Opportunity

Well, like I've mentioned in my previous post, there is this Iranian lecturer who possesses a unique accent which has the ability to capture my attention through out the length of time, right? This is what happened. He wanted someone to stand in front of the class and explain about the Porter's Five Models. But no one seemed to have the guts to do so, not even after he offered his "bonus card". For your information, he imposes the bonus card system for students who show commitments in the class. Thus, the number of bonus cards you have is the extra bonus to be added to your coursework marks before the semester ends.

I understand the model, and wanted to try, but, erm, I'm not much of an outspoken person actually, especially to speak in front of the crowd. However, the way he gazed at me, some how made me felt like I had to give it a try amid the uncertainty on my ability to explain it up to his expectation. Taking in a deep breath, I volunteered myself, made a move to the front and started pointing at the slide, point-by-point explaining based on what I understand. Though I couldn't remember if my voice was trembling, I'm pretty sure that at least I made eye contact. lol

He then corrected me on some parts and added on elaborations to my brief explanation on the model. AND, he awarded my the "bonus card", with a motivational quote. I received it with a thanks and erm, I really like the way he smiles. lol. He then referred me as the "lady hero" for no apparent reason. Ha. In order to motivate the whole class, he shared a story with us, pertaining the spirit to seize opportunity (because only a limited number of "bonus card" will be given in each semester).

"If your belief is not Liberating, it is likely to be Limiting"
~Dr. Billy Kueek, an international NLP Master Trainer

And this, is what I wanted to share here:

Once upon a time, there was a guy, walking by the river, deeply puzzled by his own thoughts. Then, he saw a girl on the opposite of the bank, she was such an exquisite. Being hypnotized by her beauty, he was determined to pursue her. He followed her into the town only to find her missing to nowhere. He was so eager to know more about her, led him to ask around the town on everything about the girl. Along with the information he got on her, was the advice he received from the people in the town. They sincerely advised him to give up on the girl because she was the daughter of the mayor, and the mayor wanted only "special" person for her daughter, not just any random dude.

In order to let the mayor know how "special" he was, he started performing on the streets, singing songs he dedicated to the girl. Volunteered for any activities which seemed to help the locals, be it chopping off the trees to build a bridge, or diving into the sea to rescue drowning kids, he did everything he could to gain the recognition and support from the people. More importantly, to present qualities that THE "special" person may have. As time passed by, he had become the hero of the town. Few years later, the mayor summoned him and offered him a chance. The mayor promised him a marriage only if he managed to cut a tail off from a cow. Three cows would be released from a dungeon, one after another, if he failed, he would be forced to leave town.

With a scissor ready in his grip, determination overtaken his fear, he stood firm on the ground staring right at the dungeon. First cow was released, it rushed out as soon as the gates opened. Its size was huge, far larger than any ordinary cows! It ran as if there was no tomorrow and scared the shit out of him. Within a split second, the little voice in his head said, "This is probably the largest cow of the century. Let it go and you would get a smaller cow next." He did exactly what his common sense told him to, watching his first chance slid through his finger tips.

With that notion in his mind, he had become more ready than ever, expecting a smaller cow to appear from behind the gates. With extraordinarily high adrenaline rush thanks to the first cow, he calmed himself down awaiting the next challenge. His mind had started plotting perfect moves to get to the tail, rehearsed the images over and over again until it reached perfection. With 120% of confidence that he would close the deal as soon as the second cow was released, he started imagining his ideal marriage with the girl he loved. However, the second cow was nothing like what he imagined it to be. The second cow was extravagantly large, probably the most enormous cow in the universe! It was as large as a dinosaur! (The exaggeration he used when he told us the story. lol) His fear took over his body, with his flight mechanism activated against his consciousness, he bolted for his life rather than making way for the second cow which accelerated in unpredictable directions. There goes the second chance.

With his destiny nearly ended up in the heaven, or hell, rather than the church he had been dreaming of, he was grateful that he was still alive. Barely catching up his breath, he had no idea what to think of, his mind went blank. His life appeared to be in bleak, losing his confidence and faith, knowing that he would have no chance at all to marry the girl he had been dreaming of. However, his body managed to gain balance and he stood up. He stared at the scissor in his hand, knowing that, no matter what would happen next, he swore to do anything, anything at all to secure his last and only chance left. He couldn't bear the thought that, the only reason his fairy tale ended up literary a "fairy tale", was because of his cowardliness. With that in mind, his expression now resembled someone who would go to any length seeking for vengeance.

The moment-of-his-life had finally come. He beckoned on a mission to cut off the tail of the third cow, no matter what size of the cow was, even if it meant sacrificing his life, he vowed to himself that, he must at least do his best to fight for what he wanted so badly. To his surprise, the third cow was nothing like the first nor second, it was just a baby cow. His face turned from a vengeful man to a confident General who had never lost in any war and was 200% certain on his victory for the upcoming battle. His mind replayed the mini clip again, on how he was going to take down the cow and reach for its tail and close the deal. He walked to the cow, pat it into his arms while he was smiling to himself, contented with his efforts to fight for the girls, and at the same time, kissing the cow. He thanked the cow for making his dream a reality, at the same time, apologized for, he had to cut its tail off to fulfill his dream. 

Suddenly, he was drawn back from his dream when he was about to find out the shocking news himself. He reached his hand out at the back only to realize that, the baby cow has NO tail! Its either the cow was born with no tail, or its tail had been cut off some time ago, which he didn't even give a damn of it. What mattered the most was, NO tail meant NO wedding! A deal is a deal and there, gone his dream to marry the girl he longed for. He then left the town as promised. Deep down, no one knows how much he hated himself for watching the chances slip through his finger tips, how much he despised himself for being such a coward who fled away and valued his own life more than his vow, how much he regretted for being too optimistic and over-confident when the future is unforeseeable. Had he seize the chance and cut the tail off of the first cow despite of the evil voice behind his head, he'd be in a wedding with his dream girl by then. 

The moral of the story is, seize each opportunity which falls before you. Regardless of what the little voice tells you, or how the people around trying to stop you, be true to yourself and always be clear on what you want to achieve. Never let fear or over-confidence to screw you over. With each opportunity comes the risk. With everything you get, there are the opportunity costs. With every success you gained, there are sacrifices. There is no free lunch, everything comes with a string attached. Quoted from one of my friends, "There is a light at the end of every journey. At times, fear and uncertainty will fill you but it's when you succumb to your weakness that you fail. The ones who succeed are those who take the chance, take the leap and hold on, no matter how difficult it will get. Perseverance is the key to success".

