Weekends *grins*

I can honestly say, with joy, laughter, and relief....
THANK BUDDHA
its Friday!!

Lets play guess

Guess who was tossing and turning in bed last night until nearly 2am.

And guess who drank Milo in hopes to fall asleep sooner? (big mistake)

Guess who hit the stop button instead of snooze when her alarm rang at SEVENam?

Guess who woke up shrieking, with blurry sepet eyes, foul breath, unshowered, deranged hair and full of panic when Sheryl came knocking on her door, expecting her to be all ready at 7.55am, five minutes before lecture is about to kick start.

Guess, of all lectures, which one was she late for?

And guess with much joy, just who had time to snack on a banana while awaiting the late lecturer.

Guess who found her Super Ring buddy this afternoon at indian kedai runcit while trying to no avail to photocopy a dictionary thick accounts textbook in less then an hour?..

Just guess :)

The heart grows fonder

You wanna know what's the difference between Sabah and Subang?

Let me show you.

Here's Subang.

And this would be Sabah.



If you ask me this is a pretty bad shot, only because it was taken during a bumpy bus ride on a trip out to someplace very early in the morning. You have to trust me on that one, because by Sixam sharp, the sun is high up and the sky is painfully bright.

How oh how can I not miss Sabah? Tell me.

Trivia

Who wants to take a wild guess at the colour of my braces around this time of the month?
The participant with a correct answer receives a free hug.
:D

Cmon, it's free and there's no questionnaire long form to fill up just to submit your guess. Plus, I'd love to hear your whacky replies. Make my week and click the comment button below.
Ta-dah! Heehee.

Gratitude.

First week in college was made a hell lot easier only because I have super network of peers around me.

And trust me, I am thankful for each twist of fate that comes swerving my way.

Before I start yet another week of college, I wanna hand out heartfelt thanks you’s and give recognition to those concerned.

To the senior in black who was kind enough to point out the direction to the nearest canteen in times of starvation, and yet managed to hold back his laughter when I went the wrong way.

Sheryl, for sticking with me the past week even though I crack lame snide jokes about cina speaking people, all the time. And lugging the umbrella around to protect us from the harmful rays.

Daddy, for being there all the time. To remind me when to drink water and laughs when I tell him I overslept in the evenings. I love you, for everything.

Aloy, who reminded me to bring, of all things, fruits. It proved to be a worthy advice after a week in Setapak. He also shared with me the secret on where to source for superb Nasi Lemak :) Heehee.

Mummy, for being who you are.

Thank you Andy & Pravin for that great interview. And for feeding my humongous ego. Twice. :P

Carmen for texting, just to ask if I met unwanted/scary people in college ;P

Ah Leong, you make me laugh unintentionally. P/s: you look good in yellow!

Pei Chen who gangs up with Teoh to insist Canteen Two foodstuff is not fresh only because she’s lazy to walk slightly further.

Yang, who believes pork can cure alienation.

My roommate, my sister. For being tolerant, warning a thing or two about college, and giving me clues on how to make my way around campus.

Thank you Wei Chian for waking me up hours before Mass Call, making lame cina jokes, preparing me for the worst and best, and filling my first evening out with laughter and lemak.

Daniel who nearly got attacked by a falling coconut *laughs*

Not forgetting Jun Keat, who offered me a ride home.

Albert, for buying me a warm cup of Milo in exchange of decorating services.

Crystal, the best friend, for offering endless support. Sometimes, too much off it. Here's my piece of advice, study lah! *grins*

Lastly, thank you to all my friends who cared enough to gave me their encouragements about college and for hounding me ever so often about my decision to take up this course and why there :) you have all been very kind to me.

:)

And for the people who are only here for the pictures, and I know there’s some of you out there!! I leave you now with one picture from National Service:

When hunger strikes....

I'm a freshie.

Only because that’s what we all are referred as fifty two times a day, I'm caving in to being call just that.

My berbulan-bulan lama holidays have officially come to an end.

