grew 400 cc, and in 1972 the targa-topped 246 GTS went on sale.

What's most appealing about the Dino is the way it feels and drives "small." All the corners are right there--not way out. This makes brisk driving an absolute blast, its quick steering and lack of bulk helping the car respond as you place it right where you want. And the V-6's howl as it surges toward 8000 rpm is hair raising, the sucking of air and trumpeting exhaust reminiscent of the 512 blasting down Mulsanne in the movie "Le Mans."

"You're as close to being a racer as you'll get this side of an international competition license," notes a December 1972 Motor Trend GTS road test. "Every curve seems ironed out and the pace of life gets faster. From the point of view of the onlooker it must look suicidal, but from the inside it's almost a matter of course or, at most, just a bit of brisk motoring."

So why all this too long; didn't read hullabaloo then? Simple. I had one right in front of me.....

....and the first two paragraphs sums up why this specimen has made its way onto my supposed-not-to-be-about-cars themed blog.

My shoes have only a few months to live...

Sad, but true. It's been a good 2 and a half years I've been wearing these Apacs Air-Repulsion 360s for my badminton games, and now they're showing signs of their impending demise...

Front sole starting to come off





 here too

Rear sole starting to peel..... 

 .... and detach entirely

as you can see here

 

 and also here

"Sir, your shoes only have a few months left to live"

Whether it's going to be an epic RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPPP or a slow and progressive cancer-style death, at least I'll be prepared for it... Tissue boxes on standby please~

  

In related news:

Today was the first time *everrrrrr* I played badminton on my own in KL. I found this group of badminton kakis at http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/90-Malaysia who happened to be regularly playing near my place here in USJ. I cant join my big brother since he and his friends play on weekdays, across the opposite end of the state, and are like, 10 levels higher than me, I decided to look around the forum for a more suitable time, place and group to play with. And find one I did. TeeHEE.

Well okay they're all about the same age as my brother (yesh, I'm the youngest one there. Awkward much?), but hey if we all play on roughly the same skill level (as I found out today, I'm a BEGINNER), then nothing else really matters right? Still I had just as good a session as I used to have with my Sitiawan kakis. Finally a chunk of my life has been restored. ~Phew~

Anybody wanna join me? :)

My black, rusty 'pet'

OKay, it isnt actually mine, but it's my dad's 1980-something Datsun 120Y. He's given me the responsibility of maintaining the car in proper running condition and keeping it clean. So every 3-4 days I'll have to start the car and drive it around for a while so that the battery doesnt go flat and let the parts work a bit and keep them lubricated. So 2 Fridays ago (3rd June) I went to start the car after 6 days of not using it (30th May was the last time I ran the car). So I pumped the accelerator pedal twice to get some petrol into the carburetor (so that it can actually start), turned the ignition, and the engine just gave a few chugs before dying off. It isnt unusual since its so old, so I just pumped and turned the key again, but the engine just cuts off shortly after starting. After that it wouldnt start at all.

At first I thought I had pumped too much petrol into the carburetor (which does prevent the car from starting), but leaving it for a good 24 hours to dry up the petrol in the carburetor didnt do anything. By this time the starter motor (the thing that actually makes your engine start) had become weaker; not turning as fast as it should. So then dad came the next Monday (June 6th), had a look and tried starting it, also unsuccessfully. Based on the weakening starter motor he first suspected the battery had reached its end; but no, it isnt even 1 year old! So we both figured the weak starter was because the battery had lost its charge after over 1 week of not being used. 

Then last Friday he came over again and we both went under the hood to look for the problem. By this time we needed to jump start the Datsun (using dad's Myvi) because the starter motor was effectively useless and the battery was almost completely drained. Still unable to start. The lethargic chug---ugg--ugg--ugg...ugg of the starter motor was just pitiful. Dad takes out a spark plug and we could see it was awfully worn out.

Here's an example:

So perhaps this was the problem? Nope. Yesterday after changing to a new set of plugs it still would not start. What next? He pulls out the hose connecting the fuel pump and the engine. He cranks the engine, and that's when our light bulbs lit up.... there was no fuel flowing out of the pump into the engine. The fuel pump had failed. Off we went to get a new fuel pump....

 Behold!!