Okay, there goes my day. I'm supposed to start doing my assignments which have been posted up last week. Who knows, because of this lecturer, I ended up writing a post on COW! lol.. Anyway, I need to go and get my hands on the assignments asap. Hope you enjoy the story despite of my poor adjectives in describing the story. The most important thing is, I hope you are motivated and inspired.

'Till next post, cheers :)

First Week

Well, first week, first week of what? It was the first week of my new semester. As foreseen, I went back to school on Monday itself, arrived there just in time for the 2pm class and luckily I wasn't late. It was International Economics (IE) class and we were dismissed early when the lecturer has done the introduction on the course structure. Then, I went back to my room and unpacked my luggage. I'll talk in brief about the subjects I'm currently taking as well as the respective lecturers.

For IE, the lecturer is a part time lecturer. The funny part is, he didn't even know he has an office arranged for him by the faculty until previous semester in two months back. He didn't even know where his office was until one of his students from previous semester located it for him. Haha. Then, it was Global Issues in International Business (GI). We aren't using any text books in specific as we are supposed to discuss and cover contemporary issues happening around the globe. As for the lecturer, he is an Iranian from Kashan. I like him a lot particularly because of his accent. Well, I made a friend from Pakistan when I was having my internship and found his accent somehow unique. This lecturer, too, has that kind of accent which I found myself paying full attention to what he said throughout the class! Besides, he is good looking, relatively more muscular than most of the male lecturers in our school. LOL. But one important thing I like about him, is the way he teaches us, the way he presents his "slides" to us, the way he talks and moves around, his body gestures. To sum it up, his presentation skills are awesome, and he taught us the proper way to present as well (which most, if not every, of the lecturers have been trying to).

For Cross-cultural Management (CCM), she is a lecturer with a doctorate. Somehow or rather, I still don't find myself getting the hang of it calling lecturers by the salutation of Dr. There was a lecturer with doctorate too who taught me two semesters ago, but I'm still calling him "sir" each time I see him around. I think next time I should probably ask if she'd get offended when I called her "miss" instead of Dr. Anyway, she is a very friendly person and tends to make jokes to keep us awake, though most of the time, we hardly get her jokes and she ended up laughing at her own jokes. LOL. But I really appreciate her effort in doing her best to implant interest of the subject on us, and sharing her experience as well as knowledge across different culture. Then, there is this subject called Strategic Management (SM), by a part time lecturer too. On the first day of class, we are expected to finish reading a total number of 100 pages of PDF files within one week, on introduction and the nature of strategic management, which includes a number of case studies comprises of various industries. According to him, he was a CEO before. Though we aren't sure about the reason(s) for him to teach part time, he does sound like a BOSS when sharing his experience.

Next, it was International Management (IM), by a part time lecturer, TOO. Of all days and all time, his class HAS TO BE on FRIDAY 2-6pm! Some of my friends who aren't taking this subjects, had already gotten back home way before I even began my class! Grrrrrr... We received an email from him urging us to attend his first class as he would be telling us the guidelines to score. Well, at least, I felt better when thinking that, I would have some extra information against those who absent. However, it wasn't quite as what I thought the "guidelines" would be. According to him, no matter what we want to achieve in life, which including to score, the foundation is extremely important. With that principle in mind, he shared with us the techniques to effective study, including active listening and power napping, the correct posture to yield maximum concentration, some free online tools to make our own notes, and many more. 

Wait, speaking of notes, this lecturer is slightly different. Though there are lecturers who encourage us to make our own notes, at least they still upload the ppt slides/docx for the students. THIS lecturer, he doesn't want us to be spoon-fed and thus, insists that, no notes will be given throughout the semester. He will only guide us on which text books to refer for the particular chapters and expect us to make our own notes. There is another reason he doesn't want to give us notes though. In contrast with other lectures, we would usually download the notes, print it out and bring it to the class. When the lecturer is lecturing, at least we have a slight idea on the outline of the day, and be able to add on whatever the lecturer has said. THIS lecturer, however, expects us to attend the class without any notes, which is totally opposite to the usual practice whereby, students are expected to prepare before coming for class. According to his notion, he wants us to attend the class with an empty-cup, to be able to fill whatever he is going to share with us, instead of partially-full, half-full, or totally-full cup and make absorption of new knowledge relatively difficult, if not nearly impossible.

He asked us about our intended/desired career path and life goals. I was shocked to see some of them who had not started thinking of it. And there, I heard a tiny voice speaking in my head, "Well, I think I'm still slightly better than them. I've started thinking of it since long time ago." The lecturer then went on and said, "If you didn't know what you wanna do or who you wanna be in the future, its still not too late to start figure that out now. Y'all are still in the early 20s, still have a lot of time but please remember, procrastination kills." And there, the voice in my head spoke again, "I though I was a weirdo! It seems as if I was the only one thinking about life questions when most of my peers are still playing around, hanging out with friends for most of the time! Well, I think I'm merely a step ahead of them in growing up then." Ah, I felt so much better after struggling for such a long time figuring out who I am and wholly accept myself for who I really am. Mind you, its not easy to accept you for who you are without giving a damn on what others think of you, okay? Some of my friends tend to change their behaviour or personality just to please others, and I find it amusing. LOL, no offense!

Okay, done with the monotonous "lecturer-talk", its time for some leisure moments. On Saturday, I visited my friend, A's house. It was supposed to be a house-warming invitation, but I couldn't be able to make it at night and thus, I rescheduled it to afternoon. She was a friend whom I made during my internship and is currently my BIG sister. We always talk about life, about our desired career, and even marriage! Haha, not that I'm planning to get married, but on her "ideal-prince" whom she hopes to meet one day. Hehe. I bought a tin of Famous A'mos cookies for her but forget to take a picture of it! Aiks...

I'm honoured to be one of her guests because she didn't even invite a lot of her school (which include elementary and high school as well as university) friends! At first, I was kind of lonely because she only invited immediate relative and some close friends and thus I practically had no one to talk to. However, one of her friends, Dila arrived and we started chatting non-stop (she is even more talkative than me. hehe). I know her when I attended A's convocation a few months back. Well, anyway, let's cut this through to the FOOD! XD

Top left: Chinese Fried Rice; Top right: Curry Chicken;
Bottom left: some appetizer?; Bottom right: Malay traditional glutinous rice
P/S I forget to take a photo of the Biryani rice.. Aiks...

