Penang Trip - Day 2

The second day began with Wing Fei, Yong Jie and I having breakfast in our hotel, Red Inn Court. I had a plate of beehoon and two pieces of toast bread along with some watermelons. After breakfast, Lishan and Jing Hao arrived separately in our hotel and Lishan fetched us to Beach Street hawker centre to have nasi lemak. True to Dexter's words, the nasi lemak is a must try as it tasted and smelled good. Dexter, Kee Yong, Cheryl and Gai Win arrived a little later than us and had their nasi lemak before the whole lot of us set off to tour Georgetown.

Beach Street nasi lemak

The highlight of the day was that we toured Georgetown and visited the famous murals to take selfie. Before we set off to visit the murals, we went to 姓周桥 to have a walk. I met my fellow cadet reporter, Wei Jin there as she too have a short trip in Georgetown with her university friends after uni exams. Special thanks to Wei Jin for helping us to take a group photo of us looking towards the sea. I also bought myself a Los Angeles Lakers cap at the end. 

Met Wei Jin =D 

Group photos at 姓周桥

After 姓周桥, it's time for the famous Penang murals! Special thanks to Dexter and Cheryl for taking those amazing shots. Here are the photos: 

Got kicked by 'Bruce' Lee Wing Fei

One Night in Paris...OPPS! I mean Penang xD

I will be there for you whenever you need a helping hand

Lovely cartoons murals. *Peace* 

Opps! Sorry for the kiss. xD

Thanks for taking me along this amazing ride. 

Me imitating the Jumpman logo #mj23

=)

Group photos

After the murals, we went to rest at a postcard shop while Dexter, Lishan and Jing Hao went to get their cars. I bought some postcards there. 

铺屎卡 HAHAHAHA

Next stop, we headed to eat the Penang famous chendol and ice kacang. Then, we went to Lorong Selamat to taste the famous Kafe Heng Huat char koay teow. The auntie selling the char koay teow has a reputation for bad temper and will get pissed off if you rush her for the food. Lishan got a bit of scolding from the auntie selling the char koay teow for requesting the char koay teow without tau geh. It's a bit overrated in my opinion and one plate of char kuey teow costs RM10!!! ==

After that, we went to two Buddhist temples. There, we prayed for success in university and life. Hahaha so typical of us as university students. Besides, one man was so nice to give us a big pack of fish food to feed the fishes. =D

Happy faces feeding the fishes. =D

Next, we went to sing karaoke at Paragon Mall. There, we attempted a birthday 'surprise' for Jing Hao(though it's pointless because we went to Penang in conjunction with his birthday). I must say he didn't do a great job at looking surprised since he kept asking where Dexter and Cheryl went when they went to buy his birthday cake. But oh well, at least he's still happy =) : 

 Happy Birthday Jing Hao!!! =D

For dinner, we went to Gurney Drive hawker centre. There, we had asam laksa, penang hokkien mee, rojak and rice noodle roll. Then, we went to have a walk nearby the sea and chilled out. After that, we went to a dessert shop to eat apple and mango ice cream pancake. Gosh, it tasted wonderful!

Dinner at Gurney Drive

 Chilling out nearby the sea.

Desserts time!

Before we ended the day, we went back to the hotel and gave Jing Hao his 21st birthday present: CONDOM! (LOLS!) We did this in the presence of Cheryl who just sat on top of the double decker bed and watching videos on her phone, hahaha. After that, we played a guys' game but I couldn't and will not share it because I'm tied to bro's code. =/

Penang Trip - Day 1

Hello, dear readers! Welcome back for another update on the latest stories of my holidays life. Recently, I went to Penang for a four days, three nights trip with my university coursemates from 16 to 19 June 2015. It was certainly a wonderful trip for me personally because I don't get to travel often. Therefore, a short getaway to the historical island of Penang with my university coursemates no doubt added some great memories to my university years as a whole. So, I will be detailing the whole trip with several posts which I hope will be a delightful read to all the readers out there. =)