After some hassle to put the new one on, we found another problem; the fuel hose was severely cracked. So badly cracked, the petrol was splurting out from the hose. So we went about changing that too. Alright, new spark plugs, new fuel pump, new fuel hose. With the jumper cables connected, we tried again...

Chuug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug.....

Chug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug-ug.....

Chug-ug-ug-ug-krrk-krrk-krrkrrr-krkkrr-Vrruuummmmm

 It lives!!!

After a day of getting our hands blackened, standing under a mildly-hot sun from 12pm-ish until about 4, sweating like pigs, running about getting the parts, the Datsun was brought back to life~ And to celebrate, we went to get our haircuts. xD

The cycle continues

3 weeks go by very fast doesnt it? Yep, a second round of exams, the same feel-like-shit after effects, the same psychological mashing from the invigilator, and everything repeats every 3 weeks. Great life this is, isnt it~

Truth be told.....

Yesterday's practical examination was quite the slap in the face for me. There were 5 tasks given:

Naming inside and outside body parts

Examining fire extinguishers

Measuring a camshaft journal (choose one from 6) using micrometer and referring to a given service manual

Jacking up a car (front and back) and placing jack stands

Lifting a car on a car lift

The first two were no problem. The third one was a bit unsettling because I couldnt tell which is the front and back of the camshaft, only after that it struck me to have checked the manual. The fourth one was confusing because of discrepancies about positioning of wheel stoppers when jacking the car. I followed what I was taught, what was given in our notes and what we had been doing all the while (one stopper at each wheel opposite from the end being jacked), but the invigilator said it should be both stoppers at only one wheel. The last one was a nightmare. To cut short, I made 2 mistakes which made the invigilator tell me to stop, and then point out my mistakes, and tell me to continue. 

What my lecturer told me was that if the invigilator ever says "Stop", it means I'm doing something very wrong (although I didnt think what I did was very, wrong) and will be automatically failed. Now the thoughts of having to cough up RM1000 and having to re-do the whole 3 weeks of the subject are doing "wonders" to my brain...

Then it got me thinking really long, really hard, really deep....

Some bite sized updates

Despite lacking any oomph or zest of late to inject into my blog, here's some obligatory scribblings to for you guys to read~

Well, it's been about 2 weeks since I've started college, and overall I am happy to report that so far, its been smooth. The classmates are nice, the lecturer is cool (although its hard to understand him once in a while, but overall he's still alright), and the environment here is nice. Still keeping an eye out for the rough ones around here though.

I just remembered I got my first exam coming. :O !!! 

I'm both relaxed and tensed... It feels weird =S Relaxed because the intro subjects dont seem difficult, but worried because I dont know how it will be like, or how well I'd do. It's a whole new ball game in college, so I'll tread with extra caution. Better get back to the books in the morning~

One thing I'd like to point out is that the learning system in TOC is much different than in most colleges which follow the same learning style like in school, where you learn all the subjects at once and then have an exam on all of them. School-stylelah basically. Here though, we spend 3 weeks or so to study just one subject, continuously, from start to finish. At the end of the subject, there's zee exammmm. It's not just written though, there are practical exams as well (given the nature of studying in the automotive field), but since it's not like we can practice them at home, I'm feeling kinda scared.... ><!

And not to mention I have to score at least 80% for both theory AND practical aspects of the subject to PASS, it's quite.... ngeeeeeeeeeeeee! I think I better go study... Bye!

Rest in peace

Classmate of 2 years, your life taken away in a road accident. We'll all miss you.

Kartigeyan Naidu A/L Dil Kumar

9 June 1993 - 6 May 2011

 

Orientasione

Thanks to a throbbing headache I picked up last night I had to put off my update till today. So, how was it?

Welllllllll.......... It wasn't the most exciting event in the world. I know it's that start-of-college big deal but uh... this orientation didnt have that kinda feel to it. On top of that.....