Top left: Rendang Mutton; Top right: Rendang Chicken;
Bottom left: Spaghetti sauce; Bottom right: Spaghetti!!

Top left: Asian style salad; Top right: Grilled Fish;
Bottom left: Watermelon, cookies and Curry Puff; Bottom right: My food.. hehe..
P/S I forget to take a photo of Grilled Chicken.. Aiks too...

Friends I made during my internship.
Finally, we met up again after one year :)

Two of my regrets:
1. I forget to take a photo of the cookies I brought over! The packaging is lovely, okay?
2. I didn't get to take a photo with Dila :(

On Sunday, my dad brought me and my little brother to attend one of his friend's open house in Country Heights. The residence area is even more superior than Damansara Heights or Mont Kiara. Instead of describing my experience at the open house, which is more or less the same for all the other open houses, I rather talk about the houses in Country Heights. All the rich purchased a piece of land and build their houses there, which of course, most of the bungalows there are magnificent! I think I could even use the word "breath-taking" to describe one or two of the houses there! Some of which are four-storey, lol... According to my dad, the price of the land as well as the house itself could cost more than 10 millions! They have to hire architects, contractors, interior designers and all to build the one and only house. And it could take up to 2 years just to build one. Not to mention, most of the houses there have swimming pool. hehe.. So now, you know what happened next? I added this into my To-Do-List! I want to own a piece of land and build my own house there! XD

'Till next post, cheers :)

Back to "school"?

School, a word which I could never stop using even though I've left years ago and enrolled into a university. Somehow or rather, school sounds more familiar to me than university and I just don't know why. Is it because I have spent eleven years in elementary and high school thus, it has become a "habit" of mine to say this word? Nah, it doesn't matter. What it matters most is, the coming week marks the beginning of my new semester, a.k.a. my LAST semester (if everything goes well)! These were the few things I've done before going back to "school".

Well, I had been working for the past three weeks, office job, basically the so-called "HR Personnel". Ya, one of my tasks was to hire a full time assistant project manager and a contract-base construction intern. Though I've always knew that advertising on newspapers costs a lot, I didn't know that it could cost THAT much. Wait, by advertising here, I meant, commercial advertisements, not recruitment advertisements. The cost of advertising is the sum of (the cost of size),  (target audience, eg: northern/southern Malaysia, east/west of Malaysia and Centro Malaysia), (the number of days), which in most cases, costs around RM10k. As for job advertisements, a mere (5cm x 6.3cm), aiming, say, Centro Malaysia, cost RM900+ for one month. This, this is really not worthy as contrast to JobStreet. 

In Jobstreet, with around RM500, you get to post a job advertisement for one month. If you received less than 30 job applications within the period, you are entitled to post for another one month (free). Lately, there is this promotion in conjunction with the Independence Day, whereby, with RM500, you get to post TWO job advertisements. I find this more worthy because, internet has no boundaries. When you post the ads, everyone from any region of the country can view it. Not to mention, applicants have the choice to filter their search for jobs as well. Let's say, if someone in Penang wishes to work in KL, he/she could straight search for jobs in KL area. As contrast to newspaper, if you post an ad targeted for Centro area, people in Penang will not be able to see it. Besides, using Jobstreet could really save up a lot of time because, everything could be filtered via advanced search!

*I know, some of you might think that, what I wrote here about job advertising is not much of a big deal. But at least I did something during my semester break instead of watching drama, right? (Wait, I did watch a drama, BUT, it was only a "drama", instead of "dramas", which I usually did.. Haha..) Anyway, filtering the applications could be a tedious thing to do when the gist of being an effective HR is "hiring the right people for the right positions".

On Thursday, I went back to INTI for enrollment. Though I've enrolled way before my previous semester ended, we were not given the time table and thus, I had to go back to get myself the latest time table and academic calender (so that I could plan my outings with friends? lol). I'm taking five subjects this semester, namely, International Economics, Global Issues in International Business, Cross-cultural Management, International Management and Strategic Management. I have a feeling that I would have hard time excelling these subjects as they are all theory based. Not that I have difficulties in explaining the theories and all, it's just that I find calculation questions easier to score. A few simple steps with the formulas memorized, you could easily get full marks (with zero negligence, of course). In calculation, it is possible to score 100%, but in essay questions, there is no perfect answer to yield you perfect scores. I guess I'll be spending most of my time in the library again. What a lifeless life I have. Hmmph~

On Friday, I erm, ya, I permed my hair. I've always wanted to curl my hair but was kinda afraid of the unsatisfying result. Whenever I watched some dramas and find how mature or even stylish, the main actresses look like with their hair curled, I wish to make mine like theirs. But, not every hairstylist could understand the preferences of their customers and thus, I've always scared to take the risk. Seeing that I'm finishing my studies soon, I was thinking, perhaps with a little curl towards the end of my hair, I would look a bit more mature?

I have always wanted the curl like hers.
(Ariel Lin, in "In Time With You")

Before vs After. I thought it would look shorter after you curled it.
But it doesn't seem just quite eh?

Wow, such a HUGE difference right?

Well, of course it looks nice after the hairstylist styled it.
I wonder how would it be like after say, 1 month? lol
P/S I'm a lazy person. Its highly unlikely I would style it each time
after I washed my hair. Let's see how it turns out. Haha

On Saturday, I attended a talk organized by the Toastmaster Club. It was kind of a workshop regarding the techniques to make effective evaluation and how to successfully deliver a humorous speech. We (with my friend, ZY) had nasi lemak (Note: a kind of Malay traditional food) as our lunch and we managed to make some new friends. When I saw ZY exchanged her name card (ya, she has started working) with our new friends, I kinda envious of her and wish I had my very own name card too. Haha. Anyway, among four new friends I made, three of them are from an international school in Wangsa Maju, while one of them is actually from INTI-Subang, currently pursuing a degree in Finance, and he is a former Sam Tet student. Among the three KL people, two of them are studying UK diploma programme, while one of them is currently working as a mortgage officer. Erm, actually, I'm not sure if they are considered as my new "friends", or should I just use the word "acquaintances" since we barely know each other (and, we haven't add each other on FB yet, too). Ha... Hmm, if I were to be less shy, I would have taken photos with them. Aiks...