On the first day of trip, I reached Penang by taking Firefly airline at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah or Subang Airport . It was my first time taking airplane since my 2010 trip to China. My dad fetched me to the airport and sent me off. The plane took off around 6pm and reached Penang International Airport around 7pm. The landing was not so pleasant because it was a minor hard landing. It was kinda cold in the Penang International Airport and luckily Dexter reminded us to bring jacket. I met Wing Fei near the exit pickup point there and was the second last to arrive(Jing Hao was the last). While waiting for Jing Hao, we chatted a little at the exit pickup point. After Jing Hao has arrived, Dexter fetched us to our hotel:

Red Inn Court, Penang

For the entire trip, Wing Fei, Yong Jie(Ah Fit) and I stayed in Red Inn Court. It was a budget hotel and costed the three of us RM75 in total for each day. Certainly, the price is very much affordable and there is no reason to complain at all if you're not that picky. 

After checking into the hotel, we went to have dinner at Chulia Street. For this part, I'll just let the pictures do the talking(lols):

Clockwise from top left: Fried popiah, wantan mee, char koay teow, popiah, yogurt, rice noodle roll and vege(?)
Centre: Group selfie, from left to right: Kee Yong, Wing Fei, me(on top of wf), Cheryl, Dexter, Yong Jie and Gai Win

After dinner at Chulia Street, we went to have yogurt at The Mugshot Cafe nearby Red Inn Court. We ordered four cups of yogurt with kiwi, jackfruit toppings. Besides having yogurt, the cafe has a few entertainments and nice spot for selfie. Boys being boys, all the guys had a hand in playing the table football game. Had a fun time playing the table football although couldn't manage a win(Yong Jie ruled again). After the table football game, most of us(except Gai Win) played Jenga. I played in only one of those games and luckily wasn't the one that lost in the end. We spent the rest of the time in the Mugshot Cafe taking selfies. Here are some of the photos taken:

Quick selfie, from left to right: Cheryl, Kee Yong, Dexter, me and Gai Win

Having fun playing table football and Jenga

The soul that sees beauty, may sometimes walk alone.

Being charged again for being priceless. LOLS

After Mugshot Cafe, we went to 7-11 to buy mineral waters and then went back to the hotel to conclude the first day. 

Dedication, perseverance and hard work

Everyone has a favourite personality in which they idolise. Personally, Michael Jordan is my idol in which I grew up admiring. To others, Michael Jordan may just be another famous basketball player, but to me, he is a role model who has an inspiring influence on me. His basketball career taught me three values which are imperative to succeed in whatever field I endeavor: dedication, perseverance and hard work.

To achieve excellence, Michael Jordan dedicated himself to his basketball career. His dedication conjures up the passion and drive in me to strive for academic excellence ever since I stepped into secondary school because I was no longer content with just being another face in the crowd. From Michael Jordan’s career, I learn that the ability to constantly produce excellent results lies in one’s dedication. For all the efforts and sacrifices that I made in chasing that excellence, it will not be possible without dedication and willingness to put in the effort consistently.

His perseverance despite early setbacks during his basketball career encourages me to keep on fighting in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Through perseverance, I learn how to use past failures as a source of motivation to succeed. For example, when I fail to achieve the target I set for myself, perseverance gives me the strength to endure the disappointment from failure and to keep working towards overcoming the challenges that I feel are beyond my reach. With each formidable task accomplished, I am able to improve my self belief to confront unforeseen challenges on the path to excellence.

Throughout his basketball career, Michael Jordan continued to improve through sheer determination and hard work. His work ethic motivates me to dig deep and work hard in order to succeed. As nobody is perfect, I look to improve my weaknesses so that it does not limit my challenge to excel. I do so by setting reasonable and manageable goals that I could realistically achieve if I work hard enough. The willingness to go the extra mile allows me to not only overcome my limitations, but also turn it into my strengths.

While it may be true that we are the sum of all our experiences, Michael Jordan is still the person I look up to when I want to motivate myself. Being an icon in the game of basketball, Michael Jordan inspires me to acquire the same status in the field I endeavor one day. As I aspire to make a name for myself in the field I pursue, I will always remember Michael Jordan for providing me the source of inspiration and helping to instill in me the right attitude to be successful in life.

