UMSA Ball '09: Dance into the Twilight

I know I am so outdated to post my Umsa Ball's experience this late. What can I say? I can't help it. I am a busy woman, you know...

Basically, Umsa Ball was my first, my last, n would most probably be my one and only BALL in my life. Was held on the 30th August 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Auckland CT. I presume that this post will be super extra lengthy because I have so much to share about this event. One of the most important events in my life.

Heaps of Preparation + Practices, Ups + Downs, Tears + Laughters

Few weeks before Ball

We had skit practices like weeks before the Umsa Ball. Been practicing the Jai Ho dance, and as I was the female lead, I had lotsa lines to memorise.. (the lines I had for Umsa Ball's skit outnumbered d lines I had for BFM)

I was in the Deco team. My other comrades are Allan, Vim, Azhan, Ipin, June and Dan. Initially, we were allocated $850 for d deco. But, since AUSA-Auck. Uni. Students' Assoc. approved the cultural grant, Angie d treasurer allowed us to use some extra hundreds.. hehe. We were very lucky coz we had more fundings this year which allow us to hire most of d deco items. More money always means less work. Haha! All in all, the deco team had spent more than $1,000 NZD to decorate several major spots like: i) Centrepiece; ii) Photospot; iii) Stage; iv) Ceiling; v) 2 random pillars.

Few weeks prior to the ball, Allan, Vim, Azhan and me went to Morningside by train to survey on the props that we wanted to hire. When we first got there, we were so "jakun". It's as if, we were in a grown-up's playground. We took photos with the interesting costumes and props there. It was awesome! Then, we had our dinner in Newmarket.. ape ntah nama restoran tu. One funny statement made by Allan when I asked him whether the meat in the restaurant Halal or not was, "Mestilah Halal.. sebab on the Restaurant signboard got a cartoon boy wearing songkok!" Hahaha.. That's so cute, Allan..

Few days after that, Naomi and I went to a clothes' shop somewhere which I couldnt remember the name of the place, and we bought all d clothes to make drapes for ceiling and photospot's deco. It cost us around $200 ++.

At first, we wanted to have a very simple stage deco since the stage is very small and also because most of the allocated funds went to other aspects of the ball room. So, I wanted to paint a simple backdrop on last year's black cloth just untuk cukupkan syarat decorating d stage. So, I tried painting on a black A4 paper randomly after coming back from school-practicum. So, this was the result of my random masterpiece...

Saturday

Then, after asking others' opinions, we agreed to make the bigger version of the painting on the black cloth. We ended up painting on the ground floor of The Cambridge-that is the apartment where I am staying currently. After painting almost half of the backdrop, the ex-committees of Umsa saw us from somewhere.. God knows how they found us. (Duh~ we'd been painting it rite in front of the display glass window of d Cambridge which allow passers-by see us) Then, they said that, if we paint on a black cloth, when the paints dry, everything will return back to black. In other words, our effort=useless=people wont see it. Oh God... Why do u have to send some messenger half way finishing d painting??? Why?? We agreed to take d risk anyway. But, seriously, it was soo messy. The paint didnt stick on the cloth. The cloth seemed to absorb (so as it seems to be) the paints and caused all d colour to stick to the floor underneath the cloth if u get what I mean. So, we put some cardboard under the cloth. Unfortunately, not working! By the time we finished painting d whole cloth, the whole floor changed colour. Tuan came out wit an idea to air d backdrop by lifting it up and 4 people hold every end of d backdrop. After lifting it up, we cracked up laugh to see a duplicate of d painting on the floor. Gosh... we were so worried that d colour couldnt be washed. So, while some of us were busy airing the backdrop, the rest were busy washing, wiping the floor. Now, we are the Cambdrige's cleaners pulak.

Above here is d picture before we started painting the backdrop. Surprisingly, my house could fit more than 10 people at once (packed like sardine la of course). Some were sewing d drapes, cutting wordings for backdrop, etc. Azhan was entertaining us all. Good time.. goooood old time... (macam lah dah lama sangat).

When d floor was clean, we spread aluminium foil on d floor rite in front of the mirror and they placed d backdrop on top of those aluminium foil. Why we did this? Again, we're taking the risk on believing that d backdrop wont be stolen or confiscate, or stain d floor. It was almost 4am when they all went home. I felt so guilty for using their time till that late. Plus, Tuan was also helping us and he was not even part of the deco team. I am really bad, man! The next morning, I had to go for d skit practice for the ball. It was really early in the morning like around 8/9am. I checked d backdrop. It was almost dry. I wanted to bring it up to my room. But, on a second thought, I was scared that I would damage d painting. So, I left it there.

I was supposed to collect d hired props, etc with Naomi and Tuan. So, half way practicing the skit, d 3 of us plus Angie n Dimi caw to pick up d van/truck. From the pick up place, Tuan became the official hamsap Umsa's truck driver. hahaha! He was acting very weirdly and his driving was like...errr... pumping our adrenaline and heart beats.. haha! He has got a good driving skill tho.. (puji lah sikit kan... orang dah tolong drive lol!) Btw, the 3 of us, sat together at the front seats. Hehe. Pretty funny, actually. And, duh~ of courselah Naomi had to sit in the middly. Takkan I yang besar ni nak duduk kat tengah in between Tuan and Naomi pulak. Haha! So, we went to the Firstscene to pick up d photospot's props n skit's prop + some costumes for d skit. Then, we sent all d props back to uni to be guarded by d rest of the committees, supposedly. Unfortunately, when we reached there, there were only Jun Yan and KS. Pity them had to sit on the Chaise Lounge chair with a big palm tree at the uni while being watched by passers-by. Hehe.. Sorry guys.. Tak boleh buat ape2...

We, then, went to North Shore to pick up the centrepieces from Greenhithe/Albany. Guess what? We got lost! Lost!!!!! Wasted petrol and time... Been going around the same place for 2,3 rounds. We thought the place was in the city like normal shop. Rupa2nya, it was actually in a neighbourhood. To be more precise, it was actually someone's house. But, the mak cik does have a beautiful house, there. So, jealous! Then, we went back to the city and transfered everything to the ballroom since we only have access to the room starting from 3pm, Saturday. Yeah, all these happened on the Saturday.(Such a long day, eh?) Then, I asked Tuan to wait for me outside my apartment coz I need to transfer all the deco stuff to the venue as well. That was when I realised that our backdrop was no longer there. I was so frustrated... I had the feeling that it was confiscate and not stolen. This is NZ maa... not Malaysia. You can leave your bag, phone and purse at oneside and when u turned back they were still there. But if u did the same thing to your car, I would say... d next thing u know is that u saw someone else driving uur car away. Haha! I wanted to call the building manager straight away. But, I knew if I did that there, I would definitely break down there and then. So, I saved his number and decided to call him later.

At the ballroom, after moving all our stuff there, I managed to find a secluded place to call the bldg manager. He then told me that the cleaner threw it away because we were not supposed to leave anything down there because d Cambridge is a private corporate building. WTF!!! And of course, I was scolded by the manager for leaving it there. I dont mind being scolded for that. But, why do you have to throw our masterpiece.... T_T It really broke my heart. I cried after making that call. But, managed to cover the frustration in front of evryone there. When I got home, I straight away checked in the rubbich bin for the backdrop. I seriously didnt know what I was doing back then. All I was thinking was that, we had put on so much effort and time on that thing, let it be a beatiful or terrible artwork, it should not end up in the bin! And, the ball is tomorrow, and we had no more cloth left to paint on a new backdrop.

I couldnt find d backdrop in d bins. I was sure the cleaner didnt throw it away because d cardboards we used to cover d floor for painting d night before were still in d bins. It meant if the cleaner were to throw it away, it shud be there in the bin. I gave up all hope by the thought of it. Then, I texted Tuan while crying. The worst feeling was the guilt that I had towards my team mates who spent their entire night doin the backdrop. I am such a loser..... I should have called the building manager that night. I did think of calling d manager b4 painting it but since it was quite late, and since we wont make such a mess, I thought it would be ok for us to do it there. Serve me right!!! After I managed to calm down, I managed to come out with a good solution. I was goin to buy a plain white King size bed spread and paint on it instead. It was almost night time by then and there was no chance for us to buy a new cloth for the backdrop. So, I planned to paint it all by myself at home. But, Tuan insisted on helping me that night. Seriously, I was feeling soooooooooo guilty to Tuan and KS coz they helped me out till 12/1am though they werent in the deco team. KS went home earlier than Tuan. And by the time Tuan went home, it was raining and Tuan had to walk home in rain. I am so bad.. I know... Thanks a lot guys... Credits to Tuan and KS, and my deco teams: Allan, Vim, Azhan, Ipin for helping out though u guys were very busy with assignments and all. U guys, rock!

Btw, as my house is really small, the 3 of us, Tuan, KS and me had to jump from one side to another to avoid stepping on the wet paint. The only place that we could sit was my bed. Luckily it is a queen bed. Huh~~

Sunday

We were supposed to meet up at the ball room at 9.30am. As the deco leader, I had to divide the jobs to everyone else. However, since Tuan need to pick up Jie Huei's camera equipment which were very heavy, and a mohjong table set as 1 of d props from Rayvin, we reached d hotel a bit late. By the time I reached there, I saw the centrepieces bowls were out of their boxes and were placed on the stage. OMG!!! I was on fire straightaway! Aku memang pantang giler kalau orang tak reti nak sabar tau. Its not like I dont know my job. Hey... I was late for a solid reason ok. Besides, it wont make a different if they all took out the bowls from the boxes without first knowing what and how d desings look like. PLus, there are other stuff they could do forst without waiting for me to be there like the chairs' covers which I had no clue about it coz i wasnt d one who hired em. There were around 100 chairs to be covered.

I am a very particular person when it comes to all these stuff. The bowls and d centrepiece shud be handled using gloves or anything to make sure no finger prints was left on the glasses. Plus, those items were signed under my name thus, they were my responsibility. It really broke my heart to see those bowls left in the middle of the stage with stuff hanging around them, people doing work here and there. If something fell on them and broke any of those..... =_='

The hotel did not have any tall ladder. How lame is that?? HUh? They only provide this thing called "Genie". It was a machine used to lift people to the ceiling with just a press of a button. Cool, eh? Yup, cool enough not untill, it stuck every few rounds using it. Then, the hotel never taught us how do we exactly recharge the genie. So, everytime we reported to the guy incharged on the genie about the genie problem, he would say, "oh, you need to recharge the genie for a while.." when we had actually recharged it for an hour (at least that was what we all convinced we were doing by plucking in the genie to the plug). After several malfunctions, he finally showed us d correct way to recharge d stupid genie. Bengong punya pak cik!!! It turned out we'd been using d low output socket. No wonderlah genie aku tu tak recharge2. The genie problem really affect our work. It delayed everything I'd planned. Because almost everything required the use of d genie. Kesian betul... genie yg banyak berjasa tu asik dipersalahkan... Below are d pictures of the ballroom pre-deco, while decorating, post-deco.