First day at college was scheduled on May 20th and I was never really prepared, just like everybody else. This time is different, I suppose. It was a change from the usual first day back to school where familiar faces pop up every five steps I take. I'm sure I’ll be meeting new friends, new lecturers and environment. I won't be seeing the same people I've used to when you were in high school and that’s somewhat discourages me :(

Nearly everyone, except the seniors, speak Mandarin all the time. I just feel so so estranged. Only because my Mandarin is down in the dumps. And their English, our universal language mind you, is screws and bolts. I think, I may face a great difficulty fitting in the next few weeks. Actually, that would be an understatement and we all know that for a fact.

This week was all about orientation, and we all know how amazingly fun orientations are. I mean, what could be more fun then looking high and low for the bathrooms only to discover the cleaning lady closed it for washing which sends you off in a haste hunting for the next closest one..

On a brighter note, I’ve done lots of amazing bizarre stuffs. Like going for an emcee auditions for a freshman night event just to prove I can make it to next round without breaking a sweat unlike the rest who went pale attempting to string a whole sentence of English words together... That’s how cina orientated this place is. And walking about campus without a map has been proven to be a challenge. Thank god for Sheryl, my walking map. Heehee. There’s also the time we both signed up for Hindu Society. I donno what hit us, it was an impromptu thing. But Buddhist Society activities are carried out in Mandarin so what the heck la.

Don’t get me started about the process to get our ID Cards issued…… *tulan*

Lectures start next week. I've heard that college life is tough. There'll be a lot more requirements to be submitted and quizzes to take. *Sigh* But it all pays off when I’ve gotten my degree or something. I just wish that it won't be that hard and that everything's going to be alright.

What I am feeling right now is a combination of fear and excitement...? What if my lecturers are really scary? What if i won't be able to please them? Nah. I don't care about these things. What more important is that I am LEARNING. And not preserving my brains only to have them disintegrate like how it has been the past few months. Okay. It's going to be alright. Take deep breaths.

Okay. I admit it, I am wee bit nervous.

You know, I feel like a tourist. Why so? I sleep on the hostel bed on weekdays and spending my weekends at home. And this is a lifestyle I am expected to adjust to.

But honestly, it feels great to be back on Subang grounds where familiar faces are only ten minutes drive apart. Plus, I really missed my toilet bowl okay.

Did you know...

Linner:

A meal eaten late in the day,
but early in the evening as a combination of lunch and dinner.

I'm a Lost Cause; Not A Hero

Merely four days ago, I touch touched down at LCCT after serving two months in National Service located in the deep jungles of Tuaran, Sabah. I bet none of you have seen it on the map, or for that matter, heard of Tuaran until now.

And in approximately Thirty-Eight hours, I'll be making my way to college's Mass Call.

Just about all my friends have already started college a long time back and is probably having the time of their lives. But why, oh why, am I so certain I'll hate it? Or more likely, not to fit in?...

It's a wild guess. An instinct. A prediction. Whatever it is, it's not making me feel an inch closer to looking forward to Tuesday.

SIGH.

I feel so unequipped, not to mention unprepared...? So far, I've only dumped in a towel and a few shirts into the very empty suitcase. Gah.

What is seriously wrong with me these days.

I blame it all on the NS blues.

On a random note, if the meal between breakfast and lunch is called brunch, then what do we call the meal between lunch and dinner? Just a sudden thought because I always seem to be eating at the latter time.

National Service, Sabah, and I.

How could you forget to pack sunblock? It's sunblock waaaay!
*smacks head*

My first week in Kem KK DiBawah Bayu was excruciating to put it bluntly. The days were spent doing nothing, waiting and waiting for the administration to distribute our clothes, settle into our respective dorms, getting our tastebuds accustomed to the crappy food, and uncomfortably interacting with other equally-suffering trainees.

My first meal; their idea of a welcoming lunch.

Nearly two weeks later, Character Building or Pembinaan Karakter classes commenced. We were separated into four groups, and you'll be stuck with these people for the duration of the PK classes. My PK class was awesome. Like really really awesome. Did I forget to mention PK classes have two parts? Module 1 and 2. PK classes are fun, if you’re a five year old that is. The activities are somewhat childish to the extend I felt as if I was back in kindergarten all over again. Soon after, the physical activities kicked off.