Holidays

Greetings to the readers who accidentally stumbled upon this blog after a long period of inactivity. Here I am back again for another update on my holidays. =D The last update is about my work life ramblings. This one will just be a snapshot of what has been preoccupying me, except my working life, since my holidays began until now

Basketball

Since I came back to Bolehland, I certainly played quite a lot of basketball, mostly with Jeff and Adrial. I guess having a nice pair of basketball shoes certainly increases the appetite for more game time. Most of the time I play at night, usually at the basketball court that has shelter nearby Ampang Bowl, with Jeff and me fetching each other alternately. And everytime after we done playing at midnight, Jeff and I usually went to mamak stall to eat and talk. 

As it turns out, I'm getting more and more confident with my ability on the court. It seems surprising at first because I certainly did not play as well in university. I have been shooting the ball well but only when I'm shooting alone instead of having someone guarding me. I guess playing frequently helps to get me into nice shooting rhythm. I also realised it's easier to score when I get the pass from teammate and step into my shooting spot, instead of forcing the action. 

Besides, I'm trying to increase my arsenal by learning the fade away jump shot. This idea came to me during those time when I'm playing alone in university because my jump shot had not been doing great. It's definitely a great offensive weapon when I'm backing down a smaller player guarding me. However, it becomes less effective when someone who is about my size or bigger is guarding me. I guess I need to practice more on the fade away jump shot when I'm playing. 

Other than that, I'm getting greater awareness of good team play. After all, basketball is a team game. In the past, hot head dominated cool mind and I tend to play with little team awareness. Now, my vision on the court opens up more and I play with a mentality of locating my teammate that has better scoring chance. The confidence of feeding others with better scoring chance certainly increases when I'm playing regularly with Jeff and Adrial, both having better offensive game than me. 

Lastly, I want to comment a little on my defense. This is because there was once I was pissed at my teammates' mediocre defense that I increased my defensive pressure and aggresiveness while defending Jeff. Afterwards, he sort of complained that sometimes when I'm playing defense, I'm doing some "xiao dong zuo" which he finds irritating. My only retort is that if you feel there is a foul, just shout it out. Otherwise, that's the way I play defense because I don't react to what the offensive player does but I go at them. Period. 

Meeting up with friends

The first person that I met since coming back to Bolehland is my cadet reporter senior, Yu Jun xue jie(Shireen Wong). She is the first senior that guide me during my days as a cadet reporter. We frequently try to meet each other during holidays because our holidays are often around the same time, usually at our favourite mamak nearby our houses. It's great meeting her because I can always complain about life and hardship with her listening and offering valuable opinions.

The second time I met up with Yu Jun xue jie, we had another two person joining, both also my xue jie: Yan Xin(Hazel) and Yee Ching. It was a surprise to see Yee Ching xue jie because I have not see her for a very long time. We chatted about university life and love topic, occasionally poking fun at each other. I also sort of offered some relationship advice(macam yes) to Yan Xin xue jie, offering her insights on what and how guys expect from their girlfriend in a relationship. As it turns out, my advices worked and she was able to "tum" her boyfriend. Haha. I guess being free from relationship enables me to have a clear mind with regards to relationship problem, though of course I highly doubt that I can still have a clear mind when I myself is in a relationship. Lols

From left to right: Yu Jun, Yan Xin and Yee Ching xue jie

Just last night, I met up with my high school buddies: Ming Yang, Kanesh and Kar Leong. It feels great to spend time together with all four of us in attendance.

 The Big Four: Ming, Me, Teo & Kanesh

We met up in Berjaya Times Square and had dinner at some Chinese stall. There we discussed a little about planning a trip although I wasn't really into the discussion because I don't feel like having another trip. Still, we ended up deciding(TBC) to go Genting(AGAIN) just to chill out and spend more quality time together. OH! Just remember that we're all 21 now and can go inside the casino together. Ngeh ngeh xD

After that, we went to play bowling. The price for one game has increase until it's just slightly cheaper than the Genting rate and I must say it's rather expensive considering the average quality of the lane and occasional problem when the pins are reset. =.=" Nevertheless, we still played because it has been more than two years since we last played bowling together. Of course, everyone was rusty in the beginning. In the first game, I started slowly but picked up my form towards the end as I edged slightly ahead of Kanesh, winning 129 against 122. The second game I started with a bang as I striked three times(no Turkey though, still in my life) and spared another one in the first four pins. In the end, I cruised to another win, this time scoring 154 pins(YAY!).