Stephen really made us laughed like hell wey~~

I must say, I enjoyed the last session the MOST! haha

After the workshop, we went to have some light food at Shakespeare (boulangerie & patisserie). She is one of my seniors who is still in touch with me (though not on a day-to-day basis, at least its on a more frequent basis as contrast to some other seniors of mine). We ordered ourselves coffees and desserts and started talking about work and life. She has a major in HR but she is now working as a sales agent in banking industry. She is still exploring her direction of life, as in, which field does she has her passion for. Well, I guess, its quite normal for people at our age to start contemplating on our very own future career. Just as what I said before, just because everyone else is doing some particular thing, doesn't mean that we have to follow them. We should pave our own path instead. And, that's what I've been doing all these while, when I look into the mirror, I ask my reflection, "What do you wanna be? Who do you wanna be? And, how you gonna achieve that?" The conducive environment, with the aroma of freshly baked bread and cookies, was the reason why we lost track of time (she needed to rush back for her friend's farewell). With that, we left the restaurant with a heavy heart.

Top left: Americano; Top right: Tiramisu;
Bottom left: Saku-sakuMix Fruit; Bottom right: Cappuccino

Today was the day I intended to go back to my "beloved" hostel room (ya, not the class room.. lol). But, after being at home for three weeks, the thought of heading back to school has made me longed for coming back home again, when the semester has not even started! So, I wandered around my living room, walked back and forth between my bedroom and study room, pretending to be busily engaged in packing my luggage and getting ready to go back. But, I think my pretense was pretty obvious that made my dad interceded and said, "Apparently, I don't think I could be oblivious on your reluctance to leave TODAY." Haha. My dad knows me so well eh? So, I made up my mind to postpone it to Monday. Haha.

Well, as the title suggests, "Back to school?", you wanna know what my honest answer would be? I'm mentally ready to go back (ya, already mentally prepared to face the reality). Physically, however, I'm not. Erm, I'm not sure if you understood me. I mean, the whispers in my head have been telling me, "its time", "its time", "its your last semester", "last fight" etc. BUT, my body, can't seem to sync with my brain signals. A place called HOME would always have this effect on most, if not everyone, of us, I reckon. As my dad rushed me to bed, I'm still here writing my blog, despite of the fact that, I HAVEN'T even started packing my luggage! Ahem, I think I should really get going. Brand new day tomorrow, brand new semester, brand new challenges. Wait, when I come to think of having a brand new hair style, it appears to me that it definitely suits the current me, best! Hehe..

"Till next post, cheers :)

My Raya Break

Well, I had been ranting about how I didn't get to go anywhere during the holidays, most of the holidays, I would say. But when things happened, it all happened in one shot! (for three consecutive days) Then, only I found it exhausting. Haha. This post consists of few parts:

• Part I: Dinner with high school tuition gang
• Part II: Visiting relative in Pahang
• Part III: Gathering with high school friends
• Part IV: Meeting up with my "jimui" (Note: It means sister.)

Part I: Dinner with high school tuition gang

It was a rainy day and I could only leave my house after the rain stopped. When I was on the way to the meet-up point, I saw a rainbow. Though it wasn't clear enough, I managed to snap a photo of it at the traffic light when it turned red. Then again, I noticed that it wasn't just any ordinary rainbow, it was a DOUBLE rainbow! Of course I've seen rainbow before, but not a DOUBLE rainbow. And you know what? I pulled my car to a stop at the road side just so I could take a photo of it. Haha. 

Does it indicate good luck coming? Hehe.

We met up at the tuition centre and walked to the "mamak" stall where we usually had our dinner back in those days (Note: mamak means some Malay/Indian stalls selling local food). It was quite depressing when we thought only three people came, the host LT, a law student CY and me. However, four more gang members came straight to the mamak and joined us. First was HC who currently studying Finance, a twin-bro who studying medic and XH who currently studying macro mechanic (if not mistaken). Everyone already had their dinner except me, so LT decided to "teman" me "makan" (Note: it basically means eat together with me). We ordered ice-lemon-tea and "maggi goreng" (Fried Maggi).

One thing I noticed from the meet-up is that, I was too quiet. Ya, for some of you who know me, it's quite impossible to shut my mouth at times. I'm kind of a talkative person and will always talk non-stop, even if it meant crapping out of nothing. lol. But that day was different. Their topics were mainly in regard with medic knowledge, their posting experience, CY's attachment to a law firm, their high school and college mutual friends and all. I felt like there was no room for me to participate in their conversation. First of all, I know nothing about medic and biology. Wait, I study biology before back in high school but it doesn't mean that I still remember all the jargon right? And law, ya, I studied law for two semester in my college but that it was only on contract law and trade law. According to CY, they have eight majors and four elective papers. And they mentioned quite a lot of their mutual friends, whom I have no idea who they are. So yeah, basically, I was there listening to all the updates rather than contributing to the "bulletins". Haha.

2 whites, 2reds, 2blues. lol

P/S I should really start brushing up on my general knowledge lar.. ishh..

Part II: Visiting relative in Pahang

At 10am, we went to fetch our uncle whom decided to car-pool with us, so around 10.30am we departed from Klang heading to our destination, Temerloh. A journey of approximately 160km took us 1.5 hours. Not that my dad drove extremely slow, just that, a few parts of the journey was congested with people, some of whom came all the way from Singapore heading to, for example, The National Zoo, Cameron Highland and Genting Highland. That's why my dad could only speed for a certain sections of the journey, not to mention, the road is not straight enough to speed, and my dad will never put our lives at stake just to enjoy the excitement of speeding on the highway.