Five minutes later......

:)

Our daily schedule at NS goes something along these lines:

0430 - Wake-up Call
0530 - Assembly and Physical Training(PT)
0700 - Breakfast
0800 – Pembinaan Karakter (and later) Nationalism classes
1000 – Morning Teabreak
1030 - PK (and later) Nationalism classes resume
1200 - Lunch
1330 - Physical Exercise, i.e., Marching, Kraf Hutan, Navigation, Obstacle Course
1600 – Teatime
1630 – Aktiviti riadah
1730 – Shower/Rest
1930 - Dinner
2030 - Night activities (vary and keeps us guessing, mostly talks and movies)
2200 - Supper
2215 - Rolcall (I find this an ubber waste of sleep time)
2300 - Lights out

(I haven't inserted Malay prayers, you'd be amazed how much time they spend in the surau.)


Basically that's what we do every single day, except on weekends, where we do nothing in the afternoon for Saturdays and Sundays. Yeah, life is a routine. I survived it there withoutbitingsomeonesheadoff.

Take note of the number of meals we have. How can we not gain weight?...

And every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month is Family Day, where your family is allowed to pay you a visit between 0900 until 1700 hours. You have no idea how much I dread Family Days, only because my family is about what..five thousand miles away?

Oh, and PT each morning differs. It varies from aerobics, Tempur Tanpa Senjata (TTS), poco-poco, or, it’s up to the trainers' preferences. On weekends, there's no PT (whoopsforjoy!). Eventually you'll settle down to the routine, and you'll learn to like the activities. And every Thursday and Friday night is Religion Classes, so each respective religion gets its own class taught by an outsider. Did I mention Buddhist classes are conducted purely in CHINESE? Yeah, I transform into a dumb frog every Thursday and Friday night.

And yes, I’ve been suffering cubical blues in that two months duration. You would think that after investing a huge sum of money here, they'd built bigger and better looking toilet cubicles and showers but, no. They have to make them all so narrow that we have to suck in our tummy just to squeeze through the door while cleaning the toilet walls with our backs and giving them a finishing polish with our hair. I'm still wondering how those, on the well, chubbier side actually make their way out and avoid getting stuck in between the door and toilet seat.

Or maybe, they avoid doing their business and wait until where they can finish whatever they have to do in comfort and peace, like me.

I did many many awesome stuffs in NS, I really did. Here are few of them :)


I camwhored with a police airforce helicopter.

Fly fox twice.
Accidentally volunteer to be a group leader.
Tried the sumazau dance.

Lifted a plane. Almost.

Changed race.

And later on, converted into Islam. My malay name is Fauziah. :)

Assist in smuggling Tuaran Mee into camp.

Sit by the longkang and kiwi my boots during midnight.

Boarded a navy ship. Thats as far as I got....

Happy to be eating camp food?

Made great plans.

Drank from a super huge coconut that onlt costed RM1.50!?!
Ate a cup of maggi in five minutes.
Memorized the Sabah Song by heart.

The awesome rickety bumpy bus rides we go thru every week.

Eat like I've never eaten before.

Putin means banana is bahasa Dusun.
Drank lake water.
Survived through weeks of Dizigui classes.

Got my buddy tulan-ed at me. It's not my fault I can juggle damnit.

Sleep in ceramahs.
Superspeed shower in four minutes, only becos there was no one else but me in the toilet.

Watch the sunrise every single weekday morning.

Got High? :D

Grabbing opportunities to sleep during morning teabreak between PK classes .

Not runaway and shriek my lungs out when I meet a lion dancer up close.

First hand experience at the Magunatip dance. Super cool wei.
Named a kerajaan after me.
My KN group named themselves, Szetoo's Smile. I was swelling with pride.

Trip to the Air Force.

See, touch, camwhore, and eventually use the M16.


To blog down my National Service experience would be impossible for I and only I went through it all. You weren’t in my sempit kasut kelas to do the ‘ke belakang pusing’ ten times in a row or run all the way back to the dorms to save our fresh laundry from the mean rain. And you will never get the chance to dance the poco-poco under the scorching sun in the famous spike boots that weight nearly a ton to a crowd of restless parents.