Next, we went to Murni mamak stall at Taman Sri Permaisuri to have supper and talked somemore. There, Kar Leong gave us several surprising news and I'm only sharing the one that he had completed his first year law degree part-timely. It was certainly a great news and I'm so glad that he is back among us again in terms of studying for a degree. =) We also discussed a little about Pauline and hope to hear more from her when she is back from Russia. Lastly, we ended the night playing darts nearby Ming's house. 

Social media

Several people have realised that I have been rather active in Twitter and Instagram since I went to NTU. They are like what's wrong with TC suddenly with so many selfies and updates on Instagram. Well, I decided to adopt a new lifestyle in terms of social media and intend to utilise the usage of my Iphone 4 before its lifespan is over. I decided to document my university life through Instagram because Picture-Perfect-Memories. 

Moving on, the reason that I decided to join Twitter is I found out my circle of friends no longer share too many things in Facebook anymore, probably because of privacy issues. Also, Twitter allows me to speak my opinions and feelings without getting backlashes from certain assholes easily.

____________________________________________________________________________

To sign off with this post, I will be going to a Penang trip with my university coursemates this coming Tuesday to Friday. To be honest, I join this trip more for diplomatic reason, rather than because I really wanted to go. I just don't think it's a good idea to miss this trip and when university resumes, my coursemates will have something to talk about and I will be left out again. But as my mum puts it, it's still a trip nonetheless and I just hope I will enjoy this trip.

Goodnights, fellas! 

From TC, with love. =D

Work life ramblings

It has been more than a year since my last post. Well, I am quite free now at work so I thought I'd like to do something other than facebooking or tweeting. So here I am attempting another vain attempt to revive this blog.

Just to update viewers a bit on my current condition before I go into the topic. I'm currently in my academic year-end holiday as I had just finished my first year of tertiary education in NTU. I have the option to remain in Singapore and work there to earn more money(obviously, it's RM2.79 now for 1SGD T.T), but I choose to come back Bolehland to spend more time with my family(my mum to be specific).

I was back in Bolehland on the second week of May and began my job search after resting and enjoying for a couple of days. The job search part has been a bit frustrating because I wanted to begin working as soon as possible but couldn't find the kind of job that I want. I did went to two marketing job tryout which happen to be under the same major company. Feeling kinda stupid here because I wasted two days doing the tryout which I found(and confirmed) that I had no interest whatsoever in persuading people to purchase stuffs. I was going to give up on searching for office job and just went for waiter/promoter type of job when the interview offer from my current employer came knocking on my doorstep.

The job interview process began with filling up a form of my particulars and doing a personality test. The personality test is one where you mark one characteristic each that describe you the most and least. It turned out that I am very consistent in terms of my characters, my traits in dealing with people and preferred work environment, which I found slightly surprising because I thought I am just beginning to understand more about myself. Anyway, a woman, called Michelle (which turns out to be the boss's spouse), interviewed me. To her surprise, she realised that I am only available for work in less than two months, which I did put in my application on JobStreet. The interview process was quite smooth-going as I was able to talk and explain about myself the way I see myself. I think she was kind of impressed that I have a clear and definite purpose in wanting the job as I wish to build my resume and improve working experience towards my future career(macam yes). The conversation even grew to a stage where she talked about win-win situation in which she offers to improve my shortcomings in areas contained in the personality test. She even offered me the chance to be introduced  to people working in Petronas should I wish to do chemical engineering internship in the future. In the end, I was still offered the job. (YAY!)