There were few break downs, yelling, shouting, throughout the preparation process. We were all stressed up by the time constraint, by the genie constraint, some annoying incidents, etc. Remember the super challenging backdrop, when we were there, we realised, that the backdrop was rather too small for the stage. Plus, we had to use genie to hang the backdrop to the ceiling, Thus, we had to move half of the pieces of the stage away. They were very heavy. Then, again, half way doing it, the genie stuck again. We had to wait for the genie to recharge in order to finish the stage backdrop. BEfore the genie managed to recharge, the band was there to practice and do sound check. They had to combine the stage back together. Then, Jun Yan told me that they would let the projector screen down most of the time, which means, there's no way to hang our backdrop there. WTH! THen, they should not ask for a backdrop lah in d 1st place.. Marah betul.. Dahlah banyak prob nk buat bckdrop tu. Then cannot hang pulak. Benci! We tried so many alternatives and came out with several options. Then, before I went home, I was damn pissed off already and had no idea where to hang the backdrop anywhere. Naomi suggested to hang behind some closed doors. THen, I asked Allan and who.. I couldnt remember, to figure out of a way to hang it. When I came back after getting eady for the ball, I saw that they managed to hang it very nicely behind the back door. I think Tuan helped them oso this time. I owe u big time, Tuan. This was d final touch of the backdrop.

UMSA Ball 2009

Sunday

Door opened at 6.30pm. The event started at approximately 7.30pm. The VIPs, from AirAsia, surprisingly arrived very early around 6something. When they arrived, I havent even finished touching up the VIP table. Lol! VIP yg super semangat. I sat in table 3 with Kauthar, Vim, KS, Tuan, Allan and his fren if I am not mistaken, David, Andrew and his gf, Florence. I was so hungry... Of courselah.. Kerje kuat, fasting some more... Giler lapar. Wanted to eat few rounds.. Haha.. Mimpilah! I couldnt even finish 1 round. Ciss! Rugi! But, the food was nice. Not to say giler sedap. Makanan Hotel... sendiri mau faham lah! Then, there was d skit yg full of spontaneity and humour. Me and Ipin actually opened the dance floor because, we actually did Waltz dance in the 1st scene of the skit.

During the band performance, those jokers on my table teased Tuan to dance with me. But, since Tuan was so shy and so ungentlemanly, he turned the table around and teased David to hv d dance instead. Actually, I was quite dissappointed with Tuan. He made me feel as if I was soooooooo ugly and did not deserve to dance wit him. Aiyah! Whateverlah... So, David asked me to dance wit him. I was quite shocked. Un prepared for that, honestly. But, to let down that invitation would be considered as rude. So, yeah, why not. So, we dance till d song finished. Hmm... I wanted to make some comment, but, it wont be nice to say it here. But, those who were there and quite close to me, I am sure I did tell u something about the dance that night. Hahaha! Shhhhh!!!! Everyone danced till d end of d ball. Giler penat wooo!!!

After that was cleaning up session... *sigh* Apparently, cleaning up and packing are faster than setting up. Lol! Obviously! In a nutshell, I learned a lot of thing throughout UMSA Ball '09, build up relationships with new people, strengthen the existent bondings, develop various aspects of my own personality. PLus, I actually wanted to share more but, I dont think I am open and brave enough to share such thing. All that I could say about this particular secret, is that.... "It's Like a Sapling..."

~THE END~

Lingu, Lingo, Lingi!!!

Why oh why do I have to take this paper- Linguistics 307: English Worldwide (at least that's what i think the name of the course)?

I had Lingo paper at 2pm today. Been struggling to cram everything into this little coconut up hear inside my head. Damn... if I could scan d electrons inside my brain, n d storage system up there, I guess, it would definitely look like what my mum would call as "sarang tikus" or "pusat pelupusan sampah"! Everything has gone haywire. Mixed up everything here and there. Well, of course, I managed to finish reading all the notes and quite a number of pages in the prescribed textbook... I would really love to use the word "study". But, I highly doubt that any learning ever took place throughout the reading process. Lol!

It was the worst feeling I have ever had prior to sitting for a test/exam. Very unprepared, and useless. The test was yet to start but, I already felt like I might screw that one up. *sigh* History has always been my weakest subject at school. Why do I have to take a history of ENGLISH pulak now??? Why???

Really hope, I wont flunk this course.

It's Like a Sapling...

1. Starts off as total strangers
2. Became acquaintance
3. Next is friendship
4. We argue, fight, and tease each other
5. I want to be there for u... always supporting u no matter what
6. You hold my hands when others are not looking
7. Then you touch my face
8. There's a whisper in our hearts that only we could hear
9. Start missing each other
10. Then, it becomes a fully blossomed tree... hehehe

Is this how it normally grows?? Are there some particular stages that should be undergone in orders? What if the process stops at No.9 or earlier? What are the chances of moving to No.10?

Ramadhan Terakhir di Perantauan

Pejam celik, pejam celik, dah nak raya dah kita... Rasa macam baru je mula puasa dan Ramadhan sudah hampir meninggalkan kita. Ramadhan ku tahun ini agak hambar tak seperti tahun lalu. Mungkin kerana tahun ni aku tinggal seorang. Berbuka juga seorang diri di rumah. At least last year, masjid depan rumah. Setiap hari dapat buka free (tapi menu yang sama je lah hari2... tapi sedap wooo). Tahun ni aku kene menapak dalam 20min untuk ke masjid tu. Kalau naik bus memangla 50sen je tapi, tahun ni dorang buat asing. Bagi muslimah, mereka buat buka puasa dan solat terawih di Forte (bangunan apartment sebelah masjid). Aku personally lebih prefer kalau dorang buat kat masjid. Sebabnya, bila mereka buat di forte, ianya seolah2 tertutup bagi orang2 tertentu dan yg berkenaan sahaja. Lebih2 lagi, aku ade mendengar desas-desus daripada mereka2 yang pernah hadir berbuka di Forte yang mengatakan, pada awal Ramadhan, kaum2 muslimah di situ kumpul duit sesama mereka dan masak bersama2 untuk makanan berbuka puasa. Mereka hanya ambil makanan free dari masjid during weekends. Minggu2 seterusnya, barulah mereka ambil makanan free dari masjid. Itupun tak banyak mana. Jadi, mereka menggunakan duit yg mereka kumpul untuk tampung mknan berbuka. So, aku rasa tak sedaplah, kang tak pasal2 menepek muka kat situ datang makan suka2 tak bayar. Plus, aku tak tahu pasal buka puasa forte ni secara terperinci. Tak sedaplah babe, datang makan tak tahu dari mana punca duit tu... kene bayar atau tak... seganlaaaa....

First week of fasting, kalau tak silap aku, d whole first week aku lambat masak for break fast. Hari pertama jatuh pada hari Sabtu. Memangla weekend. Tapi, hari tu aku ada Umsa skit practice and meeting. Balik rumah dah lambat. Terkocoh-kacah solat Asar. Akhirnya, aku berbuka dgn 3 biji kurma dan air masak. Time tu buka dalam pukul 5 something. So, aku masak dalam pukul 6lbh camtu. Hari2 seterunya juge begitu. Umsa meetings and stuff. Hari Selasa dan Rabu, memang tak payah cakaplah...kelasku abes pukul 6ptg. Sah2lah kene buka dlm lecture hall. Ada satu hari tu, aku terlupe nak bwk kurma n air ke dlm lecture theater, and hari tu aku ade test yg agak tough juge soalan2nye. Maka, aku keluar test pukul 6ptg. Maka, aku berjalan pulang ke rumah dan berbuka setgh jam lewat. Haiii, melepas pahala sunnat buka awal..hehe.

Ada juge, hari2 tertentu bila kemalasan aku melanda dgn sgt kronik. Aku hanya berbuka dgn kurma, air dan buah shj. Takpun tapao makanan luar. But then, tak bolehlah nak tapao selalu. Aku sdg mengalami krisis kewangan juge skrg. Let's put the blame on the inflation and global economy crisis. Lol! In addition to all those above, puasa kali ni tak terasa sangat. Mungkin kerana aku dah memang terbiasa berlapar since the beginning of the year. So, puasa kali ni terasa seperti hari2 selalu, of course dispite of you feeling a lil more angelic than normal days... hahaha!

All in all, I would say Ramadhan kali ini agak hambar buat ku. Dan mungkin juga kerana itu, dan kerana kesibukan duniawi ku, kehangatan Syawal juge kurang kurasai. Bagaimanakah agaknya lebaran aku diperantauan tahun ini? Meriah? Itu aku kurang pasti. Yang pasti, aku tak mampu nak buat open house like last year. Firstly, because of my current financial status. Secondly because of the size of my house. Mungkin aku hanya akan melawat rumah kawan2 shj. Itupun jikalau ada kesempatan. Yang lebih penting sekali ialah... Besar kemunginan 1 Syawal jatuh on the same day as my 3rd day of BFM performance!!!! Wuaaaaa!!! I wanna go back home, this instant. T_T

P/s- at least setakat ni, aku dapat jugak merasa berbuka dgn kuih Malaysia buatan cik DZETI- kuih sagu yg sgt sedap. Tq Dzt... lap u muah2..

Sempurnakah Cinta?

Please forgive my habit of mixing Malay and English in my posts... Title in Malay, the post's body in English or vice versa... what can I say? Welcome to my world! *wink*

One day (indeed, almost everyday), a girl named Alice called her so called boy friend at around 9pm. However, because their relationship is a LDR (long distance relationship or "Cinta antara Benua"), it was around 5pm for the boyfriend. Let's call the boy, Eric. So, yeah Eric picked up the phone and they talked for no longer than 2 mins, maybe. Eric asked Alice to call him back at around 1am, Eric's time. 1am??!!! Doesn't it mean 5am, Alice time??!! Yes! That's true. Eric knew this fact. But, he still tried to persuade Alice to call him at that time. Alice somehow bought Eric's sweet talk though she did feel a lil frustrated on Eric's inconsideration towards her.