National Service is in general, a waste of time. All day long what we do is waking up early in the morning, masuk baris, star jumps, have freezing cold showers, washing clothes, bathe, eat, sleep, marching, sleep, marching, eat, whine, masuk baris some more, star jumps, get high blood pressure, marching again, eat, hantar dobi, sleep, shower, eat, and fret.... But why do people come back from National Service crying and saying that they miss and enjoyed camp? One word says it all: FAMILY; the friends that are made in camp are precious. We bathe together, we ate together, we slept together (literally), sama-sama pakai baju celoreng to sleep after getting punished, we even washed our undies together la.

I never thought I'd say this but, I miss camp.

Honestly speaking,

I still am extremely unpatriotic after 2 months plus of being 'brainwashed', so to speak. However I did make a good many amount of friends from different races and places. It was quite sad leaving all my awesome Sabahan friends behind (especially the 3 other Sabahans-ans!)

We Subang people live in such luxury and we don't even know it. =/

NS has also made me appreciate the littlest things in life too like,

• My washing machine. Oh man did I MISS my washing machine. I nearly hugged my washing machine when I got back.
• Splendid food. (Fried fish SIX nights in a row….)
• My bed. My very clean clean bed. Every day I have to hit the bed sheets on my bed because there's always some kinda bug on it and all the dust of the day collects on top of it. Plus, the girls keep stepping on my very nicely made bed just to open/shut the windows. Damn you.
• My bathroom. My spacious, bug-less and BIRD-less bathroom. (More about this later.)
• The heater. It is NO FUN bathing in ice-cold water when it's raining at four in the morning.
• Privacy. I have not been alone except in the shower for the past two months. It is a LUXURY to have some space to myself.

Now I need to sleep on my wonderful soft bed which I've missed for months.

Tales From NS

It is my pleasure and delight to announce that Szetoo Weishya is back on West Malaysian soil, polluted air, fast moving cars, and all.
National service is a place where we're all forced to grow up/mature in one way or another. It in fact does toughen you up.

For instants, I am a lot stronger and wiser about the weather because I've been washing most of my clothes with my awesome bucket for the past month. It is no joke washing those blue grungy thick NS towels and running back to the dorms when it starts to rain to get your clothes, especially when the dorms are yards away.


Weight-wise, I've been told that I've put on some. I think its becos' of the horrible food we have to eat more or less everyday out of hunger. There was one time where we had to eat fried fish for about a week. It's the same fish (full of boney bones) but with different sauces. There were days where the food was beyond dreadful so we'd bail on the meal queue and snuck off to purchase maggi cups or just hold our breaths and ate rice with soggy vegetables. :(


It's not ALL bad in NS though, really. I've picked up a couple of local Sabahan songs and made a lot of friends from different ethnic groups! The trainers are mostly Christians so they don't make our lives as miserable as other camps.

There have been instances of people seeing ghosts and stuff like that but I’m usually too tired by the end of the day to be scared. Okay, maybe now and again I do get frightened and we'll all huddle in the centre of the dorm with our blankets and jimjams. Lights out is at 11pm and the night guards on duty will knock on our dorm doors by 4am to wake us up. Then we'll have to be down in the 'padang kawad' by 5.30am for our Physical Training.


It's along story. I'll blog more and 'hurai' about it once I manage to upload all the pictures up.

P/s: Many many thanks to Eleanor Rigby who has been all this while updating this blog so....religiously? Haha :D

Kepulangan Saya

Dengan sukacitanya, saya mengumumkan kepulangan Yang Berbahagia Szetoo Weishya ke dunia Selangor pada 14 Mei 2008. Di harapkan ahli keluarga serta sahabat handainya akan menyambut ketibaannya dengan penuh meriah dan *icantfindawordtoinserthere*. Oleh hal yang demikian, bersiap sedialah untuk mengalu-alukan kepulangan Szetoo Weishya yang telah berada di dunia Sabah selama dua bulan yang lepas.

Sekian harap maklum.

:)