After days of consideration, I turned down a telemarketer job(you see I don't like to persuade people) and accepted my current job. Here's a little profile of my current job: I am currently working as a Assistant Executive(the job title in the job advertisement. technically it's just admin I think) in T3 Rate Solutions & Co. Sdn Bhd, an AIA insurance agency. The first two days of work was pretty unproductive as no one was free(or physically present) in the company to properly teach and guide me on my job tasks. So I ended up filling up some insurance forms and checking the database for the company's insurance agents.

On the third day of work, I met my boss, Mr William Tan as the insurance agents gathered in the meeting room to discuss and update each other about their works. Later on, he brought me to the AIA headquarter in Jalan Ampang to have a look as one of my job scope is to serve as an intermediary between the headquarter and the agency. He drove a Mercedes by the way. Gave me a task to handle with the claim department. Obviously din do well as this was the first time. The staff in the claim department did answer my initial question but that wasn't what my boss wanted. Asked a second time and got a lecture from one senior staff about not appropriate to solve problems directly in the claim department and should go through customer service. =.="

As days went on, I started to have a clear idea and get comfortable of my job tasks in the company. Most of the times the agents whatapps me wanting certain information and I will be the one searching for the info in the database or call the customer service to enquire. I also help Michelle to fill up insurance forms for the clients whenever she pass me the instruction and/or documents required. Besides, as I mentioned previously, I serve as an intermediary between the headquarter and agency in which I go to the headquarter to enquire directly and submit/collect documents. Other than that, I also have to fill in the recording book whenever the new policy documents arrive. In short, it's just general administrative and operational duties.

One thing I would also like to talk about is that I had attended two meetings so far. The meeting basically contains two sections. In the first section, the agents discuss and update each other about their work. In the second section, they have a sharing session in which they discuss topics contained in books written by successful insurance agent. One highlight for me is that during the second meeting, in which they shared about ideas on money and finance, Michelle asked a question: "What's the most expensive expenditure by people that can be paid using credit card?" I was able to come out with the answer first: healthcare and she praised me(She said even I also know) for that. (p.s. sorry for the self-praising here but afterall, I am still a student. lols)

To conclude this post(surprisingly I was able to finish this post during the free time at work), I have just been in the company for two weeks(started work on 1st of June). Hopefully there will be more new posts in the near future(at least during this holiday). Signing off here. BYE! =D

FIFA World Cup fever

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, part of the reasons why I decided to stop working is that I would love to follow the FIFA World Cup closely. And with the tournament about 13 days away from now, I figure I'd love to put a couple of my views on it as well as increase the number of posts for my blog. =D

The team and player I'll be rooting for: Portugal and CR7

Well, basically the main reason why I will be rooting for Portugal is because of this man: Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner and captain of the Portugal squad. He's my favourite player because of his style, characters and attitude towards the game. He single-handedly lead the Portugal squad to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and will of course be the catalyst for a successful tournament for Portugal. HALA RONALDO, HALA PORTUGAL!!!

The team that I hope to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup: Germany

Although Ming(he supports Germany) doesn't think Germany will win the tournament, I personally feel that this team is deserving to win the football's biggest prize. Since came out as runner-up in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the youth development of Germany's football has produced many outstanding young players that have become some of the best footballers in the world. Coupled with the fact that this team has been consistently finished among the top in previous tournaments(3rd in 2006 World Cup, 2nd in Euro 2008, 3rd in 2010 World Cup and semi-finalist in Euro 2012), I believe it is Germany's turn to nail the prize and prove to the football world they are the next best team.

The player that I hope will shine in the tournament: Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney has once been hailed as one of the best players in the world along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but he and England have been unable to perform to the expectation in previous tournaments. However, seeing that there are new bloods in the England squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, I believe that this tournament is the perfect opportunity for Rooney to shine and give England a good run in the tournament.

My pick for the Best Young Player award: Neymar

Seeing that Brazil is one of the favourite to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup in their homeland and Neymar is their star player, nothing less than winning the Best Young Player award is needed for Brazil to live up to the expectation from the entire nation and the football world to be crown world champion for a record six times. He certainly need to pick up the scoring load for Brazil and play like the legendary Pele. On that basis, he's my pick for Best Young Player award.