We arrived there at noon. First, my aunt led us around the house and had an in-house tour. They moved to a new house five years ago, and now only we had the chance to go over and have a visit. It's a two-and-a-half story semi-D with a modern contemporary design. From my second cousin sister's balcony, we could see a lake about 300m away. Quite a nice scenery I would say, fresh air from the nature and all. A maid-room at the ground floor, four rooms at the first floor and two rooms on the second floor, both my cousin sisters'. Well, if my room were to be at the second floor, I would rather sleep in the dining hall, you know? I mean, yeah, I'm a very lazy person, I don't like to climb at all. Imagine after your work say from 9am-5pm, being frustrated because of the "crawling" traffic, the first thing you reached home, would be lying down and rest. Would you feel energize to climb all the way up to second floor just to take your pajamas and have a shower? Haha, I wouldn't. XD

The maid then served the dishes, which included some fried fish, curry prawn, curry beef, some Malay "kuih" and ketupat (Note: its some Malay traditional glutinous rice), and most importantly, my favourite Rendang Chicken! You are not gonna believe it but you know what, my rice was that of two persons! Haha. Not to mention, I had a few ketupat too, ate together with the rendang. Haha. It has been such a long time since I last eaten such an incredibly filling lunch know? :)

After the lunch, I was so filled-up and decided to kill my time by watching television programme. It was around 2pm and it was showing "The Ugly Truth" on the FOX channel. However, I was too late because the movie ended at 2.35pm. Hmm, I know I'm outdated but I'm so gonna download the movie and watch it again. I'm not too sure what is the movie about, but the guy looked quite handsome. LOL. After that, my aunt decided to bring us for a town-tour to Mentakab. There is a newly opened shopping mall, the only and nearest mall from Temerloh. Erm, I personally don't find it particularly interesting, and due to the fact that I was too filled-up, I unconsciously fell asleep. Haha.

We then visited my aunt's business, ChicKing, a franchise business she started a-year ago, I think. Its quite a popular and leading fried-chicken fast food industry in UAE, as what I heard from my aunt. According to the website, "Established in the United Arab Emirates in 2000, under Banquet Foods International (Part of the highly reputable and renowned Dubai based Al Bayan Group of Companies), ChicKing® is a rapidly growing fast-food chain in the region specializes in serving the tastiest crumb fried chicken using a secret recipe which includes a unique blend of the choicest herbs and spices. It is therefore of little wonder, that ChicKing® is synonymous with words such as, "Real Recipe, Real Taste , Real Fried Chicken." But after she started it for quite some time did she find out that, ChicKing is hardly competitive in Malaysia when there are corporate giants namely McD, KFC and maybe Marry Brown, which have established their image and position in Malaysia decades ago. It's not an easy task to bring a new brand in and intend to compete alongside them. I think, what it lacks of, is it's market positioning and marketing strategies. However, in my personal opinion, ChicKing's fried chicken is nothing less than that of KFC's, in fact, I would say, its slightly better! (Seeing that KFC has constantly disappointing me in the recent years)

The logo.

https://www.facebook.com/ChicKingTemerloh

We then departed at 6pm or so, "tapao" (Note: it means, take away) my favourite rendang chicken from my aunt's house and started heading back home. May be I was too tired (though I don't know why), that's why I fell asleep in the car, again. After, hmm, one hour? I was awaken and found out that it was raining, and my dad couldn't drive as fast as he did in the morning because, safety FIRST! The road was slipperry and my dad had to pay extra caution when driving, making him more exhausted for paying extra concentration on driving us back. When we arrived Klang, we went for dinner because my dad could no longer resist the hunger.

Though it was a short one-day-trip, wait, it wasn't much of a trip, it was a visit. Ha. Erm, but it was a great day, getting to know more about their new house give me a feeling of how they have been living in such a warmth and lovely environment, getting to know more about my aunt's restaurant makes me realize that, its not easy to run a business, what more making it a success. Even though it's a franchise, whereby, almost everything has been well taken care of by the management in HQ, we still can't be oblivious of the challenges ahead. Breaking through obstacles, changing marketing strategies and never ending passion is the spirit that everyone of us, should have. :)

Part III: Gathering with high school friends

Well, to be honest, our initial plan was to go to Sunway Lagoon, however, one of my friends, LY said, it's too expensive because she has been broke since she had a trip to Penang few days back. Then, we changed to Melacca for a one-day-food-trip. Well, you know, Jonker street has been well known of its variety of mouth-watering food, so tempting that no one could ever resist! (ha, a bit exaggerate I guess) However, my dad was reluctant on letting me go, for I would have been the one driving all the way down to Melacca, not to mention, I don't have any GPS with me and I've never been to that place (wait, I think I have, which was more than 10years ago, LOL). Who knows, my friend, J's mother didn't let her join us, for its too far and dangerous. Seeing that LY won't be joining us, we changed back the plan to Sunway Lagoon, BUT some of my friends are, ahem, they were not convenient to be engaged in some water/wet activity, so... Finally, we had a mutual agreement to make it at Sunway Pyramid for ice-skating.

Top left: Future optometrist; Top right: Future pharmacist
Bottom left: Future civil engineer; Bottom right: Future accountant

I woke up late that day, thus, we (CT and me) were late to the meet-up point, which was Starbucks. Due to the fact that they (H, S, J) didn't know the existence of TWO Starbucks in Sunway pyramid, they went to the wrong one, lol. Anyway, we went for some breakfast before heading for ice-skating. It was a public holiday thus the price was RM25 per person. The cashier at the counter was so rude when she talked to us, what's wrong with her, huh? Was frustrated by her period? Ishh!!

Fuyoh, we were ready!

We went in at around 11.30am, half an hour later, we were asked to "leave" the site because they need to "clean" the area. Ya, because the ice melts and it will become wet, that's why they need to "sweep" it. We went back in at 12.30pm (the "cleaning" process took about 15-20 minutes, then the coaches/students/members were given the priority to use the ring for their own) and left at 1.45pm. Erm, S and H were quite good, though they hardly moved at first, they managed to walk independently without leaning against the wall. CT was slightly better, she already knows how to skate for short distance. She holds back when she already has the momentum to push forward thus she can't really go too far. J was, hmm, I would say a slow learner. Though she still needed the wall as her support, at least she managed to feel how it was like to "walk" independently without any support for some short distance. Its quite a success for her already, I would say, for a person who scares to fall down. As for me, hmm, I already know how to skate, just that, its not the right techniques and the body movements/gestures/postures (sorry, I don't know the appropriate word) are not correct. Thus, I spent quite some time observing how those who are pro to skate. At the end of the day, I managed to get the "feeling" of transferring body weight when sync with my legs which constantly pushes my body forward. (Pardon me for my poor English in describing my experience. Sigh!)

Everyone was famished by the end of the session, not to mention, we all could hardly walk! Thus, we decided to go to one of the nearest restaurant available, Tony Romas's. But erm, ya, the price was kind of out of our affordability, thus, J suggested that we go for TGIF. Hmm... Here's where I have a lot of things to write about. Haha. Wait, before that, here's a photo of our food.