That night, Alice was so tired and sleepy. She really wanted to go to bed. But, she knew if she were to sleep now, she would not wake up at 5am to call Eric. So, she decided to stay awake till 5am and called Eric. While she was waiting for the time to slowly pass by, she reflected how she was treated by Eric ever since she became Eric's gf. Eric is always a good, nice guy. But, he was so insensitive towards Alice. It seemed to her that Eric likes to take her for granted. She has always been the one to make the effort in their relationship. She hates waiting. But then, she really wanted to make this relationship works. Plus, they rarely had the chance to talk on the phone for more than 10mins without interference and distraction by his friends. So, she tried to be positive and ignored all the negative sensations she had all inside her.

It finally 5am! Yay!!! Alice was so excited to call Eric. Firstly, because they have not had a serious, lovey dovey conversation for quite some times. Secondly, because it also means that she could go to bed right after the call. She, dialled Eric's number and waited for him to pick it up. Once, twice....... the 27th time, and counting... Eric still had not picked up the phone. Alice's patience was being tested that night. She wanted to give up. But, on a second, third, fourth thoughts, after those hours that she had to stay up just to make that one call to Eric, and now, she wanted to give up just like that?? No way... She tried to comfort herself by saying that Eric might be in the toilet, or watching tv and left his phone in the room AS ALWAYS. She kept on trying and trying and trying, until finally... Eric picked it up! Wow! It was a miracle! He apologised and said that he was on the bike and now he was hanging out with his friend. At this point, Alice knew that that night would be just like any other night, when she would be neglected and hurt by Eric. But still, she tried to remain as positive as possible. She was trying to sound cool and happy even though she was very sleepy, frustrated and almost break down into tears.

Eric did not realise this, of course. He was so happy telling Alice about his day. He then asked Alice about Alice's day just to make things equal, I guess. Alice started to feel that there is still hope in their relationship. Alice was telling Eric about her day, only to be interrupted by a boisterous laughter, after telling 2 sentences of her story. It was very noisy and it was very hard for Alice to hear exactly what been said by whom. Then, she realised, that she had been talking alone to the phone because Eric was chatting with his friendssss right after he asked Alice about her day. Alice immediately went to silence and she tried to listen to the boy's conversation. But all that she could make sense was Eric's laughters followed by his friends'. After about 5mins Eric leaving Alice alone on the other side of the line, he returned back to the phone maybe when he realised that he was still on the phone with his girlfriend. He continued the conversation as if nothing happened, as if he has always been talking to Alice from the beginning. Alice really could not take it anymore. She would definitely going to break down if she remained on the phone. So, she told Eric that she wanted to go to bed as she was very tired. And, AS ALWAYS, that's how their phone call ended.

After that phone call, Alice came to her sense and put her pride, senses, and thoughts before her emotions. That was not the first or second time Eric that to her. She even told Eric what she felt everytime Eric did that to her. But, still the same things continued to happen. She knew that Eric loved her, but the love was not portrayed thru his actions. She sacrificed her time, energy, and of course, money for him. She was the one who made all the phone calls. She never demanded Eric to call her because she understood that they were both not working, and it was more expensive for Eric to call Alice. However, Eric should at least, texted Alice once a while. At least, once a week. It wasn't expensive at all to leave a simple text to Alice. Alice had been telling Eric the same thing and Eric's respond was always, "Okay, I will." and of course, no, he never leave a single text. He even requested Alice to call him very late at night without considering about Alice's condition, her sleep, her class the next day, etc though, he had been reminded by Alice about the time gap.

Not just that, Eric did not have internet at home. He had to surf the net in the nearby restaurant with free wifi. Thus, Alice and Eric never got the chance to chat/see each other thru video conference. It was just because Eric said he was too lazy to surf the net which left them with the only option to keep in touch thru Alice calling him. It was not cheap for Alice to call Eric, you know... Though, it was cheaper than Eric calling her, but still, it wasw still expensive. Alice decided not to call Eric anymore and instead, she just left an offline message to Eric, hoping that he would go online oneday, and read the message. Alice thought that, Eric would definitely try to contact her if he missed her sooner or later. But, all that she received was another offline message. Not a single text, still.


P/s- Apa yang Yuna dok nyanyi pasal "Cinta Sempurna" dalam lagu die tu??? Sempurnakah cinta ni?

When Laziness Struck...

Of laziness, indolence, negligence...

Oh God, I have been neglecting this blog for as long as I could remember.. Was planning to update my practicum experience every week, but it seemed only the first week of practicum was up (and that one could not even be categorised as an update because it was posted quite late too...lol!).

I wanted to blame my hectic life for causing me to totally ignoring my dear blog. When I said "ignore", I really meant it. I seriously have not opened my blog ever since my last post was published.

Yeah, so these are the ups and downs, bits and pieces of my life that you have been missing out:

• -practicum every Thursdays for 5 weeks, following with 1 week-mon to fri (this 1 week burned 1 week of my mid term break, darn!!!)
• -BFM practices... dancing, singing, acting every week -very taxing.
• -Preparation for Umsa Ball which caused too many problems and issues... very irritating!
• -Never ending assignments and tests being chucked in 2 weeks -like hell!
• -The Umsa Ball itself -the hard work paid off! (This particular event/ bit of my life will be covered in detail under a post of its own coz it is too special to be ignored)
• -BFM 1st full rehearsal 2 days ago -now everyone is counting the days to the real performance days...

The list above might not be able to successfully represent my packed, daily schedule, but they are actually enough to make me forgot to comb my hair before i dash out to meetings and practices, eating fruits and neglecting my proper meals because of the lack of time and energy to cook, mounting my laundries for 2 weeks till i had no more clothes to wear (this time I really can't blame my procrastination habit because doing laundry here requires me to be available at home for at least 3 hours which was impossible for the past few weeks), and the most unforgivable part was when I forgot the actual submission date for my assignment which nearly caused me a heart attack!

One foot in School, Another stucks in Uni

Week 2 Practicum
Onehunga High School
Bumi Auckland, Nz.

Reached school early around 8pm. Maybe because there was less traffic. Entered the same classes as last week but with slightly different experience this week. I swear I will never wear my kebaya nyonya to school anymore because it's easily crumpled. Being in school not more than an hour already made me look like I have been in the school for the whole day with an unironed top! Damn it! Stomach not feeling good today.

Nonnette's Esol Class:
The students getting more comfortable with me now I am in my 2nd week in their class (though it's actually the 2nd time), most of them acknowledged me as another teacher in the class by now. Nonnette had to work on some stuff outside the class, so I had to take over her class. Nothing much to do because they were having their writing assessment. So, I just assist them where possible. The assessment was for their NCEA and so I am not supposed to help them. I only helped with words/vocab and make sure the class is under control. This is the assessment that allows them to move on to level 2 NCEA English.

John's Esol Class:
I was welcomed with a bright smile and a great by Joo, standing at the door. I have remembered most of their names by now. This class is very special to me because I can feel greater attachment with them than other classes that I attended.

Some of these angelic, bright little faces:

• Sultan
• Dragon
• Thomas
• Masons
• Joo
• Htoi Auong
• Joana
• Onosai

Sultan: From Saudi Arabia, always trying to look cool. He has a good grasp of the contents taught but still lack of language and vocab.

Dragon: A new students from China. Can't really speak English. Don't even understand simples instructions which made him a very funnly little guy especially with his know-it-all face. By his look, John was always deceived to believe that he understood the lesson/instructions but, by the second he finished his instructions, Dragon would abruptly turn to his chinese frinds for the chinese translated version of the instructions. A very cute hair-cut too...

Thomas: A chinese boy from Malaysia! Haha.. kasi malu saje.. Always off-task, especially when he sat next to Dragon. These 2 should not sit together. A very cute, adorable, friendly boy. Liked to great me in Malay though I can say his Malay was quite rusty! Lol!

Masons: A quiet, chinese, exchange student. He is going back in 2 weeks time. Showed interest in learning the language.

Joo: A very cheerful, happy, energetic, enthusiastic, Chinese girl. Love to laugh and smile. Very friendly. Didnt hesitate to ask questions. Have full attention and participation in class activities.

Htoi Auong: A Vietnamese guy who used to live in Jln. Lok, Johore for 2 years. Hehe.. bangga aku! A very shy and quiet guy. Likes to smile and have the initiative to initiate conversation with me despite of the lack of knowledge in his side. John partnered me with him in one of the class activities today. He portrayed good grasp of the contents and vocabs being taught for the topic.

Joana: Too quiet. Still havent known her that much. She is pretty and tall. Sat alone at one side of the back of the class. She smiled at me this week unlike last week. A good progress, I thought. Didnt really participate in class's activities.

Onosai: A unique and interesting character we have here. He always had his mind somewhere else. Always portrayed something to differentiate him from the rest of the group. Though he wasnt always participate in the class activities, I could sense that he was actually seeking for attention from the teacher. The off-tasking was his way to rebel and gain attention. At some points last week, he would call John to see his work though he knew the answers for all the questions. Maybe he felt left behind because he was the only Pacific Islander in the class and the rest were Asians. He always sits at the very back of the class.

During one of the class activities, when John ask them to find their own partner for pair work, he voiced out without hesitation to John that he wanted me to be paired with him. And so, I moved from next to Htoi Auong at the front of the class, next to Onosai at the back of the class. It was a reading activity. So, I asked him to read and I listened. He could understand the article but his reading was rather poor. After finished reading it the second time, I asked him whether he wanted to go again. And he asked me whether I mind listening to him again. Of course, I dont mind, hun. So I just asked him again, "Wanna go again?" And I was so touched by his answer, "Yes, I want to learn more." By that, he meant he wanted to read again so that he could improve his rading skills. And this time he showed that he made some improvements on words that he mispronunced the first time around. He also asked about me wearing hijab. It was difficult to explain to him because of his low proficiency in English.

All in all, I felt more attachment with John's class maybe because the lesson was less serious and of students from lower year. I felt like being around Malaysian students in a Malaysian classroom when I was around them. Maybe it was because they were second language students just like Malaysian students.

Mark's Mainstream class: The first class was about dictions in poetry. It was a classroom discussion. So, I just sat at the back of the class throughout the whole lesson. Boring... But, if I were a student in his class, I would say I would enjoy being in his class learning poetry rather than learning Shakespears' poems back in Malaysia. Some serious attitude problems he had there in this class. I was so annoyed by the 1st group of talkative human machines in this class.Second class was again a silent reading session. This time the students were given 3 different short stories by Roald Dahl. Again, I didnt have a palce to sit because this class consisted of 32 students. So I had to stand for the whole lesson taking notes and reading the short stories at the back of the class.