Here's the 2014 FIFA World Cup official these song: We Are One (Ole Ola)

Note: all those written above are purely what I hope would happen in this World Cup and have nothing to do with knowledgeable analysis of football since football is not the sports I play with passion.

Last day of my first job

Today marks the last day of work for me as an administrative assistant in Agile Solution Sdn Bhd/PC Mart Sdn Bhd. This is the first paid job of my life and I've worked here for about 4 months, from 6 February 2014 until 30 May 2014. I could have continue to work here for a bit longer because my tertiary education does not start until August 2014. However, I decided that I am done with this job for several reasons.

1) I've managed to shake off the first-time-working tag from myself before working in the field of my study in the future. At least when I seek a job after graduating from university, I have some working experience(I even manage to get a recommendation letter). Plus, I am feeling more and more boring doing my usual tasks and have no motivation to learn new things about business software.

2) I feel that I'm kind of underpaid and being exploited. RM7 per hour is reasonable for a part-time office job. The problem is that although my official job title is part-time admin, I worked like a full-timer(Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm) for the company. So, the fact that the maximum I could earn for a month is RM1260(my college friend, Audrey, earns around RM1600 per month as temporary worker) and I did not get EPF and SOCSO coverage, I could not find any better reason to continue working other than I can earn money(not a lot) if I continue to work.

Quoting from Ming: Typical Chinese employer is stingy and would always exploit employees to the max.

3) I figure I'd like to enjoy the remaining two months of my pre-univesity holidays. I can use these two months to have a good rest as well as getting ready physically and mentally for university life. Besides, the 2014 FIFA World Cup is about to begin on the 12 June 2014. Won't miss out the chance to follow this tournament closely when I can still find reason to do so. Most importantly, several of my close friends are coming back to KL for semester break and I must spend quality time with them before I begin my tertiary education.

On a different note:

I bought this from a shop selling old and unwanted books of all sort at Sg Wang 3rd Floor. Guess how much it costs me? A MERE RM5!!! 

Stealing a chance to be lazy from working time(it's the last day of work and I feel a little rebellious) after I went to bank in money for the company at a bank, I was in the shop searching for books that are worthwhile to buy(the 2nd time actually. couldn't find any book worthwhile to buy the first time). I managed to spot this book. And I thought: WOW this type of book can't be costing just RM5 if you're going to buy from Kinokuniya. 

Feeling excited, I tried to search for other volumes to complete the whole set but to my disappointment I couldn't. Well, perhaps I expect too much from buying in a shop where the majority of the books are old and unwanted. Nevertheless, I purchased this book in the end because I just could not let this go when it only cost RM5 and it's about the course I'm going to study in university. 

Not bad for a bit of light reading for just RM5 about my degree course before starting uni huh? Feeling Hermione-ish xD

A little of this, a little of that

Ya, as the title of this post suggests, I am going to talk a little bit of this and that in my mind that I feel to talk about. But before I begin, screw the feeling of wanting to write a decent and lengthy post. It just spoils the mood to blog(serve as a reminder to ignore this feeling the next time I feel like blogging).

University plan
2014 started well as far as my university planning goes. I got a decent results and received offers from several UK universities(3 to be exact). I thought these could perhaps serve as the catalyst for more greater things to come. It got me excited and determined to start looking for scholarships to apply. But it turns out that I am perhaps a little too naive to feel good so early about the prospect of study in oversea. What was to follow is a mixture of good and bad. The good things are getting my NUS, NTU and some scholarshio applications done as well as another offer from University of Nottingham Malaysia campus. The reason I see these as 'good' is that sometimes it feels annoying doing all these applications because there are so many details to fill in just to get it done.

The bad things started with when my application for Imperial College London was rejected. I was really hoping I could get it because I feel it might increase the prospect of getting a scholarship if I receive offer from a top university. And there the floodgate opened. I began to feel frustrated when I was applying scholarships, mainly because it requires me to write essay. As it has been such a long time since I last wrote a decent essay, the task of writing out the essay and get the application done before the deadline gave me a lot of stress. Although I got help from friends giving opinions and checking out my essays, it took a lot of effort from myself just to put a decent draft for the essay so they could help me in any capacity they can. Grateful for that, guys. Oh, not to forget all those pimples that popped out thanks to the stress from completing scholarship applications.