A big chunk of the intake population are punks/samsengs/Ah Bengs with dyed/shoddy hair and punk clothing (two of them even came in short pants and flip flops! Some even SMOKE!!! Sheesh!!). Just when I thought I could escape from these lower-leveled members of society, I reunite with them once again. Damn it. Even if they may be more technical, knowledgeable and skilled, I'm most certainly not impressed by their physical presentation. *crosses arms and shakes head*

Luckily however there are some decent, nice, and well-natured guys, and I've already gotten to know 3 of them; Afiq, Aziff and Kannisen. All isnt doom and gloom then. No girls though. NONE. ZERO. Nguaaaaaaaaawwwuuuuuwwwhuhuhuhuuuuuu~

The day was pretty much the formalities of talks about the course and the rules, etc etc, then we were given our clothes, books and time table, and then we went home. So much for a start to college life. But still, could've been worse~

Life, Chapter 2: College (Preface)

A drop or two of tears welled up in the eyes of a mother and her son as he left his little hometown of Sitiawan to further his studies and start a new part of his life in the bustling township (not actually a city) of UEP Subang Jaya. Although I have been staying here for a few days before this for my interview, yesterday would be the actual starting point of my new life, the day I packed my bags and moved on to face the new challenges and aspects of life that await me.

Since college has yet to start (orientation this Saturday), I've spent my first days here with dad cleaning and setting up my new home, especially since I shifted in with all my rubbish stuffs and some important items (i.e chairs, tables). The apartment before this was bare and empty. At least now it has a more homely feel to it.One major issue we're having at the moment though is one of the bathrooms does not have any water supply. Luckily there's a second bathroom and that one works fine. Dad had already called a plumber to fix it tomorrow morning. How/where did we find one so fast?

One of the (maybe it's THE) best things (and also worst, but more on that later) about the apartment here is the location. It's located just within walking distance of sundry shops, food outlets, a barber, a plumbing shop and even a clinic. If we cant find what we need here, Taipan Business Centre (banks, electric appliances, but have yet to fully explore the place) and Giant are just short drives away, and I mean VERY short. I could even compare it to driving around Sitiawan. Lots of other eateries and shops are littered around USJ. A very convenient place to live, this is. If the mood or occasion calls for it, The Summit USJ is also very nearby for lepak-ing purposes. I've never lived this close to a shopping mall before!!! xD

Now, the one major downside to living here though is the jam. It's absolutely awful. USJ (and also Petaling Jaya where my college is) just happens to be connected to the Federal Highway, which is THE most congested highway in the Klang Valley. It's akin to the main vein in your body; the smaller veins and venules from your fingers, toes, organs, etc will all eventually connect to the vena cava. So here, we have smaller highway branches coming in from Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and other places all linking to just the one main stretch of highway. And with so many cars from so many places entering the F. H. during peak hours, nightmare jams become part of daily life. Oooowwhhh dear~

Some other things about living here are the large number of foreigners (Myanmarese, Thais, Bangladeshis, etc. Not British, Aussies or American... Sorry to disappoint). Every single day when I walk out to eat, or even from my apartment unit, I will most definitely see and hear at least one foreigner. And no, they arent good looking either. =/

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport is not that far away from here either, and as a result passenger/cargo jets
 tend to fly relatively low as they prepare to land/just take off. Heh, I was already awaken by one on my first night here, and that one flew seriously low; shaking up the whole place.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms seem to be the norm here, especially in the evenings. Geographic factor I guess, being located in the Klang Valley.

And well, that about gives a rough picture of what my daily life will be like. Next major update in 4 days~ :)

Star Education Fund

I am writing this from my new residence for my collage years at UEP Subang Jaya (better known as USJ) in an apartment that is just a short drive away from The Summit USJ Hotel and shopping mall complex. I arrived here on Tuesday by bus for my interview with The Star for their scholarship program which is linked with my soon-to-be college, The Otomotif College (TOC). 

The bus journey (alone, without friend or family) was nothing special, but seeing it was my first long distance ride on my own, it's perhaps you can say, pretty cool... I reached Tesco Puchong where my dad picked me up before going for dinner. Then we headed back to the apartment, did some light cleaning, set up our basic needs i.e mattress, and toiletries, showered, and then going off to bed.

The next day (aka yesterday), we set off at 8am and headed towards TOC, just to estimate our traveling time. After about 40 minutes (an above-average time in KL speak) we reached TOC, but decided to have breakfast and linger around since my interview was scheduled at 10.30am. 

Upon reaching TOC, and waiting right until 11.15am, it was my turn. Only 5 were shortlisted for scholarships at this college, here's how mine went:

The panel consisted of 4 interviewers, one being Susanna Kuan, Manager of The Star Education Fund and 3 staff members of TOC. The questions asked/prompting points (may not be in order) were:













Can you tell me more about your family and yourself?