Today's experience made me felt more ready to become a teacher. 50-50. I honestly prefer to teach in an ESol/ lower ability classes rather than high ability classes. I love the feeling of attachment with my students because I believe students can learn better when they have better bond with teachers. They will enjoy being the class, feel comfortable to ask questions and made errors along the learning process as they wont feel ashamed of those errors made. Students of these class also valued teacher highly compared to students of the advanced/good classes (personal experience as a student, facilitator, and teacher).

Interesting day. Got home, had my early dinner. Surf the net and slept. Awaken by a txt from shanis at 10pm. Jumped onto my chair and called Zainul. He was sleeping as well. Kuat tidur betul laki aku ni! Asik tidur je...

First Day of school, Again...

Week 1 Practicum
Onehunga High School
Bumi Auckland, Nz.

Last week, Thursday, was the first week of my practicum this sem. It was like my first day of school again. Felt like I was 7 again and entering the first day of school. Only this time, no abah or ibu to accompany and hold my hand into the class. Only 2 weird, not-so-helpful guys going to the practicum with me. Also, this time, I am entering the school as a student-teacher. Eat my lunch (or brunch) in the stuff room instead of hanging out with dear teenage friends in the canteen or school compounds. People call me Miss instead of just by names (except for some ESOL students, but I dont mind at all).

For the first 5 weeks of practicum, we went to school every Thursdays. And so, felt very reluctant to get ready and jumped into the shower as early as 6.30am. Experience my-forever-coolness of smoking breath! The school that I went to was 3 stages away from Auckland City which costed me around $8 return to and from school. The bus stop and the school was about 7-10mins walking distance. Met Michelle Heather, the person in charged on our practicum and received our practicum booklet consisting of our timetables, and details of the school. On Thurdays, I have to attend 1 Home period about 10 mins, and 2 ESOL classes and 2 mainstream classes. Felt rather awkward since it was my first day meeting the teachers and the students. Also because I am so used to being a student myself and now I have to switch on my teacher-head.

Nonnette's Esol class was quite boring because it was full of assessments. Can't put the blame on her coz now is the 2nd half of the year and it's time for assessments. So, I was just sitting silently in her class, and came out with questions by the end of that period.

John's Esol class was more interesting than Nonnette's class because he was teaching a lower level of Esol class. Most of the students in this class could not even write a proper essay, speak proper English yet, and have limited range of vocabulary. John is a very friendly, energetic, and warmth hearted teacher which made me feel very comfortable being in his class. Very funny, full of sarcasm in his words (unfortunately, most of his students could not get most of his sarcasm anyway XD), and a very experienced teacher as well. He introduced me to the class, made me remember some of the students names, and tried to include me in his lesson which in a way helped me bond with the students.

Mark's English class is a mainstream class which means that English is either the students' first language (L1) or the have high proficiency level of English. I have 2 classes with him. I don't really like his 1st class because I think the students are quite snobbish and have a very high disrespect of him though, they undoubtedly portrayed a very high level of intelligence and are very smart. There are 3 extreme groups in this class: those who are very super duper talkative, non-stop talking machines, those who are very silent, passive, but always kept their head into the lesson and have the knowledge, those who are very silent, off-tasking 24/7, and never care to participate in the class activities either because of the lack of knowledge or felt left behind. I think the existance of the 1st group brings lots of impact to the lesson of this class because they are the ones who received most attention from Mark, overruled the class activities, and the most destractive members of the class. They made the most movements, have the loudest voice, made most comments, and the most rude and snob out of all. They were having literature lesson and was doing activities about Shakespears' romantic and love poems. I would say honestly that their tasks were quite hard even for me, and Mark integrated really high critical thinking skills in his lessons. Brilliant for higher level students with higher ability level.

Reached home around half past 4 that evening. Make myself a dinner, went online for a while before taking my not-so-nap for about 4 hours. Woke up in the middle of the night and went online again, doing some stuff till quite late and continue sleeping.

A day in a student-teacher's practicum life!

Cemburukah Aku?

Kalau korang ikuti blog aku sedari awal, mungkin korang ingat yang aku pernah menulis dengan sangat puitis tentang perasaan aku pada seorang insan ni, "Kisah Helang dan Pipit". Aku tak sedar yang aku menyimpan perasaan pada insan ni buat beberapa tahun walaupun belajar dalam kelas yang sama. Bila aku sedar akan kewujudan perasaan tu, aku akhirnya meluahkan perasaan tu pada dia. Dan, guess what... aku ditolak. T_T sedey jugaklah rasa masa tu. Tapi, kami masih berkawan macam biasa sampai sekarang. Mungkin sebab cara dia tolak aku dengan cara yang sangat terhormat dan dengan baik, maka kami tak ada masalah untuk terus jadi kawan.

Selepas 2tahun berlalu, aku seriously tak pasti whether aku masih ade hati pada dia atau tak. Tapi, satu benda yang pasti, setiap kali dia tegur aku kat skype, atau terserempak dengan die, hati aku pasti berbunga-bunga dan nervous yang maha hebat. Tahun ni, kami dah jarang chatting dan berbual di telefon. Aku andaikan aku dah bersedia untuk move on. Lebih2 lagi, apabila aku dah ada cinta hati yang baru, si dia yang jauh di mata... Tiba2 hari ini, hati aku bagai disentap bila terlihat status skype dia yang ada memberi hint yang dia dah berpunya. Lebih mengejutkan lagi, bila buat pertama kalinya, dia meletakkan gambar perempuan di profile skype-nya. Rasa macam hati ni remuk, berkecai2.

Masalah besar ni! Tak mungkin aku masih ada hati pada dia. Seorang yang takkan mungkin aku miliki. Dan lebih menyakitkan lagi adalah bila aku sedar akan hakikat tu. Apakah aku benar2 sayangkan zainul? Dan adakah dia benar2 cintakan aku? Atau kami hanya menjadikan each other sebagai sandaran untuk mengisi kekosongan hati? Masih ada lagi kah saki baki perasaan aku pada "dia"? Jahatkah aku kalau aku katakan, setelah aku berada dalam relationship dengan zainul for a while, aku rasa macam menyesal menerima cinta zainul? Adakah menerima zainul satu keputusan yang betul? Ada ketikanya aku rasa seperti perasaan aku pada zainul bukanlah cinta tapi sekadar menjadikan peneman aku dikala sunyi.. Atau adakah itu hanyalah sebahagian daripada mainan hati dan semata-mata perasaan ku sahaja?

Wajarkah aku untuk masih menyimpan perasaan aku pada "dia"?

Of Annoyance and Hatred...

In this world, when we think people around us are all grown up and matured enough to be understanding and tolerance, there are people who grew up not in accordance to the natural human developmental stages. It's as if their mental processes do not change and develop from a toddler's cognitive processes.

I haven't write/talk bad about other people for quite sometimes, now. Not that everyone around me is angelic but, their misbehaviours or intolerance didn't exceed my level of patience. Not to the extent that could drive me into writing such negative commentaries about them unlike this one particular individual, that I had been trying to tolerate and trying to create a stronger bond with for quite sometimes. Ever since we got to know each other, she always seemed to have somethings against me. At first, I thought it was just my pessimism, but as time goes by, I realised that there are some parts of me that she just couldnt agree with. So, yeah, fair enough. You can't expect everyone to like you. So, I take it possitively and try to make friend with her as close as possible. Bearing in mind, reminding myself that this friendship might need more time to strengthen.

However, these few weeks had tested my patience towards her. Now, I have come to a point that I just couldn't stand her comments and lame jokes anymore. I was so pissed off to know that she gave a totally unacceptable, lame, idiotic excuses to refuse a job/responsibility for an upcoming big event. And in return, I was the one who being appointed to take over her responsibility. Though, taking the responsibility was not the major problem I have against her, I just couldn't accept her lame excuse to get away from the job. I would be soo happy to state everything clearly as clear as crystal in this post, but i know that many people out there including friends of friends of friends are reading my blog. So, just to be sensitive about any possible outcomes of my commentary about her here, I will just try not to be too clear on every details.

She refused the responsibility given to her because of some ethical and religious issues about accepting the task. When at the same time, she said yes to the same task but of a lesser level of responsibility and importance which totally doesn't make any sense to her excuses at all! Because her lame excuses also apply to us, her other Muslims friends whom accepting the same task as her without much excuses and complaints. Lame, lame LAME!!!!

To make things worst, today, she made a very weird, impolite, statement straight to my face! It was when I voiced out my idea on going for an audition for solo performance on an upcoming event. I already had the idea even before I was given the responsibility. When one of our friends said that he wants to perform in the upcoming event, she asked me whether I still wanted to do a solo performance that night. When my response was positive, she said something like; "Wah! Tak cukup famous ke dengan responsibility yang dorg bagi tu??" That comment was followed by an annoying giggle by her. I wasn't sure whether she was trying to make a lame, totally-unfunny joke or she was being sarcastic there. But, whatever it was, it really made me sick! And she added something like "Takpelah, you ade great voice, can play musical instrument, unlike I." Who in the first place caused me to get that responsibility in replacing that intolerance someone?! YOU! Who is that someone? YOU! Dahlah latihan selalu tak datang... Bengang betul orang macam ni.

Huh! Puas hati aku dapat hembur semua straight from my heart. I don't really like to smear my sweet, happy blog with hatred and painful remarks about someone. But, it does feel good to be able to do that once in a while. Only when I can't hold it much longer and when I have no one to complain to. To you, if you ever read this post of mine, and if you think that it is you and somehow feel offended about what i wrote here, don't you ever mention it in front of me. Because I dont give a damn about it! This is a medium for me to blurt out my inner thoughts and feelings about my surrounding. You should feel honoured to be mentioned and to have a remark in my writing piece.

Makan Dessert Banyak2 Sampai Mabuk (Sugar Rush)

Last Friday, Umsa organised a Dessert Nite at the Knights in Stamford Plaza Hotel. 71 people including the committees attended the event. It was again, a social-officers event. So happy to see satisfaction on everyone's face that night. It was full of awesomeness. The food, place, people, environment. All in all, I would say I was very happy with the flow of the event. It was a very good bargain. $10 for a Dessert Buffet in a hotel! Where can you get such price?? Normal price is $16, okay.