Perhaps the eagerness to do anything that I could in order to realise my dream of study in UK slowly gives way to reality. The catalyst of this feeling is when I decided to give up on the Khazanah scholarship. The essay(did I mention the frustration of writing essay for scholarship applications?) for this scholarship is just too tough for my ability to even get a draft out. The pimples that pop out do not make things positive to persevere. I was mentally tired and frustrated that I have to do so much compared to others in the aspect of going oversea to study. And also, the idea of giving up on the Khazanah scholarship when I had done so much to achieve my dream kills me because it goes against what I desire and why I persevere till now.

The only comfort in the midst of all these is my mother's love for me. She saw how much I work and sacrifice to achieve what I desire. I am just so glad that she agrees that I could go study in Singapore as long as my application is accepted, whether got financial aid or not. Even if the study abroad plan does not go well, she also let me to further my study in University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

All I can do now is just wait and pray. 

Working life
Lets begin with a summary of my current working profile. I am currently working as a part time admin assistant in Agile Solution Sdn Bhd and also PC Mart Sdn Bhd which specialise in business softwares. For those who wonder how or why I work in two companies, these two companies have the same boss and I am just doing identical tasks. Tasks include calling customer to renew service support for their softwares and chasing payment(ya in some way you can put is as 'legal' dai ye lon).

As time goes on, unavoidably I start to feel a little boring because I sort of lose the excitement of working when I become used to what I should do. Some suggests to me perhaps change to another part-time job to get rid of this boredom. But consider the pay is pretty good(RM7/hour) and transport convenience from home to working place, I am quite content with continuing this job till I start my university life. I guess I just have to take it as a practice to the future working life of my career.

 Working selfie. ;)To put the finishing touch, it still feel disappointing looking at the length and contents in this post. Consequence of not writing consistently since my secondary school life I guess. Well, at least I managed to clear some dusts of this blog.

By the way, I just have to include this. Got a new basketball shoe from my second elder brother. I was planning to buy it using the salary I earned but since he's generous enough in giving me as a present(sort of), I guess it's better to save the money for my living costs in my university life.

It looks really shiny eh? =D

The end justifies the mean.

I realise I did not update anything about my college life. Well, I did attempt to update about it before this but it felt tough for me to string them into words back then.

Perhaps it seems my college life isn't exactly as wonderful as it should be for a normal college kid. All I(and of course others) remember is my college life is just about working my ass off to achieve my aspiration that I'm so desperate for. I paid a heavy price for that by sacrificing the ideal college life, just like what I did for my Form 3 life. But I would consider my one year and a half college life is a tiny bit better than my Form 3 life thanks to a little more wisdom due to age.

Someone is kind enough to remind me that I may have turn back to Form 3 Tiong Chin again. And yes, the Form 3 Tiong Chin isn't a nice person at all. Perhaps he/she is right. I took some time to reflect and think about this. Well, what I had been able to conclude for myself from the reflection and thinking is that people can change in many ways, be it good or bad or new self or old self, but old habits die hard.

Getting back to my college life, do I regret that I spent my college life like the way I spent my Form 3 life by secluding myself(most of the time) from people and the environment and just study? Let's just make it a little more reasonable and sensible for myself as a human being. I would say...well perhaps a little bit regret? OK this is a little bit of bullshitting, perhaps. Well, let's just say I'm glad that it ended the way I hope for, not exactly 100% of what I initially hope for, but close enough I guess, close enough. =)

Some final words for myself, others and my college life:

Thank you to myself for never losing the faith, determination and dedication in achieving my aspiration.

Thank you to all those college mates who are willing to lend a helping hand during my college life whenever I need it.

Thank you to my parents and family as well as all my close friends that support me and believe in me along the way.

And lastly, the end justifies the mean.