(When I mentioned I like badminton) You must be a big fan of Datuk Lee Chong Wei...

Your father co-owns a workshop, correct? Is it big? How many staff members are there? Is it associated with TOC in any way?

What is your family's main source of income?

You are from Sitiawan, your father stays in Klang. Are you going to stay in Klang for the duration of your studies? What about your mother? Isnt she going to be alone in Sitiawan?

How did you come to be so interested in automobiles?

With your results in SPM, why did you choose to study Diploma in Automotive Technology?


Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

When you complete your studies here, what are your plans?

Are your parents supportive of the course you chose to study?

If you are not awarded this scholarship, will you continue to study at TOC?

How did you get to know about TOC? Why did you choose to study here? What other colleges have you visited that offers this course as well?

When did you get to know about The Star Education Fund?



There were two questions that worried me:

What is your favourite car?

When I gave my answer, one of the TOC staff shook her head. Uh oh.....




Did you know that this scholarship is for the July intake of students?
I was stunned silent. The first thought that went through my head was that I was automatically out of the running because I had already registered for the April intake and paid the first semester fees as well. I was even more surprised with the question because it was not published anywhere about this particular T&C, so how was I supposed to know? But after explaining my situation, they suggested:

"If, you are awarded the scholarship, but you go for the April intake and your scholarship take effect in July, repaying you whatever fees you have paid up to that point. Is that a problem for you?"




That was the end of the interview. Later that day, at around 4pm, I received a phone cal from The Star:









"Regarding your scholarship interview at TOC today, I would like to wish you congratulations on passing the interview. Would you like to accept the offer for this scholarship?"

I was flustered. After saying yes to the offer, I was then informed that the scholarship will not have a bonding contract, and I am to collect my offer letter from The Star's main office, which just happens to be a short drive away from TOC. I have yet to claim the letter though, perhaps maybe on the way back home or returning to USJ from home in a few days time. You reap what you sow, as they say. It's all the better when the scholarship covers the entire tuition fees, which for TOC, is in excess of RM40000. Any working parent(s) will be more than delighted such an immense burden has been finally lifted off their shoulders; and that delight was none too obvious on my dad's face. =')'''

Some little updates~~

Mmm.... it's been a while since I've updated my blog here... Nothing much has been going on, but just for a quick recap over the past 2 weeks:

I got a new watch. xD

 Two watches, 8 years apart, a world of difference. :)

I dont mind the extra weight of a metal watch, but unlike my old watch with holes in the strap so I can adjust the fit, metal watches just clip on in one fit. That means it tends to shake loose around my wrist quite a bit, so maybe that will take getting used to.

Applied for The Star Education Fund... hopefully I get shortlisted for the interview... The agonising wait for the reply letter begins... ><

And, erm........ well thats about it I guess... so yeah my update is about a watch and a scholarship... puu~

Defying The Odds

Throughout my secondary school years I've never been a top-class contender one of the geniuses aka Nerdsters of the school, my exam grades were always a mix of As Bs and Cs. So realistically I didnt aim for the big 10As in SPM, let alone straight A+'s. When I scored a (rather) paltry 3As, 5Bs, and 2Cs for trials I really had no idea how I would do for the big one. Some of my seniors said my trial results would be a rough estimate of what the real SPM results would be like. 

That really sent me into a state of.... disbelief. I believed that I could understand enough of my subjects to score at best 8As and 2B/Cs (damn Sejarah and moral), so if my performance is only half of what I thought I was capable of, its hard to say that it's not dejecting. I knew that I could do better than 3As and 2Cs.

So for two months I pushed myself everyday and every night jamming subjects into my head and spitting them out on past year exercises. But apparently to no avail, the grades stayed just about the same. By then I had pretty much given up on setting any targets, just do the exam one day at a time and just accept whatever results I get, regardless of how many As, Bs or Cs.

Then came results day, strangely I was a bit restless and nervous, despite not having a target score and therefore not supposed to be worrying about if I reached that target. Slowly as we waited news broke out that one of the second class students scored 9A 1B (he checked using the SMS service). That got me thinking if I had a chance of landing the magical 10, but nothing's for certain, and I didnt take anything for granted.

When the time came to announce the results, the school very literally did just that, our ex-accounts teacher would read out the names of the students who scored straight 10As, then presenting them on stage to take the results slip from the principal. 26 of our students scored straight As, 2 of them with straight A+. 