Those who want to complain, shut up, you! Eat my shoes! Not easy to plan on an event while you're being quarantine and had to work on stuff at home. With that much dessert, in such an elegant venue, with such a cheap price, if you got anything to complain on, I will make sure you get one big, nice slap from me, personally! No offence, people. But, if you're offended, do u think I care?? It's just, I was so annoyed with some people, who had so many "cekadak", and simply give out bad comments when they didnt even attend those events! And sometimes, people didnt think before they made any comment. Think about the price, and other factors. If you paid for less than $15 or $20 for an event which the main focus was food, then, dont expect to have a grand ball room or in other word, dont put high expectation on it. You get what you paid for! And for you, who didnt even attend the event(s), dont make judgemental or negative comments based on people's talk.

The Dessert Nite started at 7.45pm and went on up to 10.30pm. But some of us including me, we hang out for a while, chit chatting, making lame jokes, and teasing each others (very Malaysian style, ala2 melepak kat kedai mamak!). We, then, walked down to the harbour. Walking in a very super duper slow pace. We were very hyper, like drunk people maybe because of sugar rush. Excessive consumption of sugar.

Snapped some random pictures... See those 2 jokers?? My friends are weird! I know... Hahaha! But, those are some of the faces that I am gonna miss so much after I left Auckland.. T_T

I got home around half past 12 that night. Really tired. Doze off...

Glamorous, Exclusive, Malaysian Dinner

Stopped updating my blog for a while now. Thank you to friends who care about my health condition last week. Happy to be up and running again now, that I am recovered. I started going back to uni last Tuesday. Missing the first week of uni was really not much of an extension holiday especially, to know that I had a lot to catch up on things. Already recieved so many assignments in hand. *double sigh* I seriously think this sem is very hectic and all the subjects are very tough and challenging. On top of all those academic loads, I have Umsa events to organise, Umsa Ball, AGM, social events, BFM concerts' practices every now and then, and not to forget my practicum. I wonder whether I can survive these last few months in Auckland, in terms of financial, studies, and time management.

Last Wednesday, there was a dinner held by Malaysian Deputy Minister of Plantation and Commodity (I dont think this is the correct tittle coz its not long enough, but I guess the Malay version sounds something like this: Timb. Menteri Perusahaan, Perladangan dan Komoditi, kot!). There were 4 Malaysian assocs in Auckland (Umsa, Umno, Petunia, Mapsa) and each assoc was represented by 5 committees. So, overall, there were 20 assoc reps invited that night. But, I was surprised to see the whole cohort 5 aka my juniors, to be there as well. Then, I was told by someone that they bumped onto one of the deligates earlier that day and was invited along to the dinner. If I wasnt there, I would say it was quite unfair to know that Cohort 5 could attend it but not my cohort. But, who cares. I got the free food, and the VIP table as well. Lol~

One deligate was seated in each table so as to say to mingle around with us. I, initially sat with other Umsa's reps and Afiqah from Petunia. We got this pak cik who was so boring and kept on talking about plantation and forestry. I dont mind if u want to talk about such thing to me but, please project your voice so that other people at the other end of the table could hear every single thing you were saying. Plus, you might need to improve on your lecture giving skill. Gosh! I could die of boredom there.

The appetizer was served. Consists of karipap, satay yang sangat sedap, popiah goreng and kuah kacang yang terbaik! Eating the karipap reminded me of how much I missed Malaysian karipap. I was totally in seven heaven coz the karipap was really2 Malaysian-like-karipap. hahaha... And then, comes the satay and kuah kacang. Honestly, I am not a fan of satay. Not at all. Back in Malaysia, the most I could eat was 5 sticks of satay. But this satay was really awesome, and addictive! But, yeah.. nama pun appetizer. Mana nak dapat banyak2 satay. Sorang secucuk sudey~ T_T

Not long after we finished the appetizer, another pakcik aka deligate (kalau aku bahasakan pak cik tu paham2 je lah yang dorang tu adalah deligates hehe...) came to our table and ask one of us to accompany Datin at the VIP table. I was trying to avoid from being picked. Unfortunately, the pak cik straight away pointed to me and said" hah, you, jom teman datin, jom!" Dalam hati, I was like: "Hah! Teman datin??? Tak cukup peneman ke kat meja vip tu?? Matilah aku.. ape modal aku nak borak dengan datin ni. Hish tak pernah umur la aku dok meja vip ni!" Then, to be professional kan... takkan nak tolak2 kat orang lain, very childish lah kan kalau buat macam tu. So, I just followed him to the vip table. Then, I was happy to know that I was seated in between Naomi and Ikhwan. At least, I know these people. Then, when the datin started to speak to me, I found that she was pretty cool after all. Waaaaayyyy better than the pak cik in my previous table. Then, I realised that I was so lucky to be dragged to this table. The datin was actually a Teslian. But of course, it was like yearsss back then. She said, she was in the first batch of tesl in Malaysia. Wow! My super x10 senior! Lol~ We talked about current issues, Auckland, Shopping, Diners, etc2.
The food! Now, come the best part: the main course. Nasi putih, kari ayam yg sgt banyak portionnye, rendang daging, sayur campur, ikan masak kicap yg sedap dan besar betol! I thought that was all. Then, suddenly, they served mee goreng???!!!! I felt like dying bcos of excessive food in my stomach. haha. And of course, I didnt try the noodles. No regret at all. Seriously. Then the dato siap asked the waitresses to bring white breads to each table so that we can eat the bread with kari. You know, Malaysian style... roti dan kari. hahaha. seriously felt like eating at home. Wuaaaa!! Now, I feel home sick again. The dessert consisted of different types of fruits being served. Me and Naomi checked on their menu and saw the price of each of the dishes. They cost around $20 plus per dish. Wow! That's very satisfying. hahaha... Bila lagi kan nak rasa makan free food mewah like that. Hehe...

Oh, the event started around 8 and finished after 10.30pm. But, we were all there around 7pm, and we chow by half past 10. Luckily, we, Umsa people tumpang Naomi's car. I cant imagine having to walk all the way back with full stomach. And so, that was all about the glam dinner despite of the lengthy but informative speeches by the VIPs.

Under quarantine...

I fell sick few days ago. It started with the losing of my precious voice. I woke 2 days ago, and I realised I had sore throat, and I lost my voice. Yesterday morning, I woke up with a very high fever. My head was spinning, started coughing badly, and still, my voice hadnt recovered yet. Since it was the first lectures' day for this sem (I dont have any lecture on Monday, so my lectures all start on Tues), I was so eager to attend all the classes despite of my high fever, and terrible cough. Had to bear 2 hours of lecture with a very heavy head. That 2-hours lecture finished at 6pm, and I didnt go back straight away. I decided to stay in uni until Jun Bin came to fetch me to the practice at 7 something. Yeah, I still went to the dance practice with the fever and stuff. Very stubborn am I not? After few rounds of cha cha, I could feel my body temperature rising and my head started to spin. But, I decided to careless about it and continue with the practice.

I got home at around 10pm. I was thinking of staying up for few more hours but, since I could not take it any longer, I went to bed quite early last night. I found it really hard to sleep because my body was aching, I could not stop coughing, my head and lungs were aching too. I didnt realise what time i fell asleep. But then, around 4am, I had stomach problem. I was having diarrhoea at 4am! Kept going in and out of the toilet for few times before I could go back to sleep. I was really hoping that I would get better this morning because I have most of my classes today. But dissapointedly, my condition was getting worst with my temperature even higher than yesterday. Could not help it. Had to escape the first class this morning. But I have stall duty from 1-2pm. If I cannot be there, I had to find someone to replace or swap with me. It was a very short notice. Who wants to swap with me with such a short notice? So, with all the strenght I had this morning, with a very bad headache, I walked to uni. When I was finally there at uni, I received a text from Naomi saying that I dont need to be at the stall because they are closing the stall early today.

So, I went to uni's health centre instead. I was thinking of making an appointment (we have to make an appointment first before seeing the doctor, or else we might have to wait forever there), but as soon as I got there, the receptionist who saw my condition, without asking whether I have flu or cold symptoms, straight away gave me a mask and asked me to wait at one corner of the room. That area was fulled of people wearing masks just like me. In front of that corner, there was a signboard saying: "People with flu or cold symptoms, please wait here."

Though I wasnt the first to arrive there, I was the first to be called in by the doctor. However, this time I was asked to go into a different room than any other rooms I have been to in the health centre. There was a special room by the side of the waiting corner. When I looked inside, I saw a chair covered with papers. Before I was asked to go inside, the nurse wore her own mask, gloves, and a plastic coat to cover her clothes. Then I was asked to sit on the covered chair. Later, I was asked to wear the gloves that they provided. After all those procedures, the nurse took my body temperature which she was quite shocked to see that it was very high. She gave me 2 tablets of paracetamol and asked me to wait for another half an hour for the doctor to come and check me. She checked inside my throat and said my tonsils were very big because they were sweeling. Check my lungs and said that they were clear. Asked so many questions and finally she said that I had 50% chances of having swine flu. However, I dont have to worry because it shouldnt be that serious because I wasnt directly exposed to it. If that was the case, then it could kill me. But, my condition was ok. So, all I have to do now is to quarantine myself and be at least 1 metre from other people so that I wont spread the flu to them. I was also told not to take off the mask all the way back home.

I ended up feeling like being under the spotlight. With every eyes looking at me. I could not help feeling annoyed at them. They must be thinking that this girl must have swine flu and we should walk away from her! You should be thankful that I put my humanity first instead of my pride! I could just walk freely without the mask. As if they would know that I might have the flu. And I could easily spread the virus to you guys, then. Lol! So, yeah, my fellow friends... don't bother coming to visit me or be near me for these couple of days. Not until I started going back to lectures! You dont want to catch the flu from me, dont you?

Masuk meminang??? @_@!

Semalam berbual panjang dengan dia.
Tiba-tiba, it was like out of nowhere...
keluar bab meminang and hantaran.
Aku terus tergamam and speechless. Like seriously speechless coz I never thought that topic would come out this soon. And its from him....gosh!

He said something about waiting for me to come back to Msia soon so that he could masuk meminang.

Then, I was totally dumbstruck! I seriously didnt know how to react to that expression. I was silent for a while then I laughed... and it was continued with an awkward silent.

Then we talked about travelling and how I wanted to go to OZ this year but because of my financial status, I decided to plan a trip from Msia some other time. He agreed and told me I could go with my family instead. I added yeah, and with you..maybe??? Then, his response again, surprised me to a near-death experience. Lol! He said that it would be a long way to go before he could afford to go there with me. Because for now he needs to save money untuk masuk meminang... hantaran lagi... banyak nak guna duit tu..

Adoi! I have to admit I was very shocked but really glad and happy to know that he is serious about this relationship...but..... . . . . nah~ I dont know. I am just really glad to have him now. Suddenly I felt like Chandler in Friends. Why? I would like to keep that to myself... maybe those who watched Friends till the end will understand why.