Fade Away - Wei Xin

Greetings to all my faithful friends who still keep an eye on my blog. Here I'm back again with an updated post. Perhaps a second one will be coming right after I finish this post. It may take you only a short while to read these posts but for me,it will take a very long time just to finish these two posts. T_T Anyway, this post is about friendship but since the video above is the major source of inspiration,I thought it would only be appropriate for me to put the song's name as the title of this post. Before I get down to the topic,let me comment a little about this video: nice song and meaningful lyrics. =)

Back to the topic, after I listened to this song, one question linger in my mind: What's the definition of a close friend? Someone who accepts you for who you are? Someone who shares your view and interest? Someone who is there to support you when you need him/her? Someone who is your companion in life? Someone whom you share your personal secrets? Someone whom you have a great deal of trust in? Someone who respect your decision even though he/she may disagree with you sometimes? Someone who is patient with your flaws? Someone who is willing to sacrifice in some way for you?

Many answers flooded my mind. As I try to evaluate a single friend that could fit those criteria, I find difficulty in single out one particular person. I ask myself why. Perhaps I'm too naive thinking that I could have a friend who should fill all those criteria in order to be considered my close friend. Things seem to have change little by little as we step into adulthood. I wonder where is the oh-so-good feeling that I once had when I'm with my friends. The kind of friendship that used to blossom during the good times seems like fading away.

Everyone has a different perspective about how a close friend should be. For me, a close friend can never be too close. The closer you are with that particular friend, the higher the expectation you wish that friend should fulfill. And the higher the expectation you wish that friend should fulfill, the higher the disappointment you may feel towards him/her when the expectation is not met. Lets face it. Most of us are selfish in some way towards our close friend. We expect too much from them when we become too close with that friend. And when that particular friend fell short of our expectation, we will be like Oh he/she is not my closest friend after all. That kind of close friendship that we think we have always seem to betray us when things do not go our way.

A even more ironic situation is when a new friend emerge in our life and that particular friend seems to be able to fulfill some kind of expectation that we feel our 'old' close friend couldn't, some of us will start to think OH this new friend is a closer friend than our 'old' close friend. The thing that I feel stupid about this situation is sometimes we are too irrational to make a quick conclusion on who is our closest friend. We can be so dumb that we decide to put our 'new' close friend ahead of our 'old' close friend when the friendship we develop with that new friend is only just a short while. And even more pathetic is our 'old' close friend will start to feel we don't value the friendship we used to have anymore and that close friendship which last many years starts to fade away. In the end, we lose a close friend.

Well, as I typed all these things out, not only did I just reflect on the situation that I saw my friends had been in, I also reflect on my own situation. Those situation that I mentioned above seem to occur when we are still young and naive. And it is this kind of naive that causes us to be irrational when we handle our friendship with others. Look, what does it take for us when we consider someone to be our close friend? I believe it takes a long time to have that kind of friendship which we consider close and valuable. Someone will not be such a close friend to you for such a long time if he/she doesn't see you as soulmate. I also believe both party have taken a considerable amount of time and factors before consider each other as close friend.

Some might argue that our close friend has changed. They aren't the same person that we used to know anymore. Well, I will argue back that everyone changes,isn't it? Whether change in a good way or bad way, people still can change, and that includes ourselves. You may say that that close friend has changed and doesn't value the friendship like they used to be, but why don't you think about that you too might have change and doesn't value the friendship like they used to be as well? And that you are the one that gives up on your close friend when you realize he/she isn't the close friend you hope he/she to be?

All the things I mentioned above can be very subjective. As the saying things are on the eyes of the beholder goes, it's up to you to decide who's your close friend is and how that particular friend should portray the character of your close friend. What I'm trying to point out is do not give up easily on the many years of friendship that you and your friends have. It doesn't matter whether our close friend has changed or not for as long as you hold the key of faith to the friendship and you still appreciate for what your close friend HAD been, I believe that friendship will last if you and your friend are meant to be soulmate. BUT please bear in mind of this: Friend forever is yes,but not close friend is forever. LOLS

As I finished this post and reflect on my own mistake in treating the friendship situation, I not only erase the difficulty in evaluating my close friend, but I found more than one friend that can be considered my close friends. =)

To all my friends that appear in my life, you are the best the friend I could ever have. =)
TC.