Could I be one of the 26?

After announcing about 10 names, then.....

"Deric Chan Wai Lun"

I was shocked. Young was beside shaking me and whooping and woohooing. I seriously couldnt believe it. From 3As 5Bs and 2Cs to 10As. I walked up on stage, shook the principal's hand, and quipped:

"I wasnt expecting this result..."

"Why? You weren't expecting it to be this good or this bad?"

"This good... I wasn't expecting straight A's."  *brief gushing*

"It's all your hard work. Congratulations~" *smiles*

I looked at my result slip, 4A+, 5A, 1A-. Holy crap, an A for Sejarah and Moral after non-stop Bs and Cs.

But the A- for BM was a tad bit unexpected. Still an A though, I wont complain much.

I called mum and told her my results, she was overjoyed. I called dad and told him, he was just as shocked as I was. He thought I was bullshitting him. xD My brother was calm, but happy nonetheless.

 I remember some people saying the Sasbadi Nexus revision books I used to study were complete rubbish. Well, those piles of rubbish got me A's. That's some really good rubbish I bought.



Here we are in the Sin Chew Daily:

Ipoh Trippin'

Finally something to actually blog about after I dunno how many months...

Serene, Houey, Chuah and myself embarked on a challenging, dramatic and perilous journey drive 80km up north to the Perak capital for 4 reasons:

One wants to buy a backpack

One wants to buy clothes

One wants to buy a birthday gift

One wants to sell books (guess who would that be :3)

So upon arrival at Ipoh Parade and after going through the "roller coaster" ups and downs on the way to the parking lot, le task #1 was le selling books. Lugging two bags, with people thinking I'm running away/ staying for 3 days and two nights/ carrying a bomb, I made my way to Novel Hut to offload my SPM reference books (after an epic fail to sell them locally) and part of my dad's Readers Digest book collection. I made RM20 from 3 fat SPM reference books and some unused (whoops) work books, while daddy's books fetched RM35. Quite surprised that such good books in almost-new quality would go for such a low price. Too bad you dont bargain in shopping malls...

After dropping off the bomb selling the books we next headed to the Factory Outlet Store for Houey's clothes (poor fella aint got good-looking casual clothes apparently). So after trying on like 5 or 6 shirts, spending I think an hour looking around, he ended up buying......... 3 shirts. Mmm, that would be enough la kan? :P

Then it was de lunch time so we went to this cafe (alamak forgot the name already.. Rocoso or something like that) where I tried something called Taiwan Cold Noodles. Its cold noodles (duh) with a mix of sauce, some veggies and meat. It was okay at first, but as I ate more it got more and more sour (the sauce and veggies at the bottom I guess) until I got a bit jelat. So uh unless you like cold and sour noodles, I wouldnt recommend spending RM6 on it.

Next stop was at ze Popular bookstore where I spotted Kenny Dalglish's brand new autobiography

and also Arsene Wenger's "The Mastermind" biography. Liverpool and Arsenal fans with about RM50-60 to spend may want to consider these options. 

 

King Kenny, I love your work for Liverpool and all, but I couldnt bring myself to cough up 60 big ones for your book. Sorry!!

Finally we watched Disney's new movie:

The story of a young boy whose mother got kidnapped by Martians and sets out to rescue her

I wont spoil the story since it's so new, but what I can say is that this movie wont appeal to teens and young adults. This one's for the little kids and their families. Mildly entertaining for me, but nothing much else. 5/10 rating.

So there goes a day in Ipoh Parade. Lots of students (and lots of couples) like to lepak here apparently, especially lala girls and lala guys. A couple in school uniform hugged even right in front of us as we were going down the escalator. Not sure if I wanted to say "awwhh thats so sweet" or "uggghhh PLEASE!".

Oh and on the way out of Ipoh we saw this sign at the top floor of a shoplot which said Ipoh Chest Club. Not Chess, but Chest, as in the body part between your neck and your abdomen. Seriously? A Chest club? Is it open to both men and women I wonder.....

Got Fired.

NAHHH IM JUST KIDDING. :3

But I havent been in a job since CNY....

Applied for a receptionist job at Crystal Hotel today but they want me to work for at least 3 months...

Since I'll be off to college at the end of April, so... baibai job~

What job now what job now... I'm hungreeey for moneeeey..........