Top left: Chicken & Shrimp Diablo; Top right: Cajun Shrimp & Chicken Pasta
Bottom left: Osso Bucco; Bottom right: Key West White Fish

While waiting for the food, we took our time to cam-whore (ya, nothing better to do right?), tried every single angle, distance, lighting, effects and so on (nah, too exaggerating eh?). It took them quite a while to serve to food though. Was it because of festive season that's why they were lack of manpower? Hmm.. Anyway, after SOME 25min did our food serve (there were only 3-4 tables waiting to be served). Seeing that the food were quite up to satisfactory, we enjoy ourselves with some random chatting topics. After we paid the bill, there's where the "moment" came! The following conversation took place (its just roughly what we said, NOT exactly what we said though):

Store manager (SM): Our restaurant has been one of the top in Malaysia and we would like to maintain our reputation. From poor to excellent, what would you rate for our restaurant?

H: Erm, not bad. (she didn't sound convincing though)

*SM looked at each of us waiting for responses.

Me: (when he looked at me) I would say, in the middle, not poor but not excellent either.

SM: May I know why you said so?

Me: One thing I want to know, the food took quite a long time to be served. And seeing that you are not having quite a huge crowd, the most about 4-5 tables, why did it take such a long time to serve our food?

SM: Oh, because some of our staffs left.

Me: They left? To where? To work for other restaurants?

SM: No, they left for Raya. (is that a "left"? They didn't, they just applied for leaves, okay?)

Me: That's why you all are lacked of manpower.

SM: Ya. We received complaints from two tables earlier and we really hope to get an excellent comment from this table.

Me: But it's true that we waited so long for the food! And... (he cut me off)

SM: You talked a lot eh?

Me: Ya, business student what. Is that a good thing?

SM: Of course it is. (he sounded annoyed though)

Me: Oh, thank you. I was told that I'm talkative.

SM: (he forced a smile) Can I give you a dessert? (a tone of insistence)

Me: A dessert? (looked at him with dubious eyes)

*He then passed us a menu and let us choose any dessert of our choice.

*I looked and them, and they said, "Of course the most expensive one!" (LOL)

* I pointed at the menu on the dessert we wanted and showed him, he nodded.

Me: A dessert. How long do we need to wait some more? Does it take a long time?

SM: Five minutes. You time.

Me: (with a grin and a nod) Sure!

*He walked off and came back after 3-4 minutes, with a plate of dessert.
SM: Is that five minutes yet?
Me: Less than five, thank you. (with a satisfactory smile)
SM: So now, can we get an excellent from this table?
*We exchanged looks among each other.
Me: Erm, okay then.
SM: So, because of a dessert you all give a rating of excellent? (with a serious tone)
Me: A dessert? Well, give us two dessert then! We will give you excellent after that. (LOL)
SM: (he shook his head) You! You are very good at this, aren't you? Do you want to work here?
Me: (I was shock) Oh, really? You want to hire me?
SM: Ya ya, are you interested?
Me: Of course lar! But I'm still studying and will be finishing at the end of this year. Is this offer valid 'till then?
SM: No problem. I'll let my staff to pass you the form.
Me: Oh, thank you very much! (with an appreciative grin)
*When we were half way enjoying the food, one of his staff REALLY did hand me an application form! I was stunned, I took the form with a thanks.
*The manager then hid himself at the back of the restaurant until the moment we left. S said, "See, the manager is scared of you already, you were so fierce and serious just now.
Hmm, was it because of the alcohol that's why I behaved in such a rude way? OMG! I hope I didn't offend the manager or anyone. If I did, it was unintentionally done, I really am sorry...

Top left: TGIF!; Top right: Peach Daiquiri (Frozen Rum Cocktails)
Bottom left: Brownie Obsession; Bottom right: Employment Application Form XD

Hohoho...

We then went to shop for some mobile casing, dresses, purses and alike. Around 5pm or so, H needed to leave as she had to attend some party or dinner that evening and thus, she needed to go back early for preparation. I bought a dress and a skirt, both can be wore as formal or leisure, and six pair of earrings. lol. We promised to meet up ASAP to spend some quality time together and hopefully, all the members of our gang in high school would be able to join. I'm satisfied with the day for at least three reasons, (i) it has been four years since we were parted after Form 5; (ii) we got to go for ice-skating which I have been wanting to go, thanks for my friends who accompanying me; (iii) we got ourselves a free dessert! hehe :)

Part IV: Meeting up with my "jimui"

I departed from my house at 8.30am to the coffee shop we once hang-out last time. My friend, CY led me to his house so that I could park my car at his house (safer than to part it elsewhere), and then we went to fetch my jimui for breakfast. He had a bowl of laksa (I think so) while my jimui and me shared a set of dimsum because we both ain't heavy eater in the morning, hehe. Around 10 or so, we departed to KL and arrived at around  11 something, the traffic wasn't heavy at all, totally opposite as what I thought, whereby KL would be flooded with foreign workers.

We first purchased our entry ticket with RM2.50 per head. The cashier asked me why do I need to buy (because those under 18 are entitled for free entry), and I was like, "Ya, I looked quite young right?" When she asked me how old I am, I said, "Secret." LOL. I extended my member card for another three years for RM25 and got a free umbrella. Haha. Then, CY was off to level three to buy his stationery while we entered the first and second hall with English books. Erm, it was huge! Some of the books were sold at half price, while some at a discount of certain percentage. We went crazy hunting for books, and met up after some two hours time, stationed at a corner and started "filtering" some "unnecessary" books because, you know, kind of over budget already, haha. Well, I think my "filtration" wasn't thorough enough and that's why, I spent around RM300 on books. LOL

The book in the middle is the most expensive among all. WTF...

We then entered the third and forth hall for Chinese books. Erm, in my personal opinion, the Chinese section wasn't as enjoyable to "hunt" as that of the English section. In the English hall, books are arranged according to their categories, fictions or non-fictions, horror, thriller, cooking, self-development, romance, business, finances, while some of the novels are arranged in accordance to their authors, some of whom are Jodi Picoult, Stephen King, Sophie Kinsella and more. It saves visitors like us a lot of troubles looking for the books we want. In the Chinese hall, books are arranged according to publishers. In other words, it seems more like, Popular divides the area into number of slots/booths and rent them to the publishers. So, if you want to look for a certain book, you must first know of it's publisher in order to find it. Otherwise, you would have to wander all around the hall just to look for ONE book. Besides, the Chinese hall is noisier than the English's. I think they are targeting the younger generation, young kids and all, because they were selling comics, study instruments, some reading-pen, colour pencils, and you know what, moon cake, chinese tea and even TOYS! Argh.. The whole area around the TOYS stalls were a mess! We couldn't stand it any longer, the noise and not to mention, we were famished!