Hari yang sangat panjang.
Badan terasa sangat penat.
Sem belum mula, tapi kerja dah mula menimbun tak tahu mana perlu dimulakan dahulu.
Banyak untuk diceritakan tentang hari ini.

Barangkali... lain hari sahaja.

Mata sangat berat.
Katil seakan memanggil-manggil.
Lupakanlah dahulu kerja-kerja yang masih berbaki itu.
Esok sahaja dipulun.

Oh, tidaaaaaakkk!!!

Esok bakal menjadi hari yang sangat panjang juga.
Mahu bangun lewat meraikan hari terakhir cuti semester.
Tapi, ah..lupakan!
Kerja-kerja sangat banyak perlu disiapkan.
Tak mungkin bisa bangun lewat.

Open Homes??
Jelak sudah melayan tetamu2 asing yang tidak diundang itu.
Oh, esok otot-otot badanku akan dikerah menari.
Nampaknya, lusa, badan-badanku akan sakit2 semua.

Tak mengapa...
Kan boleh tidur sebentar dan berehat2 selepas latihan.
Eeh.. Lupakah?
Kan kerja masih ada yang belum selesai...
Allan...?
Macam pernah ku dengar nama itu.
Siapakah itu?
Alamak! Partner aku lah!
Lupakanlah impian untuk berehat2 selepas latihan.
Kan ada meeting dengan Allan.

Hmm...
Tak sabar nak balik Malaysia.
Ingin ketemu dia.
Juga keluarga tercinta.
Tapi..
Sedih juga tak terhingga.
Kawan2 disini, entah bila boleh berjumpa lagi.
Itulah yang dikatakan, bertemu berpisah kerana Allah.

Memang takkan pernah manusia boleh berehat sepuas2nya.
Kerana takkan pernah terluah perkataan puas itu.
Hanya bila degup jantung terhenti, hah, berehatlah semahunya.

Music & Lyrics, Lagu & Irama

Hari ini seperti kebiasaannya, aku ada latihan BFM. Sepatutnya, setiap Rabu, Jumaat & Ahad adalah sesi latihan vocal untuk aku, Boon, & Diana. Tapi, hari ini tak seperti selalu. Drums set at one corner of the music room had been removed to another room. Untuk memberi ruang kepada lebih ramai orang yang akan hadir pada hari ini, kata Bin. Seorang demi seorang melangkah masuk ke bilik muzik. Ada wajah-wajah baru nampaknya.... Gerald, Joseph, Kai Ann, & err..mmm..aaa.. alamak! Lupa sudey nama mamat seorang ni. Tapi aku sure namanya start with an S. Ish! Takpe, akan aku ingati semula. Buat masa ini, biarlah kita gelarkan dia Mr. S. Everyone is very friendly. And I am super happy to get to know many new faces.

Setiap orang yang berdiri di dalam bilik tu punya bakat dan kelebihan tersendiri. Aku tiba-tiba terasa sangat kecil sekali berada dikalangan mereka-mereka yang sungguh hebat dalam dunia muzik ini. Pernah aku tonton drama di tv tentang kolej/sekolah2 muzik yang pelajar2nya hanya belajar tentang muzik, dan seni pementasan seperti S Club 7 masa zaman muda remaja ku dulu. And I felt exactly like being in a music school. Macam-macam term music aku dengar...which kebanyakannya aku tak berapa nak paham. Contohnya, bar (aku selalu dengar, tapi aku actually dont really know the actual meaning of it), mm..dan lagi apa eh... entah tak ingat dah.

Jun Bin - tuan director yang sangat berbakat, mengkompilasi dan menggubah lagu, menulis lirik, mengstruktur susun atur lagu dan music, bermain piano, keyboard, guitar, etc. (semua benda pun lah dia ni boleh main. Memang double tabik spring aku bagi kat dia!)

Mr. S - guitarist; specialty in acoustic guitar.. sgt hebat guitar skillnya

Kai Ann - Pianist/keyboardist; walaupun tak sehebat pianist yang satu lagi, tapi aku kategorikan sebagai hebat juga (aku sangat mengagumi orang2 yang boleh bermain piano kerana jari2ku sangat kaku bila dikerah menari di atas piano)

Joseph - Oh, Pianist yang sangat hebat! Kasi je dia dengar apa2 lagu, pasti dia boleh mencari note2 nya. Aku petik je gitar main sembarangan pun dia boleh terus join dengan piano. Pergh..mantap! Civil Engineer tu... Daya pendengaran dia aku umpamakan seperti kucing! Pantas je dapat tangkap kalau orang nyanyi salah key, main salah beat, guitar out of tune... Kagum sungguh!

Ah Boon - Bassist & one of the singers/actor; see betapa berbakatnya. Dah main bass, nyanyi pula, berlakon lagi! Jari2 dia bermain bass tu aku tengok ala2 main gitar hero pun ada. Hahaha! Oh, nama gitar dia ialah Cherry. Hehe, ada bunga rose di guitar strap nya.

Diana - Singer/actress - Suara Diana ni sangat merdu. Typical chinese's voice. Very soft and sweet. Sangat suka dengar dia nyanyi. Paling suka dengar dia & Gerald nyanyi lagu "Beautiful". Very the beautiful.. seperti di awang-awangan je. Kalau tak silap aku, dia ni pun salah seorang pelakon utama.

Gerald - Singer/main actor - Suara dia ni memang kaw2! Last year pun dia jadi main charac juga. Dia memang sangat hebat berlakon dan menyanyi. Dia sangat sesuai join theater musical. Oh, kalau tak silap aku, dia ni satu uni dengan aku.

Meng Meng - Dia hadir hari ni sebab menemani aweknya, Diana. Tapi, jangan main2. He is in the Kung Fu team. Ada babak kung fu dalam theater ni. So, dia adalah salah seorang pahlawan la senang kata. Hehehe.

Last but not least,

Atie - Singer/Actress - Watakku taklah penting pun. Tapi agak penting juga kerana aku adalah Ketua Kampung! Hehehe... Suaraku.. hmm tak tahulah nak komen macam mana. Tapi, jujur aku rasa suara aku ni sebenarnya biasa saja. Dan aku tak rasa pun aku layak menyanyi untuk theater ni. Tapi, dah Jun Bin beri kepercayaan tu pada aku. Aku berbesar hati menerimanya.

Aku selalu nyanyi salah key. Aku memang boleh main gitar. Selalunya orang akan kaitkan boleh main instrument=no problem bila tang key. Hmm...silap tu! Aku memang sangat sengal bab2 key ni. Oh, for your information, today is the first day, our singing practice diiringi band. So, aku rasa agak kekok sedikit. Asik salah je nyanyi lagu Eco Living. Bengang jugak sebenarnya. Should do better than that!

Yeah, almost forgot! Pagi tadi, Allan and I had our social officers meeting in Level 2 Kate Edgar. Disscussed about venue for Dessert Night. Very short notice. We didnt even know that the event is under us until yesterday when Naomi texted me about it. Fuh~ pretty hard to find a suitable place. But at least I already received replies from 2 of the venues. They both are pretty good. And after that Umsa committees went to Crowne Plaza Hotel to view the ball room's venue. I was in charge of the Deco. Lots of work in deco team. I know... but happy to be in the deco team actually. At least I am working with close friends whom I already know their potentials. Yeah, basically had some good ideas and rough pictures of the decorations for the venue.

So, that's all about my life today. Every bits and pieces, music and lyrics, lagu dan irama of my today's life.

Another BFM practice ft. Kung Fu tycos~

Jun Bin let me rest for few days..which was good! Haha! Though I like attending all these practices, I really appreciate the break given. Honestly, I didn't really felt tired during the practices, but wait till the next day... sakit here and there! Tulah, sape suruh tak rajin exercise?!

So after almost a week of no practice, I had another Eco Living dance practice today and few rounds of my Battle song. Just to polish the last part of the song, which I am supposed to sort of scream to the top of my lung. The key was quite high. But, I used to sing higher than that, so I know that there is no reason for me to not be able to sing it properly. Shame on me then! Lol! Okay, overall, I was quite satisfied with today's practice. It's just, I was quite worried on the Eco Living song coz for me that is the hardest song. I found it quite hard to keep on changing my key, and practicing at home while listening to the recorded version of the song wasn't really much of a help honestly. Coz, listening to Bin's voice was quite different than listening to the piano. Duh~ like obviously... it's a guy's voice maa..

And also, Richard, as always... very funny. One funny guy that one. Kept on plying with his handphone. I know Jun Bin was a bit pissed off with that attitude. Not to mention the outbreak news about the clash of BFM time with the 3 amois' exam. I am sure it would break Jun Bin's heart if any of them pull out. It's tough enough to find people who can committed to this, what else to find a replacement half way through..

I waited there to watch the Kung Fu practice since I was going back with them all. Not a big deal. It was fun watching them. Lots of awesome moves and hilarious actions. They all were very good. Very impressive! Like to watch Tuan's moves. Realy otai one! Here I managed to snapped some pictures of them practicing their moves. Lots of poking, whacking and stick-spinning movements!

I only realised how tired I am when I reached home. Home sweet home! And also the grumbling of my stomach asking to be filled. Tried to call him again... buat kesekian kalinya... marah betul! Suruh call, bila call, tak jawab pula! Huh! Nasib baik sayang...

15 Weeks Before Bye2 Auckland....

Bila Sheryll ingatkan aku yang kami hanya ada lebih kurang 12 minggu di Auckland, aku terasa sedih pula nak tinggalkan bumi Auckland. Walaupun tidak dinafikan yang aku memang sangat rindu pada KL, and all the malls, kedai mamak, and all the food, tapi bila mengenangkan aku terpaksa berada di IPBA untuk lagi setahun, aku rasa tak rela nak balik Malaysia. Lebih-lebih lagi balik IPBA juga bererti tahun terakhir aku sebagai pelajar dan juga beerti aku akan mulakan praktikal sebagai cikgu... Huh! Rasa macam belum cukup bersedia lagi.

Tapi, sejak akhir-akhir ni, dispite of all those feelings, Enul membuatkan aku rasa tak sabar nak balik Malaysia. Terutama sekali untuk balik IPBA. Tapi, itu hanyalah semata-mata kerana kami tak sabar nak ketemu each other. Bukan juga kerana aku rindukan IPBA. Though, I do miss Ib, Cam, and my other friends. Zainul belajar kat Seremban. So, from Seremban to KL, bak kata dia, sekangkang kera je. Tak macam Seremban ke Auckland. Lol!