We went to the food court for lunch and hardly found an empty table, it was too crowded. However, we couldn't stand the hunger and thus, simply grabbed some "cheaper" lunch for the time being. Eh, it wasn't THAT cheap though, CY and my jimui had a set of Chicken Beriyani cost RM8 while I had a RM10.80 set lunch with Beriyani rice, Chicken Tandori (was it?) and some dall and potatoes. Expensive right? Sigh, its KL, what do you expect? After that, we headed back to our car to "keep" our books and went up again for SECOND round. Ya, that's because erm, quite a "handsome" guy at the voucher redeem counter told us that, its wiser to spend another RM70+ to get one more RM5 voucher. So, we went all the way up to level three and started "hunting" for some gadgets again. (you know, with an intention to hit a higher target of RM900) I bought a power bank for RM150 (with a free 16GB pendrive), a wireless mouse, a laptop bag, and erm, I think that's all. My jimui bought a headphone, CY bought his dad a presentation laser pointer for RM180+ (I think). And at the end of the day, guess how much three of us spent.

And guess what? I was the biggest spender of the day. OMG~

We took a few photos with a background of the Twin-Tower before we left to the car park. And, ahem, I know I'm a forgetful person but never knew I was THAT forgetful! When we were ready to make a move out of the basement, only did I realize that I left my umbrella at the counter (ya, I asked them to keep for me first because I didn't want to carry it along with me throughout the "hunting" experience, so inconvenient). I was so "paiseh" you know? (Note: it means embarrassed or ashamed) Luckily my jimui was nice enough to accompany me for a run all the way back to the counter to collect it. CY gave us 15min for this "mission" because of the time limit of the parking ticket, I guess. AND, luckily, we both were wearing sport shoes so yeah, much easier for us to run such a long distance! And you know what, we made it in 10min! Argh, we are so proud of ourselves for such a great achievement. lol

We went to Taman Melati LRT station to fetch a friend of CY, Ryo, whom promised to "inherit" most of his plant. After that, we went to Wangsa Maju for dinner. We passed by some "mamak" and saw a huge crowd standing in front of the television watching the badminton match between our hero, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan. Though he lost, his spirit of never giving up make all of us proud! :) Anyway, I had a claypot chicken rice, my jimui had some chicken noodles and erm, I forget what CY ordered already (you see, how sucks my memory is T.T). At around 8.30pm or so, we headed back to Shah Alam and hangout at Starbucks. My jimui asked CY a lot of stuff regarding her newly bought Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on the apps and all, while CY was chatting with his friends via FB pm. Me? I had nothing better to do but to listen to their conversation. Or, was I? Nah, I can't really remember already. We left at 11pm.

Only in Malaysia.. XD

A few pots of plants which Ryo "inherited" to CY. Ha.

Hmm.. Well, I guess, that's 'bout it. Though I didn't really had enough sleep for the past few days, its worth it because I got to spend quality time with family and friends for some bonding session. J and I, as well as my jimui, will be graduating end of this year, while some others will graduate soon, one after another. S, however, still have three more years to go, haha, all the best wey! After finished studying, we will have to start working and by then, it will be 10 times, or even 100 times harder to hang out because, we would basically get more tied down with work, not to mention, what if some of us moved to other states/countries? In a nutshell, I was very happy during this Raya break, relatives, jimui whom I've known for more than one decade, high school friends and high school tuition gang, argh, "sekaligus gao-dim" (Note: it kinda means, settled in one shot). Oh ya, still have seniors from university, hmm.. The coming weekend, perhaps? LOL

'Till next post, cheers :D

I Miss You

Before you think of something else, this is not a post which I wish to dedicate to a particular person, alright? Frankly speaking, if you were to ask me, what have I been doing after my finals, I would answer it with one word, "drama". Haha. Seriously, though it wasn't the first thing I did right after my finals, its usually a MUST on my to-do-list for every semester break. The Korean name is actually 보고싶다. AND, I finished this 21-episode drama in only two days, okay? *kind of proud XD* Before I go further, forgive me if I start writing Mandarin in this post. My English is, after all, not as good as my mother tongue, my apologies. Wait, not that my Mandarin is superb, okay? Its just that, hmm, you know, you feel more like yourself when you speak your mother tongue, don't you think so? Anyway, please watch this video first, then, I'll tell you why I adore Yoo Seung-Ho!!

This is a video with Chinese subtitle.

(Note: the scenes are not in order.)

May I ask what do you think of this video? What was your first reaction/response after watching this video? I see tears, anger, disappointment, happiness and love. Mostly tears, I would say. Mind you, this is not really a romantic drama, nor is it a comedy (c'mon, obviously!). 

A family dispute over a huge sum of heritage between Kang Hyung-joon (姜亨俊)'s mother and Han Jung-woo (韩正宇)'s father, is the reason behind their childhood tragedy. Lee Soo-yeon (李秀妍), a daughter of a series killer, who was discriminated by her schoolmates, made friend with Han Jung-woo (both of them were 15). The day when he was kidnapped in accordance to Kang Hyung-joon's mother's order, Lee Soo-yeon followed along with an intention to help but ended up being raped instead. Han Jung-woo, who was too petrified with what he saw, ran away and abandoned her. With the authority announcing her death, Han Jung-woo couldn't accept the "truth" thus got him into being haunted with guilt ever since.

Lee Soo-yeon, with all the strength she had, escaped from the warehouse where the kidnappers stored them. Kang Hyung-joon, 12-year-old, who was on his way to escape from being hunted down by Han Jung-woo's father (in retaliation to Kang Hyung-joon's mother's order), bumped into Lee Soo-yeon on the road and decided to save her. Both of them, with a guardian entrusted by Kang Hyung-joon's mother, left for Paris. The first five episodes of the drama, describing their childhood has been summed up in the following video.

At 4:01, Han Jung-woo was kidnapped.