Hari ni, aku cuba call dia lagi. Dan dia jawab call aku dengan suara yang sangat comel dan seksi. Hahaha.. Suara orang bangun tidur yang paling comel pernah aku dengar..... *_*

Berubah wajah lagi

Hari tu aku ada bilang nak main tukar-tukar template blog aku. Aku dah save beberapa templates yang dah pun aku edit coding nya awal-awal masa aku rajin hari tu. Tinggal nak upload je kat blog aku ni. Tapi, kenapa lama sangat aku ambil masa untuk blog aku bertukar rupa daripada girly, pinky blog kepada rupa2 yang lain? Sebab, tiba-tiba..aku rasa sayang sangatlah pula nak tukar template yang endah itu... wuaa T_T

Babai my pinky (kad kahwin) blog.... Sangat sayang template tu because (as Intan said) it was soooooo ATIE!

Tapi, hari ni, tiba2 je rasa nak bertukar angin pula. Lalu, aku pilih je mana2 template yang aku dah save kat komputer aku ni. Randomly picked. Bila dah selamat bertukar rupa, rasa macam taknak pulak. Aku tak sukalah temlate ni. Very the pening pale otak! Walaupun tak banyak sangat bermain dengan warna, tetapi aku kurang gemar kedudukan, dan rupa post-post aku. Kelihatan sungguh serabut sekali. Kalau template pink yang sebelum ni, walaupun warnanya pink... tapi masih nampak kekemasan dan ketenangan pada blog ku. Mungkin kerana content wrapper nya yang lebih besar dari template yang aku gunakan sekarang.

Oh ya, tadi, keluar dinner dengan Ian. Turut hadir ialah Anep, Shidee dan Kauthar. Oh, lama betul kami duduk berborak sambil makan. Beberapa hari sejak kebelakangan ni termasuklah hari ni, aku rasa seperti suhu Auckland sungguh luar biasa rendahnya. Hahaha... selalunya, walaupun winter, aku masih bisa berjalan-jalan di luar dengan hanya memakai selipar flip flop ku (bukan kerana panas, tetapi badan ku dah terbiasa dengan suhu begitu, mungkin juga kerana excessive fat yang berfungsi sebagai penebat haba), dan sweater nipis, kegemaranku. Tetapi beberapa hari ni, aku rasa kaki dan tangan ku seperti mampu membeku bak berada di dalam freezer. Jari-jari tangan dan kaki kebas dan hampir cramp juga. Mungkin berada dalam transition phase dari winter ke spring. Ye..mungkin juga. Kerana selalunya, cuaca dan suhu Auckland akan menjadi extreme apabila transition dari satu musim ke satu musim.

Risau... masih gagal menghubunginya. Dia balik Melaka seorang diri dengan motor dari Pahang. Perjalanan ambil masa 5 jam. Sepatutnya, dia minta aku call dia pukul 10/11 malam Sabtu, tapi sudah aku cuba berkali-kali, masih gagal juga. Dan hari ini, sepanjang hari aku cuba menghubungi dia, masih sepi lagi........

Ada Apa dengan Dia dan Cinta?

Apa yang ada pada dia?
Ternyata tiada apa-apa. Cuma lelaki biasa yang punya kelebihan dan kekurangan tersendiri.
Tapi pada kelebihan dan kekurangannya itulah, yang berjaya melembutkan hati dan naluri ini.
Orangnya yang sangat bersederhana, merendah diri bukan beerti rendahnya nilai diri, tapi tingginya peribadi.
Halus budi bahasa, juga lembut tutur bicara... menundukkan diri ini dengan rasa kasih dan hormat padanya. Punya ketegasan dan kepimpinan tersendiri yang tak perlukan suara lantang seorang lelaki.

Apa ada pada cinta?
Banyak yang ada pada cinta. Banyak juga cabang cinta. Apatah lagi jenis-jenis cinta.
Tapi, apa yang ada pada cintanya? Jangan tanya lagi soalan tu sekarang. Boleh tak? Masih baru jalan yang dilalui untuk menjawab persoalan-persoalan seperti itu.

Yang pasti,
kerana dia dan cinta..
cintaku, cintanya... ???
kami cuba memahami dan menyesuaikan diri dengan perbezaan dan jurang yang ada antara kami.
Dan semestinya, bercinta tatkala hidup di dua benua berbeza, banyak kelebihan dan kekurangannya.

Bengap jugak Omputeh ni Kadang2

As I am writing this blog, I am watching the Erin Simpson show. Today's guest is Chang Hung. So, let me continue the rest of this in Malay in order for me to effectively criticise them all. Macam biasa, Erin akan suruh guest masak makanan kegemaran guest tu, So, si Chang ni, die kata die suke makan mi segera, namely "Indo Mee"-Mee Goreng! Ye mee goreng ye kawan2.. Itu lah yang tertulis di paket instant noodle yg si Chang masak. Kebetulan Mee goreng Indo Mee tu adelah kegemaranku dari dulu hingga kini. Kat sini harga sepeket lbh kurang 90sen. Erin cuba cari ingredients instant noodles tu dari packet indo mee tu...tapi xjumpa. Mungkin sebab takde bahasa inggeris nye atau mata die rabun. Chang lak, gi masak mee yang sepatutnya jadi mee goreng segera jadi mee KUAH segera. Dia buat ala2 masak Maggi mee ayam lak. Eyew... mana sedap penah try dah. X umph langsung.

Lagi satu insiden yang sgt juge kelakarnye... satu hari tu kami menonton tv dan adelah satu iklan sos tiram ditayang kat tv. Sekali dengar mat salleh tu bebel memang tak sedar langsung nama brand tu sbnrnya sgt familiar... tapi bl tengok iklan tu masing2 gelak nak pecah perut. Dorang promote "Ayam Brand" Oyster Sauce! Bayangkan lah camne dorang menyebut perkataan "AYAM" tu. Kalaulah mat salleh ni tau "AYAM" tu sebenarnya CHICKEN, mesti die menyumpah seranah. Lol! Dorang kat cni pun ade Mee Maggi. Tapi, dorang tak sebut macam kite sebut. Maggi dorang kat cni disebut /meji/. Hahahhaa kelakar juge.

Bosan tapi Lega...

Sangat bosan duduk dirumah sepanjang dua hari ni tanpa sebarang aktiviti dan latihan BFM. Tapi, pada masa yang sama, sangat lega, dan menghargai break yang diberikan oleh Big Boss-Ah Bin. Tak sedar langsung betapa penatnya badan dan otot2 di badanku masa balik dari latihan BFM Selasa lepas. Bangun pagi keesokan harinya baru aku sedar betapa otot2 dikaki ku sakit yang amat sangat.... Dan esok, bermula semula latihan2 BFM ku yang sangat menarik dan undoubtedly memenatkan..*sigh* Jumaat, Sabtu, Ahad, tiga hari berturut-turut ada latihan BFM. I believe it's getting harder and harder now that we have come to the dancing part.

This morning, I was awaken by the screaming of my phone's ringtone. Benci betul! Was having a very weird and interesting sweet dream. I answered the phone with reluctance, trying to sound as fresh and awaken as possible (tho I know it was totally useless), heard a familiar, female kiwi's voice on the other end which I couldnt understand sepatah haram she was babbling about, but trying to be polite, I just answered with a very friendly kind of way. Guess who?! My "sayang2" property manager-Angie! I was pretty shocked to receive her call coz the only reason she had for calling me so far was regarding my overdue house rent. So the first thing that popped out of my head was..damn it.. I just paid for 4 weeks in advance few days ago. I guess, my voice was too transparent that she could read my voice! She abruptly changed her tone of voice to a very friendly tone telling me the real intention of her call regarding the up coming Open Homes that Cambridge is having these weekends. Open HOmes??!!! O_0 whatever is that???

She said, the building will be handed over to a different land lord and so, there will be a viewing from 11.45am to 12.15pm these weekends; Sat and Sunday. I was like..heh? Does that mean I have to move out now??? Then she reaffirmed me that it has nothing to do with the tenants. So, basically... all I will be expecting these weekends is some random people coming knocking on my door, coming into my house, checking things and yeah that should be all about it! And following Angie's call, were some... yes SOME (with capital letters) calls made by unfamiliar property agents asking about my rental price per weak, and some stuff. So... in other word, no chance of me getting back to sleep. Urgh!! Very irritating..annoying, people! And after those calls, I jumped into my seat and started surfing the net and playing Farm Town! Yay! Booooorriiiiing!

Now that the status is official...

Two days ago, I was on the phone with him. After a very long "silent treatment". Lol! No! Actually there was a bit of misunderstanding between the two of us. I misunderstood his silent as a hint of rejection, but the truth was that his phone/internet line was cut off. It was his aunt's house, so he cant do anything about it. And so, we didnt contact each other for quite some times. While talking to him on the phone two days ago, I realised how I missed this guy! A LOT! We talked for almost an hour..jumping from one topic to another. Thanks to the stupid Super Buzz line! Suke2 hati je nk mati anytime and redial anytime without notice! Damn it! We both felt the awkwardness of the moment..suddenly we felt like talking to a total stranger... Sekejap I, U, saya, awak... and felt a bit shy to "bersayang2"... hehehe. But, I think the silent treatment did work on its charm! He, for the first time, said "the L word"! For the first time he said "I LOVE YOU".... Though it was very soft, and subtle... I managed to persuade him to repeat it back. And the second time, it was so clear that I smile all the way to my dreamland........

However, after waking up the next morning, it was all just like a dream. I wasnt convince on what he said. But, decided to leave it there and not taking it seriously. But today, he said it again. And this time, without hesitation, very convincing, full of confidence, he said it 2/3 times to me before we hung up..... Yeeeehaaa!!! Hatiku berbunga2! He always said "cepatlah balik Malaysia..." which somehow made me forget about the sadness of leaving Auckland! Now I have another good reason to be looking forward to go back to Malaysia. I liked it when he started planning on what, where, when, how, etc2 we are goin to do when I am finally back in Malaysia. He said, Malacca and KL is just "sekangkang kera". Nak jumpa hari2 pun boleh... which I highly doubt...of course! Well, now I guess.. I am officially in a relationship! "Sayang you soooo much! Muah, muah,muah,muah,muah....!"(Phrase we used before ending our conversation)

Transformers & BFM practice...