Story resumes 14 years later. Han Jung-woo is now a homicide detective who is determined to look for Lee Soo-yeon, whom he believes is still alive; Lee Soo-yeon, is now leading a life as Zoe, a rockie fashion designer; Kang Hyung-joon, on the other hand, is now leading a life as Harry Borrison, rich with the money his mother took from the Han's family, returns to Korea with an intention to revenge on Han Jung-woo's father for murdering his mother. Watch the video below attentively, and tell me, what do you think of his acting skills.

Noticed at 1:45 and towards the end?

Forgive me, but I really have to say this in Mandarin, 他们真的很会哭、很能哭!! It basically means, erm, let's just say, their acting skills are too good that, they really acted with their feelings and emotions to be able to CRY!! Almost every episode, there are cry scenes, seriously! And before that, just curious, what do you think of this guy named Harry Borrison (the guy with "mushroom" hair)? I'm sure most of you know the name of the actress who acts as Lee Soo-yeon, ya, she is Yoon Eun-hye! She is 28 this year, what do you think is the age of the actor who acts as Harry Borrison? Ya, he looks young, but do you have any idea how old is he??

He is ONLY 20 this year!!

(Birthdate: 17th Aug 1993)

Okay, I admit, I'm amazed by his acting skills after seeing him cried for few episodes. I couldn't resist my hunger to know him more and thus I google-ed him. He made his first drama debut when he was 7 and his first film debut when he was 9. Can you imagine how many years of acting experience he has? Quoted from Wiki:

"2000年，首次演出MBC电视剧《刺鱼》，扮演白血病患儿，挑战高难度哭戏，赚取了很多观众的热泪，从此也开始了其典型悲情形象的定位。同時在韓國也享有「國民弟弟」之稱。"

"2002年，出演电影《有你真好》，饰演不懂事但是真诚的小男孩相宇获得好评，该电影也入选韩国100部最优秀影片。"

"2004年，在KBS電視劇《致父親母親》扮演了一个患有自闭症孩子，逼真的演绎让观众误以为他真的是自闭症儿童，并借由此片得了KBS演技大赏的青年表演赏。"

"2006年，《伴我走天涯》中和他对戏的正是号称韩国第一只演艺犬的达达，此电影再次令他的演出获得观众的认可。"

AND, he has won quite a lot of awards too, okay? His journey in the entertainment industry ain't just a mere product of his adorable face, alright? 除了他的脸蛋，更重要的是他精湛的演技！能够如此剥夺人心的，可能还是因为他所演的角色，都很让人心疼吧? Some of you may even argue that, there are way too many talented actors/actresses out there like him, what's the big deal about him? Well, I didn't say its a BIG deal, but its definitely not a SMALL deal either! :p

In the drama, he is way mature than he appears to be. When Yoon Eun-hye was asked about her view on Yoo Seung-Ho, she said his acting skills are highly remarkable. She was stunned when a photo taken 6 years ago was exposed, whereby she attended an award presentation for her nomination "The Vineyard Man", and he attended the event as a "child star". She then felt awkward shooting this drama because of the age gap, 9 years, for goodness sake! However, the awkwardness faded away as soon as Yoo Seung-Ho performs professionally and acted according to the script and orders given by the director, as in the feelings and emotions of Harry in that particular scenes. But, REALLY, a person ages 20 acts as a character ages 26? I would say, I salute him! ❤

One of my favourite episodes from the drama, 

where everything is just pure PERFECT!

I really hope to be able to share more with you all, but if you are really interested to know more about the drama (despite of the fact that you may have no idea what those videos are talking about due to the absence of the subtitle), its either you google it (which is not quite a wise move), or download and WATCH it!! 

This video has the trailer FEEL.. Haha..

One more thing I like about him, ya, probably part of his acting skills, is his eyes. He has a pair of saddening eyes, with those eyes, he has to convey messages of how he felt like with a combination of several facial expressions. He has to use those eyes of his, to show excitement, happiness, content, confidence, sadness, grief, desperation, insecurity, despair, anger, jealousy, fear, hatred, conscience, and maybe insanity? Have you noticed how he looks like when he is contemplating on something? How he scrutinizes into one's eyes? How he trembles when he groaned or cried his lungs out?  Its seriously very heart-brokening to see him a forlorn figure at times, left aside like a rag doll and not cared about no matter how much he has done for the girl he loves. Anyway, though the video below doesn't really show all of the above, I do like how the editor arranged the photos/mini-clips in the pace of the music. :)

One of my favourite :)

On a separate note, his outfit in the drama is more or less the same as Ciel Phantomhive in the anime Kuroshitsuji, in the sense that, both of them look good on a knee-length coat, not to mention, both own a walking stick. I've print-screened some of his photos and made this:

I like his outfits in the drama sooo much!

Below are some of the photos that I managed to google *proud of myself*.. haha
P/S Majority of these are from www.topit.me, you may want to visit this link for more: Yoo Seung-Ho.

 

 

 

 

A BAD news here (or at least to me, it really is), he is currently off to fulfill his "destiny" as a full-time active-duty soldier for 21 months started April this year, quoted from Wiki, "he wishes to serve his duty as a regular soldier, not as an 'entertainment soldier' and is not planning on applying to the Defense Media Agency of the Ministry of National Defense." You know what? Quoted from kpopstarz, "The South Korea's 27th Division Recruitment Training Department reported Thursday that the 19-year-old actor was promoted to the rank of assistant instructor." *Awww.. So proud of him!!❤* "Yoo will conclude his military enlistment in December of 2014." *Awww, can't wait to see him again!!* Rest assured, you will be missed dearly, my Prince Harry! *shy* However, we shouldn't be sad I think, look at the bright side, his "kid-image" will then be replaced by a "MAN-image" after he returns, more mature and of course, more handsome looking. Haha.

~You may refer to this link on kpopstarz: Yoo Seung Ho Rises Through The Ranks In South Korean Army: 'I Miss You' Actor Promoted To Assistant Instructor Of Recruitment Training

Photos of him in the army suit:

His solder look in "Operation Proposal".

His "real life" solder bald?
Ah, not bad looking too eh? :)

Signing off with one of his portraits, which I'll be looking at it everyday to survive for this 2 years? LOL

He looks innocent right? XD

'Till next post, cheers :D
P/S I still can't believe he is only 20!! *drooling* :p