Me and a bunch of BFM friends namely Jun Bin (d tyco), Jun Yan, Vim, Allan, (which Bin called "Vimallan" hahahaha) and Tuan went to watch transformers in IMAX Queens st this afternoon. We watched the 3pm one and finished around 5 sth. It was already dark by that time. Luckily and unluckily I am having period now. So, I dont have to worry about catching my prayer time and the down fall of it was that it was really2 damn heavily flowing... really uncomfortable to walk in that situation! Hate it. But the movie was awesome..the graphics, sound effect, especially the fighting and shooting parts. Optimus Prime was super strong ang macho this time around. Lol! Luckily it was a robot if not, I would definitely had a crush on him! hahaha!

Jun Bin said he would pick me up at 7.15pm, so I wont have time to cook my dinner. I decided to tapao kebab on the way home. While walking, (oh, forgot to mention, Vim, Allan and Tuan are walking in the same direction as me) Tuan kept on complaining to me about his loose pants. He said he might have lost some weight. So I quoted a line from the transformers, but altered it a bit to suit the conversation..duh~; "I'll give you some of my parts.." Then, Tuan gave me almost the same answer Optimus Prime gave but it turned out this way: "I'll have the WEIGHT I never knew/imagined before!" Tuan jahat!!!! But yeah, it was so funny... he always likes to tease people especially girls that he knows. Very naughty2 Tuan. Hahahaha!

Didnt even got the time to lie down for a while... received a text from Jun Bin saying he was on his way to pick me up. I rushed to give some touch up here and there before going out. Tonight practice was divided into 2 teams-Kung Fu and Eco Living's dance. With my heavy flow condition, I felt really2 tired and uncomfortable to move that much. But, have to. So we learned most of the moves and kept on repeating over and over again. And we wrapped up tonight practice with Cha Cha just to refresh back our memory. Oh, and Arthur who was my Cha Cha partner might pull out from BFM for some reasons. But Jun Bin is still trying to persuade him.

I reached home about half past 10pm and forcing myself to update my blog. Am thinking of calling Enul tonight. Rindu sudey!!!!

Cha Cha Ballroom Dance & Ulala~

This afternoon I had another session of BFM practice. But this time, it was the Ulala~ team practice...which means I'd be meeting new faces this time around. Initially, Jun Bin was planning to have only 3 pairs of dances for cha cha but, the more the merrier! So, we are expecting more pairs next week. My new friends are Chelsea and Chin Ann from the Aucklang Grammar School, Arthur, an engineer, and Richard, a medical student. The cha cha balroom dance was soo sweet and fun. I had lotsa fun during this practice coz it is less pressure and stressful unlike the battle and eco living practices. Like duh~ we just have to sing Ulala again and again and again.. And as I thought I had to sing the highest note of ulala... agak dah...hahahhaa! Arthur and Chin Ann r singing the base, Chelsea and Richard r singing the melody, me and KS r goin to sing the highest note. Durig the cha cha practice today, I was paired with Arthur who can dance really well. I was very comfortable dancing with him. Ala2 ade chemistry gitew~ Lol! Richard paired with Chin Ann, and Jun Bin with Chelsea. It was fun. Except for the part where I got my first day of period during the practice and not to mention the pain and stomach cramp which I had to bear with for the whole of the practice! Nasib baik tak bocor! Lolololol!

I called Ibu just now (my weekly, routine home call) only to be told by Izzah that Ibu was admitted to the specialist hospital since Wednesday and was out yesterday. Nobody told me anything! But I understand, they just dont want me to get worried. I am so worried of Ibu's condition. She has been sick for quite sometimes. Always on and off. I am so worried coz I am far away, and there is no one that they could rely on. Before this when I was around, I was the one who will drive my siblings to n from schools, do the house chores, send Ibu to hospital and back again. But luckily ibu and Izzah are staying in the hostel now. At least, they can rely on those students and the wardens there. I pray they are safe and ibu will get well soon.

Cutiku Diisi Dgn Aktiviti Berfaedah..Akhirnyaaa

Yesterday's singing practice was held in Fiona's house. She n her family was in China now and they leave the house to Bin so that he could check their house once a while... A very good future son-in-law heh?.... hehe sory Bin! OMG! Rumah Fiona memang damn big! But it was night and the house was surrounded by big trees so I cant really see the house from outside. But the inside.. wallaweh.. giler besar.. I somehow felt grateful to make friends with these people.. expanding the circle of friends they call it? hmm watever. I got to meet new people and involved in BFM thingy.. that's a one in a lifetime opportunity. And also, I have always wanted to be in the local houses and Fiona's was 1 awesome sample! Just like houses dalam drama tv. lots of rooms, the walls are all covered with wallpapers, really elegant looking. In one of those rooms was the music room. There's a piano, a keyboard, a drums set, guitars n amps! Gosh... rindu giler men drum. Felt really awkward bila pegang d drum sticks. Me and Bin jam a while before Boon came. Then the 3 of us start jamming random chords lol! Til Fiona n meng meng arrived. Then, there goes our almost-2hours singing practice. I think I did better this time than the 1st practice.

This afternoon, the Deco team had our first meeting (tho only 4 of us turned up). So hard to find a spot to discuss since it is still uni break and most places were closed. After discussing about 2hours, we finally came to our conclusion and got our budget and quotes listed down! That's great! Now, we are looking forward to viewing the Ball venue, and presenting our proposal on the decos... Till then, we are done for now. As I m writing this, I just got back from discussion+price-survey+dinner in Ayuthaya. Pretty tired... Tomorrow, I have another practice session in the afternoon with more people this time... looking forward to tomorrow practice.

Letting go the Burden

Last night, while I was editing my blog templates, KS texted me saying he was in Hulu Cat wit Allan n d gang. So I askd em to make a space for me. Lol..Hulu Cat is just opposite my house! Meet em there, drink milk tea n hve a very long chat wit em guys n lots n lots of giggles n laughters.. wit those jokers around..who wont laugh that much??? They suddenly came out wit an idea of visiting Ipin in TRC. They ajak me as well. But of course i felt a bit uneasy coz id be d only girl! Duh~bukan tak biasa.. just xsedap la kan.. it was soo late dy. But they said just for a while not gonna lepak there long. And Allan dy texted Ipin n he said no problem just come over. So I ended up followin em to Ipin's house. Got there.. and I straight away grabbed those drum sticks n we all memekak2 played guitar hero.. gosh! That was my first time playin gtr hero... No doubt it was so damn addictive! Got home around half past 2am and was so exhausted..

I was planning to wake up early this morning and meet Sheryl in the Fisher Bldg to collect her Famine's pledge money. But I was too tired to wake up early and so I met Sheryl around 2pm instead. We had some chat while walking. She insisted to walk me to the gen library. So, yeah.. our conversations ended there with me heading to the library and her back to the Fisher. I finally returned the overdue books and printed out my songs lyrics for tonight's BFM practice. I had my first singing practice last Wednesday which I would say I d done pretty badly then. I kept on singin the wrong key, probs with my pitch, breathing probs-damn just realised how unfit i ve become now! I seriously need a good and serious vocal training.... or else I will embarrass myself on the stage.

I jumped on the free bus to Queen St and went from one Money Exchange counter to another just to change my IDR to NZD. I had IDR 1,275k with me since early this year coz I visited Jakarta before coming back to NZ. In return, I got almost 200bucks for it. With that money, I paid my ANZ credit card's debt, and closed all my accounts with ANZ since I wont be using them anymore this year. It was just a burden to me. The only reason why I opened an account with ANZ in d first place was because I wanted to keep my salaries in there last year. So since I am no more working this year, and ANZ doesnt have any branch in the uni-which is soo much troublesome for me to go down Queen st only to go to ANZ, I would rather close those accounts. Gosh! It was a great relief to have paid my debt... Now, I dont have to worry about it anymore. And since I was so happy and I havent ate anything at all since I woke up, I treated myself with yummy food from Tequila.

Went home, and now here I am staring at my laptop, while practicing my singing very BADLY and waiting for 7.15pm to come. Jun Bin will come pick me up to Fiona's place for tonight's practice session.. Really hope I ll do better this time.

Blog ku Berwajah Baru

Thanks to Intan.. hahahha!

Bosan dah aku ngadap templates yg ade kat blogspot ni. And nasib baik gak last year ade amik paper Compsci, at least paham lah gak CSS and XML codes yg ade tuh... wpun it's undoubtedly berjaya membuatkan aku stress and menyumpah seranah sepanjang aku mengedit template blog ni.

However, if you guys realise there is a section called "Friends' Blogs" which supposed to be specifically for a list of friends' blogs. The section is still there which means I managed to keep that stupid widget in the sidebar. However, all the contents of the widget..*poosh* disappeared! Damn it! Now I have to gather all their blogs agaaaaiiin.... *sigh* (-_-")

And not to mention..my face is there???!!!! What the heck?! Mamposlah..tak kuasa I nak layan, you! Biaq pi lah mcm tu.

Kang beberapa hari lagi, korang akan tengok blog ku berwajah baru lagi.. hahaha saje nk mengshow off kan templates2 yang endah2 and awesome2 hahahaha....

Kahwin (shud i put a fullstop, question mark, exclamation mark or dot dot dot after it)

Masa muda2.. sekarang pun muda lagi hehe, tapi masa zaman sekolah dolu2 selalu je rasa pelik bila tengok drama kat tv yang wataknya rimas bila keluarga tanya bila nak kahwin. Pelik sebab rasa soalan tu soalan biasa dan tak pernah pulak terbayang aku akan berada dalam situasi tu bila dah makin meningkat dewasa. Isu ni pernah aku bangkitkan dalam post yang lepas2 di awal2 tahun hari tu. Dan kini berbangkit lagi... *sigh*

Few days ago, I was chatting with my best friend-normal topic: hot gossip! Then, we discussed about friends who just broke up, being cheated on, engaged, and got married, even those who already have babies and kiddos. Relationship issue is a never ending issue to be discussed upon at these days of this stage of life! Getting tired of it but it's just so irresistable (I now have no doubt on what Erikson stated in his Stages of Psychosocial's Theory).

One of my ex-classmate just got engaged and she looked so pretty in her engagement dress. I am so jealous. Not to mention the ever increasing names on the just-married list. Damn! Whatever's goin to happen to me? --my normal self-reflecting question. It's really hard to find a good guy with good qualities nowadays. There's more to our conversation that day than just about relationship but, that particular topic is not to be disclosed here (rated 18SX lol...). Ooohhh! Almost forgot to mention about my crush's brother who havent finished his study yet just got married! (His bro is one handsome bloke but somehow I ended up having crush on him instead!)

See! The list just keep goin on and on. Me?! "Calon pun tarak!"